end of the year

my subject is all in lower case keys as will be the rest of this entry. i just found out today that gill slone had died in a motorcycle accident this summer. she & I were corresponding for about 6 months before she left for a holiday in europe. she wrote and said when she got back we'd carry on our "conversations". i was delighted as we had two things in common...our beads and our scotties. gill had a boy named archie, and we chatted about our crazy scotties. then today when i opened the newest issue of bead and button, i saw an article she had written. i had been waiting for it as she told me about it before she left. there at the end was a "in memory" of gill. what?? i saw that she'd been killed in a motocycle accident while in germany back in june. i am still in shock and want to cry. i had been thinking about her last week during christmas but just thought like myself things were keeping her occupied. so i went to her blog which is still online and then clicked to her website. there was a note from her brother in law. i just am so sad tonight. this year, i've lost two bead friends who had encouraged me and gave me joy. lora and gill will be missed by me and others. then i read on nicole's blog that her sister died. nicole has lost her brother previous this year. o what a year.

i do hope that 2010 will bring all i know a better year. that all of us will not suffer loss. that all of us will find happiness and hope. my wish is for peace of mind for all those who i've learned to love.
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New Yahoo Group

I was very sad to hear that one of my favorite Yahoo Groups (Beaded Art Doll) was closing. I'm not sure why, but I heard that it was lack of participation. The moderators & owners are merging the group with another Yahoo Group called BeadDreamz. I really didn't want to belong to another beading group which promotes all types of beading techniques as I already am on several Delphi Forum groups. I was thinking that I would love a group dedicated just to bead embroidery in all forms. So after talking to Cynthia the other night, I decided to start a group catering just to those of us who love bead embroidery. It doesn't matter if you make dolls, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, ATCs, boxes, or embellish dolls. Everyone is welcome to join.

Cyn & I were talking about names & I just blurted out "A Bead Story". Then she added "come add your chapter". There it is. Our motto and a theme for the group. I hope that folks from the BJP find us and will want to join so that they can ask questions no matter how "stupid" they think they are. As I say every single night to everyone who calls the lab, "no such thing as a stupid question"...just questions. So if you are interested, please join. I have a button over on the left hand side.

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Merry Christmas

TO all my Scottie, beading, fiber artist, and doll making friends:




Off to Victor's house for a Christmas Eve celebration. I rarely get Christmas Eve off from the hospital, but when I do there is no other place I'd rather be than with my baby brother and his glorious family. I sometimes forget & call my nieces & nephews my grandchildren. I've had people then ask me, but don't you have no children. Well, I didn't, but I still feel like Mallory, Emily, Isaac & Elijah are really mine. So a night of lasagna, desserts, presents & especially board games. We love playing Aggravation. Use to play this game with Grandma & Grandpa on Christmas Day after the feasting, so I guess in a way the tradition still lives on. Tomorrow just Chris & I with the dogs.

Mother Earth

It must be my "thing" this year to be working on Mother Nature pieces. But I do enjoy the concept. I designed this wee doll for the Cloth Paper Scissor's Mother Earth challenge. The doll had to be SMALL! Less than 12 inches tall with only a 2 inch depth. So I made this little tree like doll form with feet that are suppose to look like roots. Then I beaded her. The face is a traditional Native American bead embroidery technique. I found a old Navajo necklace and got an idea for a beaded face. I traced a face design on a piece of paper and fused some fabric to the back. Then following the coloration from the paper, I did a back stitch around a focal bead in a circular fashion. Looks funky, but turned out find. At the feet of Mother Earth are about twenty or more peyote leaves in all different colors. That is what took me the longest to make. In her hand is a charm of JOY which was given to me by ArtTeaLife. Check out her blog, it is great. When I entered this piece I wrote:

"From your feet surrounded by forest leaves to your arms carrying the Stars, our Mother Earth comforts us and gives to all creatures the JOY only we can find in Her embrace. Thank you for my life and the beautiful world I live in".

Okay, why am I rambling on about this doll...well, I just got an e-mail telling me she is one of the finalist in their contest. Yeah! Now to send her off but after all the holidays as their offices are closed. Which lead me to this thought. Last year at this time, I made a resolution to get my beaded dolls published in magazines besides Doll Crafter. Well, I've achieved that plus more. So I've been a very blessed girl this past year.

And to entice you about other things, here is a picture of Chris' new creation called Artemis. You can check out more of his creations at MacRadioBot

So-So...

This is the doll that I made for the Mother Earth Challenge for Cloth Paper Scissor. She's so-so, but I thought I'd go ahead & enter her. Why? Well, because she is all beads! Even the face is beaded. AND this is my own pattern. Let me tell you, working on such a small measurement requirement was tough. I can sew small, but this was SMALL! I wanted to do an assemblage piece that was three dimensional, and it worked. And yes, I made all those leaves one at a time. Not the prettiest doll I've made (what am I talking about, I don't do pretty), but she's cheerful.


Speaking of challenges...I actually know the person who won the Use The Muse III. I have a doll that Susan made me a couple years ago. Check out the other love pieces of work. We bought a kit from Scarlett Larson & had to make something with the beads & the what she calls "Muse" which this time was a copper butterfly. I had the hardest time as stupid me didn't read all the instructions when I first started to make it & was working on a doll...then I reread the instructions & saw it had to be jewelry. YIKES! So I had to rip all the beads off the doll and try to come up with something in only a weeks time. Taught me to really read! I'm not sure if I'll do the Use the Muse IV in the future. I thought the price of the kit was a little high for the quantity of the beads. But then I'm into cheap beads, so that is probably my problem.

I'm also thinking about my Bead Journal Project for 2010. I need to get those jars out & clean them up. I'm planning on going to a couple doll making conferences this year. I've already sent my check for the Gala here in Ohio, but have to think about MM&M in Kentucky. I'd love to go, but have to figure out if I have the time off. I better decide soon or else the spaces will fill up. Patti Culea is teaching there, and Judy Skeel has a cute puppet class in the evenings. Plus, it will just be nice get away. I have to figure out my schedule this week at work.

Speaking of...we finally hired a new tech! After four months we are full staff again...AND...I made a suggestion on training new people to give them more experience in multi tasking and was approved to come up with training schedule for off shift techs. Now that was a huge surprise to me as lab people are so stiff & traditional. But times are changing.

