Rugby World Cup and....

Naked French Rugby Players....need I say more....how about YAWZA....or more appropriately...OH LA LA. Gotta love a man in chains with big metals balls, or in his case ball. This guy is ripped. I just want to.....well....never mind.

This is the Gods of the Stadium 2008 Calendar featuring naked French rugby players. You can pick it up on Amazon...at least French Amazon. I couldn't find the current version on US Amazon. Maybe I'll pick one up when I'm in Paris...the calendar that is. The Rugby World Cup is in France in September. Unfortunately we aren't around when they are playing in Paris.

Street Festival Resheduled and a Successful Home Showing

The Warehouse District Street Festival has been rescheduled for September 23rd.

I had a private home party last Friday. One of my friends from work (Effie) held it in her BEAUTIFUL home. I just wanted to move in permanently. I think it is the biggest house I have ever been in...and the most beautiful. Exquisitley decorated and immaculate!!! I don't know how she does it. She is my hero. She works a full time job at the hospital, takes care of 3 girls, and has this amazing house. Her girls are just amazing...Eleni, Sophia, and Victoria. They are gorgeous, smart and funny...and they love jewerly just like their Mom. She has a very nice husband (Jim) too. He was very gracious to have all these women in his house. THANKS to all of you. I had a very successful show.

Went to the baseball game last night with people from work. It was hot....90. The Indians won. Below are some pics. The Indians mascot is Slider, this big furry gender neurtal blob of fur. I have always wanted to be Slider for a day....a cool day. That suit would be unbearable in the heat. It looks like Sider has so much fun bouncing around the stadium goofing around with all the fans. I want to stand up on the dugout and dance as Slider. Maybe I'm a closet exhibitionist....nah. I've earned by beads in New Orleans so there is no closet involved.

I'm so glad it's the weekend. I have a party at my brother's on Saturday. He BBQ's chicken and home grown sweet corn. Everybody else brings a dish. Good food. We shoot off fireworks when
it gets dark to celebrate a good summer. I want to relax the rest of the weekend, make some jewelry and start getting ready for Paris!!!!

I added a Visitors Map to the Blog....but I'm afraid it will be empty....don't you always have this strange feeling like nobody reads your blog. I see people with 30,000+ hits. Don't think I will ever get that big. Probably all my hits will be me....god that's pathetic.

Street Festival Rained Out

All summer long the weather has been dry and beautiful. Sunday when I was going to my first outdoor art fair....it rained...all day. I did go downtown to set up. I had a prime location in front of the Velvet Dog, next to Sushi Rock. The Cavaliers were going to be set up not far my tent. And, we were a decent distance from the stage.....close enough to hear but not too close to get blasted out. I didn't bother to set up because many people were packing up. 30 minutes after I arrived they cancelled the festival because the rain extended back into Indiana. The might hold it this Sunday, but I am not holding my breath...to many people and organizations to line up on short notice. They did say that if I wanted to exhibit next year they would give me a discount because I made the effort and showed up. So I will store away my tent until next year. At least this forced me to buy a tent. That with the pro photos I have...I'm all set to apply for next summer's shows. I have a private home party on Friday for a friend at work. I certainly have a lot of inventory for her show.

Tonight we have to cut up a tree. In a previous post I asked "What's Next?"...well a tree fell in the backyard. Not the whole tree but a branch. A branch of a 50-60 ft tree. It is about 18 inches in diameter. We live in an old forest. All of Cleveland for that matter. It's why we are called the Forest City. From Wikipedia......The inspiration for the name is a famous reference to Cleveland, describing a highly sophisticated society amid a heavily forested environment in Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, which contains the Frenchman's observations of the United States in the 1830s. Cool.

Anyway....the "branch" missed our power lines but landed on the neighbors chain link fence. Bent that up a bit but at least it didn't knock it down. Lou and my brother tried to move it off the fence...they couldn't. That's how heavy it is. I'm grateful it didn't hit anyone's house. So my brother is coming back up tonight to cut it up with a chain saw.

Pics of my work

Here are some professional pics of my work. The silver pieces are handmade by me from precious metal clay. They are 99.9% fine silver.




















The beaded pieces are designed by me. The glass beads are made by some very wonderful glass artists...Donna Mehnert (bracelet) Melanie Moertel (necklace). You can find their links under My Favorite Glass Artists. I think the pics turned out nice. I hope they help get me in to more art shows.




















I've also been playing with the different templates for this blog. I liked the old one...but when I saw someone else's blog with the same template it made me realize that it was way too much green. So now I have a simpler template. I also figured out how to get notified if someone leaves a comment. I'm lucky I can find time to blog...don't expect me to know how the program works :)) And as you now realize...I don't know how to insert those really cutsy smiley faces. I'm still using keystrokes :o Sorry if I've never responded to one of your comments.

Amy from C'est la me... volunteered to recommend restaurants in Paris and even mentioned a bead shop in the 4th arrondissement. I definetely need to get in touch with her. Beads from Paris!!! I want to go to a flea market when I am there. People think I'm nuts going all the way to Paris and sending time in a flea market.....but I want to branch into some found object jewelry and I think going to a French flea market would be fun.

Better Than Sex??

After 8 days of not having hot water....let me tell you...a hot shower can be better than sex. So the gas is back on. They were able to put a new line in by digging a hole at the street and one at the point where the gas line entered the house. Something called directed drilling. Amazingly they didn't have to destroy any of our landscaping. Pam from the gas company came out and pressure tested the line, put in a new meter and lite all the pilot lights. So I'm back to washing clothes, doing the dishes, and soaking in the shower. Well....except for the first two...it's all good.