Show hiatus--until July

just in time for summer:
Under the Sea: turquoise and
coral seaweed --pricing/sizing
available
through www.theafine.com

The good news is that the shows this spring ultimately were successful. The contacts were great, the opportunities for teaching are superb.  Now to find a locale for the classes -- perhaps the clubhouse here at EH would be better than the studio itself.

There is no bad news!  I've the time to design and to get some kits and class materials together.  Remember, I'm teaching at the Gemcutters Guild of Baltimore at the end of June, beginning of July....check the classes out on their site!  I'm teaching three ways of bezeling around the gems they've cut....What fun...and you can join in!!!

I'm awash in ideas for new designs for both Circle the Stone and Under the Sea, but before I go there, I need to finish up the two prototypes for the Judaica collection so I can share with a few shops.

The latest addition to the collection is "Just what the doctor ordered" -- they're custom-made and sized medic-alert bracelets.  A large step up from the garden variety from the drug store!  Chain maille or pearl or swarovskis are in the works.  Stay tuned.

BUT, before I do anything else, I need to finish up a writing project AND a baby sweater for a friend's soon-to-be-delivered new granddaughter!

I'm also learning all about Pinterest -- not sure WHAT I'm doing, but trying hard to do it! LOL.  My work has been pinned a few times already.....

Spring shows over: The chicks have flown

     PHEW! I am tired!  Sugarloaf was a good show this Spring. Not heavy traffic, but good traffic for me.  Many projects went off to good homes.  I ONLY send them to good homes, of course.   The mailing list has grown markedly; web contacts, too.
I'm only sorry that I won't be able  to participate in the Timonium show the last weekend of the month.  It would have been a good event.  Next up?  Ann Arbor in July!  I'm now wait-listed for Sugarloaf fall shows...hope to get in....
     Given the relatively light schedule, it gives me much time to stock up on supplies AND to get existing projects finished, kits completed and up on the website, and some classes scheduled.  REMEMBER, I am teaching at the Baltimore Gem Cutters at the end of June.
     The other major step I need to take is to update the website photos, and get a shopping cart up there!  The new line is launched...."Just what the doctor ordered" is alive and well....Medic-alert bracelets in 12-in-1 Japanese chain maille in a variety of colors.  I'm also getting some other versions ready in other media...stay tuned on that one!!!.
     And while I was away, the birds have flown.  As you may recall, I have a tiny barn finch nest at the top of the column that holds up my front door's porch roof.  We last saw mama bird feeding tiny babies.  Just before I headed out to the show, the young 'uns were beginning to take test flights.....Here's a picture of them as they were about to launch themselves.....And now, like my own young 'uns, they've flown the next.  Time to clean up the guano and wait for next year's fledglings.
     Tempis fugit, as they say!
     Off to work I go!!

One day more.....Come on down!

Sugarloaf continues. I'm cleaned, dressed, pressed, bedecked and bejeweled and ready to grab a bit of breakfast before heading to the show....and ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!  The clock radio in the hotel room is off by an hour.  It SAYS it's 7:24, but, in reality, it is only 6:24!  No wonder I'm still so very tired!

The solution?  More beading time!  I can finish up a necklace before I head off to the show....It has been busy, but nowhere close to the definition of busy during the fall holiday season.  I've even got a "booth-and-a-half".  While in the middle of a row, I've been able to configure the space to provide the illusion of a corner booth, allowing beaucoups of additional sunlight streaming in from the window nearby.  Wonderful!!!  AND I've got a bit of extra "leg room" behind to provide a nice little storage area!  Wowzers!

The only thing that's missing is YOU!  So come to visit!

Set up at Sugarloaf Craft Show complete!

So, I'm at the hotel, with my feet up, having spent the better part of the day setting up the booth at Sugarloaf.  PHEW!

Poor John had to go back home on a "pick up what Teddi stupidly left at home" mission.  The velvet shelves on which the jewelry sits were left in the basement! DOH!  So everything WAS good to go EXCEPT what was necessary to display the jewelry!  Double DOH!

But we're all set up now; he's on his way home. I'm trying to figure out what to do for dinner....perhaps a salad from somewhere or other....MUCH to drink -- water, that is!

