Thursday, April 29, 2010

Purse is DONE!!!!



I had a little bit of insomnia this morning...or maybe it was just that I wanted to finish this so bad. But it is completed. I can't wait to take this to the artist reception on Sunday afternoon at the Ohio Craft Museum. This started out as a vintage wool 1940 era clutch purse. I measured it and drew out a paper towel template so I could get the right size for the wool overlay. Then I beaded it to the max. These are some of my favorite color schemes and look at how they really enhanced this piece of jade. I bought the jade Scottie many years ago from my friends Keith & Bill who owned Scotty's Gifts and Accessories at the time. It is genuine Vietnamese jade custom cut into the shape of a Scottie. At the time, I bought 6 of them. I know I have the other 5 somewhere, but I can't find them in my disorganized studio. The sequins were bought two years ago when Cynthia & I went to NYC for her birthday. I'm pretty happy with how this purse turned out.
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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

break

I know no one that knows me will really believe what I'm posting today, but I spent a whole day yesterday without touching any beads! I didn't even go downstairs to my studio at all. I spent Sunday and Monday sleeping. I've been so tired from last week at work. And last night was about the same. The hospital is so busy with tons of ER admits. For me that means that I'm on my feet literally for the full 8 hours with only about a 10 minute break to wolf down some food. So my feet are killing me. I'm actually thinking of going back to the podiatrist for them, but he warned me that the next time...he's cutting! I broke my left foot three times when I was young. I know...clutz! Once in high school playing basketball while I was the left guard & got hit, fell, but my foot didn't. Then in college, I injured it again playing volleyball, then about 15 years ago, I fell down the stairs after coming back from vacation where we did some climbing in Utah. So it has so many breaks that have healed wrong. I have arthritis in my ankle joint and toes and probably standing on my feet night after night is not helping. So I take some pain pills and sleep! That really helps my feet, but then.....my hands! My Doctor told me it was good that I used my hands so much because...yep! arthritis in my fingers. So they are very stiff today from a couple of days with no beading. I'm hoping to get downstairs later to do a bit of beading on that Scottie purse. I does look nice after I glued it down. I'm pretty sure it will be in time for the Artist Reception Sunday afternoon.

Well, got to go do a little stretching all over so I can make it up & down those stairs. I'm praying people are little healthier tonight so I can at least sit down a little at work.
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Sunday, April 25, 2010

Scottie purse...almost.....

DONE! I finished the beaded overlay this morning. I would have gotten it done yesterday, but I had a Guild meeting to go to in the morning and was afraid that if I took a nap before going, I'd never be able to wake up. So all in all, I was awake Friday from 2pm to Saturday 1pm...23 hours. OMG, I haven't done this since I was in college! I survived, but the dogs would not let me sleep when I got home yesterday as Chris was out of town at an auction in Medina. I did manage 3 hours with two dogs laying on top of me before finally I got up to let them out, and then I couldn't go back to sleep but my eyes were too itchy with allergies to bead more. So I watched old episodes of 6 Feet Under. When Chris got home (early for him) we watched a movie from NetFlix. I swear, but it I wasn't so brain tired, I would have clicked off the television. We were watching 2012. Idiotic movie that tried to be too many things all at once and not succeeding at any. Oh well...slept all night with my Arwen and as you can see my BFAC went well. Gertrude's New Hat got a winning bid of $325 dollars! I would love to know who bought her. Funny, but last year I was on the teeter totter about sending her off to be auctioned. I'm glad I did.



So here is the picture of the Scottie overlay for the vintage woolen purse. All I need to do is to glue in on and then sew it down and do a pretty edging. Now, this is not a tiny purse. It is a woolen clutch purse. I'll have to measure it all when I'm done. I hope to finish it up so I can take it with me to the Artist Reception next week. I want people to look at my bag in my hand & not the bags under my eyes as I have to work Saturday night.

Well, tornado siren only went off once...I think it was scheduled to go off. We have had some heavy rains (yeah for my new tree) and some pretty hefty thunder. The Worthington junior soccer team was having matches in the field behind our house. Two big thunder boomers sent everyone off screaming...and no, I was napping & didn't hear it at all.

Tomorrow I'm getting Hal out as I really have to do some sewing. I'm ready to start my 2011 BFAC, sew a doll for the Doll Gatherer's Gala next month up at Punderson Resort, and mend some pants that have been sitting on the chair for a month.

HOly COW!