Scottie jewelry...finally

Scotties started me on this road. True! I wasn't interested in the internet back in 1989 until Chris told me there was a group called Scottie-L talking about their dogs. I joined and was hooked. I met so many people from that group, and they have changed my life. When I first started to make beaded jewelry 8 years ago, I did square stitch Scottie bracelets. I made so many of them that I got sick of doing them and haven't made anything since then. UNTIL...NOW! I've been playing around with poly clay and made a few cabs using some of my vintage Scottie button collection. So here are a couple things that I made. The earrings are a mold that I made using a very old Scottie button that has celluloid disease and was crumbling to pieces. So I decided to make the mold and keep that image with me. I made earrings from it. The second is a brooch that someone gave me many years ago. I thought is so cute and worked well this the earrings. Right now, I'm working on a Scottie bracelet just for me! And have ideas for other Scottie theme jewelry. So watch out Scottie people...I'm on a roll. BTW, these are going to my Terrier Twin from the AngelScot Yahoo Group.

I see that the deadline for BJP has come & gone. I think I read that we'll have over 200 people in 2010. That made me really think about what I want to focus on for next year. I have a theme. It is called "Secret Treasures". I want to recycle all these beautiful glass jars I have and make them hold keep sakes that I'm so afraid I'll lose if I don't find some place to put them. What kinds of treasures??? Well, I have a brooch that my Great Grandma Gray use to wear. It has lost some of the rhinestones, but I still want it & would be so upset if I lost it. I also have SkyeBlue's puppy teeth and last name tag. There are other things. Some silly, some great, all treasures to me.

Use the Muse III

In three days the big reveal for the Bead the Muse III and there is a give away from ArtBeads.com.

This was my first time doing the challenge. I think for me the hardest part was to think how to take the "Muse" and try to incorporate it into something that if seen without my name it would be recognized as being "Dot". If you don't know me, then I'll tell you what that is...a beaded doll! But the rules were that it had to be some piece of jewelry. Yikes, even more of a challenge. So for me I had to make a doll small enough to be a brooch, could handle the size of the Muse & incorporate the other seed beads into play. I used my Palm Prayer doll form as the base & made a piece filled with the colors of Autumn which was when I made it. I enjoyed the colors & had fun working with the fibers. Don't know if what I did was unique enough, but I sure did get a kick out of adding that Muse!


My boss gave me 5 copies of This Week Westerville that had the article about my beaded dolls in it. My sister got 5 more, so I have enough for me & to share. I sure hope that more people consider voting for the Land of Odds challenge. All the dolls are just wonderful.

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Newspaper article

Here is the link to see the article that Jennifer Nesbitt from This Week Westerville wrote about me & my beaded dolls. She came to interview me about my being a finalist in the Land of Odds Earthern Mother beaded doll challenge. It was so much fun & now I actually have a bit of local publicity. I really liked the article and think she did one bang up job. Now to get people to vote on the website.

Here is a picture of me holding my Global Warming doll which started my thoughts about Rachel Carson and Silent Spring. I also have "Getting Motivated" in my arms which was my piece for AFIC. And yes, that is my work area with all my beaded dolls hanging on the wall behind me. They give me inspiration!

Rachel's Dream again

So what in the world is this???? It is a picture taken from above to show Rachel's Dream as if you were sitting in the limb of a tree looking down at Mother Earth painting the flowers. Why am I showing this? Well, I have some exciting news. Last night I got an e-mail and a phone call from a reporter from This Week Westerville which is our local community paper. She asked if she could do a feature article about me & my beaded dolls. You know I said yes! So tomorrow afternoon she & a photographer are coming to do an interview with me about Rachel's Dream & my other beaded dolls. We chatted on the phone a bit & when she asked me what was my influence while working on this challenge, I told her about how I'd been interested in Rachel Carson ever since last year when I was working on a Global Warming doll. I gave her a quick little talk about Rachel & how to me she is the Earthen Mother of the Enviromental Protection Movement, and how our world is a much much better place due to Silent Spring.

SO....I had to clean up my studio which was a disaster after this past week of the magazine article & teaching two classes. Dogs were major stink! so they all got baths & of course, my gray was showing...so now a quick color for me. Whew...I'm excited & can't wait to see their expressions when they see all my beaded creations.

On another note...my baby brother closed on his new house today. YEAH! He has to be out of his old house by Saturday at noon. Looks like my SIL won't be cooking a thing this year.

New doll for publishing

So here is the doll for the March issue of Doll Crafter & Costuming...whew! I have never done a doll so fast from start to finish. Thank goodness I actually can live up to my blog name. The new editor asked me if I could share a beading technique with the readers...naturally I said yes, but I only had 14 days not including time to ship to them. I tried several new patterns which were dimensional, but Chris reminded me that I should simplify things and instead of trying to teach the whole shebang, to concentrate on only a few things. So I pulled out an old "pancake" pattern from my folder of doll forms that work for me, and started there. I actually got to play with a few new products that I learned about while at the Bead Unique Retreat. I really love the Wire Lace and decided to not encrust the doll's body with beading, but to use this wonderful product. Then the face (I made this BEFORE) & became sensitive to the product, but I love the product so much. I'm going to let Chris do all the Magic-Glos work for me. And can you believe...ME making people sew individual pieces to make the fabric skirt. Let me repeat that...Fabric skirt! Not beaded...fabric. Yep, I'm laughing too...who would ever believe I'd sit in front of "Hal" and make wee bitty fabric leaves. HAH! The beading techniques for the article is the hair which I just adore. Nice close up picture too. It is with my old Nikon CoolPix 950. People at work laugh because it is SO BIG...but it takes awesome close up pictures to be so old. I used the bead mix soup that I bought from Beki from Whim beads. And I also wrote about doing a single bead edging technique. Chris has come up with brand new 3-D graphics for me. I'm hoping to get him to digitize all my graphics for the future...can you tell that is a hint! But here she is Blossom for Spring!

Ideas on how to bead faces

BIRTHDAY!

Today is my Baby Brother's birthday. He turns 40 today! I still remember the day he was born. I was 15 3/4 so technically almost 16 when he was born. I came home from school & my Mother was in labor. She could not wait until my Dad came home to take her & I really couldn't drive yet, so she & I took a taxi to the hospital. I'd called Daddy before we left & he got there after they took her back to the labor room. I was there when Victor was born. He was a blessing to me. I loved him from the very first moment I saw his little face. I held him & took care of him when Mo
m was sick. I rocked him to sleep when he was fussy. He cut his first tooth on my cheek bone. I dressed him in funny outfits. I listen to him sing in from of the mirror standing on the steps so he could see himself. I had him come up to visit me when I was in college (his first bus ride all by himself). I took him to see the "REAL" Santa at downtown Lazarus in Columbus. I took him on vacation with us camping & then to Mammoth Caves where he & Chris talked about the hang gliding rats & dared each other to stick their hands in the holes. I took him out on his 21st birthday to get his first zombie! I met his beautiful girlfriend who became his lovely wife. I watched him hold his first daughter in his arms beaming. I watched him with his second daughter, first son, and second son. I helped paint his new house. Did I say, that I've loved him from the first moment I saw him??? I do...love you Victor every single day now and forever.

