Karen Elmquist

First Beachwalk of 2011

2011-04-13T16:38:00.002-04:00

I just returned from my first beach walk of 2011. The ice finally was gone on Sunday and we could hear waves on the shore for the first time since November! It was great to get back onto the sand. Very cold though...I ate my lunch on the porch today, but needed my parka on the beach, because of the icy air coming off the barely thawed water. The beach itself was so interesting to explore again. Oddly the water is low this spring, so the beach is very wide right now. This could change at any time, one fierce storm and everything can be different. Lots of wood on the beach, from tiny driftwood bits to huge logs...logs so huge I wouldn't be able to get my arms around them. These are pushed up not by the waves, but by the massive ice formations that form over the winter. Same with the big chunks of sandstone I saw, driven up by the ice. I love the driftwood logs. I wish I could bring them home with me but they are too heavy, which is just as well, because we would have a yard full of logs. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Over the summer they will mostly end up as beach bonfire wood. I found some nice pieces of glass. I've decided to put all the glass I find this spring into a box and bring it to Bead and Button to share. If you want some let me know so you can be in on the picking!

Springtime in Canada

2011-03-23T09:57:00.009-04:00

It has been bare and grey and brown, but snowless...and this is what I woke up to this morning.

Poor little Peewee!

Yes, I know it's beautiful, it is, and full of life giving moisture and whatever, but really. Nature? You can stop now.

Some New Work

2011-02-07T14:10:00.008-05:00

These cold and snowy winter days make me happy to be able to cocoon myself in the workshop, making treasures and playing with new ideas.

Little Shrine pendant. Fine and sterling silver, cast glass, resin, antique doll, lampwork glass flowers, handmade chain, fluorite, apatite.
Corazon Sagrado pendant. Cast glass, fine and sterling silver. I can't decide if this wants patina on it or not!
Little Shrine pendant. Fine and sterling silver, antique doll, antique button, handmade chain, faceted pearls, faceted pink spinels.Pod Bead Pendant. Fine silver, antique button, lampwork glass bead, handmade chain, faceted pearls, pink andalusite.

Pod Bead Pendant. Fine silver, lampwork glass pod beads, sapphires.

Pod Bead Necklace. Fine silver, handmade chain, handmade lampwork beads, pearls.

Shrine Pendant in Progress

2011-02-02T11:17:00.004-05:00

Cast glass, resin, fine silver, lampwork glass flowers, antique doll.

Cast Glass Pieces

2011-02-01T16:25:00.006-05:00

Some cast glass bits. Thanks to Cris for bringing me some Bullseye billet!
Shrines:
These will hold some figures.
And some shapes, to mount on metal, which will shine through the glass.

Ugly Doll Beads

2011-01-18T22:52:00.004-05:00

I made these just for fun...who doesn't love the fuzzy Ugly Dolls? They can't be sold due to the fact that they are not my designs, but they were a really fun little challenge in sculptural work after so many pods.

Podlets

2011-01-15T23:40:00.007-05:00

Tiny, tiny pod beads for necklaces and earrings.

Bead and Button 2011

2011-01-11T15:28:00.004-05:00

Registration for classes begin today. With over 700 classes, you can just imagine the buzz among eager students all over the world.
My friend Amy Waldman-Smith is offering several wonderful classes this year...check them out. I think the Four Seasons of Tree Beads sounds delightful.

And Anne Mitchell has a full list of great choices too. I don't know how she finds time to breathe during the show but I know she'll squeeze in a few dinners with friends and we'll laugh our butts off.

There are dozens of classes I'd love to take but I was thrilled to find out I got into the glass Master Class this year so between that and actually selling at the show, I think I'll have a wonderfully busy week. I can't wait.

Pink Drink

2011-01-06T19:39:00.002-05:00

My sister gave me a tin of "Pink Hot Chocolate" in my Christmas stocking. Such a pretty color on a grey winter day!

The Perfect Chair

2011-01-05T21:07:00.005-05:00

We've done some renovations in my office and I've been searching for the perfect reading chair. Which, to me, meant comfortable, cozy, a nice soft color and OLD if possible. I searched for several months before spotting this one at an auction. It's a Victorian slipper chair, re-upholstered in 1990 according to a label on it's underside. The brocade is mellow and inoffensive, especially by 1980's standards (consider the 80's, and be glad this chair doesn't have shoulder pads!) It also has a very tiny subtly sparkly gold thread in the weave which I find amusing.
It cost a whopping $10!!
However I am seldom allowed to sit in it.
Do you like my footstool? I already had it stashed away. It has tiny cast iron legs and if I sit on it I feel like Buddy the Elf.

My legless cement flamingo lawn ornament, Lola.
And my final exhibit for today, my really pretty ugly lamp with pink foxgloves. $4.00 at our local thrift. I love treasure hunting!

Excited...

2011-01-04T16:20:00.002-05:00

Just found out I'll be selling at the Bead and Button show this year!! Very exciting.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T23:41:00.001-05:00

What a peaceful, happy, merry day we had today. Lots of laughter and surprises, great food and nice music, with family and loved ones. I hope yours was the same.

Stinky

2010-11-20T14:22:00.005-05:00

I was telling Cris yesterday about the really neat little bug who seems to be happily wintering on the geraniums, a meek and inoffensive sort of fellow, no annoying flying about the head or bumping into the lamps, sort of shield shaped and brown, and she said, "Hmmmmn, that sounds like a stinkbug". I didn't even know there was such a thing as a stinkbug, but that is in fact what it is, and not just any kind of stinkbug but possibly a brown marmorated stinkbug.
Apparently they can do their stinky thing when disturbed or even jostled, but so far it hasn't, and yes, it's alive, it moves it antennae, and has been observed enjoying a change of scenery on the curtains. I am a tiny bit concerned as I don't really want an entire stinky family establishing itself in here, we are plenty stinky enough already. I'll keep you updated.

Stuff of the Day

2010-11-19T18:53:00.002-05:00

I saw a flock of wild turkeys in a field today on my way into town. Sadly both cameras were here on my desk.

There are promotional signs at our local mall saying "The Mall...it's where the shopping is!". Now, as an enthusiasm builder, this seems like a non-starter to me. Kind of like "The Lungs...they're where the breathing is!". Thanks for pointing this out. Exciting stuff.
Santa was not yet at the Mall. College students in pajama pants and parkas were at the mall. Kids, this is not a good look.

I had to buy some lampshades at Walmart. I suppose I didn't HAVE to buy them at Walmart, but I needed 6 inexpensive shades for a hanging fixture. The old ones were refusing to stay in place due to the weird plastic Ikea adaptors, which have begun to break into bits, meaning that at any time a lampshade could plop down over a light bulb and a piece of plastic land in your plate. Despite my efforts to repair them, and reinforce them with carefully cut pieces of cream cheese container lids, wait, they're still good, I can fix em again, oh God, I'm turning into my Grandma...the time had come for a nice new set of cheap crappy shades.

So I got my cheap shades and kept a close eye out in case I saw any People of Walmart people but there were only normal people, and 1,247 different kinds of Christmas candy. It was mesmerising, and no, I didn't buy any because I would just eat it! I'll wait until closer to Christmas when we can all snack ourselves into a sugar-and-fat induced coma without feeling guilty.

The shades look great.

Christmas Wish Bottles

2010-11-17T21:16:00.005-05:00

Today I spent some time playing with glitter and glue, and made fourteen Christmas Wish bottles. I had been given a box of antique bottles, old patent medicine and other bottles in interesting shapes, dug from the ground, and I've been itching to do something crafty with them. I got out my box of antique postcards, a shaker jar of tarnished silver German glass glitter from an auction sale, old silver lametta tinsel and some Victorian faded red chenille cord. Glazed paper holly leaves and berries, check! Finally some WONDERFUL antique key woodcuts from theporkchopshow on etsy, and some vintage green crystal rosemontes.

What do you put in a Christmas wish bottle? Well, wishes, of course, or letters to Santa? A sprig of pine, a peppermint stick, snow? Icicles! Whatever your heart desires.

Shipping and Handling

2010-11-16T18:13:00.002-05:00

I spent the entire day packaging all the lovely linens and laces which sold on Sunday night. I dashed off to the post office and forgot to take a picture of PeeWee full of packages. It was a satisfying sight, everything nicely wrapped.
I shipped to:
Japan
Norway
Canada
USA
Portugal
Italy
UK
New Zealand
Australia
The post office total made the line behind me go "oooooohhh"! But my customers pay for their shipping so it's not really an issue, just momentarily impressive to the folks who are purchasing $5.00 worth of stamps!

Roasted Three Ways

2010-11-15T20:55:00.003-05:00

The cold weather makes me want to cook hot tasty dinners that smell deliciously for hours while they simmer away in the oven. Tonight we had a roast of beef, cooked with mushrooms and onions and a bit of stock and white wine. An hour before the beef was done we put in vegetables to roast: carrots with orange juice and zest, fresh ginger and a bit of sugar, and potatoes tossed in olive oil, Dijon mustard and freshly ground black pepper.
Yummy! The house smells wonderful, we are warm and well fed and so very blessed.

Weirdo...

