The Adventure's Beginning

I'm finally ready to sit down and get to beading in my new workshop! I'm so thrilled with how the lighting and workspace worked out. Plus, I had cable set up in there so I can watch HGTV reruns into oblivion!!

But, I have to be honest, I haven't been at the helm of this new space yet. For the last two weeks I've been on leave from the Air Force, in the midst of a major life transition not only from Virginia to Alabama but also from single to nearly-married. I've had the chance to spend plenty of time in my own mind and searching for inspiration from my new surroundings, which aren't in the same city as my fiance, by the by. :) One of my favorite places here in Montgomery is Blount Park, by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I've been walking and walking and walking trying to get my behind in shape while releasing the stress of working for five years in the Pentagon. It was a great tour there in Virginia--which led to some great jewelry--but I'm certainly ready for something new.

So, while I'm getting ready to start my first day of school tomorrow, I'm also getting ready to get back to my creative endeavors with just as much energy! Air power doctrine and the study of war will be one big part of my life, but I also hope to use new scenery and people as inspiration for fun new projects. War and beads? haaaaaaaaa Whatever works!

I've got a few projects waiting for me on the table along with a list of requests from Virginia to finish, but I feel like the fresh atmosphere in my new place, my new city, and my new outlook on the Air Force are going to help take these to the next level! I can see plenty of sterling squiggles to work with and I can't wait to make more. There are some fantastic recycled glass beads by Heather at HMB Studios that I'm looking forward to working with, too! Oooh and there are some totally fun crazy lace agate beads that I just couldn't live with out, apparently!

The first bit to finish, though, is a really cool, chaotic bunch of green, purple and blue beads that I have gathered on some green leather. I have to finish this one off and it will be a great addition to my summer jewelry wardrobe! Oh, or maybe to yours...I'm supposed to sell some of this stuff, right? haaaaaaaaa

I'm ready to start this adventure...hope you'll be here to keep me company!

The Big Bead Move...

I'm happily ensconced in a cute little house in Montgomery, Alabama. But, that happiness is fleeting as I continue to see piles and boxes and cardboard and tape and stuff! How do I fight the stress of unpacking and organizing? Napping!! haaaaaaaaaa I wish I was the wonderful superwoman who has energy to burn and made it through the piles quickly and efficiently, but every time I try to walk I either step on something or run into a piece of my history.

Today I vowed to buckle down. I set the alarm for early in the morning, went to the gym, and came home with a list of things to do...and I did some of them! Whooo hooo! Oh, I took a short nap, but that's part of vacation, right?

So, I want to write today about the moving of a bead crafter's jewelry life--it's an amazing challenge! I didn't let the movers pack any of my beading supplies or workspace because I couldn't give it up for three weeks. So, that meant that I had to move it all into Curt's house for the transition. Apparently, since he decided I'm worth marrying, the bead drama in his dining room didn't bother him too much.

Funny enough, one of my fave artists, Heather Powers, is also working on some decluttering projects of her own in her workshop. She published a great post this morning with all sorts of tips. Click on this to check out her workshop work: Humblebeads. The "random piles" of stuff give me hope that eventually all my random piles will find their places!! Thanks for sharing, Heather!!

I want to share some tips that I either found from other artists or learned the hard way through massive packing:

- I love plastic containers! Those Ziploc (or whatever brand) containers are not all that expensive (and there are coupons for them all the time in Sunday's paper) and they are great for small groups of items. Of course, they look wonderful all stacked in these big Rubbermaid containers, too. It took a while to actually sort everything out, but now I feel like everything really has its own little place! I put my little messes of random stuff in a container and suddenly I just feel better! haaaaaaaaaa

- Sending a shout out to Collectors Cabinets because my rolling cabinets are fantastic!!! I have the drawers devoted to colors and the beads are sorted into the little screw-together stackable round storage containers. I separate them all into these great big drawers. But, why is this cabinet so wonderful? Because, with the addition of some bubble wrap sheets and then some carefully applied (ha!) shrinkwrap, each drawer held my bead stash wonderfully in place during the move! And, the whole cabinet, while a little bit heavy, was easy to move all in one piece. **Note, if you click on the link to Collectors Cabinets you'll see that their business is for sale...if you know anyone who might be interested, pass this opportunity on!

- Back to shrink-wrap...how wonderful is this stuff?! You can cover stuff up and it'll stay all together...the little tidbits in little drawers all stayed where they were supposed to! Many thanks to my friend, Michele, who helped me wrap all these babies. It was definitely a two-person job! But, talk about a reasonable solution; it would have taken me hours to resort stuff had I not taken the prep time seriously!

So, I've got to get back to unpacking my little corner of bead paradise. I'm going to laugh through Heather's workshop tour again...just because it makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone in my personal chaos!!

Real Bling Time!

I got engaged on Thursday night!

My sweetie, Curt, proposed as we walked around the National mall and the WWII Memorial. It was raining a bit; the sun was setting; and there were lightening bugs all over the place. He pulled a pink rose out of his coat (where it had been stashed for hours!) and asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes and now we're on the road towards planning our future together! How cool is that???

