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12/11/11
Merry Christmas from the staff at CGBeads.
This was the buffet line at the Christmas party. A good time was had by all.


11/26/11

I found some Christmas beads I made a few years ago, so I made them into two bracelets. When I put one on, it was a bit skimpy, so I attached them together to make this one big bracelet. Much more full and definitely more fun to wear. It's full of penguins, snowmen, Christmas cats, Christmas socks, Christmas bulbs, Christmas ornaments and Swarovski crystals.


11/19/11

Sometimes I buy stuff just so I can have a surprise in the mail, cause I inevitably forget I've bought something until it arrives on my doorstep. This time it was Publisher Clearing House, I figure I have just as much chance at winning as everyone else, but since I'm more likely to get struck by lightning, I'm now avoiding rain storms. I got my cashew crunch, love it, for the price I'd had better love it. Got my meat loaf baker, the one with the drip pan, now I'm impressed, but for the price, I had better be.

11/12/11

Went to see Josh Mazet demo the other day. When I saw this marble he made (1-3/4"), I couldn't resist buying it to set along side my Josh Simpson planet. (I think I'm on a Josh roll) This one is a vortex marble, I wish I could photo it in 3D. When you look into a vortex marble, they look at least 2-3 times deeper than what they really are. I'm not sure about the optics science, but I'm sure it's the way the extra glass magnifies the back where the vortex is formed. Someone asked him if he'd ever made a hedgehog, he said no but would give it a try, it was spot on. *jaw drop*


11/5/11

My cats bring me all the good critters. The hard part is: figuring out how to catch a squirrel in the house. Fortunately: it was trapped behind the fridge so it couldn't see me coming with the blanket that I grabbed it's tail with. It's a good day when you can capture and release without hurting the critter, or more importantly, scaring the shit out of me. My only regret is not being able to take the time to take a picture.

11/1/11
Tommorrow is "Look For Circles Day".
Yep, it's actually on the calendar. When I flipped my calendar to November, there it was, on November 2nd. If it's not on yours, then I guess you need a new calendar, cause this is important. [tongue in cheek]
Well I couldn't pass up the fun, so I'm having a sale.
Now, a bit about the holiday itself. I can't seem to find out who started, where it was started, or why.
There, now you know as much about the holiday as I [and google] do.
Circle the wagons Ma, I found some links to fun things with circles:
Welcome to the Crop Circle Connector
Circle Makers
Mathematical Imagery - Fun with Circles
Enjoy your day looking for circles.

10/28/11
Some people should not be allowed to procreate.
Not a Halloween Costume: Washington Man Cuts Off Are With Guillotine
Man Allegedly Beat Woman with Frozen Armadillo (makes me proud to be a Texan.....)
s

10/20/11
"Shucking Corn with Ken - Clean Ears Everytime"
This is pretty slick, I haven't tried it yet, but corn is my favorite food, so I'm gonna give it a try.

10/15/11
I saw this on FaceBook, love it!!
"Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed."

9/24/11
We've had a record 70 days of 100+ degrees here in the Dallas area, and it shows. The wild fires have been devastating and the ground is so dry. These are pictures from the past few years, of my rose bush in the front yard. Then compare it to the last photo from today, same rose bush.



9/18/11
My husband is the best, he takes me to all the good places. We took a Sunday drive to 'The Dump', then Home Depot, but we did wind up in Central Market buying some of my favorite oddball foods - ahh, redemption. It was the first time we have gone to 'The Dump' [for those of you that don't have one, it's a discount furniture store]. The commercials brag about the hugely slashed prices, but we were surprised at just how high the low prices were. What ever happened to truth in advertising. Home Depot? Next to the grocery store, that's our favorite place so a good time was had by all. Central Market grocery stores are a real destination in themselves. I've heard the one in Austin, Tx is the second largest tourist destination in the city. The isles aren't just back and forth, the whole store is set up like a maze, and you travel into one section/room filled with normal grocery isle rows, then exit out the other side and into another section/room. Not only is it entertaining, it's full of exotic foods. The meat department is to dye for. I found some Sprecher pop, the owner of this beer and soda brewery is a cousin of my mothers, and the pop is old fashioned and very flavorful. I ate my first fresh fig, holy cow, why didn't someone tell me before how good a fresh one is? Helva, woohoo, I found some Helva. And of course, sour dough bread, millet bread, and chocolate crescents to round off the perfect day.

8/26/11
This is Jett and Tina, showing off their new toy, I added the whack-a-mole port. It only cost $300, but it came with a free Dyson inside for me. With 4 cats and a bad back [not really, but I don't want to just say I'm getting lazy], my Kirby is getting a bit cumbersome, so I've been researching Dyson lately.

If you've not heard about Woot.com yet, it's [in their own words] the original 'one day, one deal' website. Every once in a while, they have a Woot-off. Instead of one item for one day, they sell something with a limited quantity, when that's gone, they go to the next item. They had a Woot-off a few weeks ago, and a refurbished Dyson came up [actually, it was for a new box, with a free refurbished Dyson inside]. It was an upright and I wanted a canister model, but heck, the cat toy [box] was the perfect size. I've read that a refurb Dyson is actually better than a new one anyway, because it has been 'gone over' so every little thing wrong has been fixed.

Now the cats have a new box/toy, and I can clean out all the miscellaneous ones scattered around the house, well, maybe not the one in the hall that came with free bubble wrap inside.


8/21/11
North Texas State Fair was this weekend, that's the county fair, but it's the largest fair north of Dallas. Steve has been refurbishing the pit for the past few months, hours and hours, this was like restoring a car, but the finished pit is awesome. They placed as reserve Grand Champion [second place].


8/6/11

I just did a short youtube video for all the curious seekers out there. I did it with my camera, so it's short and not great quality, but it shows doing a tool change. If you look at the graphite, you can see that we machine 10 tools at a time, that explains the main reason we don't do custom tools. Get your popcorn and buckle up, it's going to be a boring ride....
CGBeads - Haas cnc tool change (on YouTube)
CGBeads - Haas cnc tool change (same vidoe, just on my website and a bit smaller screen)

7/27/11

Things have been trudging along slowly, but steadily, with the new machine. Did you know [and no, you probably didn't, but I'm gonna tell you anyway], if you drop the spindle on a CNC machine and forget to slow down the speed rate, you can actually snap a 1/8" drill bit into 4 pieces when it hits the bottom? Ya, lesson learned, I won't be doing that again. ** A quick FYI, the Soda Lime Times has decided to reduce the cost of their online magazine to a more affordable $4.95 a month. I know Diane has a lot of things planned for the magazine, and the website, so this will help her get off and running a bit quicker. ** I now have a newsletter, would love to have you sign up, I promise it will be a 'newsletter', fluff n stuff if for this blog and facebook [oh, if you'd like to 'like' that, too.]

7/16/11
There's a new beadmakers magazine on the market. It's an online publication and you can get check out a free issue. I have read the first issue, holy cow, this is an awesome publication. Diane Woodall has been writing her local ISGB chapters newsletter, and is now she's turned her writing skill to be benefit the entire community.
Soda Lime Times

7/12/11
It's been a long time between post, but I'm still here. The cnc machine learning curve is coming along fine. Ok, truth? I'm really lost... When my husband is there telling me what to do next, I'm fine, but then, I've only run it a handful of times myself, so I guess I am doing fine. I did start it up all my myself today, with no one around to help me, even figured out how to warm up the spindle on my own, and it only took me 45 minutes to remember how. *grin* I've also been able to get in some torch time lately. Made these the other day. Like the beadcaps? You can get them from Donna Millard website.


6/28/11
The contest is over. It was a hard choice to pick the winners, so hard, I had my son, daughter and a friend do it for me.
Here are the winners. A big thank you to everyone for making this such a fun event for me.
You can see all the entries on the comments page.
There once was a neophyte from Maine
whose imperfect donuts drove her insane
Her instructor relented
"Rounded- not dented"
use the CGBeadrolller and don't complain
Humbly yours,
a newbie who has never used one... ~Pam~
I think there is a limit to what I would do for a free CGBeadroller...
Although I am totally willing to gain 250 lbs and then walk barefoot across 4 miles of rusty nails through a desert in Hell while wearing a necklace made of dead fish.
Worth It! ~Juls~
With sincere apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
I love thee to the depth of 18 millimeters
My glass can reach, when glowing from the flame
For the ends of beads and ideal glass
I love thee to the width of 10 millimeters
My bead can spread in evenness and beauty
I love thee as freely as a mandrel spins
I love thee purely for defeating wonkiness
I love thee with the passion of Pandora
And the heat of Hestia, goddess of the hearth.
I love the with a love annealed at 968 degrees
Fahrenheit I love thee with with my breath, my burns, my smiles,
My tears, of all of my life!--and, in the event of a propane mishap,
I shall but love thee better after death. ~Susan~
pologies to Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
Rollers as lovely as CG's.
Rollers whose finest graphite is prest
against flowing glass to create the best;
Rollers that aid and assist and inpire
and spark imagination to dream with fire;
Rollers that help to sculpt and mold
and tame the glass in contours bold;
Rollers that coax the glass into rounds
and ovals and disks in shapes that astound.
Poems are made by fools like me,
The best Rollers are only made by CG.
I have just one roller and I love it madly! It's not just a great tool but it's obviously made with love and care and I'd dearly love to have another. ~Patty~
grew up in a neighborhood north of Washington DC that was known for making exquisite hand made beads. The sand from the coastal beaches of Maryland and Delaware were of a purity not found anywhere else in the western hemisphere. Families were known to make different shaped beads, each family perfecting their particular shapes with the help of CG Beadrollers, which are known to be the finest beadrollers made. The skill was passed from generation to generation. All children were taught this skill from the time they were 5 or 6 years old. All children, but me.
My family was the one family who did not make beads. My father worked for the federal government. The skills passed from generation to generation in our family was filing alphabetically, placing callers on hold and unjamming the Xerox machines.
Of course, this made us outcasts. While the other children bragged about how their fathers could make 35 mm big hole disk beads or perfect 25mm round beads, I was only able to counter with "my father is a contract procurement officer for the department of the army". Which brought peels of laughter. I couldn't blame them, I had no idea what that meant either. While Peggy Baker's father was known the world over for his exquisite round dichroic graduated bead sets and Valerie Goldberg's mother encased silver glass ribbed bicones, all I could brag about was that we had a much better health care plan, including dental.
Secretly, I longed to be a normal family like the rest of my friends. I spent many hours dreaming I was adopted and that my real parents would show up to claim me and teach me how to form a perfect egg shaped bead embellished with raku frit.
I remember going to my friend Andrea LePine's 10th birthday party and seeing her unwrap and entire set of CG rollers with their beautiful flame handles. I cried myself to sleep that night.
Every Christmas I would write to Santa Claus and beg him to bring me a Quad Squad Pandora style roller. I promised to clean my room every day and help my mother with the dishes if I could just have a Ribbed Small Chunky Oval Trio. I would wake up on Christmas morning with such hope in my little heart only to have it dashed once again when I unwrapped yet another type writer ribbon, or pencil sharpener.
My mother could see that civil servitude was not my dream. One year she took pitty on me and bought me a cheap Chinese made knockoff with a metal handle. The other children laughed at me. I didn't have a torch or glass so I used it to make Playdoh beads on bamboo barbecue skewers.
When I became and adult I followed in my family's tradition and went to work for the county of Sacramento CA, but in my heart I still longed to someday have a set of my own beautifully made CG rollers and make beautiful beads like the other girls I grew up with do now, but it is difficult to break out of one's class. The untouchables may become rich, but they will always be untouchable. And the civil servant can dream of being a bead artist, but without the proper equipment will never take their place as a bead maker.
But we dream...we dream. ~Kevan~
Sung to the tune of "Saturday Night" by [who else] the Bay City Rollers!
R –O – L – L – L – L – ING…BEADS
R –O – L – L – L – L – ING…BEADS
R –O – L – L – L – L – ING…BEADS
R –O – L – L – L – L – ING…BEADS
Gonna keep on rolling in the pulsing flame
On Saturday night, Saturday night,
Rolling hot glass in Donna’s great new thang
On Saturday night, Saturday night,
I – I – I - I just can’t wait
I – I – I – I got a date
At the good ole bead rolling new tool show
I gotta go
Saturday Night
Saturday Night
Gonna flame it up, roll it up
Do it all, make a ball,
Saturday Night,
Saturday Night
It's just a Saturday Night
A flaming Saturday Night
Flaming Saturday Night
Gonna roll my beads till the night is through
On Saturday Night, Saturday Night
Tell you all the awesome things I'm gonna do
On Saturday Night, Saturday Night
I - I - I - I love them so
I - I - I - I'm gonna let her know
Saturday Night,
Saturday Night
It's just a Saturday Night
A flaming Saturday Night
Flaming Saturday Night
Congratulations Donna on your business expansion.
I love seeing how you have taken your dream and made it into a reality!! ~Wendy~
The CG Beadroller is the Queen of all of lampwork tools. She rules with a benevolent, yet firm hand, and does not back down from fiery, difficult situations. All of the kingdom's glassy subjects live in admiration of her beauty and power. Long live the Queen! ~Glenda
My testimonial for the beadroller is quite simple. They are truly the easiest to use. There's no pressing, there's no base and the tools are light as can be. I can make several beads on one mandrel with ease. I never have to look for the bottom part or the top part. Just one piece ready and waiting for me to use. I love the fact that there are mixed shapes so that I can use one roller for many different styles and shapes instead of having to pull out a different one each time. Donna is great! Speedy shipping and I've never had a problem with any of mine. I only own one however. The reason is not because I don't like her rollers but the fact that I never have time to do anything "I" want to do. After I'm done packing orders and dealing with family things, I'm simply too tired to play. BUT, I am happy to say that ..that is about to change. I promised myself that I would give me some me time every day. I could make up some fabulous, crazy story but there's no need to. Donna's rollers are simply the easiest and versatile roller to use. I recommend her to all my customers and her presses are what I give in my giveaways. People just love them! That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;-) ~Irene~
Sung to the tune of Silent Night.....
Super Wow!
Holy Cow!
All so cool,
Want it now
Round your pandora
Beads shall be.
CG Beadroller
So easy, you see.
Let me win one, please!
Let me win one please..
Thank you very much for this opportunity to enter your contest. I have never used one. I really, really want to though....
I am hoping for an early Christmas present.... lol
Feliz Navidad, ~Steve~

6/16/11
RED LETTER DAY
WIN A FREE CGBEADROLLER ! ! !
It's been a long time coming, and we finally have our first batch of tools from our own CNC machine.
We ran one of the most popular versions, the BR-1401 Donut Spacers Pandora Style.
Now for the exciting news, I'm running a contest to give 9 of these BR-1401 away (no substitutions). The rules are simple, write me a testimonial of why you love the CGBeadrollers. If you don't have any of the tools, write me why you should get one of the first ones off the line for free, no shipping charges, no hidden fees, no fluff and stuff. Here's an example of my husbands testimonial: I would drag my body over 19 miles of barbed wire and broken glass, just to drink dirty water from the tire track of the car that carried the inventor of CGBeadrollers away.
Email yours to me HERE. Contest ends June 24th, midnight central standard time.
(Tools will be engraved with the date and number off the line, and come with a certificate of authenticity.)
(Once submitted, all testimonials become the property of CGBeads)
Proof in picture, our first tools off the line.

v

6/9/11

There's a new website in town. This is a vertual cork board of advertisers, modeled after the 'Million Dollar Home Page'. The concept is simple: you purchase a block of squares on the board, when moused over, this plot of real estate opens up a popup of your ad and a link to your website/eBay/etc. Details here.

6/5/11
I've actually been back from my Murano trip for a week, but I'm still editing pictures, so in the mean time... Here's an update on the latest BBQ cookoff. Steve cooked with his longtime friend and original cooking partner this weekend. They won 1st place in brisket and the troply was a pair of spurs, they are awesome. (pictures of Murano soon)




5/10/11
Getting close, getting close.
I leave for my class in Murano next week, the 20th to be exact. I signed up for a five day class with Lucio Bubacco, his friend Emilio Santini will be a guest instructor. It's a humbling experience to be taking a class with these truly amazing master of the flame. I only hope I come home with as much skill as bragging rights. Anyway, my catalog will be open for orders, but nothing will ship until the week of May 31st.

