Attempting to Refocus

I am winding down the projects for 2011 and starting to think about what I want to do in 2012. I know I want to do more enamel work, I know I want to play with my glass saw and fused glass pieces, and I'm really enjoying my writing and the photoshop pieces that I have worked with over the past nine months. But I don't have a specific deadline staring me in the face. Oh, I've already registered for some writing challenges. And I have a wooden base for an enamel piece that is barely hatched in my mind, but no specific deadlines. I have a year ahead of "no" though.

Rainbows of bead colors are just one of the fun things that B&B Show has tempted me with over the years. I will miss seeing friends I've met there, but the economy finally caught up with me.

I will NOT be attending Bead & Button Show for the first time since the 1990's. This will be a shocker and will take me some time to get used to the idea. But I'm doing less beading, and really developing my own personal style. I also just can't afford it any more. It's not the classes as much as the hotel room which is more than twice what it used to be. So I won't be in Milwaukee in June.

One of the fun things that the PMC Conference does are displays of work by various chapters and their members. This hallway at Purdue was filled with windows of exceptional metalwork - such inspiration!

I also won't be at any metal clay convention this coming year. It is the final year for the PMC Conference, and it will be held in a slightly more accessible location than Purdue University, but even though I will continue working in the metal clay media, I don't have the time/money to spend on going to the conference. So, it's looking like I won't get any vacation time in 2012, and that is really bumming me out. But if I can refocus on my art and spend the money that I would have spent on conferences on materials and equipment, I think I'll actually end up much happier in the long run.

Holiday Letter 2010

For many years I have included an annual “Holiday Letter” with my holiday cards. In spite of the fact that these letters are usually self-promoting in the extreme, I decided that I would still compose a holiday letter to bring our friends and relatives up-to-date with what happened in our lives during 2010, but I also decided that I would offer it as a voluntary read, i.e., on my blog, on-line. Thus, it is a more environmentally friendly holiday letter, and I will work on minimizing the self-promotion aspect of the tome as well.

To start out with some basics, Jim and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary this year. As always, we are amazed at our longevity as a couple. We work well together, and we fight well together, and in spite and despite all, we care deeply for each other. Thus, we push through the bad times and concentrate on the good ones.

Jim shoveling snow during our Blizzard of December 11.

My personal Nanuk of the North.

Jim’s father is 92 now, and still in great physical condition. Of course his life has slowed down a bit, but he is just as mentally spry as he has been for many years and we are delighted that he is still here to spend time with. Jim drops by every morning to say “hello” and check up on him, and he helps him out by shoveling his snow and doing some errands for him as needed. I look forward to spending another Christmas with the two men in my life.


Our snow for the early part of the year was almost non-existent. But our snow for the end of the year has more than made up for that with more than 20 inches in less than ten days. Our snow blower has been non-functional for a few years now, so we are getting our exercise by wielding our shovels while clearing out driveways and walks.

Stormcloud's store front in warmer days.
The store is still there and functioning. It has been a hard year for us, as it has been for every small retailer, but we are hanging in there and hope to end the year on an up-note. There are so many aspects of the store that we love, and we have the best customers in the world, so we are reluctant to do much more than discuss retirement at this time. Even though I would love to do my art on a more full-time basis, I really need to interact with others and, I suspect, I would still get a part-time job even if I wasn’t working at the shop.

BFAC 2011 Jewelry Box - top.  Handpainted and beaded silk.

As always, I have spent whatever time I could creating my artwork. This year I prepared a two-layer jewelry box with hand-painted beaded silk and etched copper work on the lid. This was made for Beading for a Cure and will go up for auction sometime in March/April 2011. It is my hope that it will bring high dollars for the charity. I also had one of my bronze clay earrings published in a book on bronze clay by Yvonne Padilla. It was a thrill to have a project of mine in print again.

BFAC Jewelry Box - Interior.  Two layers and a pull-down
ring holder.  The plaque translates the Tengwar that is on the
round disc on the front. 

