Finally Free Time

I have been busy, just like everyone else this time of year. Christmas was fun. I love the decorating, shopping and baking. Of course there was no time for beads, nor did I get or ask for anything bead related this Christmas.(I did get great stuff from Etsy.) But I will be at the torch soon enough. So here is a photo recap of my past few weeks.

Hola!

Another Thanksgiving in Mexico.

We started the holiday week with a stop at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The weather was nice and it wasn't crowded at all. Some rides you could just stay on and ride again. We rode all the roller coaster except 3, one of which was closed. The family favorite was X2.(Listen carefully to the background, the ride has speakers behind your head and plays a soundtrack that goes to the ride. Aerosmith's (Going Down) Love in an Elevator plays on the first drop.)

The next day we visited with family in L.A, and then off to the border.(I did stop at the outlets in Palm Springs too.)

San Felipe was great as usual. The people are so friendly you always feel at home. On Thanksgiving Day we hung out at the pool drinking Pina Colada's, then went back to our house to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. (We obviously have a lot to be thankful for.)

And on a side note, my friend had a little boy while I was gone. They emailed me lots of pictures and I saw him when I got back. He is adorable.

What Has Happened To Me

In the past I would sit at the torch for hours with ideas swimming in my brain just waiting to come out onto glass. I would then put my precious little masterpieces in the kiln and let them relax in their bead sauna until morning. Bright and early the next morning I would come out to the kiln and check on my little babies. One by one I would look at each bead and criticize it.(I know not very motherly.) It was not the perfect shape, It was not the perfect color, it was not what I had envisioned.
That has changed recently. I am not exactly sure when it changed, but I just realized it this last weekend. Maybe it was my class I took and the support I received from other lampwork artist, I don't know but I am really enjoying it.
On Sunday I was at my torch most of the day, inspired by one of my favorites Marie Antoinette. I made bead after bead with pastels, ruffles, lace, and abundance in mind. The next morning I take my Marie's out of the kiln and take a quick glance. Not what I envisioned. I thew them in my cleaning water and left them there until night. When I pulled each one out I didn't say what was wrong with them, instead the little voice in my head said what was good about them.
" You were not what was desired, but you are no less dear to me."- Marie Antoinette


Love the gold/silver twisty

Love the shape

Love the shape

Love the twisty

Love the hot pink twisty

Love the silver/gold twisty

Love the colors

Love the white twisty

Photo's From My Class

Grace at Graceful Customs Studio(http://gracefulstudios.blogspot.com/)just email me photos from the class on November 6Th. Here are a few.
.
Corina & Jelveh (the back of me)

Me concentrating at the torch

The back of me????(Just what I want a picture of my butt)

Me not texting, but taking notes that turned out to be 6 pages typed

Vacation's On The Mind

I have been at the torch much more this last week. Here are a few pictures of what I have been up to. I have been getting a lot of ideas from our trip to the Cook Islands last April. How could you not be inspired by a place like that. It's a true paradise. I am now looking forward to being inspired by Belize, which we are planing on visiting this coming April.

My New Favorite Dessert

Just a real quick post. My friend made the best candy this last weekend. She always makes really good desserts and it is somewhat irritating. :) I make such complicated recipes and then here she comes with the best dessert made in 10 minutes, and with 3 ingredients. This time she made Oreo Truffles. OMG. They were so good I could have eaten 20 of them. The recipe was so easy it didn't even need to be written down.

1 Package Oreo cookies crushed
1 Stick of softened cream cheese
1 Package of vanilla chips

* I used fat free to be a little healthier and I hate cream cheese(For some reason fat free doesn't gross me out so much)
* I also used milk chocolate because my family doesn't like white chocolate

Mix crushed Oreos and cream cheese in large bowl. Roll into truffles and refrigerate while melting chocolate. Roll in melted chocolate and sprinkle with left over Oreo crumbs.

Yummy

Back To Beads

Halloween is over along with sports for the season, and now I can focus my energy at the torch.(That is until after Thanksgiving.) So the kids costumes turned out great. My daughter made her own costume this year, and everyone loved it.


