Tuesday Takeover

It's a quiet Tuesday because I still don't feel great.

In bead news... there has been a coup in the studio. It's been taken over by junior beadmakers!!!!!! I met G at the bus stop and he immediately said "I want to go make beads." I told him "you have to do homework first" (thinking this would give me a little time in the studio myself) and he said "already finished it" DRATS! I should have said "you have to do your chores" FIRST!!!!!

SO I let him make a few beads in the studio while I worked on my Head Over Heels sample (more on that in a minute). He seemed to get it a little better today, but is still really stubborn and impatient. He wants to do it HIS way and I'm trying really really hard not to correct him too much. I'm used to correcting students who WANT to be corrected, so when I see his bead getting too hot or too low in the flame I REALLY want to say something, but have to hold my tongue because he won't hear it as helpful, he'll hear it as mom telling him what to do. (this is why I didn't want to be the one who taught them and found someone else to give them lessons. They listened to him WAY better than they would have me.)

While he was in the middle of making his 3rd bead, H came home, came straight to the studio and said "when is it my turn?" I said the same "when you finish your homework" and found out that HE didn't have homework either!!!!! This is rare. They ALWAYS have homework!!! So, G finished his bead and H got to make beads for a while.

H is really really patient and his bead shapes are really pretty good for a beginner. He wants to be corrected so that they'll be better, so I'm a little more vocal when I see him doing something that's easy to correct. It's mostly the difference between being 13 and 10, but also a little bit of their personalities.

I don't have aspirations of my kids becoming beadmakers, but I'm happy they are having fun at it for now. They just have a bit of a skewed view of beads... beads are money to them. They grew up in an environment of "if we want to go to Disney, mom has to make enough beads." (There was also the "if we want to pay the bills......mom has to make beads" part, but the fun stuff like Disney was what would have been important to them!)

So they understand beads as currency. My favorite mothers day card was one that Harrison made in pre-K. It cracked me up. It was one of those fill in the blank things that the teacher had made and the kids filled in the answer. It said...

I love my mom because.........

She makes beds to get us money.

(beds=beads. The teacher thought I was a maid I think.)

That was exactly how things worked at our house, so he was quite observant for a 4 year old. I'm wondering if they are learning to make beads because they see it as a way to make money OR if it's just fun for them. Hard to know.

guess it's the same question I ask myself a lot. Am I doing it for the love of the art or for the money??? What money????? Guess I answered that! LOL


In Head Over Heels News - I finished the bracelet... of course I'm still embellishing. I tend to get a little carried away with that part. If I didn't embellish it, I would have been done on Sunday!! I just started decorating it before it was all the way assembled. I couldn't resist!!! She's SO SO SO cute!!!! And it's inspired me to do some follow-ups! YAY!!!


tiny blah blah blah

coffee - nope. Still on an iced-tea thing. Feels better in my throat

music - I'm in a rut!!! 2 days of Corinne Bailey Rae!!! Going to make her the song of the week for that reason.

It's Monday and I'm STILL sick. :(

My kids are back at school and I'm back at work, but I feel LOUSY. What's this got to do with beads???? When I have a cold, I just can't make beads. I've done it in the past when I HAD to, but it wasn't easy and beadmaking needs to be fun now... so no beadmaking for me until this allergy stuff clears up!

I have been beading though. I've almost finished my Halloween Head Over Heels sample and she's ADORABLE if I do say so myself!!! Hopefully I can get her finished tonight or tomorrow night and take pictures. I want to have the kits for sale by the end of the week!!!

I did go out and have lunch with friends on Saturday who gave me a tiny bit of a lecture about my NEED to jump right into the bead business again. I'm not going to go into my whole inner dilemma, but there is one and it's a difficult one... and I'll maybe discuss it at a later time.

It just stinks that I have to think of beads/art as money right now. Phooey... I already started the conversation that I said I wasn't going to have. My friends disagree and think making beads HAS to be connected to making money... but they do unfortunately. It's either that or a part-time job at Starbucks. I'd rather make beads than make coffee. We've seen how successful I am at MAKING coffee. Although I would get free lattes... or do they??

I'm not going to finish this "conversation" today... maybe not ever. We'll see.

In the meantime...

tiny blah blah blah

coffee AND tea this morning - Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte AND Chick Fil A Sweet Tea with lots of lemon.

music - forgot to put any on!! I'll play something. I think I'm in a quiet mood, so I'm going to pick Corinne Bailey Rae and Colbie Callait

Funhouse Friday (NOT!!!!!)

EVERYONE is sick!!!

Both boys have strep throat. I don't (as of yet... they sent my test out to the lab to see if it develops over the weekend) but I feel wrotten!!!!

Will not be a beadmaking weekend I'm predicting. Will be a recovering weekend. Hopefully the boys will let me get some rest. Now that they've had antibiotics, they're on the mend. Me... not so much.

I hope that everyone else has a great weekend though!!!

tiny blah blah blah...

no coffee - iced tea instead.

no music - watching old movies from bed (about to watch Charade with Audrey Hepburn)

Strep Throat Thursday. :(

I'm home for the 3rd day with a sick kid. That's kind of put a monkey wrench in the beady progress... but that's also part of being mom. Bad thing is that once they told me it was strep throat, MY throat started hurting. Hopefully it's just something that's in my head and not real. HOPEFULLY.

I have been working on my website though! I have things in my store now!!!!! And I've got more stuff on its way. I've been taking inventory in the studio and then editing photos to make things fit the etsy format (etsy.com is the website where my stuff is listed. I'm adding a link in the sidebar here.)

So even though we're home sick, there is still beady news. I even did a little beading last night, working on my Head Over Heels revival sample. It's cute. :)

tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - nope. It's a tea day. We stopped on the way home from the Dr. at a place that has great iced tea because that was the request of the sick child.

Music - nope. We're watching re-runs of The Big Bang Theory on Tivo. He seems to appreciate the smart boy humor.

