Productive Weekend

I got alot done this weekend. Yesterday I cleaned the house. Today I spent 3 hours outside with the bumble bees weeding and pruning the landscaping. 3 hours doesn't sound like much but when you are constanly moving....it's alot. I filled 2 extra large garbage bags with trimmings. Below is the rock wall that borders the right side of our driveway. We used to have a railroad tie retaining wall there but a few years after we moved in the wall started to lean...badly. So we had a landscaper come in and build a rock wall. It's made of of Moss Rock which lichens tend to grow on. I think I'm likin' the lichens :))

This is the left side of the driveway and the entrance to the house. I had to cut back the pine tree to open up one of the flower beds. I need to get a few more geranium to fill in the bed. The clematis on the light pole was filled with flowers on Friday but with all the rain it has taken a beating. I took a close-up of a bloom after the rain.

The center of this bloom is awesome.

With Lou being into the martial arts we have pagodas all over the place. I usually put a stone bunny rabbit next them. It makes Lou crazy. I tell him our lanscaping is Bunny Zen. The one that was here sat out for a few too many winters and crumbled. I have to get another one. Another 3 hours session in the front of the house to lay down some mulch and finish weeding and I can move to the back of the house. I have three major flower beds there to clean up. I also have a friend that hangs around back.....

I threw out some bread but that wasn't good enough so I grabbed a bag of dried fruit and nuts....boy did Sammy the Squirrel like those. Just sat there munching away on the fruit.

Hot, Wet, and Sticky

Sounds like a porno movie....but that is the weather for this weekend. I hate weather like this...but I now have air-conditioning so I don't care. I have a ton of housework to do so staying inside isn't such a bad idea. I don't think I've cleaned in a month. I went from B&B to getting ready for a show so housework took a back seat. One of my guilty pleasures is watching "How Clean is Your House" on the BBC channel. They go into some of the worst rat holes I have ever seen and clean them up. There was one show that actually made me gag. They took 4.2 tons of garbage out of this guys house. When I watch it I never make it through a whole show because I feel guilty and get up and clean.

Lou is out of town so it's a chick weekend. I kinda like these weekends because I can do whatever I want, eat what and when I want, watch movies without someone moaning over my selections. So far I've watched "Dan in Real Life"...sweet, "Becoming Jane"....sad and "PS, I Love You"....Gerard Butler is soooooooo HOT with the crooked mouth and Scottish accent. But the downside is the house is empty.

Food for Thought

Can you cry under water?
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How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
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Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... but it's only a " penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?
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Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?
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Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
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What disease did cured ham actually have?
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How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
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Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?
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If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
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Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?
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Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?
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Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.
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Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?
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Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
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If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?
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Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?
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If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
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Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
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If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
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If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
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If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
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Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
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Why did you just try singing the two songs above?
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Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?
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Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
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Do you ever wonder why you read my blog in the first place?

The Continental Bitch

So we booked our tickets to Paris today. We tried to book them over the phone but the woman from Continental was a total bitch. Lou gave her the dates and she asked if we were ready to book and he said yes. She asked for his credit card number and after giving it to her she then informed us what flights we were on. I said "NO" those are not the flights that I want. I have never had a rep do that to me before. They always ask if there is a particular time that you want to fly and then try to find flights that will work. It's usually a back and forth until you find the right combination of flights. This bealzabub started to tell Lou that the combination of flights that I wanted weren't "married" in her system and to book the flights that I wanted would be an extra charge of $250 per person because she had to special request them. At this point I ripped the phone out of Lou's hand and ask her why she couldn't give me those flights since I was looking at the Continental website and they were clearly "married" on the website. She kept talking over me and wouldn't listen. She told me we were already booked and I told her that I didn't want the flights that she had given us and asked again why she couldn't give me the combination I wanted since it was clearly on the web site. She suggested that if I could get the combination on the website then perhaps I should book it on the website. She said she would void the booking and I specified that she needed to void it without a charge on our card and she got even snottier and said "Fine" she would void it without a charge on the card. I was about ready to ask for her supervisor but let it go....but I was fuming for about an hour. I then hopped on the internet and booked the exact flight combination that we wanted and upgraded to business class wth Lou's frequent flyer miles. But I am still pissed. She tried to force flights on us and then got difficult when I wouldn't allow her to do this. I figure she voided the flight with a fight so I didn't get her supervisor involved.

