After the Show

 

This weekend's show was terrific -- beautiful weather (hot, but not rainy or windy, so who's going to argue?), great crowds, friendly and supportive neighboring artists, good sales for everyone.

I'm thrilled, but inventory updating and unpacking is going to have to wait for a while.  After two days of show work with only a few minutes of sitting down, I'm relaxing on the sofa, feet up, lovely glass of chardonnay and my wonderful spouse nearby.

Weekend Sneak Peek

Cooking up something for the Bead Soup Blog Hop has had to wait for a bit, while I get ready for a show I'm doing this weekend.  Here's a little peek at one of the new pieces I made in preparation for the show:

 

 Jasper with quartz inclusions, onyx, gorgeous pearlized Czech glass, silver 

(just imagine this rotated 90 degrees clockwise, which for some reason Blogger won't allow me to do...)

Best news of all is that the weather is supposed to be considerably cooler for the show this year than it was last year -- so happy at the thought that this year we won't again be whimpering masses of overheated pathetic folks!

And if you happen to be in the northern Kentucky/ southern Indiana area this weekend, come visit me at Art in Speed Park in Sellersburg.  It's a great show!

Wherein I Once Again Worry the Neighbors (My Swap Mix Arrived!)

If you saw a grown woman dancing on her front porch in the middle of the day, holding a small box in her hand, would you:

(a) shield your children's eyes and hustle them to safety?

(b) call someone to bring the transport van with the padded walls for the
poor woman who obviously needs to sit in a nice, quiet place for a while?

(c) mutter "bless her heart"* and wonder which Tennessee Williams character
she's channeling?

(d) understand that she just got her Bead Soup Blog Hop bead mix in the mail?

Well, bless my heart, I got my bead mix, and I can't wait to get cooking!

Cindy Cima Edwards sent me a beautiful mix of greens and brass. Look and love:

the whole delicious assortment

the lovely star of the show

just a few of the range of of greens in the mix

I love the range of materials, especially the Vintaj components, which I haven't done a lot of work with yet.

And now to cook something up with all this deliciousness! (And don't worry about the neighbors. They're used to my, um, natural exuberance. Dancing on the porch is nothing unusual...)

*in case you've never been in the Deep South and encountered this particular saying, it is an all-purpose phrase that has countless meanings, among which are "she's a sweetheart," , "she's an idiot," "she's a nut, but we'll just call it charmingly eccentric," or "she's too young/too old to really know what she's doing, and I'm too polite to point it out."

Paired Up and Ready to Hop

The partners have been matched up, and it's almost time for the Bead Soup Blog Hop party to commence.

I'm so excited to be paired with Cindy Cima Edwards -- check out her beautiful work here and here. She's had her work published in some of your favorite magazines, so I can't wait to see what she cooks up with the bead mix that's growing on my work table.

And I can't wait to see what she puts together for me to play with!

This is my first time participating in this swap - can't wait! And thanks to the master matchmaker, Lori Anderson, for putting all of this together while dealing with an extra crazy dose of real life over the past couple of weeks. Remember the guy who used to spin plates on the Ed Sullivan Show?

I think Lori takes this masterful balancing act to a new level while she coordinates the millions of details around the swap, more like this:

I can just hear her saying "Yep, I can do that, with a woman on my head, rocking spandex and sequins, and looking calm."

And please don't point out how the Ed Sullivan reference dates me.