4/28/11
We were looking at new ridding lawn mowers last fall, when they were on sale. Of course we put it off and they are more expensive now, but in hindsight, it was good we did. Steve found a metal post on the corner of the property, probably leftover from a long gone street name sign. Problem is he found it with the mower, bent the entire frame of the rider. How the heck he missed it for 18 years is a mystery. Somewhere in this picture is the 50 yard line. A game of touch football anyone?


4/24/11
Happy Easter.
Time-Lapse Auroras Over Norway

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.



4/8/11
I hate to tell you how much this makes me miss my nehru jackets. Drat, just aged myself, too.



4/4/11

IT"S HERE!! Only took the riggers about an hour to unload and level it. Electricity is next.




3/31/11
All tricked out, and no where to go.
The roll up door is the only think left to complete the 'building',
but I probably won't take another picture when it's on, after all, you probably know what a rollup door looks like.


3/28/11
This was last Thursday. We went out of town for the weekend so I didn't get a picture on Friday.


This one is from today. The skin is all on, I've learned that's the term for the outside walls, the roof is on (not sure if that has a pc name or not). Next will be the electric, the roll up door, and the cnc machine. We'll add a room inside later



3/23/11
Frame is pretty much up, windows are in, one door is framed in, insulation was delivered today.


3/22/11
The fix-it parts got here yesterday afternoon, the building is at a standstill today, insulation and walk in doors arrived in the morning so the contractor will resume then. We are off to buy windows today. <to be continued>

3/20/11
Wow, four posts in less than a week, I must be on some sort of a roll. But I had to post that I bought my air plane tickets today. I'm scheduled to take a class in Murano with Lucio Bubacco and Emilio Santini in May. It will be a 5 day workshop, and I have no idea what the exact content of the class will be, but does it even matter? I don't think it does. *grin*

3/18/11
Guess we will have to cut the beam ourselves (which is not a problem) and the factory is sending some patchwork for us, so we won't have to wait and see who has gotten a beam that is too short in their building kit. Should be here Monday, not bad. I'll update with pictures next week then.

3/16/11
<NEWS FLASH FOLLOW UP>
Done for the day with just one hitch, not bad - except it was a major goof up.
One of the top beams was a foot and a half too long...


3/16/11
NEWS FLASH ! ! !
This is what my back yard looked like the end of last year.
Actually, this is what it looked like after we had the old building half demolished.
Yes, that's a 63 Belaire. 85,000 original miles, good condition, but needs restoring.
Still has the sticker in the window that they put on when it was used as a street extra in the Stone film 'JFK'



This is what it looked like in January.



This what it looked like in February.
I had no idea concrete stain dried that fast with just a little bit of sun....


Our 24x36 ft building was delivered this morning, and will take about a week to put up. Sometime after that, we can take possession of the cnc machine that has been in storage for 2 months. I don't know how long the learning curve will be, but we'll be machining the graphite for the beadrollers in house soon.


2/25/11
Kara keeps making work for me. I just uploaded a bunch of new beadcaps for her.

2/20/11
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST DARN SON-IN-LAW ON THE PLANET ! ! !

2/6/11
We finished the jewelry tools sooner than expected. YEY ! !
If you make jewelry, you need to try these out.
They're not your mothers tools, extra steps have been taken to refine the tools for a finish that won't mar your silver.
Come and gettum.....


2/3/11
Coming soon - - jewelry tools - -



1/30/11
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME ! ! !
Yep, it's been two years, can you believe it?

Thanks to my awesome awesome customers, my little experiment with cavity marvers exceeded my wildest expectations. To say thank you, I've listened to your pleas, and will offer the 'sampler' as the anniversary tool. I've also made a limited quantity of a ribbed version, and each will come in a flame bag. The Anniversary Special will run through Feb. 15th.

Now for the 'other' exciting news - Along with my already indispensable husband behind the scenes, I've grown big enough to bring both of my children on board. Arik will be helping me in the shop. He'll also be starting a line of frit (see the catagory list on the left for the link), and will work into making custom blends. Kara has always wanted to retail jewelry finding (link is on the left), and has also found the cutest line of jewelry tools. She's working on hand finishing the surface, and will unveiled them soon.

A big thank you smooch to every one that helped make this possible.

1/23/11
1. Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweat things.
2. One Tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
3. Atheism is a nonprofit organization.
4. If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
5. The main reason that Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
6. I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
7. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
8. If a deaf child signs swear words, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
9. If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?
10. Is there another work for synonym?
11. Where do forest ranger go to "get away from it all?"
12. What do yo do when yo see and endangered animal eating an endangered plant?
13. If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
14. Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
15. Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?
16. If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?
17. Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
18. If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
19. Why do they put Braille on drive through bank machines?
20. How do they get deer to cross the road only at those yellow road signs?
21. What was the best thing before slice bread?
22. One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.
23. Does the little mermaid wear an algebra?
24. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
25. How is it possible to have a civil war?
26. If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest drown too?
27. If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?
28. If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
29. Whose cruel idea was it for the work 'LISP' to have 'S' in it?
30. Why is it called a tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
31. Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?
32. If you spin an oriental person in a circle three times, do they become disoriented?
33. Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?

1/21/11
Someone showed me this youtube of Fragile Ice at Yosemite Park, amazing stuff.
There are 13 vidoe's in the Yosemite Nature Notes series.


1/7/11
I guess it's time to do my first update of the new year/decade, althooough - it only seems like a day has gone by since yesterday.... It's been three years since I've seem my dad, so I went home over New Years Eve weekend. I'm from North Dakota (transplanted to Texas), and you never forget how subzero air can hurt your lungs, but it's still a bit of a shock when you take that first deep breath and start to choke. duh... The weekend was great. Pat and Vanna were doing "Wheel" from Los Vegas. Polka Party Express, ok, accordion music isn't that bad, I kind of like it. There was a 100 car pile up near Fargo, other end of the state, thank goodness. The fold out couch bed has not mysteriously become a pleasant place to sleep. Crock pot roast at dads, nephla at my sisters, salmon patties at my brothers. Showed Aunt Rose how to text, I fear my cousins will never forgive me now. Taco pizza at Happy Joe's, and peppermint ice cream. Oh Oh, and Jeopardy!!! I love that show!!! Old family photo albums, even got to take a few pictures. Funny, I don't remember being that slim, sigh, and my hair was a much prettier color of red once, double sigh. I hate it that my 88 year old father can out exercise me. Got to add numbers to the phone book in the awesome new house phone my brother bought dad. Speaking of my brother-slash-great-white-humter, how come I didn't get some deer jerky? Probably cause I'm too stupid to ask for it? And all the Pheasants along side the road when we drove down to my sisters, that was awesome, they were everywhere, it's actually become a whole new hunting industry there now. And somehow, husbands can always manage to turn white socks into pink socks when wives aren't around, but I'd rather wear pink socks than complain... Bought a new pair of ankle boots, they will help hide the pink socks. Walking OUT TO the plane is a trip, so is watching the pilot do his pre-flight check by walking up to the propellor and giving it a spin. After I got home, it took 2 days to get all the orders shipped. Don't people have anything better to do over a holiday weekend than buy beadrollers? Wish I would have made a snow angle, not.. Have you ever driven when it's snowing? It's like traveling through a time tunnel, the snow looks like it's flying straight at you, it's hypnotizing, glad I wasn't the one driving. zzz And the oil boom, holy cow, 2-1/2% unemployment in NoDak. It was a short trip, but dad & I packed it full of talk and time together. Ahhh, happy camper I am.



12/27/10
oh My, how our world has changed.
My Blackberry Is Not Working


12/20/10

Merry Christmas
Jingle Bells



Deck the Halls


12/17/10
Tuna Supper



Clean-up Crew



12/6/10

Last time: Roto Rooter = $179 on a weekend
This time: Mr. Rooter = $251 on a weekday
My take on it???
"I don't know, sells itself" -Vince the Shamwow Guy -


11/29/10
The worlds first music video... How would you like this guy standing outside your window serenading you...
Gus Visser and His Singing Duck


11/28/10
I love you, mom.

11/25/10
Happy Thanksgiving
WKRP Turkey Drop

11/13/10
Another update on the 'bring Lilly home' situation.
A PayPal fund has been set up, if you feel inclined to help this family bring their daughter home to rest.
Don't forget, extra funds will be donated to the children's hospital in Peru where she was doing her missionary work at the time of the accident that tragically ended her life. With the holiday season coming, give a little charity - please.... Thank you.
Lily Cantu Fund at PayPal
(Sorry I had a bad link, but it works now)
Lilly with one of the children being treated at the Peruvian hospital.
n


11/8/10
An update on Lilly. Bringing home a loved one that has passed away over seas can be a long and expensive process. The American Embassy has helped cut through the red tape and she will more than likely be home this week. Great news for a family in tragedy. However, it will still be expensive, and a fund is being set up to aid in the expensive, I'll post the link when it's set up. Any extra funds left over will be given to the children's hospital in Peru where she was doing her missionary work.

11/5/10
An update on Lilly. Again, I don't have all the details, but she fell down three flights of stairs. There will be an investigation into the accident. Bringing her home will be a long and expensive process and the family is working with the American Embassy to make that happen. There is a donation fund being set up, the link is in the story link below.
Denton Missionary Killed in Peru


11/5/10
My sons best friend growing up was a set of twins. If they weren't at my house, he was at theirs, they were triplets.

They had a sister that graduated high school last year and was a bit non-directional as to what she wanted to do with her life. She hung out at one of the twins houses, and this summer decided to go to Peru, through the church, and work in a convent for 6 months with a group of young people.

She left about a month ago and they had a nice party to see her off. Being the other triplet, my son went to see her off, too.

The group was up on one of the roofs eating under the stars last night, as apparently they often do. I don't know any details, but she fell off and passed away. I don't even know what to say, there are no clear thoughts in my head.
I didn't really know her, but I so admired her for her service, and am in a bit of shock. I can only imagine what the family and my son are going through right now. If you pray, please say a prayer for the family of this sweet child that went home to her heavenly father.

If you have a child in the service overseas <any service>, thank them for me for trying to make the world a better place for others. Their integrity is beyond compare, and they are the blessed ones. Please say a prayer for them all.

Be thankful and happy.... for every breath is a gift.


10/22/10
The local nightly new crew in Dallas did a YouTube video. This is hilarious....

10/9/10
I took a class with Corina last weekend. We made frogs and lizards on Sunday and since the beads were in the kiln, they had to be mailed to us. I go my lizard yesterday. Not bad for my first one, I guess. Don't know if I'll ever make another one, but at least I have one.


10/8/10
Went to the Texas State Fair a couple of days ago. It's been several years since we've gone, and like most fairs, it's a lot of the same stuff, but fun none the less. Two of the most popular 'must see again' attractions are Big Tex and the butter sculpture. Tex is 52 feet tall and wears size 70 boots that are 8 feet tall. The butter sculpture is, yes, made from butter and just a bit larger than life size.


9/27/10
(first off, new website coming soon. woohoo)
I took a three day class over the weekend with one our top lampwork bead artists, Corina. I've been making beads for almost 10 years, so it was a mix of experiences for me. Some things I knew, some things I didn't have a clue, some things I've never tried, some things I've never caught on to how to do. So all in all, it was a successful class for me. One thing I love love love about taking classes at the Craft Guild in Dallas is, there are never any drama high maintenance students. Corina has a style of beads she call Quarks, they are bright and whimsical. Here's my version of the quark. More subdued, but I want to take the techniques I learned and translate them into aquarium beads.



The Teacher.......
h


9/4/10

This is hillarous, one of the funniest sites I've ever seen, and it actually works.
Australian Google

8/18/10

I don't know if there's anything I can say about this....
North Dakota Bois (California Gurls Parody)


7/8/10

I haven't post anything about my bead in the main blog in a looooong time, I've been leaving that to facebook, but I wanted to show off the beads you can make from one of the latest CGBeadrollers - cones. I thought this would be a nice shape, but after making the example beads, fell in love with it for a focal bead shape. I smashed the smallest one flat, me like.



7/6/10
This is 4 days progress. <big sigh>
Maybe leaving the 5 year old nephew to his parents to watch instead of bringing him to my house one day
(which frankly, is suppose to be a job site) and the 6 year old daughter the next day,
would help get the job done on a more timely manner, cause frankly, I'm tire of taking a shower in the camper. </rant>


7/2/10
This was from a couple of days ago. It shows the main bathroom now cut off from the mastbath in the back.
Insulation is going up as we speak. Big storage closet, whorlpool bathtub, 48" shower, ventilation (finally), duck heaven.

6/23/10
Yesterday this was my main bathroom and master bathroom. Now where am I suppose to pee?
<ok, don't answer that. That was a loaded question.>


6/18/10
My last few pictures of Wayne as his mommy. I took him to my sons today, so I've magically transformed into grandma.
He's an adorable photo subject, so I'm glad I'll be able to photo him again.



A kittens first experience with cat litter....
He thinks it's a toy, cause every time he moves, it trickles downhill like sand.



Hi thinks he's a pony. This kitten is real confused.




It's pretty fuzzy, but I couldn't believe he sat down like a puppy, not many cats will sit this way.


6/16/10
A couple of better picture of the new part-time studio help.
I think my son may take him, so at least he'll be close by for me to see what he'll look like all grown up.


Left is a close up so you can see the pretty markings. He has that cute little white patch, but the fur on his chest and legs have indivual white hairs that are a bit longer than the black fur. He's already a stinky poo machine and with no mama cat, guess who gets to sub with cleaning up...

He moved on the picture below and it got fuzzy, but it's a good picute of white hairs. Almost looks like a bears legs.


6/15/10
I stepped outside last night around sundown, and look what I found hopping through my yard. He's looks to be around a month or two old and very bony, I was surprised he lived till this morning. Since he's so young, he's already filling out, though, but you can still feel his bones. He's soooo adorable, so I don't understand why our 4 adult cats don't like him (well, duh on that one, though). Not sure if I'll keep him though, 4 adult cats will determine that, but I'll get to enjoy him while I'm fattening him up.


6/6/10
Happy Birthday to my husband Steve.
May the next decade be as happy as the last.
(that's all I'm sayen about age)
Love you, honey...

5/11/10
This is my first rose of the season. Last fall when I cut my roses back,
I cut this one back farther than I ever have, and wow, I got a two handed rose.


5/9/10
The Known Universe on YouTube
Happy Mothers Day

5/3/10
Tina' Eyes


My Chihuly rosebush, two stages


5/1/10
If you haven't seen this, you need to, it's hilarious. Some Afghanistan soldiers blowing off steam.
Telephone Remake


4/29/10


4/18/10
Sad news, it's been a week since I've seen Mouse. He's my black & white cat. I've lost treasured cats before, but this is different, I've had him longer than any other cat. Each pet has their own unique personality and traits, with Mouse it was that he was a bit cross-eyed. He loved being scratched under his chin, but you had to approach him from behind or he would duck as if you were going to hit him, but I'm sure it was just that he saw two or three hands and it scarred him.
My Mouse montage:

My favorite pix of him - actually, one of my all time favorite pictures.


"Does my butt look big?" Mouse was a rather large cat


His favorite way to sleep - like road kill ......


This was the time he lost his battle with the hot tub, we found him on the roof, mad as can be.
Sure do miss my Mouse.......



4/13/10
These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts,
and are things people actually said in court,
word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters.


ATTORNEY: Now doctor , isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep , he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: The youngest son , the 20-year-old , how old is he?
WITNESS: He's 20 , much like your IQ.

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid

ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.

ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them.. The live ones put up too much of a fight.

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not , he was by the time I finished.

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

3/24/10

We now have infamous cats. My son found a picture from my "How To Arrange 5 Cats" series on icanhascheezburger.com. Funny thing though, the person who heisted the pix didn't know the source.
hmm I think I want this person to do my taxes next year. My cats on cheezgburger.com

3/12/10
Went out for a drive, and look what followed us home?? Can we keep it??
Well, since it's already in our back yard, I guess we'll have to. Don't chya just hate it when that happens??
26 footer


3/6/10
I guess it's time for me to do an update. I had surgery Monday, everything went fine, but I'm still a bit worn out. duh There are 4 glands in your neck (parathyroid) that make a hormone (PTH) that control the amount of calcium your body transfers from you bones to your blood stream. From there, calcium runs your electrical system. Usually it's only one gland that will go bad, but for me, it was all four, but since you need calcium in your blood, only 3-1/2 were removed. What was fascinating was that, during surgery, blood tests monitored my PTH levels, and when they hit an acceptable level, the surgeon knew to stop. I'm tired and sore, and the anethetia made me sick longer than I think I realized, but I'm sooo much better.