The first picture is of Vic & I at his first birthday. I bought those cute little bibs for him. We were at my Aunt Rosie's house & that is her dog Curly.

The second picture is of Vic on his 3rd birthday. I was away at college at the time & Mom sent this to me. I missed him so much. I had this picture on my bulletin board so I could see him every day. Wasn't he the cutest! and now he's 40.

Time to Vote!

Yes! It is time to vote for the bi-annual Land of Odds Beaded Doll Challenge online. I just got the official e-mail from Warren letting me know it is all on-line & ready. So here's my plea to you all who follow my blog or like to read some of my crazy thoughts. Please go to this link & vote for Rachel's Dream or one of the other dolls that calls out to you.







This doll was a big project for me & it took me about these past two years to think about what I wanted to achieve with the theme Earthen Mother, and how to accomplish what I had planned. I started with the idea to dedicate this doll to Rachel Carson who I think is the Earthen Mother. Without her book, Silent Spring, our work would be a completely different place than we now live in. I remember pollution so bad that children were not allowed to play in the school yard during recess & yes! I never saw stars until I was 8 years old when we drove cross country from Los Angeles to Ohio. It was shocking for me sitting on a bunch of Lava rocks there in Arizona looking up at the sky & seeing all those blinking white crystals starring back down at me. I asked Daddy what they were. He was stunned that I didn't know, but they looked nothing like the stars I'd seen in coloring books or drew in school. Garbage lined the highways where ever your went. We lived in an agricultural area back in the early 60s & yes! when the planes dusted the fields, we were outside watching them swoop and glide over the fields. I was so afraid of nuclear bombs destroying our world, but there is was anyway tiny "time bombs" of pollution falling from the sky, in my food, in the water I drank,in the grass I played upon.

Please join me in honoring a woman who truly is our Earthen Mother-Rachel Carson

I'm a lucky girl!

I just downloaded my e-mail & saw that I was the lucky winner from Beverly Ash Gilbert blog's give away. Waahooo! I'm doing the lucky girl dance. If you ever get the itch to see some lovely eye candy and photographs that will just blow your mind, check out Beverly's blog. I bought her color wheel book & can't wait for her new book to come out as it is about "Colorways" and do I ever need help on learning color theory. I was talking to Roxie over at Byzanitum one day commenting on how I need to work on this goal & she told me that she'd been to Art school & it still was a goal she was working on. She said that it was one of the hardest things to wrap your head around. Oh no, but I'm going to try & can't wait for Beverly's book.

On BAD we are doing the stuffed animal challenge. I've had so many things to do that the beanies that take me a week to complete are on the back burner. I only have this much done after a month, but I've been busy with other things. I was hoping to do a tutorial on how to bead the faces on stuffed animals, but every single blasted picture I took was out of focus. Do you think I need to study my camera a little more? Probably not as I was downstairs in the studio where it was dark. I was too lazy to bring out the lamps & see...I really need the lamps. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow or I could always whine & Chris might do it for me...hint, hint.

And I finished all the projects from the Bead Unique Retreat classes. I finished Sherry's pendent kit while in class & even though everyone told me I cheated (I used three beads instead of two while doing embroidery), I still had it done & wore it out of class. I got Marcia's bracelet done while at the airport waiting for my plane to take me from Denver to Columbus (very very long delay), but it was Beki's necklace that had me slowed down. You see, I have this mental thing about peyote...and it does take a while to make a 27 inch twisted herribone chain. BUT I'M DONE!!!!!!

What did I learn from the classes at the Retreat. Well, first...I love Sherry! Wish she lived closer, but you know Pittsburgh is only 3 1/2 hours away! I also bought two more of her kits & have one 1/2 done. Between Marcia's instructions & her wonderful book (Beaded Opulance) I was able to conquer RAW (right angle weave), and have to fight people off when I wear the bracelet as they want to buy it off my arm. Usually I sell things, but NOT THIS ONE! Marcia's ease with teaching got me to buy more kits to try my hand at more RAW projects. Beki really challenged me in Twinkle Twinkle, but Beki lovely...I won the peyote challenge! Now for some reason I ran out of some of the beads, so I improvised a bit. It isn't perfect & when I do it again (notice I said I'd do it again) I'd try to get the twinkle stars in a nicer pattern. I love the twisted herribone...can't believe I've never done that before, but it was fun & I can see that as a base for some new projects. Oh...and I just adore Beki. She was one of the most hardest working women at the Retreat. She made sure we all had lots of lovelies to eat even though she herself was in pain from a back injury. Oh and Shawn taught me that I can spend enough on bead to help out with people's car payments!

My Giving back

(I had to delete the tutorial I first had up because everything looked blue. Chris converted my original .pdf file into a .jpg for me so hopefully it all looks good & NOT BLUE). dot

There are so many wonderful people out here on the Wide Wild Web (how I picture it in my head but without Artemis Gordon) who share so much knowledge & information that I thought I'd try my hand at doing a tutorial. I belong to a Yahoo Group called BAD (Beaded Art Dolls) which is currently doing a challenge called Beaded Stuff animals. I did a tutorial for them to get the poor unfortunate stuffed creatures sitting all alone on the thrift store shelves begging to be something pretty ready for beading or other craft projects. Hope this give you the itch to bead a beanie & join me in my obsession.

Dolls and Beads

Okay, what can be better than dolls and beads? Well, maybe vacation, and a 28 hour day! I'm back home and to work, but I wanted to finish up the doll I was working on this weekend in a class sponsored by Time for dolls. We had Barbara S. coming in for a two day workshop. Barbara & I drove out to Albuquerque 2 summers ago, and I really got to know and admire her, but I'd never taken a class from her. She is a fabulous teacher & if you ever have a chance to have her show you needle sculpting a face, it is a MUST! I got to visit with her & my friend Pam who started Time for Dolls with her friend Mary. Pam was nice enough to let me stay over night at her house so I not only got some premium dog time (with Barney), but we all watched Chocolat in her private theater...I got to sit front row. The last day in class I was lucky enough to win a doll that Barbara made for the club. She is lovely and sits on my bed. LUCKY ME! If you'd like to see some of Barbara's other dolls/patterns please check out this link to Dollmaker's Journey.