Quickie Wednesday posting...

(I know that sounds impossible... I'm always long-winded in my blog postings!!)

I had a fun, but short beadmaking day yesterday. I made a couple of little witchy faces for my new head over heels Halloween version AND the cutest little candy-corn fairy godmother!!!

It was Griffin's idea (or harrison's??? or both??? I'd better get my story straight!) and it turned out SO cute!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to get a picture and post it here. It's going to go on etsy.com in my store for sale as soon as I get it photographed. Cute cute cute!!!!!!!!!!

I'm hoping to have a little beadmaking time today, but I'm not sure if I will or not. It's kind of crazy around here.

I'm a little overwhelmed with working 2 jobs and being single mom. I have no idea how people balance it all. I'm feeling like things are more on the teetering side than the balanced side right now. I have no idea if that made sense. I sort of see myself as a waitress with too many plates right now... thus the teetering. I'll figure it out... I always do! :)

(insert "I am woman" song here....)

back to work... See??? Told you it was short!!!

tiny blah blah blah

coffee - Cinnamon dolce latte WITH whipped cream!!!

music - Sylvie's mellow side - another "mellow" playlist... not the long one listed to the right. I need more words than "mellow" to describe my playlists. I have about 4 of them that have "mellow" in the title and I never remember which is which!!! Right now I'm listening to Kelly Clarkson's "The Trouble With Love" which was in one of my favorite movies Love Actually.

TRAFFIC Tuesday

Traffic was terrible terrible terrible this morning. I hate wasting time sitting in my car. I've got too much to do in my day to sit still in a car!!!

I did work in the studio for a little while yesterday. I worked more on the beads for the Head Over Heels revival (there... I said it. That's what I'm working on... Head Over Heels, but with a twist).

If you don't know what Head Over Heels is, I'll post a picture later right here...

This is not the original one. Sadly, it was shoplifted at a bead show. :(

It was a project that I designed originally just for myself in 2001. It was a crazy time in my life and I used it as kind of an escape. I was just learning to do beadwork (info for non beady people - I had been a beadmaker, but had never done beadwork which is done with tiny seedbeads stitched together) ANYWAYS I had just learned a lot of techniques and created this "doll" (I didn't call it a doll at the time, but that's really what it was) that was also a bracelet as an experiment to try a lot of the stitches PLUS I was entering it in a contest at Beads by Design.

That's sort of how the whole thing came about.... through the rules of the contest. You had to make a bracelet, but it could only have a certain number of larger beads... the majority of it had to be made in seed beads. SO I had to figure out a way that a bead could be a clasp... and that's how the unique shape of the bracelet happened. (and just for the record... not only did I find a way to engineer something that fit the rules but still have my glass beads as a focus...I won!!)

I had it at a show in early 2002 and a well known bead artist NanC Meinhardt saw it and said, "this is what you do now!" I thought she was off her rocker and said, "uh huh....." not really sure how to react. After all... I was the mermaid girl of glass beads!!!

Well, she was right. By the next year I had written it as a pattern and had taught it as a class. The FOLLOWING year, I was making kits, selling them at shows and online and teaching it all over the US. It was a big hit and it paid our bills for quite a while. I created other projects after that, but none of them has been the "big deal" that this project seemed to be. I loved it, but got burned out on it after a while, so I retired it. This was also a big deal because there were a lot of people who still wanted it. I just had started feeling like the old dunkin donuts commercial where he says half asleep "it's time to make the donuts." I'd been making THOSE head/hands/feet donuts for 2 years and was just over it.... so even though it really upset a lot of customers (truly, I got LOTS of disgruntled e-mails about it), I retired it.

Well, coming out of "retirement" myself, I was thinking of how I could bring that project back. It's sort of a financial necessity right now to make things that are marketale and THAT, I know is. So, I'd been thinking how I could do it without compromising myself... make it something new and different and fun for me.

And on Saturday I came up with it.... which is why I was so excited in my journal post. Now I'm doing the "so, how do I DO what I want to" sort of beadmaking. It's lots of trial and error, but I'm getting it and am REALLY happy with what I'm making. I can't wait to introduce it. I'm in a time crunch because... well, just because... so I need to figure it out QUICK and then get to work, get things made and get them out there to sell.

I've got to put together new bead kits too and that takes time. PLUS I think I need to make 2 samples and that will take some time.

HOW am I going to do it all?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess you'll have to stay tuned.


tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee? - nope. It's a chick-fil-a tea day. My throat hurts.

Music - Sylvie's long mellow list. Right now I'm listening to Maroon 5 "Better That We Break"

What I'm reading - I WAS reading New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, but I left it at the Dr's office last week and haven't had a chance to go get it. I'm planning to swing by there this afternoon though. When will I have time to read is a WHOLE other question!!

Happy Monday World
(and I do mean world!!!!! We're still at 15 countries, but we've got Iowa joining us now and that makes this blog one step closer to world domination!!!!)

I don't usually blog on Sundays, so any of you that were concerned (mother) about what I did or did not do... I'm about to tell you!!!

Saturday was SO exciting and really could have kept making beads for HOURS more because I wanted to start on my fun new ideas, but I had a puppy to take care of and a party to go to!! Of course, when I got home from the party I RAN to the kiln to pull out the beads I'd made that afternoon and think more about my new idea.

Sunday was church and it was a LONG day at church for me because I worked on the A/V team for 2 services. I love doing that job. Not sure why, but it's really fun. Now that we have 2 services it does make a LONG day when I'm "on duty."

After I left, I got a voicemail from my friend Maureen at Flametree glass (www.flametree.com) telling me to "get my butt up there" and see Patti Cahill who was teaching a workshop. I made a detour to their store. Can I say again how COOL it is to have a REAL GLASS DISTRIBUTOR 10 minutes from my front door??!!!