2/12/10
Fifth snow fall this year?? Wait, let me check my mail. Yep, it says I live in Texas. Over 8 inches here, and officially 12.5 in Dallas, a new 24 hour record, and the second highest total in a season. This one was so pretty, I took a night picture, too.




2/6/10
You might be a lampwork artist if:
  • You have a flower garden just so you can have models for your next set of beads...
  • You notice instead of it being dark outside, it's Moretti black...
  • You chase fire trucks...
  • You pause the evening news so you can see the anchors necklace...
  • Your favorite coffee cup sits on your work table with coffee and pulled glass in it...
  • The neighbors know from the squeals in the morning that you pulled your best set ever out of the kiln...

2/4/10
I don't care what Punxsutawney Phil said the other day, one of my cats brought a bird inside today.
I say spring is just around the corner.


1/9/10
1) Dang, I've been looking for that raccoon skin hat, that's where it went to..
2) The furniture ate Bruce.
3) Remember that Twilight episode "Little Girl Lost"? where the little girl fell through
the wall behind her bed and into another dimension, then the dog followed her?
4) "Bruce has been working hard on his weight lifting career"


1/2/10

How's the beadroller business going, you may ask? Well, I just spent the afternoon transforming the rest of the spare bedroom into my warehouse. There's shelves along the other wall, too, and a photography table on another. For company? there's a hotel up the street..... and I get to take more of the house square footage as a deduction, life is good.....




12/29/09

What is up with this global warming??? I know I'm in northern Texas, almost Oklahoma,
but snow for a third time this season??? Does anyone have Al's phone number???
December 29, 2009


12/28/09
I was a very good girl this year, Santa brought me not one, but two lumps of coal.
In the form of matching diamond earrings. Hubby done good - happy camper I am.....

12/25/09
Merry Christmas from Texas
This is the first time I can remember it snowing twice in one winter season, here in north Texas.
December 2, 2009

December 25, 2009



12/9/09
Oh man, what did she do ???
She added Gift Certificates !!!
YEY - Just in time for Christmas !!!











12/4/09

Bruce (the rock star formerly know as Hayden) was seen romping with Mouse last night. He's starting to fit in nicely.

11/17/09
Three more demo videos.

11/12/09
After my Steve's being after me for 6 month (no kidding, 6 months), I did two demo beadroller video's a few days ago. I've never heard myself on tape before, and it was kind of like a puppy hearing its own bark for the first time, it scared me. I've added a page to the catalog and will keep adding to the library, and there's a link on the left of the page.

11/3/09
Happy First Anniversary to my daughter Kara, and her husband Dave.

10/27/09
Had a big scare this morning. Tina was missing when I got up, took 1-1/2" hours to find her. The closet behind where Steve sits, the ceiling is unfinished and sometimes the cats go up in the rafters, but they haven't lately cause there's more stuff on the shelves and it's tougher to climb.

Somehow she got up there and was too terrified to come back down, or even meow. She almost never goes outside without me, and they are working on the street a block away, so outside was out of the question. I just knew she was somewhere in the house and I'd find her dead of a heart attack or something, cause I've let her get overweight. Treats are now on ration. Theeeeennnnn..... I couldn't believe it, she'd been down for 15 minutes, when I saw her trying to climb up to get in the rafters again.

10/25/09
Big news for me this week, well, not for me actually. My daughter and her husband put a bid on a house and it was accepted yesterday. Their first home, wow. Just in time for their first wedding anniversary next week. On a silly note - ya know how pillows stick when you try to put a pillow case on? Well, I decided to blow into the case when the pillow was half way in, and it just dropped to the bottom. Pretty neat, hah. Only took me 50 years to figure that one out (slow learner).

10/12/09
In a nut shell:
- friend & wife have cat & dog (german shepherd)
- dog plays rough with cat
- friend afraid dog will kill cat one day
- wife leaves, neglects to take her cat
- friend sells house
- estranged wife finally takes cat - to friends house - who has two dogs
(german shepherd & rottweiler)
- friend & my hubby are at BBQ cookoff
- friend calls me - cat is being terrorized and needs to be rescued - now
- cat has new home - finally safe
- meet Hayden..... now we have five again....


10/6/09
It's not often I take a class, in fact, in 8-1/2 years, I've only taken 3. Leah Fairbanks is one of the founders of the lampwork movement in the United States back in the 1990's, so when I found out she was teaching a class within driving distance of me, I was excited. As a group, we had a blast and as a class, we learned a lot. One of the ladies took a looot of pictures, and I'll post some as soon as I get the disc of them.
Im' really happy with my first ever aquarium bead. It's 1" wide by 1-5/8" tall and is a testament to Leah's teaching abilities, for sure.

These are two of Leah's beads that I bought at the class. The long one is 1-5/16". The black & white is 1-1/4" with a black spinel stone that her husband imbeds for her.




9/26/09
We had a lot of rain here a few weeks ago and now the spring floweres are blooming. To the right are our crockus, and I don't know what the red ones are, but they are in yards all over town. Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday Daryl.


9/22/09
I've been pretty busy the last few days. I just finished assembling 4 new beadroller tools, that's the most I've done at one time. Then I decided, since I now have 22 tools in the line, that was too much for one catalog page, so I've been redoing that. Phew, time consuming, please check it out.

9/6/09
I have a husband that like old movies, but once in a while I question his sanity. He got into a 'gag me' 70's mood. Charles Bronson has got to be on the list of the worst 10 actors in history, not just one, but we watched a string of his movies this weekend. Then there's 'Foxy Brown". Finally found out that afro's were good for hiding guns in, and that
intro to the movie, priceless.

8/28/09
Finally, an update on my trip to Seattle. I won't clutter up my blog with the pictures, instead, the trip has it's own page and a permanent link next to my other Seattle trips on the left. But here is a picture of one of my favorite subject, Kara's cat.
Seattle 2009


8/6/09
Holy Cow, it's on YouTube.
This was the video they played several times at the gathering, before demo's and meetings.
I can't tell you what an awesome industry I have been blessed to be a part of.........

8/2/09
That was the best Gathering I've ever been to, I guess considering it is the only one I've been to, ya, it was great. Two days of "name" lampwork beadmakers doing demo's on the big screen, wow, I learned a lot. I bought a Japanese style torch, am excited about that. Here's a short youtube demo so you can see what they look like.


Two open torch nights where we could "jam", wow. That's one of my beading buddies, Ginny, showing how she encases. There were around 40 torches set up. On the second night, the hotel fire alarm went off (false alarm), but it was so funny to see all those people at the torches look around as if to say "what.... fire alarm? We are playing with fire here..... and I don't have time to evacuate, I'm in the middle of a bead".


But I think the best part was the bazaar on Saturday. There is probably no where else in the entire world that you could find a bigger display of individual handmade artisan glass beads? Think about it - - 100 artists displaying thousands of handmade beads - - wow.


7/21/09
I just picked up the prototype base for the beadrollers. I'm real excited about the design. I gave my fabricator some specific requirements, and let him have free reign to design the scrolling. He came up with (what else) flames. Awesome.. We are still working out production details and pricing, but they should be available in a couple of weeks. It will hold the tool at approximately a 30 degree angle, in one of two directions, allowing you both hands free for holding your mandrel and glass rod and still be able to use the tool, with easy access to pick the tool up for refining your work. I'm off my first Gathering tomorrow, see ya'll in a week with pictures. (Gathering: the annual lampwork beadmakers convention)


7/14/09
I know, I promised a new cat picture, I took one and it's horrible. Steve's out of town and it's a bit of a production to 'arrange 4 cats' sometimes. But I have a picture of another little friend in the house instead. We live in a house built in 1902 and sometimes it seems the wall 'leak' of bugs, so gecko's are always welcome here. This guy just wanted his picture taken.


7/9/09
Once again, I've been chastised for not updating enough.. sigh, kids.. she has an iphone, isn't that what texting is for? (I'm just kidding, Kara. Don't hit me with a barrage of texts, I'm sure your boss would much prefer you 'work' at work. lol). So I'll update on the tools, there are 15 in the line now (click on 'catalog'), two more to be unveiled in a day or two, and a stand (finally got to that) at the metal shop being prototyped. My health's is getting better.. Our cats are entertaining, as always. I've thought of a new 'how to arrange cats' series of pictures, I feel like a bottom feeding paparazzi, but they don't mind, they get treats out of it. I'll rally the troops for a picture soon.

6/24/09
Well, I think I'm finally out of the woods. "What do you mean?", you may ask. Well, I've been sick this year, and thanks for asking.. Since February or so, I've had a whole host of pain problems, on a scale of 1-10, it was an 8 quite often. I know I've been flaky in the past, but this brain fog I don't wish on anyone, I would forget conversations and things I did that morning, along with a host of other problems. Hindsight, it's been building for a long time, though. After a couple of tangents and a specialist that blew me off, I got my family dr to allow me to get my vitamin D level back into normal range before doing a ct scan of my head (dread to think what he would, or wouldn't, find in there, if you know what I mean). Normal range for D is 30-60 ng/ml, mine tested at 25 and both drs thought that wasn't significant. phhh Treatment is one megadose pill a week for 8 weeks, I saw results in 24 hours. It's been 10 days now, I'm still run down and have a ways to go, but I think I'm going to ask for an honorary degree for finding the problem myself. I'm hoping to get my bead career back on track, now that the fatigue is going away and my focus is returning again, too. (what were we just talking about???)

6/7/09
It's been a long time since I've posted a youtube video, and in honor of Steve's birthday (that's my husband and his birthday was actually yesterday) I'll post a link to one he sent me. I hate to say it, but it's a bit apropos. Happy birthday Steve.
Ode to Forgetfulness

6/4/09
Two new rollers, actually they are version #2 of a couple already in the line. Chunky Oval's now have a slot for big hole mandrels, and the big hole Garden Variety now has an smaller slot for regular sized mandrels. Wow, can you believe 12 tools in the line already?
Check the catalog for details.




5/20/09
I have a very big and exciting announcement to make.
cg-beadrollers now has a European distributor.
Christina Stofmeel of Frit & Glas - located in The Netherlands
(there are flags on the left side of the page to choose a language)
Feng Frit Factory on Etsy
FenG Lampwork Beads on Etsy
FenGlicious' photostream on flickr
It will take a bit for us to get squared away and get Christina up and
fully running, but for now, please visit her sites and ogle at her beads.

5/12/09
Number Ten... Tube Trio / Frit Holder
The tutorial is now online for your convenience (link is on the left)


5/2/09
Number Nine, Number Nine.. Ok, I know I've aged myself with that.. This is the ninth tool and has five smaller cavities with a smaller mandrel slot for making small holed beads.


4/30/09
I'm real excited to introduce the new handles for my line of lampwork beadroller tools. When I first stared developing the line 3 month ago, I was buying a generic handle and wanted something that had a 'wow' factor to it. I found it. My tool handles now have flames. Took me over a month to procure them and it was worth it. The latest in the line is the original on steroids, a chunky oval trio. Check the "tools" catalog for the complete line.




4/27/09

Ya, it must be spring, I'm taking pictures of flowers. This is my first rose of the year. I cut them back quit a bit last fall so they should be plentiful.

My new handle for the tools are on their way, I'm excited.


4/11/09
Spring is popping up here. We planted tomatoes early this year and had to cover them 3 times for freezing nights. And on the health front, I'm on my fourth different high blood pressure med in 9 months, this sucks trying to find the right one. Reminds me of my teen years when you had to go through a lot of crappie boyfriends to find the one didn't make you sick to your stomach.....


4/7/09
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I have a literal exception to that rule - not when the bird in the hand is the one you just took away from your cat in the living room. It's spring and that means young birds that are not cat savvy yet. It's the first of many for the season, I'm sure. It sure was happy to fly away, I sure was happy I didn't break it's neck pounding on it, Weazel didn't care, he can find more to bring in...
This picture is of a wild flower growing in my side lawn. I wish I knew what it was, it comes up every year, only one plant so there's only one flower, but it's square...

4/5/09
There are a few websites I enjoy check everyday, one is NASA's 'Astronomy Picture of The Day'. Today's was especially cool. It's a one hour time laps of the sun. It takes a few seconds to load, but it's so worth it. Orange Sun Oozing
(fyi: I now stock 1/4" mandrels for big hole beads & 1/4" brass tubing to line them with)

3/31/09
We've been busy around here - ordering stuff. Since I've designed some of the new graphite beadrollers to accommodate a larger mandrel to make pandora style beads with, I decided to expand and carry complimentary "stuff". First there was the beadstand for large hole beads, then came the plethora of requests for a small shaft to hold regular holed focals. Gotcha covered. Now I've put in brass tubing for coring those pandora sized beads. The 1/4" tubing for mandrels is on order, with other sizes to follow later. Steve's been amazing at finding this stuff for me. Have a look in the catalog.

03/26/09

Been lazy about showing off the newest tool. It's another pandora style plus, this one shapes round beads. Actually I haven't been lazy, I've been tired. I went to get a prescription fill a few weeks ago and the manufacturer stopped making it so the pharmacist called the dr to get a different script. When I went to pick it up, they told me that instead of taking one pill a day, I would now be taking half the amount twice a day. Some how I missed the part where it was a completely different formula, too. Found that out when I went back to the dr today. All better now, back to business as usual.


03/9/09
I've had an interesting weekend. I'll back up to Thursday. Kara (DD) flew in from Seattle to help me with a bead show. I've done art & craft shows, but never a 'bead' show. To make a long story short, it wasn't worth my time and if I do another one, I'll be a bit more selective. The Bead Market is well advertised so the crowd was good, I guess that's how she justifies the outrageous price of the booth, but my sales weren't good enough for the time & effort I put into it. Live and learn. At least I'll have a week with my daughter. In other news: I've really been enjoying making the slider beads with my new mold, for the Pandora/Troll bracelets and promise to get my catalog up and going again. I've been putting a sterling silver core in them so they can also be worn on a chain necklace or even a ribbon or leather neck cord.
Here's a picture of my fourth tool, the letter opener & beadpen mold.


02/15/09
We're up to three tools now, and expecting our fourth next week, and a stand to hopefully follow soon after. I feel like an expectant mother. This one will do barrel shapes. Two with a regular hole size mandrel slot and two with a slot for a larger mandrel to do Pandora Style beads with. What are Pandora beads you ask? Pandora Charm Bracelets


02/07/09
Well, here's my second tool. Three ovals, next sizes up. I even went and got some nice material for backdrops. The lady at the fabric store asked me what I was up to and when I told her it was for photo backdrops, she said her best friend was a photographer so she helped me get the right stuff. Boy was she right. Got to go, there's a James Bond marathon on one of the channels and it's been a long three weeks getting the tools up and going, so I'm out of here.


01/31/09
Introducing cg-beadrollers - mold on a stick.
All those wonderful ovals I make, bet you thought I hand formed them. Well, my dirty little secret is out, I had a mold made last year and now (finally) I've put it into production. If you're a lampworker and would like to have one, they'll be in my catalog soon, or just email me for now. It will also come with a tutorial on how to make a perfect bead with a cavity mold. I already have in mind to make the next one, it will have the next two oval sizes up from this mold.


01/30/09
Two atoms are walking down the road and one exclaims,
"Oh my God, I just lost an electron!"
The other one asks, "Are you sure?"
To which the first replies, "I'm positive!"
I was exchanging website links with Alex (my sons girlfriend) one day and she gave me a link to 1saleaday.com Great, thanks Alex, just what I need, another sight with stuff I can't live without, that uses 24 hour sale only impulse buying tactics. I'm already hooked on Woot.com At least "1saleaday" is different in the fact that it has fun and useless information, like the joke at the beginning of this post. Ok, I've wasted enough time today..

01/25/09
So, Steve's been telling me about this commercial and I finally got to see it. I love this guy, and it's on YouTube so I can see it anytime I want to - Vince with Slap Chop. I was always the kid who would watch the commercials and walk off on the show. Give it to me short and sweet, get your point across in two minutes or less or I'm out of here. Vince with Slap Chop is the most entertaining commercial ever produced. Shamwow was ok, but annoying as h*ll. Slap Chop is great, and that duel screen chopping scene was hilarious, "you're gonna love my nut"??, and when he throws the competitors product over his shoulder and it lands in the sink, classic slapstick at it's best, "taco's fettucini linguini martini bikini", and of course, the line "call now, within the next 20 minutes, cause we can't do this all day". Vince is the best.....

01/24/09
Sometime opening the kiln in the morning just makes my day cause everything turns out better than I imagined it would.