2010-11-11T19:32:00.001-05:00

Just caught the cat slurping the leftover Greek salad dressing from my dinner plate. I did not know that she had developed a taste for lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and feta. With a little black pepper.
We'll have to see if she fancies tandoori....

Bonehead!

2010-11-10T16:57:00.004-05:00

I got a funky package in the mail, from my dear Sam in San Francisco!

When Sam and I worked at the Store, we had an entire language of silly catchwords and inside jokes and also a sign language-very handy as we could communicate customer related difficulties to each other quite easily. One subtle tap of the forehead with a closed fist meant "Bonehead Alert, please help me, this person is kind of an idiot and I'm getting nowhere!" Once a nice young dad came in with a toddler on his shoulders. The toddler spied the silly Hallowe'en skeleton earrings on display, pointed towards us and piped "Look Daddy, Boneheads!". In our overworked, underpaid, unfed, Hallowe'en-candy-fueled state we thought that was the funniest thing we'd heard in a long time.

I remember the giggles, clearly Sam does too!

I would love to use these sooner than next Hallowe'en but I'll have to tuck them away and enjoy them then.

Diligence

2010-11-07T21:22:00.005-05:00

Hello from the Vintage Linen Control Center, where I have been diligently working on the the Vintage Linens. A nice big batch went up on ebay tonight. Practically every piece was carefully laundered, and everything was inspected for flaws, pressed, photographed, measured, weighed and described.

I listed:
25 hankies
209 napkins
37 towels
1 sheet and pillowcase set
20 pillowcases (10 pairs)
29 tablecloths
4 tablecloth sets (with 20 more napkins)
3 lace bedspreads
2 lace doily sets totaling 30 pieces
19 runners
50 doilies and centerpieces
2 washstand covers
5 pillowshams
1 cushion cover
and a crocheted alter cloth.
Oh.
And I guess I should mention that before any of this can happen, I need to go out and find the stuff! I tend to like that part best, which is why I have so much of it.

So if you enjoy antique linens, and are doing a little holiday shopping, just click on my ebay link to the left!

Alive, alive Oh!

2010-11-06T20:11:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am alive. Sluggish but alive. don't even know quite where to begin to catch you up, so here is a good picture.

Beads at Sunset

2010-08-03T19:53:00.009-04:00

A few pictures of the past week's beads, taken just as the sun was going down. Lovely light, soft and pearly.

Viking beads.
I particularly like the crusty olive green one. The ivory ones remind me of ancient game pieces.
Fat juicy pods, long skinny pods.

Hello, colours!

This one broke when I was cleaning it, almost perfectly in half. This is a thermal crack, which means I let it get too cold before I put it into the kiln. I was probably admiring it and calling myself a genius. Ha. It's etched and still pretty cool, it looks like a spider sucked all the juice out of it.

The core was purple dichroic glass.

Etsy Treasury

2010-07-28T12:20:00.003-04:00

Look at this great Etsy Treasury called Night on the Town by Etsy seller TartDeco. It features one of the vintage compacts from my shop.
I've had the honor to be featured in several Etsy treasuries and from now on I'm going to toot my own horn and post them here!
Here is another really nice one called Canadian Sellers by Alisonsyer, featuring work by Canadian artisans.

"In A Garden" Show

2010-07-20T17:38:00.021-04:00

This past weekend I sold at the 20th annual "In A Garden" show and sale, organized and hosted by Kathryn McHolm. It's the fifth time I've participated and it was a pleasure to see so many lovely repeat visitors out enjoying the beautiful gardens and the artisan offerings. Here's our host, Kathryn.

My little corner was shady and cool.

I've never seen a fox before. This adolescent was glowing with health and as alert and interested as could be.

One of the adobe ovens, out of which came a procession of cinnamon rolls, pies and fruit cobblers.

Garden decor.

Guinea fowl chicks. Did you know they have blue eyes??

Lambs, they liked to have their noses tickled.

A fuzzy unripe peach.

And a marvelously alien-looking quince!

Poppies, so delicate, with their endearingly rumpled petals.

A wine dark lily.There is a honey bee in this poppy!

Flowers everywhere.

A smiling dragonfly.

Fabulous rosehips.

And a dainty and decorative spider.

The weather was July-In-Ontario hot (which can suck the energy out of even the most ambitious!), but we had lovely customers and a great visit. Of course it was heavenly to be spoiled by Veronica, and to enjoy Lemon Buttermilk Pie at the Buttermilk Cafe, for breakfast on Monday.

It was great to be able to share the driving for the first time, though driving on the 401 (our busiest freeway) is certainly interesting. Wow. I want a De-Materializer which will annihilate people who don't signal before darting neatly in front of me and then whisking off into some other direction. A click of a button could send them promptly into another dimension, where they can randomly change lanes as often as they like without bothering anyone else.

Sweet Clover, Freshly Cut Hay and Rain

2010-07-15T21:18:00.002-04:00

Close your eyes, and take a deep breath.

The Bluest Blue

2010-07-12T10:47:00.004-04:00

Morning glories so blue that the eye almost can't register the saturation of color.

Moth on the deck. Birch bark or a leaf? Sand? She would blend with any of those.

Summer progresses gently. I have a show this weekend and am assembling all the goodies into some sort of order. And relishing that I can distance myself from drama. It's helpful to remind myself that a lot of people seem to have trouble understanding that not everyone wants or needs to be just like them.

Further Experiments in Glass Casting

2010-07-08T19:36:00.014-04:00

Molds made of jewellers investment. The fluted ones were poured into silicone muffin cups, reusable and easy to remove. I used fresh leaves, and hand molded sacred hearts made of polymer clay.

The molds look so pure and smooth and lovely! As an experiment, I tried lampworking some glass into approximately the correct shape and size. Some leaves are filled with green and clear frit.
Ready to go into the kiln:

And out of the kiln. Note that one mold broke as I took it out of the kiln, they are very fragile after they've been fired and can be used only once. Some glass flowed well, some didn't seem to get quite enough heat to make it flow flat, and it bunched up on itself instead.

With the molds removed:

Unfortunately the white sacred heart reminds me of a chicken,

Scrubbed clean:

I am liking how these look very much, continued experimentation will follow.

Viking Beads

2010-07-06T19:44:00.005-04:00

Weathered and etched and aged, as close to the originals as I've been able to manage. Inspired by beads found as grave goods throughout the Viking world. Viking men and women treasured their beads of jet and amber rock, crystal and agate, carved bone and ivory, gold, silver, and especially glass. Women's graves have been found with hundreds and hundreds of beads. These replicas feature gold foil, enamel, layered cane and hand made starburst and checkerboard murrini.
Available in my Etsy Store, $45 for sets of 7 to 9 beads.

Delete

2010-07-06T13:15:00.001-04:00

"The Moving Finger writes: and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
---Omar Khayyam

Pretty Pod Baubles

2010-07-05T18:21:00.006-04:00

Lovely silver glass adds opal tints to the seeds, and fumes the base glass to strange new colors. I never get tired of making these.

Happy 4th

2010-07-04T22:19:00.002-04:00

There are fireworks going off across lake Huron, on the US side. We are really close here, perhaps 4 miles? and the sound is carrying very clearly across the water. The cat is sitting by the screen door, looking out, very alert, as she does whenever there are fireworks. Her attitude is one of expectation and anticipation, as though a mouse-filled pinata could appear at any time.

A little song.

2010-07-04T20:23:00.001-04:00

I wrote it just for me! Please sing along, to the tune of "I'm a Woman" (you know the one, "I can take the bacon, and fry it up in a pan? yeah, that one)
Ahem:
First I took effexor, made made me sad to be alive
Then I tried wellbutrin, made my hands shake like I was 95
Next was zoloft, felt great but pooped all the time...
now I'm on cyprolex and I tell you I feel fine

Cause I take antidepresssants
A-n-t-i depressssants!
Yeah!
say it again!
I take antidepressants,
A-n-t-i deee-press-ants!

Some dull your libido, so you don't wanna screw
Some affect your innards, so you do nothin but pooh
Some give you palpitations, think you're having a heart attack
others make you sleepy so you're always in the sack

Those are antidepressants,
A-n-t-i depressssants!
Yeahsay it again!
I take antidepressants,
A-n-t-i deee-press-ants!

No matter what the hassle, they're better than being blue
the kinda blue when everything in the whole world sucks and you don't know what to do
See the doctor's my advice and feel better, and you will see,
and then you can sing my little antidepressant song with me...

Take your antidepressants,
A-n-t-i depressssants!
Yeah say it again!
I take antidepressants,
A-n-t-i deee-press-ants!

Thank you, your'e beautiful!

Stepping Out Of The (Bead) Box

2010-07-02T11:02:00.017-04:00

Of course I am still making beads, owls and pods and birds and baubles, but I've been working with some fibre as well lately and enjoying the way things are coming out. I'm making pieces that are multi-purpose, and can be tied and worn in a variety of ways. They work as long necklaces, lariats, chokers and bracelets, probably would work as delicate belts as well. Haven't figured out a way to wear them as earrings yet!

Click on any photo for a slightly larger view.

