Memorial Weekend

Well the photos pretty much tell the story..... This is a project our neighbor had been working on for quite some time now.... Each skull represents how many American men and women have been killed in Iraq as of May 23... 4,384

These flags are on the Memorial Field fence heading uptown .....

A Few of Bracelets Past!

We had a little flood in our basement yesterday and in between bailing out the water I came across this box...... and inside of it were these bracelets that I had made about 15 years ago!! I really like this style of cuff bracelet and think I may have to return to it again soon... with some new variations of course! Let me know what you think of this style!

So today was back to work.... the flood is taken care of and all is good once again! I have been making some bead caps in between making bracelets and earrings. These are the types of caps that I will be teaching how to make in this years Masters Class. Soon I will be offering several silversmithing courses here in my home studio. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to learn I would love to hear them. Stay tuned.......

Have a great Memorial Weekend!

Really Cool Bead Case!!!

I just had to share this amazing case with you! It is actually made for carrying your toy military game pieces. Mine arrived yesterday and it is just the best way to take your beads to a show that I have ever seen. Your beads are well protected, it is compact and really doesn't weigh that much. You can custom order your trays to work with the size of beads you make. I ordered the custom pack 216. It carries 3 layers of beads and the case measures 16 x 12 x 4.

Here are a few photos of the bag with info on the trays....

Just the bag all zipped up.... oh and it comes with a shoulder strap as well....

This tray will hold 91 beads! And you know that I make fairly large beads... They make trays in all sizes....

This particular tray is the pluck 1/2" tray. You can just pluck out the 1/2" plugs to custom fit you own bead designs. This is going to work out great for my off mandrel hearts! The trays also have a rigid bottom to them!

Thank you Kristi for sharing your info with me!

It will be so nice to be able to go through security and not have to wait for them to unwrap each and every bead like we have had to do in the past!

You can get your custom bead case from Battle Foam!

Please let me know what you all think and if you order some let me know what tray configurations you get! It will be fun hearing about them!

Hope that this is as helpful to you as it was to me!

Have a great night!

Studio Tour....

Today was spent mostly texturing silver and making bead caps then riveting them onto the beads. I will get some photos of them in the next few days...

During my break I thought it would be fun to take a video of my studio for you to see what it is like. Just click on the play button and enjoy.......

Tonight I plan on working late and getting more beads made... tomorrow my goal is to make 10 more bracelets and few pair of earrings to match..... Wish me luck on getting that accomplished!!! I will post some photos of them tomorrow or Friday.

Have a great night!

Awesome Silver Stamps!

Jim Moore stopped by today to drop off these great new stamps for texturing silver! He made them special for me for my upcoming Masters Class at Bead and Button. We will be using these to texture our silver bead caps. These are a one time thing for him.... not something he wants to get into making. Each one is one of a kind all made by hand! He made them as a favor to me. I will be selling some of them at the show. Of course the students will have the first chance at them and then I will bring them to meet the teachers night ... and if any are left I will have them at my booth (#10).

Today was a day of packing! I was hoping to be done by noon.... but didn't quite make it! 2 boxes left for Milwaukee today and 3 more are packed and ready to go to be shipped out later in the week. I have 1 more box of powders to pack up and then the packing part is done! I believe that this is the most stressful part of getting ready for a show.... very happy to be done with this! Now I can concentrate the rest of my time on creating more glass beads and silver bracelets and earrings!

Off to relax a bit..... have a great night!

Break Time...

When I am in production mode in the studio I often take breaks and walk out to bluff or just around the property and focus my eyes on the distance to help prevent eye strain. I decided it might be fun to take my camera along with me and see what was happening out there today..... I also thought it would be fun to bring you along. So here is one of my breaks from today.

I think I will do this at least once a week if not more.... stay tuned. It will be fun to come up with different things to share with you.... maybe even a little tutorial every now and then! Lets see where this will lead.....

Taking a little break...

Taking a little break from the studio.... walked out to bluff, and on my way back in the house one of my little friends stopped by for a drink. Sure made me smile! I love all the critters around here.



Have a great day! Life is Good!!

Ireland 2011

Who wants to come to Ireland with me in September 2011? This is going to be a great trip and workshop! Beadventures is organizing the trip. I taught for them a few years ago in Italy and fun was had by all. They combine a great workshop along with tours of the area. I believe that the workshop takes place right along the coast on the cliffs, similar to this photo.... what a great place to be making beads. I am really looking forward to this trip and hope some of you can make it too!

progress

Making great progress today! Made over 100 cups ..... they are all ready for my bracelets! Whit drilled them out for me while I got the bracelets formed... It is so great having a wonderful partner and friend to help me out!

This is one of the bracelets in progress.... it still needs to be pickled, patina'd and tumbled...

This is what is waiting for me tomorrow.... a messy work table that only I can make sense of! Tomorrow will be a glass day..... every other day.... silver, glass.

And this..... well this is my reinforcements... compliments of Whit!

Thanks Sweetie!

bracelets!

I have finally caught up on all of my bracelet orders! The response to them has been very exciting!

So now I am working on some more to bring to Bead and Button with me... A day of glass and a day of silver starting Saturday till I leave for the show. I will have what I have... can't stress over it. It has been a very busy year already teaching and making beads for the classes! I am really looking forward to continuing to work on new ideas in both silver and glass....

Stay tuned!

Getting ready

Starting to get ready for the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee. I am hoping to have everything packed for my class and my display by this weekend and shipped out on Monday. I am honored to be teaching the Masters Class there this year. I have almost all of the glass packed and am now working on the silver and tools needed for the class! Once this is done I can just concentrate on getting more beads and silver work made.

Here is a photo of a pair of my Raven Earrings....

Well off to pack some more!

Looks like we have a storm coming in... great weather for being in the studio!

Feathers

Getting back on the torch!! Since I have been home I have been making mostly silver bracelets...

These are some of the first things out of the kiln. Some off mandrel feathers. Some of the black ones will be made matte and made into earrings.

Ok back to the torch!

iPhone

Kathy D is here visiting with us and we all have our iPhones out comparing apps. So Kathy just showed me this cool app called Photo Tropedelic and this photo was done using it... and now I am showing her how to use BlogPress to update your blog from your iphone.





Now off to spend the evening with Russell Crowe!

Hi from Austria

Well it was another wonderful class here in Austria! Anna the woman who runs the studio did an excellent job putting everything together! Thanks Anna!

The students were just great! Excellent beadmakers and good sense of humors! We had a great time together. I certainly feel like I have made some really great friends here...... I will definitely be coming back one day!

This is Christina! We had been communicating on facebook and it was so nice to meet her! Next visit I am for sure going to visit her home in the mountains! She showed me some photos and it looks spectacular!

Thanks everyone, I had a wonderful time!

Hi from Zurich

Had a great day shopping here in Zurich today. I bought a watch and looked at eye glass frames... the ones I saw while window shopping were over a $1000! I think I can wait! One of the students told me of a place to find some nice ones on the internet in the $300 range, will have to check them out!

A view of the city...


The class here went very well, lots of laughter and learning.... I met and made some nice new friends from another part of the world... The bead community is a great one!




Tomorrow I start my second class... Looking forward to it! The studio here is a very nice studio to teach in.....

Now off to relax and watch Meet Joe Black for about the 8th time!

I miss you Sweetie!