Maybeads

Light Box = Glow Beads

2012-01-25T06:43:00.001-08:00

During the summer months, you may have noticed, my Etsy shop pictures were not the best. That's because we took down our light box (and actually used the dining room table for entertaining) and I took bead pictures outside with my little camera. On good days I had decent pictures. But if there wasn't enough light they would be blurry. So we finally got the light box set back up a couple months ago and my pictures have greatly improved. Of course, now you can see every fleck of dust and each cat hair on the beads (our cats love to sit in the light box when the bright lights are on it - it's must be like a cat sauna), but the quality is much better.

Having the light box in use also allows me to take good pictures of glow-in-the-dark beads. I didn't make any over the summer because I knew I couldn't get any good glowing pictures of them. But now I can! So scroll down slowly and see if you can guess what each animal is . . .

This glow owl is in my Etsy shop. The other beads will be listed soon.

I was able to make the eyes glow on all the critters by using glow-in-the-dark frit. Frit is crushed glass, and Glow Joe Imler of GlowJoe is my dealer, er, supplier. After I put on the whites of the eyes, I apply the glow frit (pictured below). Then I top that with a transparent glass, and then the black of the eye and voila! Glowing eyeballs!

Life Changer

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is a bracelet Annie received from a family friend. It's from Rachel's Cure by Design, which features jewelry designed by a teen-ager with diabetes. Portions of the proceeds go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.

I wasn't sure if I should write about this or not, but I think there are more reasons to talk about it than to keep it private. On January 3, our middle child, Annie, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, also called Type 1. In that instant, our lives changed forever. I had taken Annie out of school to have her tested because she had a couple of the symptoms that we were aware of (we have a niece with juvenile diabetes, and we also had had a diabetic cat). So when Annie was extremely thirsty to the point of being miserable and was also losing a bunch of weight, we knew something wasn't right. A quick test at the doctor's office confirmed our fears, and we went straight to the hospital so they could regulate Annie's blood sugar and begin to teach us how to care for her. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. The first full day there we met with an endocrinologist, a counselor, a nutritionist, a physical therapist, and of course, several wonderful nurses on staff. We learned about counting carbohydrates, monitoring blood glucose with finger pricks and insulin dosing. My husband and I were familiar with giving insulin shots because we had administered them to our cat for years. But there's a big difference between putting that needle in the scruff of a cat's neck and putting it into your daughter's belly. But we learned, and we did it. Despite having a niece who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 3, we didn't know nearly enough about the disease. We knew her parents did a lot of figuring before meals and they talked about a lot of numbers, but we didn't know exactly what it all meant. And more than that, we didn't realize what they must have gone through in the beginning, when their lives all changed. We are so lucky to have our niece (who is in college now) and her parents as wonderful resources while we keep learning to care for Annie. Their knowledge and support has been invaluable.

Since being diagnosed, Annie has returned to middle school. When she feels shaky, she heads for the nurse's office to check her blood sugar. She's still learning about her symptoms, but she is sure to check every time she doesn't feel quite right. For the first couple of weeks back at school, I would come in at lunch to make sure she was doing all right and to be there if she needed help with her shots. Now I include a note in her lunch with the amount of carbohydrates in it and the insulin dose. Annie pricks her own fingers now to check her blood glucose levels, and she gives herself the insulin injections, too. We're super proud of her.

My husband and I do blood glucose checks at midnight and 3am (another thing I didn't realize my sister-in-law and brother-in-law were doing back when their daughter was diagnosed). Annie usually sleeps through them, which is good. Something else I didn't fully understand before Annie's diagnosis is that kids with juvenile diabetes can eat what they were eating before they were diagnosed. They just have to account for it with proper insulin dosing. That's not to say that they should eat a bunch of junk and sweets, but those things are allowed.

So on our last day at the hospital, Annie decided to celebrate with the brownie supreme. You deserved it, girl.

I will probably have posts about Annie on here from time to time. I've learned that most people know someone or are related to someone with diabetes. I've also learned that one of my good glassy friends is a diabetic and another has a son with diabetes. Everyone is so helpful and supportive, and eventually I hope to be able to pay it forward to anyone dealing with a new diagnosis. So maybe a few posts about Annie here and there will be helpful to someone. :)

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Because of this major change in our lives, I've been cutting down on custom orders. I have a few that are still on my list and a couple I have promised and I will definitely do. But lately my free time has been hard to pin down, so because I can't guarantee anything by a certain date, I've had to cut back. I will still be listing new beads in my Etsy shop.

Murrini Monday

2011-12-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

These are cookies I made yesterday - they are not murrini. But they kind of look like murrini, don't they? Pretty pink cookies with cherry slices, rolled in sugar - mmmm. The sugar could be the sparkly dichro, the cherries could be, well, cherries. I've eaten way to many of these.