If you're not a glass person, you don't know how HUGE this is for me. I cannot believe how lucky I am on that one. I don't know that enough people in Atlanta who are beadmakers recognize how lucky we are. They have a top-notch studio (the nicest I've ever taught in I'm pretty sure) and I'm getting the same prices on glass that I would have if I ordered from one of the big suppliers on the West coast. BUT I don't pay shipping, I get to pick colors in person (which is HUGE) and I get to talk to fun people!

And the biggest news....... I get to TEACH at a place that's 10 minutes from my house!!!! Of course, I'm dying to get back out there and teach at other studios and I'll have to fly there when I do, BUT for at least these classes... I'll be able to sleep in my bed, play with my dog and cats, and just drive down the road to teach.

SO here is my upcoming teaching schedule...

October 11th - beginning jewelry 101. (make a bracelet & a pair of earrings) If you are reading this and want to try a new hobby... this would be the class for you!!! GREAT for making gifts for the holidays.

November 15th - Halo Bracelet (pictures will be posted on my website soon). This is one of my seed-bead projects and is a quickie that looks FABULOUS when it's completed. It's a great beginner project, but just as fun for advanced beaders because they can embellish to their heart's content on this one. It's a yummy project. (it's also a fun one for glass beadmakers because it allows them to show off their own lampwork in a new way!!)

and finally (and for me this is the big one) Glass Beadmaking!!!!!!!

January 24-25 (2009 - duh) Intermediate Glass Beadmaking - concentrating on sculpture and embellishment sylvie-style! Mermaids, Fairies, Flowers... TONS of embellishment ideas.

I'm very very excited to make those announcements. Hopefully there will be more to make in other places. (if you're in another place and want to take a class... GO to your local studio and ask for them to bring me. I would LOVE to come and teach!!!)

I'm back I'm back I'm back!!!!!!! (has anyone noticed how excited I am about all this???)

I'm running out of punctuation marks! THAT'S how excited I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and yes, I made beads yesterday. I have also "injured" myself twice now making me a REAL beadmaker again (burned my lips which is a major ouch still and yesterday cut my finger...but only a tiny bit... BUT it's pretty much something that goes with the territory, so I'm officially back! LOL) I do need to go and buy a new aloe plant and some bandaids!!

I worked on the new idea and did pretty good for a first-time. I have a lot of tweaking to do, but I'm on my way. I need to move quickly towards getting it together as there is sort of a time deadline.

AND my etsy.com shop is in progress. This is where my storefront will be now. It's a great site for handmade/art items. I should have clothesline and halo kits up by the end of the week. Hopefully by next week (??) I might have some lampwork beads AND really really HOPEFULLY this new thing will be in there! HOPEFULLY.


ok... time for the tiny blah blah blah-og...

coffee - nope. I'm enjoying an ice cold Dr. Pepper this morning. I passed the starbucks I don't like this morning because I took a different route to work and decided to skip it. It's not worth paying for a drink I don't LOVE.... and for some reason, they're just never as good at that location.

music - Sylvie's "new mellow mix" which really isn't "new" anymore. I made it last summer and haven't made another mellow playlist since. Need to. There are a lot of songs that I'd like to add to it. Right now it's playing John McLaughlin's Beautiful Disaster.

Saturday Studio Excitement!

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm REALLY a beadmaker again!!! I was going through the motions the past few times... just trying to make what I already knew how to make... nothing new, nothing creative (from my end), just making sure I could DO the work again.

(If you're not a beadmaker that won't make sense, so think of it like playing an instrument after years of no practice. It's SO physical... getting your hands to do what they need to do without your having to think about it. That's what I was working on before.... just getting back into the groove.)

But TODAY... I was INSPIRED! That's what I live for!!! I was sitting there making things and my brain started flying through possibilities.... things I could make today, things I needed to think more about... WAY more beads than I'd ever have time for anytime soon.

THAT was exciting!!!!! I'm back!!!!!!!!


and do I have something cool in store for my customers!!!! woo hoo!!!! I can't WAIT to reveal it!!! (only mom knows.... and maybe Marcy will because I've got to tell SOMEONE who gets it!)

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

(and this will be a shocker)

NO COFFEE

NO MUSIC

and I had a great studio day anyways!!!!!! (other than burning my lip on a shocky piece of flying hot glass)

Deep Thoughts Friday...

(ok, if you know me well you know that's probably NOT going to be the case....and if you don't KNOW me, then this post is sort of for you.)

I was getting ready to write my entry about creativity because after having dinner with my friend Marcy last night I really had a lot more to say about the creative process. Marcy's work is so fun and she's such an insightful person... I enjoyed bouncing ideas off of her and just hanging out with a friend. So.... shout out to Marcy!!!! (go check out her site. She has the cutest bobble-head glass sculptures!! OMG i LOVE the American Gothic couple!!! And she's doing some great coaching sessions on her blog for beadmakers. Here's a link to her website, you can pick which way to go when you get there! http://www.studiomarcy.com/


Well... I just wrote a long post and erased it because it didn't make sense. But then again, I don't make sense a lot of times!!!.

I'm curious about why people read my blog that aren't beadmakers, beaders, or friends. I love my website stats because I know how many people visit every single day. It makes me laugh that there are people that sit down at their desk and have their coffee "with me" every day. I wonder about the people that don't really KNOW me KNOW me. They don't know my sense of humor so the fact that I write pretty much like I talk is lost on them.

I've said something before about people from my church reading (hi friends from church!!) A lot of my friends from church read this, but they KNOW me. I'm sure that some of the people who linked here from the other church blog sites only know me as "the girl that sits on the left hand side." They're most likely NOT beady people, so are they bored to tears with all the art talk? They might have enjoyed getting a glimpse at a person they didn't know all that well, but I'm pretty sure they're not the ones reading every morning while they have their coffee. I seriously doubt it. There wouldn't be a reason to. I'm not THAT interesting.

