A Long Long Posting about Provenance, Inspiration and Originality

Sometimes we need to look at where we've been to appreciate where we are. Sometimes we need to look at where we've been to learn from our own history or to document our progress, but SOMETIMES we need to look at where we've been to just say "yikes! that was one scary face!!!"

This is the story of how one scary face became the Angel that I adore.

Once upon a time, I made this...(Scary, huh?)

In the summer of 2000, I had just taken a class with Sharon Peters in which we made dogs that were made up of a separate body and head, assembled as a pendant (I made a really fun Afghan Hound). After the class, I decided to go in a non-animal direction to do my own thing and made the crazy girl above. Yikes... she was a hot mess! I have no idea what the inspiration for the big hair or fun outfit was, but I have always loved combining patterns... dots/stripes/flowers and I put them all together here. (note the bubble skirt with the ruffle below...cute, huh??)

I had so much fun making that piece, that I avoided doing the mermaids and fairies I was SUPPOSED to be making. (if you need pictures of that work, look up at the top.. the mermaid without the face is what my work looked like back then... peaceful serene fairy-tale, but no faces...and now you know why!)

After making that crazy girl piece, I worked on perfecting faces, using some other techniques so that they wouldn't be quite so scary!

I also took a seed-bead class from Jeanette Cook in which I learned brick-stitch (I think I've talked about this before). We were supposed to be beading around a plastic tube. I rebelled and chose not to use the tube. Because of that, I ended up with things that looked like lampshades... NOT what I'd intended. The lampshades sat around in the studio along with the cute faces while I avoided some work I was REALLY supposed to be doing.

Beads by Design in Marietta, GA sponsored a contest in October 2000 (which I talked about in an October 2008 entry, so I won't re-tell it here) but Head Over Heels was born from that contest. I combined the glass faces with the funny "lampshades" (as skirts) and added the same striped stockings from "crazy girl" but beaded them instead of making them out of glass.

(Head Over Heels was born...and everything changed from this point!)

I kept working on the little faces and took multi-bead pieces, similar to the "Crazy Girl" but with not-so-scary faces to Tucson in 2001. They didn't get a great reaction, but I was really happy with them. I also took Head Over Heels to show off... not sell, just show off. IT got the best reaction and my work moved so that it was more seed-bead oriented, with glass being a sideline.

Multi-bead Girls Circa 2002 (available at Beadin' Path)

I loved making the faces and found some other things to do with them besides Head Over Heels. I added them to my focal beads...mermaids and a new Fairy Godmother, inspired by the multi-bead pieces above.

Fairy Godmother and Mermaid Focals circa 2005
(approx 2" in height)

Also in 2005, I added angel wings to the tiny faces and then made small totems out of them, again making a multi-bead piece. I chose to make them as non-wearables and mounted them on copper stands. (I didn't like the copper stands, so I didn't make a lot of them)I also made a few Christmas Ornaments for family members that were the same sort of stacked beads, but jesters... no pictures were taken, but they were cute!! (all of the totems/ornaments were about 3-4" high)

I took a hiatus from 2006-2009. When I returned to doing shows, I went back to the most comfortable thing for me... Head Over Heels. I decided to do a little spin on the idea... what the Head Over Heels girls would dress up as for Halloween.
After that, I thought that more seasonal Head Over Heels would be fun, so I created a Holiday version. It answered the requests I'd had for years to make a jester. I didn't want to make a male version, but doing an elf let me make the jester hat that my customers had wanted.In making the jester hats, I was reminded of the ornaments I'd made in 2005 and I made new Christmas ornaments combining the heads with hollow beads that I was enjoying making...

I had such a good time with these! Mixing the patterns and colors on the hollow and accent beads was (and still is) one of my favorite parts about making these multi-bead component pieces.

That summer, at the Bead and Button show, I took my mermaid focal beads and put them on stands for the first time. I had made the stands using a technique that my friend, Marcy Lamberson uses. She makes little "scenes" that include several beads sitting on a patch of grass, or a log, etc. I went a different direction and made stands that had little petals, like flowers at the bottom and put my mermaids, fairies, etc. on the stands.

(Bead and Button inventory for 2010 show.
Not the best photo, but hopefully you can see the little flower stands)

In October 2010, Flametree Glass announced their Halloween contest. I knew that I wanted to do a non-jewelry piece... I just didn't know what. I didn't want to make another Head Over Heels, but I'm still who I am and scary halloween was NOT me. I wanted whimsical and fun and a tiny bit dark, but still me. I came up with the "Zombie Girl Totem"

Zombie Girl Totem - October 2010
Approximately 8" high

She was a combination of hollow beads (which I was still grooving on making... especially after a great class with Jari Sheese!) and "girl" beads that I'd made before (only a little less cute and colorful) I struggled with how to add arms, but finally decided not to even try. I remembered my jester ornament from the year before... it had no arms, but still worked and if it did, then this could too!

I was inspired by a big mix of things, but they all came together cohesively... Winona Ryder's character in Beetlejuice (the stockings, which echoed all the striped stockings I'd done in past work), Helena Bonham Carter's character in Harry Potter movies (the hair and the facial features), Bride of Frankenstein (the white squiggle in the hair), Mondo from Project Runway (the mix of khaki along with Black and White, as well as the mix of patterns on the hollow bead that becomes the skirt) and a touch of Jack the Pumpkin King because my youngest son said I had to (and I'm glad I did).

Note all the elements that came from my earlier pieces... Big hair from the original crazy girl, circa 2000. No arms, a body made from hollow beads, like the 2009 Christmas ornaments...a hollow bead for a skirt, with a ruffle bellow (this time as a separate bead) and striped stockings right below... Shoes with a little ruffle at the ankle, like Head Over Heels from 2000.... All stacked up like my totems from 2005, but on a stand like my flower stands from earlier that year (only with spider legs instead of petals).... I loved seeing how all these different elements came together to create something new and exciting and TOTALLY ME.

As soon as I finished her, I knew I had something special that I wanted to continue exploring. I was sooooo proud of this piece (I still am!). I knew that at that moment there was nothing like them out in "glass land." I immediately started working on follow-up pieces, but I also made sure that the piece was seen online to claim the design as mine as soon as possible. .

First came the Sugar plum fairies.

(Display at Bay Area Bead Extravaganza November 2010)

Smaller versions of a totem, with one hollow bead, a face, feet and wings, but no stand. I showed them on a Christmas tree, but really wanted them to be seen as something non-holiday.

After making the sugar plum fairies, I started exploring doing a larger scale version blending the sugar plum fairies with the totems. I decided to play with making their skirts into flowers by adding petals to what had before only been a ruffle.

First Fairy Totem - November 2010

I took the first of these fairy totems to the BABE show in Oakland. I got a great reaction to that body of work...and I was really happy wih the direction I was headed! I came home and worked on Christmas ornaments and more totems!

Christmas Totems - November 2010

I wasn't totally happy with the Angel, but I liked the idea and put it on the back burner, along with the tree... a non-girl totem.

In January, when I was preparing for The Best Bead Show in Tucson, I realized that it was imperative that I take the totems to the show. Not because I was ready to sell them, but because I had to make sure they were seen as mine before other people started making their versions and I was accused of copying them.... Because, let's be honest...that happens. Someone who is an innovator, if they haven't publicly shown the work in a timely matter, can be seen as the "copier" of someone who was better at getting their work out there. SO, that's why I went ahead and pushed myself to have a body of work, based on the totems to show in Tucson.... And I did!

I took this grouping to Tucson, along with smaller totems based on the larger ones.

Totem Group - Tucson Best Bead Show - February 2011

I also took some new stands with more pattern and play, which come from the combination of patterns in the girls skirts/legs. I liked the idea of having stands for the smaller beads that were reminiscent of the larger totems AND give them a bit more presence than the small flower stands do.Mermaid Totem - Best Bead Show Tucson - February 2011

The stands that I started making LOOKED like multi-bead components similar to the skirts of the Fairy totems, but were actually all one solid piece. The mermaid is a separate piece, but everything below her tail is one unit. It's sort of a trompe l'oeil in glass. :)

From there, I decided to bring it all together with an Angel totem that sat on the same sort of stand....Angel & Mermaid Totems - Tucson Best Bead Show - February 2011
(doesn't the angel's face look as sweet as Cindy Lou Hoo?)