Here's the recipe for Christmas Criss Cross Cookies (or as I call them: Pink Cookies):

1 cup butter

5 T. sugar, plus more for coating

2 cups flour

1 t. vanilla

candied cherries cut in half or pecan halves

red food color - a few drops

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add flour. Add a few drops of red food color until the dough turns pretty pink. Roll into balls the size of small marbles. Dip a fork in flour and press the cookie in both directions (hence the name Criss Cross - but I don't bother with that part). Place a pecan half or cherry half in the center of each cookie. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes. Let cool until you're able to handle them (they are fragile). Then coat in sugar while still warm.

These are so festive and simple, and they are buttery and sugary and delicious! My mom made them when I was a kid, and now my kids love them, too.

It wouldn't be Murrini Monday without some actual murrini, so here's a pair of mismatched mini murrini owl earrings - super cute and awesome murrini from Lori and Kim!

Coconut Cranberry Bars

2011-12-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a festive recipe to add to your holiday baking - Coconut Cranberry Bars. A brown sugar crust and orange in the filling are a yummy combo in these bars. I have a picture of them cooling in the pan, but I forgot to take pics after I had cut them into bars.

Coconut Cranberry Bars

Crust:

1/4 pound butter

1/2 pound brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I didn't use them because I didn't have any)

Filling:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup faked coconut

1/2 cup pecans, chopped (again, I didn't have pecans so our bars were nutless)

Crust:

In medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and salt. Mix well. Add flour. Blend well. Stir in nuts. Press mixture into bottom of 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 15 to 20 minutes.

Filling:

While crust bakes, combine sugar, flour and baking powder in medium bowl. Mix well. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and orange rind. Blend well. Fold in cranberries, coconut and pecans. Spread mixture over hot baked crust. Return to 350-degree oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into bars.

This recipe is from the Noteworthy Two cookbook (a new recipe collection from the Ravinia Festival)

And the Winner is . . .

2011-12-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

I chose the winner of my owl bead giveaway tonight - a day later than I had planned. I did it the old-fashioned way, with names in a hat. Then I had my son draw a name from the bunch. He picked out rosebud101, who I also know as Mallory, a talented lampworker friend. She also makes murrini! Check out her shop at rosebud101!

Thanks again to everyone who entered and spread the word on Facebook. I really appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm for my beads. :)

1000 Facebook Fans Celebration ~ Giveaway!

2011-12-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I hit 1,000 fans (or "likers") on my Maybeads Facebook page. I couldn't be happier to have this many people following my work. Thank you! And what better way to celebrate than to give away a bead! Here it is, fresh from the kiln:

It's an owl wearing the latest in feather fashion - layers. I've been experimenting a lot with this style of chest feathers, and I was quite pleased with this color combination of blue, green and orange.

So here are the rules:

You have to be a Maybeads fan on Facebook to enter. After that, just leave a comment below about anything (beads, glass color combos, the weather, the holidays, your pets, etc.). Also, be sure to leave an email address or a way to reach you.

For an extra entry, share the post I put on my Facebook page about the giveaway. Then leave me another comment telling me you did so.

I'll pick the winner Wednesday night (12/7/11).

That's it! Thank you so much for your support!

Lauren

Orange Tuesday at Beads of Courage

2011-11-29T07:52:00.000-08:00

Black Friday was so last week. And Cyber Monday? Over. So what's left? Orange Tuesday! That's right, I said it. Orange Tuesday. Orange is the color for childhood cancer awareness. So it's only fitting that Beads of Courage, an organization devoted to children with serious illnesses such as cancer, would be the first to implement Orange Tuesday. Through midnight Arizona time (Nov. 29), all orders of $20 or more at the Beads of Courage Artists Gallery receive FREE shipping in the US. Enter coupon code ORANGE at checkout.

A bunch of my critter beads are off at Beads of Courage headquarters in Arizona, soaking up the sun, doing photo shoots and rubbing elbows (wings and paws) with pretty beads. But despite all the fun they're having, they'd much rather be purchased and turned into something pretty.

When you purchase beads at the Beads of Courage Artist Gallery, you can even have those beads wire-wrapped into wearable pendants - so no work for you!

Proceeds from the sales of beads in the Artist Gallery benefit Beads of Courage.

And don't worry, there are more than beads with goofy grins to choose from ~ LOTS of gorgeous beads by top lampwork artists are available.

Dora Schubert's exquisitely detailed beads are for sale at Beads of Courage.

Talk about gorgeous - Brent Graber's famous pendants are sure to please (I own two, and believe me, they are beautiful!).

Looking to fill your rope chain bracelet with stunning beads? Check out the beauties Astrid Boyce is offering.

So take advantage of Orange Tuesday and send some beads of enCOURAGEment to someone you love! Your purchase will benefit Beads of Courage. And don't forget your coupon code at checkout - ORANGE - for free shipping in the US. Happy Orange Tuesday!

Murrini Monday

2011-11-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Quick post today - I wanted to show off this sparkly murrini I used for this owl's eyes. It's from Lori and Kim, and boy is it fun! These were fairly large slices of murrini, and I placed them on the owl and melted them in. The little black spots on the inside made me want to plunge them, so I heated each one individually, then gave them a nice poke with my pokey tool. Next I topped them with clear glass and voila! Bubble eyes. Add that sparkly dichro on the edges of the murrini and this owl's gaze is just dreamy.