So, this morning I was motivated over coffee to come up with a special piece to remember the evening. Of course, the gorgeous diamond (that he picked out all by himself!) is my new favorite piece of jewelry, but I want to remember the poor rose that made it through the evening in his coat. And, I think of lots of pink and shiny and pretty and champagne and laughing and glitter and love all go together into this necklace. :)

If you saw us together in our office--that's where we met, in the cubicles next to each other--you wouldn't think we'd match, but we've somehow turned into a perfect pair. It sounds cliche, but I can't help myself...the beads I pulled out this morning may not seem to go together at first glance, but they come together to create something better than just by themselves. How cheesy!!! haaaaaaa

Big Color!

I often get asked where I find all my beads and supplies...my answer, truthfully, is all over the place! I travel quite a bit, and I'm a sucker for a pretty, sparkly thing when I'm out shopping, but I have several on-line retailers that I rely on for various items. When I've found something I love, I want to find the place that has good quality, an easy to maneuver site, great customer support, and, of course, good prices!

This month I broadened my e-horizon over to Auntie's Beads to see what they had in store...I was drawn to the BIG COLORS!! They have a great selection of goodies, but I kept coming back to the big pink rocks! haaaaaaa I made a sweet little casual necklace with one of my simple silver swirlies and some pink leather. I love this bubble gum style!

And, speaking of leather, that's one of my favorite things to work with. I love that it is such a casual feel that can be combined with just about anything. I got this vibrant purple leather as well as some of my favorite findings--crimp ends--from Auntie's! The beads on these came from my stash (uh, my purple drawer is slightly stuffed) to work with this awesome leather tone. A couple of those crimp ends and it's a nice secure dangling pretty--perfect for a set of earrings!

So, Auntie's met my requirements...good site, good prices, and a nice quick shipment! One of the most important things is to get it quickly--I want that instant gratification!! haaaaaaa For your on-line shopping adventures...check them out! You can clink on the link above to go to the site!

Cover Girls!!

800 miles doesn't seem all that far, but I'm moving 800 miles away and that means that I have to sort out everything in this house that I've lived in for almost four whole years! Yes, I know, that seems like it's not really all that long for a girl who spent her whole childhood in one house, but this is the longest I've lived in one house since I joined the Air Force 17 years ago!

So, I've been feeling a little anxious and spending hours in my workshop sorting out my bead kingdom. In the midst of all this plastic-containering and label-making, I had a seriously joyful moment...

I picked up my Stringing magazine from the mailbox and one of my designs IS ON THE COVER!!! haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (If you don't know me, that's a super loud laugh that you can hear down the halls of the Pentagon even through several closed doors!!! haaaaaaaaaaaaa)

See those big red tomato looking beads? Those are some trade beads that I just loved (probably because they look like food) that I combined with the amazing glass beads from my two favorite lampwork artists: Lisa New & Heather Boardman. So, many thanks to those two ladies for their amazing talent!!!

And, thanks to my friends at Interweave Press for giving me all this great motivation to keep designing awesome goods!!

If you want to see some more work by Lisa, her shop on Etsy has a TON of cool beads and a few finished pieces. I feel like I discovered some sort of magic bead girl when I saw her beads on Ebay years ago..so I just have to share the love!!!

Heather started out as my favorite glass disc girl and now I'm a follower in all her glass bead adventures--including some very cool recycled glass!! Check out her work at HMB Studios. So, share some love with her, too!!!

Oh, and let me shout out to my friends at the Art Bead Scene who keep the new ideas flowing!!! Thanks!!

Dreaming in Green...

I'm finally back in the creative saddle!! Well, it's actually just my crummy old cat-hair-covered office chair down in the basement, but still...

I spent the weekend up in Philly at WireFest a few days back and in addition to learning some wonderful wire ring basics from Michael David Sturlin (which I'll post more about later), I got in some good shopping at the bead market. I kept myself relatively controlled this time and only came home with about a TON of quartz! haaaaaaaaaa I picked up these mosaic-looking round beads that feature reconstituted turquoise. I just love them! Plus, these "petals" of lemony-limey quartz are just wonderfully smooth and just cried out for me to touch and use them.

And I had to use them more than once...you can see these pieces for sale on my Etsy site. Look at the right side of this post on my blog site and you'll see the Etsy gallery!

All Work and No Play!

I promised myself I'd focus on business, so no creating for the last two weeks. It's terrible!! I feel like I'm going through withdrawal! But, another great show in Ballston this weekend, lots of new display ideas, and finally some progress with the accountant. I guess that's part of the deal when you accidentally turn a hobby into a business. haaaaaaaaSpeaking of business, Here's my partner in big, fun jewels, Susi D., and I looking all fresh at the start of the day on Saturday at Ballston. Many thanks to my sweet Ma who was here for Mother's Day weekend and her help with the tent. It's like a giant puzzle that two people cannot do themselves--especially two people who have had too much coffee and are more excited about pretty beads than boring white tents!!

See those cool display cards? There was some serious delivery deadline drama last week! Between Vistaprint, UPS, and whatever neighbor thought they might be interesting to look at before bringing them back to my house, I was running around (with much help from my Ma) on Friday night frantically punching holes and setting up pendants. All that craziness was worth it because when the wind blew the table over and everything still looked good laying on the ground! haaaaaaaaaaaaa

And, I can't post without thanking all my super friends who came out to support us on Saturday!! I can't tell you how much your support means to me!!!! When I have shows in Alabama, are you going to come visit??? haaaaaaaaaaaa