Needlefelted wool appleblossoms and leaves, antique stamens, size 15 seedbeads, silk and bamboo fibre knitted wool cord.

My first tentative experiments with bead weaving, I wanted backs that could slide up and down the cord.

100 antique mother of pearl buttons, hand crocheted onto kid mohair and silk yard (Rowan Kid Silk Haze, the crack of knitting!)

100 antique pink mother of pearl buttons, on silk and bamboo yarn.

As a choker.

The beads snuck into the mix here, of course. Antique mother of pearl buttons, vintage seed beads in an opaque oyster white, handmade lampwork glass beads, hand-felted baubles accented with tiny seed beads and some handmade cashmere flowers and leaves, all on bamboo and silk yarn.

Felted baubles with beading, needlefelted wool flowers, antique buttons.

The pale pearly pink beaded baubles are from the 1960's, I picked them up at Bead and Button and of course I wish I had bought more!

Lilac pancake-stack cashmere flowers with needlefelted and antique button centers, lots of antique buttons, handmade beads, hand felted baubles, on kidsilk haze.

The Loveliest Place

2010-06-30T20:39:00.011-04:00

I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place, in a beautiful country in this beautiful world. In this lovely summer weather I do a lot of my work outside, especially on pleasant cool days like today. What could be better than working to a backdrop of such loveliness, with a chorus of birdsong and waves? The deck is like an extra room, I take photographs, knit, and clean beads, we eat meals, sometimes I'll even iron linens or steam clothing out there. Sometimes I bring out the radio, but not often, the outdoor sounds are so relaxing.

Such a beautiful view. Only a small section of this yard is cut, the rest is wild, right down to the shore, and packed full of wild strawberries, briar roses, Queen Anne's lace, clover, daisies and asters, goldenrod, milkweed, hawthorn, mice, butterflies, bunnies and dozens of types of birds. And fireflies, they are wonderful beyond belief this year.
The potted flowers are flourishing. (My nephew used to call these "Auntie's pot plants").
On old scavenged yard sale benches.

A splendid 2-story log dragged from the beach, makes an ideal perch for a variety of birds.

Flora will be wearing a morning glory garment soon.

Looking back from the end of the deck.

I painted all the flower stands and chairs this year so everything is proudly white and crisp. I got a fair amount of paint on myself as well so for a while I was all white and crisp too. I adore the fanciness of the fuschia flowers.

Junk from the beach. Rusty springs and loops of wire, roots, weathered wood.

Pretty Things

2010-06-21T09:37:00.009-04:00

Pretty things, currently up for grabs on ebay. Ending Sunday June 27th, around 11:30 pm.

A fabulous 1940s Little Black Dress, with a marvellous Surrealist print of flowers and a mysterious ladies' face, beautiful condition and a wearable size.
6 pristine Madeira leaf doilies or coasters, with gremio tags still attached.
A group of superb estate linens with amazing embroidery, cutwork and handmade bobbin lace.

Peach silk and lace undies from the 1930's.

A gossamer 1950s black lacy slip.

Delightful beading on an early 1960s cardigan sweater.

A charming little white lace 1950s blouse.

A wonderful gold-stencilled black velvet panel c.1880.

Ice Cream

2010-06-18T10:45:00.003-04:00

Wild strawberries are ripe in the meadow. They take forever to pick, forever to clean as they are tiny, the size of a small fingernail, but the burst of flavour in each tiny berry is amazing. And it is lovely to pick them, listening to the waves, the birds, crouched in the long waving grasses, with the sun hot on my shoulders and the scent of the wildflowers and the sweet berries like incense.

Valentine investigated my empty bowl, and took one taste. After licking her little chops for five minutes she decided that it was NOT gravy and thus not worth her time. So and I, however, we have decided that it is Very Good. I might have some right now!

The Very Great Hotel!

2010-06-16T11:43:00.002-04:00

I stayed in a superior hotel for Bead and Button, it had some excellent features. I couldn't help bragging about them to my friends.
I had a:
Chaise longue
A dish of candy on my coffee table
A goldfish bowl in the lobby, with goldfish
A Bible AND a Book of Mormon
Bunk beds
Pez dispensers
A harpist to lull me to sleep
Free breakfast
Free BEER
Possibly unicorns (Paul stated he could believe the unicorns but not the free beer)
Time travel
Matthew Fox AND Anderson Cooper AND Russel Crowe
Peanut M&M's

Bead and Button Wrap Up!

2010-06-15T19:27:00.038-04:00

Home, finally, from the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee. It was a great week, filled with laughter. The classes I took were great, I learned a lot and I have lots of ideas and new techniques to explore. I met some really smart and interesting people, saw old friends, had some delicious dinners, bought some great beads and treats and saw so many amazing things.
It's enriching to talk with all these talented people. They get it. We mutually understand why we do what we do, and nothing needs to be explained. I love it.

Sunday and Monday I took a class with Susan Lenart Kazmer and her sister Cheri Lenart, which included moldmaking, casting glass using frit and billet, and the creation of several kinds of settings.
Here are Cris and Bronze Gail mixing up our casting investment. I kept expecting (and kind of hoping for) a Lucy and Ethel moment in which Gail would plaster a handful of slop into Cris's hair, but it never happened. Cris and I made made rings. Here, Gail models my Glowing Heart of Canadian Patriotism, Cris's Pulsating Pickle of Pulchritude, and my earlier Drama Deflector ring. Gail's stunning pendant, which glowed in different colors according to the light, the setting was bronze which really brought out the colors in the glass.
It was a great class and everyone made amazing stuff. It's going to be such fun to explore these techniques! My personal challenge will be to see what I can do with the 104 glass I have on hand, rather than adding another COE to the the studio.

Dinner at Charro, here is the lovely Gail Crossman Moore ("Felt Gail"). And Anne, wearing a plantain chip as a mustache, because she can.

The Bead Dreams competiton display was wonderful, as always, so many amazing pieces in so many different techniques and styles and from all over the world. There were a number of cabinets like this, filled with entries, this is the display of lampwork , polymer clay and "other materials" beads.

Big Bad-A-Boom necklace, looking quite contented!

I shamelessly pinched this picture from Gail's blog...because...

My Flying Pod vessels took first place in the lampworking division!

I had to double check before I called So, because I thought I imagined it. I'm very honored and delighted to be included in the show, let alone to place among the winners. My sincere thanks to the judges, and to Soft Flex for sponsoring the lampwork category prizes.

I bought some adorable finger puppets thinking they would make cute cat toys, and gave them to my fellow cat owners. Nothing like giving a bunch of adults some cheap, cute toys at an expensive restaurant to turn them into a group of silly kids. Luckily our excellent waiter is a teacher in his day job and had no trouble keeping us in line!

Cris seems to be hearing voices from her black cat puppet, which she later said was "evil".

The Vulcan salute as given by Anne and four finger puppets.

Dessert at this restaurant (the Capitol Grill) was divine. Cris and Paul had a chocolate Hazelnut cake.

I had a flourless chocolate espresso cake. Sigh.

Stacey and Gail had Coconut Cream Pie.

Anne had fresh berries with cream. Gigi didn't have any, just a tiny nibble or twoGail admiring the cookie on top of her pie.
These are the pieces I made in the Glass Clay class I took with Paula Radke. They haven't been fired yet. They remind me of faience, and are light and rather crispy feeling. They've shrunk quite a bit already and I'm curious to see how much more they'll shrink during the firing. The blue rabbit has been filed refined, the green one is still unfinished. I'll be sure to post pictures when done.

The Glowing Heart ring. I love this, truly, it's light and comfortable to wear for such a huge ring. Fun!

The bezel setting class I took with Joe and Anat Silvera was excellent. I can't believe I made this! The stone is one of my glass cabochons from a few years ago. I need to work on the final smoothing of the bezel...this is where hand strength is useful as the silver is quite work hardened at this point, I'll just keep smoothing it.

I also took a dot clinic class with Kristina Logan, which was excellent and an enamel on beads class with Bronwen Heilman, also excellent, though I forgot to take pics of the class beads I made. I think the enamelling class will be the most fruitful for me, I have an idea now of how to actualize the Catacomb beads I've been wanting to make.

Here are some of the treasures and treats I brought home.
A marble by Trey Cornette, full of dancing people.

An exquisite glowing bead by Katherine Natalia Wadsworth.

And a spectacular Harold Williams Cooney bead. I am in awe of his work.

A glorious 1920s French beaded passionflower.Jasper, jasper, pearls, pearls and some to-die-for grade A coral spikes.

Pink garnets, hessionite garnets, andalusite, labradorite, quartz, pyrite, pearlsPink beaded baubles from the 1960s, the tiniest 1920s silver metal spangles.

One beautiful OLD battered carnelian bead, very large, smooth, heavy and cool.

Modern tiny seedbeads.

VIntage 1920's TINY TINY seedbeads, the black ones are size 20.

A tiny beach pebble expresses it's opinion of the tiny seedbeads, and incidentally looks much the way I feel after such a busy week.

And finally an entire posse of Bob Burkett miniature bronze skull beads. Oh my!

That's all for now. In my next post I will tell you about my amazing hotel!