Do people in foreign countries who read this (hi people in Denmark!!) have trouble with all the "sylvie-isms" that are here? I'm sure there are HUGE translation issues! They're beaders or beadmakers I'm sure, so the content would probably make sense, although the "fluff" around it might be lost on them. I think it would be funny if they're the ones having their morning coffee with me... I'll have to see what time "coffee time" would be in Denmark! :)

As for other people who aren't beaders or friends.... just curious people whose lives intersect with mine somehow.... like neighbors. When my neighbors that don't really know me (hi neighbors!) read this because they saw the link from my website and were at my website because they had my e-mail address with my URL and were curious what @sylviebeads.com was. Do they get a completely different picture of me than they had before??? Does it make the girl who reads at the pool more of a real person to them? I think that's sort of fun and that's why I'm ok with having a blog that's available to the public... I think people who don't REALLY know me get a glimpse of the real me that they're missing.

I'm a fun person. My beads and beadwork are fun. I would even say that I'm a SILLY person a lot of times. I would hope that when people visit the website and blog, that I make them smile either through my work or through my words. (and I've been told a lot lately that people do come here because it makes them laugh.)

SO...if you read this with your coffee and you're NOT smiling.... find something else to do. I can e-mail you links to some funnier blogs if you need suggestions. Life is too short to spend your coffee break on a website that doesn't make you happy!!!

So get going!!!!!! Enjoy your day all you people in... 15 countries and 41 of the 50 states!!! (we need to fill in that map, so find some readers for me in Iowa and Idaho!! We'll work on those 2 states first.)

Shout out to.... People in China and Singapore!!!! And a local shout-out to Norcross, Decatur and Marietta!!!!! Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Cinnamon Dolce Latte made by Alex the barista (and neighbor)

music - 80s playlist. Right now I'm listening to Bananarama "Cruel Summer" but I'm looking forward to "My Sharona" next!!!

what I'm reading - should be what I'm NOT reading!!!!! I left my book "New Moon" at the doctor's office the other day and I haven't had time to go pick it up! aaaaaaaahhhhhh! I'll never know what happens with the werewolves and vampires in Forks, WA!!!!!

It's THURSDAY!!!

(not Friday...)

I was SURE when I woke up that it was Friday today. bummer! I hate when that happens!! I actually was pretty sure it was Saturday FIRST and then realized when I actually heard the alarm that it was Friday... and then alas, realized THAT realization was wrong too.

oh well!!!

Yesterday I did NOT make beads. But that's ok. I did beady things again, so I'm still on track. I went to the Southern Flames meeting (the atlanta area group of glass beadmakers. I STILL hate the name just because when you say it people don't know what you're talking about and several people in the past have thought it was some sort of gay-pride group... I'm not kidding... SO I almost always say "the glass beadmaker group" right afterwards. Silly, huh?)

ANYWAYS, I'm off track again. I went to the meeting last night because THAT is what local beadmakers do and I'M A LOCAL BEADMAKER!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!

It was kind of funny because I actually was the person who started the original group of glass beadmakers in Atlanta back in 1996. We weren't a formal organization... just a group of beadmakers that got together once a month to talk beads. It then became a formal group in 1998(?) and I was one of the co-presidents somewhere around 2003??? The group meets in the beadstore where my studio used to be (the one with the cool walls) and it's really like my HOME when I'm there, so it was funny when the NOW co-president who was leading the meeting had no clue who I was (of course... I didn't expect him to) and "welcomed" me as a new person to the group. That made me snicker.

a side note... I miss my walls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really do. When I was there I was in my element. Those colors just make me HAPPY. I have GOT to take the time to pull down all the shelves in my studio (which will be a nightmare) in order to put some color up on the walls.

Someday I'll take a picture of my NOW studio. It's very very different in that I'm also more of a bead-warehouse than I was back then. Half of my studio is devoted to storage of the seed beads that I use for my kits. They consume 2 full walls of the space... so there is not as much room to paint fun stuff, BUT I still need some color in there. It's KHAKI!! How much more boring could I get than that???!!! (my excuse is that it was supposed to be an office for my ex when we painted it... it just became my studio instead and it was a quick move, so there was no time to paint first.... I wish I had though!!!) Hopefully I can find some time to do that this year (or next)

Beady stuff - I did make jewelry last night. Just a small gift for a friend, but it required CLEANING the beads that I had made a few nights ago. UGH. I'd forgotten about that part of making beads!!!!!! I hate cleaning beads!!!!!!!! I miss my bead-fairies/divas that used to come to my studio and do that kind of stuff for me!

(I know I have some new non-beadmaker-y people reading now, so I promise that I will add a link to some basic bead stuff so that you know WHY I'm cleaning beads and why it's such a pain!)

Tonight will not be a beadmaking night either, but I am going to dinner w/ a friend and will most likely talk about beads.... so I'm counting that!!!!!!!


Finally, in other beady news. I have several people who have expressed interest in the online class. It's going to happen and I'm planning it to start at the beginning of October. I haven't FORMALLY announced it anywhere other than here, but I'm planning to in the next 2 days. I think I have 5 slots open right now. If you are reading this and have not said you want to do it and DO... tell me ASAP. If you want to know more about what's involved, e-mail me and I'll be happy to give you the full scoop. (do I have an e-mail address posted over there? -----> If not go to sylviebeads.com and you can send e-mail from there)

that's it for today!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - cinnamon dolce latte. yum!

Music - Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces. I was reminded by the word "canada" to the right about them this morning, so I decided it was a good day to listen. (if you didn't know this already, there is a story in my blog archives about how I flew to Canada to see the Dixie Chicks. It's pretty funny if I do say so myself!!)

It's Wednesday and I'm OFFICIALLY a glass beadmaker again.

How do I know this? (besides the obvious fact that I've been making beads?)