I attended Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee in June, although I shortened my usual stay to five days. And I attended the Precious Metal Clay Conference at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in late July, driving to Kentucky after the conference broke up to attend a two-day workshop in torch firing enamels at Thompson Enamel Company. I still love working with my kiln and enamels, but had little time to spend with it later in the year. I hope to return to it in the New Year.

The King and Queen on their Wedding Day meeting some
of their Royal subjects. 

We had Season Tickets for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival again this year and attended each Sunday of the Fest. We truly love being out there, away from the walls and roofs of our normal lives. My BFF Sharon came over from Denver again for the Labor Day weekend. We attended the Minnesota State Fair with her and took her to the Renaissance Festival for the King’s wedding ceremony (very posh). And, as usual, we had a terrific time sharing our space with our friend again. Our door is always open to her.


It is our sincere hope that all of you have a peaceful and joyful holiday season and that 2011 is a year of expanding possibilities, love, and extraordinary beauty for each of you. We wish you happiness with your families and careers, and the hope that you will achieve your goals. Thank you for your patience with my annual Holiday Letter, I promise you won’t have to read another one from me until next year.

Sandra and Jim

Following the Ozone

I normally awaken at 3:30 am (yes, I already know that I'm crazy).  This morning, 3:30 am came and along with it came lots of lightning and thunder.  So, I settled on the livingroom couch to sleep for another 30 minutes because I wasn't about to turn on my computer with all of that storm activity over my house.  When my small alarm went off at 4am, I had no power.  That remained the case until 5am, so I'm running 90 minutes late today.  Oh well, that's the breaks.  At least I got an extra hour+ of sleet, my power is back and so is my internet connection, therefore all is good. 

A PMC Charm Bracelet Assembled by Rachel Miller

Yesterday I went through my charms that I received in exchange at the Charm Swap at the PMC Conference two weeks ago.  I was so fortunate - so many of the charms that I received are simply wonderful.  And I got more than I had to exchange.  Several friends and acquaintences gave charms to me even though I had already distributed all of my own charms.  I was honored and delighted.  I think I am going to make a 2x2 jumpring chain for these - there will be some substantive weight to the necklace when I am finished with it and I want it to be comfortable to wear.  I also have the charms from last year's Metal Clay World that need a necklace, so I might as well get to work on that also.  Maybe I'll play with chain-maille jewelry while attending Ren Faire starting next weekend. 

Time is NOT my Friend

Best of intentions....yada, yada, yada....  Applications for teaching at the 2011 Bead & Button Show are due today.  That means that they have to be postmarked today and all on-line application forms have to be filled out, the photography has to be completed, and the sample projects have to be labelled and sent out along with instructions, printed application forms, etc, etc, and etc.  I worked on getting my application documents together until quite late last night, and set my alarm for 3am so that I could continue working on them this morning.  I finally gave up about 5am.  It's just not going to happen.  I can get the major project complete and submitted, but the secondary classes just don't have sufficient samples available, and the fourth class that I really wanted to do needs another week of time.  So...I'll be poor and broke next year and someone else will be teaching what I really wanted to do and I'm NOT happy about it.  Money will be tight next year - I blew this year's and part of next year's budget on the trip that I just finished.  I was hoping that teaching would inspire me to continue creating, but would also allow me to recoup some of my expenses.  But I really need to analyze this more carefully and determine my expenses and possible inflows so that I can see if I would really make any money teaching or if I would lose money after I purchased all of the supplementary supplies that I would have to provide.  It's a quandry that rarely raises its' head when I was teaching beadwork, but that most certainly raises its' head when I'm teaching metalworking techniques. 

Time is Running Out...

So, I will put that behind me and start working out some enamel projects to play with the techniques that Deb Lozier was teaching in class.  I'll also get my photos from the PMC Conference and the Thompson Enamel workshop downloaded and massaged so that I can post them.  Life goes on. 