Last weekend I went to Graceful Customs Studio and had a great time. It was one of the best weekend getaways I have had in a long time. It was fun to meet other lampwork artists. Grace and her husband Frank are the nicest people, they make you feel part of their family. Jelveh of Jelveh Designs was also there. She was my first lampwork teacher years ago in Santa Cruz. It was so nice to see her again, she is very encouraging.(And she makes awesome beads.) But the star of the weekend was Corina.(Or maybe her dog Bonzai.) Corina is a celebrity to me and others in the lampwork world. She is so amazing. I am excited to get to the torch , and I am already on the list for Corina's next class at Grace's studio. Here are some pictures of the wonderful people in the class, (Corina is the one holding Bonzai) and some of the basic beads I made in class.

The Calm After The Storm

Things have gone incredibly well. I really had my doubts about everything, only because I had so much planned. The croissants were quite an ordeal. I started on Friday and by Sunday morning we were eating yummy croissants. They weren't as good as Bouchon's but they were so much better than Starbucks. Mission accomplished.

Next on my to do list was my sons Halloween costume. I knew this was going to be a difficult costume, but I had no idea it was going to be this difficult. All it was going to be was a rectangle with 2 holes for arms and a hole for a neck, then came the hard part of the details. I was wrong the entire thing was hard. First I had to find stiff vinyl, found it put it was twenty something a yard. I ended up with a thin costume vinyl and use a stiff black backing on it. The Vinyl its self was a nightmare to work with, when using vinyl any needle hole can be seen permanently. So I had one chance to sew it right, and of coarse I didn't. Then I had poor planing on the arm and neck holes and ended up cutting them after I sewed the costume together. The apps I printed and laminated were the wrong size so that had to be done over again. The industrial strength glue had a mind of its own. The final touch was the lettering, and any mistakes on it and the costume was ruined. So last night, the night before his costume parade at school, I was in panic mode. Everything did turn out good in the end, and he had a pretty cool costume. Most importantly he was beyond happy with it. Oh, and my daughter decided to go trick or treating with her friend last minute and made her own costume which was a big hit. I am always so proud of her.


So, this weekend I will do some beads and tell you about them and the incredible class I took from Corina.

I Am Asking For Trouble

I am just starting to feel better after all of my ailments, and what do I do but put too much on my plate. This weekend I plan on making beads, make my son a Halloween costume, and make homemade croissants.(Get the straight jacket ready.)
My bead class is this next weekend so I need to get in more practice, which is actually ridiculous since I have been making beads for years now. I am really looking forward to this class and getting my creative juices flowing.
The Halloween costume is either going to be a piece of cake or a catastrophe. I have been making my kids Halloween costumes since they were born. When they were too little to really have an opinion I made them characters that went together, Cinderella and Gus the mouse, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, etc. Sandy and Danny(Grease).When they got older they picked whatever it was they wanted to be and I would make it. Well this year being sick I didn't get to start the costumes in September like I usually do, so I was thinking we would just buy my son a costume, and my daughter is too old to dress up this year. That was the idea until my son came to me wanting me to make him a costume. I couldn't say no so I asked him what he wanted to be and he told me an iPhone. Great, that should be easy let me just whip that up right now. I do have a few ideas in my head on how I can do this, but I need to hurry with Halloween just 2 weeks away. Here are a few of the Halloween costumes I made the last couple of years.

Marie Antoinette

Lucario http://pokemon.wikia.com/wiki/Lucario

Mario

So I am starting the croissants tonight, and if all goes well they will be ready by Sunday or Monday. (I'm not Kidding) The first step takes a few minutes to get the dough together and get the butter ready then the dough rests for 30min. Then it has to be refrigerated overnight. The next day you roll it out and refrigerate again for 3 hours. Then roll again fold and refrigerate for another 3 hours. You do this one more time and then you make them into the croissant shape and let rise at room temperature for another 3 to 4 hours. So not including the time it takes to actually do the work the resting and rising time alone takes 12 hours, and that's also not including the first time of overnight. These things better be good.

And now for the necklace I mentioned yesterday. It just is missing something. I keep looking at it trying to figure out what it needs, because the way it is right now I would never wear it.