I know this because I bought glass last night. Buying glass is what glass-beadmakers do. We make then SELL beads so that we can buy more glass. Hopefully we make some money too, but a LOT of beadmakers do this as a hobby and just want to support their glass-habit which is why they sell.

I'm hoping to get back to the "make money" stage again, but if that's not meant to happen, it won't. BUT I have the CREATIVE NEED to make beads again, so hopefully I can at least support my glass habit.

And there is all kinds of new stuff out there that I've not even tried! SO many cool things have been invented in the last 2 years for glass beadmakers, it's a little overwhelming. I think I'm going to post on Lampworketc.com a post asking "what should I buy" so that people can tell me all the new cool stuff that's out there without my having to do a ton of research myself. I'm lazy... well, I'd just rather spend my time making beads than researching! PLUS I'd end up buying stuff that wasn't as cool as it looked. This way I can get the "must have" list. Hopefully, anyways. (mom, if you're reading this... and I know you are... I'll post my "wish list" for you since it will be Christmas before you know it!!)

But I went to the glass store last night instead of making beads. It was necessary. I realized the other day that when I'd stopped making beads over 2 years ago (May 2006) I hadn't placed a glass order in at least a YEAR before that!!! I was trying to just use all my back-stock glass as much as possible to save money that year. WELL... now that I want to make beads again, I need some colors that I had pretty much run out of. You can't get too far without basics like black (duh!) and white (even bigger duh!) and how I'd almost run out, I have no clue. I hardly remember 2006, so I'm not even going to guess.

The other biggie that's happened since 2006 is that I have a major glass supplier 10 minutes from my house!!!!! That's HUGE!!!! When I first started making beads in 1996, I'd order my glass from one of the 2 or 3 suppliers on the West coast and wait for 8-10 days for UPS to deliver it!!! Since then more and more suppliers have popped up, but now one (a good one) is 10 minutes from my house!! What luck!!!

And it's owned by great people, so I'm happy to spend my money there. AND they want me to teach there!!! So watch for info on upcoming classes. I hope to be teaching at least one seed-bead class this fall and one glass-beadmaking one in winter 2009.

Know anyplace else I need to teach??? Tell me! I need to start building my classes again!!!

And I'm pretty sure I'm doing my online creativity class, so if you are interested in that... let me know SOON because there will only be about 8ish spots.

tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - nope. It was a chick-fil-a morning because G(child 2) needed a reward for getting up in time to get his brother to school at 7 a.m. (YUCK) to work on a project. So G and I went to Chick-fil-a until it was time for him to go to school. Because of that, I'm drinking sweet tea (with 3 lemons)

Music - John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae. I didn't intentionally pair them, but that's who I saw together in concert last year! Funny! (I reversed the order though... John opened for Corinne this time...and we're missing the doofy back-up singer/dancers that John Legend had!)

Tuesday Blues (and blacks and whites)

I made beads AGAIN last night!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

*** warning: now that I'm making beads again, lots of terminology that I use in my blog will make no sense to non-beadmakers. If you see a word that you don't understand, please look it up or try to do what the kids in school do - use the words around the word to help you define OR just skip over it because in your world it really doesn't matter one tiny bit!!!*****

back to our show...

After talking to a friend, I decided to focus on an area that would be marketable when I'm ready to sell and that's jewelry. It's easier to sell jewelry than beads because more people know what to do with a pair of earrings than they do loose beads (makes sense, huh?)

So, I concentrated on jewelry oriented beads (which are not that exciting to make, but good practice for me) and stuck to a palette of blues and blacks and whites. They turned out cute. I have to get a new charger for my bead camera because I can't find it anywhere. Once I do, I'll post pictures of what's coming out of the kiln in the mornings.

ANYWAYS...While I was working child number 2 (how's that mom?) came in and wanted to know why I wasn't making mermaids (for those new to this blog, I was sort of "known" for my mermaid beads...sort of my trademark bead). I tried to explain the concept of marketing to him, but he wasn't going for it. Apparently he did NOT help me clean my studio (for all of 10 minutes) for me to be making anything other than mermaids. And not just ANY mermaids... he was NOT pleased with the mermaid I made on the first day because it wasn't the one HE wanted me to make (even though it was super cute!!). He wanted "the old mermaids" (the ones that have no faces).

I purposefully learned over the years with lots and lots of hard work how to put tiny faces on my mermaids. It's what sets them apart from the other mermaids out there now... but he is not happy with those. He wants the old-school faceless ones. SO I asked him what colors he wanted it to be. He gave me his order and then left me to work.

Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to tackle one of those last night and as I got to the end of the bead, when I was shaping the tail, I heard that horrible little sound... the crack of thermal shocking glass. I can feel it in my hands as it happens... the vibration of the crack. I couldn't SEE a crack anywhere, but I knew it was there....down deep against the mandrel. I knew that I had so much surface decoration done that trying to heal the crack would ruin the bead. It's not sell-able, but child 2 will still be happy with it.... hopefully. Otherwise, he'll send me back to make a new one tonight!!

And I WILL be making beads again tonight. I'm taking Karen's advice and making myself make ONE bead a day. Of course we all know I can't just make one, but I can definitely commit to that... making one bead a day. I just have to find a way to balance the schedule so that I can be mom, run a house, work a full-time job and still have some time to spend time with friends and relax.

That was something that was missing in my life before... the spending time with friends and relaxing. I loved what I did, so it wasn't torture, but I worked way way way too hard to support our family. I didn't allow myself down-time. I still have to be that financial stability, but I know now how important the free time is. How I will balance my want of making beads when there are no kids around (and financial necessity of it) with wanting to relax and be social is not something I have answered yet.

Maybe I should only date beadmaking men. Then some of my social time could be spent making beads!! Please consult your facebook friends lists for appropriate candidates. (I'm totally kidding. Unless there are great catches on your list... no, still just kidding!)

I'll keep you posted on how my social life is progressing with the addition of beadmaking. (NOT!)