I really enjoyed making my doll Kiri Alyd. I took Barbara's original pattern and reduced it by 65%. I don't have room for larger dolls in my house & I do adore the small. I was able to finally learn to make clothes! Thank you Barbara! I've struggled with this concept since I've started, but she was patient with me & the sewing machine Gods made HAL cooperate, so I not only made pants, but a shirt and fur vest for Kiri. I didn't paint the eyes like others did as I like a more dimensional look and hey! I've got enough beads to make eyes for 100s of dolls, so I changed that also on this doll. His head is smaller too so I couldn't use a tibetian sheep skin for the hair as the pattern called for so I had some mohair wool that I got from The Black Sheep back at AFIC and just needle felted it. I also gave him a beard. The vest is from an old beaver skin coat that someone from the Guilded Lilies brought in. I thought it perfect, but did it every shed. I'm still picking beaver fur off of everything downstairs. I HAD to use to beads, so I outlined the shirt and the vest with a picot beaded edging. I really like him ALOT! I know I have a sword someplace to put in his hand & I might have to make him a crown so he can be the King of the Elves (oh yes! I do now want to make more of Barbara's elves in this smaller format).

Now for more beads! I really did enjoy the class I taught at Byzantium on the Palm Prayer Doll. I brought home the class example and finished up the doll that I use as demo for class. You'll also see the doll I made for the ArtBead.com challenge & yes! there is a tiny glimpse of my Use the Muse III called Fire Moth. Just a peak of her face. I made her into a brooch to be worn as the contest calls for only jewelry.

So what am I up to next? Well, I think I really need to make more of those smaller dolls. I also bought Barbara's circus performers & I think they'd work well at probably 50% reduction. I still have the beaded stuffed animals for BAD to work on before I can "poke" them to bead on their own stuffed animals a little more. And I'm working on the Twinkle Twinkle class from Tahoe still. Speaking of Tahoe, I really have to get more of those pictures worked up to share with everyone. I'm teaching a flat cuff beaded bracelet in November at the bead store & I'm also teaching the Guilded Lilies the Palm Prayer Doll for free (they only buy a kit from me). Christmas is coming, so that has to be thought about. I really need to get some class samples made for next year to give to Roxie, and I have an idea for BJP 2010...boxes & secret treasures. Between that I need to get my dogs groomed, deal with work, and get this house ready for the Christmas party for the GL gals. Can we actually get someone to make the fun part of the day longer??? I wish.

Busy Weekend

Wow, what a very busy weekend I just got over. Started out with my working Friday night at the hospital. And it was one of those nights where you walk away & realize that you really do earn the money they pay you! I worked on one of our Chemistry analyzers for over 3 hours & got it running for day shift. YEAH. Then I took Fiona for her morning constitutional which made that very fuzzy fat dog happy. Got up @ 1 pm to go down to Victor's new house & help paint. It was so much fun painting...NOT! I forgot how much work it takes to use a roller even on a big long white blank wall. My partner was his son Isaac who though a mere 9 years old can out work anyone. Isaac was trimming, rolling the wall, power painting the wall, trimming, rolling...running all the time! The only thing was that he was NOT allowed on the ladder. Emily was in the front room painting & singing. She didn't know we could hear her but we were all in the very empty house & I must say her voice is lovely. Mellissa's Dad was there painting too & I hadn't seen him in ages. Cheryl took the boys down to the park for a bit so we could do some adult painting! Elijah wanted to paint, but we let him entertain us all. Vic wrote me today & said the painting is done! Yeah as I don't think I could hold another paint brush. He is such a wonderful Father. He wanted all the kids to help fix up their new home...kinda like my Dad was with us. We all knew he had to go back & "fix" what we did, but he did let us help. I'm hoping they are in their new house by Thanksgiving. They all deserve this beautiful new house.

Sunday was up & out to Byzantium. I do love teaching there so much. Never thought I'd ever say that, but I do. I had returning students & it wasn't so much like a class as a get together of friends laughing & beading. We did the Palm Prayer Doll class with an emphasis on breast cancer awareness ( I donated a pin for each doll). Had 7 in the class with the 8th person stuck in the Columbus Marathon traffic. I think we all totally forgot about this event when the class was scheduled. I did get to me the missing student & wanted her to go ahead & jump in, but she declined but asked me to do another doll next quarter. Did I say I had a fun time? Oh yes...Caroline, Andrea, Carol, Karen & Pam all had me laughing, and I did a fringe "booboo" in front of them. I tried to pull the "dog sleeping falling off the bottom step & jumping up I meant to do that", but I couldn't get it past them. I'm going to be doing I hope three classes in the Winter at Byzantium. I'm going to work on another bracelet, earrings this time & a pendent. Oh...and a first for me...my November class which is the Deco Diva soft bracelet is FULL! Now, I did something kinda bad....I saw this lovely silver bracelet in the display counter calling my name & decided to just sign my teaching check back over to Roxie. Hey, at least now I can look down & see what I get for having fun & teaching.

Yesterday, Chris wanted to do some photo taking of the Fall colors & boy did we hit a big BINGO! We got up when it was DARK...went over to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast & got to Highbanks (Columbus Metro Parks) just as the Sun was coming up over the hills. We'd had a mild frost and everything was covered with a thin sheet of ice. I think the lack of light made most of his pictures come out a little off, but they are all still inside my head! Here are a few pictures Chris took of Highbanks Park. We are so luck to live here in Columbus Ohio where our Metro Parks are very diverse and plentiful. Our favorite Metro is Highbanks not only because it is 5 miles away, but because it reminds us of the rolling hills of Southern Ohio. The Olentangy River borders the Park & we managed to get down to the banks and follow it through the Park. OMG, I'd never been to some parts of that due to the over growth, but to be down on the banks of that River with the Sun creeping over highlighting the small cascades with silver while the birds all sang and the tinkle of the bright yellow and orange leave were in the background. That is Ohio in it's most lovely dress for Fall.

This week is going to be a tight one too. I'm going to Akron on Saturday to take a class & have so much to do even before I leave. No, I haven't done my homework yet for the class! Naturally. And I really really really need to bath Mz. Fiona-Stink-Dog! She has over active sebaceous glands & is one oily stinky girl. And, I want to bead.....waaaahhhhh...I'm still working on the pinwheels from Beki's class from Tahoe...I want to bead......

One day left! and face....

There is only one day left for the Pink Artist Quilt Raffle. Go to my button on the side or click on this link to donate & view the lovely quilt & all the other prizes being donated & given to this worthy cause. Pictures of this quilt were in the Art Quilting Studio magazine & I think anyone would just love to have this in their home. I know I would & no dogs allowed on it!