A side view:

Happy Murrini Monday!

Small Business Saturday

2011-11-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't know, today is Small Business Saturday. It's a day devoted to supporting small businesses, which of course includes artists. So I've made it my business to make some purchases from some small businesses that I love.

I had been wanting to order a custom dog tag from Island Top Designs for a looong time. My lampworker friend Paula has turned her artistic talents to metal stamping, and she's been off and running with her custom dog tag business ever since. I'm a fan of her Island Top Custom Tags page on Facebook, and her happy customers are all there showing off their new bling. Each time I'd see one of these cute pooches or kitty cats sporting one of Paula's custom made tags in gorgeous mixed metals, I'd want to buy one for our dog, Chunky. I especially love the one pictured above, with the dog in the boat. But it just wasn't right for Chunky. I also love the Cowboy Boot, but Chunk is a midwestern dog without any cowboy swagger. So after much thought I asked Paula if she thought she could make a tennis ball tag - the perfect tag for our tennis ball-obsessed dog. And guess what? She could!

Paula also sells her tags in her Island Top Custom Tags shop on Etsy. And as Paula says: Every pet deserves a little bling. And Chunky agrees.

Another small business where you can't go wrong is Sunbasilgarden. I'll soon be restocked with my favorite body butter lotions - sugar cookie is so yummy! I cleared out the stock on that one, but I'm sure Lauren, master soapstress at Sunbasilgarden, will have more listed sometime soon. In the meantime, she has other delicious sounding scents like Milk & Honey (pictured above) and Pomegranate. Her lotions are all natural and non-greasy (perfect for winter!), and I bought enough to keep one for myself and give the rest as gifts for the holidays.

Sunbasilgarden is known around Etsy for much more than lotions ~ it's really all about the soap. Each bar is a work of art in itself. One of my favorites is the Eggs and Bacon soap, but there's also Cookies and Milk and Cupcake soap. I highly recommend "liking" Sunbasilgarden on Facebook for updates on new listings and sales.

Enjoy your Small Business Saturday, and be sure to support your favorite small businesses!

Turtle Tuesday

2011-11-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

That's right, it's Turtle Tuesday. This is a brand new weekly holiday I invented. After all, what else could follow Murrini Monday? So every Tuesday I will have a turtle special in my shop. This week I'm marking down Joseph the Turtle and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Shell:

He is now priced at $10! Weeeee!

So be sure to check my SALE section for the weekly Turtle Tuesday deal - some turtles from past weeks are still available at the lower prices.

Happy Turtle Tuesday!

Murrini Monday

2011-11-14T06:27:00.001-08:00

It's been a loooong time since I've done a Murrini Monday, let alone blogged at all. So here's to getting back on track ~ enjoy some murrini on this cold Monday!

A tiny slice of orange and pink murrini is just what this little hootie needed.

Murrini as owl eyes is always a good idea. This one is sporting two perfect slices with pretty pink centers.

If you let your cat outside, make sure he's wearing a collar and tag. This little fella is sporting a red, black and white murrini tag, so if he gets lost and someone finds him, they'll know exactly where he belongs (back home with the murrini hoarder!).

Murrini for this edition of Murrini Monday is brought to you by Lori and Kim.

Happy Murrini Monday!

pssst - tomorrow is Turtle Tuesday.

Can You Smell It? It's Almost Friday

2011-09-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone looks forward to Fridays, right? It's ingrained in our brains. When you're a kid, Friday means the weekend is starting and there's no school for a couple days. When you're all grown up, it usually means the same, but with a couple days off of work. After college, I spent a few years as a stringer for a local newspaper. I worked weekdays and Saturdays, covering school and local events. To supplement my meager earnings, I waited tables at night. For a waitress, weekend nights are the money-making shifts. So I worked every weekend evening - my days off from the restaurant were Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So my whole view of Fridays and the subsequent weekend was turned upside down. While I was waiting on people on Friday nights as they were unwinding from their busy weeks and looking forward to the weekend, I was looking forward to Tuesday. But now that I'm older and have kids in school and a husband who works during the week, I find myself looking forward to Fridays again when we can all be together and live in harmony. Who am I kidding? I love weekdays! Just me and the cats and my torch. And the laundry and making dinner, but that's ok. I can deal with that.

For all of you who are looking forward to Friday, I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop. Just use Coupon Code ALMOSTFRIDAY during checkout, and you'll receive 15% OFF your entire order. Happy Thursday!

Beads Go To College

2011-08-25T07:34:00.001-07:00

My twin nieces are freshmen at Illinois State University, so I decided to make them ISU mascot beads. The school's mascot is Reggie the Redbird (they couldn't have gone to a school with a turtle mascot?), and Reggie is a little angry looking. The expression was a challenge for me, but I think I figured it out.

I wire-wrapped the birds and off to college they flew.

Earrings!

2011-08-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

I used to avoid making earrings or earring pair beads. I was so hung up on them being exactly the same that I just stopped trying. But lately I've been inspired to try them again. And you know what? They don't have to be exactly the same, especially when they're critter bead earrings. As another lampworker once told me: there will be a head in between the earrings, so some slight differences won't matter.

