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!!!!!

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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!


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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!

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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!


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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