Yikes, I had to go to the Emergency Room last night when I was at work. I woke up from a nap with my ears burning & a little redness too my neck. I took a non drowsy Benadryl & went to work. By the time I went in, my ear lobes were bright red & burning and the inflammation was going up my face to my cheeks. After 2 hours at work, I could feel the heat coming off my face & my eyes were watering, then I got scared when my throat started to feel scratchy. This is one of the times when I'm so happy to work down the hall from the Emergency Room there at St. Anns. I told one of my co-workers who hadn't seen my face at all (I was hiding it with my long hair) what was going on. She said I looked like I had a bad Sun burn. ER admitted me with severe allergic reaction, and gave ma steriod IV with Bendryl. By then, my lips were swollen & so were my eyes. The ER was so busy, but they all gave me priority (once again thank goodness I worked there). Dr Prall who I talk to on the phone all the time said it was a shame we had to met face to face like this, but she was great checking up on me & laughing when I laughed. I was so drowsy from the Bendryl, I came home but called Chris before I left. Once again luck here as I only live 8 minutes away, but I had the window down with cold air keeping me awake. I crashed so hard when I got home.

Now, I'm awake & my face is still swollen, but the inflammation at least doesn't burn or have heat. My ears are just irritated, and my neck is still red. I have a prescription for oral Steriods & if they don't work, to my personal doctor. I have no idea what caused this. The same thing happened to me in Squaw Valley but on a smaller scale. I have no idea what is doing this. I'm using the same shampoo, soap, face cream. I didn't eat anything different yesterday, or do anything different. I'm not allergic to my dogs, but they might have brought in something...but how did I get this is Tahoe too. So, if it happens again, I've got to go to an allergist at least to get an epi pen as the ER doctor said it might be worse next time. One of the nurses told me another nurse almost died when a patient came in with Teak Oil in her hair & caused the nurse to have a severe reaction where they had to tube her. Okay, so I'm scared now. I'm going to be really diligent about this allergy & try to figure out. About the only thing that I can connect with what I was doing in Tahoe & yesterday was that I was working with the resin Magic Gloss, but Chris checked out the website & it said non toxic. Still, next time I use it, I'll wear gloves & wash everything really really well just in case. Sucks having allergies.
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Pictures of Earth Mother

I just got a message from Warren from Land of Odds, and he told me that I could definitely post more pictures of my Earth Mother:Rachel's Dream here on my blog. I'm hoping later to devote a full page over on my website once I get things together & do some major work on it as we haven't touched it for two full years. Okay, so here she is...Rachel's Dream.

I've been doing recycled themes this year & I haven't missed incorporating items even in this big challenge piece. The actually base of this work is a $2.25 butcher block cutting board that I got at the thrift store. I also used vintage pieces of jewelry that I bought at a flea market, a beanie babie (blue jay!), and buttons from a coat.

Rachel is dedicated to Rachel Carson who wrote Silent Spring. The story that I wrote as a companion to this work tells the story of a dream where I come upon a figure crouching looking at this mystical scene of Mother Earth laying on her stomach, kicking her feet along to the music of the animals surrounding her, and painting flowers. The figure turns to me & ask how I followed her, and I say "through you book". I in my late 50s & the world I grew up in before the EPA and individuals embracing
the cleaning up of pollution was just
that...polluted! I breathed industrial waste where ever I lived weather it was the Los Angeles basin or the Ohio River valley. I never saw stars in the sky until we took a trip outside of Los Angeles & I actually didn't know what they were. I rarely saw the Sun due the pollution, and the smells were horrible. The beaches were covered with debris, the roadsides were eye sores with garbage, the waters were polluted with chemical run off, the school yards were feet from fields sprayed with chemicals. It was a pretty bad place to grow up in. I didn't know what would have killed me first...the nuclear bombs threatening to rain down on us daily, or the chemicals we ingested. I grew up in a very frightening time.

Then in 1965, my junior high school science teacher had us read a small piece of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. We talked about ecology, and there it was out there in the open even for school children. The plead to save our Earth, before we killed IT and US together. Rachel died shortly after her book came out due to breast cancer, but she has been with me since the day I read her opening chapter about a world without birds, without fish or insects or flowers or small animals or US.

Oh things are not perfect, but I breath cleaner air, I drink safe water, and the skies are actually blue with twinkling stars dotting the black night skies. I don't worry like I did while I was growing up about the poisons invading my body while I walk in the parks or drink from a spring. Like I said, still not perfect, but aware.

I'll be posting more pictures in the future with explanations about each section. This is all pieces done individually and then assembled together. I started this all back in January of this year.

Land of Odds.....

Land of Odds posted pictures of the 6 semi finalist for the Earthen Mother Challenge. I can NOW FINALLY let you see what has been possessing me since January. I'm still waiting to hear back from Warren if I can post more pictures that I have either here or on my website I saw the post for this link from Ralonda over at Beaded Art Doll. What a tough group of competitors, but I'm just thrilled to be a part as Land of Odds does a magnificent job of promoting all the finalist. After finishing Rachel, I felt really down as I was working on her for months & months & then she was gone. I haven't picked out a new big project to work on so maybe that is why I'm so empty inside. I really had a fun time making all the component pieces for this. I used several books on beaded flowers, and the bugs and lizards came from Jill Oxton magazines.

Went back to work last night. My coworker called in sick...lovely! I was so tired as it is tough getting back into the groove of night shift, that I felt like a zombie. Also, they hadn't hired anyone for our open position. Here people are begging for jobs, and we are getting no applications for lab workers. Must mean something...means they should raise the salaries. We use to make what nurses did when I first started, but their salaries have far surpassed Med Tech, so my field is suffering a huge shortage of staff. I'm just hoping to survive until management figures out to attract & retain staff you've got to pay them well. Hey maybe by next Spring we'll have a full staff...cough, cough, cough. Doubt it.

Back from Lake Tahoe

Well, technically, I've been back for 48 hours, but I have been trying to get myself back into the "groove" all this time. Now, I do adore napping, but I've been sleeping so much. I sure hope by tomorrow that I get my energy back as I must go back to work.

Okay, how was the Bead Unique Retreat? AWESOME! I had the best time meeting old friends from online who I finally have gotten the chance to met face to face. Then the teachers were just amazing. I got to reconnect with Sherry again, & had the best time with her. I had bought Marcia DeCoster's book "Beaded Opulence" before I left so I could reacquaint myself with RAW (right angle weave) and thought it was a fabulous book, but getting to actually take a class with Marcia was great. I did almost finish the project except for the loop in one day! Beki Haley's class was more complicated, but oh did I learn so much. We were doing peyote pinwheels with a curved herringbone chain. I only got a couple inches of the chain completed & one pinwheel, but it really opened by eyes to using structured peyote.

My friends & I went into Reno a couple days early as we wanted to sight see Lake Tahoe area. It was beautiful. Here is a shot of Emerald Bay. Colleen took this picture of Cyn & I as we were sitting overlooking the Lake laughing & talking. The other picture is one I took on the other side of the Lake just as the Sun was starting to go down. Beautiful spot. I know if Chris was with me, he'd have taken so many more pictures. Cyn, Kate, Colleen, Grace & I had a fun time driving around Lake Tahoe, checking out this really weird restaurant in South Lake Tahoe that was decorated with hand carved bears.