I currently have two pairs of earrings in my Etsy shop - some blue dangly dinos:

And some happy turtles:

This mismatched pair of hooters sold a couple weeks ago, so now I know that not everyone is looking for a perfect set.

I definitely plan on making more earrings - mismatched and alike. Any ideas?

Murrini Monday ~ I Can See It In Your Eyes

2011-08-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

When I find two slices of murrini that are nearly identical, I think owl eyes! And I immediately set those pieces aside while I figure out what colors to make my next owl. I especially like the Lori and Kim murrini with a round middle and little lines that spread out from the middle to the perimeter. These are my favorite murrini for owl eyes.

I LOVE the eyes on this owl! The murrini came in a "thank you" pack in one of my many Lori and Kim orders. I think maybe Lori put two of them in there on purpose? Unfortunately, there's a small fracture in the owl's body (boohoo!), so now he's busy guarding the underside of my computer and I get to look into his eyes every time I log on.

This owl's eyes are nice and dramatic, just the way I like them. I think they're putting me into a trance.

I have to find slightly smaller murrini for pandora-style owl eyes, and these deep red ones definitely do the trick.

I already have my next pair of owl eyes picked out. They are orange, and I'm thinking about a Halloween hootie.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Happy Beads

2011-08-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

I may have written about this before, so forgive me if I have. For the longest time I wanted my beads to be happy. Not just on the inside, but to show it physically, you know, with a smile. I had been using a butter knife to make the straight-across open mouths on my turtles ever since I started making them. If I put the mouth too high on the turtle's face, then the poor turtle got a "Jay Leno" chin. If I put it too low, he'd suffer from severe over-bite and tend to look kind of dumbfounded.

So over a year or so ago I set out to find a smile-making tool. After some trial and error, I wound up making one from the handle of a teaspoon I found in my kitchen drawer. Back then I made a couple beads with smiles (a goofy looking smiling dog and a turtle, I believe), but they sat in my shop for a while. Maybe customers aren't looking for happy beads? Maybe they want beads that look like they've been through a lot to get where they are, less carefree and more angst perhaps. Or at least a nice blank look on their googly-eyed faces. So I stopped with the happy beads.

Then about a week ago I decided to try it again. I felt like I had much more control of my handmade tool and I was really happy with the results. So far I've just made smiling turtles, but maybe I'll add some cheer to some other critters - any ideas?

Here's a picture of the teaspoon handle that I manipulated into a smile tool. I took my pliers and pulled the edges up to form the makings of a grin. Or, if used upside down, a frown. :) Frownie beads - now there's an idea . . .

Murrini Monday

2011-08-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Why are these turtles smiling?

They've been murrini-ed!

Each of these pandora-style turtles is showing off three slices of Lori and Kim murrini.

If owls could smile, I'm sure each one in this mini quartet would be grinning ear to ear. Each one has its very own murrini.

All the beads here are available in my Etsy shop.

Happy Murrini Monday!

How to Mooch a Bead - In Eight Easy Steps

2011-07-21T11:49:00.001-07:00

This method has been proven to work time and time again. You won't find these techniques anywhere else - I am only sharing this top secret information here. Now pay attention.

1. Upon noticing the bead you want, make a gasping sound like you're sucking in your breath in surprise.

2. Then exhale and say, "Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! It's soooooo cute!"

3. Next, with eyes wide, ask "Is it sold?"

Upon hearing that it is not, in fact, even listed to be sold, continue to step 4.

4. Say with much enthusiasm "I will buy it! I will pay you for it!"

5. Give it a few more "oooohs and awwwws" for good measure. Try using the voice you use when talking to your cat.

6. Promise to wear it.

7. Then go right to sleep when I tell you.

Maybe, just maybe, you'll have a new choker to wear the next day.

8. Forget all about your offer to pay good money for it.

Murrini Monday ~ Hooter Style

2011-07-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

When Lori, of Lori and Kim, sent me this excellent duo of yellow, black and white murrini, she put a note on the baggie that said "for owl eyes." She knows me too well. And yes, the perfect slices of murrini became fantastic, mesmerizing owl eyes:

As you probably are aware, another name for owl is hooter. What's better than one hooter? A pair of hooters!

This pug is a bathing beauty in her murrini bikini - same two slices of murrini I used for the owl eyes, only I didn't flatten them (the pug needed all the enhancement she could get).

And here's a shot of the hooters for a side-by-side comparison.

I highly recommend heading to Lori and Kim to check out their latest batch of murrini blends. You're sure to get a jumpstart on Halloween planning (that's right, I said Halloween!).

Random Friday

2011-07-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a rule breaker. I admit it. When I'm trying to think of names for my beads, I often hop on over to The Comprehensive Bunny Name List. I can't remember how I found this site, but I love the suggested bunny names. However, the site explicitly states that Use of this list to obtain names for kitties, puppies, gerbils, hamsters, or other fuzzy pets is an abuse of this service and will not be tolerated. Oops. At least it doesn't mention turtles.

