Monumental Week

This was a big one for me. I turned 50 on the 24th. I keep saying it "50". Although mentally I think I am still 35. The day started out with penguins on my front yard along with a banner that said "Happy Birthday Sweetie". Lou wisely decided not to put my age on the banner. I had to give a computer demo first thing when I got to work and the Admins surprised me with 12 pink roses and a ballon. Then 2 other friends at work called to take me out to lunch. Dinner was with Lou at a local Mexican restaurant complete with Tequila shots. It was a good day.

I can't belive that Bead and Button is here already. I am driving to Milwaukee next Saturday. I have classes from Sunday to the following Saturday. One class is a 3-day PMC class, some wireworking, and a chain maille class. This year I will be helping Michele Goldstein in her booth on opening night of the exhibitors. She is really cool and makes great beads. The flower bracelet at the bottom of the blog are her beads. If I take my computer with me I will try to update while I am there.

The Colors of My World

I love springtime and all the flowers. These are some pics of my flowers. We have 2 hot pink azalea bushes in the front of the house. On the side of the driveway we have a rock retaining wall with this great purple creeper. It's not creeping phlox, but very similar. And in the back...sweet woodruff. This stuff is sooo invasive. I rip it out by the handfuls in the spring. We almost have the springtime clean-up done in the front of the house. The lawn and one of my flower beds had been ripped up last fall to replace a sewer tile so we had to restore all of that and then just the normal sprucing up and mulching of the beds. Then we move to the back of the house. It's mostly shade. I have tried to grow flowers back there, but they don't do very well. I am just going to give in to mother nature and plant hostas. They love it in my backyard.

New Picture of Me on the Blog

One of my friends at work said I needed a picture of me smiling. I have no good pictures of me. I usually have my eyes closed. This picture to the right was taken last year in Amsterdam. Lou had just stopped into a pipe shop. What's in the pipe you ask???? Please it was Amsterdam....what do you think??

Diana

I took my mom and her friend to the Diana exhibit at the Western Reserve Historical Society. They had a number of her dresses, some tiarra's and her wedding gown on display. There were also films of both the wedding and her funeral and films from her childhood. It was interesting and sad to watch the video of her funeral. We went to lunch and then on to Coldwater Creek for some shpping. After that to Pettiti's Garden Center.

The rest of the weekend was spent working in the front yard. Cleaning out flower beds and re-landscaping the area that got dug up last September to replace a sewer tile. Next week we have to finish the front by mulching and putting down some flat stones to create a 2-tiered planting area. Plus I have some hostas to replant.

Tonight I finished 2 custom necklaces for a wedding. They matched some earrings that I has sold last October. The buyer wants the necklaces and earrings for the bridesmaids. I also reworked a couple of bracelets. The trick this time of year is to find the time to design while you keeping up with the yard work.

Faux Bone

I took an amazing class with Robert Dancik this weekend. What a great teacher. Check out his web site www.robertdancik.com The pic is Robert, Vanessa, and Jennifer. Jennifer made the most amazing piece of jewelry with the Faux Bone and placed it in a bezel that she designed herself. It's a stunner. It's always such a treat to spend an entire weekend doing nothing but art. Stress drains away, the heart slows down, and the brain sighs. If you're lucky you can reconnect with your creativity and do things you can't on a normal day....at least my normal day....deadlines, finances, HR problems, "Why can't I do this?", "Can you get me that?", too much to do, too little time....AHHH. That is why I take classes every chance I get...to disengage from my rat race and find some peace of mind.

Home Improvements

A new greenhouse opened up in Avon. It's fantastic. They have this gorgeous patio furntiture which costs a fortune...$350 a chair. But it's beautiful to look at. They has some beaded creatures. I had to buy one for my workroom. I bought a red iguana and a small jade plant. I think everyone has had a jade plant in their life. I had one in college. Lou and I went back on Saturday and bought some shrubs. They were 50% off. We got a few forsythia and some low growing shrubs for the front of the house.

Last Monday we put on a new roof. That was step two of our ~100 step process of improving our home. Step one was last year when we had it sided. The next step is putting cultured stone on the chimney and other concrete block parts of our house. The chimney is huge and takes up 1/3 of the front of our house. I just have to find a contractor to do this. After that....a new furnace, knocking out an interior wall, paint, new carpeting, a new patio......this should take a few years or more at the rate we move.

I thought my cat was going to die Friday night. She didn't like the food I put out for her, but it was Friday night and I wasn't going to go out to buy her something different. Lou walked into the kitchen and started laughing telling me the cat was staggering around from lack of food. The he stopped laughing and told me I' d better come quick that there was something wrong. She was staggering around and leaning on things. I sat on the floor and she dragged herself over to me. I tried to comfort her as I sat there and bawled my eyes out. A few mintues later she got up and walked away like nothing was wrong. So either she had some type of episode...or she was gettng back at me for not going out to get the food she likes. She has been fine since. We think her back hip locked up. She's 20 years old...which is ancient in cat years. She's at the age where she just wants to be near me and loved. She sits in my big chair with me and smiles....yes, she smiles. She looks at me and her eyes squint. If you don't believe me...look in the mirror and smile big....you eyes squint don't they.

I'm packing up jewelry today to send to the photographer. I'm getting slides and digital photos on some select pieces. Maybe then I will be able to get into the higher end shows. I'll post pics when I get them back. Should be a few weeks.

Welcome to My Blog

My first blog. God, what do I write about. I hope to fill this site with my experiences as a artisan jewerly designer. Last Sunday our PMC guild met to view a demo of glass bead making. Francine and Mary Ann made it look very easy...but it is obviously something you need training and talent to do. That is why I am so impressed by those that can do it well. If you want some examples, go to the website of the glass bead artists that I have listed. They have amazing beads. Me...I like working in PMC and designing jewelry. It's what I long to do all day long, but working full time at the hospital only allows me limited time. Why don't I quit and do jewerly full time??....golden handcuffs...the hopital pays me a very nice wage...one that I couldn't make doing jewelry full time. So for right now I will do this obession of mine part-time.