The angel was my very favorite piece from the show. And guess who caught the eye of the editor from Bead Unique magazine??? My favorite girl. :)

I got the issue in the mail this week. Here's a picture of me opening my mail!

Bead Unique Magazine - June 2011 Issue (page 73!)

And a better photo so that you can see how cute she is......and how far I've come since Scary Girl, circa 2000.

The editor of Bead and Button magazine once told me back in the late 90's (and this is not a direct quote, but as close as I can remember)... "I look forward to seeing your work when it's not so derivative." I didn't really understand her issue at the time and I still have some differences with what she was saying, BUT her words stuck out to me as I looked at this progression. There is absolutely NO DOUBT IN MY MIND that this work is all mine.... you can see the progression that happened over 11 years... from the big-hair and tiny face to the ruffled shoes... this is all me.... and I'm proud.

And watch out... because there is a LOT of exciting stuff on the way after this!! That's the thing about being original... you can't sit still or you're in line behind the people who were influenced by you and you're no longer seen as original. I intend to keep moving! (and wait till you see what's next!)


...now it's time to get back to work, making more pretty!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - CDL
music - not yet, but I'm thinking it's dance music in the studio day!

A new day... a new blackboard of bossiness!

(I don't usually show the blackboard updates here... just on facebook, so I thought I'd let the blog-readers who AREN'T on facebook see what I'm talking about)

It's not a NEW blackboard, but rather an erasure and re-chalking. I needed to see a little more of the "big picture" of what I have left to finish before B&B. Not to freak me out (although it does) but to keep me on track and allow me to cross things off. For instance... I got to cross 8 things off the "big picture" column this morning. Those beads are all cleaned and bagged and ready for seed beads to join them!!

I've moved on to a new color grouping... all cool colors and I'm hoping to knock out even more of that list by the end of next week.... if I can stay on track and stay focused and stay energized.

I've been making beads for 15 years (wow) and when I first started, I could go all day long... literally make beads for 8 hours straight. Now? 4 hours is about my limit. There are days when I go longer, but not back-to-back week-after-week. I'm just OLDER and my body doesn't like sitting in one position like that for more than 4 hours. I COULD just take a break and go back to the torch, but by the time I take a break and get a little non-torch work done, my kids are home or I need to go pick them up, or whatever.... my life is just different now than it was 15 years ago.... so I adapt! I work focused while I'm at the torch.... and today I was focusing on pieces for the Flora Flora kits.

The beads in the kiln today are all flowers. PRETTY PRETTY aqua, lime and violet flowers. 24 pretty flowers waiting till later tonight to "bloom" I really like this color-way (not that I don't like the others too... I just love these cool tones. They make me happy)

What else makes me happy? That I have 593 fans on Facebook! And a LOT of them I don't know... so it's not like all my friends just said oh, I know her, I have to "like" her or she'll know! No.... these are people who really DO like me and clicked "like" to be fans. SO, I'm seven short of 600... how cool is that??!!


ok... time to grab some lunch! Hope you have a great weekend!!


tiny blah blah blah...

no coffee - Chick fil A Tea instead
music - Dixie chicks sing-a-long

KITS KITS KITS!!!!!!

I've been working like a mad woman making lampworked glass beads for all the kits. I snapped some pictures just to remind myself how much progress I've made. I have 10 kits of every single color-way, so that's a lot of beads and I still have a lot of "chicks" and "springaliciouses" and "sweethearts" to go! SO many kits to make... which means SO many beads.

(and right now, all the other beadwork instructors/designers are putting together hundreds of beautiful kits full of seed-beads. I won't even GET to the putting seed beads in the kits until mid May. YIKES! But it's worth it. My kits will be FAB!)

Here's a glimpse of what's been coming out of the kiln....


off to rest for the night then get up and do it again.... amen. (I'm feeling the "struggle for the legal tender" line from that Jackson Browne song!)


tiny blah blah blah...

it was a caffene fueled day - CDL and Dr Pepper
music - my "Chick Flick or Should Be" playlist which has TONS of 80s music mixed with current singer/songwriter stuff.

I rock.... but I have a long way to go before I can roll! Bead and Button is only 50something days away and I need every last second of that time!

But today I feel like I made it to a mile-marker...Today I finished all the beads for 7 different kit styles. I'm only a few beads short of having another kit to add to that.... and that will make a total of 80 kits. Each kit has an average of 10 lampworked beads, so that's a lotta lampwork going on!

And this is before the seed beads and other accent beads go in!

Here's a picture of the lampworked beads for one of the Flora Flora Bloom Boom kits - Sassy Girl
I had some other fun " aha" moments in the studio today, but I'll have to save that till tomorrow... I'm up too late!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - yes, but much earlier in the day!

music - I was singing along with my country music playlist today.... "All My Exes Live in Texas" and other cheezy fun songs with a healthy dose of Taylor Swift and the Dixie Chicks

This is the story of the LEAST glamorous part of making glass beads... CLEANING them. (and this beadmaker's story has a happy ending!)

For those non-beady types, when I melt glass, in order to leave a hole AND in order to have a stable work-surface, I use a stainless steel rod to build the glass on... when the glass is cooled, where the rod was is a hole that goes through the piece... the catch is, in order for the glass not to permanently stick to the metal, the stainless steel rod must be coated with a clay substance...we call it bead-release (the indians call it Maize...jk) that separates the glass from the metal, but breaks apart when the bead is removed from the metal.

The catch? The stuff is chalky and yucky and in the middle of our pretty glass beads, SO it must be cleaned out... and is a total pain AND time consuming.... especially if you've got THOUSANDS of beads (and by the time I'm ready for Bead and Button i will definitely have thousands of beads)

In the past, I've cleaned them out using water and a bead reamer, or a dremel with a diamond bit or even the stainless rod itself (which works pretty well), but it's SUPER time-consuming and my hands end up pruny and you only want to do this for an hour or so AND you'd rather be doing just about anything else creative, but you're stuck doing this mindless yucky job.

I've delegated this job to other willing souls (thanks mom and dad... thanks ex-husband back in the day... thanks friends... no thanking teenagers, they were unwilling) but it's not something that ANYONE likes doing and they all have better things to do than clean beads.

SO, how does my story have a happy ending? WELL, my fairy godmother, miss Lori Greenberg wrote a blog posting a while back about "hands free bead cleaning" Hmmmm, I thought, I wonder what that's about??!! I read and re-read her blog post about this method and then decided to go for it. I bought a rock-tumbler and shot and gave it a try.

and the happy ending???? It works GREAT!!!!!! I cleaned over 800 beads this weekend with minimal effort. The most time was taking the beads off the mandrels (which I would have done with my old method), and putting them onto the twisted pipe-cleaner wire, but that took hardly any time at all. SO, I'm a happy happy girl with no pruney finger-tips for now.

I'm not confident enough to try putting more fragile beads like my flat flowers and angel wings in the tumbler because I have too much time invested in each bead to risk, BUT I will try some trash-beads like that at a later time and see how they do. I'm just in AWE of inventive Lori and her findings that have HUGE benefit to beadmakers.

She said that I'm the only one she knows of who has really tried the process after she posted it, so I want to make sure people go read about it and give it a try... especially if you already have a tumbler... it WORKS!!!!!!!!


off to the studio to make more beads that have to be cleaned! I've crossed a lot of things off the blackboard of bossiness, but there are still a WHOLE lot more beads to be made!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - CDL from starbucks!
music - not sure yet, but I'm thinking Dixie Chicks or something to sing along to!

Some days you win... some days you make pumpkin heads that look like they have giant blobs for mouths.

These horrid beads are still in the kiln, but I will take a picture of one of them tomorrow to show how I, like every other beadmaker has BAAAAAAD days at the torch.

I have been asked to make more of my zombie girl totems... that made me think "hey, what if zombie girl was a head over heels girl??!!" I got really excited about it and it's on the "to-do" list for bead and button AFTER I finish all the beads for Flora Flora, Springalicious and the Sweetheart bracelet (we haven't talked about that one, have we? Well, it's cute!)

ANYHOO... I'm not supposed to be making zombie girl things until AFTER those other beads are done. The blackboard of bossiness has NOT said anything other than those beads for 2 weeks now.... but what did I do????? I went "off blackboard" and tried to make pumpkin heads... and they were horrible and a colossal waste of time! SO, after making 8 good beads for flora flora and about 10 horrible beads for zombie girl I quit for the day.... and that was the "lose some" part of the story.