I Skyped for the first time a couple weeks ago. My parents were in Vietnam, and we caught them early in the morning on the computer. It was about 8pm here, so it was about 8am there. It was really fun! My dad aimed his camera outside and showed us the crazy traffic and little scooters everyone drives around on, as well as a couple places off in the distance he remembered staying at during the war. Very cool.

I've been on the email list for our local pet shelter volunteers for a while now. I got on the list for my son, who has wanted to be involved. Well today he'll be working in the food area of CATMANIA at Orphans of the Storm in Riverwoods. The event runs all weekend, and there are lots of kittens and cats waiting to be adopted.

We did our annual trip into cheese country to go strawberry picking a couple weeks ago. We love going to Thompson's Strawberry Farm in Bristol, Wisconsin. We picked A LOT of strawberries. Of course, the kiddos wanted to stop by the Jelly Belly factory afterward, so we did that, too. Check out the gross Jelly Belly flavors that our neighbor's son tried - ick!

Both my girls start camp next week. My older daughter will go away for about 12 days - her first time at overnight camp. My younger daughter will be at the same camp, but for the day camp program. I'm able to send them to camp with money I earned selling beads - so thank you everyone who as purchased from me! Now I have to figure out what to do during the time they are gone - clean out their closet or make beads?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Murrini Monday

2011-07-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

I gave in to my murrini addiction last week and scored more murrini (one little baggie can't hurt, could it?) from my dealers, Lori and Kim. Fortunately, I had enough murrini to get me by until my new blend arrived.

Dolly is looking good in her orange murrini bikini. It might look like she's had work done, but believe me - they're real and they're fabulous.

This blue baby dragon frog started out as a mouse. But sometimes the glass just tells you what it wants to be, and the turquoise glass I was using kept saying "baby dragon frog." Really. Whatever he is, he's holding tight to his pink and green murrini flower.

This mouse bead actually made it to fruition. Gracie the gray mouse is so happy to be a mouse, as opposed to a baby dragon frog, that she's ready to share her love and happiness with a pink and green murrini heart.

Bogart the black owl is sporting some striking murrini. I love the colors I was able to get out of this murrini. I'm still experimenting with striking murrini, and I've had a few misses along the way, but I think this one is a hit.

Here's my new blend, perfectly called Calorie Free Love ~ my very favorite murrini colors (retro candy colors) combined with the hippy designs of peace and love and happiness and checkerboards and . . . yin yangs! I just might have to hold auditions for which beads will get to sport those pink and black yin yangs - love those!

Murrini for today's edition of Murrini Monday is brought to you by Lori and Kim. Find their online shop at Lori and Kim, and their Etsy shop at Lori and Kim on Etsy.

Murrini Monday ~ I ♥ Murrini!

2011-06-20T07:19:00.001-07:00

This delicious focal called Pull Here was made by Lori of loribeads. Lori is the other half of Lori and Kim, my murrini dealers. Do you see what she's done? She used two pieces of murrini and dragged them down to form a heart shape. Why didn't I think of that? It's beautiful and unique, like everything Lori does. Be sure to check out her shop - she's got a bunch more murrini focal beads and a coupon code posted at the top.

Lara of Lutrick shows her love of murrini in almost the same way as Lori. She took single slices of rainbow murrini and dragged them into hearts. This takes patience and skills, but check out the beautiful results! A Rainbow Heart Retro bead set. Happy Happy!

I guess I took the easy way out and used a piece of murrini with a perfect little heart in it to adorn Othello the Owl. No reworking the murrini here - just heating and placing it on Othello's chest, opposite where his heart would actually be.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Grinning Beads ~ teeth and all

2011-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

My poor beads must only eat jello because none of them have teeth. I've given an occasional tooth to a gator, but that's really about it. Teeth are a rare feature on my beads (almost as rare as tongues). My beads are awfully jealous of the toothy grins they're seeing on other lampwork critters (and I'm awfully jealous of their creators' mad skills).

Until I can figure out how to make turtle teeth, my beads will have to keep on gumming it. And I'll keep on grinning every time I see beads like these:

This Patriotic Big Hole Cat Bead Set by PuddyTatGlass just cracks me up. The expressions say it all.

This whimsical brooch by PattyLakinsmith features one of her very own "Meanies" beads - teeth and tongue! Bonus!

Cuteset Porkchop evah! This little piggy is made by Gelly, who must keep extra floss on hand to keep her beads teeth so clean.

Murrini Monday

2011-06-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

As promised, I have a Murrini Monday post! It's been a while, so let's get right to it. Murrini for this edition of Murrini Monday is brought to you by Lori and Kim.

Beppe the brown owl is proudly sporting a gorgeous slice of Lori and Kim murrini in earthy tones. Notice the goldstone sparkle? Nice.

Meet Anthony the happy weiner dog. He shows his cheeriness with a smiley face murrini affixed to one side.

This periwinkle owl sees life through orange and purple colored murrini (glasses). When I have two pieces of murrini that are approximately the same size and shape, I can't help but use them for owl eyes.

