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Happy Thanksgiving to all! This is a day of celebration of family no matter how small or large. I have lost two large forces in my life, my mom 8 years ago, and my sister Becky 3 yrs ago. So hard to not have them here with us, but I know that they are there in spirit.
It has made our Thanksgivings very small with not a lot of family to share it with. We have wonderful friends that we see every year and they have become our family.
So off we go to Joe and Ellen's house.
Everyone have a wonderful and blessed day.
Have I showed you my new Steampunk pendant. It has gears, patina brass, watch parts and my own glass bead in the center. It was pretty fun to make and I can't wait to make more.
I am having dreams about finding an antique, second hand store that has hidden old rusty gears, washers, metal stampings, watches, and just plain ole junk that I could spend hours sorting though. Wouldn't that be grand. I bet I could find some cool stuff in Tucson. I used to go every year when I had the bead store, but can no longer afford to go. I do miss it, not so much Tucson (its dusty, brown, gritty, and not nearly enough green spaces) but I loved the shows. You could find treasures galore around each corner. I need to try and make it back there.
We just got done with a wicked cool class with bead artist Trey Cornette.
It was a fun class filled with wonderful students. It is nice when all the students seem to gel with each other. All the creative juices were flowing and Trey is such a great teacher. He has little tricks, suggestions that the students really caught onto. Everyone learned tons. If you get a chance take one of his classes, take it!
I have been working non-stop for a couple of weeks so I am taking the morning off. Watching Young Frankenstein. OMG I forgot how funny. Abby Normal...snort.
After going though lots of artistic self doubt I finally have some good news. My class was accepted by Bead and Button 2011. I will be teaching the Off Mandrel Soft Glass Implosions. I have always wanted to teach at Bead and Button but couldn't ever seem to make the deadline or gather up the courage to submit a class.
I am super happy I did and rather proud. I am going to take this and celebrate!
Next. I received in the mail a book. Hummm I don't remember ordering a book. I opened it up and it was Kate Mckinnon's beautiful new book The Jewelry Architect. Oh how sweet, Kate sent me her book, but there was no message and it was sent by the publisher. So I looked further and there was my name in the back and my beads on one of the project pages. Wow super cool. I knew Kate had some of my beads but I didn't know she used them. What a gal.
Ok a bit about the book. It is great, fabulous, and jammed packed full of information AND there is a DVD that accompanies the book. Kate constructs jewelry to last. She gives thought to everything she touches. She wants her jewelry to be that piece of vintage treasure that you find at an antique shop 50 years after it was made, and it is still strong, and sure, and ready to wear.
There are great unique ideas and it is a book that I highly recommend.
Why oh why do I keep making these pods? They really are fun to make and I love trying to see if I can make the silver glass work on them and I am getting close. It's such a sexy shape, and so wearable.
This does seem like a pattern in my bead making...remember the racked beads? Oh well.
I think to get really good at something you have to make a lot of them, especially in bead making. I think time on the torch also helps to find your own voice or bead style. The more you are on the torch the more you are exploring glass and how it works. Sometimes you get it quick and sometimes it takes time. I think when you rush it, it shows.
For the longest time I would just jump right into it and let it go. But now I am very careful about letting my beads out into the world. I have thrown out so many beads. The people in the studio found out I was doing it and would dig though the trash to retrieve them. HA.
I got smart and now wrap them in paper towels!