Old Friends, Monkeys On Unicycles, and Eating My Way Through Town

This past weekend was the second of my three shows this month, and it gave me the chance to go back to Tuscaloosa, AL, where my family lived for over a decade. I was thrilled to be part of the Kentuck Festival, which is a fantastic show, and I was excited to be able to go "home" for a while.

And to start things off right, look who showed up at my booth almost as soon as the show opened --

It's Therese from Therese's Treasures! What fun to see online friends, and what a kick to see her again!  She is, truly, every bit as sweet and encouraging and fun as you'd expect from reading her blog.  If you don't read her blog, get on over there and start following her!  She was a bright spot in an early morning that had started with some passing rain.

Around 11, the showers stopped and the sun started peeking out.  Pay no attention to the water bottle I forgot to hide before taking the booth photo.  Duh.

 Each night I was in town, I ate at one of the restaurants my family used to enjoy when we lived there.  I may or may not have gained five pounds. Do the calories you eat when you're having lots of fun count?

I got to see lots of old friends and neighbors, which was great, and very nostalgic. Even after eight years, it's like the blink of an eye.

"But wait," you're probably thinking, "you said something about a monkey on a unicycle?"  Why yes, I did.  And it was in the booth next to mine, the work of a truly awesome artist who handformed whimsical and weird creatures from steel wire and found objects.  This monkey stopped people dead in their tracks, inspiring laughs, gasps of wonder, and lots of photo ops. The artists were terrific neighbors, and they won a well-deserved merit award.

Seriously, click on the photo to see it in more detail.  Awesome.

No peeing dogs this weekend.  A few mildly hungover patrons on Sunday after Saturday's Alabama football game in town, but they managed to control themselves.  Great sales, great fun, great food, great football, and great friends.  Now I have a couple of days to recuperate and make new stuff to get ready for this weekend's show!

Hats Off! Challenge Sign Ups

Worried what you might do to occupy your beady imaginations after the BSBP?  Come join me for the first Hats Off Challenge!

This springs from my observation a couple of years ago that the timing of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding and the Kentucky Derby were very close, so I took it upon myself to declare it Hat Week.  I found pictures of some of the fabulous hats being worn in London and Louisville, and paired them with jewelry from my worktable that seemed reminiscent of them.  See here and here for some examples.

This year, I'm expanding the celebration by kicking off the Hats Off Challenge, where participants will create a piece of jewelry inspired by one (or more) of the fabulous hats below.  Look through the photos (it is a little photo heavy), get inspired, and leave me a comment below to sign up.  Then on May 4th, we'll get in the mood for Derby by blog hopping to enjoy everyone's creations!

Here's the inspiration (click on them for a closer look):

Black and White







Color, Texture and Shape



 



  

 

Unconventional Materials

 

 

Inspired by Nature

Sculptural

 

 

Put A Bird On It

 

 

Ready to play along?  Leave a comment to sign up (make sure I can reach you by email)!



Sourcing Materials

blurry photo, taken before the vendor could give me the stinkeye

Did I ever tell y'all that my day job involves persuasive writing?  One of the results of this professional reality is that I can find ways to sling the BS rephrase things to sound as attractive or positive as possible.

So this weekend, I went sourcing materials, which was really a thinly veiled way of saying that I went to a bead show to shop.  Which, since the show was in the same city that my son lives in, was really a thinly veiled excuse to visit my son.  And since my daughter lives relatively close by, it was a great excuse (not even thinly disguised) for her to come over.  And for the superfecta, since my husband had the weekend off, we all gathered in one city.  Because Mom needed to source materials.

See?  Win, win, win!

Turns out my daughter is a great enabler when bead shopping.  Here, she modeled some golden agates.

And she learned the bead show truism that, if the crowds at the front of the table are too deep, go to the side of the table and reach over...politely. So much better than throwing an elbow or wedging in by using your freakishly oversized shopping tote.

I got some really good stuff...some of it that I picked out myself.  And I hope you all had as good and fun a weekend as I did. (Photos of the weekend's haul to come in the next few days!)

Getting An Earful

Some days, even the most devoted bead weaver needs a little immediate gratification.  Something that works up fairly quickly.  Something that doesn't require you to put on the stronger glasses and thread that tiny, tiny needle with that tiny, tiny thread.

Lampwork flower discs  by Susan Barnes of Fire Goddess
with some matte crystals on yummy soft leather

So some days, it's time for an earring-making binge.  An earring-palooza.  An earful (sorry, couldn't resist a little pun).

Mother of pearl curls, nestling peridot glass

These are a few pictures from my latest earring extravaganza -- not all that came off the work table that day, but a little sampling.

Jade, rhyolite, and alexandrite faceted glass

The eye beads are fun, but the best part about these are the
vintage buttons that came off of an old sweater

Instant gratification!

Under the Alabama Pines - Old Friends and New

Y'all, I've been terribly remiss in posting about one of the best weekends I've had in a long, long time. 

A couple of weekends ago, I was part of the Kentuck Festival, a fabulous art show outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where my family and I lived for nearly 15 years.  Pat and I went down a day early so we'd have time to visit old friends and co-workers, eat in some of our favorite restaurants, drive by our old house (several times), wander around the University of Alabama campus, and generally soak up the atmosphere of the town we raised our kids in.

