Oct 5,
I'm so pleased with the last batch of specials! They sold quickly (thank you to everyone who looked) and there will definitly be more soon!
I just put up a new auction, more of the pink roses and snow tabs. I think they're such pretty beads, feminine and dainty in design, but large enough so that you can see the design on them from a bit of a distance and just one would make a great focal for a bracelet so they'll go a long way. Or they'd all be great together in a bracelet with just a few little accent beads , a touch of silver or some freshwater pearls or Swarovski crystals.
I also got my Lausha "Color of the Month" glass. It's a really pretty rich purple transparent, and I've been trying it out and have a couple purple sets in the works that should be ready tomorrow.


We got reservations for the trip to Wisconsin for the retirement seminar that my DH has to attend. Spouses are optional but I think it's important to go too so I'll know what te options are for some of the big decisions about insurance and retirement plans. It's a little scary to think that we'll have to make decisions that will have major impact on our health care and income for the rest of our lives! So I'll be away for nearly a week at the end of the month, but back in time for Trick-or-Treating!

Oct 4,
I'm fine for those who've emailed, concerned that since I have no auctions up today that somethings wrong here. I'm just behind once again. (story of my life!) With having the kids for a sleepover on the weekend and my DH coming up for his aunt's funeral and the extra time visiting and going out for dinners (not that I'm complaining about that!) I'm way behind. I did manage to get all my shipping out in the mail today and went shopping at the new Kohl's that just opened in Auburn this afternoon. My daughter has a Kohl's credit card and gets a great discount so I got some new winter jammies and some fuzzy socks to wear to bed (sounds alluring doesn't it? LOL!) I've been on a Fleece blanket kick too, my favorite is Serasoft, so fluffy, like cuddling up with your favorite stuffed teddy bear, and washes like a dream! I found a throw that Kohl's that isn't Serasoft but close to as fluffy and had to get that too.

I also made a major purchase in the tool department, an extravagantly expensive piece of equipment, but I'm such a sucker for a good tool! It's another bead-liner tool. Just think of how great it will be when I can add a sliver or copper lining and a hand made, custom designed bead cap to a really special bead! This one will handle different diameters of tubing so I can use it for the larger holed beads. I just got in some silver tubing to use with it, so as soon as I make some beads that I think are "worthy" of being lined and possibly capped with silver, I'll have some on the Specials page. I'm so excited about it! Give me a new tool and I'm like a kid at Christmas!

I had the baby with me at Kohl's and he picked out a little battery powered screwdriver that he just had to have. It's similar to one we have here and it's his favorite toy. Maybe he'll takes after his Nana and be a tool freak...I know he has my sweet tooth!

Oct 3.
Today's my hubby's 59TH birthday!! Less than a year left till he retires! Still can't believe we're getting that old.....we were just kids a few days ago (or so it seems!) He's still a big kid in some ways. He was in my workshop last night playing "Madcaps" a great little game I got for the kids on the Nick JR website. It's so much fun!! Sort of addictive though. you want to keep playing to get all the caps lined up. It really makes your brain work to figure out the best moves. My dad watched the boys play for a while when they spent the night on Saturday and I was rocking the baby to sleep. Was I ever surprised when I turned the game on last night to show Richard and saw that "Grampa" was listed as the player who had the record for the highest score! He'd been playing a little while I was away and had left the computer on.

I have to get it set up on their computer so he can play it when I'm working on my computer (which is a good part of the time when I'm not on the torch)
Anyway, it's fun to see something we can all enjoy from my grandson at four years old, to my Dad at 74!
After playing last night Richard has the highest score so that'll be something for us to try to beat before he comes back again. It's especially fun because it's a game that other people can join in and help look for the next move to make. My niece popped in and ended up staying for most of a game, so for a while there were at least three people watching and calling out moves.

The main reason Richard was up was to go to his aunt Francoise's funeral. It was so moving to see all the people that were there, She'll be missed so much by her family, kids and grandkids that loved her so much, and her remaining brother and sister. She was devoted to her family, a strong and beautiful woman with an unshakable faith, a caregiver, always interested in everyone around her and ready to help anyone if she could. She just glowed when she talked about her grandkids and the love of her life was her husband Emil (know to my kids as Uncle Handsome) He passed away suddenly a little over a year ago and she carried on bravely, but missed him terribly, and soon after his death she discovered that she had cancer. She fought a valiant battle but a big part of her was ready to join Uncle Handsome. It's so hard when your lives have been so entwined with another for so many years to go on without them. My mother-in-law was much the same, a light went out of her eyes when Pepere died , and much as she loved her kids and grandkids, a huge part of her was missing. It really makes you see just how true the wedding vows and the idea that "two shall become as one" really is for some people.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that our life here in these physical bodies is just a small chapter and that our energy and spirits go on. I'm sure there was a joyous reunion and a heck of a card game when Francis arrived on the "other side" or in heaven, or whatever you choose to call it.

I'm sure that our loved ones who have passed on before us are there waiting to greet us and boy-oh-boy, her welcoming committee must have been quite the crowd! Makes me smile just to think of them all together again, but also feel sad for the ones still here and missing her so much.

Sept 28,
Fall is in full swing here. The squash from the garden are all piled up in the yard and "hardening off" We have to cover them up at night in case we get a frost. My grandson comes a few times a week to wait for his bus in the morning and we've been testing out the air to see if we can see our breath yet....so far it hasn't been cold enough for that, thank goodness! I'm not quite as anxious for winter to come as he is!

I made a harvest set of mixed squash, pumpkins and gourds, so far no Cornucopia set yet, that's something I usually do one of every fall, but it's quite a project to get a nice variety of harvest veggies and fruit and the "wicker" cornucopia that looks like a real one is always a challenge!

My daughter was here with the two little boys yesterday, sewing a little on the Polar Bear costume. It's going to be sooo cute, er-um...scary! We still have to figure out how we're going to make the claws since that's one of the most important parts of the costume (in a four year old's eyes anyway...he insists it's going to be really scary and not cute). We have to come up claws that are soft enough that he can wear it at school, but scary enough to please a little boy with a big imagination, and some kind of "snout" and the costume will be finished.
The baby will wear the Skunk costume, the first one I made for the oldest of the grandkids, (kind of tradition here to pass them along to the next in line) and the seven year old will wear his first "store bought" costume this year. He wanted to be an astronaut and wanted his suit to look just like the orange jumpsuits the real astronauts wear. He's really into space and knows just what a real jumpsuit looks like, so when I found one in a costume shop I bought it. When I saw how many zippered pockets the jumpsuit had, I figured it was well worth the price of the costume. It's really authentic looking and he's very pleased with it! The boys wear their costumes a lot when they're playing during the year and I think this one will get a lot of use. The fluffy polar bear looks so comfy I want some PJ's like it for myself!

I really wish I'd had time to do a tutorial on the floral implosion waterlily beads that I've been making lately, or something a little less whimsical, but sculptures are what people seem to know me for (if they know me at all!)
Now that the stuff has been sent for the book I can get back to business. I owe a few emails about prices and shipping and I'll try to get to that tomorrow.
For tonight I'm going to torch!

I made a set yesterday after seeing a Vera Bradley bag and her new line of eye glasses. I was so impressed! I stayed up late last night finishing off a set inspired by the bag (Java Blue is the name of the pattern) in wonderful deep variegated coffee browns and turquoise blue with lots of border designs, paisleys, scrolls and flowers.

The baby took his first steps today!! Can't believe he's getting so big! We went to the post office after picking the boys up from school (Yup, I'm caught up on shipping once again!! Yippee!) and we stopped to get ice cream cones on the way home....have to enjoy it before the ice cream stand closes for the season! Even the baby got his own little bowl of soft serve pumpkin ice cream. He doesn't like to be left out of anything his big brothers do now.
The boys were speculating about Halloween costumes. Decisions decisions...what will they decide to be this year? They narrowed it down to Polar bear, cricket, spider, astronaut and jet fighter pilot. I have no idea what we'll come up with if the cricket idea is the winner! I've seen some really cute spider patterns and the astronaut will probably be something that we can buy some of the part and pieces for anyway.
I love this time of the year!!