Pugs for peace. This murrini is from the same blend as the smiley face murrini. I lurve it!

Lori Peterson, half of the Lori and Kim duo that creates the beautiful murrini that I hoard, made these gorgeous murrini-filled Robin Rounds. She combines murrini and twisties and encases the whole lot in clear to make these super-fun glass bead balls. Lori is always coming up with new ways to showcase their murrini, so be sure to keep an eye on loribeads. Lori and Kim are also having a big Summer Sale - so check that out, too, at Lori and Kim.

As you can see, I have quite a bit of murrini. This is almost my entire collection, but there are still a few baggies of goodness that I haven't put into containers yet. I'm really trying to make a dent in it to justify another purchase. Of course, that hasn't stopped me before!

Happy Murrini Monday!

Randomness

2011-06-10T11:50:00.001-07:00

Look at all the orioles that stopped by to feed!!!*

~ Thank you for all the comments on my turtle rings (on a post a while back). I am making one for Dee of Cherry Obsidia, who left the first comment. She lives in the UK, so I get to learn how to convert her size P to a US size. Also, she is a lampworker and jewelry designer, so she will have a nice critical eye. I've made a few turtles and I'm now deciding which one to turn into a ring.

*~ So about a week ago we were at our daughter's softball game and our next door neighbor sent me a text and he was freaking out because there were FIVE Baltimore orioles on our feeder. He said he was running to get his camera. I of course didn't take him seriously because we had yet to attract even one orange bird. He eventually texted back to say they were "impostor" birds LOL. I figured he just didn't know his birds. So about an hour later we get home and my husband walks over to the window where we can see the feeders, and he says something like "I think we got some orioles!" Now we're all excited and running to the window. But after further inspection, we realize they are impostors! Fake birds! We hear laughing coming from the basement steps and our son comes up, laughing his head off. Apparently my dad had been secretly contacting our son to find out when we wouldn't be home (during the softball game, as it turns out) so he could drop off some fake-but-realistic-looking orioles. It was our son's job to position them on the feeders and the fence and in the garden (there was a whole flock!). Very nice. You got us, dad. And you really got our neighbors.

~ Summer tip: While most adults probably prefer to eat watermelon cut into nice little cubes or scooped into neat balls with a melon baller, kids (and kids at heart) much prefer to eat it off the rind. So if you're having a summer barbecue with both kids and adults, I suggest you have two options for eating watermelon and see who picks what.

~ I finally bought Bitter Apple (thank you for the suggestions!) to hopefully deter our cat Bert from chewing on cords. The final straw was when he bit through the mouse cord while my husband was using it. The cord must have been hanging down under computer and all of the sudden it didn't work, so my husband pulls the cord up and it was bitten in half. That cat is very sly.

~ Our poor dog is afraid of thunder. But poor us - we've had thunderstorms the last two nights and he keeps running from one side of our bed to the other, checking to see if anyone will let him in. Usually he sits in the shower to wait them out. I'm now wondering if Thunder Shirts really work - anyone try time on their scared pooches?

~ Now that my kids are out of school for the summer, my torch time has taken a dive. The kids go to bed much later, so I don't really torch after dinner. What I need to do is have some early morning torch sessions, when the house is quiet.

~ I showed no willpower today when I bought whip cream (the kind you spray from a can). It's not for ice cream - I plan on using it on iced coffees (once the temps go back up above 70).

~ I planted green bean seeds in the garden the other day. I also planted Kaleidoscope Mix Carrots - hoping to have purple carrots to show off in a few months. How cool would that be?

~ I will definitely do Murrini Monday this coming Monday. I don't know what my problem is lately - I just haven't been blogging a lot. But I love Murrini Mondays, so if you have any suggestions (beads you've seen that show off murrini), just let me know!

Our daughter turned 8 a few days ago. See that cake? It's a half-sheet cake that feeds about 40 people. We have five people in our family. So we invited the neighbors. That made a total of eight people eating that cake. Five days later and the cake is just about gone. We love cake.

Have a great weekend!!!

Randomness

2011-06-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

A few things that crossed my mind or happened this week . . .

~ I put the winter coats away. I can't remember ever packing up the heavy coats and boots in June, but I was afraid to do it sooner, because, you know, that would mean there would be a blizzard.

~ Gardening in low rise jeans = bad idea. Sorry neighbors.

~ The smell of my own burning skin is just not something I'd like to smell again. Or feel. Ouch.

~ My 7-year-old daughter didn't win the raffle for the class ant farm, and I'm truly disappointed. She sure wanted those ants. Her birthday is in a couple days . . .

~ The same daughter is calling her drinking straw a proboscis. So she is serious about these bugs.

~ I signed our son up for summer driving lessons yesterday. Wasn't he just playing with Matchbox cars? It goes by so fast.

~ Today is the last full day of school for the kids. I made a bookmark for my daughter's 2nd-grade teacher with animals from two of her favorite units - dinosaurs and penguins. All three of my kids have had this teacher (she is wonderful), and my youngest was born on my son's last day of school with her, almost 8 years ago.

