Bid On MEEEEE! Polka Dot Heart Bead Bundle!

This bundle contains one polka dot heart bead (white on white) and several polka dot round, and crackle glazed  beads...

To bid just leave a comment with the amount you are bidding. This auction will end Tuesday, October 26th at Noon PST. All winnings will be sent directly to Andrew! Happy bidding!

Bid On Me! Owl Necklace!

I know Andrew has a fondness for owls so this necklace seemed like a natural fit! It has moonstone, labradorite, chalcedony, and ceramic beads as well as an OOOOT owl pendant. It closes with a beautiful tan silk cord and was featured in Bead Trend Magazine!

To bid just leave a comment with the amount you are bidding. This auction will end Tuesday, October 26th at Noon PST. All winnings will be sent directly to Andrew! Happy bidding!

Bid On ME! Heart Bead Bundle!

This bead bundle has one of the charms purchased from Andrews Big Cartel shop as well as several round, heart, and rose ceramic beads!

To bid just leave a comment with the amount you are bidding. This auction will end Tuesday, October 26th at Noon PST. All winnings will be sent directly to Andrew! Happy bidding!

Bid On Me! Andrew Thrornton Needs Our HELP!

Many of you may know Andrew Thrornton from his beautiful jewelry designs and his published work in Stringing and other beading magazines. If you don't know Andrew, just know that he is an amazing artist and generous person. If you follow his blog you may know that he generously donates his work and time to help other artists and friends by auctioning his art for their benefit. If you've been following his blog you may also know that he recently found out he has cancer. A scary thought for anyone. Being an artist has its perks like creative freedom and making your own hours. It also has some not so perky perks like unstable finances and a lack of health insurance. I think you know where I'm going with this...

In an effort to help Andrew and his mounting medical bills I will be hosting an auction! All the money will go directly to Andrew. Three separate posts will be put up to bid on. Bidding will start tomorrow and end next Tuesday, October 26th at Noon PST. THANKS!

P.S. You can find awesome charms and goodies like the ones above in Andrews Big Cartel Shop!

Do You Copy, Good Buddy? Copy Me Design Challenge!

Michelle from Beadalotta posted her design for the "Copy Me" design challenge!

Here is a peek... check out her full post!

Please send a link if you participated!

Lorelei

Michelle
Erin
For My Sweet Daughter
SueBeads
Spirited Earth

Malin de Koning

Imaginative Jewelry

Carbon...

Copy Me!

Michelle from Beadalotta just reminded me about the "Copy Me" design challenge!

Please send a link to your post if you participated! More tomorrow!

Mail, Weekends, And Help For A Friend...

It was a really long weekend! Ojai Day was lovely! Mother Nature cooperated and blessed us with cool weather! Be careful what you wish for because it was almost too cool and people chose to stay home where it was dry and cozy! I made it to my P.O. box just in time Friday afternoon to grab a few packages that I'd been waiting for (impatiently!) First was a beautiful selection of beads from Willow Bay Supply where I grabbed these awesome window pane agate slices! DELISH!

Next I found these gems smartly priced at FavourJewelry...

But I am saving the best for last....

These fantastic charms from Andrew Thrornton's Big Cartel Shop! I have something very special planned for them and a way to help Andrew! So stay tuned! 

EVENTful Weekend!

This weekend is the trunk show at Brea Bead Works. I wish I could be there in person but had to bundle up a box of beads and send them via mail. So if you are in the area, it was a fun bundle, check it out! Saturday is also Ojai Day. And if my back was not so dicey right now I would be more excited. Thankfully Robert will be there to help set up and take it all down. I really look forward to Ojai Day but even in mid October (the 16th to be exact) it can be mind-blowingly hot but It looks like it will be mild! All those cool thoughts must be working! 

We Really Know How To Party!

