Once upon a time... a giveaway!

It seems like a super long time ago that I submitted the bracelet and earring projects that are in the lovely summer issue of Stringing magazine. In fact the bracelet project was originally slated for another magazine entirely and for earlier in the year. But here they are and I'm really happy with them! Find which pages the projects are on and leave a comment with the page numbers and I'll draw a random winner next Wednesday to win a new empty frame pendant! Happy reading beading!

All work...

What a weekend! My feet feel like they could fall off and my hands are all puffy and ache too! We spent all weekend rearranging the house. There are four of us and only 2 bedrooms... At some point a boy and a girl need their own space. That point is now. We painted, moved, dusted, cleaned, recycled, and sorted. There is so much more to be done too. For now we have turned our living room into a bedroom and now each kid has their own space. Not all the furniture has be moved but the main pieces have. The living room (or should I now say the bedroom?) has a fire place that is beautiful but we never use. Since the kids have bigger rooms now ALL THE TOYS ARE OUT OF THE REST OF THE HOUSE!!!! YES!! WHOOO HOOO! I'm a bit excited about this and my big boy is so excited that he insists he will keep his room clean! The house cleaning and sorting was interspersed with trips to the Made In Ojai booth at the four day long Ojai Music Festival. Thirteen artisans chipped in for a booth! I had earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and hair pins and the bracelets seemed to be a hit! So now it is really time to get down to work... and play with some beads.

Last firing I made some of these empty frames! They are perfect for a resin project... I might find some time to play with them... I might also add them to the ol' etsy shop...

GOLD!

I've had this gold glaze on my shelf for about 3 years. I tried it once and then couldn't remember what it looked like. I just remember that it looked nothing like the web photo from the company site. I've been wanting to add some metallic glazes as a contrast to the brights and watery colors I've been glazing in. Here is how some of the beads turned out...

Still nothing like what I expected but I really like it! They may need a thicker coating of glaze to be more metallic. They look a bit like golden toned lava rocks. I'm still looking for a shinny metallic glaze...

Stumped!

In a good way! Finding just the right display for jewelry can stump me! My co-op space at the Made In Ojai store is very small and I usually make the most of it by filling every nook and cranny. Rings are a particular challenge. If I put them in the case they will not be picked up and tried on. I've been leaving them on top of the case in a small bowl for people to touch and feel and try. They seem to get noticed there but look a bit messy piled in a bowl. I thought about a ring tree but it was turning into a big gangly project. The solution turned out to be much smaller...

The ones at the shop have multiple rings! They look fun all stacked together.

This was my favorite! 

Whoooo doesn't love an owl! I'm keeping this one at home! It has our initials on it!

They would even be great by the sink for when you take your ring off to do dishes!

Lemon-aid.

 It happens. The dry glaze gets poured into a jar, water is added, the lid returned, and you give it a good shake. Here is where I for got the crucial step... WRITE THE NAME OF THE GLAZE ON THE OUT SIDE OF THE JAR. Honestly, it really should be step one and having learned my lesson this time, it will be the next. While I do love the Blue Moon glaze, it is not what my customers ordered, but that is the color I laid eyes on when I opened the kiln this morning! It isn't all bad though! I usually put a thin layer of clear over certain items and this time it ended up being a great effect.

Blue Matilija Poppy dish.

This is how they look in real life...

They got the blue treatment! 

What serendipitous discovery have you made lately?

One of THOSE days.

Some days are yellow. Some days are blue. So says the Dr. Seuss book for kids about color and emotion. This day was more a rainbow of colors. Not in the beautiful arching colors type rainbow but more like a technicolor yawn (read as vomit).

I'm pretty sure I took it out on a well deserving but complete stranger. Thing is, if you live in a small town, any town really, shouldn't you make an extra effort to tip your hat at your neighbor and do things with kindness?

I could have been a bit kinder in delivering my message. At least I remembered not to curse in front of the kids when the impatient driver right behind us floored it around us through a stop sign so as not to be stuck behind our slow moving 1980 diesel. There are usually many kids and families on bikes on their way to school at this intersection and it made my blood boil that someone would think they were above the law and above the safety of anyone around them. It wasn't a mistake what they did. Or an accident. It was decidedly on purpose. Something inside my head snapped. I've heard people describe it as if their feet and hands have a will of their own. Mine sure did. I thought she should know and decided to tell her so.

My car drove after her. She turned off the main street literally 100 feet from the stop sign she just ignored. My horrified kids just wanted to get to school. I thought they should know it's OK to tell someone they are being dangerous. I obeyed all speed limits and stop signs. As I rolled down my window in front of her and told her that she was unsafe and should know better living in a small town than to expect her rude and dangerous behavior to be ignored, she quickly slunk into her house and avoided eye contact. A grown woman in her 50's should really be able to be responsible for her actions. Heck! My 4 year old knows how to apologize when she's wrong.