~ This summer, I'm planning on being a tourist in Chicago. I want to take the kids on the train to the city, and I have a short list of places I'd love to go: The Shedd Aquarium for the JellyFish Exhibit, Lincoln Park Zoo (always a favorite) and China Town.

~ I'm getting our pool passes today. Is there still time to drop 10 pounds? Yeah, that's what I thought. :P

Happy Friday!

Bird Watching

2011-06-02T10:34:00.001-07:00

My parents have a whole bunch of bird-feeders in their yard, and this year they have been attracting Baltimore orioles. These birds are a brilliant shade of orange, so it's no wonder that the way to attract them is with orange slices. Apparently the orange slices lure them in, where a nice cup of grape jelly is waiting for them to eat. This set-up can be as simple as half an orange nailed to a tree with a small dish of grape jelly next to it. Or, there are feeders designed with orioles in mind that have spots for two orange slices and a cup for the jelly in the middle. My dad set us up with one of these (after my attempts to lure an oriole with my own handmade version wasn't working), as well as a finch feeder and a feeder for suet logs.

It's only been about a week and a half since we put the feeders up and we've had great luck with the finch feeder. Here are a male and female goldfinch on a date at our feeder:

And here is a house finch on the feeder just this morning:

We still haven't had an oriole stop by, so last weekend I went to my parents' house to check out their birds. There were so many! I saw finches, woodpeckers, bluejays, a hummingbird and a Baltimore oriole:

The hummingbird was way too quick for me to get a photograph of it, but boy was it cool! Our kids are really enjoying the feeders, too. We look out the window every time we go by now, checking for birds. And we aren't the only ones:

Do you have feeders? What kind of birds do you get?

I'm still working on my bird beads. This little red hen is too chubby to fly up to the feeder, so she's just waiting on a lounge chair for someone to feed her.

Give Me The Finger

2011-05-28T12:43:00.001-07:00

My current turtle finger companion.

That's right. I'm looking for a few good fingers, so flip 'em this way. I'd love to start selling my turtle rings (I wear one, my kids have them and my sister has one that glows in the dark), but I'd still like to experiment on someone and see how I do with sizing a ring for someone I don't see in person. I've really only used copper wire for the wire-wrapping, but hopefully I'll eventually venture out to different wires. So if you like turtles and would actually wear a glass turtle ring (made with copper wire), please leave me a comment with a way to reach you after this post. Also, make sure you know the ring size of the finger you would wear it on, and I'll contact one or two people from the comments to get the info. to make and size a ring. Thanks in advance!

Another angle of my ring.

Who You Callin' Short?

2011-05-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

I recently moved my "studio" from my dining room to my basement. This forced me to clean off my table, and boy was that a long time coming. I was not looking forward to picking through all that glass, but I knew I'd find some goodies and glass rods I'd forgotten about buried under more glass rods. I also was hoping to find some murrini that had popped out of my tweezers while I was trying to apply it. But what I mostly wound up finding were shorts. Not the kind you wear, mind you, but short pieces of glass. Those short pieces, which are about one to two inches long, are what is left when you use a rod of glass down to where you can safely handle it. I'm pretty sure I've seen special tweezers that are made for holding those short pieces of glass, but I've never used them. Sometimes I use my mashers to hold those smaller pieces, and sometimes I'll fuse a couple of them together to make a longer usable rod. But mostly I just let them accumulate. I have a lot of shorts. I think I'd better get fusing - that's a lot of glass that could be used.

What do you do with your shorts?

Here is a random picture of my cats after I folded some warm towels. Ernie is the orange one burrowing in the blanket. Burt got the warm towels and the other black kitty is Buzz.

Murrini Monday

2011-05-23T12:05:00.001-07:00

Have you ever seen mushroom murrini? I hadn't - until today. My glassy friend Jo from Dogmaw Glass makes it, along with lots of other designs like flowers, leaves, ladybugs and palm trees (those are super cool!). I'm loving the 'shrooms!

In other murrini news . . .

I recently received a package of murrini from a glassy friend in the UK. She is just starting to make it, and she's finding it quite addictive to make (which is good for me, because I find it very addictive to use). So one batch is a nice bright color combo of green, orange and yellow and I used it to decorate the snail above.

This penguin is sporting a really sweet slice of green murrini with a rubino center - love that!

And there was a pack of purple and blue murrini, too, which I used on the cobalt big hole bead in the above picture. I decorated the amber bead with murrini from the orange, green and yellow mix.

The artist who made this fabulous murrini is not selling it (yet). But she is thinking about it. So hopefully she will eventually and I can post all her information and you can be playing with this fabulous murrini one day, too.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Here are my latest lori and kim murrini inspired critters. A mini owl and a mini penguin.

Express Yourself

2011-05-20T06:51:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about facial expressions on my critter beads. I think it came about because I was asked to make a flock of funny birds (similar to the ones in the short film Bird on a Wire). I noticed right away that the birds had very comical expressions - ranging from surprised to angry. I knew more than anything that the expressions I put on my beads would be the biggest challenge when I made them. Also, I had never put eyelids on my beads before (as a result, they all suffer from sever dry eye), so that added to the challenge. The birds posing on the Jenga block are the ones I made for my special order, and I was pretty happy with how they turned out. They got me thinking a lot about expression and how I could improve or expand on the facial features of my beads.

