Baltimore Show

I hope to post info on some of the wonderful vendors who were at the show.  This of course requires taking pictures, assuming of course that I have made something to take pictures of!!!


So for now, here are some booth shots...

Home Again - return from Baltimore

Well, another show is under our belt - the Best Bead Show in Baltimore in Hunt Valley, Maryland.  Very beautiful area, the Marriott where the show as held was lovely and I got to meet some great new vendors with really cool stuff - more on that to come.

I feel like I had just recovered from the trip to Milwaukee only to be packing up and on the road again. But road trips are fun in their own way. So off Joy and I went, leaving Kathleen and her broken ankle at home to mend.

We battled torrential rain and road construction but made it safe and sound to our destination, only to discover (clue the creepy music) "the incline of doom" that served as the loading ramp for the lower ballroom where we were going to be located.

Pictures will not to justice to the 60 degree or greater slope. Add to this high, narrow concrete walls and a long drive, plus a line to drive down to unload and you have a nightmare in the making...


A decision was made NOT to attempt to drive down this monster so we used our dollies and hand trucks to move everything down... More to come...

Home Again

We are back from Bead and Button and it was wonderful to see old friends and make new ones.  Now to get ready for Baltimore next week - check out show listing on this page.

Will try to get some new things up on Etsy as well, as I promised some of the folks I spoke with at B&B.

And will have to post pics of some of the goodies I got. Copper, which was hot 2 years ago was almost impossible to find. Pewter seems to be "in" for now.  Some of it is just beautiful, breathtakingly so. It looks like it was molded from Hill Tribe silver. It is nickel and lead free, highly polished given a lovely patina. Can't wait to play with it!!!!

Getting ready for Bead & Button

The heat is on as the song goes... the torch has been humming and I'm trying to sort, price and organize my trays.  I will fret over this until the car is loaded.  In the great scheme of life, it's really not a biggie but always seems to be at the time.

Chef Pierre's sous chef will be at the show as well as a full company of 'accouterments'.  Doing this grouping has been a lot of fun I only worry no one else will get as much of a kick from them as I did making them!

But I have been doing something more sublime as well - I guess to counter the ridiculous, "Chef Pierre Monkee".

Here a a couple of simple tab sets that I enjoyed doing.  Love playing with frit.  For non-glass workers, frit is crushed or even ground color glass that is added to a piece to give it color and texture. It can be used as a background or simply on it's own.

Blue Hawaii

Hawaiian Sunset

Nothing fancy, but I like the colors and textures... I can see them in bracelets for sun wear...

So incase I don't get back to the blog, if you're there, come meet me at Bead &Button in Milwaukee next week, booth 1018, it's the Glass Act booth but we're listed as 'SE MI Glass Beadmakers Guild'.

Monkey Business

 Behind on the blog again and Etsy of course. But here's something I haven't done in awhile - a monkey.

Introducing, Chef Pierre. He's wearing his chef toque, white smock with black trim and buttons, black pants and white gym shoes.  (I should add a red dot to signify Converse shoes in honor of my son-in-law the chef. No Chef Pierre is not model after him). He's about 3 inches tall from his shoes to his toque, not counting the copper wire work.

And since he's a chef, he needs 'accouterments' - french for 'stuff'. (Ah, all those years of studying french in school are paying off!!!).

I had been making veggie beads but the chef needs more stuff so here it is!
Have to confess, am loving the french bread and since this picture, my wine bottles have improved in their shape.

Chef Pierre and his accoutrements will be appearing on Etsy soon.  Aurevoir for now...

Show updates

Time will get away from me, the garden has been calling...

But a little business to address, new shows.  I've made a couple of small changes to the blog lay-out and now you can find show info more easily.

Now for a sunny day to take some new pictures of actual work!!!

Spring has sprung!!!

I guess it's really here.  After so many gray skies, rain, drizzle and fog (I am so grateful no tornados) we have had two days of sun and relative warmth in a row! Hooray!

I really have been making beads - lots of experimenting with CIM colors - which I would buy and not use for some weird reason. But it takes time to take pictures of beads and jewelry, so instead, here are some pics of flowers in the yard.

The daffs and Charlie Brown (my dwarf weeping cherry) are part of my "Mom garden", in honor of Chuck's mom, Helen, and my mom, Eva. Charlie Brown was so small when I got it, maybe 18 inches 10 years ago, but he's at least 3 foot now.  The magnolia is a slipper magnolia I believe.

Off to work in the garden for awhile - beads are a-commin'!