My Pig Sty

I thought I would be relieved that the show is over and I don't have another until November. But now I have to catch up on all those things that I haven't done in the last month. First is cleaning the house. It's not so much dirty as it is cluttered. But that shouldn't surprise anyone who has seen me work before. Here is the workbench I shared with Cris at B&B. I think I managed to pull out every tool I had with me and stack them on my bench along with the requisite can of Diet Dr. Pepper which is one of my addictions. I had about a 6" square to work in once I was done.

This is also how my workbench at home can get. When I'm in production mode I don't put anything away....it just keeps piling up until I can't stand it.

So this is upstairs waiting for me to clean it up. Then I have to get outside and work in the flower beds. I haven't been out there since May. Life would be much easier if I could get by on 4 hours of sleep.

I'm back....

The show went well. The weather was great (at least until Saturday). Friday was beautiful and by far my best day. A number of the girls from the PMC group and the hospital stopped in for a visit. Saturday was much slower and the weather turned bad. About an hour before the show was suppose to end the promoter ran around and told everyone to breakdown and do it fast as a severe storm was on its way. Luckily I wasn't doing this alone. Lou and I scrambled to get all the jewelry put away and break down the displays and tent. Lou ran to get the truck and it started to pour rain, but we got out before it got really bad.

I had a great time people watching. Cleveland is split by the Cuyahoga River and the neighborhoods on either side of the river are distinct. It is a running joke in Cleveland that to cross the river you have to have your passport stamped. I live on the west side and what I really noticed is that the women on the east side LOVE their hats. All kinds of hats....small straw hats, big floppy hats, baseball caps. There was one woman in particular that I would have loved to take a picture of as a fashion DON'T. She was 60ish, overweight and wearing a clingy knit top and short skirt. She wasn't wearing a bra and let's just say its been a long time since anything on her has been considered "perky". She topped off her ensemble with a big floppy hat with rhinestones. You would have been truly proud of me as I did not point and laugh.....although I wanted to.

Below are some pics of my display. I was able to open up the back of the tent to let the air flow through.

Close up of my trees that I am hanging necklaces from

This is the view out the back of my tent. I was located on the inside of a circular drive. The building in the background is part of the private school.

I was so juiced today

Today was set-up day for the show. Lou helped me set up the tent this morning and then he took off to work. I spent the next couple hours putting up the sides and setting up my booth. Michael.... 2 tents down.... pulled his van up and started blasting 70's metal.... it was awesome and had me dancing around my tent. When I zipped up my tent and drove away I was so juiced. I am in a REAL art show. It was fantastic to not be in the office but to be outside and surrounded by other artists. Life gives you good days and bad days. When you get a day like this you just have to drink it up...to the last drop.


Cleveland has been in the news for it's poverty level but the city has stark contrasts. The art show is on the grounds of a private school (which is large enough to host 135 artists) and the surrounding neighborhood is very rich. Below is a picture of the house across the street from the school. The garage attached to this house if bigger than my first floor....I'm not kidding.

Well, I'm off to finish some necklaces for tomorrow. A lot of you have been commenting on my blog....I'll talk to you or e-mail you all once the show is over. Love to you all!!

Patina

I know.... I said I wasn't going to blog but I'm procrastinating.

So I took a couple of picutures of the patina that I did last night. I have had sooo many teachers who love to coax the color out of Liver of Sulfur. The use a teeny tiny piece of the solid LOS and put it in cold water and every so gently and slowly get color onto their silver pieces. I've tried to do that but I just don't have the patience. Somewhere around the second or third dip when it has barely turned color my head splits open and the Grizabella comes flying out ..... BWAAAHHH AH AH. She grabs boiling water and a chunk of LOS the size of a quarter......and straight to black in 30 seconds flat. Grizabella is satisfied.