HERE is the "win some" part. As I was driving down the road today, I had a huge AHA! moment that concerns the project from hell that I worked on for 3 weeks straight... the project that ended up looking like a 4th of July parade threw up. WELL, I think I have a great idea that might be stemming from that horrible horrible pile of beads. This is why we don't immediately trash beadwork that goes awry... sometimes it's just a stepping off point to somewhere great. If I'd thrown away the crazy lampshade looking "beads" that I made in Jeanette Cook's fandango bead class (it was my own fault they were horrible... I wouldn't follow the directions) then I wouldn't have ever made Head Over Heels!

SO, I'll play around with this new idea in the evenings as I prep for B&B. I have to have some new projects ready to promote at the show... to show what's coming in 2012.


ok... I'm off to do some non-beady things! Have a great day!!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee -yes, but i could use more now. (I had a free drink coupon... yay!)

music - Adele and Corinne Bailey Rae.

I love it when I open the kiln and have a nice color surprise!

THAT is what happened this morning. I made some beads the other day that made me say "hmmmm" maybe I need a new color combo for Flora Flora (I know... I already have too many choices, but this one just said YES! so I couldn't resist) Anyhoo... I knew the overall color palette, but didn't have the specific color combos for each bead decided yet... so I just dove in head first and started putting glass on mandrel as if I did!

I crossed my fingers, hoping that the little flowers I put in the kiln would come out the next day in their cooled form looking like I imagined them. You can't always tell though. BUT these flowers turned out SO fun!!!!!! I'm already in love with this new color-way for the project.


I put the question out on facebook "_____ chick" to help me name it. I've narrowed it down to 3 choices and will decide for sure when I see the whole kit put together.

I LOVED all the suggestions for names and honestly, a lot of them were better than the ones I had in the first place, so some kits might get renamed! Stay tuned for the full list of chicks.


ok... off to relax. I've worked hard this week!


tiny blah blah blah...

Starbucks - yummy Cinnamon Dolce Latte!
music - Mr. A-Z (Jason Mraz)

The new and updated Blackboard of Bossiness!!!
(please hold your applause till the end of the blog posting)

Since I conquered the long list from the prior weeks B.O.B., I erased the list of HOT HOT HOT colors, which, honestly I was getting pretty tired of! Now it's the Cool/Bright mix list... which still has a lot of hot colors included, but I get to add lime green and turquoise! I'm very orderly about this process this year... not letting myself make beads that are 'off list' colors!

Last year I worked a little differently getting ready for Bead and Button... this year, I'm trying to work through one color palette at a time, which keeps me from having a million kajillion different colors in front of me at once. I just pull stringers (thinner "rods" of glass) out of the few colors that I'm working in and have those ready to go.

This color palette (because I know you care) is... orange, yellow, pink, turquoise, lime and purple. I don't have a name for it like hot, cool, rich, etc. and I need to come up with something for the Flora Flora version. "_____ Chick" Suggestions are welcome!

The great news is that, after working all day today, I'm finished with about 1/4 of the beads in this color-range. I think that by the end of the week, I could be moving on to ALL cool colors! (woo hoo! I'm making it through the list, which is good considering the countdown number in the top right corner of the B.O.B. 50 days! I was wrong yesterday!!)


have a great day everyone!

tiny blah blah blah....

Coffee - yes and it was yummy!

Music - more Sara Bareilles Genius list. (I need to publish that playlist because it's really good!)

I am a beadmaking MACHINE! (well, not really a machine, but I'm a darn productive beadmaker!)

I have now completely finished ALL the lampworked beads that go into the kits that have HOT colors... and every single kit I do has a "hot" variation (hot pinks, reds, corals, etc.) The beads for Flora Flora Bloom Boom are really time-consuming and I wasn't feeling like I would EVER be finished with them... but I am!

I can cross HOT off the blackboard of bossiness... and move onto Mixed Brights. I don't need as many of those, so I'll feel successful faster.... and then move on to Cool which will take me just as long if not longer than the Hot colors. Love me some blues/greens/purples... until I realize I have to make 1,000 of something!


tiny blah blah blah...

it was a coffee-free day. Lunch with Marcy meant skipping Starbucks, but conversation was great and made up for any lacking lattes.

music - 2 different "genius" lists on the ipod. One was based on Adele and the other Sara Bareilles... both were great mixes of all kinds of similar stuff.

Happy Friday!!!

I'm busily getting ready for Bead and Button and trying to be realistic about my abilities and time between now and then. This has led me to believe that I need help... and lots of it.

I've "hired" a helper for booking my classes, which was really needed because I needed someone organized who could push me a little without me feeling too pushed. So, I'm very very thankful that the right person showed up at just the right time.

I've "hired" a person to put together kits as I get closer to B&B... that will be a huge help. (you would think that 2 teenage boys would want to earn a little extra $$, but they are NOT interested and I am happy to find someone who really wants to work and will do a good job)

(and hire is in quotations each time because I'm not really employing anyone, I'm being creative in my compensation methods... that was just for those of you who are way too interested in my financial-status)


NOW I'm looking to "hire" some sample-makers. I really really need some advanced beaders who would be willing to bead one of my kits in exchange for another kit for them to keep. If you are interested in doing this, please comment here, email me or message me on facebook. I'm looking for advanced beaders... preferably those who have made my projects before and kind of "get" me.


ok... back to beadmaking. I've just finished all the beads for any kits with HOT colors... now I'm on to mixed brights (pinks, limes, turquoises, purples) I love this combo! (and I'm sick of hot pink and orange after making 600 beads in that color scheme)


music - a mix of praise music from church.

coffee - oh yeah! CDL which was a little strong. I guess they thought I needed an extra shot of espresso

This has nothing to do with beads. It's about Cupcakes!

My youngest son said last year that I needed to take cake to bead and button because "everyone loves cake!" I laughed about it... and joked that this year he could serve cake when his "fans" came to visit my booth (because he DOES have fans, which cracks me up)

ANYWAYS... there was an incident this week at school which involved cupcakes. Youngest son decided it would be fun to surprise some unknowing kid at school by putting cupcakes in his/her locker, which was not completely closed. Just to be clear... opening a locker that is not yours is NOT GOOD... against the rules... something you can get in trouble for.... BUT the idea of surprising someone with cupcakes is GOOD! (if breaking and entering isn't involved)

Child #2 was disciplined at school, but in the midst of it was asked "why would you put cupcakes in someone's locker??!!" and his response was "because everyone loves cupcakes!"


This got me thinking... everyone DOES love cupcakes and if someone surprised us with one, we would probably smile. SO... I've started a revolution. Inspired by Child #2's doofiness, I did a drive-by cupcake-ing tonight. My nephew had a crap-tastic week and I decided that if he opened his door and found a batch of cupcakes it would make him smile..... and it did.

SO, now I'm asking you dear readers... go surprise someone with cupcakes and spread the word....


The Cupcake Revolution has begun! Surprise someone with a cupcake. Change the world, one cupcake at a time!



(please take that last sentence... post it to your facebook page, tweet it, tell your friends... let's spread some frosting and some happy!)

I can't take a day off.

I WANT to take a day off, but I can't turn my brain off of "create" and it looks like I'll be doing some sort of work today whether I'm supposed to or not. I know that MY work doesn't seem like work to a lot of you, but it is. I SHOULD do something like sew or go to a park or something non-worky today, but my brain is on CREATE-MODE after coming home from Detroit and I'm not sure I'll be able to just relax today.

I really want to make sure that I DO take time off of work every week. It's not good for me to work continuously.... but I like my work, so it's trickier than if I had a 9-5 job where I clock in and clock out and don't WANT to go there in the off hours.

So.... do I work or play today... or both. We'll see. (a betting person should probably put their money on work)

I have a new book about Albion stitch and it's got me totally ready to try something new. Maybe I'll call THAT "play" today. YAY! A compromise! (aren't you glad you were here for that little decision making session with me??)


time to go play!

Shout out to Deb from Michigan who I know is reading this. (I made sure to blog today instead of just writing on FB so that you would know what's up too!) :D


tiny blah blah blah

coffee - mais oui! Starbucks... even sat there for a while and read! (it's my day off, after all!!)

music - Marvin Gaye was playing at Starbucks, so I came home ready to put him on the ipod!