My friends Cindy and Jim arrived late this afternoon from Florida and we talked way too late . I forgot they'd been up since before 4 AM. Jim's playing golf with Dad tomorrow and Cindy and I will torch and compare glass notes and discoveries. Should be fun! We should go up to the golf course and take a walk and have lunch at Waggles in the club house. The views from the course are the best around, such a "Big Sky" as my son-in-law says. It's true, you can see for miles and miles, all the way to Mount Washington in New Hampshire if it's a clear day, and you can see the storms roll across the sky (though it should be a clear sky tomorrow!) Only one set of beads from the last specials left and I figured they'd be the first ones to go. The little skeletons are popular! I have a few early Christmas sets ready for the next specials since I've already had some requests for them so check back!!

It was a little hot out in the sun but there was a cool breeze off the water that kept it from getting too uncomfortable. I got a hat that's supposed to stay on in 40 MPH winds. Good for walking and keeping the sun out of my eyes and also it was hand made by a local crafts person. I'd always rather buy from real people instead of supporting the big importers!

The kids were great, Noah was in a Cod carrying competition for kids from 7 to 10. It was really cute. They had to put on a rain slicker, fisherman's hat and fishing boots, snap at least two snaps on the jacket and race to pick up a huge codfish (yes a real slimy one!) and run to a boat and jump in with the fish. Noah got a prize for the most entertaining! He's a total ham in front of an audience!

The baby was in the diaper derby crawling race, also cute. He had an eye on another baby's toy lobster while they were waiting for the event to begin and he went right after the toy instead of crawling to his mother. If she'd had a cookie in her hand he would have won for sure! He loves his goodies!
He was sick of riding and being carried though and by the end of lunch holding onto him was like wrestling an octopus!! His favorite new words are "Get Down!". Dany was exhausted before we even left Rockland and then had to drive home, and it was pretty clear that our plans to take the baby with us on the trip we'd planned to take to Quebec this weekend was not going to be possible. A couple months ago he was still easy to distract and was more content to sit, but he has developed a mind of his own now and does everything in his power to let the world know what's on his mind!

So I'm staying home, a good thing really since I'm so far behind, and have some friends coming up to Maine from Florida on Wednesday. I was feeling very torn between spending time with them and the "girls" trip to Quebec. Now that it's decided I was really kind of relieved, since it's such a busy time and I've been spending money like crazy on the new house. I almost forgot how much it can cost to get things set up in a new place. So many little things... paint and cleaners and finishing stuff, step ladders, and de-humidifiers, waterproofing for the decks....a surface finish for the garage floor to seal it and help with the dampness., a lawnmower suited for the small size of the grass areas... and so far that's just for the outside and Zeph's part of the house! The list of things to get or have done grows by the day...a waterproofing company has to be called in to treat the brick and we need replacement windows on the back of the first level, a new latch handle for the gate, weatherproofing for the doors...Akkk! Now that I'm a home owner again I'll have to get back on track and start doing my specials on a regular schedule so people can depend on when to look for them!

I've been busy making some Halloween beads. It's one of my absolute favorite holidays of the year so I start as early as I can (makes it seem like it lasts longer that way!)
Lobster Festival week is here! Rockland is invaded by tourists and sailors from the big navy ship that's parked out beyond the breakwater and open for tours. Zeph said is strange to see so many people in uniform. We spent so many years living on military bases that it shouldn't be all that unfamiliar but it's odd in a place that you don't usually see uniformed soldiers (or sailors) en mass.
I've been in Turner working this week, but will head up on Sunday morning to catch the last day of the festival, eat some lobster, and watch the grandkids participate in some of the contests they have for the youngsters. Should be a great day!

Next year I'll be there and able to stroll over. The first day is no admittance fee for the locals and they're always looking for volunteers so I may put in for a few hours of something.

Rockland was wonderful! We found a couple lovely beaches that aren't far from the house (just a few minutes drive!!) and after spending part of the afternoon walking the beach and sitting on the rocks and talking about how much the boys will love playing there (and wishing that they were there ) we went back to the house and who should be there just getting ready to knock on the door but Noah and my sis-in-law! He came for an "adventure" and stayed till we headed home. He's such a great little traveler and was so excited about everything while we were there. I think he enjoyed just standing on the deck with the binoculars and looking at the boats in the harbor as much as anything else we did! We went back to the same beach, but this time with Noah and Zeph and Rachel. Zeph took Noah all over the rocks and up and down the beach and they had a blast! He's a lot more agile than I am clambering over the rocks, especially with my wrist. I did a little exploring the rocks, but was afraid I'd lose my footing and land on it again.

We went to the lighthouse that was in the Forest Gump movie and Zeph and I both said we want to go some morning to watch the sun rise there. It's a super windy spot...perched on rocky cliffs....just beautiful!!

Now I'm trying to get back into bead mode but can hear the waves and wind as I work. July 13,
Just a funny for today. This is priceless (clean and funny too)
Click here to see the March of the Emperor(s)

I am sooo pleased that I sold both auctions on the new "Annealer" Auction web site!! I'll continue to do more as I can on that site and list them for real bargain prices...just to do my part in raising awareness for the site and helping them to get off the ground. EBay has become so hard to deal with lately, and there's so many thousand auctions for mass-produced beads to weed through that it's easy to get lost and have beautiful beads that go un-noticed.

It's the baby's birthday today! It doesn't seem possible that it's been a whole year! I finally put up some new specials today. Eli was here and helped me name them and even typed a little for me. At four he's such a great helper! I think if any of them turn out to be a studio assistant it will probably be Eli. He loves to use the tools and practices "smashing" with the bead presses with my old and fugly beads. He'll be an expert by the time he's old enough to actually try the torch! (When he's about 16 or so anyway!)

My DH is coming up and wants to take a vacation! What an idea! I haven't done that in years. Most of my time off has been for kid stuff, moving and house stuff or health stuff. All of that resulted in "down time" away from the business but not exactly what you could call a vacation! It's hard to even imagine what I'd do. July 16
Boy is it hot!! The thermometer out on the porch in the sun has hit 120 and that's as high as the thing can go, so it could be even hotter!
I'm chicken and staying inside and right in front of the air conditioner in the workshop.

I put up a couple specials today. I have more, but the camera had to be recharged, so there'll be more later this evening when the batteries are charged up. If I babysit the grandkids tonight instead of working, then it'll be tomorrow evening before I get the pictures taken and specials listed.

I had an email discussion with a beady friend about the wonderful fundraising auctions that Kim Neely is doing to raise money to help a fellow beadmaker. She was about to lose her house after her son was injured and needed her care during a long and difficult recovery period. I didn't hear about it till the auctions went up, but would have donated beads.... Or helped however I could.... Had I known about it. I'm so out of the loop lately!
I love doing auctions as fundraisers. It always raises more money for a good cause when the bidders know that their money is going for something charitable. They'll usually bid more than they would if it was just a "normal" auction, and there's the joy we all get from giving, both for the beadmaker and for the bidder. I applaud Kim and all the generous people who either donated beads or supplies for the auctions and all the bidders who are bidding on them!! Bravo!!!

While I'm on the subject of fundraising....I'm so proud of my son-in-law and the boys! They sold peanut butter fudge that my daughter made, lemonade and golf balls that my Dad and the kids had collected, and raised $100.00 for the Red Cross! They're going to deliver the money this week in person and might get their pictures in the paper! It's so great that they are already very much into charitable fundraising! Growing up feeling that they can make a difference help others is sooo important!

Keep cool and have a wonderful day!!

and

It's strange, some of the things that take finer control are no problem to do, but things like using the presses prove to be nearly impossible right now, so it'll be sculptures or old fashioned rounds for a little while. Now my shipping is once again up to date and I just took out another favorite set that I've been saving to put on eBay. It's a real favorite of mine and is stunning in person. The goldstone hollows are picking up the light and sparkling like crazy on the photo "booth" and keep catching my eye even though there's no photo lights shining on them, just the florescent work light in the room.

I'll try to get some specials up tomorrow morning, now that I'm getting back into working mode and my wrist isn't bothering me so much. I'm going to the movies with the kids in the afternoon...it's sooo hot that something quite and air conditioned to keep them content during the heat of the day is welcome.

The kids have something called....mycoplasm....presents like a cold and sometimes conjunctivitis, but is the same bacteria that causes walking pneumonia (as I understand it anyway) They're all on Zythromax and have their nebulizer treatments. And should be back in the pink in a couple days, or even less. They're such little troopers!