I see that Gertrude's new hat is up to $242 this morning with 4 hours to go before the eBay auction is up. I'm so tickled that she is going to a new home where someone really wants her bad. And I'm delighted that my charity is going to be that much more enriched with all the money coming in from the Beading for a Cure auctions.

please check out Gertrude's new hat & bid !
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Sunday, April 18, 2010

National Laboratory Week

I know some of you have no idea what I do for a living or in other words...to buy the kibble! I am a Medical Technologist. I know. Many people have no idea what in the word this is. Or people in the medical field have no idea what this is, so it has been given a new name. We are now called Clinical Laboratory Scientist. That doesn't make sense either, does it? Basically what I do is work in a hospital laboratory performing all testing including things like checking potassium levels,doing CBC count to see if a person is anemic, has an infection, or has cancer. We check cholesterol, liver enzymes, monitor cardiac testing, do urinalysis testing, check for Strep throat, clotting problems, influenza, iron studies, thyroid studies, and never forget a very active Blood Bank. I do gram stains to help the Doctor know what type of infection a person has. I also check blood for Malaria. I do about everything you can imagine except Microbiology. If you think a laboratory is something like NCIS...WRONG! Also, we have different levels of staff working. I'm a Technologist (excuse me a Scientist, hard to change after 27 years) which is a Bachelor's degree. We also have Technicians which is an Associate Degree. We also have lab assistants, and don't forget the Pathologist who are MD specializing in laboratory medicine. So, I do many things along checking results, troubleshooting instruments and maintaining them, answer the phones for about every question you can imagine. I also train new staff. It is a very demanding job but since we are all in the laboratory, we are never seen by the public and most of the time are the forgotten professional. But we are vital. Without our service being performed the Doctor's couldn't diagnose problems. We are the invisible team of every person's experience in the hospital, the Emergency Room, the clinic, and the Doctor's office. This is OUR week.




Oh and like every place else, we like to laugh. And, this is my personal exposure. This is me after I dumped a container of stain all over the wall, the floor, and myself. I was waving my hands saying "I didn't do it!" but I was caught in the act, and my coworker was pointing at me to prove that yes, it was me that was the klutz. I still have the shoes with the stain, but the walls are painted.

Oh time to go to work. Enjoy the week & remember all laboratory workers this week.
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Beading for a Cure 2010

It is that time of the year again. My group over on Delphi Forums have done this for 6 years. It is called Beading for a Cure: Layne's Legacy. One of our online friends died from colon cancer , and in her memory we started this charily. We each purchase a kit which has been made up by bead store owners. We can make anything with the only rule that you Must use at least one of each bead in the kit and can add only one bead type. For this year's auctions, I made "Gertrude's New Hat". She is a fully beaded hippo that started out as a Dreampets stuffed toy and on her way to the trash heap. I "rescued" her and encrusted her with tons of beads. There also are some other lovely items for auction this week.

Please think about adding a treasure to your home and helping a great charity.

Beading for a Cure

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Tree!

We finally bought a tree today for the front yard. It was hard to decide what kinds, how much to spend, and how big. We got a Autumn Sunset Maple which is three years old. We could not put it in the Element, so it is going to be delivered. Now, to dig the hole. Luckily, they ground up the trunk/roots of the Ash, so the digging so far is pretty easy, but WHERE do we put all that dirt??? We decided to put it around the lilac bushes which are in bloom and smell delicious. This is absolutely one of the most beautiful Spring days ever. The lilacs are blooming, the magnolia tree still has some left over blooms, the crab apple tree is a riot of pinks, and the apple tree is starting to explode with white blossoms. The birds have been visiting the yard & "doing the dance". I sat out back & watched the Starlings flirt, and dance with each other on the big Maple tree. It was lovely.



I want to share what I've been working on recently. I bought a vintage wool bag (1940s era) and decided to make a beaded overlay using a piece of jade I bought years ago. LOL! They jade is in the shape of a Scottie! I've been working with some of my favorite colors and I do love the combination. Now, I need to finish the other side, then do tons of surface embellishment before I can actually sew in on the bag. I want to get it all done before I head off to Kentucky in June for the Tambour Beading class. I'll be taking this with me tomorrow to the hospital. My sister needs to have her ankle worked on again. Last year she broke her ankle and had to have two pins put in it. After a year of physical therapy, she learned she needs to get the heel broke & reset. So, tomorrow I'll be the one sitting in the waiting room. Keep your fingers crossed for her that they don't keep her.

Monday, April 12, 2010

March 2010 finally

I have no idea why I keep making excuses to myself not to blog. It could be that work is bogging me down with all kinds of things to do. It could be that I spend too much time playing Bejeweled Blitz. It could be that it is more fun to be in the basement making things than being upstairs typing away. Probably a combination of all is the reason I've abandoned my blog for awhile. It is not that I haven't been producing things or that I have nothing to say. Oh my family can attest that the last statement is not true. So excuse my absence.

I want to share my stories about the Bead Journal 2010 entry for March. As a reminder, I'm doing a theme this year called Secret Treasures. I went through my old jewelry box that was given to me when I was 10 years old and found things that have sparked memories long forgotten. March is one that very tough to right about as the pair of rhinestone peacock pins brought back many memories of a thing: an Accordian. The pins were my Mothers and she let me wear them in a photo taken of me and the Accordian at a recital in Santa Monica California in 1964.



But, I'd like to tell you something about that Accordian before I write about the pins. If you would have asked a little girl at 8 years old what instrument she'd want to play, she definitely would have told you that she wanted to play the piano just like her Mother. I did! My Mother had been the church organist when she was young living at home. She still had the piano her Father gave her in, and I always knew when she was happy as she'd sit in front of the old Baldwin piano (now lives at my brother's house) and sing as she played song after song. The joy on her face was hard to imagine. So when the music department at elementary school sent a party of people out telling my parents that I had musical talent, I was delighted thinking that I too could have my own piano some day. That was not to happen.

