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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Wishing Everyone a Happy & safe New Years!

My son thinks poor Emmit looks like an Evil Elf ... His hat is actually a felted Christmas bell....

Got home late yesterday afternoon from Alberta... We got out to the airport 3 hours early for our flight home because of all the neew security ruckus... Totally unnecessary as we were through check-in and security in 45 minutes... The inside of my waistband on my jeans was fondled due to to many decorative metal studs etc... We actually had intended to eat at the Edmonton Airport so did have plenty of time for that! Boarding time came and went with no sign of a plane to board..... Finally 40 minutes late we were underway... not impressed as that cut a big chunk out of our 58 minute connection time... 20 minutes into the flight we were informed that the toilets didn't work and we would have to divert to Winnipeg if they couldn't get them fixed.... Finally the got 30 % suction... I have never seen so few people use a toilet in a 4 hour flight in my life.. Obviously NO-ONE wanted to get stuck in Winnipeg ! Yes we made our flight in Toronto left there 15 minutes late but I think that was because the actually found and loaded our luggage! On to Halifax.... (We did not originally book the milk run!) Plane was late getting in there too... probably due to the wind! The plane from Halifax to Saint John is and 18 seater ... Was hard keeping the book in focus with all the bouncing we were doing.... Got to Saint John at 12:15am, since our last ferry is at 10:30 we spent the night in Saint John and came home yesterday via the grocery store... Now as G pointed out if I had been alone I would have got stuck somewhere! At least 30% of the time I fly by myself... I get stuck somewhere coming home!

The cats were so happy to see us! Zoomies spent all last night running accross the bed to make sure we were both there!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Bah Humbug

On that note you have 24 shopping days til Christmas that is if you count both today and Christmas Eve....

So get shopping..

I'm in the middle of sorting stock for a gallery in St Andrew's Serendipin' Art as soon as I post this I have to go make beads 2 of the sets I've found for them are missing Pendants! And one set needs a new pair of earrings.... DO NOT PUT RED CORAL IN A TUMBLER!!! Actually it looks OK it's just dull instead of shiny but it doesn't match the bracelet and the Pendant anymore! I suppose I could just put the bracelet and the pendant in the tumbler too.....

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Isn't he cute! Not quite wordless Wednesday!

Since it's exactly one month to Christmas today I thought I'd try and put you in the Christmas mood with Dino! There are two of these living in front of the Museum of Natural History in NYC!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Doesn't this look like fun?

This is what I've spent the last three days doing.. I made the focal bead etc.. before I left for NYC and bought the seed beads while I was away... The necklace was inspired by the necklace "Turning Tides in the Jewelry designs with art glass beads magazine published by Bead & Button.... Is it finished? Probably not completely but for the time being it is as I lost my needle!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Central Park


How about wordless Sunday....

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Doesn't this look like fun?

















And yes those are beads all over the couch and floor!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

From scrap to...

I ran out of 20 gauge wire making earwires for an order last week... when I went on line to order more $17 / oz US caused me to rethink my order....

Like most artists working with silver I have little bags and boxes of scrap all over the place.. at >$17 / oz now was the time to haul out the Christmas present I got last year (this only took 10 months to use remember the gin bottle that took 3 years to cut up and turn into beads?) So my ingot mold and my crucible got hauled into the bead studio ... I tried melting the silver with my Smith little torch... that took way too long! My minor was much more gratifying... soon I had a puddle of molten silver I carefully lined up on the ingot mold and got this lumpy bumpy mess... (some of it was even in the ingot mold!) Back into the crucible for the silver... after about 4 tries I got something that I deemed usable and actually fit into my Rolling Mill ...(Oh I forgot the 4 hours I spent changing the rollers on my easy change roller mill... before I even got started! There wasn't one part that wasn't taken off of that thing to change the rollers!)

Now to change the ingot into wire... 4 hours later I have a small coil of square wire... Out comes the draw plate... Got it down to 20 gauge but it's still somewhat square... then I coiled it cut it and soldered it back together... Pretty crappy job if I do say so myself but anytime I think I want to save some money by making my own wire... I will take out that chain and look at it!