01/17/09
This is my "I'm so lazy" blog entry.
I don't know what it is about blogging, but sometime I just hate to write. My last post was a couple of days before the anniversary of moms passing, and the holidays were fine, getting better to handle, end of story...
So many new things that I've tried the past few weeks. I've finally started to use my big hole mandrels - 5/8" & 1/4" holes - and have learned to core the 1/4" with sterling silver tubing to make slider beads for the Pandora/Troll bracelets. I also took a mandrel out of moth balls that makes a heart hole. I want to sell them as toggles and am coordinating with Kara to have her make the toggle bars out of silver. Then there's the thimble mandrels I bought, those are too cool. Why the big jump in creativity? I signed up for a bead show, no more art & craft shows, did several last year and they just suck toooo much. I hate standing and explaining to someone what lampwork is only to have them say "nice bracelet" and walk off with that deer-in-the-headlights look. If you're in Ft Worth March 7-8 I'll be at The Bead Market show (don't forget my Etsy store) and yah, Kara is going to come help me, excited about that I am.






11/25/08
How to Arrange 4 Cats - The sequil - part one
Cats - squared. Maybe this is why one should pay attention in geometry class, so one can arrange their cats.


11/12/08
This segment has moved to it's own page. Please come and enjoy all of my daughters wedding pictures.
The Wedding
Kara & David Whitney
my duaghter and son-in-law


11/6/08
She was a beautiful bride in a stunning dress, and he was an "every-girls-crazy-'bout-a-sharp-dressed-man" groom. I'm proud to introduce Mr. & Mrs. Whitney, my daughter and new son-in-law. They were married Monday just north of Vegas in an outdoor ceremony at The Valley of Fire. Pictures to follow after I finish cropping and stuff.


10/26/08
One of my duties at Wired Up Beads is to make the jump rings. Fun, but not a very glamorous job. Then I decided to take some home and make some chainmail myself. I bought a book of chainmail patterns about a decade ago but could never decipher the patterns so I gave it another try. This was so relaxing that I got lost in the process and lost track of time. I don't see how anyone makes any money at it, but I sure enjoyed it. The top bracelet is bronze and silver. The second is copper, bronze, and silver with copper and gold vermeil daisy spacers. The last one is 14K gold filled with stardust silver balls and it's my favorite, but then there's nothing like the look and feel of gold. I think I'll replace the clasp, though, it's a bit too long.
We're off to Vegas this week. I have a long awaited wedding to go to, my daughter Kara is getting married.




10/18/08
Fall is here, not in the weather cause it's still in the 70's to 80's, but I can tell it in the cats. They've started to romp and play with each other again, we're getting more 'critters' in the house and all four are snuggled on the bed when we wake up. Two out of three pleasures ain't bad. I've been working at Wired Up Beads for 2-3 days a week, but now that my thyroid and blood pressure are under control (phew, I hate being sluggish and that 'I can't put my finger on it' icky feeling) I've started to torch a bit more. Still not up to speed to do eBay again just yet, but then, it seems eBay is a 'has been' as far as lampwork goes. Etsy is a joke unless you are part of the 'click' and since I'm not a 'clicky' type, I may close that soon. I still have a few bead stores and galleries, but they have been slow (dah). Here's my first Christmas beads, part 2. These went to a gallery, but since them I've made some more 'snowman' penguins and designed some 'snowman' kitties and some regular snowmen. I've enjoyed my small dabble in Christmas sculptures and have decided to do a 'snowman' series. This weekend I want to design some 'snowman' santa's, puppies and angels.


10/1/08
I have a friend who does a lot of sculpture beads and she did the most adorable Haloween beads. Well, I don't care for doing sculptures, but it motivated me to gave doing some Christmas beads a try. They're not bad and I'll have to admit, they were fun. Here's my first batch, it's a small one but I wanted to see what bugs had to be worked out. Now I'll make some for an upcoming jewelry making open house at a gallery I'm represented in, and some for my catalog, too.


9/28/08
Introducing - - THE DRESS - - Kara got her wedding dress. Wow, proud isn't the right word, more like so pleased that life is going so well for her and Dave. Only 5 weeks, man the time is flying.






9/18/08
A man from my husbands forum relayed this story to their board. This is a true story.

My oldest daughter is about to give birth to my ninth grandchild (a girl this time). She is also the mother of my 3 year old granddaughter. The three year old is very observant and quite outspoken for her age. My daughter is tall and heavyset, not obese, but nonetheless a big girl. Her weight has gone up only slightly during the pregnancy, but her belly is swollen.

Last night she was showering and my granddaughter joined her in the shower. The granddaughter exclaimed "Mommy your getting fat!. Is the baby in your tummy?" "Yes" mommy explained that the baby in her tummy makes her look fat. My granddaughter then said "Is there a baby in your butt too?"

9/15/08
The cookoff is over and there's nothing left but the bragging.... Steve got 1st in chicken, 2nd in beans and 5th in brisket. There were around 45 cooking teams, doesn't sound like much, but this is an old cookoff and these are seasoned veterans so the competition is high.... When "Crosstimbers" was in their hay day doing cookoffs every weekend of the year (sometimes two in a weekend), this would have been nothing to brag about, but when you only fire up the smoker a couple of times a year, the "seasonings" inside the cooker just aren't the same, so this was actually a nice accomplishment. Steve had a friend compete for his first time in competition, Ryan took 5th in ribs. He does a bit of catering, but competition is a whole different ball game, so he gets bragging right for placing, too. A lot of times, the spices you put on competition meat will cost more than the meat itself, so chances are you won't taste something this flavorful in a restaurant. One thing I really like about the Sanger trophies is they are always unique. We have an ornamental iron worker in town and he does the trophies.


9/12/08
I have kind of a different post today. Not much been happening in my life lately except hum drum stuff so I thought I'd post about an odd subject to talk about... teeth... After years of drinking mucho glasses of tea a day, I finally decided to try some of those teeth whitening strips. I did my research and came up with a couple of rousing endorsements of 'Celebrity Sexy Teeth'. Kind of pricey but I bought it anyway. Wow, within the month or so I've been using it, I've actually gotten a couple of shades whiter. Wello, if hurricane Ike does what it suppose to, it will only skirt the Dallas area and Steve & I will cook our first solo BBQ cook off here in Sanger. Steve and his cooking partner were an award winning cook off teem in the 80's. Sometime in the mid 90's life stared getting in the way and they dwindled down to only a couple of local competitions a year, with the second generation helping out. I never got involved much when we got married but everyone had other direction this weekend so instead of not competing, we decided to do this one, just the two of us. I know - awwwww...

8/22/08
Been tired lately, not sure if it's the hot summer (of which I don't take the heat well anyway) or if its just this getting old thing. I think I like the hot summer explanation the best. I have a friend that is opening a brick and mortar bead store and I've been helping there one or two days a week. If you make jewelry, you need to take a look at her website. (Wired Up Beads) She's the one that has come out with the high end jewelry tools called Wubbers, and of course, all kinds of other findings. She's growing almost faster than what she can keep up with. My good friend Trudy is also working there full time so it's nice to get out once a week and spend time there.

8/9/08
This is why I have a 6 ft work table, at least this time they left me a small work area on the corner. It's been too hot for them to go outside much, so hanging around crowding mom has been what they love to do.


8/2/08
More electroform, I've become obsessed. This time I put six flat ovals into a bracelet with copper accents.


7/27/08
I'm have a great time learning to electroform. Some stuff is in my catalog and some is on Etsy. After ruining a batch of the solution, a lot of technical things just clicked. The patina part will take the most research, all those formula's, and what chemical does what. I'm not a science whiz, but I'm learning. I really like the turquoise, it goes good on the geo faux rock type beads. It's simply done with ammonia, some suggest using used cat litter, that was just to icky of a visual for me to even consider. I made one the other day that had a contaminent on one of the anodes and it transfered green, indigo and rust colors to the copper on the bead.

7/13/08
How to arrange 5 cats - the final chapter
Missing Man Formation
It was late summer of 2007 when this cute-as-a-button black and white stray started to hang around the yard. He must have been about 6-8 months old, and you could tell he was born in the wild, not afraid of humans, but kept his distance. We left him along for a week or so, just in case he had a mind to go find his mother... but he didn't. Mouse would hiss at him, then ignore him. Weazel would bat the crap out of him and Maynerd (as we came to call him) would just look at him as if to say "are you done now, cause I just want to play", and off they would go. Tina and Jett made it know they were the matriarchs and he was to mind his place. Eventually he learned that if he went through the cat door, he could eat when HE wanted to, not when we fed him at night. He became my buddy, always plopping down in front of me when I was standing at my work table, even learned his name. It's been several week now, since we've seen Maynerd and the others still seem to look for him. We all miss our little buddy.




7/5/08
(this is an abreviated version, for the whole trip click here, the sandcastle pix are worth the view)
Time to update you on my trip to Seattle a few weeks ago. First off, Kara's cat. I love this cat, he's Javanese, an offshoot of Siamese. They have fur as soft as rabbits, and oh those eyes....

First we went to Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast for a sandcastle building contest.


And the main reason for the trip. After struggling for 10 years in junior collages, Kara put graduation on a fast track. She had enough credits to wound up with a degree in geology and anthropology.






6/23/08
Well I went to my electroforming class this weekend. That's Janelle Zorko of Pigeon Point Glass to the left, the teacher. The others are my fellow classmates. I got a nice refresher in electroforming, filled in a lot of gaps that I didn't learn the when I first started 2 years ago, and learned the tricks to making monster bycones. We even made hollow perfume bottles with cute little feet. My head is swimming but my overload mode is giving way and I've been making some cool monster beads and should have them up for sale in my catalog in a few day. Aaand, I plan on getting to my Seattle vacation pictures this week


6/19/08

I'm going to be taking my electroforming class this weekend, so my vacation update to Seattle will have to wait for a couple of days. I guess I'll have lots to blog about on Monday. Sandcastles and graduation and electroforming, oh my......

6/6/08

First of all I want to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUSBAND STEVE
I'm off to visit my daughter in Seattle for 10 days, so the catalog will be closed. I've been playing with a couple of new shapes for a couple of weeks so there's be NEW new stuff up in a few weeks.

5/16/08

I went to the dr again today, maybe this prescription will get rid of the throat infection I've been plagued with for 5 week now. - Ya know that link on my beads catalog to my electroform beads? Ya, the one with no electroform beads for sale? Well, I plan on remedying that in a few months. I signed up for a class in June with Janelle Zorko, her beads are extraordinary. I stopped electroforming last summer when I just didn't have the energy, and have missed it terribly. I have the equipment and it's just sitting there collecting dust, lots of dust. This is one of my first electro beads.


5/4/08
How to arrange 5 cats - part eight
Bermuda triangle style - - which way is up? which way is down?



5/1/08
My first Chihuly rose of the year. The side shot looks like the inside is on fire.



4/29/08
Sorry I haven't had a new catalog up in what seems like forever, sometimes it seem like there's a plethora of excuses to choose from, but here's the one I like the best. I don't feel good. (I know, whaaa) Just one of those throat things, and I get run down so easily (in my old age), but I have gotten a few focal lentils done lately. Ya, you heard me right, focals. I'm doing lentil focals now, 13x30mm. I've had the mold for over a year and finally got a bigger torch a few weeks ago, so I can stop struggling to make big beads. Here's a picture of one. If you're on my email list, you'll get notified when they are up, if you're not on my list, well, why aren't you? There's a link at the top of the page....

4/18/08
How to arrange 5 cats - part seven
to match my eBay auction, Midnight in Albuquerque....




4/11/08
"Mom, would you do something about Weazel. He's always chasing me. I went to jump up on the hot tub to get away, and the lid was off!!!!! I was just up there not 15 minutes ago, sunning myself. Dad didn't tell me he was going to clean it!!!! I'm soaked to the bone.


4/2/08
Sorry, I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth lately. eBay sales dropped out from under me, so I've been taking a side road and taking a few months to get myself some local venues going. I already had my beads in Kittrell/Riffkind, a very schnazzy glass gallery in Dallas, and my jewelry in Vetro, a working glass blowing studio with a schnazzy glass gallery store front. Now I've added two local artzy fartzy art gallery/boutiques and a bead store. Even did a couple of shows last week. Next I'll put together a portfolio to present to a couple of gallery/boutiques. In June, I'll be off to Seattle to see my daughter and will take some loose beads and finished jewelry with to scope out a few places there, so I'll need to get things made for that. eBay... well, I'd like to get back to it, but the market just isn't there right now, maybe later this year, but I will be keeping up with my website catalog, just need to get those pesky taxes done first.

3/23/08
I finally got around to blowing my first shard. I had a pretty good bubble blown, then I tried to heat it a little. Big mistake, I collapsed it. Then I tried to fix it. Another big mistake, I blew a side out. I should have trashed it and started new. Reminds me a bit of a duck. It's a lot of fun, but I think I need a lot of practice.


3/16/08
I went to our local bead society's monthly meeting last night and saw a demo on making glass shards. Very cool. So I bought a blowpipe from one of the ladies and now I'm ready to be a faux glass blower. What is a shard, you might ask? Well it's as simple as building up a hollow bead on the end of the blowpipe and blowing it into a bubble, like a balloon. When it's broken, you use the thin 'shards' as decoration on beads. Sounds simple, I'm betting it takes a little practice, though. Since I use a lot of twisties, I have plenty leftovers laying around and I can see lots of design possibilities.

3/9/08
How to arrange 5 cats - part six
rug - not - wide - enough - - -


3/6/08
Snow has been falling for about three hours now, there's 5-1/2 inches and it's still falling. Oh, did I mention, I live in Texas??


3/4/08
Maynerd went to the vet yesterday to get his first shots and to get fixed. Boy was he mad when I went to pick him up. But now that he has his own vet card, that makes our latest little stray officially part of the herd. Since he was a stray, he prefers to go outside instead of using the litter box (ok fine with me - -). Well it snowed here last night, you should have seen his reaction, "you have got to be kidding, you traumatize me at the vet, then expect me to go outside and squat in the snow?? Oh well, the food is easier to catch."


3/2/08
My daughter Kara, and Dave, have decided on a location for the wedding. The Valley of Fire is just outside Las Vegas. Holly visual reality check Batman, time will go by quickly now and I've got to start getting my butt in gear and loose some of that weight I gained when my thyroid went amuck on me. I at least want to look halfway decent in that ugly mother-of-the-bride dress I've heard so much about... What a lovely setting for a wedding though, don't you agree?


2/24/08
It's been a long couple of weeks for me. Bead wise, a few doors have opened, so I am closing one. One of my customers graciously offered to contact me when her local bead store admired some of my beads in a necklace she wore into the store... so now, my first trunk show is forthcoming at Naturally Jennifer's in San Luis Obispo, Ca. Don't know when the date is, the beads will ship to them tomorrow and I'm reeeal excited.... My friend Trudy & I, went hunting gallery/boutique outlets last week, and we found one that will carry our jewelry, at another the owner is out of town so we'll make appointments in a couple of weeks, and I'll start putting loose beads in the glass gallery that already carries my jewelry, got another gallery/boutique scoped out to hit next week. Oh ya, almost forgot about the boutique that wants me to come back for Mothers Day/Graduation. And the door that will close?? eBay has been extreeeeeemly slow for me, but it's been good to me, so I'll not stop completely, just slow to a trickle.
How to arrange 5 cats - part five
When you wish upon a star....


2/10/08
How to arrange 5 cats - part four
All in a circle, pheweee......


2/6/08
Lordy Lordy, look who's 40 + 40. Art, my favorite uncle, had a birthday party over the weekend. Happy 80th Birthday, Art ! ! !


2/4/08
Have you seen this email going around? How embarrasing...
"When making a fake ID, attach a picture of yourself only...
no matter how much you love your girl."


2/1/08
Found this prickly pear cactus patch not far from my house. If you think this is a lot of cactus, you should see how much is behind it, too, at least double.


1/30/08
According to Bill Nye, The Science Guy, if everyone in the U.S. flushed their toilets just one less time per day, we would save 1.5 billion gallons of water per day. That's enough to fill 2000 Olympic sized swimming pools. Kids, please don't try this trick at school, and parents, please don't try this trick at work........