Here's Pat, getting ready to satisfy a culinary craving.
Seriously, I have dreams about this restaurant's sausage and roasted peppers.

Here's a glimpse of the view from my booth shortly before we opened on Saturday -- there were about 280 artists in all.  See the beautiful tall pine trees?  I had nearly forgotten the aroma of a pine forest in the autumn.  Fantastic.

The visit back "home" was great.  The show was great.  I saw people I hadn't seen in seven years.  I hugged more people and caught up on more news than I could have imagined.  And one of the highlights was getting to meet Therese of Therese's Treasures!

Funny coincidence -- I knew Therese's brother when I lived in Alabama.  Realized the connection by accident in an online conversation with Therese here on the beading blogs.  Wild, huh?

Anyway, not only did Therese gift me with a lovely visit, she slipped me a sweet little gift...

yes, the beautiful ribbon wrapped around the box
will find its way into a piece of jewelry

A beautiful Therese-woven pendant, earrings with beads by (I'm guessing)
JulsBeads, and a couple of lovely cabochons.  She spoiled me!!

And I'm here to tell you that not only is Therese a wonderful and generous lady who always has a kind comment here on the blogs, but she's magic -- as soon as she came to my booth, customers started crowding in, trying things on and making purchases.  She was my good luck charm that day.  Thanks for everything, Therese!

Wherein The Waldo Bead is Located and A Studio Begins To Move

The other night, when I was working at the bead table much later than I should have, I dropped a bead that was crucial to finishing the second earring in a half-completed pair onto the Oriental carpet in my studio.


It was too late, too dark, and too tiny a bead for me to worry about at that moment (although you will note that I took time to document my klutziness here).  I nicknamed the wayward bead "Waldo" because it was impossible to spot, and went to bed.


However, the sun rose, I arose, and Waldo Bead was located.  The earrings were completed, and as promised, here they are:

Can't get the photo to rotate the right way.  Imagine this 90 degrees to the left....

Coincidentally, as part of our plans to get our house ready to put on the market (time to downsize), I'm moving my studio to another room in the house.  Because our daughter is now nearly done with graduate school and only comes home for visits, I've appropriated half of her room.  Great light, and look at that carpet -- SO much easier to spot the wayward escaping beads!

The move is nowhere near complete, but it's getting there!

Stirring Up Some Soup!

It's here!  It's here!  It's the final reveal day for the sixth Bead Soup Blog Hop, hosted by the oh-so-spectacular Lori Anderson.

My fabulous swap partner is the lovely Alice Peterson of Alice Dreaming.  She went deep in her personal collection and pulled together a generous collection of artisan beads and gemstones.  I was so excited, because the soup she sent included work by artisans whose creations I had been wanting to work with.  Here's what Alice sent me:

And here's what I made:

Here's the beadwoven piece for this swap -- I surrounded the gorgeous Twinstar lampwork with  turquoise jasper, a spiral rope with the jasper, and the rest of the necklace including the dyed jade.  I wish the photo captured the beautiful flashes of iridescence in the lampwork!

The seed beads and pressed glass are from my stash, and I fabricated the sterling clasp.

And a matching pair of earrings:

And then with the beads that were in a more orange colorway:

For this necklace, I used the gorgeous copper clasp from Melinda Orr, the Dianne Hawkey ceramic "wisdom" bead, and lampwork by Libby Liu (hugging the ceramic bead) and Two Sisters Designs (the orange lovely on the left).  I fabricated the chain from copper to echo the clasp, and added fiber from my stash.

Here's a better view of the construction around the Hawkey bead:

I had some beads left, so I made a couple of pairs of earrings - first using these super-fun polka dot disks suspended on links like those in the necklace.

And then some mismatched earrings using more of the delicious Twinstar lampwork.

There are a couple of leftover beads that I didn't work into a completed piece, but I've got some ideas percolating for them.

Thank you Alice, for the fantastic beads!  And thank you, Lori, for throwing the best darned beady party in the known universe!

Go check out the rest of the participants:

Hostess, Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Agi Kiss, Moonsafari Beads
Alice Peterson, Alice Dreaming (my swap partner!)

Alison Sachs, Beads by Earthtones

Amanda Dittloff, Passion Smashin'

Andra Marasteanu, Bijoux de Monanage

Angie Szlovak, SweetBeads

Anitra Gordy, Leelu Creations

Ann Sherwood, Ann's Blog

Arlene Dean, A Glass Bash

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Barb Solem, Vivi Magoo Presents

Barbara Blaszczyk, laboratorim Flory

Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Beth Emery, Stories by Indigo Heart

