Big Beads Rock!

I'm making beads for the Vegas show. I never seem to make enough to support a show and selling online but if you ever see anything you like and want here, by all means, contact me!

This week, I decided to play around with my Zoozii's Straight Sided Lentil press. This is a BIG press and I love it! In glass terms, it takes one and a half 13" rods of glass to fill this puppy up. Did I tell you that I love it? I cringed at using 1.5 rods of my beloved copper green for this one but I like the results, do you?



Here's another with a size reference image so you can see how big I'm talking about -

Been making other stuff too - finally finished my sisters' Christmas presents (oops) but they liked them anyway. These are commonly known as "Pandora" or "Biagi" bracelets. It's fun to collect the charms for them and of course, I made and silver cored the glass beads on them. If you're not familiar with these bracelets, the beads and charms have bigger holes so that they'll fit over the clasp and slide on the bracelet.

Finally, I've been meaning to post a pic - nothing special, but here is the hat I made for Rich. He doesn't really need it, as he lives in the deep South, but I had to make it for him anyway. It's nice to have someone in mind when you're spinning and then knitting something and I can't think of a nicer person!

Frit Testing

To my dismay this week, I got a shocking electric and gas bill. I think I'm pretty thrifty - I turn off lights, consolidate laundry, you know. I'm frustrated (a little) by the continuing cold and dustings of snow. Not that I can do a thing about it, so to take my mind off of it I have been trying to get things done.

I'll show you some pix next but first I want to put in a little plug for one of my favorite organizations - the International Society of Glassbeadmakers. I've been working on their website this week and found a veritable trove of awesome photos going way back chronicalling their work. It's amazing the talent associated with the ISGB. Keep checking back to the site too because we're putting up more and more stuff.

What have I been doing? Well, web work for sure. I also got down to the torch and did some frit testing for Val Cox. Here are a few pix of the results. Unfortunately, this week I also taught my sweetie, Rich, the word "frit". Do you have any clue just how many puns you can make with the word "frit"? We won't go into that now, will we?

Mandarin Yellow

Lipstick Pink

Tropical Seas

Tutti Frutti

More of the same...

Well, ok, not quite but I am busy again today. I promised to continue the craft stories yesterday so here I am.

First though, I've got to show you the view in front of my house. Today, I got up early, fed the pests and was heading down to the elliptical when I was stopped in my tracks. Gorgeous! I can't capture all the colors with my camera but you get the idea. I do live in a beautiful if freakishly snowy and cold place.


On with some more "Spinning Rich's Hat" pix - We left off with me winding the yarn onto a mini niddy noddy (that's that little contraption in the post below). I then "set the twist" of the yarn in hot water and brewed up a blue dyepot -


It came out bluer than blue (about as blue as Rich's eyes) but he said he liked it -


You know, even though the hat is now all knitted up, I don't think I'm going to show it here just yet, because it is a gift after all. I think Rich will have to wait to see it!

Here are some other things I wanted to show you - my BronzClay results. Man, I think I love this stuff! What do you think? Click on the pix to make 'em bigger.

Happy Groundhog Day!

You know, life is really, really good when you just don't even have time to blog. I'm serious! I keep myself so busy sometimes, I don't know which way is up - and that's a very good thing! However, this is me slapping myself for not blogging more because I like sharing my crazy crafting exploits and general life musings with you.

Here's a little of what I've been up to this week -

I've been chatting A LOT with my rediscovered friend, Rich. We were interns in Washington, D.C. when we were in college. It wasn't the right time for us then, but now? Maybe so...

It's been dang cold here - dang cold! I wake up to 7 or 8 degrees regularly. It's Groundhog Day and I don't actually care whether Phil saw his shadow or not, spring cannot come soon enough. This is my view out my front window.



We did get some snow last night but it just piled on top of what we still have from December.

I've been spinning Rich a hat. Here are some photos of the process. I love it that I've learned to spin - I'm trying to make myself more valuable for that deserted island experience, should it ever come to pass.

Thin spun singles from that wool that I saved and told you about in an earlier post -

Plied into a thick and thin worsted weight yarn -

Winding off onto my mini Niddy Noddy -

More photos of the "Spinning a Hat" tomorrow...

Finally, while semi-watching the Super Bowl yesterday (what a game!), I was playing with BronzClay. It's clay, infused with Bronze and when these are totally dry, I'll fire them in my kiln and the clay binder will burn away. I've had one terribly failed experiment with this already but I think I used the wrong carbon material for firing and I dried my pieces too quickly. Cross your fingers for these!

Quick pop in...

Just a quick pop in. Wanted to show off a little series of bottles I've been torching. My goal is to make 20 new perfume bottles this week.

The snow continues to slowly melt. I don't think spring is exactly on its way yet but these bottles provide a little color!

