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.

Clarity

I leave town on Saturday for the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee. Sitting in my office today, it was very clear there are things that just aren't going to get done before I return. The big goal is to get 2 grants off my desk by tomorrow, but other than that....I am starting to have clarity when I look at my stack of work. There is nothing like an up coming vacation to make your priorities clear. As I got through the stack it is easy to say nope, no, never, nada, nyet....to anthing that is not going to get done before I leave. I love doing that. With each folder that I toss on the "when I get back" stack the weight of the world starts falling off my shoulders. So I'll have a week to enjoy that feeling before becoming Atlas again.

Unfortunately I don't have that clarity about packing for the trip. I have one whole suitcase full of tools. That is just about packed. I have a couple of loads of laundry to do before I start packing clothes. Not that my wardrobe is anything fancy....black jeans, black t-shirts, a few jackets and some sandals. But I have a tendency to clean house as I pack. I have to leave things neat before I leave.

My Mom and her friends

My Mom took me out to lunch yesterday. She brought her friends, Ruth and Irma with her. They are all in the 80's. They have know each other for a long time. Ruth and Irma have kids that went to school with me and we all went to the same church. Irma worked at the high school as a study hall monitor and Ruth was my Sunday school teacher. They hang out together as they have all outlived their husbands. They love to shop....Coldwater Creek is their favorite store. When they get sales notices they hop in the car and show up before the store opens so they can park right in front. They also love to gamble. They hop a bus and head up to Detroit so they can play the slot machines.....the penny slot machines. Ruth has a "friend" the last I heard, but Mom and Irma are of the same mind....been there, done that. They don't want to have to take care of another man in their lifetime. I sat and listened to them talk about their lives when they were young and raising their families. They had none of the conveniences that we take for granted. They washed clothes in a wringer washing machine and hung the clothes outside to dry...even in the winter. Mom talked about how she made our diapers ....there was no such thing as "Huggies". I honestly don't know how they took care of a husband/kids, kept the house clean, grew vegetables and stocked the freezer for the winter, found time to make our clothes, got involved in school and church. They are incredible.

It's my birthday...It's' my birthday

and if I remember correctly....Katie just had a birthday. Happy Birthday Katie!!!

We went to see Eddie Izzard last night....he was great!! We had 4th row center stage seats!! The show was ~2 hours long and he went non-stop. You can tell that his mind works in strange and mysterious ways to come up with his material. He talks about history...and just bends it and makes you laugh.

Today I am just kicking back. Plant a few flowers. Make some jewerly. Work on some PMC. Lou wanted to take me out to dinner but I have a cold so I asked him to make me a spaghetti dinner tonight. One of the best things I've done is to teach him to make spaghetti...he kicks me out of the kitchen when he does it.....which is OK by me.

Later.....

Why are doctors such asses???

Yesterday I had to Fed Ex a package to a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins. He provided me with the mailing address. Today I got an e-mail from him which started with ..."I told you to send the signed documents to my address which is clearly listed below" He continued to tell me that I left off the room number and the package has been delivered to his building that houses over 1000 people and that now he doesn't have this important document.

So.....being the person that I am...I hopped on to the Fed Ex site to compare the address I put on the package with the address he provided. He never provided me a room number. So I sent him his original e-mail and pointed out that there was no room and that the mistake was his. I also let him know that he was lucky to get the package because I left work so late last night that I had to drive it to the airport and practically put it on the plane myself.....well...not really. But the jets were parked right behind the office where I dropped of the package at 9PM last night.

I have a lot of doctor friends....but at times they are such asses!!! They need to teach them social skills when they go to med school.

It's a bird...its a plane...it's lightening fast

It's broadband. I finally have broadband...and it wasnt' easy. I signed up on line and the company sent me a modem. I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday from 4-6PM. So I took off work early and....nobody showed. I called about 7PM and the girl told me she would send the technician a flash message...but no call back. Lou called, Mom called, but no technician. 10PM the phone rings...it's customer service telling met the tech is tied up and won't be available for an hour. I started laughing....maybe it's me but I don't want a stranger in my house at 11PM. so we resheduled for today. Nice guy...showed up....hooked everything up but they couldn't activate it because they didn't have the modem in their inventory. After many calls and asking me numerous times how I got the modem....Hello.....I signed up on-line with your company and they sent me the modem. So the tech was told to install one of his modems. I was told to send my modem back and have them send me another one that is in inventory and then when that comes...hook it up...call for activation....and take the modem that he installed and call the company to have them pick it up. WOW....now that's customer service. Wouldn't it have been easier to just give me his modem and taken mine back. Too wierd. But I am up and running.....quickly. The real test will be been I try to upload pictures.