However if I need some wire now and square wire will work.... I have the technology!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halowe'en

Hallowe'en is such a stressful night for black cats!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday













Meet Thomasina... mother of the 3 little Smurfs & my newest Jellyfish bead..... I couldn't decide which picture to post so you get them both!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

These are living under my 'bead shop'


When we got home 2 weeks ago we discovered that a mother cat and 3 kittens had moved in! (All 3 kittens are actually in this picture!) The mother is a tiny orange a white cat and she has 3 orange & white kittens ... the mother is fairly friendly.. comes running every morning when I take out food for them... I managed to pick up one of the kittens this morning, it threw back it's paws and screamed ... guess I should have stuck to ear scratching for another week or two! I have a shredded hand for my efforts too!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wordless Wednesday (almost)


Once again I'm a day late & a ..... ? ... short!

This is my favorite picture from the air show in Cocoa Beach FL.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Marvin the Marvelous Mummy


Marvin has been hounding me ever since he hopped out of the crypt (kiln) yesterday morning to get his picture plastered all over the internet...

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday


Here's my itty bitty jellyfish beads for earrings! They are just over .5 inches hole to hole and about the same size at their base....

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Once a Chicken Always A Chicken


These are the three chickens that don't get to become part of a "farmtime" charm bracelet! Instead they get to go to Saskatchewan and be part of a show at the Handwave Gallery in Meacham... The show is called
'The Beast in Me
'.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Monday, September 7, 2009

Here's what's left of the gin bottle


I've had this Gin bottle for 3 years... my sister gave it to me EMPTY for my 50th birthday... Thought it was time to chop it up to see what kind of beads I could get... the edges are quite broken so most of the beads have edge scum.. if I peeled it there would be no glass left to turn into beads!

PS G chopped up the bottle... haven't tried making a bead using a piece that has the etching on it yet.....

Friday, September 4, 2009

What are these beads made out of?



Glass is correct but it is not a good enough answer and yes I did make them...

Thursday, September 3, 2009

OK so wordless wednesday is now on Thursdays...



Zoomies has been looking at Daisy's blog for the last couple of months and has decided that he is equally as photogenic as Daisy.. so yesterday he climbed into a bag to sleep and put this hat on his head... do you think it suits him? I did adjust the veil so that he could sleep in peace.....

Friday, August 28, 2009

Fire Divas Fall Challenge


Go check out the fire Divas fall challenge... the beads are listed on the left edge of Dorset Hills blog... Go vote for your favorite... and while your there take a guess at her 'Theme for Thursday' I'm not going to tell you which mine is other than he's been around!

Feels like fall is in the air today... but it's been a lovely sunny day!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday OK it's Thursday... I'm a day late!


I'm still on my quest for the perfect tree... this is Tuesdays and Wednesdays beads.. Monday's broke after I stuck my finger in the flame looking for a clear stringer.... (finger will recover bead won't!)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Another 'almost' wordless day


I have too many pictures ... This is one of my new lilies... the black (dark purple) lily never got a bud I hope it comes back next year... The pink ones glowing in the background did really well! They remind me of the ones dad has in Alberta... he grew them outside the fence in the back alley and someone stole every single flower one summer.. Their neighbor said well you would have given them to the person if they would have asked you ... wouldn't you?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

This is yesterdays tree bead.. Yes they are getting better... I used Lauscha olive green on the bottom... I have a green enamel that is exactly the same colour so I was able to cover up my mucky tree trunk! At the moment the bead is a plant poke... we are hoping that that will not be a permanent affliction!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

I found a little blue lamb in May Beads Store on Etsy... When I was much younger I used to have a fairly large plush Blue lamb with an orange face . Lambie went everywhere with me... My mother still doesn't know how/where I managed to hide him! To see the other Diva's of the Day check out the Diva's Blog

I'm also a member of The CGGE team on etsy.... Isn't Arnold the Penguin a cutie!


Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday... a day late

Well I'm back.... the workshop in Ottawa was wonderful.... I actually did sell a few beads in the Starving Artists SSSH sale ... if you missed the sale too bad the beads are all back up to full price...

Here's a bead that I made Monday after I got home from Ana's class... the tree is marginal but I love the background, & the shape needs some work!

Never got the picture uploaded so here it is a day late .... the dramatic 'windblown' one on the left is from the workshop the one on the right I did on Monday...

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

ALmost wordless wednesday comes a day early!