Ouch

2010-05-27T12:15:00.004-04:00

I read a blog post a few days ago, the gist of which has been bouncing around in my thoughts ever since. The author was lamenting a few days without caffeine, and justifying the longing for caffeine by listing a number of other vices of the modern world. And one of the "vices" was antidepressants. They were described as something people toss back casually...at least I think that was the phrasing...I went back to reread the post to be sure I wasn't over reacting and much of the post had been edited and was gone.
That resonated with me, strongly enough that I dreamed about it last night, which tells me I need to address it. I have a very live-and-let-live philosophy, and I rarely comment on, or criticize other blog posts. This comment troubled me, though, as it seemed so dismissive of something so serious.
Are anti-depressants a casual vice? Something needing to be justified and a little ashamed of? Are they something we know we probably shouldn't indulge in , but just can't resist, like cookies? (Jeeze, I know I shouldn't, but I simply can't pass up a tasty mood stabilizer!)
I just don't think so. It made me feel diminished to read that. In my experience, antidepressants help with a troubling illness. They are expensive and it's difficult to find the proper dosage and the proper "fit" and some of them have horrible, debilitating side effects. They're certainly not something I take casually or take for granted. I feel lucky to have access to them and to have access to medical care to try to get my brain chemistry working properly. The alternative is unfathomable. Desolate.
A good cup of coffee is a delicious treat. An antidepressant helps a person lead a normal (or almost normal) life. Yes, it would be "easier just to be happy". It would be great to be taller, too, or ten years younger. I'd do those on my own if I could, too.
'Til then, peace, love, joy, pharmaceuticals. Oh, and a good cup of coffee.

Fun Auction

2010-05-14T08:56:00.019-04:00

I was trying to figure out how long I have been going to auctions sales. I'll have to double check with Mom, but I believe she first started going around 1968. Dad was posted in a small town, surrounded by farming country, and there were lots and lots of sales. Mom was interested in green Depression glass and her friend was collecting Victorian Japanese china with the cobalt blue and gilt and full blown pink roses (so understated! but pretty). I simply loved to go with them. Some auctions were held in church halls or town meeting halls, but many more were held right on the farms.
The old farmhouses were crammed with the possessions of the families who had probably lived there for 80-100 years or so, and I would guess that the "kids" weren't interested in farming or living in a big old drafty house, so the contents would be sold off. These were days when kids could wander about unattended without worry, so we would explore the farm and have a thorough look at everything of interest (kittens, chickens, cows, climb-able apple trees, old flowerbeds, outbuildings, streams) and of course all the curious, interesting, pretty or inexplicable old things offered for sale. Wire bustles, glass baby bottles, chamberpots, spittoons, cream separators, stuffed birds under glass domes, petticoats or coffin plates, there was no way of imagining what might turn up.
The local "church ladies" usually had food for sale, sandwiches, hot dogs and home made pie were our favorites, and tasted so delicious.
To this day the scent of crushed grass and Creeping Charlie evokes those first auction sales. Of course it also evokes the auction sales I still go to today.
A new world of opportunity is opening to me-now that I am driving, I can get to sales that weren't possible for me before. On Wednesday I headed out at dawn for a sale about an hour and a half away, and had so much fun!
This was one of the good ones, and a living sale (meaning the owner was simply downsizing, not "late"). And she had saved everything, pretty much, bless her soul!

The furniture was lovely and everything was so well cared for and clean. Some auction sales are festering pits of grime, this one was lovely, immaculate, a pleasure. It was held by Jack Morris Auctions, and it was a really well-run sale by people who really know their business. Fast paced, well organized, friendly! The staff were so pleasant! (Sometimes...not frequently, but it does happen...the staff at auctions act as though the bidders are a big nuisance. Not here!)
I coveted this pretty green hooked rug for my office. However it went too high for me. It's so important to stick to some kind of a budget at sales, and never to think of an object as "mine" until you have won the bid. Otherwise...disastrous overbidding may result, but we've all done it! This sweet love seat was upholstered in flawless 40s bark cloth, as fresh as the day it was made. Sigh. Much of the furniture went very inexpensively. Will you cry when I tell you that the family piano sold for $2? I knew I could not fit a piano into a PT Cruiser.
The jewelry table, always lots of action here. There were some real treasures. And I scored a few of them. Heee!

My heart started to pound when I spied all these 1940's and 1950s shoes. With matching handbags.

Art, schmart. Give me the shoes. I had to wait hoooouuurs before they came up. But I wandered and poked through boxes, talked to people, discovered more things to bid on.

I coveted these too! Made of silver wire filigree with little wire "easel" backs, they were place card holders. I bid but dropped out at $40...they sold for $180. What excellent taste I have.

BOXES of flawless lingerie, and stockings in the original packages. I bid high, didn't get them, but really, really tried!

Furs and coats, sweaters, other goodies.

Pink and black 1950s bathing suit...with matching lacy bathing cap. OH MY!! I bought these. Can't wait to get photos on the mannequin!!

Lots and lots of linens. I have a lot of nice linen on hand so I didn't bid on these ones, but I did buy 4 very fancy embroidered large matching runners trimmed with lots and lots of bobbin lace.

Christmas ornaments, all 1940's and 1950's. Lucked out a tiny bit here...they whole table was sold as one lot but the buyer sold me the few bits I wanted.

The books were wonderful. I got that enormous 10 pound bible for 25 cents, because its full of great engravings, chromolithographs and illustrations, lists, dictionaries, and so much more. If you would like some pages for mixed media work I would be happy to send you some for free, just let me know. Seriously. The pages of ancient coin illustrations are going to Gail L. The bible is falling apart and has no "book" value as it is, but the pages can be used for all sorts of wonderful creative purposes!

What a great space-age cover!

If I didn't already have a very nice pink canister set for the pink kitchen in town, I would have been all over this! It was flawless!

There was so much more I didn't get pictures of. Piles of hats and gloves, curtains, pristine wool blankets, picture frames and pictures, tools, and masses of old glass and crystal and silver and statues and figurines and fancy china. I forgot to get a picture of this enchanting owl tea set so I pinched this picture from the auctioneers website. Isn't it delightful? I really had to sit on my hands so I couldn't bid...but I don't really deal in china, and I don't need a tea set. But this was so charming...I am sure one would have to serve thin sandwiches, and cookies cut in the shape of owls.

I had a great time. I love to find treasure to sell. I don't think I bought a single thing to keep for myself, (which is GOOD, I don't need more stuff!), but I don't care, I love to have great stuff for my customers! I'll share more pictures of my finds as soon as I get them photographed.

Just Before The Thunderstorm

2010-05-14T08:49:00.002-04:00

Sadly my camera couldn't capture the intensity of contrast here. The sky was much darker and the water more turquoise. And then, it really, really rained!

Ontario Spring

2010-04-28T13:34:00.001-04:00

Wooly Flowers

2010-04-24T12:18:00.005-04:00

Cashmere, angora and lambswool, with vintage stamens and seedbeads and needlefelting. Beaded loops on the backs so I can string them onto a crocheted rope with buttons and beads.

It must be admitted that several cashmere sweaters were seriously inconvenienced in the making of these flowers!

Beach Excitements

2010-04-23T22:06:00.003-04:00

I went for a long beach walk this afternoon...it's still very cold here and the wind off the lake was bitter, but the sun was shining and calling me. I'm glad I went. I was refreshing and I found lots of treasures. There wasn't another soul on the beach, I walked for an hour and a half and didn't see anyone other than two Canada geese, who looked at me disapprovingly and stalked away into the lake.

I love glass with writing on it. This seems to be a date.

Some pale blue Fire King Delphite glass, some china and a remarkable knobbly bit of orangey-red glass. This is a fragment of some sort of hobnail piece, a vase or toothpick holder, or one of those Fenton glass shoes.

A big piece of blue glass, not very frosty, but it has the letters "ER" on the top edge...my sister's nickname!!

A massive frosty chunk of aqua glass, this would be gorgeous cut to a perfect rectangle and set in silver for a ring or a pendant. Stones with holes. The humble beer-bottle glass. I wish beer came in blue and pink and purple bottles. That would be an improvement in every way.

A perfectly heart shaped stone and a heart shaped 1957 dog tag!!! Love these!

I came home cold and windblown but tickled with my finds.

Excitement!

2010-04-23T11:16:00.011-04:00

I just found out that both of my submissions have been juried into the 2010 Bead and Button Show Bead Dreams competition. I'm excited!

The Big Bad-A-Boom necklace features a weighty 8g fine silver chain with seven strands of enamelled lampwork beads from my Bad-A-Boom series. They're strung with freshwater pearls and each strand is topped with a handmade hook, so that the strands can be detached. This way I can wear the necklace with one strand, or five, or all seven, or just the chain alone.

The Flying Pod Vessels are lampworked glass with fine silver collars and wings, and handmade fine silver chains.

A Warm Wooly Canadian Flower

2010-04-21T17:57:00.001-04:00

Because even our flowers need long johns to keep warm right now!

Meet Peewee

2010-04-10T21:16:00.010-04:00

Remember this? Learner's permit, February of 2009?
Meet Peewee!