Traveling home from Detroit (in the Airport as I write). Just finished a FUN weekend with my Michigan girls. I have no idea why Michigan loves me so much, but I always leave there feeling totally loved and re-energized, ready to create new things for them (and others too! )

I want to say a big thank you to the girls who were in my beta class at Pam's Bead Garden. You all were a HUGE help, testing the pattern and giving me ideas for changing/tweaking the kits and pattern. I know that everyone who does the project now will have great directions because of your help. I love you guys bunches!!!

I also loved seeing all my other girls at the GLBG show... Looking forward to having you guys in the summer classes!! (don't forget that registrations start a week from Monday... 3/28. From what I've heard you have to send it in IMMEDIATELY)

I will be back in Michigan in July... Then again in October. Who would have thought that my 2nd home would be Michigan?? But, apparently, it is!

Off to doodle on the plane and dream up some new projects for summer and fall!!


Tiny blah blah blah...

Starbucks en route to the airport.
Music - an endless loop of black eyed peas playing in a continuously coming from some vending machine! I love the BEP, but it's time for some iTunes & headphones!

American Craft Council Show re-cap...

I FINALLY got to go to the ACC Atlanta show this weekend. Every year it's been in Atlanta, I've either been out of town or totally unavailable to go. This year was different and I FINALLY got to attend! I really wanted to walk around and see the quality of artists showing there, the booth display ideas, the amount of buying traffic and just get a feeling for the show (because I'd really like to apply for at least 1 ACC show in the next year)

I had put this show pretty high up on a pedestal due to the stories I'd heard of really tough jurying and quality of work. The quality of the work shown was definitely high, but I don't think I was as intimidated as I thought I'd be.... which is good and bad. There were definitely TONS of booths with exquisite stuff and really creative artists, but there was a huge lack of glass... and that made me wonder...

Is there no glass because vendors didn't re-apply after slow sales @ prior ATL shows
OR
Is there no glass because glass people don't apply to ACC? (I'm not thinking that they're not being juried in... there is too much good glass out there to think that ACC doesn't accept glass artists)

There was a HUGE amount of jewelry and a HUGE amount of fiber art and probably more wood-turned/furniture work than I've seen at one show, but hardly any glass. I was trying to count in my head as I went around and I maybe thought of 8 glass artists that I'd seen there. (what I did see was really cool though... just for the record)

I'm going to post some links in another blog entry of the artists at the show that I really really liked. There were some fantastic things and a couple I really want to share!


but that's it for now... because I have to prep for my class this coming weekend!

happy Monday!


tiny blah blah blah

music - Adele
coffee - CDL

It's been pretty quiet around here (the blog) lately. Sorry for abandoning you.

I spent the last few weeks working on "the project that was not to be." Long story, but it was a BIG BRAVE attempt at a dismal failure of a piece.

We learn from our mistakes... and some of my best work has come from cast-off projects that I returned to later and found new inspiration. I have to say that I will be SHOCKED if anything comes of this project in the future... other than "I will never work in those colors again." That was the big take-away I had after those few weeks of constant work and nothing coming to fruition.


SO... after picking myself up from disappointment, I'm foraging ahead embracing the project that DID turn out great.... time to finish the pattern for my beta-testers in Michigan and get the kits put together.


hopefully I'll feel more chatty again now that this icky project is abandoned.


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - yes! free free free coffee coupon!

music - nope. quiet rainy day.

Venturing into the Outdoors

I've never been one for camping... yet I'm going to be buying a tent. :)


I've been chickening out of applying for juried shows for YEARS, so I found a way around that... I was INVITED to be in a show that doesn't accept applications. They hand-pick their vendors (although they do allow people to email work for consideration), and I was hand-picked! They originally contacted me over a year ago after seeing my work somewhere and asked me to be in the show, but I needed to visit the show and see if it was a REAL show that I'd want to be in.

Sure enough... it was the coolest show I've been to in a LONG time. One where almost every booth had something I'd want to buy (and I'm pretty picky!) The entire theme of the show is whimsy. And who's the QUEEN of Whimsy??? ME!!!!!!!!!!!

So... I emailed them this year and said "ok... NOW I'd like to be in the show" but took a risk that the ship had already sailed. But who received her official invitation and paperwork this morning to be in the show??? ME!!!!!!!!!!!
(can you tell I'm doing the happy dance?)


SO.... if you're in the Atlanta area in October. Look for me under a tent in Norcross! More details to follow later!


happy Friday!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - DEFINITELY! Cinnamon Dolce Latte - still thanking my birthday gift girls Jenny & Julie!
music - not really

Some days you just can't make art. It's just not the right time.

No matter how hard you try.... and I tried. I tried and I tried and I tried yesterday, but I kept staring at my inspirational material that I'm supposed to be using for the ISGB juried Convergence show and I got NOWHERE. I have some sketches, but nothing concrete and I still haven't totally honed in on one idea.

My heart was broken yesterday and I just couldn't focus. It was broken by little stuff at home and outside my home. Stuff that seemed big at the moment, but was made little seeing the sadness that others were going through yesterday. A family friend passed away and I kept thinking of the heartbreak her family was going through... the loss of a daughter, a wife, and the mom of two young young kids.

Katie was a courageous faithful woman who fought until the very end and was an example of grace and strength in adverse circumstances. Although I hadn't seen her in a few years, facebook is nice for keeping people in touch and her statuses over the last few years showed nothing but joy. I know that the joy came from knowing that no matter what her earthly circumstances she had a FOREVER future outside her broken body and that the good-byes she might have to make on earth weren't forever. But I was still filled with sadness yesterday.

My heart wasn't broken for Katie. She's doing just fine... in fact, she's WAY better than the rest of us. It just hurt for those whose lives on earth are without her now.

But, it's time to "buck-up" and get back to work. Some days just aren't for art... yesterday was one of those. Today needs to be. Time to get with it and make some happy and some pretty. Even if I don't feel it yet.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - definitely was necessary today. CDL thanks to my birthday gifts! Thank you Jenny and Julie!!! You'll be my "shout out" for a couple of weeks!!

music - not sure yet! Maybe Adele. I'm anxiously awaiting her new album, but found out over the weekend that I'm seeing her in concert this summer!!! (thank you Denise!! that was a GREAT birthday gift!!)

Predicting the future is scary stuff.

Because you can't!

I have my new project completed and I'm excited about teaching it in Detroit in March. The tricky part is always deciding kit colors... guessing which will sell better than the others. I'm placing an order for one of the non-Sylvie-made components in the kit and I'm puzzling over colors. I think I figured it all out, but it's sort of a crap-shoot.... what I think will be popular vs. what ends up being the "favorite" (and it also depends how many samples I've made, what colors people choose....which means I need to get busy making samples!)

I will have SO many kit choices this year at Bead and Button... it's pretty exciting! I'm going to have to work on re-formatting my display to show everything in the best way. (better get my organized, yet bossy sister on this job quick!)

SO... here's the finished project. I'm not sure of the name, but I had a great suggestion and I might just stick with it.

So here it is...

Springalicious Pendant/Pin

Isn't it pretty???


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee today? oh yeah. Might even need a 2nd cup from Mr. Keurig
music - not yet, but i think I need some.

The birth of a project.


Sometimes it starts as an idea that I get while I'm driving, or sitting in an airport, or laying in bed after hitting the snooze button for the 3rd time. Sometimes it smacks me in the head while I'm beading... a big AHA moment (but those are rare). Sometimes it's a doodle, sometimes a dream.... sometimes it just doesn't happen at all.

Right now I have about 20 bead projects zooming around in my head, doodled on scraps of paper, sketched in notebooks... about 10 UFO (unfinished objects) lying on beading trays... and none of them are close to being a project.... except one. And I'm sooooooo close to having "it" but not quite there yet. (and I have a deadline, so I need to get to "it" pretty quick!)

Right now the birth of a project is yards and yards of unspooled wire, size 6/0, 8/0/ 11/0 and 15/0 seed beads strewn across a bead tray... baggie upon baggie and tube upon tube of colors laid out along side piles of my lampworked beads.... HOPING to be useful as-is (which means I'm really hoping not to have to invent a new lampworked bead for the project... hoping that I can use ones I already have made).