The Groove Returns

I returned late yesterday from my creative journeys.  I went through Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota yesterday - six states in 15 hours of driving.  A long and absolutely wonderful day.  With the exception of the non-functional air conditioning, this was one of the BEST creative trips I have made in a long time.  Of course, those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook were able to get frequent updates, but for those who follow my blog, here is a capsulized synopsis. 

PMC Conference Logo

I started out at the PMC Conference at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  That was 2-1/2 days of fantastic interaction and networking with friends and fellow metal artists.  I focused on marketing and design this time - learned a great deal from Bruce Baker and Alison Lee - and I hope to incorporate a lot of their suggestions into this blog, my website, and my personal work.  I was on both the giving and receiving end of many hugs from many friends, spent more money than I had planned on, and generally explored many possibilities.  I did receive confirmation of many of my own artistic visions - generally I would consider the PMC Conference to have been successful for me. 

Deb Lozier enamels example - such stunning work and SO fun to do!

Then I went on to two days of torch-firing enamels under the guidance of Deb Lozier at Thompson Enamels in Kentucky.  The class was small, but very exciting.  The other students were amazingly diverse with experience ranging from 30+ years to almost no enamel work.  We all got to work playing with flame and glass, and the items that we ended up with were diverse and multi-dimensional.  I took lots of pictures and will try to start going through them tonight, hopefully getting some posted for all of you to look at soon.  Now, back to the grind...

Vacation Countdown

I leave tomorrow - early - because I have a dinner date with a bunch of friends at 6pm.  So I have to hit the road no later than 6am to be there, checked in and unpacked on time.  I still have 1-2 loads of laundry to push through tonight, trash and recycling to do tomorrow, and I still have to pack my clothes.  I think I purchased everything that the store will need while I'm gone, and if the computer gods are smiling on me, the store computers will work properly for a week!  I have a ton of work to do today, and want to squeeze one last mail order out of the door this morning so I'll be hitting the store running.  A nine hour drive will seem like a vacation in itself after the last few days of rush, rush, rush. 

The PMC Conference Logo

I finally got my charms for the conference finished.  Starting with more than 40, I ended up with less than 30 that were useable.  It was a project that was cursed from the beginning with my PPP light not working properly, then the attempted firing schedule didn't work correctly - TWICE.  I finally used a different firing schedule for the metal clay and that worked, but I had a lot of extra prep work to do because of that schedule.  A day or so later I realized that enameling on the charms wouldn't be possible (I was VERY bummed about that) but that made me focus on alternative coloration and I ended up deciding to Liver of Sulphur the charms.  Which caused my glass bowl to fracture, spilling Liver of Sulpher all over my workbench and floor.  The charms dried and I hit them at the polisher the next morning, attached crystals on Sunday and Monday morning, bagged them and attached them to my business cards.  So...they are ready.  Now all I have to do is remember to pack them - . 

Getting Ready...

I leave for my conference next week and I suppose that I should start packing ...  I'm really bad about sitting down and getting things into my suitcases.  I have a pretty good idea about what I want to have access to at the conference, but that is followed by a workshop that I really don't have any idea about.  And I still have to finish my charms.   Oh - my charms.  There is a charm exchange at the conference. I really enjoy participating in it and getting a variety of wonderful charms from fellow jewelers.  I made my charms (after many difficulties) out of Art Clay Copper.  I had planned to enamel them, but time constraints made me shelve that idea.  Then I was going to darken the sigil on the front and paint some of the back - I scrapped that also because I wasn't getting the look that I needed.  So after having repickled the metal and tumbling the metal again, yesterday morning I decided to liver of sulfur the charms, then I can hit them with the polisher and get them assembled.  I was dipping the charms and they darkened well.  I had the acid in a glass bowl on my hotplate to keep it warm.  When I picked up the bowl to dispose of the LoS, the bowl cracked into two and LoS went everywhere!  What a mess.  Of course I work in copper a lot, and I had pieces on my bench for other items I was working on.  I had to rescue them from the solution very quickly, then mop up the mess.  The studio, of course, smelled like sulfur.  Today I start polishing these cursed items and I hope things work well on this because my patience is coming to an end (as is my time - LOL). 
 