I WILL keep you posted on whether I'm making beads, my creative journey and if I'm finding some balance with everything. How's that for a compromise??? You can consult other blogs if you're needing that social life of the single girl fix!!


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coffee today - Cinnamon Dolce Latte made by Omar my favorite barista!!

music - Alison Kraus. A mix of all of her stuff on my ipod. BUT now I'm switching to Sara Bareilles because she's this week's Song of the Week. I'm going to Nashville November 2nd to see her perform at the Ryman!!!

What I'm reading - New Moon by Stephenie Meyers. SUCH good books! I'm not as totally into this one as I was Twilight, but it's still good and I'm still dying to find out what happens!

Monday - Say what???? How do these people find me??!!!

I was about to post something about making beads yesterday (which I am still SO excited about and plan to repeat today), but while checking my website info this morning, I saw one of those crazy things with how people find their way to my blog.

Here were the top google entries (other than the obvious sylvie lansdowne blog, sylviebeads blog, etc.)

If you can figure out why this one is here, PLEASE let me know. I googled the words myself and there were over 630 entries. Mine was nowhere NEAR the top (never even saw it), so I'm wondering what person wandered here looking for....

song lyric "mustard, mustard"

I have absolutely NO idea what I would have talked about that had to do with songs and mustard!!! Who knows.

I'll post more about beadmaking tomorrow. Hopefully I can take some pictures of what I made, but will have to see if I can find the bead camera's (I have one specifically for that) battery charger. It also hasn't been used in over 2 years!!!


time for the tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - nope. Having Chick fil a sweet tea w/ three lemons (my high-maintenance order because there is an appropriate ratio of lemons to tea required by my taste buds). I'm needing some coffee though... might have to make a run for it at lunchtime.

Music - John Mayer. Good mellow music for a Monday morning.

What I'm reading - NOTHING! I finished Twilight late last night. OMG that was a good book!!! I bought the sequel at the used bookstore yesterday, so I plan on starting it tonight. Reading about vampires right before I go to bed might NOT be my best idea, but oooooh that first book was good!!!

Happy Dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't usually post on Sundays, but today I am. And I'm doing the happy dance!!!

I made beads!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!

I was on an errand with Griffin and we were talking and he said, "mom you need to make beads" and I said, "I know. I don't know why I don't. I'm scared of something." Because of that conversation, when we got home, I asked him if he would help me move some stuff around in the studio so that I could make beads. He agreed (a small amount of $ changed hands) and because we were down there working... it made it easy to just hook everything up and start making beads.

I was scared. I have to say that, but I did ok!!!

I made beads!!!!!!!

More on this tomorrow. For now, I'm going to read my book that is SO good I can't put it down (and it says a lot that I DID in order to make beads!!)






<---- these are the beads!!!












Tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - nope. didn't have any today!
music - didn't have a speaker for my ipod in the studio. Will remedy that tomorrow!!

what I'm reading... Twilight by Stephenie Meyers. I'm hooked!!!!

Happy Saturday to Me!!!

And it really is. I am much more rested today. I needed to stay in, read a book, eat thai take-out, sleep till 7:30, have coffee at Starbucks (rather than in my car driving away from Starbucks) and just take a deep breath. It had been a crazy hectic week (as you could tell if you read yesterday's entry) and I needed to exhale.

SO, it's Saturday and I'm rested and in a CREATIVE mood!! My boys are with me this weekend, so I'm not sure if that's conducive to beadmaking time or not. I might spend some time beading (designing a new project) instead of actually making beads... we'll see.

In the MEANTIME I have other creative things to talk about. (uh oh... soapbox sermon series returns??? this could get long)

I was on my friend Marcy's blog the other day and she was offering an online tutorial thing through her blog. You GO Marcy. She is a wonderful teacher (and friend) and I think that's super cool of her to do that.

It reminded me of how I did my creativity workshop as an online thing once and how much I enjoyed it. I started thinking this morning, as I looked through my pictures for the one that I'm going to post next in my "sermon series" and saw all the photos of people's beads that had taken the class, WOW those were really cool!! I should do that again!!!

I wonder if anyone really got anything out of the class??? Did they go on and find some new paths for their work?? I know Sharon Peters said she did, but I wonder if anyone else did. I'll never know I'm sure. BUT it, along with the e-mail I got from my Maine beadmaking student made me think about doing that again.

It was sort of hard to do online the first time around just because of web logistics, but now, with something like Facebook... it would be fairly easy to set up a "group" to do it!! I'm seriously thinking about this. If you are reading this and are a beadmaker, let me know what you think. I could use the creative push personally, so it would be good for me. I would take 10-12 people in the group and first time around.

I'm seriously thinking about this, but need some input from others.

ok... here are the pictures that caused me to think of this... and you'll have no idea what I'm referring to (maybe one of you will) but they are super cool and I am really proud that I helped this person make these












Aren't they cool??!!! Inspiration on the left, progression of work the 2nd 2 images. Very very cool. What I love is that you don't SEE beads like that out there... they have substance and feeling and they're not the same old same old... and I helped make that happen!!

Go me!!!

So... I want to feel that again... like I'm opening doors for people creatively... that I'm helping the glass movement by taking people in directions AWAY from in-bred beads. We'll see if that happens or not... if people want to take risks or not.... and if I'm the person who should be doing this.

I welcome your comments (but remember what happens if they're mean... you get evil song dedications!) on this idea....

Tiny blah blah blah...

coffee today - totally relaxing cinnamon dolce latte sipped outside at Starbucks with a friend!

music - not yet, but I'm about to put some on! I'm in a mellow mood, so it will probably be "Sylvie's Mellow Mix" or maybe Jack Johnson... it's one of those days (for now!)

It's Friday.