Some days I get really jealous of other beadwork artists/pattern designers. They have TWO jobs as a beader.... make a beautiful project and write a pattern. ME? I'm doing too many things at once. I'm making the beads that go into my projects, making glass beads that have NOTHING to do with the projects (but are a part of the bead booth) and FINALLY designing a project and writing a pattern. I told someone while I was at Tucson that I envy the bead girls that write in their blogs "beaded sample number 34 of the new project this week" ??!!!! Some days I feel I bite off more than I can chew designing beadwork projects with my beads in them.

This is one of those days.


I'll take some pictures of the project when it's done.... but for now, I'll plan to take a picture of the mess of beads and wire on the tray and hopefully post it here later.


coffee - yes, but it didn't help

music - no, watching cheezy chick-flick TV series while beading

Home again...

After an action-packed week at the Tucson, Best Bead Show, I'm back home. I missed the trees, I missed my kids, I missed my dog and my friends and my church... but it's good to go away some times and have that reminder. PLUS when you go away, you get to see new things and meet new people and see sunsets like this...


It was about 100 times more beautiful than this picture captured. We stood and oohed and aaahed at it for a while. Then we went and ate Mexican food at a place that I couldn't pronounce the name OR find again if I had to!! (but it was gooood!)


The show was a tough one. It always has been for me. It's loooooooooong and often tough on my fragile ego. This time it was even tougher. It was FREEZING cold... lowest temperatures in 50 years (19 degrees one night) and that hurt sales. In addition, the economy is still a factor...especially for bead stores and jewelry designers, the primary shoppers at the show. That said, my booth was absolutely beautiful and my work was the most cohesive its been in years, so I was very happy about that. People seemed enthusiastic about the new directions I'm taking too... so I'm looking at the bright side as much as possible.


I made it through and enjoyed myself and came home with great contacts, so we'll see what the end results of the show are at a later date. In the meantime, I'm glad to be home. Now it's time to work on new designs for a few weeks before preparations for Bead and Button begin!


tiny blah blah blah...

music - not yet, but I think it's going to be a movie day instead. old classics while I bead.

coffee - not today. iced tea feels better in my sore throat

Tucson-bound... well, almost.

I am sitting here getting my inventory squared away, seeing if there are any missing pieces that I need to go quickly make in the studio before I wrap everything and start packing it up for the show. (and there are... I'm missing a set of feet for one of my totems! How did I forget that??!! as well as a few other odds and ends that I'd like to have. No major glass-work today.)

I don't have nearly as much inventory as I would like to.... but what is here, I love.

Here's a quick peek into the stash waiting to be bubble-wrapped...


Off to finish all the last-minute stuff!!!!!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - OH YEAH... big-time! If they had a extra venti, I'd be needing that this morning!
music - not sure yet... might go with something Adele-ish to calm me down a little! (can't wait for her new album later this month!!!)

Focusing on Tucson

I have 2 days left till I'm off for the Best Bead Show in Tucson. It's a crazy-huge show, for those who have never experienced it. It's absorbed most of my energy the last month and a half... and should have had even more attention than it did. I'm trying to focus on just being satisfied with WHATEVER I have to bring... and presenting it in a way that WOWS no matter what the quantity.

I've been working on some pretty cool stuff that I had hoped would be ready to debut at this show and I'm still not sure if it's there or not.... I have a day and a half to decide. I would love to show it in Tucson and "claim" it as my own in a big venue where you can do that. If not, I'm still going to work on it and bring it out for Bead and Button.... although this show is much more glass-oriented and I'd love to show it here first.

We'll see.


I have a whole other blog-posting writing itself in my head as I work lately about all the people who have influenced the way I work... but I'll save that for next week (maybe while I'm decompressing at the hotel at night!)

Off to the studio... long day ahead!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Iced CDL AND an iced tea. I'm doubling up, preparing for a long long day in the "dungeon" (can't wait until I get my studio moved upstairs when I get back home!!)

music - all over the place lately! From my Groove Tunes playlist to my Country Music Guilty Pleasures list. Not sure what it will be today, but it will definitely be upbeat and sing-able!

Monday... Just another manic one? No, but a busy one.

I had to take an unexpected week(ish) off last week due to Snowmageddon 2011 in Atlanta. School was canceled for a WEEK and we couldn't get out of our neighborhood until Thursday. Seriously.

Now, just in case you need a reminder, my kids didn't go back to school until the WEDNESDAY after New Years, so they were only in school for 3 days from December 23-January 18 (tomorrow) That's over 3 weeks off!!!!! That totally threw my game off getting ready for Tucson. Sure... I was at home and could work in the studio, BUT anytime the kids are home, it just doesn't work the same. I get small stuff made, but nothing that I really have to invest uninterruptable (is that a word?) time to. I'm afraid to start something that I know will take an hour or more because I have this feeling that as soon as I'm 3/4 of the way into it... something will need my attention, I'll either have to stop OR the distraction will cause me to crack the piece and I'll lose that time I worked. Maybe this is just being overly cautious, but I don't take the risk... I just make little beads instead.

SO... for Tucson right now I have..... one mermaid and a million gazillion little beads! (I did have back-stock of focal beads, but I've only made ONE since Tucson prep began)

That's CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! I'm really trying to focus on focal beads (focus on focal?) this week... but even today I got side-tracked. I started back on making the big totems... NOT what I had planned to do. (but they're really pretty, so I'm sort of forgiving myself)

Re-reading this makes me sound a little crazed and all over the place. Truly... I'm not. I'm just a little stressed knowing I need to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. I'll keep you posted!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Starbucks!!!!! You don't know how badly I missed my Cinnamon Dolce Latte during the time I was iced-in. (it wasn't snow, but ice that stranded us) Today's coffee sponsor was a "thank you" gift-card. Thank you back!!!!!

Music - my Country Guilty Pleasures playlist. It cracks me up that I like this music.... and like to sing along LOUDLY to it! :)

It's about 3 weeks till Tucson... and I'm FREAKING OUT!

I've been acting all cool and collected (well, sort of), but I'm now in stressed out mode. I have NO idea what to make... how many of them to make, etc.

It's a little overwhelming, like the FIRST year I ever did the show because I have no idea what to expect. At Bead and Button, I can expect beadwork customers... kit people. I'm pretty sure that Tucson is NOT kit people, but I know I should take a few... and I'm OK on the kit-front.

It's the WHAT ELSE do I take that is overwhelming. Do I take focals, do I take more spacers/little beads... do I take BIG totem stuff??? It's a little daunting.

So, I'm following the color guidance of the Blackboard of Bossiness... just trying to keep some structure as I try to decide WHAT IN THE HECK TO MAKE!!!




tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - cinnamon dolce latte (thank you Aunt Janie!!)
music - a mix of stuff, but it ended with Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits which always puts me into a "GET IT DONE!" state of mind.

Laughter in the studio...

Today I made beads and laughed.

I'm a little overwhelmed in the studio lately when I think of the massive amount of work to do in less than a month. Tucson's Best Bead show is looming LARGE. I'm trying my best to stay on-task and honestly, staying on task isn't nearly as hard as staying IN the studio in the first place. Christmas vacation with the boys made it difficult to work for the last week and being sick before the holidays really messed me up.

SO, now I'm scrambling. I'll make it. I'll be there. I'll have beads, but in the meantime, I'm freaking out a little.

(so where's the laughter, you ask???)

WELL, as I'm sitting there cranking out the little beads, Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" comes on the ipod and I was spirited away to a memory of something that happened this past weekend... THAT was what made me laugh.

My nephew and I were sitting in the living room at my parent's house, looking at my ipad. He was looking through my playlists and stopped on the one I've been playing in the studio lately (see a few days ago for the playlist.) He looked through the songs and clicked on "Let's Go Crazy." That first chord hit and my sister and I spontaneously burst into a live performance of the song in front of our family who sat there staring at us like we were from another planet. They had no idea that we sang this song (as well as all the songs on the Purple Rain Soundtrack) EVERY morning for at least a year on our way to school and I had no idea I still knew all the words to that song... but apparently I do.

So now, when that song comes on, I am hurled into these funny memories... my sister and best friend and I singing in the car on our way to school AND the recent "encore" performance.

The laughter distracted me from my stressing out... a little.

And in case I start to freak out again, I'll just remember...

Dearly beloved. We are gathered here to get through this thing called life....




tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Cinnamon Dolce Latte
music - You need to ask??!!!

The end of a brilliant year and the beginning of a sparkly shimmery new one.