Zeph is back in Rockland doing more painting and I hope, taking time out to walk down to the Blues Festival. He'll be able to see the tents and hear the music right from his deck but I still hope he walks down to see it close up.

I researched old fashioned push lawnmowers for the small area of grass we have to take care of and found (to my surprise) that there are some major improvements in the design. I decided to get a Brill 38, made in Germany and really light weight with super hardened steel blades. It should do the job, be easy to use, whisper quiet, and no smelly gas to deal with or store! One thing I can check off the list of stuff I have to get or do as a "landlady". Next is figuring out the trash pick-up. I had just assumed that the city did it and we'd get a bill, but I guess it's all independent services, or getting a sticker for the town "transfer station" I'll have to get one of those for the car, but I'd rather have a service so that Zeph and the Parkers can just set out their cans by the road on certain days and not have to worry about it.

My interesting life...trash pickup....Dr's and coughing kids, and right now, not much for beads. I have the kiln on and attempted to repair two sheep that I dropped when trying to package them up for shipping when I still wasn't able to maneuver my right hand to do anything much. They went flying across the floor (cement) and one lost a leg while the other just had a tiny chip on one ear. I was surprised that they weren't in shattered pieces since they really took a flying leap off the counter! I'm not sure how the repairs went. It felt really strange holding a glass rod after a week and a half away from it, and with a cumbersome splint on. I'll adjust I'm sure but the only complicated beads for a few weeks will be the ones I have in my bead stash, made before the broken wrist.

My prayers were answered and I can slip the splint off ....though I am supposed to wear it 24/7 except for showering. As long as I don't pick up anything with any weight or strain it I can do some limited torching and typing. Now it doesn't hurt to type unless I do too much. Shipping is a little challenge. Small things that I always took for granted, like tearing the tape out of the dispenser or folding the Priority mail boxes, tying the ribbon around the jewelry boxes or tissue packages have to be done just right, or the wrist and arm will complain rather loudly. I'm going to try to be really cautious so I'll cut the typing short for tonight.

I did all my shipping today so all the packages that have been waiting to ship out since the 4th when this happened, are on their way. For tonight I'm off to bed with an ice pack and aspirin (or ibuprofen...or whatever) I can't keep up with all the names they have for that stuff now.

I should have a chance tomorrow to take some pictures of a few beads I've been saving, one auction set, maybe some specials and a new set of Freebies!!!

I got out "The Stand" to read again, it's been years since I read it and now I can't remember anything about it except that I really enjoyed it. If anyone has any advice on some good summer reads, please let me know. I'm looking for something to keep me occupied and away from thoughts of the torch and all the beads I want to make. I'm keeping a little notebook of things I want to try so when I get the okay from the DR to try torching again (or maybe a little sooner) I'll have a whole list of things to do!

I get my big girl cast on Tuesday. The boys want to go and see it put on! They're so concerned and helpful, it's adorable!

Also I wanted to add, that I know there's a few people that I promised sheep to from the specials, and it will be a little while before I can get them done. I broke two of them that were in the kiln trying to take them off the mandrels one handed and fumbling around . They ended up bouncing off the cement floor, and one survived but one lost part of an ear and the other a leg. Not bad for the way they bounced around the floor! It was a good test of how durable they are!

A great time to clean out my stash of saved beads!! So there'll be specials and some super sales even though I can't torch. .

June 30,
It was quite a day! We closed on the house in Rockland!! It's ours!!

The nagging feeling I've had that something wasn't going to go smoothly proved to be right. There was a major mis-communication, mostly due (IMHO)to the seller's realtor's being a little too "laid back" and generally unconcerned about both our wishes and the sellers.

Thank goodness we found a compromise. It was us ladies who worked it out. (no surprise....we need a woman president!)

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the property. The buildings were in horrendous shape when the couple we bought it from first found it and had the vision to reclaim it and turn it into a lovely place to live. The transformation is nothing short of miraculous! They have pictures of how it looked when they got it and I hope to do some research into the history of the property, what it looked like when it was first built.

Even through all the turmoil I really enjoyed hearing a little about the history of the building, and look forward to learning more about the house and what went into transforming it. They evidently did the majority of the work themselves and were obviously having a hard time letting go of their "baby". We'll take good care of it and will appreciate it, probably more than anyone else who could have bought it.

Heather from the credit-union was wonderful. We'll have to make sure that she gets a glowing report as she stayed right on top of all the changes and delays and was so well prepared and patient at the closing today. I've been lucky that I seem to have a knack of stumbling upon super people in things like this.

As far as I know, the only thing left besides showing up for the closing with picture ID and checkbook in hand is to contact the electric company to transfer the billing info so our renters won't have a power outage. That would be inconvenient , especially on a holiday weekend! I'm nervous now....excited but jumpy. Not sure how it will affect my beads today. Yesterday's came out great! I have a set of elegant little squares and rounds similar to the "Urban Jungle" set I did last week. I loved that set and made a few changes, "tweaking " the design. I may keep them. For some reason my more "earthy" sets are seldom as sought after as the sculptured beads, but when I choose something to wear myself it's usually either beach glass or earthy, stone effect beads that call to me.

Wish me luck tomorrow for the closing. It's been a rocky ride, but I think it'll be so worth it once it's finished.

Of course the up side is that when I'm not on the phone dealing with the bank and the realtors I've been making beads like crazy! The flame is a stress reliever for me. I have a set of lobstah claws and shells, nautical theme set, a set of lamps, and some new wildflowers in colors and a bunch of pressed beads , lots of square "chicklets" and rounds with impressed spirals. I'm so thrilled with the new bead press I got from Zoozie....it's by far the easiest to use and makes such nice light flat little shapes...actually some are fairly big since the press has three sizes of beads in each plate.!!

The closing on the house in Rockland is supposed to be next Friday morning. SO exciting!!

The big birthday party yesterday was moved to next Saturday because of the rain and cool temperatures that were predicted. Hope it's nice then! The birthday boy still spent the night on Friday night and we made as big a deal about the birthday as we could...went out to dinner and had the dessert brought in by the singing, yelling wait staff! He was so excited I thought he'd teleport right off his seat! LOL! Then last night I got a call from him, giggling so hard...he'd opened a gift that his Mom had picked out...a whoopie cushion! LOL! The perfect gift for a 7 year old boy. Dany said that it was inevitable with three boys so she might as well not fight it! They had no idea what it was when it was opened and they were just hysterical when they tried it out and discovered what it did. Tooo funny! No seat will be safe for a while. Just hope they don't sneak it into restaurants or public places. We may have to do a little check before be go out to make sure it's left at home or in the car.

We had our monthly "Red Hat" dinner last night and had such a great time. I have such a great circle of women in my life! We laughed so much! Mostly at ourselves! LOL! We're planning a weekend in old Quebec in August. Should be great!

Tomorrow is Noah's birthday!! My oldest grandson...can't believe he's going to be 7. Seems like yesterday he was born and now he's such a big boy. He's coming to spend the night so that he will be able to walk into his party and be surprised. He doesn't want to see any of the decorations or preparations and I can tell he has a "vision" of what it will be like to be shocked and awed. My daughter is hoping that he hasn't built it up in his imagination to be something that she can never meet in reality. His little mind works so much like hers did. It's kinda funny since now she's seeing things from the parents end of it.

The party will have a ton of kids since they live in a pretty close neighborhood so between neighbors, friends from school and cub scouts and cousins, that adds up to a lot! Hopefully it'll be a nice warm day so they can set up the big inflatable waterslide and bouncy house. They'll have a lot of organized games and I'm sure there'll be a treasure hunt. My son-in-law is so good with active games for them and will have some back-up helpers to contain the chaos. Should be quite the day, and of course...no beads till it's over.

I decided to try to concentrate a little more on regular specials and web site sales, maybe even a little on a few special orders, though history shows that I'm a disaster in keeping track of who wanted which beads, and then remembering to notify them when the beads are finished.

My Dad helped me get my air conditioner in the shop and also did a great job making an insert for the window so my ventilation fan can be vented outside correctly. Now I can finally haul out my copper and metals and go to town!! I haven't dared to do that since I moved out of my old workshop in NH and have ben dying to do more metals.