Mark Cavendish wins again.  He's one of the highlights of this year's Le Tour de France. 

Today is the final time trial for Le Tour de France.  Mark Cavendish won the sprint yesterday - the man is simply amazing.  Show him a finish line and he will accelerate to cross it first, no matter what.  That kind of focus is a good lesson for all of us in life.  Show us the finish line - goals to be achieved - and then focus on crossing that finish line first.  Of course, he wouldn't be as successful without a team to make sure he is in a good position to make his strike.  So while you are focused on achieving your goals, don't turn down the assistance of those who will help you achieve your success.  Have a creative weekend and enjoy the final ride into Paris on Sunday.  Vive Le Tour! 

Decisions and Deadlines

I leave for the PMC Conference next week.  I have charms fired, but no enamel on them.  They have a top hole for a jump ring and a bottom hole where I wanted to attach a jumpring.  Given my timeline and my general level of exhaustion when I get home from work, I have decided to not enamel my charms.  I will darken my sigil and selected parts of the backs, but I'm not going to play with a kiln when I'm exhausted.  That would be a recipe for disaster.  This will be my first charm without enamel and I am disappointed in my decision, but my timelines just aren't allowing that flexibility.  The only time I would have to be able to enamel safely is Sunday, and I have to spend Sunday packing and getting my act together for my workshop and conference.  This has been a project marked by small disasters and I think it's time to wrap it up and go on with my life.  I can play with the technique and material in more detail later in the year.  I still have 50 grams of ACC available for me to play with. 

Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador exchange looks.

No Tour today - the riders are taking a well deserved rest.  It's been a heck of a Tour so far - it has a variety of stage winners, an acrimonious pair fighting it out at the top, and Lance trying for a comeback.  We'll have one more day in the Pyrenees on Thursday, a relatively flat day on Friday, the second individual time trial on Saturday and the ride into Paris on Sunday.  Contador will win this, but it's been fun watching Contador and Schleck fight it out - they are very well paired.  Contador is the faster at time trials, though.  It's so hard to believe that July is almost over - where is my summer going? 

The Charm Gods Strike Again

So, yesterday I said that my charms (at least the first batch) had fired up well.  That was before I had washed them.  While washing them, I realized that the charms hasn't sintered properly.  For those of you unfamiliar with metal clays, when they are fired, the clay binder burns off leaving sintered metal - 100% metal.  The binder did not completely burn off and two of the charms broke in my hand.  This was NOT good.  I had fired according to the directions on the website...  I went to work and put a call in to Jackie Truty, the head of Art Clay World, US.  Jackie and I discussed the firing schedule and possible causes, etc.  All we could come up with was to lengthen the firing time, so I put a second batch in last night and I'll check it this morning and see if I got better results.  I really liked working with the Art Clay Copper, but it needs to fire up correctly also. 

Isn't this a great poster?  It shows so graphically
that the Pyrenees await the riders.

Today is the last of the flat days for Le Tour de France before we hit four days of hell in the Pyrenees.  Andy Schleck is still in the yellow, but due to a last minute attack by Alberto Contador yesterday, his lead has dropped to 30 seconds.  Not a lot of time with the mountains still ahead of them.  The crowds at Le Tour this year are larger and more enthusiastic than ever, and they are always totally crazy in the Pyrenees, so I'm really looking forward to Sunday through Wednesday, even though Chickie will be on vacation and I won't have a day off next week.  I'll make up for it during the following weeks when I get my own vacation to do my workshop and conference.

