Friday Communique

Mom, Dean, and I at Casino Night on the cruise.

My Mom's birthday is always within a week of Mother's Day. We usually celebrate the two together, however this year Dean and I were able to see her on her birthday and we'll be with her again Sunday. One of the things I'm most grateful for is my relationship with my mom. We've always been close and for that I'm extremely fortunate.

My mom is one of the most thoughtful people in the world. She's always putting the needs of others before her own and always does it in the most stylish way possible. She has a great laugh, a huge heart, and is never without her signature red lipstick and nail polish. Mom makes the best teriyaki chicken and rainbow jello in the world and always gives me cards that make me cry.

Mom, thank you for being you and for always encouraging me to be me. I love you! Happy Mother's Day!

Check out what some of my crew were up to this week:

Sara Hardin (AKA SoftFlexGirl) wants you to check out the Soft Flex May Spotlight on...Beading Article, Free Project Idea, Book Review, Bead Store & Designer Features.

Kristen Fagan is passing along the free Etsy success e-book featuring tips on marketing, packaging, customer service and more for all you Etsy sellers!

Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms out there! Have a lovely weekend! xoxo

A klutz's perfect Hawaiian day...

The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.
-Leonardo da Vinci

Earth Day (April 22nd) was both my favorite day of the cruise and the worst day of my vacation. Early that morning, the ship docked at Kona on the big island. It was a beautiful sunny day and as we rode on the tender from the ship to shore, the view was just like the Hawaii of my dreams. We rented eleven scooters and rode all around the city looking for a good snorkeling spot on the beach. I love, love, loved the scooters and kind of wish I had one of my very own...

As we began snokeling I had some trouble getting my mask on and while walking into the water stepped on something really sharp and poking. I brushed it off, went back to swimming, and was treated to the sight of some amazing fish. My foot was stinging pretty badly, so when I got out of the water and noticed all the little black dots on the bottom of my right foot, my mom suggested I go show the lifeguard. She said they were sea urchin spines and that there wasn't much to do about getting them out as they fall out on their own.

Then she mention that she would like to take a look at my other foot. I looked down to see a huge bloody gash in my left heel. I have no idea how it happened, because I didn't feel a thing, but it did not look good. We got back on the boat and went to the infirmary to have it looked at. The nurse said highly recommended stitches and I started to freak out a bit. I am not good around blood or medical talk (I fainted at the hospital while visiting my brother in pre-op). The nurse gave us an hour to decide and my mom and I headed up to our room. I was afraid of the needle more than anything else, but I knew the stitches were pretty inevitable, so I took two generous shots of Jack Daniels and was a tough kid as the doctor put three gnarly stitches in my foot.

Thanks to some fabulous painkillers from a generous family member, I managed to enjoy the rest of the trip, even as I walked around on the balls of my feet to avoid hitting the spines and stitches. I was able to walk on my right foot again when we got home, but I'm still nursing the left foot - my calf is getting huge! The stitches were taken out this morning and replaced with five little strips that are squeezing the two sides of the gash together. The stitches weren't as tight or as plentiful as my doctor would have liked, but it's healing a bit and hopefully I'll be able to walk normally again soon.

I can't wait to get a pedicure!

I heart Hawaii.

NCL's Pride of America was my home last week. It was a lovely ship that carried me to some of my favorite new places. We only had a few days of sunshine, but the entire week was heaven.

Now I'm back. I'm having some difficultly adjusting. I miss the ocean. I miss my family. And, among other things, I miss the 24-hour Diner on the ship with its free jukebox and its delicious cheeseburgers and brownie sundaes...

Pictures and stories coming soon, after I get through all the email, make my next DOY piece, and finish up my Swarovski submissions for Tucson. Hope you're all doing well!

A Soft Flex Company Contest!!

One more thing before I go: Soft Flex is having a contest and there are some amazing prizes to be won! I really hope that you enter because I want to see what people are making with the Trios wire sets. For information about the contest, check out Sara's post.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Every couple of years, my very sweet grandparents take all of the family on a big vacation. The above picture was taken two years ago when we cruised from Montreal to Boston. I've taken trips with my entire family for as long as I can remember and I'm so grateful for the opportunities to spend time with them all. We all get along amazingly well - luckily. Well, guess what?! Tomorrow is day one of another family trip.

As I sit here working and listening to the rhythm of the rain and hail, I can help but think about where I'll be in twenty-four short hours: Hawaii! You have no idea how excited I am. This will be my very first trip to Hawaii and I can't wait to feel the sun on my skin! I'll be back in blogland the 27th. Until then, be well and happy beading!