Then I do some buffing and voila........


Maybe some day I'll learn to be subtle.......................NAAHHHHH.

Gail and Cris at Bead and Button

more cat pictures

Guess which one I am

Making my lists

I am a list person. I like to make lists and then check off the items. I get great satisfaction in checking off everything on my list. So I am making lists for the show this weekend. What to take on Thursday for setting up the tent. What to bring on Friday prior to the show. There's a chance of showers this weekend so keep your fingers crossed. I wish I had some picutres to post but as soon as I sign off here I am going to patina some of my PMC pieces and finish them off for the show.

I feel bad that I haven't taken any pics of the new stuff that I have made. There hasn't been time. But I can leave you with something I found today. On Art Jewelry magazines website they have some really great pieces in a gallery on the Next Generation of Enamalists. Below is a piece by Carolyn Currin. This gives me so many ideas of new things to do with some of the techniques that I learned at B&B. Check out the site for the other pieces.

I probably won't be posting until after the show. Talk to you Sunday. I'll have pictures of my booth and the show in general.

The Weight of the World....

....is off my shoulders. I had my doctor's appointment today. I've been having chest pains and palpitations for a while now. And as a true healthcare professional....I avoided going to see someone about it. I had this physical scheduled so it was time to fess up. Seems it's a combination of stress and GERD. Since I don't have pain on exertion the doc wasn't that concerned. So I am going on some meds for the GERD and I'm having some blood tests done. We'll see what happens next. I was really scared and this has been a major wake-up call to get healthy.

On an even better note......I got into another show this Fall. It is the By Hand show at the IX center in Cleveland. It is a 3 day show in Novemberr and will run in conjunction with the Fabulous Food Show which pulls in 30,000 people. Attendance to the art show is free in hopes that this will attract people from the Food show to visit. What a better way to spend the day....eating and shopping for art.

Father's Day Dinner

We went out to dinner last night with Lou's son and his wife's family and Lou's daughter and grandson came along. We went to a Mexican restaurant in downtown Cleveland. It was a great time but there is one moment in particular that nobody will forget. Matty is 2 years old and Rachel was feeding him bits and pieces of the appetizers. When the main course came it had a dish with it that contained guacamole, a chucky tomato salsa, and sour cream as condiments. Matty pointed to the salsa so Rachel gave him some. We really weren't paying all that much attention....but Matty's brow furrowed, his eyes welled up with tears and he started kicking his legs and rocking back and forth in his highchair going "ah, ah, ah". Turns out he got a bit of something really hot. Being the kind and loving people that we all are......we sat there and laughed our butts off. When Rachel gave him something to drink he was gulping it down. It was priceless.

Bundle of Nerves

That's what I am today. I have problems with panic attacks. I can usually handle things and keep them in perspective. But I have a hell of a week coming up. I have a doctors appointment on Monday. Even a normal check-up freaks me out. Seems silly since I work in a hospital but when I am the patient I have a dreaded fear of white coats. Then to add to the terror I have a dentist appointment on Wednesday. On Thursday I have to set up for the show. Friday is a 10-8 at the show and Saturday is 10-6 at the show. I'm doing it by myself which isn't a problem except if I need a break. Usually what I do is take something to eat that won't spoil in the heat...like a peanut butter sandwich and some drinks. I don't leave my booth. Which sucks in a way because there are a couple of vendors I'd like to see. Hopefully I will have nice neighbors so I can at least take bathroom breaks.

Lou and I just got done doing a trial run on setting up the tent. I wasn't so bad. It is not an easy pop-up tent. It definetly takes two people to get the frame to size. We put the top on. It now stays on for the duration. I have to put on the sides once we get it set up and weigh it down. I have sandbags that came with the tent that hold 40lbs of sand and you attach them to each leg. But to be on the safe side I think I am going to get some tent stakes too.

I can't wait until next Sunday when it is all over!!! I have a guild meeting on Sunday and it will be good to see everyone again.