All Cylinders Firing

It seems as though I am always working on art projects while watching Le Tour de France.  I remember working on a set of Bead Artist Trading Cards while watching Lance crest mountains.  I remember working on the wooden under body of "Rocking Horse Dreams" while Lance fought again for dominance.  And yesterday I spent my morning in front of the office TV refining my charms and readying them for firing.  I left an interesting brown/copper dust smudge on my carpet, but it's the office - what goes on in the back room doesn't really make much difference.  In fact, it was rather amusing to see the small dune that my sanding had caused.  Last night I buried the first group in charcoal and began firing them.  I need to wait until the temp is down to 200 before I remove them, and the kiln was only down to 425 when I awoke this morning, so instead of being able to sandwich in one more fire this morning, I have to wait until tonight before I can do the nest batch.  I packed 16 into the first firing.  At that rate it will take three firings before all of them are ready for the next step.  And I'm really curious about how well they took and how much shrinkage I got.  I still have work to do on these charms. 

My Paragon SC2 kiln

The well in the gulf is finally capped and oil is no longer gushing out into the water.  There is so much that went wrong with this oil well, it is impossible to list all of the individual problems.  But what concerns me is the environmental impact of this spill - something that will last for many years to come.  I suspect that even into several more generations, this disaster will still be affecting the Gulf environment - the birds, fish and other wonderful critters and the ocean.  I see the impact of ocean pollution daily.  Shells that I used to be able to purchase and sell are no longer available because of decreased populations due to pollution, and those that I can get have their prices much higher.  I can't blame all of the price increases on the crappy economy that we are also living with right now. 

Children coloring.  When was the last time you spent time
with a box of crayons and some paper?

But in all of this negativity, there have to be some positive strokes, after all, I am basically a very positive person.  That can come from art and personal expression.  I firmly believe that everyone has a talent that will make them happy.  It could be craft/art in nature - painting, drawing, sculpting, throwing a pot, quilting a blanket, or beading a necklace.  It could be more practical in nature - inventing a new recipie or arranging plants in a garden to maximum visual benefit.  It could be interpersonal - adroitly causing people with diametric views to come together and work for a common goal, finding common ground and possible friendships in the journey.  Find your talent, express it and work with it to allow your wings to furl and yourself to fly.  Have a creative day! 

The Week is Progressing

I hope all of you had a good Bastille Day.  I almost ordered French Silk pie last night in honor of France, but broke down and got Coconut Creame instead.  "Despicable Me" was absolutely delightful - we laughed throughout the movie and the littlest girl's eyes could rival Puss 'n Boots' eyes in Shrek.  It is most certainly a movie that I will buy on DVD when it becomes available.  One thing that appealed to the adults in the audience - Gru (the main villian) goes to the bank for funding for his current evil ploy.  The bank is the "Bank of Evil, Formerly Known as Lehmann Brothers".  All of the adults in the audience were laughing over that one.  If you have a chance to see this one, do so.  It's not just a kid's movie, it is a movie that you can take a kid to but still enjoy as an adult. 

"Despicable Me" is a definite winner.  Go and see this movie!

Le Tour de France hits the flats today transitioning to the Pyrenees by the weekend.  It's a day for the sprinters, and although there may not be much change in the overall standings, it will still be a fun stage to watch.  The fireworks of mountains and men on bikes will reconvene on Sunday.

It's very orange out of the packet, but clean and easy to
work with.  I like the product so far.

The saga of my charms for the PMC Conference continues, but at least I'm getting somewhere.  I was finally able to make my PPP of my sigil by purchasing a new light fixture from Home Depot yesterday morning.  Putting the new bulb into the new fixture resulted in success.  I made a positive and a negative image, chose which one to use and started work with my Art Clay Copper.  I added too much oil to my first 50 grams, so opened another packet and started working without adding anything.  It is tough to start working with - but once I got it rolled out once, it was an absolute dream to use.  I made more than 40 charms and put them into the dehydrator.  I know that some of these won't survive being vetted after sanding and refining, I'm hoping that I will get between 30-35 usable charms out of the batch.  After I refine them I'll start firing them.  With the heat we've been having, I'll run the kiln overnight to keep any heat overage under control.  And since I do want to enamel them, I'll charcoal fire them.  This should be fun!  Now I just need time and that's going to be hard with my having to work all next week while Chickie is on vacation. 