I had a great day in the studio today... building stock for Tucson. I still have a long way to go, but I've got a good start. Here is the bounty that came forth from the kiln yesterday...

Lots of little bitty beads waiting to be cleaned and bundled into pretty color-combos. LOTS of work still ahead.

So, now that work is done... it's time to get pretty and go OUT for New Years Eve!!


Wishing you all a very sparkly shimmery New Year!!! I already know it's going to be a great one!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - skipped it
music - same playlist as yesterday, but added Cee-Lo's "Forget You" :)

I can dance and play with fire....simultaneously!! It's a rare talent.

The secret is a great soundtrack that you can't KEEP from dancing to.

(I know that's a grammatical error, leaving that preposition dangling there, but I just couldn't think of a way to say that without sounding like a stuck-up English teacher or book-editor... so live with it!)

So now that we have covered the fact that I am neither stuck-up OR any form of literary person, and I dance to a great soundtrack while playing with fire, you might be wondering...

1. What did she make today?

answer: What the Blackboard of Bossiness told me to make!

AND

2. What made the monotony of making small beads fun?

answer: A ROCKIN' soundtrack!!!

Songs you can't HELP but dance to, the playlist...

Yeah! - Usher
Word Up - Cameo
When I Grow Up - Pussycat Dolls
U + Ur Hand/Respect - Pink
Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
She's a Bad Mama Jama - Carl Carlton
Shake It - Metro Station
Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake
Low - Flo Rida

(I'm sure at this point some of you are disappointed in my taste in music... but let me tell you, I can ROCK glass while "dancing" to Mr. Flo Rida and these others)

Let's Go Crazy/I Would Die For You/Baby I'm a Star/Kiss - Prince
I Want You Back - Jackson 5
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite
Golddigger - Kayne West & Jamie Foxx
Girlfriend (remix) - Avril Lavigne & Lil Mama
Girlfriend - Pebbles
Crazy in Love - Beyonce
Bootylicious - Destiny's Child
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jett
All Night - Damian Marley
Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguillera


And THAT ladies and gentlemen, is a playlist for dancing and playing with fire! (but don't try this at home. I'm a trained professional)


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce latte "sponsored" by my wonderful Aunt Janie and Uncle Jim!
music - well, you already know don't you??!!

The Blackboard of Bossiness is back.

I think I've talked about this blackboard before (I don't re-read my own blog, so I'm not sure if I've talked about this before or not... if not, go read my Facebook fan-page and you'll see lots of info about it)

I have about a month to prepare for Tucson and I HAVE to keep on track in order to have enough inventory for the show. Having not done this show since 2002, I'm really unsure what to take, but I have a plan and I need to stick to it... thus the blackboard.

It's very easy for me to get caught up in creative ideas and stray from the "plan," but I HAVE to get these beads made, so I am going to try my best to obey the blackboard. Hopefully it gives me a day off every once in a while to create something new OR to have a social-life!!!

It's going to be hard to have a social-life this month, but all work and no fun isn't good for me! or anyone, for that matter!! I've lived a life of all work and no play and I don't intend on doing that again.

SO... off to attack the to-do list and make some small beads. NOT my favorite activity, but it's necessary and I must obey!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Cinnamon Dolce latte - FREE!!!! "purchased" with a Starbucks coupon! YAY!

music - UNSURE! We'll see what rockin' tunes will get me moving... probably 80s music!

Happy Almost New Year to me!

My friend Janice Peacock who is an incredible glass artist ALSO is a haiku-writer extraordinaire. She writes them as her daily status on Facebook and I always enjoy reading them. Well, today she wrote one JUST for me! (not really, but I felt like it)

With her permission, here it is...

Brilliant twenty ten

Comes to a close, whispering

What joy lies ahead?

I love this. It totally captures what I feel today. I had a BRILLIANT 2010. So many fun surprises, successes, unexpected coolness abounded in the past 12 months. It was a sparkling year. Yet, this week, between holidays there is a quiet hush in my life.... but an underlying excitement of what's to come in the new year. Thank you Janice for capturing my thoughts in those 3 lines.

My goal for the New Year is to live in the moment... enjoy right where I'm at... not get ahead of myself... experience and soak up the joyful moments.... because there WILL be joy. No matter what the downs might be (and I'm realistic enough to know that there will be bumps on my life's twisty turny road) I know that there is a joy-filled year ahead.

My friend Erin told me this fall, "God is about to bless your socks off!" I was in kind of a crazy time at the moment and I wasn't sure what she meant, but I keep seeing signs of this... over and over. 2011 is just going to get better... I know it.

I might need to buy some extra socks. :)


Wishing you a joy-filled 2011!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - brought to you by my Aunt Janie (a.k.a. Oh Stubborn One) and Uncle Jim. Cinnamon Dolce latte!

music - Florence and the Machine "Dog Days are Over" (SUCH a great song!)

Merry Christmas eve-eve to you, my friends and blog-readers!

It's been a wonderful year full of fun surprises and I'm looking forward to an exciting 2011.. Truly! Each year has been an adventure lately (each week sometimes) and for someone who normally doesn't like the unknown... I'm embracing it lately.

I have NO idea what's in store for me this year... I have a plan, business-wise, but if 2010 is an indicator, I should expect the unexpected...so I am prepared to just roll with it (whatever "it" turns out to be and as much as the perfectionist in me will let me "roll" lol)

I definitely have no idea what is around the corner personally...but you didn't come here to read about my personal life, now did you? ;)

What I DO know is that I will meet it all head on and will definitely have a rockin' soundtrack and probably a cup of coffee nearby AND I know that I will be here to keep you posted (on the beady news... NOT the personal news...unless the hot guy at Starbucks starts buying my coffee again and then I will be forced to share that info in the "shout out" section of the coffee report....which has been way too quiet lately! I have a feeling that might change after Christmas though. Somehow people always know that the perfect gift for me starts with a Star and ends in Bucks!).

Anyhoo.... Stay tuned for another exciting year! The 10th anniversary of the blog...can you believe it?!


Music- Christmas of Course! I'm very into singing along with Mariah this week. :)

Coffee - nope. I'm doing the Dr. pepper thing today.

Today is going to be crazy!

Sooooooo many different things to do... Not busy crazy, but dis-jointed crazy!

I'm starting in the studio because I need to keep some consistency in there working on "the list on the. Blackboard". I set up the new torch the other day so that I can get used to it. It's sweeeeeeeeeet! (thank you GTT, Flametree and voters!!!)

Next hat im wearing is shipping... I really need an assistant again. I'm so bad at this part. I have things that HAVE to go out today. I'm hoping the self-serve line at the PO isn't too bad (wishful thinking)

I have to wear the mom hat, making sure my kids do everything they need to before going away for the weekend. This is always a challenge. I've tried to give them responsibility for this, but there is always second-guessing by me of wardrobe choices...did they get schoolwork, etc. (honestly, I've Pretty much stepped out of the wardrobe department. They are so opinionated about their clothes these days. If they choose to take shorts for 30 degree weather, I can squawk, but it probably won't change what they pack.

Next I have to wrap presents for the party tonight. I'm going the gift bag route because there are odd shaped items and it's low effort!!!

I have to make myself look fabulous for my night out with the girls. Fabulous takes time (and glitter). To me, it's much more complicated getting dressed for a girls night out than it is for a date! Girls appreciate the clothes and makeup way more....and it's fun to be over the top glamorous for a night!

Lastly, I have to let my hair down and have fun! That part is easy!!


Hope you have a great day and a wonderful weekend! (I will be Christmas partying the weekend away...I have one tomorrow night too!)

Coffee- yes! I needed a cinnamon dolce latte to jumpstart this busy day!
Music - I'm about to play pandora's Otis Redding channel...it's a great one!

Snow Day Thursday!!

Ok... it's not snowing, but it IS a snow day...the kind of day that kids love where they hear on the news "no school" and then they play all day.

Only for moms, it is NOT a holiday... it's a work day with kids home. Ugh. And to make things worse... there is no snow to play in, so I just have bored kids at home. Nothing getting done in my studio today. Hopefully I'll get stuff done on the home-front. I still need a black-board of bossiness for that!

Off to try to "negotiate" the roads that kept us home...which are now just wet and not icy because the temperature is WAY above freezing.

Hope your day is more exciting!!

ONE day till GGM Christmas Party!!!!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

music - nope. we'll see what's on the radio in the car
coffee - nope.... but I need some!