That was fast. This is Notre Dame in Paris which I can't wait to get back to this fall.

Later....

Why am I so happy??

I had to stop at Target tonight to pick up a few things. As I walked to the checkout the clerk remarked that I looked happy. I guess I am. I thought I was going to have to stop at multiple stores to find what I needed...but I found it all at Target....and a pair of shoes.... and National Treasure 2 with Nicholas Cage.

Plus....I am going to take Friday off for a 4-day weekend. Most of my time will be spent making jewelry. Now that's a Holiday weekend!!!

Plus.....It's only 10 days away from the B&B show in Milwaukee. I take great classes by great teachers, get to pal around with great friends from all over the country and I get to be creative....for an entire week. A 180 degree turnaround from what I normally get to do all week long...which is crunch numbers.

Plus....on Sunday I got a call from Michele ....she's so cool. If you are coming to the B&B show you have to stop at her booth to see (and buy!!) her beads. I am going to be her booth helper on Thursday when the show opens. Check out her website. Michele and Stephanie are going to be teaching bad ass jewelry making at Hacienda Mosaico in Mexico. That would be a great class (and trip) to take.

Plus.....I got into Celie Fago's bronze PMC class at the PMC conference in July. BRONZE...it's going to be so awesome to work in bronze.

Plus....my birthday present came today. Lou is in Germany but he told me I could open up the package when it came.....he got me a purse from Sundance. I love purses.....and he buys them for me on special occasions. This one is huge, a buttery yellow and the leather is as soft as suede.

Plus....we have tickets to see Eddie Izzard on Friday night. My present to myself.

Plus....I am just grateful to be alive for another day with so many things in life to look forward too.

Paris is On!!

I have found an apartment in Paris in the Saint Germain area. It won't have any grand views as it is on the ground floor....but....it does have it's own private garden. It has a patio with lounge chairs and a table and the bedroom is on the other side of the garden. The garden is treated as another living area. So I booked it. We will be going the beginning of October for 2 weeks. I don't think that I have ever been away for 2 whole weeks. This will be an experience. I don't imagine we will be bored :)) There is sooooo much to do in Paris. There were so many things that we didn't get to do last year. I want to see Versailles and send an entire day at the Marche aux Puce (flea market/antique market) in Saint Ouen.

Ah but that is months away and I have the B&B conference coming up the first week in June. I can't wait to see my friends Cris and Michelle. It is so much fun to meet up every year. Once I get back I have the Hathaway Brown Show in Shaker Heights. It will be a very busy month. Once the HB show is over I can get back to design work and just generally taking care of things that get pushed aside when you get ready for a show.

I have tons of things to do so I'm off.........be back later

O...O...O....Oprah

Oprah was in Cleveland on Monday and spoke at my hospital. On stage with her is Dr. Roizen (in blue) and Dr. Cosgrove (in grey). Roizen is the co-author of You: The Owner's Manual and a number of other "You" books. He is our Chief of Wellness and has been on Oprah's show with Dr. Oz a number of times. Dr. Cosgrove is our CEO.

Man...can Oprah talk. Cosgrove and Roizen didn't even need to be there. She talked about growing up in the church, her support of Obama, the school in Africa (and the lessons she learned there), and generally about helping people. She is extremely articulate. I'm always impressed by someone who can be completely at ease talking to a group. I'm always tripping over my tongue.

Doing some more PMC work this week. Firing up some copper/PMC medallions and stringing some more jewelry. I have to order some more rubber cords from Rio....I love these. They are relatively inexpensive which means you can stock up on them and not break the bank like you do with silver chains.

I have a bunch of stuff to take pictures of....soon. I am finally getting broadband. The equipment is on order and hopefully I will have it installed by next week. I can't wait. Dial up is just painful.

It just can't be May already

Where does the time go?? It's just a matter of weeks before I head to the B&B show. I can't wait to see my friends. I need time to totally disconnect from work...both my day and night job. It has been non-stop for months now and the show coming up on June has added extra pressure, so I can't wait to get away.

My drive to and from work takes me through the inner-city. On the way home the other day I came to a dead stop when I saw this.......

The intersection of Cedar and E. 55th has been closed because of a sink-hole. The drop in traffic through this area gave BAK a chance to do this.

Then...back in white-bread land...this is a photo of the front of the house with everything in bloom.

Gotta get back to work.