More...

Remember that picture (if not, see below) of my kinetic wind sculpture from late December? Here it is today - it's kind of shocking. Notice the difference in the depth of the snow on the base of the sculpture and the fence. It's a 6 foot fence so I'd guess we have 3 feet in the yard! (Note, you can click on any of these images to make them bigger.)



Annie was a little melancholy this afternoon. I think she gets frustrated by the lack of walkies (they hadn't plowed today so we couldn't go) and the loss of "her" backyard. She's a pretty girl though, isn't she?


Finally, another pretty girlie, Claire. She's the oldest of my critter crew and is coming up on 15 this spring.

Glorious Sun and More Snow Pix

We are having a GLORIOUSLY sunny day! It's the calm before the next storm. I don't care what it is - I'll take it! I just snowbooted up and went with the puppers on a walk. Here's what I saw -

The house - I live in a split level with a daylight basement. Uh huh.


The driveway - with which my snow blower and I are intimately familiar. See how lazy I've become? I no longer try to do the whole thing.


The street -


The almost disappeared mailbox. It will be gone tomorrow. The stuff in front of it is snow and ice. I've given up. Oh, that's Mt. Spokane in the distance. You can kind of see why I moved here. It *is* kind of pretty.


I'm making progress on my Carpenter's Star quilt - see...

There are four more borders and I'll make sure to post pix as I finish. Now to get some work done!

Snow Adventures (or How Janelle Did a 180 on Hwy 2)

Today, I watched it snow and snow and snow until about 11am. I waited for the plow to come by (otherwise I never would have gotten down my street). Then I got on my coat, hat, scarf, snow boots and gloves and went out and blew snow off my driveway for the umpteeth day in a row. I then shoveled the icy berm left by the plow at the end of the driveway. I've given up on the mailbox. It's almost buried under, despite my honest to goodness best efforts.

So, I'm escaping! It's sunny! All the sudden a plow thwacks a huge load of slush at my windshield but I do the "blind drive and pray my windshield wipers work" maneuver and keep going.

I drive the 15 miles into the northern part of Spokane. I'm headed to Costco. There's really only one main street through Spokane and it was absolutely jam packed with cars. Stop, go, stop, go, stop go for half an hour to get 2 miles. So I get to Costco. No cars in the parking lot. What? They closed it for fear that the roof will cave in. Ugh! I needed stuff at Costco.

I tool down the street and I see one total roof collapse (it was a futon store next to a picture framing store) and several partial collapses - a tire shop, a well-known florist/gift shop and not that I shop there much if ever, even Wal-Mart is shut down. I swear, I haven't seen sights this bad since I went to New Orleans after Katrina (for pet rescue).

After a few stops to "hunt and gather" the things I haven't been able to get for a month, I decide it's time to go home. I knew there was black ice on the road - the sun had been shining on the pavement and some of it was even showing through. However, now it's 4pm and 14 degrees (on its way to -2). I think I was only going 30 but some guy in front of me slams on his brakes (for no good reason that I can tell). He starts fishtailing so I slam on my brakes (like an idiot that didn't get her driver's license in the middle of a snowstorm). My Kia Sportage does a little ballet - seemed like slow motion. I drove into the slide (which is what I kind of remember you're supposed to do) and I come to a halt in the middle of a busy freeway in a turn lane (thank whoever you thank), turned the wrong direction and looking at cars coming at me. No harm done - seriously none, except that my last nerve was twitching pretty hard. I got myself going back the right direction and on home at a very slow pace.

Did I mention that I might not like this place right now?

Here's to a great 2009!

As the year comes to a close, I'm reminded of just how blessed I am. I'm living through the worst winter I've ever seen but I have a warm home, a snoring Pug boy and dreaming French Bulldoggy girl next to me, more hobbies than I can shake a stick at, and friends that check in on me (making sure I haven't fallen into a snow drift, I suppose)!

I wish everyone a wonderful 2009. My goals are to become more gainfully employed - that means working for someone else or turning those millions of ideas floating around in my head into that million dollar cash out (uh huh). Like everyone else, I'd like to exercise more and lose that winter (and summer and spring and fall) weight.

I'm going to take a trip - not sure where yet. Somewhere I've never been, I think. Any suggestions?

Well, in my characteristic fashion, I can't sit still so I've started a new quilt (yes, before finishing the last one) and I've been knitting the neighborhood puppers sweaters. Hey, it's cold out there! HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Productivity

The snow makes me decidedly unproductive - but I did make myself get stuff done this week!

Knitted this hat for a friend's mother-in-law who has been going through chemo. I loved knitting this. Used Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, which is Merino and very soft.

Put some stuff in the electroforming bath -

It's snowing like nobody's business again this morning. I'll see what else I can force myself to do!