Bidding on eBay has been stranger than ever lately, makes me worry a little (as I usually do when the bidding gets weird) Because of the huge number of cheap sweat shop imports inflating the lampwork beads category on EBay, many of us have resorted to using the "Featured" category to give a chance for our beads to be seen by as many people as possible, instead of being lost in the shuffle.
It's expensive though and I really am beginning to feel that we should stop doing that and save the money that eBay is making from it. When I see the number of "featured" auctions people are doing and multiply it by the $19.95 per Featured Auction that eBay is charging (in addition to their regular fees) I can see why they refuse to do anything to police the mass produced, imported beads from being included in what is started out to be a category that was used by people selling their own beads.

Now if our potential bidders could figure out a search that would exclude all the imports, maybe they would be able to find our beads in amongst the thousands upon thousands of imports and sweat shop knock offs, that are sledom actually like the beads the pictures the their auctions show. Many of their pictures have actually been stolen from our website's or auctions and are being used, so it's definitely not a matter of "what you see is what you get". Well that's my rant for the day. If anyone has any suggestions to make my auctions better, more noticeable or desirable, I'm all ears!! Please email and share! Maybe I'll just try selling from the web site for a while.

If there's any particular styles that you'd love to see more of or shapes, colors, whatever, I'd really love to hear. I'm usually one to follow my own muse at the torch (and have been...I'm excited about the direction I've been going at the torch in the last couple days, wait till you see the patriotic set I did, and some dichro focals that are to die for!) but I also have to stay in business, so suggestions are welcome!

Today my daughter is picking up a super slip and slide with a ramp and inflatable "boogie boards" and the kids will spend the afternoon while she's baking a cake for my nephew's fifth birthday. Can't believe the little guys are getting so big so fast! They were just babies...though sometimes they still have their cuddly baby moments, no matter how hard they try to be as big and tuff as their big brothers.

The baby will be fun to watch since this is the first time he'll be having a pool experience.

As for beads I've been making some reflective ones, in a neutral palette. Some of the recent beads have been hoarded in my "stash" just waiting for the right accent beads or focal to go with them. I can't seem to put a set up for sale till it really feels like a complete "set". Something that just needs a few sliver or gold accents and a little chain or clasp to finish them off.

I'm still waiting to hear about a few of the beads I have left here that people had asked for and I lost track of who it was that asked for them. Most have been claimed. I have a few emails I need to reply to (so If you think I've forgotten you I probably have just been putting off emailing. It's hard to squeeze in the time to be prompt with the kids coming and going, and the painter was here this morning finishing up, and the closing on the house in Rockland getting closer by the day. It's always something! (like Rosanna Rosannadanna always said)

On Monday I rode to Augusta with my daughter and two smallest grandsons to drop off my Aunt who'd stayed for the weekend and had to get back in time for Dialysis, and to do a few errands at the stores. Eli (who's four and a has the most amazing color sense!) helped me pick out something for summer to put on the shelf below the mirror in the bathroom. We decorate it to match the seasons and he helped me choose the decorations for Christmas, votive candles and big red jingle bells all in a row, and for Easter/Spring, pastel wooden eggs and a little chick in an egg . I made some chicks popping out of their egg beads similar them that came out adorable! Anyway, he found a pair of candles that are filled with seashells that have a very restful Zen sort of feeling and go beautifully. He first tried to talk me into a wrath made of red white and blue jungle bells but it would have filled up half the mirror. Now that I think about it ....I wonder if he was thinking that we could pull it apart to use the bells in a row like we did at Christmas. Oh well, the seashell candles are great!

I made a couple dichro focals last night that came out super great (if I do say so myself! LOL!) and finally got some halfway decent pictures of a set I made in beautiful Autumn colors , very pretty and rich looking with lots of reflection coming from inside and lots of silver on the surface. I usually etch my autumn colors but this set needed to stay transparent so you could see the subtle goldstone and reduction frit that's inside the beads (and a little on top of some).

I wore my Burgard silver changeable pendant finding again this weekend. I find myself reaching for it almost every time I go out!! It's so easy to pop a bead or three on to match whatever I'm wearing. I think I may have to scrape up my pennies and buy a bunch of them so I can offer them on the website. So far there's about 4 family members that want one after seeing mine. They all have a collection of "Lezlie Beads" so they're always looking for an easy way to wear them and we're all pendant people.

I have some ice cream sundae pairs, a set of tea pots and tea cups in all different styles and colors, a purple bunny set, some Meandros style beachy beads, some cupcakes and a pair of sunglasses, and the list goes on. I've got to get a system to keep track of requests!!

So if you asked for some beads in the last couple months (or so) let me know! They're probably sitting here on my "ready to ship" shelf just waiting for you.

I also did some Lobstah beads since Rockland is on my mind a lot these days with the closing on the house there coming up quickly. There's a Lobster Festival that's quite well known held in Rockland every summer, and people come from all over to eat lobster and other fresh seafood, watch the festivities and enjoy being at the seashore. In that neck of the woods it's never pronounced Lobster but Lobstah...

We'll be close enough to see the tents of the festival from the balcony!

I figured I had an obligation to get good at Lobster beads if I'm going to be that close....maybe even sell a few locally. That would be a first! I usually do all my sales here on the website and on eBay.

I tried a few different approaches to Lobsters... making a whole lobster on a tab shaped bead, and just the claws since that's such a symbol of those delicious critters...and they seemed to need some ocean wave beads to finish off the set. I love the claws, but the silly big eyed lobsters are pretty cute too!!!
They all make me hungry!

There's still a bit of work that's going to need to be done to it, the floor upstairs needs tile or wood or something installed and the carpets in the bedrooms has to go! The ceilings in the garages have to be scraped and painted and the workshop needs to have some outlets and lighting added and a divider wall and insulation at the very least. I'd like to have the stairway to the main entrance of the Main floor enclosed, that means an addition. We'll have to wait for some of it and decide what we absolutely have to have done and what we can live with for a little while. Eventually I'd like to add a fence and tear up some of the asphalt to make a patio/lawn area. For now all of it will wait since the main floor is leased till fall. Time for me to save my pennies for the most important projects (my workshop!!LOL!)

We took a little bit of time to stroll on Main St before we left on Friday and popped into a couple places to browse around and get more familiar with what's located there.

One place we couldn't resist going into was a gallery that's in an old bank building. It was really interesting and they had even kept the old vault and had a display inside it. The door was open and you could see all the gears and bars and "workings" inside it. It was as much a work of art as any of the displays! Just beautiful! Zeph and I were each a little hesitant stepping inside the vault to look at the jewelry and carvings a little more closely. It made me think of the time we were in a museum in Munich looking at a display of relics from churches and someone's purse touched the glass .....(not mine I swear!!) All sorts of alarms went off and the door closed!! Talk about being shaken up!! Zeph grinned at me as he hesitated in front of the vault door in the gallery and I knew he was remembering being closed in the vault in Munich. Too funny! Some of those travel experiences will stay with us forever.

On Thursday it was an overcast day and the clouds rolled in thickly, just before the rain started. The light was really interesting, and the sound of the foghorn on the Rockland breakwater was just...soothing...in a strange way, and the smell of the ocean changes with the weather. I think I'm going to really like it there.

I'll be leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow and will stay overnight I think, but I should be back sometime Friday, probably afternoon. My sis-in-law that lives there called to say her new Dell computer just arrived today and is hoping that Zeph could come up and help her get it installed and files transferred so the timing couldn't be more perfect!

Maybe I can finally get him out for lunch or dinner at Primo's restaurant. I can just see him fitting in there (but I've been wrong before) He's such a cook! Tonight he made linguini with red clam sauce and a bruschetta with a tapenade of olives and peppers with feta.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields.

When I read the poem, the memories of visiting the battlefields and cemeteries in Belgium with my father in law and listening to his stories came flooding back to me. We traveled for two weeks through Belgium and Normandy with him retracing the journey he took during the war, seeing the towns and fields through his eyes.

I can remember seeing him stoop down to read the headstones in a peaceful little cemetery out in the country, on a beautiful sunny day, birds singing and wildflowers blowing in the breeze...my son beside him, head up and taking it all in like a little bird...The reverence of the day and the irony of the beauty of the spot that day compared to the horror that took place there so many years ago will stay with me forever. It was as if the very ground held the memory of the boys that were laid there, and put forth all it's beauty to honor them and surround them in the hush of peace.
It was a trip we'll never forget.

