It Was a Long Day....But Good!

OMG but it was a long, long day yesterday. I awakened at 2:30 am to do the last bit of work on my presentation that was due that night and got the last pages printed out. I then went my coffeeshop for oatmeal and coffee and an hour of reading. Then on to the shop to label and organize my overheads for the talk that evening and to finalize one of my B2ME stories. I had a goal of being able to eat something for lunch, but that didn't happen. So after a very busy day, I finally grabbed McDonald's quickly on the way to the meeting because I can't just survive on oatmeal for the entire day. A quick Mickey-D's and I was at least ready to be the focal point.

The talk itself went very well. I like speaking to groups of people as long as I know the subject I am discussing. Well, this is something that I know very, very well and that I feel passionate about. Beading has provided my livelihood, my art focus, and has provided food for my table for 25 years. Even though I don't do a lot of beadwork right now doesn't mean that I don't grab thread and needle often to whip something together. I took my audience on a trip through the history of modern contemporary beading and we had fun on the ride.

I finally got home shortly after 9:00 pm, after having left my home more than 15 hours before. Yes...a very long day. But, I finished two stories, and used my NookColor while on the sales floor to write my next one (love that app). I'll look that over once more this morning and get it posted. I hope to begin posting my B2ME stories to my archive tonight, otherwise I will fall too far behind in that. Have I mentioned lately that I love my NookColor? Hmmmmm....I love it! Such a great tablet computer :-)

Argh!

No, Argh is not pirate speak for me today. Argh is just that simple cry of frustration that echoed through my house yesterday afternoon. I'm immersed in keeping up with B2ME and was working on a story featuring a panel discussion of the relative merits of the character Feanor and the premise of whether or not he was the Savior of Middle Earth (OK, I'm letting my geek out here). I had spent 2-1/2 hours on this, polishing it to a truly beautiful story, and switched pages to grab the header. Moving back to paste the header onto the story, the wrong window closed and I lost it ALL! The entire story - dust and non-recoverable. After tears and total frustration, I dug in again and rewrote it - probably not as good as the original, but at least it got done and posted - after another 3-1/2 hours of work. So I'm now behind by 3-1/2 hours because I had planned on doing three stories and having a start on the fourth. Now I have starts on three, but I have my presentation to do tonight so I will have no time to work on this at all today. Like I said - Argh!

Except for that catastrophe, the weekend was good. We watched four more episodes of Spartacus (season 1) and only have one more disk for that season. We went to Barnes & Noble where I picked up the mag I needed - I got in and out of there within 30 minutes, a record speed. And we hit the grocer for a few things. I now have lunch stuff available again - yippee!

My presentation to the Bead Society is scheduled for tonight and my materials are 95% ready. I'll do the final bit at work this morning. I was up at 2:30 am printing out the last few pages and making sure that I had everything packed and ready to go. Mondays are always very busy days for me and I didn't want to have any unpleasant surprises on a day when I'm running a very tight schedule. I am still going to allow myself to have my hour of coffee, oatmeal and reading though. I think I do need to allow myself a little bit of relaxation. Have a great day!

Friday Timeframe Panics

So, my DH has been complaining that I spend too much time at my computer and not enough time with him. He wants me to cut down on my writing. But I really need to start my Beta work for my friend again (I've been VERY bad and hadn't touched her stuff since before the holiday), I've got Slashy Valentine and LOTR Community Challenge, the new ALEC just came through this morning, I have my weekly drabble for Tolkien Weekly, and LOTR Community also decided to do an art challenge that is intriguing me. Time...I have a feeling it is not my friend.

I am scheduled to give a lecture to the Upper Midwest Bead Society for the March meeting. That means I need to get my act together on that - samples have to be made, notes need to be taken, and if I want anything for accompanying materials, I have to have those ready. I keep telling my fellow members to have their rotten fruit ready to throw. At least it would liven up things a bit. Subject wise, this will be hard to make really fun, but not really a problem to discuss - topic: Beads and Stitches - An Exploration. I can do this in my sleep, but they deserve me awake and prepared.

So...a life. Yeah...right. Those of you asking about my glass saw and what I am doing with it...that's going to have to be a mid-March begin time just because of all of the things I have already listed. *sigh* I really need a clone...

24 Hours of Happy, Then Back to Normal

I actually won an award in the Middle Earth Fanfiction Awards for 2011. So I'm going to take today and bask, and tomorrow I'll be back to normal - working hard. My drabble "Morning Song" (that's a story of 100 words) placed second in the Drabble-Elves category. OK, that's enough about me, many of my friends placed numerous times and their wins were far more deserved than mine. So my sincere CONGRATULATIONS go out to all of the winners as well as all those stories that were nominated. Well done!

Today is my studio day. I give a lecture in two months to the Upper Midwest Bead Society on "An Exploration of Beads and Stitches" so I need to start working on examples for that, I also have six colorways that I designed to pack up a colorway kits that I need to start making up. I guess I'll be busy with needle and thread as well as continuing my writing today. It looks to be a good day :-)

What's In A Name?

A friend and customer of mine is speaking at the Upper Midwest Bead Society meeting on Monday night. She is speaking about designing, writing instructions, and teaching/publishing, and she phoned me yesterday to ask me about how I name my pieces. It's a valid question. I know people who look at their pieces and never name them unless they have to. I also know that I don't start out with a name, but that the piece (if it is a major piece) usually names itself over the course of making it. And that seems to carry forward from my beadwork into my metalwork and enamel work. Unfortunately, the project that I'm currently working out in my head doesn't have a title yet, so it seems unformed, unfocused, and very incomplete. But I'lll share a few finished projects with all of you.

This is "Summer of Love 1969". I realize that the real Summer was actually 1968, but this was the name that the project wanted, so that's what it got. This piece won a few first place prizes for me.

"Hobby Horse Dreams" was a piece created for a contest that requested a "whimsical" project. The hobby horse dreams of flying away through the skies like an eagle. Although I didn't win a prize in that competition, he had a good lifespan - being accepted into three different competitions and/or display venues in two different cities. I'm proud of "Horse", he graces my glass display cubicles at the moment, managing to get along well with my many dragons also on display.

And speaking of dragons, this last piece - "Emperor's Dragon" - was never really intended to belong to me. I made it for the Beading For A Cure auctions of 2007. But I had a certain dollar amount that I required for it and when the auction didn't reach that amount, I bid the amount and bought my piece back. I've never regretted it - it's a stunning piece. I hope that someday I'll be able to put it back on sale and get the dollars that it deserves. It features a fully beaded front panel over hand-painted silk and mounted onto a leather handbag. If I never sell it, I'll still love it. It's a great piece :-)

So what about all of you? Do you name your pieces? Do your pieces speak to you at all? I doubt I'm that unique, but not everyone listens to those soft whispers at the back of their heads.