Just playing around

Whoo Hoo!  I am just playing around with my new laptop.  I took advantage of my day off today and finally took my wireless router out of the box.  I've installed photoshop and now there will be no living with me.  I'm sitting on the couch, and scooting the occasional dog nose off the keyboard. 

This beautiful necklace was made by the wonderfully generous Carol Dean Sharpe aka Sandfibers.  The photo was taken last month while I was in New Mexico, enjoying the drive thru "The Land of Enchantment" and thinking about my favorite New Mexicans :-)  I truly truly love this necklace by Carol!  It makes me feel so elegant and like I'm wearing a big hug whenever I put it on.

I LOVE Tools!

Everyone gets giddy over a trip to the hardware store, right?  Tell me it's not weird to freak out over new drill bits.  It's got to be normal!  I mean even my Starshine bolted up the stairs for her safety glasses. --(her very own, and don't you forget it)    Yep, we're tool girls.  I'm the kind of chick who pats herself on the back for buying a new drill as a self given birthday present at 17 yrs old. 

So....  Let me tell ya about true friends!!!!  My girl Staci gave me this Dremel, because she got a new one, and she TOTALLY ROCKS!  XOXOXO!

Stringing Magazine's Summer Issue!

HEY GUYS!!!!   I am pretty sure that I have some work in---

Stringing Magazine's Summer issue

I think I have 3 pairs of earrings inside.  One Pair features my Recycled Glass Drops, another pair includes my smoke fired clay tube beads, and the last one has the hand dug clay ovals that I listed in my etsy shop this week.  June 22nd is the newsstand date.  I checked out the table of contents page and I am really excited to see so many friendly artists included in this issue!  It should be a great one!

What's New?

Blues Link

Well......  Lots of stuff!

2 sided Large Vertical Bead

I added a lot of work to my etsy shop this week.  It's a lot of Funky Hand worked beads and pieces made with clay that I dug myself local to my home.    I just realized that I dug this clay about 6 years ago.  It's a pretty silly story.  I was a very pregnant potter, and my husband had just severed that tendon on his hand.  He had this weird Edward Scissor hands torture devise on his hand and I was big as a house and there we were shoveling buckets full of clay.  Between us we could not carry the buckets to the car.  My Mother in Law and her husband were visiting from California at the time and we had to make them carry the clay out to the road. 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47786116/burnt-sienna-handworked-clay-pendant-or

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47939085/beautiful-blue-handworked-clay-pendant

Around the studio, I have been firing the kiln every week. The milky turquoise color is a new glaze for me. I have also been trying a few things with coloring clay. I am firing some test pieces right now. I tried to make a blue and a green clay. The color looks really light on the unfired clay, so I am curious to see how the test pieces will look when I open the kiln tomorrow.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47930111/daisy-drops-in-hand-dug-clay-matched-set

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47915357/posie-in-blue-and-brown-2-stoneware?ref=v1_other_2

I have a group show in a little less than a month, and I will be switching over to finished jewelry mode. I think I am going to be a earring machine this coming week!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47855026/round-hand-dug-clay-pendants

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47784536/sprockets-stoneware-clay-bead-set-in

The past couple of week have been full of friends and family as well. We went camping with a group of friends. I had too many Marshmallows and too much wine and just the right amount of fun. My cousin got married on Saturday and we had a blast celebrating with the happy couple.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47786116/burnt-sienna-handworked-clay-pendant-or

 With all the craziness of my studio moving, I haven't had a chance to make them the wedding present I have planned.  I gave my cousin a big bag of beads and an IOU instead!  Somehow, I think she will be happy to wait :-)

How about you?  What's new?  Are you enjoying the spring?  Weddings, Graduations, Anyone?

Soup Ingredients I am mailing today (LATE)

Late last night I realized that I was late to mail out my Bead Soup pack to my partner.  Yikes! 

Heather said she likes teal, purple, olive copper and nature. 

I found so many teal, purple and olive beads..... good thing I didn't have any copper or nature cause I probably would have tried to stuff that in a box too! 

I think my brain doesn't like decisions past 10pm. 

Also I have had so much kindness poured on me this week from artist friends....and I am feeling like giving as well.......and.....    I have a pile of beads Heather kindly gave me a few months back, and now she will have a little pile of my work too.  I kind-of want her to be able to make something that she likes for the swap.....  so many options make sense to me  :-)

How does your garden grow?

I really love to grow food!

This is my new Cranberry Bush

Lettuce, Spicy greens mix and sugar snap peas

A close up, I have been eating these quite a bit, and I took this photo after filling my basket. Whoops!  Isn't that the way it goes. 

And here are my potatoes.  The leaves are having trouble.  I think it happened in the 2 days of frost we just had, but my MIL thinks it's a pest or disease problem.  The thing is that my Swiss chard that was unprotected from the wind and cold has damage as well.... and happened the same day as the frost....???  So I stick with my story. 

