No Goggles Or Fins Needed

Yay! I'm so excited about these beads, they are definitely going in the right direction. I was just trying the implosions out on some beachy beads to get an idea of how they would work. As you can see in the next photo I wasn't using the best clear glass, so there is a lot of bubbles.

When I finished the implosion style beads I decided at the spur of the moment to revisit my jelly fish design. My past jelly fish always looked like they were swimming away from you, and I wanted a more defined jelly fish. Without even having a plan I came up with the jelly fish I was looking for.

Now I need to combine my implosion with my murrini and my jelly fish, then I will have the perfect Snorkeling Bead. You know what I will be doing this weekend.

I'm Imploding

I'm imploding, and not just because we are dealing with our own version of Mean Girls at our house. I am so exited to try this technique called Implosion. I have bought beads in the past in this style, never knowing I could do anything like it with the type of glass I use. After playing around with it yesterday I found so many design possibilities. It's hard to see in these two sample beads, but the designs are extremely dimensional. Of coarse the design that sparked my interest in this is the one I am having trouble with most, and the experimental ones I am getting excellent results. I am going to be making "real" beads using this technique on Thursday, until then it's back to dealing with the drama of teenagers.

"Girls are never nicer to each other than when they're fighting with someone else."
(That includes grown adults at work too) :)

Another Busy Weekend

This bead was actually made several years ago. I haven't had time to sit down at the torch for a while, but to keep in the bead making spirit I am posting this "elderly" bead. I did find two new tutorials in The Flow glass magazine that I would like to try, so hopefully I will post photos of them soon.

This weekend was my husbands birthday so how else would we celebrate it but by having softball games all day. After softball we went to a really classy dinner at SmashBurger. (It's not like we could go to Ruth's Chris at 8:00 in a softball uniform) :) Then for his birthday cake I made his two favorites, Strawberry Pie and Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes.

Since it's not like me not to go overboard, we also decided to replace the deck in the backyard. It was actually my husbands idea to spend his birthday weekend doing hard labor. If all goes well my next post will be of our new and improved deck.

80's Flash Back Beads

Ok, the bead above is more 70's than 80's so maybe this should just be called retro beads. The bead above was inspired by the poppies that are in bloom right now. I never really looked at poppies to closely because I was always scared of them. (Not like "Attack Of The Killer Poppies" scared.) My mom would always warned me as a kid that because the poppy is the state flower, if you picked one you would go to jail. So now I have my own "legal" bouquet of poppies.

Do you remember the good old days when cereal had prizes in them. I always tell my kids about being a kid standing in the cereal aisle choosing based on the one with the best toy inside. Then once home I had 2 options, option A: reach my hand in the cereal feeling around for the prize Option B: pour out all the cereal in a big mixing bowl and then try to shove it back into the box once the toy was found. Both ways would make my mom so mad, she actually thought I should wait until the prize came out in due time. :) One of the toys that I clearly remember was the Wacky Wall Walkers. They were a sticky rubber octopus that you threw against the wall and they would crawl down on their own. (Again my mom would get mad because they worked so much better on clean glass doors) :) These beads weren't meant to be Wacky Wall Walkers, but that's what I though of as soon as I pulled them out of the kiln. Next time I will try to make Wacky Wall Walkers and I should get some great octopus beads out of it.

Bodega Bay By Way Of Napa

Last weekend I went to Bodega Bay with my friend for some R & R at her beach house. We started our road trip with a detour through Napa to enjoy a Bouchon breakfast. A croissant and goodie box later, we were back on the road. We weren't in the car long before our next stop at Michelle Marie Patisserie where we took home two tiny cakes. They were so yummy, but so rich it took us two days to eat them, and they were tiny.

Bodega Bay was beautiful like always. We walked around town, visited a few beaches, and found a secret beach that required me to scale rock walls to keep out of the incoming tide.

Bodega Harbor Inn

Abandoned Meredith Fish Co.

Real California Cows

Me being harassed by a wild dingo (You can see his head behind my waist)

Contemplating the death defying climb down to a secluded beach

Doran Beach

Behind the Tides Wharf

The weekend was exactly what I need, and now it's back to suburban life.