I got my drivers license last week. This was a big achievement for me as it meant conquering a phobia of very long standing, and I'm proud of myself. AND I'm proud of myself for being proud of myself! It was a little delayed by an interminable strike by the driving testers and some other stuff, but I did it. Assuming that all goes according to plan, Peewee will be coming to our house next week. And maybe I will be able to get it away from SO (who really, really likes it!) long enough to drive it! It's a 2009 PT Cruiser and I am enamoured of it. This is, of course, the first car I have ever owned, so it's only right and proper that I have a little car crush on it.

Don't worry Valentine...we still love you best, and your grimy yellow fish.

Santa Fe

2010-03-25T11:28:00.014-04:00

I'm back from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and recovering from six very full and busy days. The show was quite successful for me, I am really pleased. I had a lot of really nice input on my work, met some editors and some great customers, sold lots of beads and some finished jewelry, laughed and ate with friends and even squeezed in a few short walks and a tiny bit of shopping!

The food was insanely good in each and every place we ate, of a completely different calibre than the Mexican/Southwestern food we can get here. Everything was so delicious.
Each night Cris, Gail, Stacey and I took possession of these two comfortable benches in front of the wood fireplace, behind the restaurant in the La Fonda hotel. We talked and laughed and made fun of each other and took pictures and laughed some more.
Cris and Gail after a long day:
Stacey shows off her new boots and a pensive expression:
Cris and I in the La Fonda show space (picture pinched from Gail, thanks Gail!) Check out the fabulous chandeliers!
A few pics of my table, and a wee corner of Cris's. There were people in front of hers each time I went to take a picture...which is good!

It was a pleasure to get out for a few minutes and there were interesting things to see everywhere I looked. This is the oldest church in the US, built in 1610.

A beautifully cast bronze plaque:
A commemorative stone in the park in the center of town: This is the beautiful hotel, our show was here and we also stayed here. I'm so glad we stayed in this hotel instead of a more modern one, it was absolutely oozing with atmosphere (in a good way!). There were painted tiles and painted windows and painted walls, fat cushions and comfortable chairs everywhere, beautiful light from skylights, interesting little shops throughout, and the nicest staff. (Except for a couple of guys Cris and I encountered on Sunday night, we're not sure just what they were up to but we have our suspicions that sumpin' was goin' on!) Our room was tiny but the beds were really comfortable and our vivid yellow bathroom was a good way to wake up the brain. I loved it there and would happily move in for good if I could have a bigger room. And my girlfriend. And my cat. And my torch.
Some of the wonderfully shapely adobe buildings:

It was quite a trip. We slept very little...Cris and I see each other very seldom that we found we had a lot to talk about, and despite our best intentions each night, we ended up talking for hours before going to sleep.
I could go on, about the destructiveness of airline luggage handlers (2 brand new bead trays broken, my miniature dress form broken, my clip board smashed to smithereens), the stress of one of Cris's bags not appearing until late Thursday afternoon (it held half of her display items, including the bases to her display stands), how nice it is to go so far away and yet see some familiar faces amongst the customers, how sincerely nice the other vendors were all around us....it was great fun. I hope I can do it again next year!

Detroit Airport and a Viking necklace

2010-03-17T13:24:00.007-04:00

I know, I know, those two things don't really go together. I'm sitting in the Detroit airport on my way to Dallas and from there to Santa Fe, where I will be showing my beads at the Interweave Bead Fest. This should be fun. My suitcase is full of table display with a few clothes filling in the corners, and my carry-on is full of beads. My suitcase was 3 pounds over the weight limit, so I took out my lights and my receipt books, and put them in my purse, hey, it saved me $50!! That's $50 I can spend on beads! Or Jack Daniels! This is going to be a very interesting experience and it will be so great to see my friends!
This necklace is inspired by Viking pieces. The beads are all copies of 8-10th Century beads. To get that crusty ancient look they were rolled in baking soda as I made them, which creates wonderful pits and texture and crackling. After they're annealed they are soaked in vinegar until they no longer taste salty(srsly!) washed, etched and then tumbled for a few hours with steel shot to make sure they are strong enough to be used. They were fun to make and I will surely be making more of the checkerboard murrine. The round beads riveted to the silver discs are meant to mimic amber. It was fun to make.
I'm off to grab a slice of pizza so goodbye for now, I'll update with booth pics as soon as I can!!

Un Hibou

2010-03-10T10:17:00.002-05:00

An owl on a branch pendant in glass and fine silver:

Hibou is such an excellent word!! Owl is good, but Hibou is even better.

I'm working hard to get ready for the Santa Fe show, lots of juicy new beads and jewelry.

The year is turning, the birds are coming back. In the last few days I have seen mourning doves and grackles and heard my first red winged blackbird of the year. The cardinals are singing like mad creatures, fiercely red. The sun has been shining and the sound of trickling water is everywhere...melting snow, melting ice. The lake is still a plain of white, but soon, soon.

Fingerprint Prognosis Unknown...

2010-03-04T20:12:00.002-05:00

My burnt fingers are healing, and they are the ugliest fingers you could possibly imagine. I won't even try to describe them. I am very curious to see if I still have fingerprints under there, right now the healing parts are as smooth as can be and red as a boiled lobster. Will my fingerprints grow back? Do I have a future new career in crime, because two of my fingers cannot be traced???? (I can't actually think of why this would be an advantage as there are not too many worthwhile crimes I could commit with the first two fingers of my left hand).
Stay tuned.

Happy Place

2010-03-04T20:09:00.003-05:00

Antique sewing stand? Check
Vintage pure wool blanket? Check
1940's hand embroidered needlepoint down-filled cushion? Check. It blocks the draft from the window. Can't have that.
Happy cat? Check.

This Message Will Self Destruct....

2010-02-27T01:23:00.002-05:00

I seem to be on an inadvertent course of self destruction and personal maiming these past few days. My brain chemistry is really improving, with consequent uplifting of outlook, but I am experiencing some extra clumsy moments physically, maybe to keep me from getting too uplifted all at once.
I have poked my thumb with an awl, broken a fingernail off down about as far as it possibly could break, popped myself in the arm with the (HOT) face of my Blazer torch, brushed the tip of my left index finger into the big torch flame, had a hot glass bit shoot up my sweater sleeve and dropped my ring mandrel onto my foot which fortunately was cushioned by an Ugg boot. Today, to cap this off, I inadvertently, thoroughly stuck the first two fingers of my left hand into the flame. Not just randomly, it was part of a purposeful gesture, I assure you, but certainly not my intent. It was not on my list of things to do today.

&%%$##!!

There are definitely no germs left on my fingertips. There might not be any fingerprints left on my fingertips.

Ow.

If the underpants bomber experienced anything like this sensation in his boy-parts when he ignited his undie-bomb, I figure he may have had a good start on appropriate punishment.

Big-Bad-A-Boom Beads

2010-02-26T00:10:00.008-05:00

This last picture was taken as I began my table layout for the upcoming show...just to be sure everything flows well. I am so lucky to have my helper there...on the table...supervising!

More New Stuff

2010-02-19T16:28:00.005-05:00

Some new vessels on handmade fine silver chains, and a parliament of owls!

Sunshine After Shadow

2010-02-19T09:20:00.001-05:00

Starting to feel better.

Some New Work

2010-02-13T13:49:00.017-05:00

Lampworked glass and fine silver, with sapphires, freshwater pearls, citrine, emeralds, tourmalines and garnets. You can click on the pics to make them bigger.

Well, *&#!!

2010-02-13T11:55:00.002-05:00

I hardly ever watch tv any more. My attention span for boring tv is really, really short. I cancelled the cable at the apartment, though we've kept it here at the lakehouse. I do adore Lost, and Jon Stewart and I have a little soft spot for Anderson Cooper, and House, I'm glad I can watch those online, or when I am here at the lake.
However.
We planned to watch the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics last night, and we were really looking forward to it. 15 minutes before the start time...the cable/internet went out. I was in the middle of an IM conversation with Anne talking about how excited we were, and pfffththh. No cable or internet. A call to the cable company gave me a recorded message saying that "the city of C------ was experiencing an outage". "City" makes me laugh...it's our nearest inhabited locality and it has (it think) 4 street lights (not stoplights...streetlights) and 3 stop signs. One store which is a combination variety/antiques/hot dog stand/wood furniture and BEER store. Nonetheless, no cable and not long after we lost power too. So it was reading by flashlights, and communing with our pioneer ancestors, and no patriotic festivities for us.
The bits I've caught online this morning look great, but poor Wayne Gretzky, couldn't they have given the poor guy an Olympic themed umbrella as he carried the torch through the pouring rain? Dang! I think it must have been hard to think noble patriotic historically significant torch-lighting thoughts with cold rain dripping down the back of his neck!

A Poem

2010-02-11T17:46:00.002-05:00

Frozen Pies

cat eyes

Surprise!

Working

2010-02-10T22:32:00.002-05:00

There are vessels in the kiln, and vessel lids, and owls and fat alien pods. Can't wait until morning to see them. Did you know that many colors of glass look completely different when they are hot? The yellow ochre glass I used for the pods turns deep red when it's hot, and though I have a fairly good idea of what they should look like, it's always, always fun to take them out of the kiln the next day.
I should amend that...in all honesty, there have been quite a few beads over the years that elicit "What the hell was I thinking??" the next day. But usually I don't anneal those ones, they go into the water can where they blast themselves into fragments with satisfying clouds of steam.