1/28/08
Since I'm originally from North Dakota, I have some North Dakota trivia for you. Today, millionaire and former North Dakota governor, Ed Shafer, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Secretary of Agriculture. How did his father, Harold Shafer, make his fortune.
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he invented Mr Bubble

1/27/08
How to arrange 5 cats - part three
All in a row, two black & whites facing north, two blacks and one torty facing south

1/21/08
Well it's in the low 40"s and raining here tonight in north Texas. I've been doing some work on the computer, rainy weather is so soothing to me, serene... Then Weazel jumps up on my desk to get some attention. That fine - except - Weazel likes the rainy weather too. No, he literally like the rainy weather. He's sopping wet from playing outside, and trying to brush up against my face. He's my virtual weather forecasting cat, if I get lost in my work, he lets me know if it's raining...

1/20/08
How to arrange 5 cats - part two
All in a row, facing one direction, color synchronized.


1/13/08
Riddle me this Batman: How many ways can you arrange 5 cats? Answer: I'm not sure, but we're going to find out. --- We feed our fab-5 tuna every now and then. We started the tradition when we were feeding them 'average' food. Tthe oil from the tuna was good for their coats, and when it's time to take one to the vet, all we have to do is run the can opener and they come running. This is the first installment of
"How to Arrange 5 Cats"


1/10/08

I can't think of a better way to start my first post of this year than with one of the best video's I've ever seen. Thanks for the link, Cheryl.
The Window Washer


12/19/07
Merry Christmas
It's been quite a year for me. Seemed like I was coming down with something and getting sick every 6 week or so. It was a God send when I found out is was my Thyroid and the solution was as simple as hormone replacement and time. It's been wonderful to not have to sleep 12 hours and take two naps a day and watch my bead production slow to a trickle. I adore making beads, so I am so looking forward to a new year of being back to normal production again.

This year, we added a new member to our herd of cats, or should I say, he found us. He was a skinny little stray kitten that let Weazel and Mouse bat the crap out of him. They never hurt him, and that's probably why he never ran away. It only took a week or two for them to except him. The girls (Tina & Jett) are still working on letting him know he is the omega cat, but Maynerd is fitting in nicely. My cats have been a constant source of entertainment and companionship for us, and I need to get back to taking pictures again of their antics.

I won't bore anyone any further other than to say, have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a peaceful holiday season. Steve found a cute website and plugged my face into a holiday video. I thought everyone might enjoy seeing what I look like. Miss Donna Scrooge (fyi, if you use Netscape, the link won't work. It opened just fine for me in Internet Explorer, though)

One last picture for this year. Santa came to Sanger tonight, riding on top of the fire engine, blowing the horn, throwing candy to all the kids who came out to see and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. How cool is that......



12/7/07
My daughter just finished her last class today. She now has a double degree in geology and anthropology. Well, she still has a couple of final tests next week, but basically, she's a scholar now. She pretty much did it the hard way and struggled through part time for many years, so that makes the degrees even more special to me. At 33, I'm soooo proud of her.
Congratulations Kara

11/28/07
It's been two full years today, since mom passed. I still keep telling myself she's just off at a bowling tournament somewhere near a casino telling her girlfriends about her grandchildren. Her greatest personal passions, travel, ten pins, nickel slots, friends and those grandkids.... and dad, 60 years worth of dad.... She was so vibrent, running at life full speed. Dad's 85 and his bowling average this year is (as he puts it) only 120. sigh
I want to be like my mom & dad when I grow up.

11/11/07
I have one smart cat, well, more on the line of just lucky. Tina loves to come up on my desk while I'm on the net. She sits in front of the monitor until I crab at her to sit down, or she just takes it upon herself to flop down on the desk herself, usually aiming for my keyboard, sigh. Last night I wasn't watching her close enough, sigh. She usually hits the function keys, but this time I didn't see what she plopped on, sigh. Did you know that you can change the color of a highlighted email from black to 6 other colors just by pressing a number key? Took Tina only seconds to discover that, but it took me an hour to figure it out. Of course the cursor has to setting on top of the chosen email, but I'm betting Tina already knew that, too. Life has not been dull with Tina around. Oh ya, for the second time this week, I have the bottom of my stove stuffed with towels so the mouse (or should I say mice) she brings in and drops in the kitchen don't escape into the house before I can catch them, sigh.

11/3/07
I can't believe it's been a month since I've written. My thyroid is squaring away, and it's great to be getting my stamina back, nuff said on the health front... Our TV started getting flaky this week so we went out and bought a 47 inch HDTV. Dish came yesterday and hooked us up to receive HD programing. Holly mackerel, what a picture.... Even the sound is different. Fall is definitely here, the yard is full of pecans with more to fall, and the house has had a rash of mice lately, all brought in by cats, of course. We're getting good at snaring them with either a towel or the leaf net for the pool.

10/4/07
"What's that nibbling at my toes in the middle of the night? I'm not sure, but it's probably the baby mouse that Jett brought in and let go in the bedroom!!!" Since we couldn't find it, we figure one of the 5 cats should eventually catch it, or since it's so tiny, it may find it's way outside again. At least we found Jett's stash of bugs and birds under the bed, the ones she sneaks in, in the middle of the night. Just part of the joys of having their own cat door, I guess. It's been a while since I've updated and although I feel better than I did 3 weeks ago when I started taking my thyroid meds, I still don't feel all that great. But at least my 2 naps a day have been reduced to just resting a lot with an occasional nap. I've even started spending more time at my torch.
Having good health really is one of the most important things you will ever own in life.

9/11/07
Well, I had my appointment with the endocrinologist yesterday to see how to treat my fluky thyroid. He put me on snythroid, hopefully that will reduce the goiter and stabilize my thyroid. Not much more to say than that, it's a waiting game now.

9/7/07
And Maynerd Makes Five
This is the new addition to our herd of cats. He was a stray and wouldn't go away when the other cats chased him, so he gets to stay. He's probably 5-6 months old, and it took us about a month to tame him. Tina & Jett still hiss once in a while, but they're getting better. I love the way his white fur feathers into the black. He has very long legs, long head and tail, so he probably has a bit of Siamese in him.


Just a short announcement
My doctor diagnosed me this week with hypo thyroid, guess that explains my chronic fatigue coupled with this annoying insomnia the past few months. I'm not going to stop making beads but expect I will be slowing down a bit until I can get my health under control again. So please don't stop looking for my beads, I haven't left the planet, just taking production a bit slower.


! ! ! ! ! WARNING ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! Proud mother announcement ahead ! ! ! ! !
I am proud to announce the engagement of my daughter, Kara Hillius, to David Whitney. Kara is a part time pharmacy tech for Walgreen and a student at The University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. She will graduate in December 2007, with degrees in geology and anthropology. David has a degree in business administration and also photography and is employed at Trident Seafood. A wedding is planned for late 2008.

The Ring - it's brilliant cut round set in a square setting.
I love this ring, but I'm betting Kara loves it even more.


8/10/07
Well, I went outside to get the mail this morning, and when I came back in I noticed feathers. It's been a long time since I've had to clean up feathers. I did a quick surveillance of the cat toys and didn't find anything that didn't belong... phew. So I got out the vacuum and cleaned up the feathers under my desk as two of the three culprits cats scurried from the room, then I went on to the ones by the door. As I was almost done, it felt like I was being watched so I looked around for Tina. Nope, it was the bird, I have no idea where he came from but he was sitting about two feet away calmly watching me vacuum up his cloths as if to say "When you're done there, can I have my tail back... and oh ya, where is the exit"? Through experience I've learned the easiest way to catch a bird is to throw a towel over it, so I went to get one expecting one of the cats to resume the chase. Guess the fun was gone once mom interfered, cause he was still sitting there calmly waiting for me and I caught him without an incident. I though birds couldn't fly without a tail but it was like a Disney movie, he took off and didn't look back. duh

7/29/07
When you see a disclaimer, you know it was because someone did something stupid. Steve found this ATM at the drive through of a local bank this afternoon and came back home to get me with the camera. It speaks for itself. Watch out for shooting money.


7/20/07
When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to put puzzles together. I had one that was a circle and that I knew so well, I could put it together with the picture facing down, and from the center working out to the border. I loved that puzzle... Guess that's why I loved putting stained glass panels together too. But I didn't expect it would help prepare me for what happened yesterday. Steve went outside and found the yard flooded. What the heck? "Oh sh*t, that's why it took so long for the washer to fill." Now it was only a matter of finding which pipe had broken. (I'm getting to the puzzle part) Steve turned the water to the house off and put our sump pump (doesn't everyone have one?) in the pool of water next to the house to drain the pool of water running out from under the house. Three hours later and we hadn't made a dent in the amount of water, that's cause the leak was at the far end of the house, under the kitchen... again... So Steve ripped up the floor, repaired the leak, turned the water back on, let out a sigh of relief and four hours later was still pumping water out of the yard. While I got to work with my puzzle skills of piecing the floor boards back into place. But the funny part was later in the afternoon when we heard a faint meow... After a 10 minute hunt, we found all four cats, safe and sound above the house.

7/16/07
Just a fast update. My catalog is full of the new oval beads from the mold I had made.
It's a chunky little oval at 13x22mm, but it's a comfortable width for bracelets.

7/13/07
Once again, I had a new custom mold made and it was delivered to me this week. It's a chunky little oval that is 13x21mm and I love this shape. The mold is super easy to use, and since I just put Steve on an airplane and have the whole weekend to myself, I'm planning an oval marathon. There will be lots of ovals in the catalog next week so if you're not on my notification list, you can just come back and check in yourself. What else is new in my life? Well... it rained again today... sigh... monsoon season in north Texas.

(FYI: This set is up on eBay this week.)

7/5/07
Happy 4th of July, well, better late then never. We did ours last week end. Went to some friends house and had a nice time. Fun, food and new friends, what more can you say. Here's a picture of the fireworks we bought (all aerial) with Tina guarding them, obviously we had quite a show, with people from across their lake applauding. The other picture is of Steve and his BBQ pit hooked up to our friends tractor, and Woody in attendance.


6/27/07
Need a little fun quiz for once? Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You? I get to be "Yoda: A venerated sage with vast power and knowledge, you gently guide forces around you while serving as a champion of the light." Maybe that explains why I feel a need to have all the lights on when I'm home alone at night. Not cause I'm scared, but because I'm championing them. (but I'm only green when riding a roller coaster.)

6/18/07
You know it's been too long since you've made beads when... you find a spider has built a web between two dipped mandrels.... (forgot to take a picture before I scooted him off). Sooo... I go to light the torch, and I think I forgot my didymium glasses at the meeting Saturday night... drat, I have boro glasses though, but, drat. Then I get a glass sliver in my foot, dang, those hurt worse than a wooden sliver, I'll finish my stringer first. Now the cat wants to rub on the bottom of my foot. What the heck? he's never done that before, dang that hurt, I'll finish my stringer first. But I could be wearing high heals, working in a stuffy office somewhere. Live ain't too bad after all. Ok, then I break a few of stringers cause I forgot not to touch them with a cool tool, that breaks the glass, drat. Here's my saving grace --- I found a rose on my giant rose bush and measured the stem at 4'11". Yep, almost a 5 foot stem. I'll cut it in a few days when the bud opens and take a picture.
Bare feet, cats and 5 foot roses, ya, I guess life is pretty good after all.

6/9/07

DISCLAIMER: If you are squeamish about what cats do to birds, don't read this post.
Sometimes my cats make me feel like I'm in a bad movie satire. This one I call:
"Godfeather, Part 1"
rated I for icky
(the condensed version)
It was a restful nights sleep. Her husband was out of town, and in spite of four cats to contort around, Donna had the king sized bed to sprawl out in. It was Saturday, and there was no alarm clock to wake her, only the post man delivering the mail to the box at the curb. Three of the cats had already dispersed to their favorite sunny windows, only Tina was left, meowing softly, wanting her customary morning treats from the jar on the night stand. Donna flipped the covers off, sat up, reached for her glasses and the treats. Then she discovered it.... laying next to her on the bedspread.... It was the liver of a bird.... "WHAT THE F***..." Fully expecting the house to be riddled with feathers, she grabbed her robe and cautiously peaked out into the hall. Nope, all clear. On to the living room, her luck ran out. Next to the dinning table was a wing. She cautiously did a visual check of the 30 million cat toys sprawled out over the office floor. "Oh no, more feathers?? Oh wait, those are cat toys" as she giggled at the silly mistake, then came to her senses and finished the search. Only the other wing was discovered at the cat door in the studio. With the house cleared of all the muck, Donna threw the spread into the washing machine and dragged out the carpet cleaner. At $199, it had become her best friend.


6/7/07
That learning curve I was referring to in my last post has gotten a little bumpy lately. I've only had one bead electroform in the past week. The paint on the other beads has just washed off instead of plated, and it's so time consuming to trouble shoot. Not to mention the stomach crud stuff that's going around landed at our house again and it's my turn to be whiny this week. Bizarre stuff this time, you feel sick and at the same time you don't.


5/28/07
Well I finally did something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, I revamped the top of my website. I took out the old tired Black Velvet logo beads, and redid some html so I can switch photo's in and out. I really don't know html and had to played with it and just experiment, so it was a little nerve wracking, trying to not screw it up. The new beads are three of my electroforming success stories. Man, I have fallen in love with this new toy, so as soon as I can get some non-experimental prototypes done, they'll be in the catalog. I Still have a bit of a learning curve to go through.

5/17/07
I finally realized how long it's been since I wrote something and since I don't have much to say, I thought I would show a picture of my second successful electroform bead. I haven't taken the time to play with the electroforming much in the past couple of weeks, but I think I have weeded out all the things I've been doing wrong. Next week I'll be making some focals to form and sell online. Our little local bead society just became an official chapter of the ISGB and we are having a booth at the The Bead Renaissance Show in Grapevine (TX) this weekend, I think I'll wear the bead and show it off a little.

5/4/07
I found this flower in the yard, on a weed, no less. Looked almost like a dandelion plant. I don't think I've ever seen a square flower. Guess I'll have to do some research now to find out what it is.
5/2/07
Well here it is, my first electroformed bead. It only took me 6 attempts to figure out that they call it an electrical "current' for a reason. I had it just high enough that it was just "washing" the conductive paint right off the bead. You can still see one spot inside the beads that has a hole in the platting, but I think that may just be due to the way I had it hanging on the wire. All in all, I'm happy and am looking forward to many more beads, got two hearts plating as we speak.

4/29/07
I've had a busy couple of days and I'm just going to hit the highlights in a nutshell. Steve has been out of town at some friends house. Our guys are in the same line of work and they are doing a project together, so I drove up for a couple of days. Lynne took me into Oklahoma City Saturday. First we went to the memorial at the bombing site. Wow, surreal... I had forgotten my camera at home so I missed a shot that would have probably become one of my favorite photo's. We were standing and looking at the memorial chairs of the victims, when a duck and about 8-10 ducklings waddled through. Now that was surreal, life goes on. If you're ever close to OK City, it is worth the side trip to see. Next was the Festival of Arts and we wondered through the art & craft booths, mostly painters though, not much glass. Now for the best, we walked over to the Art Museum to see the Chihuly display, now that's a whole lot of glass. I told the guard that one of the pieces was broken and I would be glad to remove it for them, I don't think she believed me... Thank you Lynne, I had a great time, don't forget to send my cook home soon, I'm starving (footnote: Steve does all the cooking cause he's good at it and I suck at it).

I drove back home this morning to go to an open house at Kittrell/Rifkind Art Glass Studio in Dallas, they have given me the honor of carrying my beads for sale. I got to see my friend Ginny Hampton Schmidt demo beads for a couple of hours, saw Donna Merrill again (she teaches there and it's been several years since I've seen her), finally got to meet Marsha face to face, a customer who has gone from being an email friend to just plain old friend, and of course, owners David & Barbara Kittrell, wonderful fun people to know.

Here's an update picture of my rosebush from 10 days ago. Over half the buds are yet to open. The rose in my hand is from a bush in the front yard, each year the flowers get bigger.


4/24/07
However many lives we think we have, this is the one one we need to make the most of.
(from: What Cats Teach Us... Life's Lessons Learned From Our Feline Friends by Glenn Dromgoole)
This is Mooch. He was born from a stray cat in our barn. After his mother and siblings moved on, he stayed and would come in to eat (thus the name mooch) but we were never able to fully tame him. Thank you Cheryl, for the book.


4/19/07
This year one of my rose bushes brings a whole new meaning to the term bush. I trimmed it back last fall and all of the purple leaves are new to this year. This thing was an ugly monster out of control 10 years ago. Now it's a beautiful monster under control. We guestimated there are over 200 buds right now.

I counted 19 buds on this branch, that beats last years record of 13 on one branch.


