Don't Make Me Beg!

Thanks to the lovely folks who may have gone over to vote for my friend Dean! I just got this note from him...

Hello again my friends. 

I'm now one of eight contestants vying to be a guest advice columnist for the Washington Post. 

Thank you to everyone who voted in Round 1, and to those who passed the message on via Facebook, Twitter, blogs and emails. Voting was tough and I barely scraped by. So please, vote even more fervently for my latest submission, and spread the word. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/dean-buckley-five-ways-to-cope-with-job-insecurity-atwork-advice-contest-round-2/2011/10/04/gIQA3nzcNL_story.html

The voting link is at the end of the article.

Thanks and love!

-Dean Buckley

So, if you wouldn't mind...

The Spirited Bead and Klew's Gallery Trunk Show

Are you in the Tehachapi, California area? I just sent a big old box of fall goodness to the talented Karen Lewis of Klew's Spirited Beads. She is an AMAZING bead artist and owns 2 bead shops. If you are in the area this weekend, please stop by to see new bundles and new owls. Thanks Klew for having us!

See This Guy...

Vote for him! My dear and lovely friend Dean is in the first round of this contest!!! He is an awesome writer and all around person! PLEASE vote for him! Click the link that says "vote for your favorite" then click on his picture, it will highlight, and then hit the submit button! Please feel free to pass this along! GO DEAN!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/gIQA5ZPLgJ_page.html

Passion for Purple!

Ok... Now that I'm a little calmer, I can share these purple glazes. Plum! Grape! Wine! YUM!

It is just so darn juicy!

Stop! THEIF!

I thought I could just ignore it and it would go away. I thought if I thought good thoughts, it would go away. I thought if I said anything I'd look like a loon! I've tried those strategies and it's not going away. It is a touchy subject but it has been weighing heavy on my heart. Initially I'd received a few emails from lovely customers and fellow designer alerting me to another designer having uncannily similar items for sale. I took a look and thought "WOW!" that does look copyright infringingly similar if not the same. I sat with it for a few days in attempt to out run my PMS that I thought was surely playing tricks with my eyes and mental state. My motto is usually "Never put off to tomorrow what PMS can totally ruin today". I didn't say it was a good motto. None the less I waited. It didn't go away and neither did the emails. So I jotted off a jaunty note requesting that the person please respect my copyrights. I received an equally jaunty note commenting that, I make mostly pendants (not true), that I have so many more sales than they do (irrelevant and as one friend commented to me "does this look like a commune?" which I had to laugh at!) and stating that it is their style and they couldn't change it if they tried! Denial.

As this is my main source of income and I've worked really hard over the last 12 years, not only is this person stealing from me and my children, others are noticing it, and talking about it. That isn't pretty. Would you want the world looking at your work thinking "What are they trying to pull?!" It is not a small bead and design community but people definitely notice this sort of thing. Even in an attempt to fix the problem and find a solution, there is talk about it. It is not going unnoticed for me and for other designers having similar issues. Do people think that if you see something posted online that it is free for the taking? They are in fact not. Once you create something, it is yours and is protected by law. My thinking was that this person will move onto other work and either grow into their own or start stealing from someone else. That doesn't fix a serious problem though, one that many others find themselves in. I do believe there is room for everyone, but know in my heart that there is no room for this behavior. Others have suggested I contact an attorney. Sound advice. For me the point is this, sitting idly by is not good for me or my work. At some point you need to protect what is yours. I really appreciated that there were friends out there that thought enough to say something to me, to try to protect me saying "We have your back", and you know, I have yours! For now I am keeping my sense of humor at the ready. I know I will need it!

Heavy Heart.

It has been a tough week. But also a lovely blog hop. Thank you to Lori Anderson for hosting such a wonderful event. I am still making my way around to the various blogs. Thanks for all the lovely comments! Looking at it a week later (and with a few hours of sleep), I think I was perhaps a bit hard on myself!

There have been a few things that have been weighing heavy in my heart. One was the loss of a loved one. The other I will talk about later. My stepfather Clarence passed away in July not more than a few days after my sons birthday. It was a total shock and our family is muddling through. I have tough memories and sweet memories. Mostly sweet. He was literally a rocket scientist and worked at his job for over 30 years. When I was a teenager our relationship was like that of siblings which probably stemmed from the fact that he had no biological children. Thinking back on those times I realize how difficult it must have been for him to have this raging ball of teen hormones set loose in his home. The smart man that he was, he tried in vain to help this math phobic with what must have been to him the most basic of math homework. I'm sure he was frustrated with my total lack of skill but would never show it. I would simultaneously marvel and be frustrated at how he could seemingly pull the answers from his hat. We celebrated his life this weekend and I was lucky to meet many of his friends and colleagues. Like math, life isn't always easy and we will miss him... times 10 to the 10th power.

Bead Soup: A Necklace Only A Mother Could Love...

Welcome to my Bead Soup project! Thank you to Lori Anderson for organizing such a great blog/bead event! If you have had thoughts about participating and have not yet, let me say that I've enjoyed myself. My work may suggest otherwise and I think this may be one of those "what not to do" situations...