I reached for my camera just in case I needed it and she managed to collect herself and come out. I flipped the video camera on and recorded. Her excuse? "Your toxic fumes". "Sorry we can't afford a nicer car" was my reply. A light must have dawned on her and she became apologetic. Her words, "I can understand" and "I didn't mean to scare you" were the right ones but were delivered in an forced and unapologetic way. "I don't want you to report my actions to the authorities" was what it sounded like. I got the kids to school and was happy to get home and focus on something positive.... loading the kiln.

Just A Peek...

At what is going on...

I am so excited to open the kiln and I haven't even loaded her yet! I made a few ring displays that I hope will be a fun new addition to my sales display!

Also a few bead dishes. I could use some clay play time making other non-jewelry ideas!

I'm a big boned gal!

Just doesn't get any better than K.D. Lang and the Reclines...



This just makes me want to dance! Welcome to June!

The Happiest Place On Earth!

We had a whirlwind weekend at the happiest place on earth! You know it! The Mouse's House! The BIG D! Disneyland! A good friend had free tickets and how could we say no?! The last time we made the trek, Calder was 5 and Magnolia was 1 1/2! We hatched a plan for it to be a surprise. I tell you, making plans in secret is a trick! We had to rent a car to take our whole little group, which is usually a tip off that something is up. Luckily our cars are such POS's that we can give a realistic excuse for the rental!

We even went as far as getting up for school, packing lunches, driving up to the school for drop off (we nearly ran over the principal!) As we drove to school we made statements like "Wow! It sure is a beautiful day! It would be a shame to spend it inside!" and "What should we do today? We have this great rental! We could drive almost anywhere!" As we pulled through the drop off lane I told Robert to just pull through and we'd find a spot to park. Darn, nowhere to park! We pulled down the block and asked Calder if he minded walking from there (something we've never done!) He looked confused but said "OK." Then I turned around and asked if he didn't mind if we parked a bit further away, "The exercise will be good for you!" and Robert just kept on driving. We got a few blocks away and asked "Should we skip school today?" Calder was shaking is head vigously YES and Magnolia was horrified that she would miss school. I said "Ok, let's get some breakfast and go in late." Tee hee he! We drove about 15 miles to have breakfast and then headed out asking "Is this the way back to school?" We then drove to pick up our friends! At their house they asked "Should we go for a picnic?"

Can you dig C3PO?

I thought for sure the street signs with the word disney all over them would have tipped the kids off. Nope! Not until we pointed to a shuttle van with the famous scrolly Disney font and the words Disneyland did we get a flicker of recognition! The perfect surprise! Ya!

We had 12 whole hours of fun! Can we do it again!?!?!?

The thorny side of life

Even with their thorns, cactus grow amazing flowers. I have to remember that, when things look their thorniest, there may be a beautiful flower just around the bend. 

Remind me to tell you about the day we ditched school and work and went to Disneyland...

Just Playing Around...

I took this photo and was resizing it in photoshop and wondered what would happen if I clicked this button

and that button

and moved this toggle

Now to get colors like these from a glaze!

Whee...

Have you been playing or experimenting?

The Visit!

It is always a treat to meet people you've only spoken with on the phone or through email. Sandy is one of those people! Sandy and Steve were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and decided to visit Ojai. I was lucky enough to catch a quick visit with her! I brought my trays of beads for her to dig through. She brought a treasure trove of her designs (awesome gemstone and copper with... my beads!) to show us as well as some beautiful beaded bracelets that were designed for our birth signs! Thanks for the lovely visit Sandy!

Out in the beauty...

For mothers day we decided to get our garden in order. Summer is a bore with out some home grown tomatoes. So off to the nursery we went...

I couldn't help but be enchanted by the flowers that were on display, I mean really?!?

What did you do for mothers day?

Just added

Kidlet charms are now available as beads! 

Happy Saturday!

Ears are for earrings

Having a tiny matching pair of itty bitty hearts makes making earrings a joy. I am obsessed with these tiny tiny ceramic hearts! I had ordered these tiny green peridot beads on etsy, not realizing just how tiny they were. They have been sitting patiently for the right time and place. Their time is now. Their time has come. I now wish I had more of their green goodness! I will be playing with beads today and finding other odd or lost items from the deepest darkest parts of my bead boxes. Have you ever bought some beads with an idea in mind and then those dearly needed beads got pushed to the back of your world? I say it is time for those hidden gems to rise up and unite! Come out of hiding I say! Bring joy to the world....