4/14/07
Spring has sprung
The grass has ris'
The taxes are done
I'm not a good poet
But I'm a happy one
We did some spring things in the yard a few days ago, one was to spread some new mulch. I put some in front of the hole leading under my studio and it hasn't been disturbed so I guess our little possums are gone. phew Now on to the next 'friend' in the house. Except this one we won't mind. Seems one of the stray cats has found that where there are other cats, there is probably food. 'It' was in the house twice today. Our fab four seem to be indifferent about it. They will hiss and scare it, but don't seem to be very bothered too much by it's presence, so we'll see. Mouse does chase it around the yard, but they don't fight, so maybe it's probably just a territorial thing. And the highlight of the week... I had a local toolmaker make me a new mold. One of the shapes is an inch long oval and I'm real excited about. Even though the round bead will always be my main shape, it's nice to expand my line. The others are a couple of barrels and a veeery long thin barrel.

4/6/07
I guess the season for bringing friends into the house has started. A couple of nights ago, we were sitting at our computers (yes, we have three, plus two laptops.. doesn't everyone? Well now a days, if you're both self employed it's a must), anyway, gecko's are a favorite around here, and sitting in the middle of the floor was the biggest one I've seen yet. Gecko's and twigs are Jett's favorite things to bring in, so I'm putting my money on it beeing her. Then there was that noise at 4 AM. I went out to see which two cats were having a spat and saw this huge rat run into a corner, except rats don't have bunny ears.... A neighbor across the street runs a salvage operation (that's PC for junk yard) in his back yard. It's mostly behind a fence, goats keep it clean and the cats & dogs keep unwanted critters and vermin's under control. It's a small rural town and it's been there for over 50 years so he's just the lovable old guy down the street. How's that for getting sidetracked.... This year he also has rabbits and how that bunny got in my house will remain a mystery. (darn cat, now I want a bunny) Have a peaceful Easter weekend.

4/1/07
If you haven't read yesterdays post, please read it first.
Just an update on our possum. The neighbors told us yesterday it has been around for a while. Their dogs have had it tree'd a couple of times. Dogs?? If you call something that is smaller than our cats a dog, but I digress. Well, that darn critter was in the house again when Steve got up, just having a lovely breakfast of cat food. He managed to trap him in a corner so we stuck a cat carrier in his only escape and just waited. Didn't take him long to come out. We have a lake nearby that will make a lovely new home for him. I'll be removing the 'beware of attack cats' sign from the window.

3/31/07
If excitement also comes in three's, than we've had an exciting 24 hours here. I didn't quite tar the roof of my studio good enough last summer, as I found out when the storm system went through last night. I always thought it would be fun to have one of those waterfall walls, and I got to have a temporary one for about half an hour. 'Storms are gone, now I can settle in and have a peaceful night of making beads." Yep, stayed up until 2:30 AM, got to listen to Coast to Coast again, surreal. Went into the kitchen before heading to bed, 'aw crap, what is that noise, sounds like water running.' Nope, it wasn't rain leaking into the house again, this was coming from under the floor. Steve mentioned to me a few weeks ago that one of the toilets needed to have the tank stopper replace cause he could hear water running. Nope, that wasn't the toilet, it was a slow leaking pipe under the kitchen floor and you could just hear it in the bathroom piping. I checked the utility bills and realized it was slowly leaking for at least a couple of months, but last night the house was just quiet enough to finally notice it in the kitchen. I left a note for Steve and went to bed. 5:30 AM he wakes me up. Nope, it wasn't to help fix the pipe, it was to help corral a possum out of the house. Steve was sitting at the computer when it came in the cat door, three cats right behind it, as if to say, "Hay, come on in here, it's dry and we've got good food. Can you stay a while and play?" Good thing possums are nearly blind and slow moving, much easier to get out than a mouse or bird. When I finally got up at 10:30, I found out that he had come in for a second visit but decided he didn't like his butt whipped with a broom, and he gladly left on his own. Now on to the pipe fixing, those are never quick projects. The kitchen has a hole in the floor and there's a thin layer of sawdust everywhere, but the leak is fixed and I'll clean up tomorrow after we are sure it will stay fixed. Finally it was 4 PM and we went to pick up a ridding lawn mower Steve had located on craigslist. So I tried it out, pretty neat, and did you know you can knock a wheel off just by running over a decorative railroad tie? I think I've had enough excitement for 24 hours.

3/29/07
It's gone, I miss it, but I sure don't regret that it went away. Had a tooth pulled this week. Second from the back, upper left so there is a lone tooth back there for now. Funniest darn feeling. It's like having a wad of gum in your mouth that is irritating the crap out of you cause there's nowhere to throw it away, so you have to keep it tucked away in your cheek. Hay, maybe I could fill in the gap with a wad of gum for now, hmmm, maybe not....


3/22/07
Ever wonder what's on people's walls? Well, this is what I stare at every time I sit at my computer. We went to New Orleans a few years ago and I splurged on this ceramic & feather mask. It's as if those eyes are looking straight into your soul. And of course, from my stained glass days, copper is my favorite color.

3/18/07
Where do pets come from?

A newly discovered chapter in the Book of Genesis has provided the answer to "Where do pets come from"? Adam and Eve said, "Lord, when we were in the garden, you walked with us every day. Now we do not see you any more. We are lonesome here, and it is difficult for us to remember how much you love us."

And God said, I will create a companion for you that will be with you and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourselves."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased.

And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve and he wagged his tail.

And Adam said, "Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new animal."

And God said, " I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG."

And Dog lived with Adam and Eve and was a companion to them and loved them. And they were comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that an angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam and Eve have become filled with pride. They strut and preen like peacocks and they believe they are worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught them that they are loved, but perhaps too well."

And God said, I will create for them a companion who will be with them and who will see them as they are. The companion will remind them of their limitations, so they will know that they a> not always worthy of adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam and Eve.

And Cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed into Cat's eyes, they were reminded that they were not the supreme beings.

And Adam and Eve learned humility. And they were greatly improved.

And God was pleased. And Dog was happy. And Cat didn't give a shit one way or the other.


3/14/07
I got bawled out again last night about not posting enough, so I guess I'll try to stop in on my own blog more often. Darn daughter, she's just too lazy to call to catch up on my news. Actually, she's pretty busy. She works 25 hours a week as a pharmacy tech and has a full load of classes, at opposite ends of the universe of course. She'll graduate next winter with double degree's in anthropology and geology. She'll be taking a geology field trip to Montana for 6 weeks this summer, so hopefully I can talk her into some pictures to post later in the year. (There Kara, bet you're popping in to see what's new and all there is to read about is yourself. haha) There has actually been a (lame) reason for me not posting much lately. We have had three rounds of full blown two week cold/flu episodes since Christmas. So my 'good' time has been mostly spent on catching up with eBay, bookkeeping, cloths washing, etc, and generally getting some energy back. And not a minute too soon, spring is here and the yard is full of weeds. We had them all weeded out last year (pun intended) but we sit on a downhill corner lot and all the rainwater washes everyone's weed seeds into our yard. With a bit of consistent 'WeedStop' spraying, they'll all be gone soon. Then we're going to revamp the rock garden again, tried to make a stream in it last year. We won't be making that mistake again this year, just a simple waterfall without a stream will do just fine, we like the noise of the waterfall.

3/9/07
I have two websites for you to take a look at and enjoy. The first was sent to me by a friend and I have never been so awe stricken and felt so insignificant. Akiane is a child prodigy painter & poet and the only way to describe her work is, calming and profound. The second is an 'I need a good laugh' site my daughter, Kara, found. Engrish What is Engrish? The site defines it as: "the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design".

2/25/07
Well I guess it's time to do an update again. The week has been a bit daunting. I've been smelling a very faint gas leak for a while (natural gas, not propane), so Steve went looking for it last week. We live in a house built in 1902 so no project is just cut-and-dried. We spent two days digging new trenches, tearing up part of the floors in two bathrooms and rerouting & replacing pipes. Then two more days replacing floors, resheetrocking the wall behind the washer/dryer and painting. But the good news is that I have a new washer & dryer and a marble will not roll to the wall on at least 1/5 of the floor in the main bathroom. The rest of the floor will wait until I save up some money for some exotic type of tub. aaah We found three layers of floor in the main bath too, the third was put right on top of the linoleum of the second floor. Two layers of sheetrock on the wall with 3 different wall papers. All in all though, I love our little old house, my only regret is that when it was remolded in the 50's-60's, the originality of it was destroyed. sigh

2/17/07
I love my cats, but sometimes they go too far. They usually scatter around the room at night, but on cold nights, they like to pile up at the foot of the bed. Sleeping in a fetal position can lead to back aches.... Ya know those boxes that a magicians assistant lays in while he stick swords into it? Well if you've ever seen the inside of one, you know that the person is just contorted and twisted like a pretzel around where the sword goes through the box. That's kind of what our cats think they are training us for.

Now for some good stuff. I was up late last night so I turned on Coast to Coast. I love that program and boy did George have a good show. I've heard him talk about this topic before, but now someone has actually put together a scientific team to explore the "Hollow Earth Theory". I was making beads so I didn't listen all that closely, just thought I would go to the website later, but it doesn't say all that much about the expedition. sigh Here's the gist: there's been a theory around for thousands of years that the earth is hollow. A bunch of scientists have a Russian ice breaker and three documentary film crews lined up to leave for the North Pole on July 4, 2007, and yes, seats are available to the public. The site doesn't talk much about the theory but they have a neat picture of what the hole might look like. They (and who are these "they" anyway) theorize the hole may be anywhere from 80 to 500 miles in diameter and that's why Admiral Bird didn't know he was flying into it when he supposedly did. It's too big to see from the ground. Dr. Agnew said (on Coast to Coast) that the theory has the earth at round 700 miles thick and being hollow, with the inside possibly having it's own ecosystem, complete with intelligent life, and the sea linking the two worlds. I'm confused on the gravity thing then. If gravity keeps us on the ground by pulling us to the center of the planet, how do they stay on the ground on the inside of the planet? Sure hope one of the 'big boy' networks has one of the documentaries on this fall.

2/1/07
Grab the other people in the house, sit down and be prepared 6 minutes of laughing.
Evolution of Dance - YouTube video

1/28/07
I'm finally feeling better. Cold is gone, strep throat is gone, sinus infection is gone, two rounds of anti biotics done with. All that's left is to get my stamina back, but then, I've always liked to sleep late and stay up late.

Our house was built in 1902 so it's a never ending fix-it-up project. We have a couple of kitchen counter top tiles that needed replacing so we decided to tackle that this weekend. Funny how these things around here grow beyond the original project. The caulk between the counter and the wall was discoloring, so we might as well replace it too. Yeck, mold!! Not much, pretty localized, and pretty old so it was dead, but still, it expanded the project. We replaced a 1"x6" section of sheet rock behind the sink and hoped we still had paint to match. Yep, phew. I could just see replacing a few tiles growing into painting the whole kitchen. The grout wasn't sealed yet, so it was pretty interesting having cling wrap on the counter top so you can cook. Nope, no take out in this house, not with Steve, an award winning BBQ cook, doing all the cooking. He'd rather east sawdust first. Come to think of it, we've done that before too.

1/18/07
I normally add a picture & caption to my auctions, usually one of the cats. This time I thought I would also post the picture here. Here is how I described it: we went out driving the other night after the freezing rain. The lights in the park lit up the ice accumulation on the branches of this tree. Looks like a great character for a sci-fi movie. This has become one of my favorite pictures. We didn't get a lot of ice on the roads here (north of Dallas) but it's been a longer low 30's cold snap that we usually get.


1/3/07
I hope you all are having a good new year so far. Just a brief summery of my holiday. Christmas was the Saturday before at our house. Great, it came and it went, and so did the relatives. Then Christmas day came and went, quietly, and so did the hubby. He left the 26th for California to work until the 2nd. What a holiday, alone, with lots of time and peace and quiet to myself to make lots of beads. Then it hit, the cold from h*ll, and oh ya, strep throat, and with it an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. My lovely time along turned into a History and Science channel marathon. Not a total wash though, I learned all kind of archeological things have happened in the past 30 years. I even understand E=MC2 now, and the new theory of parallel universes. Did you know King Hared made his 17 yr old brother-in-law high priest of the Jews, then drowned him? On that lovely note - I'm off to make my first bead in over 3 weeks. (did I mention, I finished the last half of an afghan?)
12/23/06
this years Lindsey lights video
We got back from Vegas a few days ago and blogging about it has just not been on my list. If you've ever seen one of those shows on TV about Vegas, well then, you've seen better pictures than I took, so that saves me from uploading them.... It was wonderful though, to see Kara & Dave again, and it was fun to watch Kara play the penny slots, o-n-e p-e-n-n-y a-t a t-i-m-e. And this was the first time I saw the dealertainers at the Imperial Palace. They have an area where the dealers are celebrities impersonators and every hour or so, they get up on a stage and lip sink a song, fun stuff, except Louis Armstrong sang live, wow, he was good.
Well, my Christmas is officially over. Yeehaa. We had the gang in today, done, finished. Christmas just isn't the same for me after loosing mom last year. It's getting easier though, and maybe when I have grandchildren the season will be alive for me again.
Merry Christmas to all of you.

12/13/06
It's vacation time so the catalog will be down until Dec.19th. We will be flying to Vegas and meet my daughter and her boyfriend there. Then after someone wins their first big jackpot, we'll get tickets to The Beatles Cirque Du Soleil. The cheep seats are $130, times four equals 'a big jackpot first'. Kara hasn't decided which cheesy Christmas show to see, but we'll probably figure that out when we get there. We've planned a rental car side trip into the mountains so I'll have pictures next week.

11/30/06
Do you think this is a little bit toooo compulsive? We had been babying these tomato
plants since early spring. They finally started to produce fruit this fall so it was just a matter of "we will not give up" when the arctic cold front hit last night (we're just north of Dallas, Tx. don't ya just hate global warming). It went from 77 degrees yesterday to 26 last night. The cold snap will be too long to just cover them up so we pulled up plants and all and drug them in the house.

11/29/06
One last picture of my rose in full bloom.


11/27/06
Here is an updated picture on my ruffled rose. It's in full bloom now, and the color is actually a deep burgundy rose, darker than the picture. There's still one more bud but I don't expect it to survive the hard 20 degree freeze that is suppose to hit in a couple of days. Couple of years ago, one rose had a 3 foot long stem all to itself.
11/25/06
I pruned my rose bushes about a month ago and one had a few buds that I decided to leave along. I went out to look at them today and got the most lovely surprise. One is in full bloom, and it has ruffled petals. It's not suppose to have ruffles. The second picture is from last year from the same bush. Guess it has evolved or something. We had a peaceful Thanksgiving this year, no one came over..... I lost my mother at this time last year so it was fine with me to sit all day with my sweetheart and watch TV..... and just be still.


11/18/06
This is the first flower on my African Violet that we bought a few months ago. This just amazes me, cause if you want a plant to die, just give it to me. But I have no problem with these plants.


I stumbled across some of my first beads today. They're from the summer of 2001, top set in my hand. They didn't sell at the time and I'm glad now that I still have them. It's been quit an evolution. The bottom set on eBay right now, so you can see the size difference. The old set averages 5x10mm, as compared to the 18mm that is my standard bead now.

11/10/06

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement page, I'm once again going to push a product for ya'll to try. Zicam, you know, that stuff they advertise that will "reduce the duration and severity of a cold"? Wow, does it ever!! I've never had a 3 day cold before.

11/5/06
Do you like to try new flavors? Something you maybe wouldn't stumble across on your own? I'm originally from North Dakota and there are a few wild berries that we make into jelly. My favorite is the chokecherry. Others include buffaloberry, juneberry, sandberry and wild plum. These jellies are hard to find, if non existent, in the south. I've lived in Texas for 23 years now, and believe me, you just can't find them here. Except for now, they finally made it to the web. I am now in chokecherry heaven. The flavor is undescribable, laterally, it's not like any other flavor you'll ever taste. Here is a link to Dakota Seasonings and Berry Dakota, each has flavors the other doesn't have so look at them both. The prices are reasonable and they would make a great unusual Christmas gift.

10/29/06
What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I took a 4 hour nap and then updated my bead catalog. Had to build up some mental energy...

I've come to realize that my eBay customer base is quite different than my web site in terms of # desired in a set of beads. So, I will start to concentrate on making small sets specifically for the site instead of someplace to stick my odds 'n' ends. I've also started an email list to notify when I update with new 'stuff'. There's a link on the 'Bead' page to email me if you want to be added. Phew, that wore me out, think I'll go take another nap.