Report from Quality Control:

2010-02-09T20:42:00.002-05:00

Huh. The E-6000 glue: no good for vessel collars.
I try to pull, poke, prod and otherwise torment the stuff I make, I'd rather have a piece come off in my hand than in a customers. The fine silver collar I attached to a pretty pink pod vessel 2 days ago didn't make the cut. I pulled it right apart just now without much difficulty. Back to good old 2 part epoxy, which holds up much better to "chemically solder" my stuff. (That's a fancy way of saying "glue" which sounds more difficult and complex, haha).
Lots of new necklaces to be photographed if we get a few moments of sunshine. It seems that recently the sun only shines if I am leaving to go to the dentist or in the shower, or cooking dinner. When I am all ready to take pictures it's dull and grey. I'll keep my fingers crossed!
On the brain front, progress is being made in the form of new meds which aren't making my hands shake, and hopefully will restore my balance. I am cautiously optimistic!

Editing Out The Really Boring But Accurate Blog Entries

2010-02-04T19:10:00.002-05:00

I thought I would point out that I have actually been blogging every single day for the past few months, but I hadn't mentioned that my special new automatic editing program, called "DepressO-Delete" automatically edits or removes all overwhelmingly depressing entries. On the days that I feel like crap I just write a long gloomy post about how "Today, I feel like crap", and the new editing program quickly and easily deletes that for me.
Since the past few months have been particularly crappy, I realize the editing has left a fairly minimal blog!
I opted not to add in the optional "The Infinite Universe is Just Lovely and I am Attracting Money, Fame and Oprah to my Ultimate Inner Being" post-generating feature, because, well, I am stubborn about living in the real world, warts and all.

It's incredibly frustrating to realize that all of the effort and willpower I can exert will not cure depression. I'm appreciative of even a fleeting moment of optimism during a day, of a good night's sleep, of things that make me laugh (the cat asleep in my overnight bag), of a few unbroken hours of concentration. I'm grateful I can create and I can learn. I fight to keep faith that I will be well.

Willpower

2010-01-24T17:46:00.002-05:00

One of the worst things about this disease is that it undermines one's willpower. It makes it incredibly hard for me to focus and concentrate and plow through the work I have assigned myself, and when I fail to accomplish what I need or want to do, it's difficult not to berate myself...which of course only makes me feel worse. It's discouraging to recall how much I used to be able to accomplish in one day, and to be grateful that I can do what I am actually doing now. Sometimes I have to just force myself to carry on and push through, five minutes at a time. One minute at a time, if that's what it takes. When my mind wanders I have to pull it back like an unruly puppy.
I did, just now, complete the work I had lined up for this weekend and I'm really pleased. It means that this evening I can spend more time working on the jewelry that is bouncing around in my head. I was doing a little research earlier and was surprised to find that the images that are influencing it are actually more Tibetan than Byzantine. The research also reminded me that jewellers two thousand years ago already thought up most of the ideas I've had!

Haiti

2010-01-14T16:24:00.005-05:00

There simply aren't words when such huge disasters happen, are there? The only way I can begin to manage to think about it is to go small, and picture my own neighbourhood, the people I see daily, the trees, buildings, cars, pets, everything, smashed flat. And that would have to be layered onto a daily situation so tenuous that I wonder how I would even come up with the will to go on.

I was "in" Haiti in November. I put "in" into quotation marks because the tiny, exquisite area we enjoyed bears no resemblance to the real Haiti. It was a private compound, quiet, unspoiled, safe and beautiful, made especially for the enjoyment of the privileged tourist. We swam in a warm, jewel-like bay and napped under palms, listening to the waves. Last night we both teared up, remembering a young Haitian worker who shyly asked us if we'd buy a little bracelet as a souvenir of Haiti. Because the compound required no money for anything we wanted we hadn't brought a cent ashore with us and apologized when we told him so. I wish we could have.

There is a certain guilt for me wound up in the process of being a tourist in a poor country. I know/hope the money I spend is getting into the economy, somehow, but I always do have a little niggling feeling of guilt.

In Miami we had a cab driver who was Haitian , and knew we were Canadian from our accents. He had grown up in a Canadian-run mission, and a Canadian organization had arranged for his infant son to be flown to Montreal to have a cleft palate repaired. Perhaps this meant he vented to us a bit, he was quite angry and frustrated at the amount of corruption in his home country. "The money comes in", he said "but it doesn't go where it should. A person will have a job and he makes sure some money goes to his friend, his family, his other friend. It is rotten at the top".

Maybe if one good thing could possibly come out of this disaster, it would be to see that aid and money goes to the people who need it. Perhaps with the eyes of the world turned on Haiti things will change.

Red Cross
Medecins Sans Frontiers

Jubulation!

2010-01-12T19:42:00.003-05:00

I just discovered a feature on my wonderful auction management software Auctionsage which is going to save me a lot of time. Doing a dance of delight.

Because I had a driving lesson at the magic hour, I wasn't able to register on the dot of Noon, EST, and missed out on getting into Michael Barley's beadmaking class at Bead and Button this year. They don't keep a waitlist for regular classes, when I called to ask the very nice lady I talked to just chuckled, and said the first time they had done so had been a bit...stressful. I can imagine. Over 600 classes and thousands of frenzied bead lovers, I don't blame them.

I did get into other classes though. I'm going to take "Uncommon Objects in Glass Casting", and "Bezel Setting" , and Kristina Logan's "Dot Clinic".

I will be carefully saving my pennies, that's for sure. I really, really hope that classes will sell well, so that the instructors can keep on doing this.

Broken Thermostats

2010-01-10T17:01:00.002-05:00

One or both of our bodily integrated thermostats is broken, here in our snug house. This morning one of us was wearing a t-shirt and a cotton shirt, and then a cashmere sweater, and then a cotton sweater over that, and cuddling a hot water bottle under a blanket. And the other one of us was taking pictures for ebay, wearing pajama bottoms, and earrings.
Then there's the cat who happily wears her furry pajamas, every day!

A Bit of New Work

2010-01-10T12:13:00.008-05:00

Some new work:
Tentacle vessels, waiting for silver collars and stoppers:

Pod bead ring and bracelet, with fine silver and sapphires:

Pod bead necklace with fine silver, freshwater pearls and sapphires:

Twilight, A Review

2010-01-09T11:01:00.002-05:00

If this hadn't been an online audiobook from the library, I'd have cheerfully pitched it out the window.
I tried, honestly I did. I listen to a lot of audiobooks (A LOT, sometimes 3 or 4 a week), and thought I would give this a listen. It's almost impossible to go to any retail space, of almost any kind, without seeing some sort of Twilight merchandise. Was I missing out on something?
No, I was not.
It wasn't the reading, which is by Ilyana Kadushin. It's the prose itself. Any author who describes her hero as having an "alabaster brow" needs a good swift kick in the butt. And nothing...ever...really... happens, Bella just drones on and on and on...
I've listened to just over half of it and I just can't take any more. Gag. And don't tell me, "Oh, it gets better later in the book" because I just don't care. Even the Most Exciting Moments are just...meh.
In the words of Dorothy Parker: "Constant reader throwed up".

Rude Awakening

2010-01-09T09:58:00.003-05:00

I was asked if I qualified for the seniors discount.

!#$&***!!!!

Actualize

2010-01-05T18:53:00.004-05:00

I've noticed that some of the bloggers I read regularly have chosen a word for 2010, a word to symbolize their goals, wishes or ideals, and the idea appeals to me. After a bit of thought, the word for me is Actualize.
To bring the ideas into reality.
To actually create what I envision in my mind.
To turn the thought into an action, or a tangible object.
To persuade the dreams to unfold.

What can I actualize each day?

Vintage Earrings

2010-01-05T18:43:00.004-05:00

Little pieces of art for the ears

New Year's Numbers

2010-01-04T18:21:00.002-05:00

Number of people needing driving tests ahead of me, now that the Provincial Driving testers have finished their strike: 300,000.

Number of shortbread cookies I've eaten in the last three weeks or so: 479 (broken ones don't count, right?)

Number of catnip eyeballs purchased for Valentine's Christmas present: 2

Number of catnip eyeballs Valentine has played with: 0

Number of fine silver 28g jump rings I have melted when fusing them: approximately 150

Number of curses cursed while fusing 28g jump rings: 150

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T10:57:00.004-05:00

Here's hoping we will all have a year filled with happy moments, goals achieved and tranquility throughout.

Yesterday I saw a quintessentially Canadian scene... A group of guys and kids playing hockey on the frozen water hazard of the local golf course. It made me smile. WAY better than road hockey!!

The squirrels have been enjoying our Solstice offering. Each hazelnut has been hidden in one of the big flowerpots, found by a different squirrel and moved to another flowerpot, and then the process repeated. We have grey and black squirrels, and they are bouncing like dolphins from flowerpot to flowerpot. Very entertaining! They are fat and sassy which explains why they aren't just eating the nuts. The figs and apples have completely disappeared, except for one lonely apple placed carefully at the very corner of the deck, on the top rail, like a beacon to say "Hey, Treats Here"!!