Father's Day

This is a story by Erma Bombeck called "Daddy Doll Under the Bed"

When I was a little kid, a father was like the light in the refrigerator. Every house had one, but no one really knew what either of them did once the door was shut. My dad left the house every morning and always seemed glad to see everyone at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go in the basement by himself. He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood whenever it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled. He kept busy enough. He set mousetraps. He cut back the roses so the thorns wouldn't clip you when you came to the front door. He oiled my skates, and they went faster. When I got my bike, he ran alongside me for at least a thousand miles until I got the hang of it. He signed all my report cards. He put me to bed early. He took a lot of pictures, but was never in them. He tightened up mother's sagging clothesline every week or so. I was afraid of everyone else's father, but not my own. Once I made him tea. It was only sugar water, but he sat on a small chair and said it was delicious. He looked very uncomfortable. Once I went fishing with him in a rowboat. I threw huge rocks in the water, and he threatened to throw me overboard. I wasn't sure he wouldn't, so I looked him in the eye. I finally decided he was bluffing and threw in one more. He was a bad poker player. Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say "I'm going off to work now" and threw him under the bed. When I was nine years old, my father didn't get up one morning to go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day. There were a lot of people in the house who brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We never had so much company before.I went to my room and felt under the bed for the father doll. When I found him, I dusted him off and put him on my bed. He never did anything. I didn't know his leaving would hurt so much. I still don't know why.

My father has been gone for four years. He worked 2 jobs, farmer and factory worker, to make ends meet and provide for the family. I remember staying up late one night to see him when he came home. I was young enough for him to pick me up. I remember being held in his arms as he talked to me. He would make up stories to make me laugh. He bought me a pony and we used to ride together. He instilled in me my standards and morals....although sometimes I fall short. He was the strong silent type but I knew that he loved me and was proud of me. When I got older I used to tell him jokes to make him laugh. Happy Father's Day Dad. I miss you.

I'm a machine....

I have made 5 bracelets in the last two nights. It probably doesn't sound like much but it is about 1 per hour. The assembly only takes a few minutes....it is the design that can take forever. Trying this bead or that until I like what I see. My goal is to have 4o bracelets for the show. I have about 3 more to make. I also have over 40 necklaces and a bunch of earrings. I'm just going to keep on making things until next Wednesday...then I have to quit. I have a specific time I was assigned to set the tent up next Thursday. That's because they allow you to drive up to your site. After the tent is set up I move the car and can come and go as I please. Final set up won't be until Friday morning. I can't leave the jewelery there overnight like I do at indoor shows. I'll snap some pictures tomorrow and try to get them posted.

My sister started a blog today. She is in Montana for 2 months and she has some fantastic pictures. Go take a look. She is at www.nancychalmers.blogspot.com

Back to work.....

Back to work today....what a drag. Got an e-mail from one of the scientists today telling me that he had been fired last week.....ouch. But I saw that one coming. Other than that it was quiet and everyone left me along to catch up on e-mails and paperwork. I couldn't last 8 hours. Luckily I am salaried so I cut out early. I'll make it up some other day I'm sure.

I'm also back at the bench. Cranking out the jewelry for my show on the 20th. Can't wait until that is over. Just the thought of it is making me nervous. It's my first outdoor tent show. I've never set up the tent before so Lou and I need to do a practice set-up this weekend. Cornering him to do anything on the weekend is a challenge as he is always off golfing. I usually don't mind as I like to do my own thing on the weekends too. So I will be the "bad" wife this weekend and make him help me out. He'll pout but he'll just have to get over it. OHH...I really am getting bitchy. Luckily he doesn't read my blog :))

Yesterday I was feeling lonely for the girls of Milwaukee....Cris, Anne, Karen, Michele, Gigi. I was having flashes of sitting around laughing till we cried. I started to empty out my tool suitcase and ran across the kiln brick covered in a newspaper advertisement for bras. The night before I had been complaining that I don't have the right cleavage....not like Gigi's. This lead to a long discussion of getting the right bra and Anne talking about her life scarring incident with an 80 year old bra fitter who sized her for a bra by feeling her up. Here are a few pics that I took in the bar of the girls and a nice pic of Cris and her hubby Paul.