10/21/06
I took a picture of the full moon a few weeks ago. It came out kind of blurred so I wasn't happy with it, but you know what? It has grown on me since then, it has a bit of an eeriness to it. How many faces can you see in the moon? So far, I've found five.


10/16/06

I didn't realize it had been that long since I posted last until my daughter phoned me last nite to complain. Sorry Kara, I'll try to post more often but when you lead a boring life... But, we did go to the State Fair of Texas yesterday. It was drizzly all day, mostly light, so the crowd was about 1/4 of what a family-Sunday-at-the-fair-day should have been. Nice. I get headaches from too much sun and heat and I love the rain anyway so this was the most enjoyable fair visit I've ever had. Nope, I don't do rides either. I'm one of those old fogies that goes for the food and exhibits. They had a new thing this year, fried cheesecake. Can you say 'seventh heaven'?? It's nothing more than a frozen cheesecake log with fillo dough, deep fried with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. But the freezing keeps the cheesecake cold. The fair grounds has one of the largest ferris wheel in the world and I took a picture that gives a pretty good sense of how big it is, and you can see how crowded it was at three in the afternoon at the state fair...on a Sunday.


10/6/06
I thought I would write something about beads this time. I've started into another of what I call my "if you think you're done, add something" style, some other bead makers are calling it "the kitchen sink" style. Here is my latest set up on eBay right now, ending 10/11. I though I would show you what it took to make this set. 9 different colors of glass rods, 9 different stringers and 11 twisties. It took 1-1/2 hours to pick the right contrasting colors and pull stringers & twisties. Then it took another 2-1/2 hours to make the beads, then overnight to anneal.



9/26/06
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARYL
Today is my brothers birthday and tomorrow is mine. Just what every little six year old boy wants for his birthday, a baby sister. Well, he probably got something else too, but I'll bet he's toooo old to remember what it was....

9/23/06
As most of you know, my mother passed away in Nov this past year. My children have had a second tragedy, their fathers mother (my ex) passes away a couple of days ago, it was terminal cancer also. It was her birthday today, she would have been 74. Fortunately, the kids (I have two) traveled home earlier this week to visit her so they will also be able to attend the funeral. My condolences to my children, their father, grandfather and the family. That's both grandmother in less than 10 months. You know the commercial for the credit card with the punch line "life comes at you pretty fast"? sigh

9/20/06
It's a bit of a surprise when you are taking a shower and you look down and see a cat. Weazel loves to go outside and play in the rain so it was only a matter of time before he decided to check out the shower too.


Saturday 8/26/06
We got a new baby this week. Since Steve drives a lot of miles a year, we wanted to go to a diesel engine vehicle. He drove in a Jetta diesel but like baby bears bed, it was too small. He settled on a Dodge Ram 2500 4-door pickup. Wow, am I impressed. More pick up & go than any vehicle I've ever been in, extreeemely quiet ride, just tall enough for me to fall out of when getting out, huge inside, room for 6 people and best of all, an engine that will last him for the next 10 years of driving 40,000 to 45,000 miles a year. He's already enjoying being a bully on the road. You know the saying: "I love my truck".


Thursday 8/24/06
When we constructed my new studio earlier this year I said, if nothing else, the whole project was worth have the cat door. With 4 cats, I was getting up 3-4 times a night letting someone in or out. Every once in a while, they make me eat those words. Like the other night when I was torching. I heard Weazel bolt in, there was a commotion with Tina & Jett, jumping around, then calmness. I knew it would be some sort of bug. It was a gecko. I gather him up, along with his detached tail, and threw him out but knew that wouldn't be the end of the hunt. Sure enough, in the morning I found two more tails and will probably find dead gecko's behind furniture next time I clean (which could be months). Last week, Jett brought something in to play with on the bed in the middle of the night. I turned on the light but couldn't find it. Next morning I found I had been hugging a grasshopper all night. Last night around midnight the terrible trio came zipping into the bedroom, bouncing around. I got up, went to the kitchen to get a fly swatter, thinking it would be another hoppy thing like a cricket or a grass hopper again. When I turned on the bedroom light I discovered the hoppy thing had wings. Luckily, the dove was unharmed, just minus a few feather and his sanity. Glad I decided not to wait till morning.

Friday 8/18/06
Ever feel like you are living in a movie? That's how I felt this morning. I was sitting in my studio making beads and a pecan hit the skylight. Then a couple of more... Then a couple of more... "What the heck, it's not windy". I'm very nearsighted and work without my glasses, so I put them on and looked up. There were a couple of doves pecking on the skylight, "oh, how cute". Then a couple of more peeked in, "oh, how cute". I ran for the camera hoping they would stick around for a picture. Then they started growing in numbers instead of going away, "oh, getting eerie". Twenty minutes later they were still there, "oh, now it's scary". Must have been a dozen or more. What was the ladies name in 'The Birds"? (had to go google it, it was Melanie) Most of the pictures didn't turn out very well, but you can see the shadows of more birds in this one. Pretty cool.


Tuesday 8/1/06
I thought I was fairly adept at arranging flowers but arranging 3 dozen roses was a bit of a challenge. Tough job but someone has to do it. Thank you sweetheart.
(if you missed yesterdays post, it's our 10th anniversary)




Monday 7/31/06
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY STEVE
That's one decade down, only 5 or 6 to go. All my love ! ! !

Saturday 7/29/06
Just a short update to the last post. Steve has been out of town for longer than usuall this time and I've had Murphy's law all week, no catastrophes since I pulled the outside water faucet out of the house, but just constant little stuff. Couple of days ago when I was photographing some beads, my camera started to fall over on it's tripod and when I went to catch it I knocked the snot out of my glasses. Got them straightened out without breaking the frames though. Now today, you know that yummy crispy chicken crust that always sticks to the spatula? I had to have it, but fortunately the spatula wasn't hot enough to blister my tongue, but it's not a pleasant tingle.

Wednesday 7/26/06
Wouldn't you know it, whenever my husband goes out of town, I have some guy move in. His name is Murphy and he follows me around and breaks things. This time hasn't been too bad though (haha). When I was watering a tree in the yard a few nights ago, he managed to pull the faucet out of the house. So while I'm running around in a panic trying to find the water shut off to that part of the house, Murphy is standing there admiring the new waterfall coming out of the side of the house. Well, at least I still have 2 other bathroom that didn't get caught in the shut down, but dang, it's a chore to walk all the way across the house just to go to the bathroom. waa Today he broke the extension phone in my studio, now that pissed me off. Brand new phone system, only a couple of months old. Made me feel like a fool the third time a customer called and I picked up a different phone and heard "oh, can you hear me this time?" "Sure, I was just distracted by my house guest Murphy the first two times you called" sigh Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Three more days till Steve comes home and Murphy gets kicked out.
P.S. Just heard from my daughter and she was wondering who Murphy was, sooo for all of you who are not familiar with him, it's a reference to Murphy's law, if something can go wrong, it will. Kara - Murphy is not a new cat.

Thursday 7/20/06
Well, this morning our parsley was in danger of succumbing to the heat wave but by evening it didn't matter. The leaves are half gone and I counted at least 11 of these Black Swallowtail Butterflies. Seems they lay their eggs on parsley. They were so camouflaged that I didn't see them until I got up real close.










Tuesday 7/15/06
OMG, you have to see what my daughter Kara sent me. I can't figure out if this is funny or funky but I'm still giggling..this is just too cool.. I think I'm in love.
David Hasselhoff's "Jump In My Car"
I took the opportunity this week to travel out of town for a few days with Steve. He repairs injection molding machines so he (obviously) has to travel all over to manufacturing plants. We left Sunday and visited the bath houses at Hot Springs Ark. Back in the 50's Steve's Aunt & Grandmother would drag him along when they would go to the spa's. He was just knee-high to a grasshopper so he doesn't remember much, but then it probably wouldn't be all that exciting to any little kid, then or now. None the less, it was a nice little nostalgic trip for him and a glimpse into his past for me. Only one house has been restored as a museum, wow, I was really surprised at how accessible they left it. The only things behind glass were rooms with things that could easily be stolen. ie: the beauty salon, gym. I've only uploaded a few pictures. Take a look at this shower.. we think a dozen shower heads is new? And I just can't imagine sitting in one of those steam things, makes me uncomfortable just looking at them. Having my roots in stained glass, the Neptune ceiling just blew me away.. and don't you just love the rates. Obviously the Fordyce Bathhouse Tour on the National Park Service web site has much better pictures, check it out, they're all on one page.



Wednesday 6/21/06

(for the entire blog history of the studio, visit my bio page)
Introducing my new studio. Yeehaa. I've ammassed so many hobbies so this is a dream I've had since high school. No more sharing space with our home office, no more dragging something out to use it because there is no space to leave it setting out. I have stations for taking pictures and cleaning beads. The cabinet in the first photo houses my last remnants of stained glass and the photo tent is sitting on my old light box. I have also tooled leather, crocheted, quilted and made stained glass kaleidoscopes. The cabinet in the second photo houses my latest passion, making jewelry with my own beads. And with 4 cats, I especially love the cat door in the wall next to the oxygen tank.


And here's the good stuff, my greatest passion (and income generator). My torch table, glass next to me, the kiln within reaching distance and a smaller second kiln waiting for me to learn to fuse.

I love this wall, it use to be the outside of the house and we just left the siding on and painted it. Someday soon it will be host to 10 feet of storage units instead of cat toys. Speaking of cat toys, we plan on putting a jungle gym of ramps on the this wall around the storage units. Can you spell s-p-o-i-l-e-d ?

Weazel and Tina already had their first fight over sleeping space at the window.


Sunday 5/7/06
Found some rather interesting things in the grass this week.
This is Jett and I love this shot.



You can see by the full size of the tree how small the bee is.


Sunday 4/16/06
I caught this picture of the Easter Bunny putting eggs in our yard this morning. Sure glad the Easter Hunters visited and found all those pesky eggs filled with candy and money so we would have to go look for them ourselves.


Saturday 4/1/06
Well now I'm really excited. I've been wanted for a long time to have a separate studio, one that didn't include our home office. My own little recluse place to go to concentrate on my glass work, might even make a few kaleidoscopes again. We decided to close in the back patio area. Yesterday we tore down the patio roof, hauled off the old cement and laid down a sub-floor today. Since we'll be using two exterior walls we'll only have to put up two walls and roof it in. This is a week-end warier project that we will be doing ourselves but I hope it won't take too long. Hot days come very quickly here in Texas. Too much of a mess, maybe I'll take pictures of construction later, but definitely when it's done.

Tuesday 3/28/06
Do any of you ever listen to Coast to Coast AM on late night radio? It starts here at midnight. I like to hear about some of the stuff that people actually believe in. Last night was about shadow people again. I have to admit, this subject creeps me out and I usually wind up turning it off. Here are some quotes from last nights guest and will tell you why it's freaky... Shadow people have been around since the beginning of time and are a dark influence upon society. They also relate to negative alien entities such as the Reptilians and Greys, and may in fact be part of the same overall phenomena. Typically, shadow beings don't like to be spotted but they are sometimes discovered by a person who wakes up to find them trying to choke or suffocate them. I have 4 cats so of course if I'm working on my torch while listening about shadow people any little noise behind me, well, lets just say that I have a few flame scars. hehe Just so you don't think that Coast to Coast is always off beat, they talk about a wide verity of things like the climate changes, building a base on the moon, the influence of prayer on healing, even the bird flu.

Saturday 3/18/06
New fish beads in the catalog and a couple of new links to the left. I've gotten a little lazy with pictures of new techniques that I've been playing with. I'm having a great time with the raku though. Most of my auctions lately have raku beads. Here is my favorite set. The auction is closed but you can have a look at the beads. It's tax time for me (slow at that too) so by this time next week I expect I'll be half bald. I'm off to visit my dad for a couple of days next week, I think I'll need the rest by then.

Thursday 3/9/06
Here is a preview of the beads with gold leaf that will be up on eBay from 3/9 till 3/16. Big patches of gold leaf, raku swirls, urchin twisties and all that sparkle is silver, topped with metallic dots. This was a compilation of several some of my old standard favorite things to do and a few new things, like the gold and raku. I'm doing a bunch of raku fish today so look for them Saturday night (3/11) in my catalog. Tomorrow is play day. A friend & I are going to the gem & mineral show in Dallas. I think I hear a sucking noise pulling money out of my purse. Yep, I'm sure of it, it's building into a roar.


Monday 3/6/06
Oh boy am I in hog (or rather, glass) heaven today. I got some of the new blue silver leaf today and my first gold leaf, and last week a freind gave me my first raku. I'm only behind on the raku craze by a 1-1/2 years and of course, gold has been around as long as glass beads. I'll try to get up some pictures in a couple of days.
I also have some new fish up for sale in my catalog.

Thursday 3/2/06
Well the books are on their way, Bead Review 2005 should have been shipped out to all the people selected to be publish in the book. Can't wait to see which one of my beads made it in. I haven't heard when it will be available for the public to buy but as a participant, we were offered a discount for additional books. I got 5 extras, two for my kids and one for each of my bathrooms. hehe I've made it into two other publications but only by osmosis, once in someone else's jewelry and once in a Corina Spotlight. This is my first real bona fide print. Can you tell I'm excited? There is a new silver on the market, it has been "treated to add a blue coloring". Not sure what that means but I ordered mine last night along with my first gold leaf. Can't wait to experiment with my new metals next week, like a kid in a candy store. I'll post pictures.
Thursday 2/16/06
It's been a while since I have talked glass beads. It's taking a while for me to get back into the swing but I've made several sets in the past couple of weeks. Round, round and more round. I bought a mold to make 'round' beads and I just love working with my new mold, much more fun than a press. I can now see myself someday advancing into glass blowing, my kids have been hounding me to that for a long time now. I've even made a few fish lately. They're up for sale on the fish page. I've had a bit of a problem trying to get them to sell on eBay so they will be then exclusively on the site from now on. I am hoping that the book 'Bead Review 2005' by Deanna Griffin Dove & Brad Pearson will be in my mailbox soon. It was my first juried event to enter and I made it in. I'm still ecstatic to have been selected.

Thursday 2/9/06
Someone showed me this story and remarked that there are twenty books of the bible hidden here. He challenged me to find them. Sure enough they're all there. Still this thing's a lulu, kept me looking so hard for the longest time. Some of you will get bogged down with facts, other are hit by them like they were some kind of revelation or something. You may get in a jam, especially since the names are not capitalized and often leap the spaces between the words. This makes it a real job to find them but it'll provide a most fascinating few minutes for you. Yes, there are some really easy ones to spot, but don't get the big head cause truthfully you'll soon figure that it would take most federal judges and preachers numbers of hours to find them all. I will admit that it usually takes a minister to find one of them and that is not uncommon for there are to be loud lamentations when it is pointed out. One lady says that when she is confronted with puzzles like this she brews a cup of tea to help her concentrate better, but then this gals a real pro! Verbs, nouns, and all that stuff are her thing. See how well you can compete. Relax! There really are twenty names of the bible books in this story. If you fail to find them there's a penalty. You'll have to go fly a kite, sit on a banana, hum the battle hymn of the republic, or hose a dog (a mean one). Get to it!

Saturday 1/28/06
It's been a whirlwind few months. My daughter was going to come to south Texas to visit her grandparents (my parents) last December 14th. Mom had been fighting cancer for 2 years. But on November 15th she was diagnosed as terminal. On the 16th I (and my son Arik) went to be with my parents (I'm 350 miles away)and mom passed away the 28th (see my tribute to my mom). I went home a week later. Kara was heartbroken, she still had her airplane tickets so I went back for a short vacation with her since dad had taken mom's remains back to North Dakota to be buried. I went home for a couple of days then back to dads again for Christmas. Back home for one day then on to Hawaii for 12 days. Back home for a couple of days then back to dads (again). He had been putting off knee surgery while mom was ill and decided to have it done while we were gone to Hawaii. My sister had taken time off to be with dad after the first funeral and was still there but flying out the day after he would get out of the hospital and I would take over helping with his home recovery. He had his right knee done and couldn't drive for a while. Mom's brother and wife will help him for a few days then he'll be in the clear and on his own. We worry about him though, mom & dad were married for almost 60 years. Yep, it's been a whirlwind few months for me, but nothing compared to what my parents went through. Mom's final 6+ months were painful for her to endure and arduous for dad to watch.
Thank God, Time heals the heart and rearranges the memories.