Ice is building up on the beach...the lake is turning to slush and eventually makes mountains of ice, right now they look like igloos. We had so fierce a wind a few nights ago that the 1940s metal deck chairs were pushed around the deck an inch at a time...it looked as though they were trying to creep towards the door to come inside. Perhaps they were!

I was on TV....

2009-12-23T19:45:00.001-05:00

Am I famous now? A short clip that the tv station put on YouTube. I wave my hands around a lot!

Box of Yum

2009-12-23T12:15:00.001-05:00

Drivers Licence Test...

2009-12-22T23:10:00.002-05:00

The Ontario Driving Testers have been on strike since August. There is a possibility that the strike may be over soon. There is a tentative agreement and there will be a vote on December 31st.
There are 200,000 people waiting for tests.
More time to practice, I guess.
Just keep driving....

"Hey Mr Grumpy Gills
You know what you gotta do when life gets you down?
Just keep swimming
Just keep swimming
Just keep swimming swimming swimming
What do we do? we swim, swim, swim
OH HO HO How I love to swim
When you WAAAAAANNTTT to swim you want to swim..."

Shared Abundance

2009-12-22T10:04:00.001-05:00

Solstice

2009-12-21T16:21:00.008-05:00

My favorite picture of our backyard meadow, taken several years ago.

Happy Solstice!

I am indeed alive and kickin'.

I have been selective about sharing aspects of my life, out of concern for privacy, concern for the tedium of reading about the illnesses or difficulties of others. I long to present an untroubled facade, so when that seems impossible, I retreat. Yet "troubles shared are troubles halved", isn't that how the old saying goes?

I bless our health care system, flawed though it may be, that allowed So to have some very complex tests done. We don't have all the answers but she is 1/ out of the hospital and 2/ able to work, for which we are very grateful.

The search for the right medication to correct my brain chemistry imbalance continues...the latest one makes my hands shake, whenever I am at the torch and working on super precise placement of a dot or stringer...The more precise I tried to be the worse the tremor would become. My Dr called it an "intention tremor". Incredibly frustrating! Since it wasn't particularly helping anyhow, we are phasing that one out.

I deeply admire Heather B. Armstrong's openness in discussing her depression and how she handled it. She's a role model for positive thinking, great blogging, and most important, creative use of swearing.

We had a lovely vacation on Fhloston Paradise. It went something like this:

Breakfast, rest, lunch, nap, snacks, hot tub, dinner, sleep. With the odd onshore excursion and swim thrown in, it was very restful. We met some really nice women from Florida and had dinner with them a few times, which was really quite fun.

And before I could turn around, it's the solstice. I'm amazed that the turn of the year is here so quickly. It doesn't feel wintery yet, probably because we've had very little snow yet (unlike in these pictures). We had roses and pansies and stocks blooming until well into December.

Tonight we will put out figs and hazlenuts and apples for the animals, and light candles, and celebrate light. Love to you all.

Veronicas Happy Feet

2009-11-18T18:34:00.011-05:00

Because beautiful socks can make your entire day brighter!

What is the Poodle Cooking????

2009-11-17T17:47:00.018-05:00

Red Bull!!!!

Dream Of A Vintage Clothing Lover

2009-11-16T19:49:00.013-05:00

I have recurring dreams of finding an amazing yard sale or a great thrift store with so much good stuff I can't carry it all, and I keep finding more, and more and there's no one else shopping, and it's such a great and vivid dream. But then I wake up.
(Sometimes my unconscious mind gets mixed up and I'm on the beach finding really great stuff, and once I dreamed that I fell into an attic full of vintage clothing which was somehow under a path in the park(?)
On Friday I decided on a whim to go to a thrift I hadn't been to in a while. I had some time to kill. In the lingerie aisle I found the most exquisite, glorious 1930's FRENCH lingerie...first a slip, then a bedjacket, and another slip, and another bedjacket, then a nightgown, and then two MORE nightgowns each with a matching bedjacket.

The softest, glossiest bias-cut silk.
Peach, aqua, pale blue, candlelight ivory.
Most of the seams hand sewn.
Incredible, lush, lavish cream and ecru lace, with the raised cordonnets so popular in the 30's.
Amazing little details, like appliqued flowers, and monograms, and tiny hand sewn pintucks and shirring.
Most of the pieces look as though they were never worn.

There was squealing, and grinning! Not quite as much stuff as I find in those dreams, but real stuff is definitely more fun than dream stuff!

Still Life With Thrift Store Owls

2009-11-06T21:54:00.005-05:00

Selected and arranged by Mom and I, at the thrift, this afternoon. Photo courtesy of my phone. I particularly like the gargoyle-owl at the bottom left. A fine collection, preserved here for posterity.

Carrying On

2009-11-04T21:22:00.004-05:00

I'm finding that even in times of stress I'm managing to carry on with the little things. Today I cleared out my web storage (1600 files pared down to just over 200), and added new items to my ebay and etsy stores, and organized linens and hankies, and sorted the studio tour signs, and put beads away in their little storage boxes. Answered emails, sorted a few papers, listened to the CBC all day to distract the chatter in my mind.

My patient is sleeping well, and taking her meds, and resting and eating, though I am always going "Mangia, mangia!" She lost 10 pounds in about 10 days. She needs steaks and avacados and ice cream and home made soup.

Tomorrow, I'll water the plants and do laundry and sweep the studio and marvel at the gradual, wonderful possibility of normalcy.

Simple comfort: Valentine cuddles up to a disgusting but much loved catnip toy, affectionately known as "Purple Sausage".

Beads of Courage

2009-11-03T12:01:00.005-05:00

I'm sending off these beads to Beads of Courage, a great organization and a great concept.
This is making me happy at this moment!

Uncertainty

2009-11-03T09:58:00.002-05:00

I've been struggling with the inability to plan with any certainty, with sudden shifts in situations, with priorities in constant flux.
The uncertainty is stressful and best summed up by "I just wish I knew what's going to happen, then I wouldn't be so anxious".
And I realized that we never know what's going to happen, that's a constant of our lives and that any assumptions we have to the contrary are simply illusions. This was the best lesson on staying in the moment I've ever had.
I can handle the next five minutes, I think.

Grouchy Old Lady

2009-10-31T21:35:00.005-04:00

Yes, I admit it, I have become that grumpy old lady. Hummph. I don't care. In my defense, I offer the following points:

If you say "Trick or Treat" in a baritone voice, you should not be trick or treating.
If you had to shave before you put your costume on, you should not be trick or treating.
If you have your drivers license, you should not be trick or treating.
If you are an average of 8" taller than I am, you should get a job and buy your own goddamned candy.
If my lights are out and I don't answer the door, go home already and let me eat the leftover treats in peace. Big dumb boobs.

Ahh, that feels better. To refresh you after that rantlette, here are some new marble pictures. First plunged floral marble:

And another vortex. I CAN'T get these to look as cool in my photos as they really are, such a cool optical illusion of depth.

Blessed Samhain and All Souls Eve, Happy Dia de los Muertos tomorrow! I think the souls of all our loved ones gather close on these short days and long nights, to protect us with their love, and to be reminded that they are not forgotten.

Huh?

2009-10-24T22:28:00.003-04:00

I am a little brain challenged today, so here is a picture of an Egyptian faience critter. Craptacular photo taken by me, in great stealth, at the Ashmolean Museum in Bath, 2005.
Don't you just want to feel it? I do.

Where I Want To Go To School

2009-10-23T20:57:00.001-04:00

I mean really, who wouldn't want to go here!

Valentine and the Toy Tiger

2009-10-22T23:19:00.005-04:00

"Why hello, darling, I have not seen you here before. Can I perhaps buy you a Catnip Cocktail??"
"How about if I nibble slightly on your tail?"

" Or whisper a naughty something in your ear?"

"Can't even get a purr out of him, I am really not accustomed to being ignored this way, Hmmmph!"

* No toy tigers were harmed during the making of this documentary*

Phasmid

2009-10-21T18:07:00.008-04:00

"Bird poop"is what I thought as I went to move a chair on the deck...but I took a closer look ...

Not a rare moth but the first time I've ever seen one, that I"m aware of, for it's such a clever disguise that I could have overlooked many over the years. It's Wood Nymph moth, or Pearly Wood Nymph (thanks to Bug Guide). The little woolly legs were quite endearing, like little mothy legwarmers. What amazing camouflage!

There's a lesson here, perhaps, all too often human stuff actually is poop, disguised as something pretty.

I amazes me that most moths and many butterflies are fine with being examined, if I move slowly, they are quite content. Fortunately I don't have any desire to examine bees, or wasps, or spiders...

Renaissance

2009-10-20T10:36:00.021-04:00

Tired but hopeful, I won't attempt a detailed update, I know you understand.

Last month I made these vessels, and I love how they turned out. There's something so tranquil and serene about them, especially the winged vessels. To me they symbolize that we can "rise above", that at any moment we can choose to lift ourselves up and look at things from another perspective. It sounds so easy but it's very, very difficult to put into practice. Perhaps wearing one of these will help! And remember you can always shout "Serenity now!"