The Joys of Being a Woman

Ahh...the joys of being a woman. I had my squish-o-gram done today. This is my term for a mammogram. It's the one preventative procedure that women go through that is quick and painless...at least I think so. This nice girl....always a female tech... has to manipulate your boobs in between 2 plates and then squish them. It literally takes your breath away. I've had techs say "hold your breath" while they take the image.....What Breath???. At my hospital the images are now digital rather than film. I could see the images after she took them on a screen in the room. And they looked huge up on the screen :))

When you are old enough to get this done....it's like you've joined an exclusive club. When I had my first one a few years ago my mother sent me mammogram cartoons and friends e-mailed me jokes. And you can't explain it to younger women...it's just something you have to experience.

Pendants....and my second stupid moment of the month

The medallions came out beautiful. I could bend them around a mandrel if I wanted to....nice. So I have rebuilt the pendants, except for the ones with copper. And here is where the second stupid moment occured. I put the copper medallions in the kiln at 1650 for 2 hours. Not a good idea. The silver still had some shrinking to do and it tore itself in spots. The copper came out black and the fire scale is so thick I don't know if I can get rid of it. So I hopped over to the Metal Clay group on Yahoo only to be reminded that I should have fired the medallions with copper at 1470. I'll never make that mistake again. I need to find some copper polish to see if I can get rid of the fire scale. If not....who knows what I will do with them.

Besides firing and remaking the pendants...I managed to put together three bracelets and a necklace. Of course I didn't do much of anyting else. Once the June show is over I don't have another one until October. I can't wait for that gap so I can design rather than do production work.

I have been looking for an apartment in Paris. There are so many. The trick is finding one that I like...I am fussy...in a good location at an a price we can afford. There are some inexpensive ones, but they are so small. I looked at one today that was a literally a box for a living room with a ladder you climbed up to crawl into a bed. I don't think that I need to be that frugal. The trip will only be for 2 weeks rather than the month I would have liked. Two weeks is plenty of time to explore Paris...I just had this dream of losing myself in Paris for a month.

Stupid Moment of the Month

And the month has only begun.....

I made a big batch of little accent beads out of PMC3 to hang on the medallions and make bead caps. I put one in the dapping block to make a bead cap and it got stress fractures in it. So I tested the tensile strength by trying to bend it....SNAP. So I tried another one....SNAP. And another....SNAP. I was snapping them in 2 like they were made of balsa wood. I checked the package insert for run time/temp and compared it to the PMC3 program on my kiln. The temp was consistent, but the times were a bit different. So I looked in the Rio catalog for more info and found a little note at the bottom of the page that for maximum strength you should fire PMC3 at 1650 for 2 hours. Now I usually work in PMC+ and use the program on the kiln (1650 for 10 minutes) and have never had a problem. But with PMC3, the program on the kiln isn't sufficient. Luckily PMC can be refired with no adverse effects. So I have refired all the little accent beads and then are quite strong now. And then I realized.....All the pendants (pictured below) that I made were from PMC3 and I used the kiln program.....damn, damn, damn. I decided to test one of the medallions that I hadn't assembled into a pendant yet.....SNAP. So, I have disassembled the pendants so I can refire the PMC3 medallions. I will reassemble them tomorrow. What a waste.

Nothing But Pics

These are the medallions I have been working on. More my work and less lampwork beads. Inspiration thanks to Mary Hettsmansperger.

And of course I am still working with a lot of lampwork beads....because I have a lot of them :))

I meant to post these pics on Monday but I couldn't get my computer at home to upload them. It might have something to do with the fact that I am still on dial-up. I keep bugging Lou about getting something else. He runs Radiology IT for the hospital system that we work for. He can send a gazillion bytes of an x-ray as a digital image around the world.... but he can't get his wife something faster than dial-up. I could try to use my feminine wiles to get him to do it.....oh hell....who am I kidding there are no wiles about me....I more a bash him over the head type of woman. But as most women soon find out....if you want something done....do it yourself. So I am off to research whether cable or DSL is better. I can get a router from AT&T or get it through our cable company...although I heard that bandwidth can be compromised on cable if there are a lot of subscribers on line. No matter.... I plan to have something different soon.

Work Work Work Work

If it's not at the hospital...it's at home. I worked all weekend cleaning the house, doing laundry, and making jewelry. I'm going to try to take pics tomorrow. I made a number of ... what I call ... medallions. I just got some 3mm rubber cords in from Rio to hang them from. The cords are nice and thick and make for a substantial necklace. I need to make some additional accent pieces for the last few medallions and for a necklace/bracelet set of lampwork beads I have going. I'm going to try to do that this week.