I'm Doomed!

It's a little dramatic, but it's also the best description of the past 24 hours of relatively fruitless activity.  I need to make charms to take with me to the PMC Conference in two weeks.  I plan to make these from Art Clay Copper and enamel them.  I'll have to do the enameling during my evenings and/or Sundays, because after today I will have no more studio days until after I return.  My original plan was to make a PPP (that's photo-polymer plate) of my egret sigil - the symbol that I use to sign each piece and drawing that I make, and bas-taille enamel it.  I purchased a system for PPP from my friend and former customer Gwen last year at Metal Clay World, but I hadn't used it yet.  I took a refresher class from her last month at Bead & Button, so I was very confident about what I wanted to do and the process to do it.  Then fate stepped in. 

Despicable Me - I'm King of the World?

I got the image ready to expose without any problem - both a positive and negative image.  I assembled the light fixture - I certainly knew how to do this, I had helped Gwen assemble the ones that she needed for her class just a month before, and I plugged it in.  So far, so good.  I turned on the light - no problems here, until after 30 seconds when the center of the light bulb went dead, leaving a non-functional fixture.  So...I needed a new bulb.  Now, this is not just any bulb.  It is a specialty bulb that even Gwen finds difficult to locate.  But, I did find a place with a bulb for me, drove out there, purchased it, put it into my car, and worked for the day.  Last night, I put the new bulb into the light, and....nothing.    Gwen is sending me a new fixture and bulb, and I need to shift gears and figure out what to do for my charms now....

Andy Schleck in Yellow - What a wonderful sight!  Hope he does well today on
Le Tour de France.

But tonight I get to play a bit and I'm going to watch "Despicable Me" with Chickie and Claire.  I'm really looking forward to this.  We decided to watch the normal show - not the 3D one.  Next week I'm going to see "Inception" with Meghan and Chickie.  That one we will see in 3D - that one deserves the extra money.  I hope your day will go a bit better than my Tuesday did. 

The French Flag - wave it proudly today!

Oh, and I almost forgot - Happy Bastille Day to my friends in France!  I remember fondly celebrating Bastille Day in my youth in Aspen, Colorado.  Our resident composer that summer was Darius Milhaud, so rather than celebrate Independence Day, the town celebrated Bastille Day.  Later in my life, while working as an archaeologist, we celebrated Bastille Day while working with Cynthia Irwin Williams.  Many happy years with many good friends - many happy memories.  So Happy Bastille Day to all of you!

Looking Forward...

We have an off day on Le Tour today, so things kick off in the Alps again tomorrow.  Lance is basically out of contention for the podium due to three falls yesterday - tough day for Armstrong.  His strengths and talents now need to be focused on his teammate - Levi - to get him as far as possible.  The stage was won by Andy Schleck (happy me!) and the yellow is being worn by Cadel Evans (also happy me!).  All in all, Sunday was a great day on the Tour. 

Cadel Evans in Yellow.  He SO deserves this!

Sorry to all my friends from the Netherlands, but the octopus was right again (someone put that sea critter into Vegas - phenominal winning record).  Spain won the World Cup 1-0 in Extended Play.  I'm NOT a soccer fan, but this was a great game (even though I only caught the last half hour). 

The Octopus predicts Spain will win over the Netherlands.
It was right again!

And we tried to put the new cable boxes onto our televisions.  Oh - a REALLY bad idea.  Tempers rose, DH stomped around complaining about monopolies, and I'll end up phoning Comcast this morning and arranging for installation.  Since Chickie is off next week, it will have to be this week or a Sunday.  Comcast is usually very accommodating.  I need to pick up two surge strips before we can do this - we don't have enough plugs available to add anything else to it, and ideally I can get a Wednesday afternoon session, but that will almost eliminate my chances of getting my metal clay pieces done.  So I'll schedule myself some time at the shop to work on them, or work on them tomorrow night.  It's the enameling that concerns me, but I'm planning to do bas-taille, so it won't be as elaborate this year.  I also need to get the PPP completed for it, I can work on the master for that tonight.  Busy...busy...