It also wound up at the time that we lived in Los Angeles county and my Father adored watching The Lawrence Welk show playing on KTLA. He thrilled watching Myron Floren( the Happy Norweigan) play the accordian and jump up to dance whenever Lawrence and Myron would join in playing on hearty polka. So yes, my Dad decided I'd play the accordian. What? But also he loved the music as his step brothers had a blue grass band back in Ohio and would travel around the southern part of the state and northern Kentucky playing at dances and sometimes on the radio. His one brother played an old beat up accordian. So my Dad had listen to that music for almost his whole life. I think the only thing he liked better was banjo music, and my Mother refused to let one of those in the house. So, I took accordian lessons at the Myron Floren School for Accordian. My teacher was somehow involved with the Lawrence Welk Show, but I can't remember who/how at this time. Did I ever met Myron Floren...yes! He came to our school a couple times during recitals. What can I say about him...he played one mean accordian.

My lessons were far from our home, so it was usually just myself and my Dad who would go to my weekly lessons. If I was a good girl and practiced my lesson and played well in class then we'd stop at Baskin Robbins for a sundae ("Don't tell anyone else we're doing this, okay?"), but if I was lazy and didn't practice it was no sundae and a scolding about how I embarrassed him all the way home. One night coming home the car broke down. Back in those days they ALWAYS broke down. It was miles from home, and we had to walk. My Dad dared not let the accordian sit in the trunk of the car, so he started carrying it. Did I tell you that a full accordian is HEAVY? Yes, it is. My Dad would carry it a block and blocks in LA are LONG! I felt bad and wanted to help. About 1/4 a block my hands were stinging, and I gave up sitting on the curb. Yes, it was one of those weeks where I didn't practice and I just KNEW it was my fault. He sat next to me, put his big hands over mine and told me he was proud of me. I looked up with tears and asked why because I'd embarrassed him. He smiled and told me I never embarrassed him ever. Wow! So we eventually go home. A nice man picked us up and gave us a ride. In 1965, it was pretty safe to do that and hey! we had an accordian.




I forgot to mention that I had to use a rental accordian before my own came in. It was specially made in Italy and cost $750 dollars. Now that is 1965 money and that is a whole lot. But this accordian was beautiful. The body was mother of pearl and the bellow were dyed leather. And yes, it was heavy. I was strong enough to hold it up while standing and to pull the bellows while playing the piano keyboard and the buttons, but my one flaw was my timing is off. I did and still play way too fast. Nothing has helped or probably will help slow me down. But in 1965, I was studying and practicing so hard to enter the competition in Santa Monica. We all had a set time for our performance and judging...and we were late. I don't know if it was because my Mom had to fuss with my hair (I still hate metal rollers to this day), or my dress had a wrinkle, or who knows what, but we didn't all get into the car until 15 minutes before it was my turn. And we lived in El Monte which was over an hour drive to Santa Monica. My Mother reassured me that it would be okay. It wasn't. We got there two hours late, and the panel of judges would not let me perform. I was devastated. Thank god little 11 year old girls back then didn't wear mascara or else it would have been running down my face as I was weeping uncontrollably. My Mother felt bad and told me that it didn't matter that I missed the recital because she had a surprise for me. She'd arranged for me to make a recording there at the recital of my song so we could listen to it forever (still have the record & ouch! my ears.). Of course, being in the backseat of a big Crysler sedan with my three other siblings did a wrong turn for my dress. The collars were curling up so my Mother took off those peacock pins and put them on the collars of my blue dress. I'd always loved those and would stare at them whenever she'd let us look at her jewelry. So there I was happily playing in front of a recording team and then whisked off to have my "professional" picture taken.

When we moved to Ohio in 1967, there were no accordian teachers, so I quit playing. Also for a teenager in a small southern town, I would have been ridiculed for playing an accordian. I did find a great teacher in Columbus when I moved here. He was a jazz accordianist and yes! he always was trying to get me to S-L-O-W down. I changed jobs, and had to work extra so I had to cut out my accordian lessons. My Father still loved to hear it and sometimes I'd take it out to play just for him. In 1991, he was gravely ill with cancer and I asked him what would he like to do. He smiled and told me that he wanted to hear that accordian one more time. I hadn't played for over 5 years, but it was his request. I took it out and he was smiling and stamping his foot in time to a wild variety of polka and jazz tunes. He then started to tell his grandchildren about the night we carried that thing accross half of Los Angeles county. Dad died a week later. The accordian went into its case and hasn't been open since then.




My Mother told me that I could sell it. I can't. Even though I have no desire to ever play it again, I can't get rid of it. It has so many stories yet to tell of our past together. How many times the dogs would howl, the neighbors would complain, the joy in my Father's eyes, the thrill of playing with my uncles. Those are stories yet to be told. So how can I get rid of something that hasn't finished opening my memories up. And, 5 years ago, Mom gave me those peacock pins. The now reside in a firey red jar keeping this special Secret Treasure ready to open and enjoyed again and again.