I planted all this stuff on St Patrick's day.  I am really enjoying my garden.  My Mom and I are sharing a community garden plot this year for the first time as well.  I am SO EXCITED! 

So.....  are any of you garden crazy as well?   How does your garden grow?

2nd wednesday giveaway prize

Hey folks!   I just wanted to show the prize that I donated to the Beads-of-Clay blog 2nd Wednesday giveaway.  You can still enter.... you just have to leave a comment.  This month's question asks what you like to see in a blog. 

Cindy Dolezal and Sharleen of Shaterra Clay Studio also donated great prizes for this month's giveaway (I just don't have those photos on this computer)   :-) 

Bead Soup Partners Revealed!

So.....  I found out who my partner is for the Bead Soup Blog party.  It is Heather Powers!  Isn't that cool!  I was given one of her beads to work with for the Bead Soup Party last time around.  That is her Robin Pendant.  I matched it with my Blue Burst Disc bead, and other than that I pretty much used the Beads that my partner Janet sent me and made some wire stuffs to do the rest.  I wonder what Heather will send. 

I wonder what to send her---  I really enjoy sending secret surprises.  I like to try to figure out the other person's style and find something they might like.  This time I am stumped!  I am going to have to check out some of her work.  Right now her own beads just come to my mind....  

In other news, I re-fixed my kiln!  Yeah!  That's a good thing!  Now I just feel like I need to schedule a show, or put a ton of stuff in my etsy shop so that I can make more.  Anyone want to have a trunk show??? 

Project Packs

I finally got some project packs in my etsy shop!

This is the project I wrote for BEADS 2010.

I have one 2 cabochon project set in the Blue Ice color scheme.

And one 2 cabochon set in Greens.

I like how this focal can be worn long or short. 

I can make either of these cabochon sets full project kits if you like.  I am donating a full kit to the Beads-of-clay  blog 2nd Wednesday giveaway....  I don't know which month it will be the prize, but you should check out the the giveaway.  Every 2nd Wednesday of the month we will be giving away a bead related prize just for stopping by the blog and leaving a comment. 

Beads-of-Clay Bead Swap and Share

Over at the Beads-of-Clay yahoo group and blog we are finishing up a Bead Swap and Share. 

I was partnered up with Pamela Cresswell.  Pam's Etsy shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/IndianCreekStudios.  Pamela lives in Kansas City, and don't you know, I used to live in the Kansas City, Missouri area.   I lived in a tiny dot of town called Holt.  I worked in a bigger town called Liberty.  And I studied sculpture with a Paper Pulp Artist in Kansas City.  I learned a lot.  Then I missed the part of the country I love and the people I know and I left.  So that's me and Kansas City :-)   I have family out there so I return from time to time.

OK OK Kristie!  The Beads!  I just loved the glaze and shape of the blue bead set that Pamela sent me! So that's what I focused on; the beautiful blue and teal and tan glazed bead set.  She called the beads she sent me "rustics".  I loved that!  I love making what I like to call "primitive" beads and I thought our styles really worked well together.    I pulled them out. I pulled out some of my beads.  I pulled out more of my beads and a three loop connector. 

I really liked how Pamela packaged her beads with twine.  I thought it really complimented her "rustics"  So I went with it!  If you read my blog, you may have noticed that I have been having a busy - crazy time of things.  I took this project and rebelled.  I wanted everything free and easy and natural. I needed time to be creative and work my brain the way it loves to be worked.  Funny how relaxing a project can be :-)    I don't don't know what says free, natural and rebellious more than a good old fashioned hemp creation!

So here we have it!  Perfect for summer, and I kind-of like how it makes me feel young to put it on.  I really wanted to find a funky batik bandanna and a sun dress and maybe listen to some reggae and channel my hippie self.....  Perhaps I will do just that as the summer unfolds. 

A second serving of Soup!

I just made it!   The deadline to sign up for the second round of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog party is today!!  I had fun checking out everyone's designs and working out my own last time around.

Check out Lori's Blog for the info

I do love dandelions.

I need some blog therapy-- so don't read this if you want to judge. I really mean it, I'm not in a people pleasing kind of mood :-)

Feeling sad these past few weeks- I haven't been able to get in the studio and do that thing clay that I love. My work space has been taken over by tons of stuff so that we could make room for another family member to move into the house. Married life has not been wonderful. I am spending all of my work time at my brother's new business, since I am so proud of him and want it to succeed. I am totally confused about the BOC blog. I don't want to do any of it anymore, but I'm thinking it's too late to become a hermit. I'm taking the day off from my brother's business tomorrow (really I am supposed to have off, but somehow I feel guilty about it. I am really only SUPPOSED to work there 2 days a week, not the 4 or 5 I have been putting in )

I hope that spending time on my own business will help even me out again, and bring me back to a good attitude. It should at least help with the nagging TO-DO list that keeps getting bigger and is not getting crossed off. Crossing things off my list usually helps lighten my mind.

I can hear thunder rolling in. There is a lot of pressure that needs to be released out there. I'm feeling it too.

And I do love dandelions.