Just a Little Shopping

Today was my day. I spent the afternoon at the Bead show and purchased a few more beads. Since I already had so many gemstones and pearls I concentrated on art beads (glass, fiber, etc.) and found some cool ones.

Here are the fiber art pendants by Meg Hannan. These are so much better in person. They look like millifiori or fabric mosaics. I think I bought four of them and can't wait to do something with them.

These are the laser etched shell pendents/charms by Lillypilly Designs. Really different.

Then of course I had to buy some more LOOT (See yesterday's post) and some lamp work glass beads.

I didn't do too bad for three hours and my goal was to get some really different stuff which I did.

I would like to really make my own beads which I tried painting on some wood and it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I like the idea of using wood as it is a sustainable product but now I'm thinking some fiber might be really cool and I have a lot of scraps. I'll keep trying.

I hope you had a great weekend.

Simply Amazing

I had the best time last night teaching 10 wonderful people how to make gem trees. Everyone finished their tree (although it wasn't dry from gluing it on the base) and I think they all enjoyed themselves. Here is a picture of all their wonderful creations.

So, if you want to learn how to make these wonderful trees, you might just get your chance at the Bellevue Bead Show in November. I'll let you know how that turns out.

I did have a chance to visit the bead show yesterday before class and was able to find the focal bead for the necklace I designed for the July ABS Challenge. It's the orange disk if you couldn't tell. Isn't it great?

These great disk beads are made out of recycled art glass that would have landed in the land fill. Now you want to know where you can get your own LOOT?  Okay, okay I'll tell you. The name of the company is called LOOT. Genevieve Church is the artist that reclaims all the broken art glass and uses it to create these great little treasures. If you are interested here is here e-mail: info@recycledloot.com.

Aren't all these beads yummy! That's all for now peeps. Have a great rest of your weekend.

Teachers Showcase

Well the Teachers Showcase turned out to be quite fun after I cooled off. It was really hot yesterday and I don't think I drank enough water. I'll drink more to make up for it today. Here are a few pics I took with my cell phone, not the best quality.

My table set up

Attendees

Teacher Lynn Krestel who teaches Creating Memento Resin Charms and her sister Jill (seated)

Lynn has some very cool charms made with old photos and bits and pieces of old letters. Anything that you might want to keep as a memento. If you want to check out Lynn's blog visit her HERE or her Etsy shop HERE.

Lots of great classes being offered this weekend. My class is tonight and it sold out yesterday (I had one last spot to fill). It's going to be a hectic 3 hours with 12 students.  I'll be sure to take my camera today and get some shots of the great art bead vendors for all you ABS enthusiasts and some of my class of students. What fun!

Busy, Busy Bees

Yes, we were very busy today. Worked in the yard with hubby and grandson and actually got quite a bit accomplished. It still has a long way to go, but it did get us out in this wonderful weather. We did quit about 3 as it just got too hot. The record set back in '53 was 88 degrees but today it reached 90 and it appears that it will stay in the 90's for a couple more days. Now is the time to be grateful for air conditioning.

I printed all my instruction booklets for my teaching gig this afternoon and started hole punching them to secure the pages. I couldn't find any cute ideas on how to bind them since they are just 3 folded pages, so I came up with my own idea.

I hole punched 2 holes near the top and 2 near the bottom, wrapped some wire through each set and then wrapped beads. Kind of cute if I say so myself.

As you can see I have several more to finish up but I broke my hole punch so now I have to find another one around the house or just go buy a heavy duty one.

I have the teachers showcase tomorrow where I can sell my book and kits and try to fill that one last spot in my class. If you are interested here is the info for the Puget Sound Bead Festival.

I'll try to take some photos of the class and the festival so stay tuned.

Happy 4th of July

Today is our Independence Day and I'm sure most of you will be spending it grilling hot dogs and visiting with family and friends. We will be doing the same only a little bit later this afternoon. This morning I have to declare independence to my craft room. What a mess.

Yesterday I decided that I had better get all my class kits and additional supplies ready. I'm teaching gem tree sculptures at the Puget Sound Bead Festival and the teachers showcase is Thurs. and I teach on Friday. I'm looking forward to the teaching part but the organizing part just takes so much time. I realized that I had all these orphan trees (gem trees without a base) and decided to glue them hence all the trees and glue on my tabletop. Then I found some 4mm crystals and pearls that would be great enhancer beads on the trees so I packaged some of those up to offer for sale. It's not like I didn't have thousands of them...yes, thousands.

Then all the gemstone chip strands had to be found and marked, had to buy more glue and a couple more wire cutters and I still have to make it down to Harbor Freight to buy some mini clamps and take inventory of all the wire to make sure I have enough for students as well as those who want to buy extra. I think I'm going to need a bigger box, better yet, I'll probably put it all in a rolling scrappers case so that it will be easier to transport. Rocks do get heavy.

Kitchen Remodel Update

Here is what out kitchen looks like so far. A far cry from finished but the new windows go in on Monday, the plumber comes on Tuesday and in between some of this I'm hoping the slate floor gets finished.

I'll take a picture on Monday after the new windows get installed. It should be brighter in there. You can see a little bit on the upper left of the photo where the wall isn't finished under the window. The new windows are about 6" or more taller.

That's it for me today. It's time for a shower and then to tackle the craft room.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July.