imagine

This pendant is made from ceramic and lampwork glass, reverse painted with vitreous enamel and fused. It is finished with a Hill tribe silver drop bead.

Imagine...
If I close my eyes I can imagine a garden. It is lush and green with the smell of damp morning earth. The flowers are opening to the warmth of the sun. The fragrant air moves quietly with the whisper of butterflies and honey bees. Birds begin to sing in the distance as the sun reaches down to warm my face...

OK Now it's back to reality. SORRY!

I've been tagged by Melissa Lee!
(Melissa Lee makes wonderful pendants & beads from precious metal clay. Check out her ETSY store.)
I'm "IT"
here is how it goes:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people* at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

SEVEN Random Factiods about myself:

#1. Strangers have asked me if I have ever "been in cartoons?" when they hear me speak.

#2. My diet consists mainly of foods that begin with the letter "C"; coffee, cookies, cereal, chocolate & carrots.

#3. I have a large collection of bakelite bracelets.

#4. I have a spinning wheel & I am currently spinning fleece from a chocolate brown alpaca named "Ted E Bear" who lives near Mesick Michigan.

#5. Ok I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else interesting about myself. Hmmmmm...
Alright- Someday I am going to write a novel.

#6. I like to take naps every chance I get.

#7. I am going to open an ETSY store by March 1st. (I just made that up right now. So I guess that means I have to do it!)

Now who to TAG? Hmmmmm.....

Nancy Sells Glass
The Blue Between
Studio Lockdown aka Playtime
Bolimasa
Beadtowne
For the Love of Beads
Shelly in Africa
Labyrinth Beads

OK GALS Now you are it!!!

Baby its Cold Outside

Here we go, another cold, cold winter. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I think animals that hibernate have the right idea. Fatten up & go to bed for 3 months. Its a good plan. Wake me up when its over.

The Joys of Motherhood

My friend & fellow bead maker Carla just had the most scrumptious looking baby boy a few days ago. It made me feel slightly sad to see his beautiful picture. I could practically smell the new baby scent coming right off the image of his fat little face. My baby snuggling days are gone.

I made this mother & child bead 6 years ago when my girl was just a baby & I was still filled with new mommy hormones. I am less sentimental nowadays.
This week my whole life has been put on hold. My 6 yr old baby girl is sick. Puking, fever, lethargy, strep throat & pink eye for the icing on the cake.
If you have never experienced a child with pink eye- its very much like the South Park episode where the kids start turning in to zombies & the symptoms are mistaken for an out break of pink eye at the school. (Hell that episode is practically a pink eye documentary film)
Not only is she sick but she shared the fever & puking & lethargy with me. Yep, I said "get your own cereal mommy feels sicker than you do today". I did too.
(I have so far escaped strep & pink eye- but the week isn't over yet.) She was asking for food. I couldn't even think about eating! I think Darwin had a name for this parenting technique.
Luckily daddy stepped in. Yes he can pour a dish of cereal! He is a man of many talents.

I wish they could add those happy new mommy hormones to orange juice, they same way they add calcium & vitamin D. I could really use a glass of it right now.
Although I have to admit the cool thing about being mom to a 6 yr old is they can call you things like "booger-head" & "raisin-eyes" Babies are only thinking those things.

Bird in winter blues

Like most bead makers I know, I have ended up with extra beads & they are taking over my house. I have decided to do some stringing. I used to do a lot of stringing in the past, but most recently I have been concentrating on just making the beads themselves.
Here is a project I am working on called Bird in Winter Blues.

A New Year has Begun!

Well like all things the New Year is starting out as a mixed bag. I need a new transmission in my car -but I am busy with beads orders- & I am excited about a few special projects I am working on. Now if I only had the energy to finish taking down my Christmas tree & put away all the ornaments I might actually feel like I've accomplished something.
The problem with putting away all the Holiday items is there is just so little to celebrate in Michigan in the gray months of winter. I have already decided I am having a Chinese New Year Party in February to break up the winter doldrums. It is going to be the year of the rat. Since we seem to be blessed with rats in the hood & more specifically in my studio- (Most recently Ollie the Christmas Rat) yet another rat story for another time- I think Its only fitting that I should acknowledge the beasts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HAPPY NEW YEAR!~~~~~~~~~~

Celebrate safely!!

Here is looking at you!

This is a brief over view of my work from the last year:
When I am working it seems like ideas just sort of sprout organically. I don't always think about what I am doing - almost like breathing.
But seeing my work together I find there are recurrent themes. A personal mythology keeps popping up. Themes connected to nature and dreams and the energy of the earth.

Pearl Pendants

All the pearl pendants below are available for sale except for the one in the second picture, furthest on the right. It has already been spoken for.
They are $28 each. If you are interested in one just drop me an email and I will reserve it for you.

Pearl Pendants

~::~These pendants are featured in the new book from Interweave Press
"Create Jewelry: Pearls: Luxurious Designs to Make and Wear"

They were also featured in the July 07 issue of Beadwork magazine as one of the "Editors' Top Picks"



The largest ones are about 3" long and the smaller ones are about 2" long. They all feature assorted fresh water pearls.

mermaid beads

Here is a trio of bathing beauties:

Mermaid beads in three different blue glazes (L-R) copper crackle, aqua gem & blue frost