I'm SO glad it is. This has seemed like one of the LONGEST weeks ever!!!! (didn't I say that last week???) Well, if I said it last week, I didn't mean it because THIS week was DEFINITELY the longest!!!!!!! Without going into details.... OMG this week was awful!!!!!!!!!!!! I would like a do-over immediately. Take that back... I DON'T want a do-over. I just want a long weekend!!!!!!

SO... I have no idea whether I will get to make beads this weekend or not. I'm hoping for YES, but I'd be happy with just a NAP. I'm not going to press my luck hoping for beadmaking time!!


But I'm ready ready ready to be at my torch and you, dear readers, have to be READY READY READY for me to shut up about it already and make some beads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please feel free to send hate mail saying "we want you to shut up and make beads." Please DO NOT feel free to send me other types of hate mail. I wouldn't like that and would probably make mean song dedications in your honor. So don't do it!!!


Tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - WAY too much today. I've had 2 cinnamon dolce lattes!!!!! What was I thinking??!!! I was trying to stay AWAKE that's what!

Music - Also trying to stay awake with that one too. My "Sylvie's Groove Tunes" list which usually makes me feel like dancing... today I was just hoping it would keep me from falling fast asleep.

Books - still reading my funny "Stop in the Name of Pants" but it's short and I expect that I'll be onto a new book by Monday (and I already have it... no spoilers to be given. You'll have to wait to find out what it is!!)

Thursday Thursday Thursday...

Supposedly "Stress Free Thursday" (says a friend) I'm questioning that and thinking of re-naming this day since I think we're jinxing it by calling it "stress-free".

I know people are waiting for me to say something witty or thought-provoking or whatever... but I just don't have ANYTHING to say today.

My brain is tired.

Hopefully, I'll find the picture that I need to complete my creativity sermon series on my home computer tonight. Then I can get it loaded on here and finish my soap-box speech on the topic of creativity in glass beadmaking. I know that you are DYING to find out the ending!!!

If you are a facebook person, please go to this site and verify that I am indeed the person who writes this crazy blog.

http://apps.new.facebook.com/blognetworks/blogpage.php?blogid=41552

Thanks bunches!!


tiny blah blah blah (look! we have a new feature!!!)

coffee today - Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte from a different starbucks than my regular one. I'm not thrilled w/ it. It's already cold because I didn't drink it fast enough.... it was THAT not good. (but not so "not good" that I threw it out!)

music today - Dave FM again. I left my ipod SOMEWHERE at home, but not sure where!

I'm reading (this is the new feature) - Stop in the Name of Pants by Louise Rennison. It's written for teenage girls, but I love it. Sheer hilariousity. As Georgia, the main character would say, "fabbity fab fab" reading!! (It's a series, so don't start with this one!!)

Wednesday....

We've made it HALFWAY through this week. This has not been a fun week for SO many reasons... mostly because it's crazy busy and I need a break.

Calgon take me away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, there is NOTHING beady to report and I am SO ready to talk beads. I have stuff to talk about bead/beadmaking-wise, but I just am not in the mood to do it today.

SO instead of my regular blog entry, I'm going to talk about OTHER PEOPLE's blogs.

I'll start with Jen Geldard. Jen is someone who makes beads that I LOVE. When I talked in one of my "sermons" on creativity in beadmaking and said that art is when you can look at a bead and see the emotion in it.... well Jen's beads are TRULY an example of this. I can't explain it, but they definitely evoke emotion and every bead that I've ever seen of hers just "sings" to me. I wish I knew Jen better to know the person behind the beauty that she creates.

I was on her site today - glassgirl.com (long story, but I got there because I was playing an online game MOUSEHUNT on facebook and she seems to ROCK at this game) ANYWAYS, I was on her site and I saw that she had a blog called "Torch Songs" which is SO witty. I thought she had always had a blog, but for some reason this one looks like a new blog. I'm looking forward to keeping up with what she's making, so I'm going to bookmark it for myself.

ANYWAYS (why does it take me so long to tell a story??!!) while I was there, I looked at the links to the other blogs she had listed and saw this one called "Confessions of a Pioneer Woman" - Of Mike and Firemen. Well, to be honest, the "firemen" thing caught my eye. I have a thing for firemen. SO I decided to check out the pioneer woman/firemen blog! I didn't expect the poignant story about the blogger's brother Mike and his love of fire Stations. It was beautifully written. (and you should go read it, go to Jen's site and then follow the link on her list of blogs she likes)

Leave it to Jen, whose beads really really make me FEEL something, to bring me to a site that does the same.

Thanks a BUNCH Jen!!! You've got my mascara running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah

coffee today - Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce latte with 3 pumps of Dolce syrup, stirred and topped with Whipped cream. (they had to make it twice because the new barista, for some reason mis-read the 3 pumps and instead made it a triple shot. I do NOT need the extra caffine, so he had to make it again. Pauvre Barista. he'll learn.

music - forgot my ipod, so I'm listening to Dave FM. I'm not liking the song that's on now, but Mercy by Duffy was on a couple of songs ago and I love it. I miss my ipod.

Monday Morning Quickie Posting...

No Beads Made!!!

Lots of going out with friends.

I'm happy with how I spent the weekend, even if it meant no beads. I had a lot of fun and fun is good!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee today - back to Starbucks for my Cinnamon Dolce latte. Hooray for Omar who knows my drink PERFECTLY now and I don't even have to ask. Unfortunately for Omar, it's about time to change drinks for a while. He'll have to learn a new one!!!

Music - Colbie Callait's album "CoCo" on the ipod. I think I'll make one of her songs the song of the week. They are mellow but fun and that's sort of my mood lately.

Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week has seemed SO long! And that doesn't make sense because we had a day off!!!

So it's almost the weekend and the big question is...

Will I make beads or won't I? Are you, dear readers, getting tired of listening to me say "THIS is the weekend I'll make beads!!!"???? I would be. I'm tired of hearing me say it!!!

I'm hoping that it IS this weekend, but there's a lot of stuff planned, so we'll see.