Bianca Odenthal, Zydies Glasperlen

Birgit Klughardt, GitesBeads
Bobbie Rafferty, Beadsong Jewelry (you are here!)
Bonnie Coursolle,  Jasper Gems
Cece Cormier, The Beading Yogini
Charlene Jacka, Clay Space
Cherrie Fick, En La Lumie're
Cheryl Foiles, Get Your Bead On
Christie Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Christina Miles, Wings n Scales
Christina Stofmeel, Feng Beads
Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design
Cindy Cima Edwards, Live to Design
CJ Bauschka, 4 His Glory Creations
Claire Smith, Embergrass Jewelry
Cynthia Riggs, Cynth's Blog
Dana Fowler, Trunk Full of Treasure
Dawn Pierro, Turtle Moon Designs
Dee Elgie, Cherry Obsidia
Donetta Farrington, Simply Gorgeous

Dot Lewallwn, Speedie Beadie
Eileen Snyder, Dorset Hill Beads
Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads
Eva Kovacs, Ewa gyongyos vilaga!
Evelyn Duberry, Sheba Makeda
Fay Wolfenden, Torch Fairy
Fen Li, Bead Flora Jewels
Gail Zwang, Angel Moose Enterprises
Geneva Collins, Torque Story
Grace Dorsey, Fan of the Flame
Gretchen Nation,  Art Food Lodging

Hannah Annear, Squintessential
Hajer Waheed, My Beaded World
Heather Goldsmith, As I Bead It
Heather Otto, The Craft Hopper
Heidi Kingman, My Bead Therapy
Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope
Isolina Perez, Isolina Perez
Jacqueline Keller, CreARTelier
Jane Haag, Did You Make Something Today?
Janeen Sorensen, Wild Vanilla Designs
Jean Peter, Jean P. Designs

Jennifer Judd, Jen Judd Rocks
Jennifer L Justman, Soul's Fire Designs
Joanna Matuszczyk, Bizuteria z filcu
Joanne Brown, Jo's Jewels
Joanne Lockwood, Jo Bunkum
Joyce Becker, Joyce's Joyful Gems
Judy Riley, Three Red Beads
Karen Mitchell, Over the Moon Design
Karen Williams, Baublicious
Karin von Hoeren, Creative Ideen

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams
Kashmira Patel, Sadafule .. always in bloom!
Kate Richbourg, We Can Make That at Home

Katrin Lembke, AllesPerle
Kathy Combs, Torched in Texas
Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design
Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz
Kelley Fogle, My Life, One Bead at at Time
Kelly Hosford Patterson, Traveling Side Show

Klaudette Koon, Only Road
Lara Lutrick, Lampwork Beads by Lara
Laura Guenther, Blue Antiquities

Laurie Lalonde, Simply Mod Jewelry
Lilik Kristiani, Soul of My Embodiment
Linda Younkman, Lindy's Designs
Lisa Chapman, Beach Cat Beads
Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures
Loretta Carstensen, Designs by Loretta
Lori Bergmann, Lori Bergmann Design
Lori Dorrington, Lori's Adventures in Etsy Land
Lupe Meter, Gem's PC Corner
Lynn Davis, LLYYNN

Malin de Koning, Beading by Malin
Mandi Effron, Craft-o-licious
Mandy Williamson, Mimi's Beading
Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter
Maria Rosa Sharrow, Willow Street Shops
Marianne Baxter, Simply Seablime Jewelry
Marina Dobrynina, Savon Feutre
Marjolein Trewavas, Room for Change
Marelene Cupo, Amazing Designs
Marsha Neal, Marsha Neal Studio

Marta Kaczerowska, uhuhu
Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs
Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes
Menka Gupta, Menka's Jewelry Blog
Michelle Burnett, Reverie and Revival
Michelle Escano-Caballero, The Cabby Crafter
Miko Wiropati, Uniquely Yunikua
Milla Hope,  LB Creative Arts and Crafts
Mimi Gardner, Other Curiosities
Miranda Ackerley, MirandackArts
Natalie McKenna, grubbi

Noemi Baena, fuego, metal, y color
Pam Ferrari, Ferrari Originals
Pam Sears, Crazy Creative Corner
Penny Neville, Copper Penny
Rachel Baron, R. Baron Designs
Rachel Myers, Rockabead Jewelry
Rana Wilson, Definitive Designs by R. Wilson
Rebecca Anderson, Song Beads
Rebecca Sirevaag, Becca's Place
Riki Schumacher, Riki Jewelry 

Rose Binoya, Ahtee's Blog
Rossana De Gaspari, Rdegas Blog

Sandi James, Do Be Do Bead Do
Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe
Sandra Wollberg, City of Brass Stories
Sarah Goode, Pookledo

Sarah Small, blog by salla
Shai Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings
Shawn Mills, Shawn Marie Designs with Bent Wire
Sheila Davis, Stone Designs by Sheila

Sheryl Stephens, Babble Bead
Shiraz Biggie, Secret Song Designs


Solange Collin,  Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry
Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads
Stephanie Dixon, The Dixon Chick
Susan Kennedy, Sue Beads
Susan Sheehan, Strands of Thought
Suzann Sladcik Wilson, Beadphoria
Sweet Freedom, Sweet Freedom Designs
Tabatha Dinger, Modernly Created
Tania Hagen, Pelima Jewellery Design

Tanya Boden, Fusion Muse
Terri Gauthier, Blooming Ideas
Terry Carter, Tapping Flamingo 
Tracy Stillman, Tracy Stillman Designs