I've finished doing my tracings of Parisii stater coins. The looked really good when I xeroxed the tracings. I now need to scan them and play with their size before I can turn them into textures plates. So much to do...so little time. I keep telling Lou I need to quit and do this full time. He just laughs at me.

And in my spare time I'm reading...The Private Lives of the Impressionists. It's focus is on Renoir, Cezanne, Pizarro, Monet, Manet, and Morisot (the only female)...how they started out in Paris and how they came together to form the Impressionist movement.

I'll post some pics in a few days.

Who Me??....Holy Crap!!

I've been so tired lately.... both physically and mentally. Work is just overwhelming. I've been too tired to do anything after work except curl up on the couch and sleep. But I think doing that for the last two weeks has done some good. Every once in a while I have this fantasy of just escaping from the world. Finding some cabin in the woods, someplace that I can just go to and "be". I think that's what I've been doing the last couple weeks....just coming home and "being".

I've made nice with the doc at work. We've worked together for 10 years...it was hard to be so upset with him. He was out of town for a week and we had to e-mail with each other to get some work done. The e-mails gradually got more friendly. It's a good feeling to be talking to him again.

In these past two weeks I have been contemplating giving up doing shows. When it comes down to it they are a major pain in the butt. Hauling all the stuff around and setting up/tearing down. Getting ripped off and dealing with persnickety customers. The idea of giving it all up is really appealing. And while I have been brooding over this I have let most of the application deadlines go by.... except for one. Today I got an e-mail from Ohio Designer Craftsman. I got accepted into the Craft Fair at Hathaway Brown. It is my first outdoor craft fair and what I consider to be my first real art show (vs. holiday boutiques). So all those thoughts about giving this up.....WHO ME?? I'm really excited about this. At 50 I'm doing my first art show. Look out Julia Child (she was 50 when she published her first cookbook). Besides...this might be a foot in the door to the ODCs Winterfair in Columbus. That show is huge.

So now I'm going.....HOLY CRAP!! Inventory is way down. I need to get cracking. No more laying on the couch for me. I've got to get it in gear and produce. You might be thinking...but it's 2 months away. Designing takes time and these 2 months are going to fly by. I'll start to work tomorrow. Luckily I have so much raw material in inventory I can work the entire 2 months and only have to purchase minor findings.

BTW....I've have no experience doing a tent show. Anyone have any advice or tips for a novice.....send them my way.

Costume Jewelry and Coco Chanel

So it's taken me a while to shake the funk that I was in. Nothing much has changed...going to work still feels like I am sinking in quicksand. I wish I would hit the lottery so I could quit....or find some bazillionaire who would supporting me while I explore and expand my skills and talents. Don't rich people do that...discover and support writers and artists. If ya'll know of anyone like that....send them my way.


So....my work has been referred to as "costume jewelry".... as in I don't buy "costume jewlery". Am I being dissed??? I always thought of costume jewelry as that cheap plastic stuff that you buy at K-Mart. Wikipedia describes it as fashion jewelry, junk jewelry or fake jewelry. Costume jewelry is jewelry that is made of less valuable materials including base metals, glass, plastics, and synthetic stones, in place of more valuable materials such as precious metals and gems. Costume jewelry is usually inexpensive, and often flashy. Its main use is in fashion, as opposed to "real" (fine) jewelry which may be regarded primarily as collectibles, keepsakes, or investments.


So I'm thinking I should be insulted. But I'm not. Primarily because I have no more rage in me....at least for now. I spewed it all two weeks ago. Also...if you do a search for costume jewelry on the intranet you will find that Coco Chanel is credited with creating costume jewelry. I know Coco Chanel created .... the little black dress, the Chanel suit, the perfume ... but I never knew about her life....until now. She was tough. She was born in the poorhouse and her mother died when she was 6 years old. Her father abandoned her to relatives. She went to Paris at the age of 16 with a millionare calvery officer. She opened a hat shop in 1914 and branched out to include clothes. She took up with a wealthy polo player in the 20's and also had a thing with the Duke of Westminster. From these two she was given jewels....which she copied and started her costume jewelry line. BTW...she turned down a marriage proposal from the Duke by saying "There are a lot of duchesses, but only one CoCo Chanel". During WWI she had a love affair with a Nazi officer and spent 15 years in Switzerland in somewhat of an exile. She came back to Paris in 1954 and worked until she passed away in 1971.


The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. ......Coco Chanel