Gigi, Cris and Anne

Henriette, Gigi, and Cris

Cris and Paul showing off their fancy drinks at The King and I restaurant. Everyone was trying to convince Cris and I that the blue color in our drinks was windex. All I know was that it tasted good!!!

Better than Butt Juice....

Sorry if that offends but I had to tell this story. I hopped in the car and headed out of Milwaukee on Saturday. I started to dig in my purse as I was driving and found that my purse was wet. I thought it was just the condesation from a can of pop that I had in my purse....boy was I wrong. Something had punctured the can and the entire can leaked out into my purse. I was at a stoplight and I turned over my purse and dumped the contents on the floor. Most everthing was soaked....my wallet and all the contents, two books that I had picked up at the last minute at the show, everything in there that was paper. Luckily I had my Blackberry on my belt and although my camera was in the purse the carry case kept it dry. So I drove for awhile and before I got out of Wisconsin I decided to stop for gas. I pulled out the nozzle and dribbled gas all over my foot....this day was going downhill fast. As I stood there I noticed a huge spider on the nozzle handle....now we are going from bad to worse. I managed to get the nozzle back in the holder without touching the spider or killing it. So I went in to pick up some drinks and snacks for the road and had to pay the clerk with a very wet $20 bill. I told her that it was wet because of a pop spill. She just chuckled and said....."Well..it's better than butt juice....that stuff is just the nastiest". I was stunned into silence and considering how loud I had been at B&B....that was an accomplishment. I gave a "ha ha" laugh ....you know....the kind of laugh you give when you know that you are in the presence of someone crazy.....took my change and got the hell out of there. So I left the land of the Apple Holler, the Mars Cheese Castle , Tim and Tom's Cheese Outlet (what do you sell at a cheese "outlet"....last year's cheese, seconds???), and butt juice.

Shopping, shopping, shopping......

Day 6 at B&B was spent shopping, shopping, shopping. Too much in fact. I had to quench my credit cards in cold water. I love hill tribe silver so I bought a bunch. I found a number of really cool silver beads to incorporate into the lampwork bead bracelets that I make.

I also stopped at Afghan Tribal Arts and picked up a strand of kick-ass lapis and another of black jade. I don't often work in gemstones but each year I stop at Abe's booth and buy a strand or two of really chunky hand carved gemstones.

I hit Cool Tools and Whole Lotta Whimsy to pick up more texture plates for PMC. I picked up Mary Hettsmansperger's new book....Wrap, Stich, Fold and Rivet....well worth the money. I got some cabs from Gary Wilson so I can make more necklaces like those I made in Anne's class.

Cris and I stopped at Pima arts and picked up pendants from Tibet.

I also met up with Donna Mehnert of Blackberry Beads and bought some stash from her. I am going to be working with these this week to display at the Hathaway Brown show.

The shopping was mild boggling and exhausting. At the end of the day we ended up sitting together and just laughing....you know...that I'm so tired I'm giddy type of laughing. It was great. In fact most of the show we laughed like that. It was great!!

Day 5 at B&B

Day 5 was amazing. I took a ring class with Susan Lenart Kazmer. She is the rock star of the Bead and Button Show. I can't say enough about how much I love this girl. Funny, energetic, and way out of the box. She can take a pile of junk and create a masterpiece. We made these towering rings and put them together with rivets. If you like creating found object jewelry you should buy her book. It isn't an instruction book but rather a book for inspiration. I have taken multiple classes with her and have always enjoyed myself and come away with new ideas and techniques. Below are some pics of a ring I made. I brought some etched copper discs with me and I dapped those into domes. I piled them up with ribbons and resin page fragments and riveted these onto a nickel silver ring shank that I hammered out. If you are not a fan of this type of jewelry...you won't like it. But I love this funky stuff and it was sooo much fun to make.




I bugged out of class early to get to the exhibit hall and help Michele Goldstein in her booth. Take a look at the pics below.

These are the beads that I picked up from Michele. Check out the heart bead....that's awesome!!