I watched "We were Soldiers" last night.
I don't usually watch war movies but got sucked in when the opening scene showed a car just like the one we had when I was a kid, a huge white station wagon with the "wood" panels on the sides and three bench seats, filled with kids and their travel "stuff". It looked just like we did when we were traveling to a new "Post" to live. The scenes in the movie of the families were so much like what I remember, the wives meetings...the dads being called out at a moments notice to go, and their wives putting on a brave face, trying to keep living life as normally as they could for their children, the haunted look in the women's eyes, not knowing if their family would ever be whole again. They captured the support that the wives gave to each other. Women from all different backgrounds, thrown together and going through the same things, banding together and helping each other "carry on". They did such a good job with that part of the movie.

I have so much respect for the soldiers, the men and women who have had to live through things that no person should ever have to experience....and carry that burden through the rest of their lives.

I wish the politicians could walk a mile in their shoes before they make decisions that bring our military into danger. I firmly believe that we need a military force, but to defend our own shores...to be ready to activate and go into disaster areas to help our citizens.

Here's a copy of the handwritten poem and a link to a website that tells more about how it came to be written. Click here to see More About Flanders Field and Poppies

Things are still rolling along on the house deal. The inspection is Thursday or Friday. If all goes well on that front then the only thing left is the appraisal from the bank and the closing! There is a little glitch in the lot size, but hopefully that won't be a problem to take care of, and it's the seller's responsibility to do that. (Thank goodness) I've been spending too much time on this stuff and not enough on beads.

I do have a bunch of beads all ready to go...but have been in a matchy mode lately and can't seem to put them together into sets that make sense to me. I need an assistant to come in and go through them all and I'm sure I'd have sets for specials for a couple months at least! It's like writers block, I can make the beads but freeze up when I go to select beads to string put together for a set.

After all the hassle I went through to sell the house in NH you;'d think I wouldn't be so eager to jump back into the real estate game, but something about that house really called to me and I think that Zeph and Richard feel the same way. It's strange, a converted warehouse, lots of asphalt and cement (great for future workshop/studio space) and it's going to be the minimum lot size allowed by the town regs...but after having six acres in the NH woods, I kinda like the idea of not having more than a few square feet of lawn to mow and landscape. Best is that you can see the harbor from the house...even from the bedroom! I'll be able to see the sailboats laying in bed...if my bed's high enough! LOL! Might have to look into getting one of those high old fashioned ones you need a little stool to climb up on to get in.

Of course I'll still be spending an awful lot of time right where I am since the kids and my parents are all here. I think we'll get quite a few visitors in Rockland though. It's such a beautiful area, a skip and a jump to Camden and not too far from Tenants Harbor, and a walk to downtown Rockland. You can see the town beach (tiny but close) at one end of the street and the town boat dock at the other end. Now if only we had a boat! LOL! Actually I'm quite content just looking at the water, and listening to the waves, feeling the wind. Those are my favorite things, and the light is like nothing else when you're right on the water!

The counter offer came in on my brother's 50th birthday! The twenty-third is an auspicious day in this family! We have a few birthdays that fall on the twenty-third and my daughter's due date was March twenty-third. She was early but I never forgot that date! Hopefully the date is a good sign, not that I'm superstitious or anything but luck or lucky days is a good thing! Now we'll ahve the country and small town environment with all the fmaily around and the seaside/urban (if you can call Rockland urban! LOL!) area to enjoy.

I made a set of beads that I just listed in a new auction. I'm totally excited about the style and the design possibilities! They're bigger than my usual beads, chunky free formed tabs embossed with a Greek Key design, very textured and wonderful in the transparent "beach glass" colors! I can just see them in my mind's eye, made up into a bracelet with thick silver...the model wearing it with a ribbed tank in pure white and a layered gauze shirt and sandals, perched on a whitewashed stairway wall on a Mediterranean island, ...with the whitecaps in the azure ocean glinting in the bright sun. AHHH!
Now if I just looked like the model in my "mind's eye"....I'd keep this set for myself!

I just found this web site. They have a quick and easy E-postcard to fill out to send to the White House to voice your concern abut the genocide in Darfur.
It just takes a second to do and every voice helps!
click here to go to www.savedarfur.com

I'll post again when I know anything new! Now if I can just settle myself down to make some beads. I made a few things last night but was so jumpy that I may as well not have turned on the torch at all.

Now I'm getting a little excited and hoping that the property is destined to be ours! I went down on Tuesday morning a little after 6 AM, stopped by Duncan Doughnuts for a Lattee and parked out front with my coffee to sip, just to soak up the early morning vibes of the place and see what the traffic was like. There were three trucks that went into the dock across the street and two trucks with small fishing boats in tow headed to the public boat dock at the end of the street. That was it, in a little over an hour! The loudest noise was a seagul who perched up on the roof and squaked at my intrusion, and the foghorn on the lighthouse (it was a foggy drizzly mornng)

Eli decided he really wanted to spend the night with Nana last nigth and he was up at....4:30 this morning! When I asked him if he had a good time he said that he had a GREAT time! I sang the little song his Mom and I used to sing to him when he was a abay and we opened the windows so we could hear the brook bubbling over the rocks It's such a soothing sound! I love it when the water is high and it races down the hill over the rocks! I'll miss it when the grandkids are too big to think that a very great time is having Nana sing them to sleep.

Now I'm goign to try to spend a little quality time on the torch and unwind. I've been a ball of nerves with all the paperwork and decisoison! Thanks to everyone who bid on the auctions while I was away. It was strange to not have nay idea how they were going for a few days. I'll get all the auctions that ended and got paid for while I was gone packed and ready to ship out out tomorrow morning.

I'll pist some pictures of the new place if our offer is accepted and it looks like it's going to happen! There's renters there now so it'll be a while before we can move in, but the lower apartment might be vacant before the Lobster Festival and Blues Festival. I havent been.

It's a wonderful thing to take a few minutes and think about all the mothers in the world (especially our own Moms!) and the difference their love and nurturing has made in our lives and in the world. I've said before that I lucked out and got the best one there is!

I was surprised to read this (sent by a beady friend) Mother's Days are celebrated on various days of the year in different countries because they have a number of different origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Mother worship — which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of gods, and Rhea, the wife of Cronus — was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (March 15) to March 18.

In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, MA, every year. The original Mother’s Day Proclamation, written by Howe in 1870, was a rallying cry for mothers to take a break in their normal routine to gather together and figure out how to make their sons and husbands quit the business of warfare. Excerpts:

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.
Her solution?
Women should gather together to "promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace."

I wanted to stand up and clap for Julia and her great ideals!!

It's coming to a point that we need to do something to remind the people of the world of the value of human life, of love and peace and compassion.

Maybe the people should raise their voices in protest, make the people in "positions of power" listen and realize that our priorities and what we strive for in life is not more money or more power or dominance over other nations, but a peaceful world for our children to grow up in. All the ideals that Julia Ward Howe worked for are still what most all the women of the world dream of. .

We have appointments lined up to look at houses in Rockland on Monday. Exciting!!

I just put up a set of leaves and acorns. Something I had to make after I saw the new Ice Age movie with the kids. I love Scrat and his precious acorns! Best part of the movie!

I have a set of shell pink and enamel ocean beads, a little different from my usual beachy sets, and a frilly feminine set of hearts and flowers, covered in raised roses and sparkles. It makes me think of a frilly girly party dress. I must be in a girly mood!
Or maybe it's a reaction to the dream I had a couple nights ago.

I had a dream that my daughter had another baby. Too soon since the baby is just 9 months old now and a cuddly bundle of energy, just getting really mobile and a hand full... I hope it's not something that will happen right away. The baby was another boy so that would make four boys! Boggles my mind just to think about it. She's so busy with three but does such a fantastic job with them. She's a terrific Mom!