I finally got to met Pam & Joanne from Bead Unique magazine. Pam was a hoot! She had me laughing so hard on Sunday at lunch that I almost inhaled my Irish stew. Bad Pam! The lodge was lovely where we were at. There actually was an Oktoberfest there Saturday...boohooo no beer for me! Sunday there were snow flurries all day long sometime with a white out. Our drive back to Reno that night was magical and so beautiful.

Then the long long long Monday trying to get back to Ohio. I got to the airport at 10:30 AM after getting the car back. My flight was delayed twice because of rain in Denver. Then when I finally got to Denver it was delayed even more because only one
runway was open for incoming & outgoing flights. I thought I was never going to get home. Luckily I didn't have anyone sitting next to me on my way back to Columbus so I popped in my DVD of "Curious Case of Benjamin Button", stretched out & relaxed on my way back home.

More later......yes, I'm still tired.

Me at 2

Well, not really, but Chris surprised me this afternoon when I got up with a little graphic he found in some of the magazines he bought yesterday at a ephemeral sale. They were magazines called Children's Activities & were from the late 50s. Lots of cute & fun graphics and ideas for all kinds of things. I loved the children's recipe section with little graphics of food or kitchen utensils. Also there were lots of cut out for paper dolls. I'm seeing some new mixed media projects coming out of all these magazines. But not for now. I HAVE been practicing RAW (right angle weave) from Marcia DeCoster's new book, and here I am...trying out new designs thinking of teaching at Byzantium. So I guess, yes! I am always designing as I'm learning. I really need to get ready for Tahoe.

I have to work tonight being the only Blood Banker there, off tomorrow where I really have to go to the Guilded Lily meeting, but will be dead tired as I'll not get any sleep before I attend. Go Bachelor food shopping Sunday & try to pack & get things together. Work Sunday night short staffed again! Then be in a frenzy Monday getting Rachel's Dream out the door to Nashville, shop, and TRY to relax before I get on that big plane to Reno. Whew...I'm tired just thinking about all this to do.

I got my dolls back from the IOLCC Dimensions in Dollmaking show out in San Diego. Didn't win anything, but then I didn't expect to. Just wanted people out in the West see some of my crazy beaded dolls. I was looking at the list of other doll makers, and WOW...just to be there among their stuff is amazing.

Wonder???

Wonder where I've been? Well, last week I was talking to my baby brother & he told me the family is on Facebook & if I want to know what they've all been doing, go there. I was reluctant, but he talked me into it. I can't believe how many people are there that I haven't "seen" in years! There are people from my old days when I owned Scottie Obsession & then people from Retreats I've been too, classes, and yes! all the new friends I've met here in the beading blog world. I've been intrigued with it all trying to keep up & making comments to my coworkers to make them laugh at me when I walk in the door at work. So, it is like a new toy. Bright, shiny, and occupying my time. Find me there as Dot Lewallen, if you want.

I have ONE MORE WEEK until I am in Reno & met up with my bestest buddy, Cynthia. I can't wait! We are also meeting up with Kate & Colleen from New Jersey who we met a couple years ago in Las Vegas at the WhimBead Retreat. I'm finishing up some earrings & brooches for the swap & this morning I found THE UGLY OF ALL UGLIES for the Ugly contest. It is AWFUL! It is a locket that I made in a class with Jean Bernard & it is terrible. I think all I need is a horribly monsterious picture for the inside and it is perfectly atrocious. I was going to take my Troll doll Beatrice with her son for the ugly, but they are just too darn ugly cute. There is a big difference there.

So in 8 more days I'll met up with all the gals from All About Beads & have fun, fun, fun.

New Bug Bracelet

I had bought this Emerald Borer insect encased in lucite last month at the Ohio State Fair. I knew that it had to be some piece of jewelry, but didn't know what to do with it. Then I bought some great looking bug wings (yes! real bug wings) from Mary SeriousBeader's Etsy shop, and knew what I was going to do with them...a bracelet. Since I did the challenge for ArtBeads, I've been focusing on jewelry lately. With this piece, I used some dyed pig leather which really dulled my needle fast & broke three while I was working on it, but I wanted to use a base that was a little more durable. I glued the lucite bug down & did a round peyote cage using Japanese 11s & Delica seed beads. Then the fun! I grabbed a bunch of just random beads that were all sitting on my work table & began to bead. Everything was green, so I thought I'd use a different color so I peered at that bug which is a relative to the Emerald Ash Borer that killed out big tree out front. I saw those legs & they looked sort of a brownish cranberry color to me, so I looked in my stash from the garage sale & found exactly what I wanted. I used just a little of the cranberry color on the actually bracelet, but decided to off set all that green by using it as edging. I like it. I'll have to be careful as I don't want those wings to break...oh & I used some teardrops from the "Vacation" swap on All About Beads. Cathy23 sent some that reminded her of Ireland...me, they matched perfect with the Emerald Borer.

Announcement! WOW!

Sunday morning I was heading up to Akron to visit my friend Akron & to teach her, Mary, and Teresa the Trash to Treasure class. Before I was ready to head out the door, I checked my web site e-mail & to also see if any storms were going to show themselves along the route. I got this e-mail:

"2009 Fourth Bi-Annual

ALL DOLLED UP:
BEADED ART DOLL COMPETITION
Theme: Earthen Mother
Land of Odds, 718 Thompson Ln, #123, Nashville, TN 37204
615-292-0610 www.landofodds.com warren@landofodds.com

Congratulations! Your Beaded Art Doll submission to the 2009 Fourth Bi-Annual All Dolled Up: Beaded Art Doll Competition was one of 6 semi-finalists chosen by a panel of judges, and which the panel felt best represented “beadwork and dollwork design” considerations! "

Let me tell you that I was dancing on air. If you've followed my blog in the past 9 months, you know I've been working on this project since way back in January when I decided on the doll form I wanted to use, practiced my needle sculpting techniques, and started to bead like a mad woman. I wish I could share a picture of Rachel's Dream with you, but the contest rules state that I must wait until m piece is put up on their web site in November 17th for official on line voting. 75 % of the judging is to be done there in Nashville, but the other 25% are for you all, the Internet audience. I'll definitely post the link when that time comes. I need to get her to Nashville by Oct. 7th, so I'll have some time to take her to the Guilded Lilie meeting on the 26th. And since I'm leaving on the 29 for Reno, I'll mail it out that Monday before. Ralonda who was the semi finalist in 2007 is also a semi finalist, and I heard that one other gal from Dayton beaded doll group has gotten the nod too. Small world, huh?
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I've been off work since Friday trying to relax some since work has been too stressful this Summer. Like I said before, Sunday I went to Akron & had a wonderful time (as I always do with Pam), and Saturday I took Chris up to Lodi for Estes Radio auction. He came back home with a Element full of old table top radios to work on. That will keep him busy for awhile. Yesterday I took a trip over to visit my Mother & delivery her some extra tomatoes. Today, I have no idea what I'll do, but since I was up until 4am beading, I'm sure a nap is in my future. We use NetFlix which is fabulous for movie buffs like Chris & I. We watched "The Secret Life of Bees" last night. Chris knew nothing about it, but I had read the book when it first came out. Let me tell you all that the movie was fabulous. I loved the book, but this movie was bringing tears to my eyes. Even Chris loved it so much he told me we might have to buy it to add to our collection.