Color on Metal

BTW.....if you want to see amazing work with prismacolor on metal...go to see Deb Karash or Kimberly Morris. Also see Helen Shirk.....awesome work.

The Teacher from Hell

Day 4 of B&B.

Took a class to learn how to put color on copper. Color in the form of pigments from Prismacolor pencils. It is a fun technique because it takes you back to childhood and coloring. I loved to color. I still do :)). So this was a fun project in and of itself. The class combined copper and PMC for a dual layered pendant that is riveted together. We were provided prepped pieces of copper and a packet of PMC. Our task was to create a PMC backing for the copper, color on the copper and then rivet the 2 pieces together.

Content Deleted.....

After we got the info on how to finish the piece, Cris and I took off. We went up to Anne's classroom and used her kiln for the PMC pieces. We didn't want to disturb her class so we wheeled it out into the hallway. Picture the 2 of us sitting on the floor in the hallway next to a kiln blasting up to 1650 degrees C. I was waiting for someone to come along and bust us.

One picture to leave you with. Gotta love a lady with the fashion sense to have red and purple hair and wear 2 different colored clogs....purple and orange. She did have me in practically rolling on the floor laughing....but I was laughing with her...not at her....OK....I was laughing at her. But only because this will be me in a few years.

Have I really been here for 3 days....

It can't be. My first class finished today. Here is a pic of the pendant and necklace that I made. This project was so awesome.

I wasn't as productive as some. I finshed a necklace, pressure set pendant, a silver bezel wrapped stone and a few clasps. Others completed a second pressure set pendant. But I am happy with what I accomplished. I got to work with sheet metal and brush up on my sawing, filing and riveting. I also managed to burn a hole in the conference room rug when a hot piece of silver slipped out of my tongs and across the room. Just about took out Anne. She was fast jumping out of the way and fast at grabbing my tongs and pulling the piece up off the carpet. I now have the distinction of being the first student in her 8+ years of teaching to trash her training room. Woo Hoo...I'm a person of distinction :)))))

This is the amazing Anne doing a demo on how to fuse the multiple prong setting. Below are two pics front and back of a piece that she created.

And here is my BFF Cris with a mix of "aha" and "that's so cool" look on her face as she watched Anne fire the pendant.

Tomorrw Cris, Gigi, Henriette and I are in a class together to learn how to put color on copper. There are some amazing pieces that have been done with this technique. Then we have a meet the teachers gathering in the evening....another full day. I am already exhausted.

Later.....

Bead and Button

It's here...I'm here after a 7 hour drive. Hooked up with Cris who I have been wating an entire year to see!!!. Helped Anne set her classroom up and met a great new friend...Karen Elmquist. She is an amazing lampworker and also sells vintage jewelry and clothing. Cris, Karen and I have all been in Anne Mitchell's 3-day workshop. We are brushing up on our fusing skills and making the kick-ass pendants from sheet metal and natural stone cabochons. When I finish mine tomorrow I will post a pic.

So far it's been a blast. We have hooked up with Gigi and Henriette who we met last year in one of Celie's classes. They both live in Miami. Gigi is from Puerto Rico and Henriette is from Brazil. Sunday night we went out for drinks. I laughed so much I got a headache. Last night we had dinner with Stephanie Sersich and Dustin Tabor. They are teaching a master class in lampworking.

Already ran into Susan Lenert Kazmer, Donna Mehnert, Celie Fago, Jennier Kahn, Mary Hettsmansperger......all the divas of this industry....and they are all so great!!!! I can't believe I am lucky enough to know them all.

So far I have bought a couple of new hammers.....Fretz....one is a texture hammer and it is so cool. Also bought a ton...I mean a ton of lampwork beads from Donna. Her beads are so amazing and I haven't purchased lampwork for ages as I still have so many beads to design with..but these were hard to resist. Also picked up Mary Hetts new book. LOVE IT!!!! And I picked one up for my friend Brenda who couldn't make it to B&B this year. Bren...you are going to love it!!!! Bought all this and the vendors don't open until Thursday night.

More later along with photos of the crew.