I went to look at a house there, it's very odd, but might be just what we need! It's a converted warehouse building in what used to be the industrial side of Rockland harbor. There's still a cement company dock right in front of the place I looked at, complete with a big crane for unloading the freight from the ships. We're going to go see it again on Monday if all goes well. It's a chance to have an ocean view and be within walking distance to town so we can stroll along the water or go for coffee or lunch or to the museu or to any of the events like the lobster festival and the jazz festival that happen along the waterfront The place has no yard to speak of but a nice long balcony with a view of the harbor. I think at this point of our lives it may be just what we're looking for. Lots of space in one of the huge garage bays that would make a wonderful workshop/studio with not too awfully much work....and best of all it has a small apartment to rent out to help with the mortgage! Or perhaps a place for Zeph to rent at a discount if he wants to live there and act as a sort of caretaker to watch the place when we're not there (which will be most of the time for at least the next few years!)

I have a few more ready to go, one in a wonderful rosy terra cotta and ivory "stone" look heavily veined with goldstone and the shape has a nice snuggly bulk to it. Then there's one in Raku and goldstone over transparent amber that's quite nice, the shape is just a little different, more definition to the head/neck are rather than the more oval shape of the others. There's also one in a lapis/malachite look.
Hopefully if you like them and want to donate to a good cause, you'll find one that "speaks" to you as if it was made just for you! May 4,
I just put the first Papoose fundraising auction up on eBay! I'm so pleased with it. It took a little refining.... but I'm thrilled with the design and the overall look and "feel" of the bead.

I poured over the charities this morning that are registered with eBay's Giving Works and are working in the Sudan /Darfur area. I compared the administrative costs and fundraising expenses and what they are doing for the people. I'd still prefer to do the auctions for Oprah's Angel Network, but they still haven't registered or gotten back to me, so I went with the Unicef after careful comparison and consideration. I even splurged on the "Featured" option. Hopefully it will catch the eye of more people that way and perhaps the Papoose beads will catch on and they'll be a vehicle for raising awarness as well as funds to help where they need it so desperately! Please bid!!

I've been neglecting my auctions and Specials to work on experiments with Papoose beads.

I did some more Papoose beads last night, this time with faces. Not sure if I like that look or not. I don't particularly like assigning them a skin color as I like the idea of them all being children of the world and no specific color or ethnicity.

As I made them last night they sort of evolved from a bundled baby to a more abstract, sort of chrysalis or pod kind of look. They look a little like some pod beads that I made a couple years ago. I love them but never developed or explored the pod idea any further till now when it quietly crept back into the Papoose development.When I first made them it was when I was in the middle of putting the house up for sale and I didn't have the time or the creative energy to spread my creative "wings".

I tend to fall back into my "comfort beads" when I'm stressed or in a time crunch, but the exploration and stretching, letting my glass creations reflect the space I'm in mentally and spiritually, is what drew me to glass in the first place. It's time to get back to that, and if my creations sell, great! If not...well I'll worry abut that when the time comes! I've always believed that if you follow your heart and passion the rest will fall into place. Hope that keeps working for me!

Now for the newest development in the Papoose beads: I burnt my finger twice yesterday, once reaching for something under the kiln, and the other when I was pressing a hollow into the bead to make a space for the little face, finger slipped and landed right on the molten glass, almost right in the flame! It smelled horrid! I thought I'd be in major pain today but miraculously, it doesn't hurt at all, well hardly. I rarely get burned, I'm crazy about safety and caution when the torch is on! I saw some wicked horrible burns when I was working at the glass factory. Of course most of them happened when people came in after lunch....about half the workers there would come in from lunch in a cloud of smoke and in no condition to be working with a torch. (picture Pig Pen on Charley Brown) LOL!

SO here they are.... I'd love to get more feedback! I'm not crazy about the faces on them, except for the one in the green and blue bead with white swirls.
I'm still working on the basic design and hopefully will be able to sell them in fundraising auctions. I noticed that another beadmaker has a "Papoose" bead on EBay. A case of GMTA? Since it's not a fundraiser the inspiration is surely not the same. The look is beautiful and completely different from where I'm going with the Papoose idea but it made my heart sink when I saw the name. I guess I felt a little territorial since the whole Papoose idea is so close to my heart, and I really have put my heart and soul into developing these beads into something unique and special, that would have meaning to the people that buy them, and remind them of our responsibility to care for the babies of the world!.

I have a big batch of Papoose beads ready to go. Now I'm not sure what to do with them. I love them, but I'm not sure if they'll "speak" to other people like they do to me. The shape is very abstract and simple, just a suggestion of what they stand for rather than a literal interpretation. They're developing and evolving as I make them so they may end up looking totally different but I thought that I'd put the picture of them up and I'd love to hear any thoughts about them. I'd really like to auction them all off and have the money go to the Angel Network, since all the money they receive goes directly to where it's needed and all administration costs are paid by Oprah (or Harpo) So far I haven't received a reply to my request that they register with eBay so I may have to sell them on the web site and donate the money that way. I'd prefer to do the auctions though since the message might reach more people.

Here are the Papoose beads... Photographed in the same order they were made.

You can click on the small picture and see a really big one if you want to see more of the details. As usual the details of the "stone" style ebads just doesn't come through in the photos. Darn! It's so hard to capture the depth and subtle variations and veining in their colors.
I thought they'd make great pendants, or dangles for bracelets, or if I make them in birthstone colors, they'd make a wonderful Mother's necklace or bracelet, with a Papoose for each child or grandchild.

I hope it works and they can get the Angel Network registered with eBay so we can run auctions to raise money. If anyone else has any time to email Oprah, and ask them to register with eBay's Giving Works maybe they'll do it and we can get this going!!

Yesterday I couldn't stop thinking about the show and how precious each and every child (and human being) is and that every one should be cherished and protected as the wonderful child of God they are. As "serendipity" would have it, in the evening I got an email from my cousin with a picture of the most beautiful baby, one that a co-worker had just adopted. She is Native American, a little dark eyed, raven haired beauty! I was shocked to read that her adopted family was 76th on the list of adoptive parents, and she had been turned down by 75 other families because of her ethnicity! I couldn't believe it! I tried to imagine how someone longing for a baby to love and care for, could see this beautiful child and not open their hearts and homes to her. I'm sure that it was meant to be and that she is now with the family she is supposed to be with....but it added to the whirlwind of thoughts and feelings churning through my mind and heart.

As I was working at the torch and thinking...a bead started taking shape, something different for me. It was one of those times that I almost felt like I was watching the process rather than being in control of it. As I decorated the bead, the thought came to my mind...Papoose....that's what the bead represents, the babies of every ethnicity, all over the world. Each and every one is different, a beautiful being, deserving of all the love and care and protection and respect we can give.
What better symbol to use as a fundraiser?
This style bead "speaks" to me at a soul level and hopefully it will show in the beads.
I've never really had a "signature" style, except for being "known" for my sculptures, but their style is all over the board. I feel this particular bead is a "Signature Bead" for me. One that I will continue to make and it could "evolve" as my talents and techniques do, and reflect a myriad of different creative and decorative "phases", without losing it's spiritual significance.

What a day!

In the same line of thought, I watched a very powerful Oprah show today about some of the atrocities that are being committed in Africa. I get a knot on my stomach (and my throat) every time I think of what's happening. I think we all feel like we want to do something... anything,...to help, but don't know where to start. One of the obvious things is to go to Oprah's website and check out the articles and any links there for donating. I'm going to check out eBay's Mission Fish and see if the Angel Network is registered there. If not then I'll send some emails to suggest it. If every one of us bead makers and jewelry makers donated just one auction a month to a charitable cause, just think of the difference we'd make in the world! Being able to help others with our creativity is one of the most rewarding things we can do, for others and for ourselves! (Okay I can hear that song "This Little Light of Mine " that we used to sing in Sunday School playing in my head right now! LOL!) It's so true though!

Maybe we could start a special group of regular donators that run at least one auction a month for charity, make it a regular thing so it becomes a habit. I'm not usually a joiner or club kinda person but for this I think it would be so great and a lot of small donations on a regular basis is so much better than one or two big ones that are a one shot deal. Also the positive energy that is created with a group of people banding together and doing something for the "greater good" is powerful is, in itself, a powerful force!

If anyone has any ideas of how to go about creating a group like that I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! If the auctions were identified with a name that people could recognize so they could bid on them, like "Beads for Healing" or "Beads for Humanity" or something like that I think it would help draw attention and awareness to the auctions and to the causes.

In the meantime I'm going to see what I can come up with for my first auction. I have a few special beads that I've been hoarding for a while now, beads with a fossil/petroglyph sort of design that I really love and have been slowly adding a bead to as I make one that goes. Since there's raku and goldstone and reduction frit, they tend to come out all over the board as far as the color and designs. I think they're be a wonderful subject for a fund-raise and are dear to my heart so I'd feel like I was giving a significant piece of my creative effort to a good cause as well.