I would like to start by saying, I had the best intentions. I planned ahead and had a definite idea of what I wanted. My project had other plans. It may not be as bad as I think it is, or it is worse. I can't decide. A big "THANK YOU" to Caitriona Meek "The Queen of Sawing Sheet Metal"  for showing me how to saw sheet metal. I probably should have brought an extra sheet to her house as a precaution, because that was step one and it all sorta went down hill from there (I can laugh about it now). I was trying to be careful but managed to saw a kind of amoeba shape not the perfect comma shape that I had drawn on the sheet. I mean I traced around it for goodness sakes! 

It was all going fine and dandy until I noticed a small space of the bezel hadn't got enough solder under it and instead of popping the piece out of the bezel, I... torched it. Yep. It popped and cracked and scared the pooh outta me. "Why didn't you take it out before you added heat?" Yep. Why indeed! 

Yep. It cracked. I know! I know! I was in a hurry! Luckily the bezel is holding it all together... I should have turned the fossil around and had the rounded side poking through. Should'a, could'a, would'a!

And yes. Those are earrings made from the clasp set Dot sent me. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was told I had to use the focal and the clasp and dagnabit it, that is what I did! I'm not trying to be cheeky, I just put all my eggs in the "solder the bezel" basket. So there you have it! Soup to "nuts" Please jump over to my Bead Soup partner Dot Lewallen!

Here is a link to the other artists on this Bead Soup blog hop! Thanks for stopping by and ENJOY! 

 

Soups a Brewin'

I am working on my Bead Soup project. I have some seriously high hopes for this project and have all fingers, toes, and limbs crossed that I don't muck up the beautiful focal Dot sent me! There may be some soldering involved. Holding breath!

P.S. One of my favorite suppliers on etsy is having a 20% off sale! Checkout her stringing and finding supplies... ByJanelle

Help Artist Nancy Schindler!

If you haven't seen, I and I admit to being woefully behind in my blog reading, Nancy Schindler, the artist behind Round Rabbit, recently suffered the loss of her art studio due to major flooding. Her studio and home were badly flooded and may need serious repair. Luckily, Nancy is in good health as are her rabbits. You can contribute to helping get her studio (which is her only source of income) back up and running! I have never met Nancy in person but admire her work and know she must be just devastated by this loss. Follow the link here.

Bundles Of Love

What can I say? I just love to put these bundles together! I just shipped 10 different styles of bundles to Lima Beads and am anxiously awaiting their debut! I'll be having a giveaway when that happens! Soon! Very soon!

Until then, please enjoy these...

Ups and Downs

Today was a roller coaster of a day. Up and down, all day long. I started out by getting a ton of work done and I had a few hours to visit with my friend Caitriona. She is a magical jewelry designer with a wicked sense of humor and awesome person all around. We talked about ways for her to promote herself and her work. The problem is she is very down to earth and does not like talking about herself. I say her work says enough on its own, even though her life story is fascinating. We talked about yesterdays somber mood and how I made, what feels like a mistake, in watching one of the many memorial stories that were on. I was up nearly all night just thinking about how many lives were lost. The tragedy is staggering.

The kids had great day in school so we decided to take a drive to Barnes and Noble. I checked my email as we were walking in and got a disturbing email from a lovely customer. Apparently her large order arrived except that the package was empty! She sent photos and sure enough the USPS Priority Mail pouch was mangled and everything inside gone! OH MAN! I usually insure larger orders but had forgotten that one! Lesson learned! Still, I feel terrible for this poor woman who was expecting to open a package and find something. I couldn't apologize enough. I'll be working overtime to replace it.

That made me a bit dizzy but I got myself to the magazine stand and found Creative Jewelry was out and I counted 5 projects (two of my own) using my pendants or beads! I was floored! I had a grin from ear to ear and Calder was pretty proud of his Mama! A BIG THANKS to Andrew Thornton, Denise Yezbak Moore, and Emma Thomas.

The kids made me smile and laugh.

FIRE!

It has been hotter than H.E. double hockey sticks! 105 anyone? Yuck! It's a good thing that I was terribly excited to see everything glazed because turning on a heater was the last thing I wanted to do! But it is done and unloaded and here's what came out...

The "In A Tree" owls are a bit large (about 2 1/8" tall!!!), so I'm hoping they will shrink up a bit on the next firing. I can't get enough of the fall colors. What are you looking forward to this fall?

Owl Crazy!

I think I've gone a bit owl crazy! Now they are in trees! I hope to get these nice and glazed by the end of the week. We have spent our weekend having a lemonade stand, trying a new restaurant in town and.... working. I know that's not the point of Labor Day but that is what is happening!  I hope everyone is having a great day off!

Go create something!

XO

Hoot.

The little heart dishes are fun to make and in fact make me so happy! I am doing a very impatient "hurry up" dance everyday to get everything made and glazed so I can see these all glazed and shinny! Or not glazed. I haven't decided yet. I have a feeling I will be working on this gorgeous weekend. How about you? Any good plans?

But these are all dressed up and ready to go... Bye, bye birdies!

This made me pee a little...

My good friend Miss Yvonne sent me this clip. I love me a good Sedaris...

Amy Sedaris Hilariously Struts Her Lady Pants - Show Clips - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Happy September everybody!