Monday, January 31, 2011

Snowrmageddon!

Hurry the sky is falling! No not really but here in St. Louis we are being warned of a major ice/snow storm. I am cozy and warm with lots of tasty food, movies, and beady projects to do. I will be updating my blog with a fun project tomorrow and a give away so please make sure you stop by tomorrow and watch the fun.
I have added some great Valentine Beads to my Etsy shop so grab em quick!

 

Saturday, January 29, 2011

My Bad but dreaming of Tucson.

I owned a bead store. Kind of sounds like the line in the movie Out of Africa. It was a great bead store. Tons of super cool pearls, czech glass, semi precious, African trade beads, silver, etc.  I had a 9 torch studio in the back where you could learn bead making or take a class with nationally recognized artist. My sister and I owned it and we called it Sorella Beads (means sister in Italian). 

Every year we would make the trip to Tucson for our buying trip. It was heaven. Wonderful weather, beautiful desert scenery and show after show of beads. The whole city is alive with it.

Have you been to the Tucson Bead shows? For anyone involved with beads it really is Mecca. It does not get any better.

It brings back some fond memories of my sister. We had a blast. We would take time to see friends, eat, explore Tucson, and just spend time together. I was our time. I lost her 3 years ago to ovarian cancer and this time of year reminds me of our trips. I just ache to go back. It's just not in my budget, but maybe one day. A girl can dream.

Miss you Becky.

I received my super cool bead soup from my wonderful partner Kristen. I promise to take some pictures of it tomorrow!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Off to work I go.

Oh baby it's cold outside, but I love it. I was shoveling the driveway and it was heaven. Getting that heart rate up and not sweating like a pig. I am a winter girl and I just can't think of ever living in a place of perpetual summer. I like to visit those places, beaches, deserts and understand their unique beauty, but no thanks. Give me trees that are young and green in the spring, shady in the summer, glorious colors in the fall and bare and stark in the winter. I am planning on camping with my hubby this spring and early summer. I ache to be out in the woods by a stream. I need to start planning now!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hummm excuse me...

Yea you might notice that there might be random cat hair or dog hair in my photos. I don't need a signature murrini to place in my beads, you just need to look hard for animal hair.
Every time I set up my photo cube in jumps the kitten or as we like to call her "the shitten". Little turd. She looks so dang cute, it's hard to kick her out. One time I left the booth up, we were looking all over for the cat. Couldn't find her anywhere. I walked by the photo cube and there she sat, looking at me like I was insane.
Someone once told me Dogs have owners, Cats have help.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Pods, Pods Everywhere

Yumm another sweet Purple rose Z-99 pod. I am lovin these new shapes. It's so sexy. Can a bead be sexy...hell ya.
This ones up on my Etsy store.

Tomorrow I am going to haunt some antique stores. I have a couple friends that haven't been to the St. Louis Cherokee street antique row.
Tons of shop after shop of goodies. Hopefully we can have a nice lunch and find some good stuff. I will make sure and take some pictures. 
Wish me luck.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Bead and Button Sign Ups!

Bead and Button sign ups are open! I am so proud to be on the faculty and teaching my Soft Glass Implosions class. 
This is going to be a great class. Not only will you learn how to do soft glass implosions but I will be teaching ton's of cool stuff that you can use in the beads you are making now. 
I have been making beads for 14 years and teaching for 11years. I can figure out why things aren't working and how to make them work. I have tons of tips and tricks to teach. Plus I teach a fun class. 
I hope I will see some of you there.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Connecting with Peeps

Dang I am such a slut for this Z-99 powder from Andrea. I made some baby pods to go with the mama pods. I am having a blast with this stuff.

A lot of fellow bloggers are participating in Loris Bead Soup. It's a big undertaking and takes tons of work from Lori. In addition, she gives us great tips to connect with other artist. My last email from her she suggested we stop by other Bead Soup blogs. Well I have done just that, and you know what, it's great. I have seen some great blogs and beautiful designs. So take Lori's advice and try and stop by some peoples blogs, you might just make some new friends!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Damn you Andrea Guarino


Last year Andrea came and taught at my studio and showed up with Zimmerman Purple Rose Powder
Well I haven't used it except for while she was here and thought I better try it out. I of course love it and guess what, it is not made anymore. Yep she has the last bit of it and she is selling it, so if you love it too, better act quick!

This pod is a new style, flattened and I am really happy with the results. I am going to put it on my Etsy store as soon as I put a silver bail on it. So grab it if you love it.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Have you signed up?


Do you want to have a great time? What to see beautiful creations and meet great people.
Bead Soup is one of my favorite things that I have done.

Sign ups start today!


Thursday, January 6, 2011

They are coming

First step
-Take photos
Second step
-adjust photos
Third Step
-put the suckers on Etsy, soon





Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year.


Ahhh beginnings. I am ready for 2011, both feet, jumping in, bring it on. I also am ready to get back to work at the studio. I miss all my work buddies.

I am ready to get into the studio and try some new things, flex some muscles. I want to take a couple of weeks and work on some exciting stuff. I want to make a bunch of mistakes and learn from them. If you are not screwing stuff up, then you are not trying hard enough. I think the only time I ever really learned cool stuff was because of big ole fat mistakes. You know like working on a bead and not constructing it correctly and losing your fine detail CAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE ADDED LAST, ask me how I know...

So bring on 2011 and lets all make some BIG mistakes.