Last night I made an "emplosion" floral that came out so great! I was totally amazed! Now if I can only do it again! It looks just like a little thistle or chrysanthemum inside a paperweight. I also have a ton of earthy "stone" style beads and a bunch of hollows in a neutral earthy look. They be stunning in a necklace, and I'm seeing more and more of the large bead necklaces in magazines and on TV. I also made some lentils in jewel tone transparents with gold leaf floating inside.

Now to get pictures of them all!

I was going to send 18 sets but after rummaging through all my "stash" of beads that didn't make it into auctions or specials....I've barely made a dent with 18 sets of five.
In fact they look so cute that I may keep putting them together and do a bunch of Specials of little sets of five beads instead of the larger sets. I get on a roll when I'm working in a particular color theme or style and tend to keep making "just one more" trying a little different pattern or twist to see how it works with the rest of the beads. As a result I usually end up with way more beads than people need in a set. I get emails all the time asking for a small set of 7 beads similar to a big auction set. I usually can't accommodate since once I finish a set, once I go back to do it again it "morphs" into something that's quite different from the original.

There's one New auction, a set of beads that I just love and held onto since last fall. Some beads I have a hard time parting with and hold onto them thinking that I'll make another set like them before I let them go. I never did, but I should since the colors are so nice, and they'd go so well with jeans, but also with any of your neutrals, khakis, grays, olives or browns.

I'm going to try to get some new specials up tomorrow afternoon. We have a big family dinner tomorrow so I won't have as much studio time as usual, but I'll try to get those specials up!

I caught my Dad on his way to Lowe's to pick up more wood and decided that it was a great morning to buy that gas grill that I've been planning to get. I wasn't sure which grill to buy, but I joined the Consumer Reports web site and checked out their reviews. The Char Broil Grills (available at Lowe's) came out the best in the large grill division, most even cooking, ease of use, and it was less that $600.00! It's huge...all stainless steel.... lifetime guarantee on the burners... has a side burner and three different knobs to control the burners inside the grill, so you can cook things at different temps. I had been looking at the Jenaire and Webber grills and this one beat them by far in the ratings for much less money! The Webber grills were about $1,300 for the size I wanted (for the crowd we often have to cook for we needed something big!)

Zeph and I put it together and the kids came over while my daughter and son-in-law went to their first Ballroom dancing class. The kids had a blast playing with the box the grill came in. We split it so it was like one long ramp and they ran and slid on it like a slip and slide! Later my brother and his guys came over and the boys all played out building a fort. Two got bored and muddy and came inside and the other two would have stayed out till the fort was finished if we'd let them. They have big plans to make the walls of bricks that they found out back and a roof of some of Grampa's wood.

Those two engineering little minds will have a mini Taj Mah Hall in the back yard if we turn them loose with their imaginations!

Zeph whipped up some chicken in ground peanuts and orange molasses spiced pork , Romaine lettuce lightly charred in a homemade dressing...mmmmmmmm good. Mum threw on some of her famous San Francisco biscuits, and Dany brought a bean and corn salsa style salad. The grill got it's first work out and passed the test with flying colors!

I worked on a new fairy yesterday. It's been absolute ages since I made fairies and thought it was time to re-vist this design. She's very tiny and really delicate, so I may keep this one for myself or, if I do sell her I'll recommend that she be used very gently. She's more of a collectable for display than something you'd be able to wear, though she'd probably be fine on a necklace that's short enough that she wouldn't get banged on anything.

I love her wings! She's a pink healing fairy and holds a pink Swarovski crystal. Her wings have a pink tint with dichroic glass and some veins of white.

This was written by Andy Rooney from CBS 60 Minutes.

Andy Rooney says:
As I grow in age, I value women who are over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:
A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.

A woman over 40 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 40 give a hoot what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 40 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 40 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. They always know.

A woman over 40 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 40+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize.
For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage.

Here's a picture of some little beads that are on their way to be donated to a Children's Hospital. A fellow beader asked if I'd make a bunny head and some carrots and of course I jumped on the chance to help out, and added a Pool toy and another strand of eggs and misc beads that I had on hand that I thought the kids might like.

The month of March has flown by and it looks like spring is right around the corner! Tomorrow we're heading out to buy a big inflatable pool/slide thing for the kids and to have lunch at the new Longhorn that opened up in Auburn a week or so ago. New restaurants! Something to celebrate in our family! LOL! We love to eat out at every opportunity. Last year we were going to go get some summer stuff for the kids to play with, had our list all made out to catch the new sales before it got too warm and the stores sold out. Before we went shopping my sis-in-law passed away, totally out of the blue. Of course for a long time after that we lost track of all the every day things we'd planned to do. By the time we got ourselves back together all the summer toys and fun stuff for the pool and pond were all sold out. This year we're going to get a jump on the season and shop early!

It's still so hard to believe that it's almost a year since we lost Becky. We still think of her so often, and it's hard to believe that she's not going to come bopping in the door in a crazy mood, laughing and livening things up like she always used to. Most of us are so laid back and quiet ...and her wild and crazy energy always added a little spice and excitement to the family mix.

They were so good all day long! The only mishap happened when the waiter put a full glass of soda down right in front of the baby and he's at that "faster than the speed of lightening" stage, so the glass went over before his Mom or I could grab it. He was a little shocked, as he's still too small to realize an icy cold shower is the result of tipping a cold glass of soda over. He was shocked and surprised, spluttered a little but didn't cry...he thought about it, but didn't.

Noah and I had a late dinner together while he demonstrated the exceptional skills necessary for a game of "Snail Mail", a great little computer game we downloaded from the Nickelodeon Arcade website. They have some really fun games there for kids and lots of "free trials" so they can try them out for a half hour for free to see if they like them.

As for beads, I got in the silver earrings and will be offering them on the website. I love them and they're great for anyone who wants to be able to quickly change the beads on their earrings to match an outfit or mood. I received a few emails recently from people mentioning they took the Peeps they got from the specials to their local jewelry shop to have them made into earrings. I thought the "change-a-bead" style earrings would save people from having to get someone to wire the beads up for them. My customers range from professional jewelry designers to people totally new to the beady-jewelry making world.
I'll put them up on the "Specials Page" as soon as I decide how to sell them. I'd love to have a few earring "wardrobe kits", with the silver earrings plus lots of different pairs of beads that would make a good foundation of styles and colors to build on. On the other hand people's taste is so varied, how can I choose a selection that wouldn't contain at least one pair that someone wouldn't care for. Maybe I should sell the silver earrings by themselves with the earring pairs available separately.
Decisions, decisions! If anyone has any thoughts about how to present them, I'd love to hear!

I have a new design on EBay today!! I'm quite excited about it. It's a chubby little chick, just popping out of it's egg shell, that's covered in flat slightly raised pastel dots. They were inspired by some spring theme decorations my grandson helped me pick out. As soon as I saw them I was itching to try my hand at making a tiny glass version. They came out really adorable (if I do say so myself!)

I have more beads almost ready for specials and have just about finished all the Peeps I made for the last special....it was an everyone who asks for Peeps gets them, and I kick myself for not taking a picture of the pile of peeps I had. They looked so cute, a lot like the Snowman soup picture, or the Ghost Pile, that I had when I did the "everyone who asks specials for them. Nothing like a ton of the same sort of bead to make an impact...a lot like flower arranging, a ton of all the same flowers is always so impressive!

We went to an awesome basketball game this morning, my grandson and nephew are on the same team and today it was their last game of the season and they played their parents! It was a riot! My daughter and sis-in-law both played (the only moms who did...the rest of the players were the Dads!) Girl power is big in our family! LOL!) The adults had to play with their worst hand, and had to keep the other one behind their back. They did pretty well and gave it their all, but I did see more than the usual hugging and kisses between rounds (or whatever it's called in basketball) I was never a sports person S I'm clueless when it comes to the rules and terminology. I just cheer and clap a lot. We were so proud of our players, both the small ones and the big ones!