I don't know if you've ever watched a movie that triggers a past memory or not. I do sometimes, but this movie really got my brain to clean out the "back room" and bring out a gem of a memory to me. I grew up in LA until I was 15 when my parents moved back to a small Ohio river town. In LA, I grew up in a Hispanic culture & learned to speak Spanish starting in 3rd grade. Moving to Ohio especially SOUTHERN OHIO was a big shock for me. This was back in 1967 after the Civil Rights bill had been signed by Johnson. Now, I had never had one African American in any of my classes in Los Angeles. One Summer, I worked in the Neighborhood Youth Core program at the YMCA with two other girls from my High School. One of the girls was Carla & I only remember her name because she & I went to Ohio State together & lived in the same dorm for two years, but the other girl I don't remember her name (wish I could). We worked the locker room together, watched the children in the game room, worked the telephones, and did pretty much whatever the staff at the Y asked us to do. Carla & the other girl were Black. I had never ever been around Black people before. Carla one day after we'd been working together for a week asked me what was wrong with me. I actually told her & this was 1970 that I was afraid of them. She laughed & said oh well, they were afraid of me too. There we were sitting in the chlorine filled room with tears in our eyes laughing at our fears of each other only because of the color of our skin. Instantly my fear of others evaporated because of Carla. Now growing up in LA, I was exposed to so many other types of cultures, but I knew nothing about the Black culture besides what I'd learned from my parents or on television. Let me tell you that it was a huge awakening for me. I think that was the point in my life where I realized that I was my own person & could decide who'd be my friends and to not listen to my elders. Well, the memory that "The Secret Life of Bees" triggered was a hot hazy August afternoon in Southern Ohio which is awful if you don't have A/C & back then hardly anyone had A/C. I had gotten to the Y & Carla reminded me that I didn't have my bathing suit because we were suppose to monitor the pool that afternoon. I dreaded walking back home, but Carla's boyfriend was still sitting there in his car. He told me he'd take me home to pick up my suite & to bring me back. I was over joyed as I didn't like thinking about getting all hot & sweaty walking the 1 1/2 miles back home & then back to the Y. So I jumped in his car yakking away all the time. When we pulled up in front of my parents' house there was my Mother standing on the front porch with this look that made me curl up inside. She had gotten a call from some busy body telling her I was "seen" in the car with a Black man. I was so embarrassed with the way she grabbed my arm & turned to give that poor sweet young man who was only doing me a favor a look that would freeze. I told her he was only giving me a ride, but that was not enough for her. By then I told him to go ahead & go as I did not want a scene there in front of our house. I walked in grabbed my suite, and ran back to the Y crying all the time. You see, up until that time I hadn't realized how racist my family was. I was humiliated and could barely look at Carla's eyes when I got back to work. She pulled to the the side and told me her Mother would do the same. I hugged her & thanked her for being a friend. That was a moment. Like I said before, Carla & I went to college together & for the first year we kept in touch with each other spending nights eating pizza with her roommate & discussing all kinds of things that were happening to our world in 1972-74. I lost touch with Carla, but she's still inside of me. She taught me tolerance for those with narrow minds who have never seen all people as the same no matter the culture, the language or the color of their skin. I wish I could find Carla sometime & thank her for teaching me open my heart and mind.

New blog & Swaps

I started a blog for Chris earlier this Summer, but haven't posted too much on it. Well, today he finished "Dance of the Electrons". He stands a foot tall & is made with vintage radio tube. Please click here to see MacRadioBot blog. He has me wanting to try my hand at doing more mixed media pieces like this.

I'm waiting to here if my piece called Rachel's Dream is going to be a semi-finalist for Land of Odds "All Dolled Up-Earthen Mother" challenge. The deadline for letting people know is next week, but I get really antsy. Also, I've been sitting on this doll without showing it off since back in February when I first started it. I'm not going to hold my breath as I'm getting use to rejection, but still I do hate this period of unknown. Meanwhile, dolls have been put aside & I'm concentrating on making jewelry. YES! I do make jewelry too. I want to have some pieces to wear at the Bead Unique Tahoe Retreat the first weekend in October. AND YES! there are a few remaining places. I can't wait. I'm flying in early to spend time with my bestest buddy Cynthia & two friends who I met at the Whimbeads Vegas Retreat over 2 years ago, Kate & Colleen. Also, I'm finally going to get to met Grace and Arline & a few other gals who I've "chatted" with over the years. Did I say, I can't wait? So, I do need something to wear, and I'm organizing a couple swaps for the group in the evenings. We are going to do an earring swap on Friday night & a brooch swap on Saturday night. I've got a few things made up already for swapping & if I have time I want to do more. Most of the beads used in these were from the garage sale I went to earlier last month at 1 Stop. Oh, FYI, the WishWish brooch is really a button I found while shopping for pajama patterns at WalMart. Oh yes, I'm going to try to make a pair of jammie bottoms for the Retreat. Chris asked me if I was mad...yes, yes I am?? but there are so many lovely fleece fabrics out there with outrageous patterns that I decided to take a deep breath, get the machine out, and sew. We'll see how that works out. LOL!
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Artbeads.com

Last month, I got an e-mail from Artbeads.com asking if I'd would accept free beads if I'd be willing to make something with them and to blog about it. Well, what would you all say to FREE BEADS! OF COURSE I WOULD. I chose some items from the Crystallized Swarovski Elements.
When I got the package last week, I decided on trying to make a Palm Doll which is a new class I'll be teaching at Byzanitum next month. I had decided for this project to use the Olive Cotton Yarn with the 3mm Olive crystals to wrap around the doll form giving it a fabric type of dimension, Then I was going to use the Mocca Diamond Leaf Sew on Cystrals as the focus pieces. I chose my favorite bone rondells along with a few vintage peals. I didn't want to use beaded hair on this doll so I chose three vintage sequins that I'd picked up on my trip last year to NYC. The Sew On Crystal leaf turned out lovely and combines with the fabric it gave that extra "umph" shining from either direction. I wasn't too pleased with the look of the Olive Cotton Yarn with the 3mm crystals though. I think possibly I should have used a different color as the cotton yarn was lost in the fabric pattern. I do like the possibilities with this and have some Cashmere yarn with crystals and a synthetic suede to try out on other projects. To the side is a great picture of the Olive Yarn...looks yummie, doesn't it?