I was looking through my images on my computer for a certain picture that I wanted to use for my 3rd installment in my Creativity "Sermon series" and I couldn't find it. That means that entry will have to wait till next week (if then) because it's probably on a different computer than the one I'm using today.

BUT as I was looking through the pictures on my website, I found some pictures of my old studio that I had posted in a blog entry YEARS ago when my studio was in Marietta at Beads by Design. I LOVED having my studio there. It was a really nice space and is now being used by the store as a classroom space and also by the Southern Flames (I still hate that name) Glass beadmaking group as their class space as well.

I once heard an instructor and student complain about the walls that I'd painted there. They thought they were distracting. Oh well. Too bad. The owner of the store likes them and has left them just like I painted them years ago.

I'm sure that someday they'll get painted over, but for now, they're still there just as I left them. I miss them. It was SO nice to be surrounded by color like this while I made beads. I need to make my studio at home this fun, but it was a LOT of work.

So... here are some pictures of the studio I miss.....

I really really wish that I would have thought about the fact that I might move someday and painted the 2 on the right on canvas instead of ON THE WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss my pictures. :(

And from the files of OMG that's totally a coincidence...

As I was typing this entry... the owner of Beads by Design (the former landlord whose store these paintings currently reside) called asking me when I'm going to come in and pick up some beads that I made there back in....... MAY??!!!!!!! So, that's another nudge telling me to make beads. (insert twilight zone music)

it's time. what is my issue??!!!!! anyone? anyone? (said in my best Ben Stein voice)


time for the tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - of course you know I had Starbucks. No big surprise there!

Music - Sylvie's "Chick Flick or Should Be" playlist. All songs that either were on the soundtracks of Chick Flicks or songs I think should be. Currently listening to "Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes. GREAT SONG!!!

funny note: I wandered onto a guy's blog (who is a member of a facebook group that I belong to) and he has a "song of the day" sort of thing too!!!! He calls his "ear worms" but it's basically the same thing! I had fun reading his blog. He was funny and quirky. I hope that people who do read this (other than for the spy-factor or the train-wreck carnage factor get a kick out of what I write the same way I feel when I read other people's blogs)

It's a James Taylor's Greatest Hits sort of day. That means nothing to anyone but me. But it is what it is.

I thought yesterday's post was short?????

tiny blah blah blah

Coffee today? - Starbucks!!!!!!!

Music - JT... over and over and over. My meditation music

Wednesday -

Shortest post in the world (well, not really)

I'm way behind with stuff today, but I'm on a roll with my blogging, so I didn't want to miss a day.

No beady stuff yesterday. Boring life stuff like buying catfood and doing laundry.. working on PTA projects, helping a kid with a report on mutant frogs... see? boring (if you don't count the mutant frog part).

Maybe today. We'll see.

tiny blah blah blah

(the main reason I'm entering something even when I have no time to write today)

I MADE COFFEE AT HOME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!!


Music - Dave FM (currently playing Tom Petty Runaway Train)

It's Monday... <--- I know it's not REALLY Monday, but it's the Monday of this week, but it feels more like a Monday than a Tuesday!!


We were totally dragging getting out of the house this morning. We all made it on time, but BOY it was hard!!! Sometimes a day off does more harm than good!!!!! It was a fun weekend, though!


So, now it's back to work day. But guess what guess what???!!! (this is where you say "what!??!" enthusiastically) I was in my studio yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!

Ok, I didn't make beads. I didn't even really clean up or organize, but I went in and looked at my bead stash to see what I've got left from pre-hiatus. I have a decent selection of little e-bay beads, which is good! (for those non-beady sorts reading this... that won't make any sense to you, but it makes sense to me and my customers. I sell different stuff on e-bay than my usual mermaids, etc. that are pictured on the site).

I make my sets (I call them bundles) a little differently than a lot of the people on e-bay, so I think I've got at least a START towards getting some things put together. I probably need 3 good studio days (evenings) to get enough of a selection to put some things up. I'll try and make a few focal beads for a future Etsy store at the same time. I've got to do some Etsy research between now and then.

SO, that was the exciting beady news du jour. I know I still need to finish my long-winded posting about the creative process, but I'm not in the mood today. Maybe tomorrow... we'll see.


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - the bad bad bad Starbucks addiction continues. I'm having a totally indulgent Cinnamon Dolce latte with evil whipped cream. I have GOT to make coffee at home tomorrow!!!

music - Duffy (right now Warwick Avenue is on. My favorite song on the album is "Mercy" which was a song of the week several weeks ago.) It's a good mellow modern Motown kind of sound. Think Amy Winehouse, but without the manic streak.... maybe even a little more mellow. Early Diana Ross with a whole lot more edge??? No... that's not it either... Go listen. I can't come up with a good comparison!

Monday and I'm off work!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!!

It's a grey day and I'm taking my time getting ready. I have no idea what we're doing today. I thought we would go to the pool, but it looks like once again, it's going to RAIN on a day when I want some sun! Please don't lecture me on how much we need rain. I KNOW we need rain. I'd just like it to rain on days that I don't have plans to go to the pool! LOL Especially since this is the last day the pool is open for the year. :(

ok... back to the bead part of the blog...

Guess what??!!! I'm a trivia question on a Glass Bead Newsgroup!!! LOL

I started getting mysterious hits on my blog again and went to track down what site they're linking from (and yes, I can do that now!) and low and behold it was from a posting of

"Beadmakers... Where Are They Now??!!"

Too funny. (and thank you JenG for saying you like my writing. I think I'm a goof, but I'm glad other people like my goofiness enough to read it!)

So, now there are real beadmakers reading this wondering "WHEN IS THIS GIRL GONNA SHUT UP AND MAKE SOME BEADS???!!!" Maybe they will comment and harass me into it!!! I need the kick in the butt. WHAT am I so afraid of???!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

absolutely nothing to say here. I need coffee and music PRONTO!