CHA

Hey Hey!

I went to CHA this week. I have always wanted to check out the show and see what it was all about. Katie Hacker and Candie Cooper talked me into coming this year. It was fun, thanks girls. We took a photo together with our funky bags.


Here a picture of Jamie Hogsett and I from one of the evening parties. It was fun catching up with her and Sara Hardin( she took the photo).

For those of you who don't know CHA stands for Craft and Hobby Association. There is every craft imaginable there, it was so much fun to see the debut of new products and to see the trends coming into stores. I have been told the January show is four times as big, I can't even imagine walking that show, this one exhausted me!

So I am now back home for a month, got to get working on button orders, sewing, holiday projects and more. No time for sleep here, fabric comes out in a month, wahoo! Sign up for my newsletter if you're not already getting them. I will be sending out a calendar, announcements, and introductions to my new helpers soon.

Have a good weekend,

Seen Me Lately?

Hey, Hey,

Seriously, where in the heck has the week gone? Sorry my bloggy followers, things are a bit busy around here and I just don't have enough time to get everything done. In some ways I am feeling calmer about work in the studio, I feel like things are getting finished, but then I look ahead at my schedule for the rest of the year and I freak out again. I will explain more on my schedule in another post down the road.

But check all these great pubs that have come out recently. They all have my beads! Yippee!

First is Creative Jewelry, this magazines is a can't miss of the summer. The publish it once a year and it is always full of great stuff. The eclectic bracelet above is in the magazine.



Here is another great piece, well a sneak peek at a great piece. This was designed by Jamie Hogsett. Thanks Jamie! It's fabulous, like all of her jewelry. She has written many books, I have several of them and the are all fabu.

You can find that project in the summer issue of Stringing.

Last but not least, here is a book I am dying to get my hands on! It is out and Margot is sending me a copy as we speak. Actually, I think it is two copies so I can give one away here on my blog, wahoo! Stay tuned for more on that later. But I got to design a project for Bead Chic and I can't wait to see it in print.

Alrighty, that a lot of information for you to take in. I think I will stop here. I am going to head back out to the studio where I have two kilns firing and a pile of things to glaze.

Talk to you soon,

In Paperback

Oh my gosh! Just found out my book is going to be printed in paperback. I guess that means I have sold a lot of books if they have to reprint it right? My publisher didn't tell me, a friend found it out on Amazon. What a nice surprise. According to Amazon, it will ship in August if you don't already have a copy.
Yipee!

Crazy Necklace Part Two

Oh boy! I got such a reaction from the necklace I posted the other day, I thought I should give you some more angles. I do have lots of photos of it. So here are some more. To answer Kim's questions about the assembly. I made a bunch of headpins basically and glued the wire into them. I then covered the wire in rubber tubing and glued another headpin top on the other end of the wire. This way I could twist them around the neck wire I made.


There are also ceramic beads strung on the neck wire and some charms. I just kept adding until there was no more room. I especially like the clasp so here is a back view.


Have a great day,

Crazy Necklace

Sometimes you just have to make something big and crazy just for fun. I made one a few years ago for my book and made this one sometime last year. Never posted a photo of it....don't know why. But here it is now. What do you think? It was fun to make.
Have a great day,

Birks Quilt

I think I told you awhile ago that Birk was making his first quilt. He stuck to it and worked on it about once a week for a month. He did an amazing job. He was at my moms a few weeks ago and go to use her long arm to quilt it. He did get some help sewing on the binding, he's not a big fan of hand sewing. Using a sewing machine is like driving a car, hand sewing is boring because there are no foot pedals.

Shots from the Studio

Seriously, I totally forgot about studio shots! I went to Bead and Button and came back and it didn't cross my mind. Good thing I didn't promise them every week. I don't look so flakey this way. :) So here they are....



Check out the glitter trees up there, yep, Christmas is coming. Have you seen the fabric and craft supplies in the store? Yikes!

Mystery Quilt

Remember my mystery quilt? Here it is in progress. I think this months clue is putting some blocks together so I should have a picture soon of something more that what looks like a bunch of squares and triangles. It's sure is fun to sew and not know what it's going to look like. It's good to let my inner control freak go every now and then.

I will keep you posted with he progress.

Zinnias

More Zinnias from the garden....oh so pretty