Happy Tuesday Blog-world!

Today begins the OFFICIAL countdown for the Girls Gone Mild annual Christmas Soiree. I know I know I know... you all don't care. My mom has told me this. And you know what???? I don't care!!! This is my blog and today I will talk about my favorite day of the year.... The GGM Christmas Party!!!


If you've been with me the last few years, you KNOW that I'm obnoxiously excited about this occasion each year. My very best friends and I get together for our own Christmas celebration... to celebrate another year past, an exciting year ahead and that our friendships have stood the test of time. I mean... how many people have the same best friends they've had since the age of 13??!! We have! (plus add one that we've been friends with since our 20s that we couldn't live without!) And it's this friendship we celebrate!

Drinks at "our" bar which we fondly refer to as Tiffany's (because nothing bad can happen there...it's our escape on days when things are NUTS or when things need a celebration) even though the owners of the place seem to think it has a REAL name...and I don't even know what it is! We're excited because they've rennovated "our" bar...just for us, I'm sure and we'll be enjoying it's art-deco poshness, shimmering for the holidays!

While we're there we will open gifts.... similar to Oprah's favorite things, where she gives her audience her finds of the year... we do the same. Each of us gives OUR favorite things to the group. It's always an adventure trying something new that someone else loves. I'm excited about my gifts for the girls.... and to see what's in store for me!

We'll move on to dinner after drinks. This year, we won't have to travel far, as dinner is just down the street at a new French restaurant that opened this year.... and we'll talk and laugh forever (or at least until the waiter makes us totally uncomfortable for staying too long...at which point we will beg him to take our pictures and record for history the 5th annual Girls Gone Mild Christmas Party)

SO... come Friday night, think of your very best friends... and make a toast to friendships that last a lifetime.


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - no. Iced tea... what was I thinking? It's like 15 degrees today!
music - christmas christmas christmas

Happy Monday!!

And it really is! It's freezing, but it FEELS like Christmas and I'm loving it!

I'm going to venture into the tundra that is my studio in a bit and start making the list of what needs to be made for Tucson. I need to have the same organizational plan going in that I did for Bead and Button. It's a different crowd, so the inventory plan will be different, but I still need a PLAN.

After that, the "blackboard of bossiness" can track my progress and I'll hopefully be ready with a full table of beads by January 30th!


Hope you are having a happy Monday and are ready to "smash it" (as my friend Rashan says.) I am!!! So, ugg boots on, sweaters layered, time to head to the studio and get busy!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

music - radio
coffee - Keurig (hoping for Starbucks giftcards for Christmas!)

Hello. My name is Sylvie and I'm a "pink and green person" and I make CUTE stuff.

I can write those words now and claim them, but back in the 80s, when I was in art school, those were used as insults by both professors and other students. This all came to me when doing shows/classes this fall. People kept saying "how cute!" and I had to think for a minute and adjust the volume down on that inner critic's voice that remembered the words from college. Because I AM a green and pink cute person and no matter WHAT was told to me in art school, I'm still an artist.

Art is about emotion. I'll be the first one to tell you that I have spoken about lampwork beads to others in the past and divided people into "makers" and "artists." I've never felt like you had to be one or the other exclusively, but I do feel that some pieces have SOUL and other things are just made from a "pattern" recreating something someone else made that probably had SOUL the first time around.

It doesn't make it any less of a glass piece, it's just different to me. Art is so subjective, however, that something that I see is a piece that's got soul, someone else might see as something meaningless. That's what's so interesting about art... and challenging.

Without naming names of people's work that doesn't move me, I will tell you that among lampworked glass bead artists, Jen Geldard, Sara Sally LaGrand and Karen Ovington all make things that make MY heart sing when I look at them. (there are others, but these 3 particularly sing to me right now)

That said, my own work, as silly as this sounds, doesn't make my heart sing when I look at it. Because that's something that's left to the viewer. The art that comes from my end is about the making of the piece in the first place... the emotion that goes INto the piece. Sometimes I make things that convey emotions that I want to experience, but sometimes, as is the case right now, I'm funneling how I already feel into my work. And my work, as it is now, is all about HAPPY. It's easy for me to fluff my work off as something of no substance because of that, but HAPPY is an important emotion and I need to remember that.


If my pieces bring HAPPY to someone else who isn't having a lot of happy in their life, if it is a reminder of the HAPPY that they do have, or used to have, that's just as important as someone whose work evokes thoughtfulness, sadness or anger. I'm going to work hard to remember that HAPPY is an emotion just as worthy as any other.

And if the adjective that comes out of people's mouths first, when seeing my work is CUTE. I think that's a good thing. Cute and happy go together.... and I like cute! I've ALWAYS liked cute, which is why the word was hurled at me as an insult in art school. I made things that often were... cute, fun and colorful. A painting professor sneered at a piece I'd done and said it was "cute" (imagine that spoken in a villainous way... it just doesn't have the same effect typed,) as if the very word "cute" should send me hurling myself out the 2nd story window of the Georgia State University art building. "Quel Horreur! I make cute happy stuff!!! I must end it now!!!"

But it did intimidate me, and make me think less of my work for quite a while... that people who were making dark and gloomy work or work with political subject matter had more to say than I did. I'm not saying their work isn't important... not at all. I'm just saying that it was very easy for fellow students and professors to gang up on me because I took a different route and channeled a different emotion into my work.

So, in closing, I would like to dedicate this posting to my weaving professor, Zenaide Reiss, who I oh so affectionately referred to as "the weaving witch." (and who seems to still be around since I found this link to her work.) Ms. Reiss, within the first 2 days of class, looked at me and said with a sneer "I can see that you're a pink and green person," as she looked down her nose at me. For the rest of that semester, and the others that followed with her, I felt inferior, as if my choice of colors made me less of an artist than anyone else in the class. (and for anyone who clicked on that link... did you happen to notice the prevalence of pastel colors in her work now? Just sayin'...)

Well, here's what I've got to say to you, Ms. Reiss.....

My pink and green work, though it's now in glass rather than fibers, has meaning and worth. Several years ago, 2 women came to me at a trunk show that I did in California. They brought in 2 necklaces that their mother had made. Each necklace centered around one of my mermaid beads. They wanted me to know that when their mother passed away, each of them received one of the mermaid necklaces and that they were so special to her and to them and that it made them happy that they had these reminders of her. THAT is why it's ok to be a pink and green person who makes cute things.


So I'll say it loud.... I'm cute and I'm proud!


Have a nice weekend everyone!! (even you Ms. Reiss)


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - I love my Keurig!
music - Christmas!!!

Hello friends!

I've been absent a lot lately because I've been so busy getting ready for shows, but I've taken a few days to re-group and be in the present before starting preparations for the Tucson show this year. And in re-grouping, I've been trying to blog, but it hasn't happened. sorry.

I wrote a long long long long long post the other day and then didn't post it.... I've decided to sum it up in a few sentences instead of paragraphs (editors note...I apologize because the sentences turned into paragraphs again!)

A reminder, this is my blog and if I choose to write about my feelings/opinions/beliefs and not glass/beadwork every once in a while, that's totally my prerogative. If you don't feel like reading... don't. If you feel like reading and criticizing it... don't do that either. I'll know and I'll banish you forever!!!! (just kidding. I'll just ignore you and/or stick my tongue out at you from this side of the monitor)

So... here goes...

I had spent the last 4 years dreading Thanksgiving. Things that occurred during that week in 2006 made me associate the holiday with that instead of what it was truly about. (when big things happen in mid-March or January it might not have the same effect as when they happen in conjunction with a holiday... in my opinion) So each year, I was dragged through the "OMG that sucked" hole again, only to return to normal happy life in December, after the holiday had ended. It was just that the reminder of suckage (and that's a word) was an annual holiday that wasn't going to go away.

ANYWAYS... I needed to learn to love the holiday again, so I focused (at the suggestion of a friend) on the holiday being about being thankful for the circumstances that occurred AFTER that time, things that never would have occurred in the same way had those events not transpired so that in a way, I could be grateful for the event.

And I am SO thankful for the twists and turns my life has taken the last 4 years. Lots and LOTS of people have commented over the past few years that I'm a different person...that I'm "better off" that I look happier, healthier, younger, etc. That living well is the best revenge or that I'd made lemons out of lemonade.