I've been playing a bit with marble making in the last few days. I've been making miniature paperweights which are really just marbles minus the final step of breaking off the punty and firepolishing. They are quite fun to make though that final firepolishing always has the extra excitement of knowing that the marble can roll out of the marble mold and roll merrily around the table, onto my lap, or across the floor. No major disasters so far. There are "marble holding fingers" which would eliminate this excitement, but they're pricey for what is essentially a glorified pickle grabber!

Bubbly pokey marble:

Aquariums and a Voodoo Fossil marble:
Some flowers too:
I was blessed with a very pleasant birthday and was quite spoiled with surprises, including Japanese lessons! This wonderful package arrived from my friend Carol who always incorporates such whimsy and imagination into everything she does. Thank you Carol!

Inside was an amazing steel cat with purple stripes!
Thanksgiving was great too, though the turkey went into the oven late, and our crotchety oven is unpredictable to begin with. The table looked lovely and the food was yum!
It's truly fall, though there are still roses and dahlias blooming, the light and air and the texture of the days are changing into a moodier atmosphere. The veils between the worlds become thin at this time of year. Echoes of our pagan past.

The 401

2009-09-24T12:22:00.002-04:00

As part of today's driving lesson I drove for the first time on the 401, our busiest freeway. Frankly, as busy as it is, I prefer it to driving in the city, where there are bicycles and dogs and entire preschools full of preschoolers tied to strings for their walk and grandmas, and manic squirrels, and people stopped for no reason in the middle of the road.
The freeway was a breeze compared to all that!

Finding The Calm

2009-09-23T20:55:00.003-04:00

Some days are just days for sorting buttons, and today was the perfect day...to sort buttons. This task permits my mind to wander peacefully, requires little effort or concentration, yet allows the virtuous knowledge that I am accomplishing something I would hate doing if it wasn't quite the right sort of day.
The Oasis show was rather quiet. Bead buyers are feeling the pinch of the economy just like everyone else and are being very cautious about what they are buying. I know I am! I resisted several temptations myself, and bought only a bit of glass and a new small masher to replace the one I melted. So rested all weekend and is feeling better, which really is one of the most important things in my world. It was quiet enough at the show that I really didn't need extra help, so that worked out quite well.
I really have no idea why I didn't think to take picture of the show this year. Brain fart?
We had drinks on Saturday night with Terri and Anne at the Library Bar at the Royal York Hotel. I think there must be a law that all older hotels have at least one cozy, dark and comfortable bar with deep cushy chairs and candles...it was the perfect place to visit and get caught up. We were not staying there (I wish!) but what a beautiful, grand old hotel.
I am also most grateful to Terri and Anne for some great advice...about display and self-promotion and marketing and about being proud of my work. Thank you both, love you!
On Monday I popped into a leather shop on King Street West...holy leather lover's heaven! I love the scent of leather and walking into this shop had me inhaling the scent of soft leather coats and garments and piles of skins. I wanted a larger piece of stingray leather to texture PMC, but found it to be beyond my current budget. However the staff showed me a lot of wonderful things and I bought a piece of ostrich leather which will be a pleasure to work with. It has a lot of different textures within the one piece.
So was too tired for our planned trip to the Apple Store, but we did go to Anthropologie. Somehow I just wasn't in the mood to shop, which has probably never happened before in the history of my life. They were sold out of the scarf I liked online, and didn't have my size in the one pair of pants I was interested in, so I wandered out empty handed, which is certainly more economical, isn't it?

Updatelet

2009-09-15T11:06:00.004-04:00

Hello! I haven't posted much lately, I know. I have been working hard though, making beads and vessels and playing with enamel, and ebaying, and taking driving lessons.
It's always hard to know how "personal" a blog should be. How much of my thoughts and feelings should I share? Should I blog about difficulties in my life, as well as about good things? It's a difficult balance to achieve.
We've both had a difficult summer health-wise. We are doing our very best to remain optimistic, and love each other deeply, and to enjoy, and to live in the moment.
And in the meantime there are jobs to be done, and all the everyday details of life. The trivia, the little crap that I worry about needlessly. Everything is thrown into it's proper perspective when faced with the prospect of loss.

Last weekend was the local "Art in the Park" show. I have never done this show before though we have attended it to look around a few times. It has a nice mix of artists and artisans. The day was a beautiful, warm, sunny Ontario late-summer day, and there is nothing more pleasant than a late-summer day here! People were out in full force to enjoy it! Sales were okay, not spectacular, but in these days every sale is an appreciated sale. Plus, we handed out a huge number of flyers for the upcoming artist's studio tour. I wasn't told until almost the end of the show that "advertising" was a no-no. Oops. I honestly had no idea. I was sorry to have broken a rule but glad I wasn't told until late in the day!!
We had lots of nice people stop by and lots of little ones who designed their own bracelets from the kidbeads bowl. It's quite fun to watch them choose. Some take forever, some pick the first three they see. Some of the color combos are...innovative!
I'm still loving our little tent. Here is my little set-up:

This weekend (if the gods are willing) I'll be selling at the Bead Oasis show in Toronto. I am so glad we are back in the regular space...last years space was such a bad choice for both the sellers and the buyers. This year we are again just steps from outside and nice and easy for our beloved customers to find us. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and eating some delicious Indian food.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is the day when all the earth-moving machines go away! Yes, there is a constant rumble, thump and beep-beep-beep right outside. Not only are our neighbours expanding their garage into a 3-bay extravaganza, the sewer pipes on our street are being replaced. I long for a bubble of silence! When they shut down for the day even the trees breath a sigh of relief.

Friday

2009-08-28T12:59:00.002-04:00

We are back to the lake tonight, THANK GOODNESS, as this week has been filled with doctor appointments and driving lessons and organizing details and phone calls and emails and papers, and being puzzled about things, and waiting for long periods of valuable time. Thank goodness for knitting, which keeps me sane in such situations.
I do appreciate our health care system for it's many good qualities, but waiting over 2 (TWO) hours for a 15 minute appointment (albeit valued and helpful) is fecking ridiculous.
On the bright side, we went to see Julie and Julia last night, and enjoyed it, though the Julie character is a pill. We couldn't decide if it was a badly written character or if it was the annoying mannerisms of the actor...either way I frequently wished I could give her a good smack. Streep, however, was enchanting as always. Now So wants to get out her M.T.A.O.F.C and make Bouef Bourguinon. Bring it on and Bon Appetit, I say!

Great Blue Heron

2009-08-25T23:17:00.002-04:00

On the riverbank today, just behind my apartment in town:

Mixed Media Egg Pendants

2009-08-22T12:21:00.008-04:00

Lampwork glass eggs, enamel on fine silver, freshwater pearls, sterling and fine silver:

Tin Pendant

2009-08-22T12:09:00.005-04:00

Mixed materials pendant: copper, brass, sterling, fine silver, mica and a panel cut from a c.1950s biscuit tin:

"In the garden of memory grow the sweetest flowers"

The Great Tablecloths to Togs Caper

2009-08-20T09:48:00.021-04:00

I believe I own most of the vintage and antique linen damask tablecloths in Southwestern Ontario! There are always several in every boxlot of antique linens I purchase, it seems there may have been a law at one time that no one could set up housekeeping unless they owned one.
I'm not sure where exactly the idea came from...Veronica and I had planned on doing some needle felting and she was going to try her hand at lampworking. But somehow or other, we found ourselves turning over the mountains of linen, gleefully buying fabric dye and plunging into the delights of constructing clothing without patterns!

Part of the linen mountain:
Dye packets and lovely pastel dryer lint!

Pure linen damask dyed in meltingly lovely colors:

Dusting off one of the sewing machines. Since this was an impromptu sewing session, I realized to my chagrin that I had 2 sewing machines, dozens of spools of thread, and ONE bobbin. This slowed us down a little but we persevered!

Veronica starting her skirt, I was cutting out my pink dress using a favorite old dress as a guide. We had to work on projects of the same color at the same time so we could share the machine!

Ancient sewing machines are best...solid metal, sews like a champ, heavy as a tank!

Pinning the free form tucks onto he skirt:

Snipping tuck threads!

Work in progress just outside our atelier!

Of course Valentine was on hand to assist. You can tell just how thrilled she was with her chic ruffle.

Dinner break

Posing carefully as there were about 100 pins on the dress holding the tucks!

Voila! Pintucked dress, with wrap kimono jacket.

Veronica's pink tucked skirt

Veronica's green top. She did not like it!

The ecru shawl with drawn thread work from the original hem,and torn ruffles. I made pants to match this but they need to have the waist re-designed. They made me look like a sack of potatoes!

Veronica's pants were MUCH more sucessful! Aren't they great? They were made of unused linen pique, probably towel fabric from around 1920.

Mother of pearl buttons on the tiesWe had soooo much fun!

And some day we will do it again!

Connected

2009-08-03T13:10:00.001-04:00

You know there is a connection when your So asks you "Is this the same thing as the other stuff to put on the grey thing?" and you know what they are asking, pretty much!