"When it rains, it pours!" So, the saying goes and it couldn't be more true. If this weekend was a horse, we'd have to put it down! It was our 19th wedding anniversary on Friday (Thanks so much for wishing us well!) Things started out great... breakfast out, just the two of us, lunch with the kids and a trip to Target! Yah. We know how to party. A movie on DVD and take out! Nothing big. It's just the simple things that make us happy. Then it happened. I moved just right. Nothing traumatic. I wasn't going off a ski jump or anything crazy. Just trying to step over our sleeping dog and I felt that little tink in my back. It didn't even bother me that much. Just a little twinge. Come Saturday I was screaming in agony, unable to walk and wondering where the the hell my epidural was! I've never felt back pain as nauseating as that! So I stayed on my back cursing myself for not being able to pee standing up and freaking out that my orders would not be making themselves! Why do these things happen after office hours? A very kind chiropractor made me her earliest possible appointment. I not out of the woods but she sure did make it possible to walk! Robert couldn't have been anymore supportive and patient. Wrangling kids, cooking meals, making me comfortable. That was a relief in itself. Now it's baby steps back to normal and a heaping handful of Advil!

19 Years Ago Today....

We took the plunge and spoke our vows, promising to be there for each other. And we have.  Through all of the twists and turns, good times and not so good times. Together. It is corny to say, but Robert is the yin to my yang, or maybe he is the yang to my yin, at any rate we balance each other and try to make sense of things together. Even when life is not soft and the skinned knee of our day to day is wearing us out, he makes me laugh. He can drag a smile out of me even when I am, seriously not going to, because I am seriously that mad! When I don't know which end is up, he is my compass. When he says "You are so funny!" I feel giddy! Even though he can't load a dish washer for shit (my creative clutter is catastrophic in his eyes!), I love him dearly! We are on the same page. Together it all feels right.

Together. I hope together is for a very long time. Happy anniversary love!

Just One More...

I seem to be acquiring quite the collection of beautiful baubles! I've abstained from making purchases all summer and have brought myself out of retirement (hopefully for good!) You may know Denise Yezbak Moore's  from her work in Stringing and other publications but I found her etsy site RustyRoxx and wanted to have it all! Needless to say I'm not THAT unretired and forced myself to pick just one....

You can see Denise's as well as my projects in the Autumn 2010 Jewelry Affaire Magazine!

P.S. Etsy shop update this afternoon!

This Is Not The Color You Are Looking For.

There must be some Jedi mind trick for kilns and glazing. I feel pretty zen at times about the whole process but there are times, like when a glaze is being uncooperative, that I want to break out the Jedi mind tricks and kick some ass! It is a favorite color. It looks old and freshly unearthed, like a long hidden treasure when it is done just right. Or it can look like SOS (shit on a shingle) when it decides to "act up". After 3 firing and 3 different batches, I called the manufacturer and started asking questions. Why do you hate me so dear glaze?

Samples will be sent. Notes will be taken. Tests will be made. Jedi mind tricks will kick some butt!

If you are wondering, the one on the left is the cooperative one! The other two? Not so much.

Delish Glass!

Glass bead artist Amanda Cargill Austin resides in Florence, Oregon and It must be one inspiring place because she creates the most amazing, drool over them glass beads! She recently picked up a "Mermaid Tale" pendant from my etsy shop and was inspired to create a glass bead to match. I could live in the bead she created! It is beautirific! I had to make up a word, thats how pretty it is! She sells her beads and jewelry from her esty shop, so check her out!

Ahhhhh CHOOO!

The cold germ always seems to find me when I'm at my busiest. Does that happen to you too? Just when you are chugging along making headway and BAM! out of nowhere you get a sore throat and swollen glands. This feels a bit more than a cold and I don't want to pass it along to you, so I'll keep it short and sweet...

This mess o' goods is about to be glazed and fired! At least it has cooled down to the low 90's! (It was 113 on Tuesday!!!!)

Big Green Bead Machine!

Have you seen it? The Big Green Bead Machine? Spitting out deals every 5 minutes! I love it! See it in action at Lima Beads! Too cool! My cart runnith over!