The last batch of specials went super well. I decided to make Peeps for everyone who asked for them, so it was really nice to be able to say yes to everyone for a change! I also made a few extra sets of flipflops so I've been packaging and shipping like crazy! Wish I could let go and trust someone else to do the shipping but I'm too much of a control freak to let that responsibility go....too afraid that someone else might send the wrong beads to the wrong people, or not choose an appropriate "Bonus bead" to add to a package, as I so often do. I'm sure that people would probably prefer me to spend the time at the torch making more beads than fussing around with shipping details though. I should really see if it's something I could farm out to an assistant on a trial basis. My niece has been talking about spending time here helping out this summer and learning more at my elbow (so to speak) She's quite the artist already and has been making jewelry for several years, and already loves the flame. We'll see. A lot depends on her social life and what kind of "real" job she finds this summer while she's on break from college. She'll be a junior in college next fall (seems impossible!)

I took a lunch break today and went out with my daughter and the two youngest boys and we took a ride to see a house that's for sale in Wayne. It looked like a fairly good deal , an old old farm house with great "bones" ripe and ready for a total renovation, on ten acres overlooking the lake. When we got there it was across the street from the lake and the open field on the lake side that provided the great view also has a for sale sign on it. Drats! It would be a wonderful retirement project, and a really nice location, just a quick walk to the village and the best ice cream place in the area (could be dangerous! LOL!) We'll have to look into it a little more. Just being close to the lake if we had a right of way might be nice, and so much more affordable than waterfront property. The kids could have a place to come for boating and fishing when they're older....and it's 8 miles from my daughter's house, not too far, though I'd really prefer to be right here where I am when all is said and done.

My "sleep overs" were a great success, no-one woke in the middle of the night and needed to be driven home, no problems at all, just a really early morning. Eli was up at the crack of dawn this morning, literally. He woke me up and told me he could see the light on the garage roof from the bed. It's true you can see the roof from bed, but it's a huge metal roof and reflects the light so it looked deceptively lighter than it actually was....the sun was just beginning to come up. I used to be up myself before dawn but now I'm in Maine I've taken to torching in the evenings till the news comes on or later if I'm on a roll, so I'm not up as early as I used to be. I miss the dawns but I can't really see the sun rise from the workshop here so being in the shop before dawn has lost it's appeal.

I'm trying to get the beads together and photographed for some specials and hope to have them ready sometime this afternoon.

Now I have the day to torch and hopefully list a few specials, and then the 4 year old is coming for his turn at sleeping over. He was not a very happy camper going home last night and knowing his brother was going to be here, and not in his room.

As for beads....I got a heart shaped mandrel and a star. Haven't tried the star yet but the heart worked great! It has so many possibilities! I can see it being used in so amny dofferent ways. Maybe I'll try a star theme set today with lots of black and silver.

We're having a little Oscar party tonight, just the "girls". Zeph is our chef for the soiree and was up late last night cooking. I think the menu includes brie with grapes and pears with...something. Polenta topped with a tomatoes roasted with garlic and fresh rosemary....chicken satay...crispy shrimp....and some kind of cocktail. Instead of dressing up we decided people should come wearing either PJ's or sweats, so we can sit around, eat, and dish about the outfits and jewels and who should win.

Since most of us have only seen "Walk the Line" we're thinking about trying to catch "Broke Back Mountain" this afternoon so we'll have a little more to base our opinions on about who should win.
So no beads today, but I did stay up till midnight at the torch making peeps and bunnies for new specials so I wouldn't be too far behind after my day of movie mania.

On the bead front, I've got a flip flop summer set about ready for auction and a new sculpted bunny. Lots of eggs and a few bunnies ready for new Specials, so there'll be more Specials really soon! Probably tomorrow, but maybe as soon as tonight if I have a really productive day and the camera cooperates.

I have two adorable little bunnies, one I just listed in an auction and another waiting in the wings. They look so cute together I came close to listing them in the same auction, but that's probably not a good idea.

I spent the day today at the Children's Museum in Portland with my daughter, sis-in-law, brother in-law, my three grandsons and my niece and her twins! Whew! It really takes a village to keep track of all those active kids and boy was it crowded! We stayed till it closed and the crowd thinned out as it got later so the kids really enjoyed the last hour more than the rest of the day. We were served in style by them all cooking in the little diner, watched one of the girls revel in the spotlight in a pink tutu on the stage (we thought she'd stay all day! LOL! She didn't want to budge) The other one was at the opposite side of the spectrum, lugging tires to change in the gas station/auto repair shop! LOL! The boys had fun too and really enjoyed the space rocket the most I think....though the diner experience and chasing each other (and the girls) through the tree-house and tunnel was a ton of fun for them.

Long story short, we came home exhausted and I didn't have the energy to turn on the torch, so I'm listing a couple auctions tonight and then heading to bed. Tomorrow is a visit to my hubby's Aunt with all the kids and then off to Jump City so they can work off some energy, then I'm spending the night with them for a "sleep-over" so I'll have no time for beads or email till Saturday. Feb 19th,
Today was my daughter's birthday so we took the kids and my son made a gourmet lunch of crispy shrimp with a sake-spiced tea dipping sauce, Scallops with an orange sesame sauce (I think that's what was in it) a salad with homemade gorgonzola dressing and super rich chocolate cinnamon mousse, and sent it over along with an iced bottle of wine. It's been a long time since she had any time for relaxing without the kids and her hubby is heading to California for the week for work while the kids are on school vacation. She really loved it! I don't think we could have done anything she would have enjoyed more!

The kids were great here. I bought a Nemo computer game and some new crayons and books so they had something new and different to play with and they helped Zeph make a brownie cake for their Mum to have when they came back to pick up the boys. We had them all stay for dinner and then the cake. Eli helped decorate (Noah was too involved with the new game to stop to decorate. He's not usually allowed much computer time at home so he wanted to take full advantage of the game time here. The baby was great, not even a fuss the whole day! He's at such a fun age now, responsive to play and interested in everything around him. He always has a big smile ready these days!

So nothing was done on the bead front all day. I did clean out the ice cream cones I made the night before and have them ready to post in a new auction. The pictures are bad but I'll try to take a decent one tomorrow in the day light. More Easter beads are coming soon but with the kids on vacation this week we plan to take them to the Children's museum for one day and to see the new Curious George movie, so that's a day and a half away from the shop for sure.

I found a website a while ago, one of those odd things you stumble on looking for something else and last week visited it again and found they were having a huge sale! They have really low shipping costs and the sale is unbelievable! I ordered a bunch of stuff for the studio...really super quality drawers and organizational things. It's called Felissimo, very Zen feeling design and not something I could ever afford without the sale.
Felisimo Web site Just in case you want ot take a peek
When they came in I was really impressed with the quality so I ordered a bunch more! They ran out of some of the units in white (I think I may have cleaned them out! LOL!) so I went with citrus and decided that the color (when I get real walls and ceilings put in) will be white/citrus and pale shades of greens with maybe a punch of purple or yellow, or maybe pink or orange to add a little zip. My computer office side will be gorgeous when it's done and super organized (I hope) and the torch/glass side will probably be a long bench with storage above and I'm leaning toward those metal tool chests with the ball bearing shallow drawers for glass storage. I'm not sure but I've seen someone else that uses them and think it may be a good solution to keep the glass in easy reach and dust free. Right now the PVC storage I have is open and messy and collects dust and grit on the glass so fast it's crazy!

I worked with a real peep aficionado a long time ago. She came into the studio one day carrying stacks and stacks of boxes and grinning like she'd just won the lottery. She'd found peeps on sale and bought cases! She liked them aged, like fine wine (her words not mine! LOL!) She proceeded to poke holes in the cellophane wrappers of several of the boxes to hasten the process along and would try one every day till she declared they were at just the right stage for maximum enjoyment. Gloria and her crazy peep fetish is the main reason I thought of trying my hand at making them in glass.

It's cold cold cold up here, but no snow on the ground to speak of. Really strange for Maine in Febuary! The wind that brought the single didfit temperatures to us was just screaming today! There;s an open field that's been cleared for some construction along the main road to town and the wind whipped the dirt and sand till it was like something youd see in the desert! A virtual sandstorm! As I drove through it I could hardly see the car ahead of me and the air felt so gritty, even inside the car with all the windows up (of course they were up...it was 10 degrees in the sun! )

Makes me wonder what it must be like for our soldiers in the desert. That sand nmust be in everything!