Here is a picture of the little doll I created. She can be held in the palm or put a pin back on her & use her as a brooch. To give her additional sparkle, I did fringe off the bottom with 3mm bicone olive crystals.



I also wanted to make a flat fabric cuff bracelet with a Grecian focal bead that I bought off of Helen many years ago at an open house she'd had for the Ohio Beaders. I've kept it wondering what to do with it, when I found this African Tribal Mask fabric at a local Quilt shop. I didn't want to totally encrust the bracelet as I wanted those tribal mask to sneak out from behind the beading. So I chose to do a peyote cage around the odd shaped cab along with a few other bead embellishment techniques to draw the eye directly to the face. Then I decided to use the 12mm Round Hematite Buttons from ArtBeads.com with small czech silver flowers in the center. Then I pulled out some of the silver vintage sequins I picked up in NYC and started to scatter them all through the piece, but my EYES were drawn back to the EYES in the tribal mask. I knew then that this was going to be called "Hidden Eyes" so I went through the bags of stuff I'd bought at 1 Stop Bead Shop's Garage Sale and found small tiny pearls the size of the eyes. I then surrounded the eyes with black delicas. I really like how eerie this looks when on the wrist. All the sequins compliment the focal mask, but then deep down underneath hidden in the fabric are those eyes! I intend to wear this piece to the Retreat next month and made some earrings to go with it.

I've been thinking about these hidden eyes wondering wear all that came from. It is no surprise that when I really got to pull out the reason from my subconscious it was obvious. At work, we are having lots of turmoil as we cannot keep staff on our 3rd shift. It is like a "revolving" door with people being hired, taking 3 months to train, and then not even lasting a year before they move on. It happens all the time and in the 27 years I've worked 3rd shift, I'd say we've only had a stable staff for maybe 5 out of those year only because everyone wanted to be there. This year is even worse than normal as we are down over 1/2 of our staff. Next week we will only have one full time person scheduled to work when we need three people to cover the shift. I just take it one day at a time not trying to get upset, but just sitting back, watching the management and seeing how they are going to juggle the staff which is so low due to their cutting back last year when the economy crashed. My other coworker is MAD, UPSET, and ANGRY all the time wanting ANSWERS. He gets so mad some times I think he is going to have a stroke. I keep telling him to wait and stay calm, but he doesn't listen to me. I'm not saying some miracle will happen to make everything okay, but it doesn't do any good to be angry all the time. All it does is to make work unbearable for yourself and other around. So I've got my "hidden eyes" watching what is going on waiting to see how this fiasco can be turned around. I know only one thing, I'm NOT giving up the vacation time I've been given. I gave up three separate vacations this Summer to help cover holes in the schedule, but I'm not going to do that now. Also, I am NOT going to get angry about all this. It doesn't help. I made my suggestions to the Director this weekend, and tonight when I go into work, I'll see if she listen to me. If not...I'll keep low with my "hidden eyes" taking in everything not letting my "mask" slip off and get caught up in an ugly wave of anger. So maybe I SHOULD wear this bracelet in every night. I can look down, and see message my subconscious sent to me to cope. I'll get through this as I've gotten through all the ups and downs at work. It just gets harder every year with my coworker spouting hateful words all the time. I'm fine. I'll manage. I always do.

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More about the purse

Wow, I never thought I'd get such great feedback when I was working on my purse. It was a real challenge to me, but I've learned so much. Thank you all for the great comments to me about it. I do plan on sending a picture of it to Bead & Button possibly for their gallery once I get back from the Bead Unique Retreat at Tahoe. I was surprised today when I got a e-newsletter from 1 Stop Bead Shop & they had a picture of my purse on their front page. I was pleasantly surprised. I guess this means only one thing...more purses! I have a big box of purses I've "rescued" from various thrift stores and antique shops thinking that someday I'll do more and now is my chance. I don't think I'll use the Lacy's Stiff Stuff like Sherry uses, but go back to my old tried & true-boiled wool felt or ultra suede. But I see at least one or two more this coming year. HEY! FLASH! Maybe I can do beaded purses for my BJP for 2010. Oooo that would be so cool, but don't know about the time commitment.

A picture for you. This is Bernard Bear. On Beaded Art Doll/Yahoo Group, I entered him in for the monthly doll challenge. The Challenge? Well, I took a funky Beanie Baby with those blank face and gave him some emotion or in Bernard's case some attitude. I've been practicing needle sculpting trying to figure out my own personal way or technique on how to give emotion to cloth and fiberfill. I really don't like to draw faces so much so I think if I can get more detail with a needle and thread with the emotion then the actually drawing of the eyes & coloring of the lips will just come naturally. LOL! And I just bought 50 more beanies as the thrift store for $5.00. I can't help it.

Anniversary

Today is my 23 wedding anniversary AND my husband's 60th birthday. I could not get any time off these last couple of weeks for us to go anywhere to celebrate outside of Ohio. I even had to work last night so when I got up this afternoon & gave him his funky birthday present which was a monster mushroom from MealyMonsterLand.com. Then we went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. To walk off those extra calories from the piece of caramel cheesecake we shared, we strolled through the Polaris Mall looking at all the new shops. I stopped & got some face cream & a new shirt. Then we saw that Yankee Candle was having a 4 day sale on votives. We burn their candles all the time & laugh about "covering the dog stink". They really don't stink, but there are times...we all know what that means! They had their Halloween display out & I bought a cute votive holder called head stacker. They had a huge graphic poster of the Halloween wedding votive holder & alas all the stores in Columbus are sold out. I asked if I could buy the poster. Clerk asked the manager & she said sure I could. She laughed & said she JUST hung it up an hour ago. I told her it was our anniversary & then she said definitely. So we bought it & brought it home. Walking through the mall everyone smiled at us. Hey who wouldn't! and the sentiment rings so true to us. Even though we've been married legally for 23 years, we've been together since 1977! I was 22 & Chris was 27...and yes! love at first sight. Chris didn't want his picture taken as he thinks he looks too old. I told him hey! look at me. I'm 55 & not a spring chicken plus I'm a chubby post menopause woman...so who cares if he has white hair & wrinkles. I still love him & think he's handsome.

Oh...and these are the three fearsome hoard I like to talk about. They are enjoying the left overs from the Cheesecake Factory. Fiona has the blue collar on, Arwen has the red collar, and Frodo is the black brindle Scottie begging for a french fry. They are FUZzY and all need some fur buzzed off. But they are so cute.