Time Crunch

I have one studio day left for the month of July, and I still haven't made my charms for the PMC Conference.  Next week is my last opportunity, so I have to shift my plans and I know I will also have to work a couple of evenings and maybe a Sunday.  Chickie is on vacation for the week of the 18th and I won't have a studio day that week, and I leave for Indiana on the Wednesday following.  It is frustrating because I know I won't be able to do what I had originally intended, but I'll change my design on the fly and do a different one.  I will need to make a PPP for it, so I'll get to use some of the skills that I was taught by Gwen in June at the Bead & Button Show. 

I'm late...already!

I had two other things on my schedule:  sending an item in (virtually) for a metals competition, and working out an application to teach at next year's Bead & Button Show.  All of this has to work within my conference and workshop schedule.  Crazy me :-)  Oh - and there are two movies that I want to catch - also on Wednesdays:  Despicable Me and Inception.  I feel like the White Rabbit - always late. 

Planning the Next Project

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I completed my Beading For A Cure project and now am thinking about what project to do next.  I need to work with my Art Clay Copper to make charms for the PMC Conference at the end of the month, and to try the material out and see what I think.  I usually enamel my charms so I need to think of something quick, simple, and attractive for that which will go quickly since my time is quite limited.  I only have two studio days before I leave because of scheduling around Chickie's vacation time, and I could maybe squeeze in a Sunday although I try and reserve Sundays for my DH. 

Crash in the peloton

Le Tour de France is turning into a crash-fest so far.  Major crashes on Stage 1 and Stage 2 have really affected the peloton.  Yesterday's crash pulled so many riders out of contention that they gathered together and all rode through the finish line in a group as a protest, instead of individually racing for position.  Today they will hit cobblestones...THAT should be interesting - LOL. 

And I have to attend a baby shower for one of my nieces this evening.  Social events like this are really not my forte - I would much rather be home watching my episode of Dangerous Catch for the week.  But no, I need to be social and a good Aunt.  I got an item from her Target baby registry on Sunday, it is wrapped and ready to go.  The card has been signed, the gift receipt has been enclosed, and I've tried to find on-line directions to the house.  I've been at the house once before, but it is a bit tricky to find and everything starts at 6:30 this evening.  I'll be there closer to 7:00 - I can't close the shop early just because I have a baby shower to attend.  She's due to deliver a baby girl on the 15th - I'm actually very happy for her and Nick, she'll be a fantastic Mom. 

Day After...

Today is July 5th.  Many people will have today off work, and many places will be closed.  But not my store and I'll be there working as usual on a Monday.  I hope everyone had a great 4th of July (for those who are not from the US, it's basically a big birthday party for our nation).  We went out for Bar-B-Que on Saturday night - SO GOOD!  And we had burgers and some incredible maple and cranberry baked beans for dinner on Sunday.  It was amazingly good!  I have one burger left and I'll have that for breakfast today. 

Our burgers are on onion buns, but this looks pretty good too.

I had enough time on Sunday to complete my box - or at least to complete it to the 98% level.  I still have a few crystals to glue onto it and then it will be complete.  But the top was glued on, and the disc was mounted.  I placed and glued the three constellations that I wanted in the sky, and I'm very pleased with the end result.  The additional flat backs will just be adding a bit more bling to an already over-the-top star field.  I'm very happy with the results of this project but I'll be happy to see it end so that I can make my charms for the PMC Conference.  I was beginning to think I'd never get the time to make those.  Wednesday will be a day for photography since I have to submit photographs, then I can make a mailing box for the item and send it on it's merry way.  It's always a wonderful feeling to complete a project, so I'm happy for a change - LOL. 