Not A Bad Problem To Have

I have said it before, I'm in a snorkeling mood, and the beads I made yesterday prove it. Well it looks like this is the closest I'm going to get to snorkeling for awhile. I have been try to plan a quick vacation to the Caribbean or Hawaii, but I'm already booked up until Christmas.

Bodega Bay

Monterey Bay

Baja Mexico

San Francisco (A girls shopping trip.)

Las Vegas

Oregon Coast

Baja Mexico (Again)

Baja Mexico (And again.)

For now I am going to appreciate the places I am going and continue doing my snorkeling in glass.

My Birthday Weekend

I had such a fun birthday weekend. On Friday I went to the Monthly Get Together at Graceful Custom Studio in Gilroy. It is nice to spend time with people who do lampwork, especially when it's Jelveh and Grace. Jelveh did a few lampwork demo's and Grace had plenty of food to snack on while watching. (I also stopped by Napa and brought my favorite Macaroons to the studio.) I can't say how much I enjoy spending time with Jelveh and Grace they are such wonderful people.
Sunday was my actual Birthday. After telling people for the last year I was 33, I finally did turn 33. (The senility is already kicking in folks.) My husband made the best French Toast for breakfast, then every hour or two he would have me open a present. The first present was a tripod I have been wanting, but unfortunately it wasn't the right size for my camera. ( It's the thought that counts, and we can use it on a different camera anyway.) My next two presents were cupcake T shirts from Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/dressingOnTheSide. Love them.

I also got a pair of jeans. I need jeans desperately, mine are old and starting to rip or are too big.

My next presents were books. I read all the time and and am always running out of books to read. These are perfect for me. (I read Chelsea Handler's first book and it was pretty funny.)

Then that night we went to dinner with my dad. Of coarse he had to tell the waitress that is was my birthday, so they did the whole embarrassing birthday production. When we were finished with dinner my dad gave me a present.

He got me a replacement Kitchen Aid! I appreciate it so much, I know how hard the pink is to find and how expensive they are. I have the best dad. (Please remember I am a spoiled only child.) :)
I am so happy to welcome my new baby into our family. I brought her home, sat her on the kitchen table and gave her a hug. I feel a little guilty about pushing her older sister to the side. I love my original pink Kitchen Aid. I got her from my grandmother-in-law several years ago. I loved her so much she no longer has lower gears and sometimes smells like she's burning when I use her for long periods. (I use her almost everyday sometimes twice a day.) So I am putting her out of her misery and sending her off to storage, where she can grow old. I plan to teach my new one the ropes this week when I make cake for my son's school carnival. (I will post pictures.)
Thank you to my family for a wonderful birthday. I appreciate the time, money (Dad you spent way too much), thought and love you put into everything. I can't thank you all enough. I am so excited to be 33 ......again.

Beads

Here are the little buggers that caused so many tears last night. The complete meltdown I had in the hallway seems a little ridiculous after seeing the results this morning.(A little!) I try so hard and expect so much from myself. Because I'm still recovering from the emotional stupor, I will be taking the night off from making beads. I will be back at it tomorrow though.

Tears At The Torch

It was one of those days.

Tiki Time

This is a Juicy charm I got in my Easter basket yesterday. He is so cute, and so me. Along with my tiki I also got lots of yummy chocolate from Woodhouse. I know I am spoiled, but my kids did pretty good too. I usually take a picture of there Easter baskets but this year I was too slow, there was nothing left but Easter grass debris by the time I got out to the living room.
We went to dinner at my uncles. We had a really yummy pork roast and I made chocolate chip pie and my son made his famous brownies. My uncles house is so cute. It's old (1940's) and tiny (smaller than our house) but its decorated so cute. The best part is the tropical tiki patio area. He has a tiki bar, real tiki heads, surfboards and a thatched roof covering it all. You feel like you are on vacation when you are out there.(Even when its freezing and raining on Easter.) Every time we go there we talk about doing something similar to our backyard. I am drawing up the plans now and making up my to do list. But I know I need to finish the front porch first. :)