I'm surprised by how empty the show seems to be; but I remain hopeful that this will be a good one for me.  On the bright side, the booth is larger than usual, leaving me storage space and the ability to create the illusion of a corner booth.  Sunlight streams in and helps reduce the need for extra lighting.  A good thing!  HUZZAH!  A freebie, too!

COME TO VISIT! BOOTH 107!  Sugarloaf Craft Show Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Gaithersburg MD!

Taking the show on the road this weekend

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm going to be at the Sugarloaf Craft Show at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg Maryland this weekend.  Friday through Sunday.


I'll be upstairs in building 6A, booth 107.  Do come to visit!  I'll be looking forward to seeing friends old and new, and making new acquaintances, too!

It's just the time to pick out things for Mother's Day and for graduates and brides.  Stop by early for the best selection or to special order in time for the wedding or graduation!

Wrist Warning--A new bracelet line

      Several months ago, a friend's sister came to visit.  A collector of beautiful things--including jewelry--the woman had a pair of magnificent bracelets on one wrist, and a medic alert bracelet -- the standard metal on metal from the drug store--on the other.  The two arms were in serious contrast. I might dare to say that they went from the sublime to the ridiculous (but necessary for an insulin-dependent diabetic).
     She happened to visit my studio and saw a few of my chain maille items.  [I love making them, but they're not part of my beaded collection, so they don't make it to many shows.  The tiny rings are a wonderful alternative to tiny beads.  Because the hand/arm motions differ markedly between the beading and the maille work, it's a good respite to help avoid carpal tunnel. Of course, the maille is just as eye-intensive as beads...so no break for these baby browns! LOL]
      But I digress...  My friend's sister fell in love with the Japanese 12-in-one pattern of one of my bracelets and wondered if I could create one that would serve as a more attractive "strap" for her medic alert ID charm.  OF COURSE IT WOULD!!!
     And a new line is being birthed as the result.  I've just sent off the first of the line to its new home in Florida -- purchased by my girlfriend for her sister, of course!  As she requested, its a Japanese 12-in-one.  Rather than work in silver (which she finds tarnishes rapidly in the Florida humidity), it's been done in aluminum and niobium...lightweight and susceptible to different looks based on the colors and placement of the niobium....In fact, it just occurred to me that one could do a "right side/wrong side" bracelet as well, with different colored large rings on the two sides.  Could be a fun idea.
     At any rate, it's the first in the "Hey Doc" line.....  Another version will feature Swarovski crystals and yet another will be crafted from the new farfalle beads.....I'm on a roll....
     SO, what do you think? With the unfortunate epidemic of obesity (and concomitant Type II diabetes), it's likely a growing niche market.....sad to say!   Shall I take the plunge and add this as another niche product?  Shall I do them on a custom basis?

      Let me know what you think!!!

Good day, Sunshine....at least for a while

A metal "sun" in Arles

The day dawned bright; the weather doom-sayers, however, inform that it will go downhill rather rapidly. BUt my good mood will NOT be doused!

The cause of the excellent humour this matin?  I've sworn off the Sunday pundits for the day!  No opinions in the guise of facts (whether from the right or the left).
AND I have completed my editorial work, which means, HUZZAH and HOORAY, I can bead, bead, bead for the next two days......First project to complete: a chain maille bracelet for a friend's sister who wears a medic alert.  How nice to have an attractive Japanese 12-in-1 bracelet for that, right?
Picture will be coming!!!

A French Metro sign to go with the Macarons!

It'll be bead, bead bead, EXCEPT  when I'm cooking, cooking, cooking for Passover. Two briskets (oh, so wonderfully cooked!) are already in the freezer.   Ice cream (two kinds that are rather "out there"), a sponge cake (to be paired with freshly whipped cream AND fresh strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar and a touch of sugar), and my first foray into French macarons (note, not the traditional cocoanut version, but the almond meal sandwich ones that look like pretty little pincushions, but taste oh so good!!!)


OMG, this is becoming a FOOD blog, not a bead blog.....If anyone wants directions for the food, let me know.  I'll be posting directions and kits for some of my favorite bracelets on the website. So stay tuned for that.  The shopping cart will be up before the summer hits.