Chilly in the Hot Weather

Well, conversation is still not happening at home.  I'm supposed to care about this, but realistically this has happened so many times that I just don't care anymore.  I did have an opportunity to see Eleanor yesterday for a later breakfast.  It was such a joy to see her again.  It's been such an emotional rollercoaster that she's been on with Lee's heart attack and the other health issues that he has had over the past three weeks, that she almost burst into tears in the restaurant at least three times.  It was my job to steer her to the positive things and get her away from the brink.  After all - he is still living, is improving, and shows every indication of continuing to improve.  That's a very good thing. 

The Hotel that we stay in for Metal Clay World.

I took advantage of early registration for Metal Clay World 2011 yesterday also, and phoned in my early-bird registration on the first day they were accepting them.  Last year's conference was absolutely wonderful - one of the best times I've had in a long time.  I can't wait for next year's, I'm sure it will be an equally wonderful opportunity to share creativity with friends, both old and new.  The PMC Conference and Metal Clay World switch years, so the conference I'm attending at the end of this month is the PMC Conference.  If it is held in Purdue again in 2012, and if the pre-conference classes are still as boring, I might skip the PMC Conference 2013 completely (that's providing our world doesn't completely self-destruct in 2012 as has so often been discussed).  Creativity - my life preserver in stormy seas. 

The route for Le Tour de France 2011.  Wicked mountains!

Le Tour de France begins tomorrow.  Can't wait!!!!

On Sunday, Dawn and I were up early bringing our items to our respective cars and packing so that we were ready to leave.  Dawn was planning to hit the sales floor one more time, I had a class starting at 9am.  We managed to get accurate bills from the hotel (the usual snafu existed again, but it was solveable), paid with our cards and grabbed a quick breakfast.  Then we were off to the convention center.  My class was quite fun - drilling stone with a diamond core-drill, inserting sterling silver tubing to make a tube rivet, and flaring the tubing to fit the stone.  She had some very soft stones and some harder stones.  Whatever the black stones were made from, they permanently marked my fingernails, so I will be wearing the class for a week or so :-)  I didn't do a great job on the rivets, but I'll do better when/if I play with the technique on my normal work bench.  It's not a high priority project, but it was fun and it will come in handy at some point in my artistic carreer. 

After class and one more quick drop by the sales floor to hug my friend Beki and her hubby Shawn, I returned to my car, put the last item into the trunk, and headed out of the door towards home.  I was exhausted, but happy, and I did indulge myself by allowing myself a short nap in a rest stop on the way home.  I arrived home around 7pm, dragged my suitcases in and started work on my Emails.  I only had 1000 messages waiting for me on my main Email addy!  I'll be working my way through these for a while. 

And now I'm working towards my next workshop date.  I'll be heading to Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana at the end of July, and continuing with a trip to Thompson Enamel for a two-day workshop on torch-fired enamels before returning home.  That's an expense that the shop won't pay, so I need to scrape the dollars up for this from my investments or the interest on my CD's.  It'll be tight, but I'll make it happen.  I love learning new techniques - and so many of them eventually find a place in my finished work :-)

Monday, Monday

Another week, and eight new items up for bid for Beading For A Cure. Take a look at this incredible necklace by my friend in the great state of Montana - Red Ventling. She added matte black bugle beads into the mix and it made a wonderful pallette.

My Sunday was lazy and that was exactly what I needed. I've been fighting a cold, so not doing anything much except reading stories on my computer and playing some of Lord of the Rings Online was exactly what I needed. I feel much better this morning, so having that day must have done well for me.

The PMC Guild's Conference at Purdue this summer is once again offering what they call their "One-on-One" sessions. I didn't sign up for these last time I attended, and really regretted it. Although I still have a wide and ecclectic variety of finished work, I want some help with marketing and developing a line and a voice, so I signed up this time. I just have to remember that I did this and pack whatever I can that would apply.