Tuesday 1/12/06
two versions of our trip to Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
the short version - 32 of the best pictures
the long version - 337 pix and lots of sunsets

Tuesday 1/10/06
Aloha. Hope your holidays were memorable. I'm back from vacation in Hawaii and I have some great pictures. We were gone 12 days and landed at 5:45am after an almost 8 hour flight so I am tired and have a lot to catch up on and will update with some fantastic sunsets later. I have so much cloths to wash that for the first time in my life I could separate the colored wash into colors, one load of red, one load of blue, etc. That's a funny feeling. My father had knee surgery while we were gone and since mom passed away my sister and I are helping with his recovery process (it is recommended not to drive for 30 days). This week-end I'll go and take over for a week to two weeks, so I'm not opening my catalog up until I get back.

Monday 12/22/05
A blonde goes to the post office to buy stampls for her Christmas cards.
She says to the clerck, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps?"
The clerk says, "What denomination?"
The blond says, "God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic,
12 Prosbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptist."
A Texas Christmas at the Alamo, went their
last week with my daughter Kara.


Monday 12/13/05
There's a new series of books being published entitled Bead Review 200? with the 2005 being the first in the series. I was informed by Deanne Dove (co-author with Brad Pearson) that one of my beads has been chosen to be 1 of only 50 in the book. Can you tell how ecstatic I am? Mom would have been so proud, but then I'm sure she was watching as they put the 'congratulations' letter in the mail to me. This one's for you mom.

Monday 12/5/05
My biggest bead fan is gone. Tribute to my mom.

Tuesday 11/15/2005

My catalog will be temporarily down. My mother had surgery this morning and she is gravely ill. She has been battling cancer for 2 years now and I am going to help out. Please pray for my mother, and my father, and her caretakers. Thank you.


Sunday 11/6/2005
I have some new eye candy in the gallery if you would like to have a look. I've also revamped the focals and sets pages of the bead catalog. Been having a lot of fun working on refining my fish and there has been a favorable response on eBay. Yeehaa Have gotten a few tips from people and the fins are really starting to take on a better shape.

Tuesday 11/1/2005
Last week I got together with a few bead buddies and we had a 'bead day', it was a blast. We didn't do a whole lot of torching cause we were so busy exchanging info and ideas but Jennifer (our host) did make us one of her famous fish. Some of her fish are the size of your fist. Just awesome. Well this week I got adventuresome and started making fish. Here are my first two, they will stay in my collection but start looking for them on my auctions.


Wednesday 10/21/2005
My tribute to Maggie, that's her on the right.

This has been a very sad week for me. I lost my treasured cat Maggie. We found her in the corner of the yard so she was probably hit by a passing car. We have 5 cats and several of them are lap cats but Maggie was my snuggle bum. Sometimes when I was typing on the computer she would come and stand between me and the keyboard until I would giver her a good long hug, then she would settle into my arms and sleep while I worked. She was big and fluffy, slept on my pillow and was always near by. Maggie was the 'top dog' so it has been interesting to watch the other 4 since their whole social structure was based around her. Tina was her litter mate sister and they were as attached as any human twins would have been, she is obviously lost. Maggie was a tortie, very territorial, she immediately took over the rule of the house from Mouse who had been hear for 5 years prier to her. Mouse is a little crosseyed so it was easy to terrorized him until she had established her 'queenhood', I don't think he misses her but he notices her absence. Weazel and Jett were the bottom of the ladder and although they seem to look for her from time to time, the only thing that seems to have changed for them is that there is no play time at night like there use to be. Everything centered around Maggie so they seem to be a little lost, but not nearly as bad as I am.

Wednesday 10/10/2005
We had a special guest at our bead meeting this week-end. Her name is Baylie, she's 6 years old and she has Chiari Malformation & Psuedotumor Cerebri. That's OK, it was all Greek to us too but in a nut shell it is a condition that causes the base of the brain to protrude below the skull and crowd into the spinal canal. I spoke to her mother and found out she has had 2 brain surgeries so far and an almost constant headache. At the time Baylie was diagnosed their was very little research, almost none, it is rare in adults and almost unheard of in children. Baylie had seen a Lance Armstrong bracelet and when her mother explained that the proceeds went toward research, Baylie said "I can do that". Remember she was 3 at the time. This gal is astounding. She has been selling bracelets for the past 3 years and her mother said she has raised $25,000 dollars just since May of this year, one bracelet at a time. She is selling them on her website Baylie for Braines.com for a $5 donation. I do hope you will check it out.

Wednesday 9/242005
(check out the bead catalog, I have some fall colored beads up)
Howdy ya'll. I've been absent for a while. Just seems to take a while to get back into the swing after vacation but this is ridiculous. eBay sales have been horrible this summer so I figured it was time to jump off into another phase of beadmaking. I've been making focal tubes lately and a couple of weeks ago decided to try long barrel focals. They have to be formed by hand and I am having the best time making these things. My longest to date is 2-7/8 inches long but one of the ends broke (that learning curve thing) so I get to keep it. Funny, my hand really isn't that stubby, it's just the angle it's laying at. Just had to stick that disclaimer in their.

And here is a preview of a set that I'm working on. When it's finished it will be on eBay. I love the color combo so I'm adding some rounds to it.

Thank God for all the preparations for hurricane Rita. It's Saturday afternoon so she is well inland as I write this with no deaths as of yet. How amazing is that??? (keeping my fingers crossed and praying a lot) We live just north of Dallas and were predicted to get 50-60 mile an hour or so winds. Since she took her northern turn before landing we only got a couple of small wind gusts. We sure could have used the rain but I'm glad she decided to downgrade and come ashore in less populated areas instead. I can always put the sprinkler out. Don't forget, give money, not cloths and here's why. Here's a picture of our little corner of the hurricane. I'm a cloud lover.


Wednesday 9/14/2005
I'm back and I had the time of my life with Kara & Dave in Seattle. We went to the glass museum in Portland, drove around Puget Sound in the rain, saw the Fremont Troll, ate at Crabpot where they dump your seafood on the table and eat with your hands, saw a silent movie starring Harold Lloyd (can't remember the name but it's the one where he climbs the outside of the building, I held my breath). Then came the best part, Dave went to work and Kara & I went shopping. I am now the proud owner of a pair of shoes from Macy's (well, it better than Walmart shoes). Got to ride the bus half a dozen time (little things thrill me), got to be an ave-rat (those are the people who hang out in the University of Washington shopping/entertainment district better known as the U district), had plenty of Starbucks but will have to admit that Seattleittes are right that Tully's is better, went to a book signing, watched 5 hours of old Star Treks in one sitting, got up late and stayed up late (how do mothers and daughters find so much to talk about), spoiled her cat rotten (she has a Balinese), met the Russian tortoise and water dragon. Then came the crowning jewel, I got to meet Peg Medill. If you're not familiar with Peg's challenge here is a short thread on WC. I'll put some pictures up after I dig out my camera. Not counting family, I have met two ladies in my life that have touched my soul, in my brief encounter with her Peg became the third. Landed at DFW at 9:30 Sunday night, Steve had to be in Louisiana on Monday so we headed for Houston to at least get half way their. Steve fixes injection molding machines so he travels a lot and it's been a long time since I've gone out with him. Guess he forgot I hadn't seen our 5 cats in over a week cause he didn't bring them with. Landed back home late Tuesday night so today I'm washing cloths and playing with cats. I'll write more later when I put up pix.

Thursday 9/1/2005
Well I'm goin fishin. Packing my bag and going to Seattle. Why do we get stupid? I haven't seen Kara in a little over three years, you'd think it was on the other side of the globe. Found a nonstop flight from Dallas to Seattle, I figured it was worth the $40 extra to not sit in the Salt Lake airport for 2 hours. I love Seattle and this time I plan on taking a few more pictures just for those of you who are getting tired of only seeing my cats on the auctions. Got to get one of the troll under the bridge.

I've taken the catalog down and will put it back up on the 12th and I have one auction on for a 10 day stint so don't forget me. The focals page will begin to look a bit different, I've started to make long barrel focals and am really enjoying it.

Sunday 8/14/2005
Well it only took me 6 months to get my act together and put some of my husbands copper countertop wine glass racks up for sale. We gave a bunch of these away for Christmas present's and they were a big hit. I had wanted him to make a wooden rack, something like the ones mounted under a cabinet or overhead in a bar, but for a countertop area. He came up with a copper one instead and I love the metal idea for a bar area and copper is my favorite metal. It also serves to drip dry the glasses on, just put a towel over the base to soak up the dripping water. Oh, he's so clever, we will include glasses and wine glass charms made with some of my beads.

Friday 8/5/2005

This is too bazaar and I had to share it with you. Last night my husband and I got to talking about a friend who is in Ohio on business. Well the friend has gone fishing a couple of times already and we wondered if he took a fishing pole, can you just see someone walking down a terminal with an 8 ft fishing pole (maybe he borrowed one from a friend)? Do you remember the Ronco Pocket Fisherman? Well I had to see if it was still around, yep, Ron's still selling them. But here's the best part, you can buy artwork on his site. You can get Van Gogh's Starry Night for $425, Ronco and Van Gogh teaming up, go figure.

Tuesday 8/2/2005
Well I finally figured out the pesky little glitch in my shopping cart. Took me all night to get it straightened out so if you've been one of the lucky ones who got an error when checking out, you can come back now. I've also added some options for shipping, something I should have done long ago. Is it hot enough for you where you are? We put up one of those above ground swimming pools this year. Not big enough to swim in but big enough to get ya out of the heat and fun enough to get kids out of the house. That's the best part.

Sunday 7/31/2005
My husband in on an internet forum that is mostly made up of locals within a couple of hundred miles of the Dallas metroplex and every once in a while they get together. Just when I was getting use to being a stay-at-home fuddy duddy they decide to have a party theme Saturday night I can't resist, Texas holdup poker. I love to watch the game but don't really like to play so I volunteered to be the dealer all night. It only took me 7-1/2 hrs to deal a straight flush but if you think of the odds it's lucky one got dealt at all. The fun part was all these guys throwing money at me and I didn't have to do anything in return for it. It's a fun game if you've ever wanted to play I recommend PokerRoom.com, there is no software to download on this site.

Sunday 7/24/2005
Not much to write about, just the dog days of summer, eBay is ok, sales here on the site are slow. Guess you guys are all out selling bookoos at the art shows, go get um. My sale in the focals will last until August 1, then I will put up a whole new bunch of focals. The extras and sets will be combined into one page and will be completely replenished every Monday night too. So if there's something you want in these two pages, get them this week cause they'll be gone Monday night 8/1. Later, dudes.

Sunday 7/10/2005
It was about time to feature Mouse again and he gave us one of his 'dead-dog' posses this week. Mouse is laid back but cross-eyed and completely freaks when you try to pet him. *** My heart goes out to the residents in the way of hurricane Dennis. I was working for FEMA when Andrew hit. The financial devastation a super hurricane can leave is hard to imagine, you will hear estimated total figures, how much is a billion anyway?, but processing individual claims is a sobering reality of devastated lives. And then there is London, what a bunch of troopers our parent country has. *** Stop over and take a look at my new line called Southwest, it's replacing my Black Velvets.


Monday 7/4/2005
Well, Happy Independence Day to the greatest country that ever existed. We wound up at to the Lone Star Park yesterday. The races were great, I staked out a 10 inch ledge inside an air conditioned crowded beyond belief building while my husband braved the near 100 degrees outdoors with friends. He saw them live while I watched 3 inch horses gallop across a TV monitor, not sure who was the wise one in this situation. But we have been told Lone Star has some of the most spectacular fireworks in the Dallas metroplex. When we went into the park they handed us those funky little 3D glasses and got a few pretty cool fireworks pix through them. I got a new camera earlier this year and it has a setting specifically for firework, go figure, guess I'll have to move next to a Disney park so I can use it more than twice a year. Anyway, here's my fireworks pixs.

Sunday 6/26/2005
For some time now I've been wanting to start doing something different again. Lentils are fun to make and wear and they sell great for me but... I've made hearts before but have struggled to sell them so this week I delved into long focals. Had a great time too and realized my skills are more advanced than I have been giving myself credit for. Now I have a whole new pallet for my style. This focal was the first one I made so I kept it. A while back, Heather of Red Ocean made this watch for me with some of the first beads I made
and I love the watch so much that I replaced the so-so beads with my new focal and it looks so much better and wears beautifully. I have a watch fetish and this is my all-time favorite one. I go back to still having my a wind-up watch I had as a kid. Oh ya, there's my Mickey Mouse watch from the seventies with the neon green band, a pendent watch bought with green stamps and a Jetsons movie watch. FYI: look for the focals on eBay.
Sunday 6/19/2005

Just a little bit of the tropics in my own front yard here in Texas. When I first moved into this house I didn't know what this tree was so I kept trimming it from the bottom like the previous owners. Then it bloomed & I realized it was a hibiscus and not a tree. There is a white one on the side of the house & when that one blooms I'll post pictures of it too. I'm off to get a pina colada smoothie and sit by the above ground pool we put up this year. Well, it will have to do for now.
Satruday 6/11/2005
I have a new love. This is one of the new 'odd' lot colors that has come our recently. It's called green ocean and it is a spectacular color. These are up on eBay this week and will run from Saturday nite (6/11) till Thursday nite (6/16). There is also a separate auction of a focal to match. The glass runs from opaque to semi-translucent and comes out with striations so it has movement to it. I know as soon as they sell I will be p*ssed cause I like them so much. Oh ya, I'll make myself some more just like them, sure-sure. I did manage go pull one out of the set to keep so maybe in the future (near future) I'll sit and make some more, hmmmmm, what should I change about them? Well, I'm off to play with fire and see what happens.
Thursday 5/12/2005
Last year I was diagnosed with a condition that puts me at 4 times greater risk for breast cancer, a few months ago the condition still existed so last week I started to take tomaxifen cause it's approved for breast cancer prevention. What a joy ride I've been on, if there's a side effect to a drug you can bet I'll get it. I'm off of it already and found this article entitled Tamoxifen - A Major Medical Mistake? That stuff has some nasty long term side effects. California's Carcinogen Identification Committee even added it to their list of all known carcinogens. It's been a roller coaster for cancer lately. A year and a half ago my mother had a double mastectomy for breast cancer, done - gone - take care of. Then a year ago they discovered cancer in her colon, 11 inches were removed. Chemo and radiation followed. The radiation was too hard on her and she landed in the hospital on an I.V. for 9 days so they stopped the treatment early...too early. A few months ago she lost another foot of colon to cancer and it had also spread to both ovaries and some nodes. She is taking chemo and radiation separately this time and the after surgery problems have all been cleared up so she is doing pretty well now. And it's a good thing too, she's 79 and one of the hardest things she's ever had to do was cancel going to the national bowing tournament in Tulsa OK. But they'll make it to dads family reunion come hell or high water. Grandpa was a homesteader in the Dakota Territory and my father is one of 17 kids. Dad was 8 when grandma died giving birth to their 12th. Grandpa married a widow with 4 kids and then came baby Carol to tie them all together. We have a reunion every 5 years and with some of us cousins being great-grandparents ourselves, I counted over 500 in the last family cook-book and that was 5 years ago. You think you come from a small town? Check out New Leipzig North Dakota, I think the population is around 275 now.

Saturday 4/23/2005
I bought a new kind of rose bush this year from Heirloom Roses. It's called a Chihuly rose and if you are familiar with Chihuly glass you will know why it is named after the glass artist. The bush is just a sprig so the roses are the size of a miniature rose and are delicate and beautiful.
Saturday 4/16/2005
(Just put up an new batch of "Heathers Monets" in the 'beads' section, please have a look.)
I have a new favorite comedian, his name is Steve Bridges. We saw him for the first time on Comedy Centrals roast of Jeff Foxworthy. When in makeup and in character, you almost can't tell him apart from President Bush. The reason I like him is because he doesn't take cheep shots. I have heard that even the president likes to listen to him so that should tell you how funny his material is. I like our current president but don't always agree with him, but ya got ta respect a man that can laugh at himself.
Thursday 4/7/2005
In case you've been wondering what that photography page is all about, Silver Paw Studio is my daughter Kara and her boyfriend David. David works full time but has a degree in photography and is getting into freelance. Kara makes jewelry, works in a pharmacy and is attempting to finish out her degree in biochemistry-something-or-other. So with all that stuff going on, their portion of the site is mostly under construcion. Here are a few of the links they have going, of course they are the pictures of the pets and since they live in Seattle, you get coastal pixs.
kitty rat                         amadeus & elvis                     oregon coast
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