Monday, June 28, 2010

A Fun Weekend

Well, what a great weekend. Maggie Meister came and taught classes for the Wild West Bead Society. We had such a great time. Maggie is a really warm funny lady who has a great zest for life.
We learned and worked on three of her peyote sculptural necklaces. The Santa Sophia, the Iside, and the Kilm. All were totally different. and so much fun. We all personalized our designs in our own way.
Maggie and Jill Wiseman had fun fighting over Harley D. Carol's little wawa dog. Poor Carol, she really thought that one of them would dognap him.

I did my Santa Sophia with green beads ( very light green ) and bronze pearls, It is very striking, because I added other crystals to it after I was done. My Iside is also done is light green and has beautiful crystals in a light bronze. I really like how it turned out. The Kilm beads are based on the kilm rugs that are made in Turkey, Afganistan, and other Aribic countries. They are brightly colored as well as muted, They make great beads just as a single object on a necklace. Maggie also taught her Scepter beads. I could not attend that day, but I hope to get the pattern for them so that I can make up several of them.
I am still working on the amulet bag, hoping to have it done by the end of the week. it is the 1776 flag and is very neat. it was designed by Cindy Fleming. I have gotten several of her designs as well as some from Amy Loh-Kosper.

I am hopeing to get a program that will alow me to turn a photo into a peyote design. I think that I have some great photos that would look nice beaded. that is for the future, not that I will ever run out of things to do.

So here is to good friends, and fun beading times.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

WOW, Where Did The Year Go?

Well, for all my good intentions to stay caught up, it does not seem to be working.
Alot has happened since my last post. I have visited Tonopha Nevada and mined turquoise, as well as Jasper. I have taught classes inFrench Beaded Flowers. I have joined the Arlington Gem and Mineral Society and started making my own cabs again. I have sold several pieces of jewlery, mainly bracelets which I enjoy making. I attended the Dallas Eggshibit International and placed an egg in competition there. ( did not do too well, but enjoyed the learning experience) I have joined ebay and placed a few pieces of my jewlery there to be sold hopefully. I an looking for a few other venues to sell my stuff at also. We have gotten the web pages for the business back up on line and are getting the photos up as well. I will be attending the egg show in San Antonio in October with hopes that I can get a dealer table and sell supplies for making some of the eggs. I am looking at adding the Fimo candies, and the kits for the jewlery boxes as well as having some new eggs done. I also have a design for an egg that would have Fimo fruit in or on it, I think that it would be very cute. I also want to sew up some more of my mini teddie bears which I think could be used in eggs also.
What I am really afraid of, is that I will end up with lots of stuff and no one will buy them.
I need to teach Rebecca B. and Theresa A. how to do wiring and they also want to learn how to make the fimo candies.
I have two classes with Maggie Miester this weekend, and then in two weeks I go with all my friends to Create-A-Way cottage for a weekend of fun and beading. I hope that I can get some of my wirewrapping done since Betty will be there and she and I can put our two heads together and come up with something.
I am hoping this fall that I can start taking the silversmithing courses with the Arlington Gem and mineral society. I think that I could learn alot and would have fun in the process. I have lots of ideas, but not sure that I can implement them.
I would also like to take the wirewrapping class from them. Hopefully they will offer it again cause right now I have a scheduling conflict with the class being offered and Create-A-Way. This club is very active and I really enjoy the time that I spend there. Just love the smell of oil from the saws and the noise of the polishers. The thrill of taking a stone that is rough and uncut and then cutting and polishing it into a cab is wonderful. You never really know how they will turn out, but that becomes part of the process of doing them. I have so many stones and slabs to cut and polish, that I will be here forever doing them. I love polishing by hand because I feel that the stone is talking to me and I can tell what it wants to become.
(Ok, there is my insanity talking)
I still have not finished my classes at Penn and Foster. I need to get on the computer and get this work done. I know I can do it, but have just been procrastinating. So time to get with the program.
I also have a few quilts that I want to get done. there never seems to be enough hours in the day, but I need to better plan my schedule and make it happen. ( but not over-night).
So there you have it. time to get busy and do some peyote to make a really cute amulet bag,
Happy beading.