Although the compliments are wonderful, I need to shift those opinions because they really are NOT what happened. I was running on auto-pilot for a while...the "fake it till you make it" approach. The changes that took place in my life were not a matter of ME making lemons out of lemonade... because I would have made some pretty sorry lemonade with artificial sweeteners if I'd been left to my own devices. It was God making something out of the situation instead. He's taken my life as it was at that moment (in total suckage)...opened doors, brought people into my life, given me direction and clarity and over-all worked the circumstances out for my good.

Lots of you reading this are people who I really feel were put in my life for a reason... and I'm so thankful for you and the way He used you for the good in my life (even if you were unaware you were a part of the plan) because I love my life and I'm thankful for all of you who are a part of it. (even if I waited until after December to tell you that)


tiny blah blah blah....

coffee - wonderful FREE Cinnamon Dolce latte. Gotta love free!

music - none right now, but here's a link to a song that I've been playing a lot lately... one that talks about how He works all things together (no matter what they are) for my good. Your Love Never Fails

SO far behind in blogging... here's what you missed....


1. Sylvie goes to Oakland for the BABE show (which is nowhere near as racy as it sounds... but it does sound fun to say I'm in the BABE show. It's the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza) Picture above is part of my display.

2. Sylvie cries with customers at the show. It's always emotional hearing how my work effects others... even though I sometimes see my work as shallow or silly. Long story about this later.

3. Sylvie returns from BABE to get busy making stock for her next show.

4. Sylvie freaks out realizing that her next show is in only 2 weeks!!!!!!

5. Sylvie works all day making pretty things for the people of Atlanta to come buy!


Here are the details on the last show of 2010...

Decatur Holiday Marketplace

December 3-4
Clairemont Elementary School

see their website for all the details
decaturholidaymarketplace.com


back to work!!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee -not nearly enough
music - CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!

posting 2 days in a row??!! could it be??!!!

I'm taking a quick break from the studio for a few minutes to clear my head and try to get back on track...if there's any chance of that.

I have a show this weekend... a BEAD show, yet I am not making beads... I'm making Christmas ornaments and sculptural stuff. WHY??!!! I can't answer that. I am just NOT in a beadmaking mood and my hands (and brain) just want to make these other pieces.

Let's hope that "my public" in California this weekend is ok with that.... because I don't see myself getting back on track when I go back into the studio in a few minutes.


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - yes. Cinnamon Dolce Latte which was a yummy way to start the day

music - yes. I started with mellow stuff then moved to the Glee cast version of Rocky Horror Picture Show...which is only adding to the madness of what I'm making.

It's Monday and I have soooooo much to do before the BABE show that I really shouldn't even be ON the computer (but I'm posting quickly then getting to work!)

LOTS of things to make this week to re-build inventory that is thankfully low, but also sadly low and will look bad on my table if that's all I have!!!

The black-board of bossiness will have a looooooong list of what I'm supposed to make. Hopefully I can knock a good portion of the things off the list today.

So, I'd better get busy!

Time to make the Donuts!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - oh yeah... desperately needed for a day like this! CDL
music - starting with Al Green then moving to Adele then onto ???? we'll see.

It's been a bleck week so far. I've been sick and haven't been on the torch except a tiny bit. Coughing and making beads don't mix.

SO... I'm going to give it another try this evening, but not have big expectations. Instead, this morning, I'm.... drumroll.... GOING TO PICK UP MY NEW TORCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

I'm sooooo excited. It might be a bit of a learning curve getting used to it, so I'm not going to take my old torch out of circulation yet... just in case. If I adjust to it quickly, however, I plan on selling the phantom to purchase one smaller torch for Thing 1 (A GTT Cricket)....and using the rest of the proceeds to rebuild my glass inventory. I seem to be FLYING through glass since I started making beads again AND I'm making bigger stuff, so that makes it even worse.

Off to the glass store... YAY!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - yes! CDL and it's yummy on such a cold morning!
music - not yet, but I'll be singing along with the Christmas tunes in the studio later while I make ornaments!

It's Mixed-Bag Monday!!!!

On the "down" end of the mix (I'm putting the down first because it's short and I don't want to dwell on it) I'm sick. Same icky crud my kids had. I guess it was bound to catch up with me...but ick. I want to feel better so that I can get back into the studio tomorrow.

On the GOOD end.... it's another BIG good (I told you guys that there were ups and downs and if there weren't some downs, the ups would be UP at all). The BIG UP is that I won the Flametree Halloween Glass Contest!!!!!!!! This is HUGE for so many reasons.

1. I finally got my nerve up to enter something.

2. I won a SCORPION torch (those of you who don't do glasswork won't know what a big deal that is... but it's the absolute IDEAL torch for doing the work I'm doing AND it's out of my price-range, so I wouldn't have bought one myself anytime soon. But now I don't have to buy one!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! There were SO many great entries that this is a big honor.

3. The piece I made really inspired me to go in some new directions with my work. This filled the void that the "lack of inspiration" posting was talking about. I now have a great new path I can explore. This path will make room for some other non-beady possibilities. I'm sooo excited about it.

4. That win gave me the courage to enter another contest and other juried shows! Watch out world!!!

ok... back to real life and hot tea. Hopefully I'll be back in the studio tomorrow where I can explore these new ideas!!


tiny blah blah blah..

coffee - nope. Hot tea.
music - nope. Project Runway CANADA marathon. It's pretty good, ey?

Happy Friday Bloggy Friends!!

It's been a day of computer-work, which was NOT my intention, but was a necessity and it's DONE! (well, after this posting it is)

I loaded the store-front with goodies (the Sunshine Ring kits are FINALLY in the store) as well as sent out the newsletter!

If you're not on my newsletter list, there is a link on my website where you can sign up. If you can't find it, leave a comment here and I'll help.

Here's a link to the news that went out today...

Sylviebead News Autumn 2010

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! Happy Halloween!!!

Good Morning Blog Readers!!!!

Happy Tuesday to you!!!

I had an exciting weekend in a class with a fabulous glass artist, Jari Sheese. She taught hollow beads using a tool called the "puffy mandrel" which combines the type of glass-work I normally to do (which is solid-core) with blown glass. Something I'd been exploring with my Christmas ornaments, but was having trouble mastering. This class really helped! She also taught button-making which was a blast (but I'm really bad at!!!) It will take some practice, but I see lots of interesting applications for the buttons other than use as a traditional button.

The OTHER exciting thing I did this weekend was enter a contest. Those who know me well know that i NEVER enter contests or juried things. My ego can't stand the possibility of rejection. This time, however, I stepped out of my comfort zone and entered. The top 4 prizes are all GTT torches...which ROCK. The TOP prize is a Scorpion torch which I have reallllllllly wanted since they first came out. There are fabulous entries, so I'm not going to hold my breath, but being honest here... I'm holding my breath.

I'm really proud of my entry. It's a direction I've been headed in, larger sculpture, so to put it together and actually get it entered in a contest is a big deal. Watch for other pieces in this manner in the future. Not the same subject matter, but the same idea sculpture-wise.

Here's my entry... and a link to go vote!

She Stepped On Anyone to Get Ahead

(but who did she need to step on to get some arms?!!)

Here's the link to vote:
https://flametreeglass.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=20

(if that link doesn't work, go to the Flametree Glass Page and use their link to the 2010 Halloween entries)

Hope you have a great day! I'm off to make beads/ornaments for my upcoming shows!!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Cinnamon Dolce Latte - YUM!
music - not sure yet!

So, I've been avoiding the blog for a few weeks... sorry.

I just haven't had anything wonderful to say. I came home after 2 totally inspiring classes/shows and was truly UN-inspired on my return.

I have SO much to do, SO much to make and my muse has disappeared. I know it's temporary, but I hate that it went on vacation right now when I need it.

Shows that are upcoming are really important for marketing purposes and I need to kick it into high gear... BUT I need to always have something new and exciting on the back burner. My burner is empty at the moment. :(

I hate for this to be a depressing posting, but I'm keeping things real and being honest about the ups AND downs of doing art as a profession. There were some SOARING times in the last few weeks... truly high points of my year.... and for every high, there has to be a bit of a low (otherwise those wouldn't be high points after all)

I'm going to the studio today with no expectations other than making something. Sometimes the good ideas appear in the middle of the mundane. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for that.


tiny blah blah blah...
coffee - I apparently need more
music - too early to tell you what I'm listening to. I'm predicting something motown-ish