Drum roll please!

Okay, this is it. There were 98 entries and the winner is:


Congratulations Pam! Look for an email from me soon.

Pam was one of the handful of you who left me a comment nearly every day of the giveaway. I enjoyed the beading projects you shared with me, the Confucius quotations you left, and all of your other comments. Thank you all for playing!

Busy, busy, busy...

My to-do list between now and Thursday evening:

• Make samples of possible Make-It-Take-It projects for the Soft Flex Company Glass Art & Bead Festivals in Sonoma, CA and New York, NY
• Make and submit designs to Stringing magazine
• Make my next DOY project for Beadwork magazine
  
• Make and submit designs for Swarovski in the hopes of teaching for them in Tucson next spring
• Get my hair colored and cut
  
• Pick up my taxes and write checks to the Feds and to two states (Darn you IRS, I paid you quarterly in addition to you taking money from my paychecks, and I STILL owe you lots of money that I don't have?! You can suck it!)
• Book a zip-lining tour in Maui for my brother, momma, cousins, and me
• Pack for my family vacay and take Ginger to "jail"

And the list item you might actually be interested in:

• Draw the winning name for the Glass book and Vitality Trios wire set giveaway!!

That's right my friends, tomorrow is the big day! While I'm writing checks and cursing the Feds, one lucky person will win a fun little prize. So, keep those comments rolling in - you have until noon (mountain time) tomorrow to enter. GOOD LUCK!

Friday Communique

Mary sent me the sweetest email a couple of weeks ago. She saw my Rhumba bracelet (above) excerpted in the April/May issue of Beadwork (The bracelet is a project from my new Glass book and it was awesome of my friends to put it in the magazine too!) and shared with me her very own version (below):

Isn't is great?! I love the look of the little peyote ruffles en masse. Nice work Mary and thank you so much for sharing your bracelet with me!

I'm off to start my weekend now with a massage from Christine (best massage therapist EVER!) before a night in Old Town with Rebecca - yaay! While I go get some much needed pampering, check out what some of my crew were up to this week:

Sara Hardin (AKA SoftFlexGirl) wants you to check out the Soft Flex Company Spotlight on...articles, bead store & designer features as well as book reviews.

Kristen Fagan designed a 5th birthday celebration with a Nintendo Mario Kart theme!

Have a lovely weekend! xoxo

Glass Craft & Bead Expo

Though I managed to play quite a bit while there, I was actually in Las Vegas for work. Soft Flex Company had a rather large booth at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo inside the South Point Hotel and Casino.

Here's part of the Soft Flex team just as we were finishing with set-up (Scott, KimE, and Shelley were still working):

JoAnn, Brian, Thomas, Paula, Jenny

And a shot of the gemstones that filled part of the booth:

The show was host to the first ever International Hot Glass Invitational. I didn't make it to either night of competition (due to a lack of personal funds and a need to catch up on sleep...), but I was able to see all of the creations because they were set up right next to our booth - yaay!

Team Northstar's winning piece. So cool!

Team Pontilmotion's creation and my personal favorite. Nice work Devin, Filip, and Paul!

Watch the post show webstream and see all of the pieces (including the nine foot tall rocking chair!) here. There are some amazing pieces that my camera just didn't do justice to.

As always, it was great to see my beady friends at the show, make new friends, and meet all the nice people who stopped by my little demo table. And even though I'm still trying to catch up on sleep, it must be said that this was one of the funnest shows ever!

And now, time to take a nap...

Playing with Wire

This spring-like necklace was made on the WigJig last week. It's a special project for Easter! I chose bright colors, the likes of which will be seen overflowing from all sorts of Easter baskets this weekend.

The three wire designs used in the necklace were adapted from Wonderful, Wearable Wire, a great book available from Soft Flex Company. If you've ever thought about getting a WigJig, you should definitely get this book to go along with it. The book has tons of tips and techniques that will turn even the most inept wire-worker (uh, that would be me) into a full-fledged WigJig-er!

Anyway, look for this free project in our Design School in the next few days - I'll let you know when it's posted. Even if you don't start making it until Saturday night, it's so quick and easy that you'll definitely have something special to wear (or give) this Easter Sunday.

This is the fifth in a series of free holiday projects I'm making this year. The other four are in the Design School as well, along with dozens of other free project designs - check them out! If you find something that inspires you and end up making one of your very own, please share a picture of your work with me and I'll pass it along to my fellow Soft-Flexers. We want to see what you create!