This is one of my old lilies... if you want to see this years lilies check my website ! (once your there click on daily rant... for some reason it wanted let me post the direct link... actually it posts it, it just doesn't use it!)

Don't forget to check out my BOGOF sale on Etsy!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Beads, glass... what else is new....


I am now picking the bead of the week for the Fire Divas This weeks is a LARGE glass cupcake from HollysFollyglass ...

But since I am also a member of some other street teams lets go see what else I can find! Searching for Sateam on Etsy ( don't forget their sale!) I found these earring in JewlieBeads
shop..... this will be a weekly (ha ha) blog post!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Fab Friday Finds

Today I am featuring the SSSH which stands for Sizzling Summer Sale (is here) or SSSH don't tell anyone that the Starving Artists team on Etsy is having a big summer sale ... The sale is suppose to run from the 29th of July to August 2nd... My sale is going to run from the afternoon of August 28th until I get my store revamped the evening of August 3rd... Monday August 3rd is a holiday in Canada.

What is my deal... you will be getting a two for one.... Buy one 'bead' & get one of equivalent or lesser value free... Yep I'm giving away FREE beads... I have too many beads & I need to clear off my dining room table so that we can eat on it!This bead "A taste of Sunshine" has had over 600 views it's really looking for a new home... perhaps you can help it out!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday


This is my entry in the Art Bead Scenes Monthly Challenge.... Jungle Jewels

Monday, July 20, 2009

Escape to the Islands

Oops I live on an island so how can I escape to one... G spent the weekend sailing in the Roosevelt Cup... The prizes are awarded on Campobello Island on the former Roosevelt estate... I took the ferry over as a walk on and then came back in 'Money Pit' G's boat.. Here is a somewhat interesting but unfortunately very 'blurred' image of 'Money Pit' from the dinghy as I was being rowed to shore to collect my car... I'd like to blame the 'blur' on the time of day but I think someone accidentally pushed the macro lens button.... and in case your interested he came second the first day sailing in the fog... and third the second day ... and third overall.... the 'boat' that one the first day won overall and the person that won the second day got lost in the fog the first day and never finished.....

Friday, July 17, 2009

Fab Friday Finds




I was checking out Jewlie Bead's etsy shop last week and saw this gorgeous bee pendant and I couldn't believe the price... then I realized that the price was for a tutorial to make the pendant... so You guessed it I bought the tutorial .... I have every gauge of copper wire from 14 to 28 except for 22 and 26 which are the two gauges used for most of the wire wrapping... I tried every hardware store in Maine that I drove past yesterday everyone has 18 gauge and 24 no-one has 22 gauge anything... I may just be forced to use sterling for the 22 gauge.... as I really want to try and make it! The 18 guage spine & antenae are done!

Jewlie is a member of the SATeam (Starving Artists Street Team)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday


After the storm Monday evening.....

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Looky what I found as bead of the Day on the Fire Divas Thread


This is Pansy... she's hollow so is very proud of her weight a mere 10.2 grams... Here's the link to the Fire Divas blog... check it daily to see what's new.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Fab Friday Find...

Isn't today Friday??? We had 3 days of sun... I don't do computers when I can be outside! and since I don't have any pictures of gallery artists toda's find is Amy from Form Fire Glassworks she's an architect in her 'real' job... these are her beads.... Aren't they neat!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

My Favorite Bead

The CGGE TEAM on Etsy has a monthly theme that members are suppose to create a piece for... this month's theme is your favorite piece in your own Etsy store.... Well I went through my store and then I went through my personal bead stash... and this is what I came up with... this is currently my favorite bead... it is on etsy NOW, and I have to leave it there until the end of the month or it sells... at which point in time it may be returned to my bead stash.... All entries in the July Monthly Challenge

I think if I gathered up all my beads from where I have them hidden around the house you could bury me in beads! I have very creative hiding places...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Wordless Wednesday (almost)


The ISGB Gathering is starting in Miami in a couple of days they wanted 'fun' pictures of their members for a slide show... this was Christmas day 2008... weather hasn't improved much since then... I'm still waiting for global warming!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

July 1 and July 4



My Canada Day Bead was Party time... Copper Dolphins swimming through the balloons and fireworks... (enamels) We couldn't see the fire works as it was too foggy... but you could hear them


















Today's bead for Independence Day is Starz and Stripes Copper starz wrapped in Double Helix Triton Glass