Back when I started making beads, I found a couple tutorials that were instrumental in helping me make critter beads. Super talented Emma Green, from Bead Envy, shares them on her site - one for a penguin and one for a cow head. At the end of the penguin tutorial, she reveals that the most important part of a critter bead is its eyes. "The eyes have it," as she puts it, and I agree completely. By adding eyelids to some of my bird beads, I gave them a more skeptical look. But also, the position of the black eyeball definitely will change the look of a bead from surprised to, say, lonely.

The expression on my penguins is almost always the same - poker faced. They always look as if they don't know what's going on, like, duh, I don't know. I think the position of the wings contributes to this, too, because it looks like he's shrugging his shoulders.

For cow beads, I usually put down a layer of black before I put the white eyeball and then the teal coloring. All these layers take up space on the bead, and as I melt them in they expand, causing the eyes to smush together. For some beads, this is not the effect I want, so I pull off the eyes (don't worry, doesn't hurt a bit) and start over. But for cows, I happen to like how it gives them an almost petrified look. I try to keep the blacks of the eyes closer together and in the middle, and somehow it works.

The sad puppy dog eyes are probably my favorites to make. I start with a layer of black, then white, then a shade of transparent topaz or brown. For these, I try not to let them melt together like on the cows, but I do let them expand a bit. Then I'm careful to put the blacks of the eyes toward the top and also toward the snout. Now he looks like he could use a good scratch behind the ears. Or a cookie.

One look I'm still working on is the sideways glance. I tried it with the kitty on the right, but it seems like only one eyeball got the message. This happens a lot (see the pink bird on the right in the top picture). I need to work on getting those eyeballs in the same spot on each eye. It seems to work when the brown kitty is seated next to the bad fish-eating kitty because he's got something to look at.

I'm going to make it my goal to try to give my beads a little more expression and personality. Let's hope they are cool with that. If not, I guess they'll show me.

Turtlepalooza!

2011-05-18T06:11:00.001-07:00

It's Turtlepalooza time! That means all turtles in my Etsy shop have been marked down to $10. You read that right - $10 turtles! I've put them all into my new section called TURTLEPALOOZA, and I'll be adding more throughout the week. Turtlepalooza will run through Sunday, May 22. So grab some turtles at this low price before they run away! Ok, before they slowly slink away.

A turtle for your rope chain.

Gil has special powers - he glows in the dark!

Gil the glow turtle at night.

This is one of my all-time favorite turtles. Its shell is made of fantastic purple murrini (from lori and kim) that's been encased in clear.

Change of Plans

2011-05-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Alex at Memorial Stadium where we went to pick up his race packet. He might as well get a t-shirt out of it, right?

Remember a while back when I enthusiastically wrote about the half marathon I planned on running in April at my college campus? Well, I wasn't able to run it. My knee was bothering me - my Cortisone shot had worn off, and I couldn't get another one until after the date of the race. I was bummed for sure, but my son had started track and he decided to run it. Even better! I could go to my old campus in Bloomington, Indiana, and cheer him on! And I wouldn't even have to break a sweat.

So I signed him up and we planned our trip. Just me and him. But two days before we were to leave he learned that because he's on his high school track team, he would be ineligible to run in the race. There are rules about student athletes competing in races outside of school. So now we both were bummed. He would have done really well, too, because he'd been running 10-12 miles every day for track.

But we weren't deterred - we went anyway. We stayed for one night instead of two, but it was plenty of time for me to show him around my old campus and check out the race course. We had so much fun. The last time I had been to IU was when Alex was a toddler. Now he's a freshman in high school. Things definitely changed, but they also remained very much the same and so familiar.

This is Alex in front of the Sample Gates that lead to the heart of the campus, an obligatory photo spot. The race course went through the gates (see the sign in the back?).

And here are me and Alex about 12 years ago in front of the Sample Gates. He was much less fussy during his second visit (thank goodness).

This is a shot of the Von Lee, a movie theater when I was a student. It seems to have transformed into a noodles & company restaurant.

Right before we left I remembered to take Alex back to Bryan Park, a spot we had visited back when he was 2 because, well, he was 2 and we needed a park. When we got there, I took a quick picture of Alex on this dinosaur. Maybe we got a few strange looks from parents of toddlers at the park, but we didn't care.

Here's Alex at our last visit. His obsession with dinosaurs was just beginning, and I remember we thought we'd hit the jackpot when we saw this cement dino at the park.

We ate dinner at the Trojan Horse and breakfast at the Village Deli. And in between we walked all over campus. We visited my old dorm (totally updated!), Assembly Hall and Ernie Pyle Hall, where I studied journalism and worked for the school paper. I practically lived in that building. It felt good to go back and have a look around.

Before we left, I remembered that the Bloomington Handmade Market was the same weekend (quite a good coincidence), so we ventured on over there and walked around. The place was packed, and there were a lot of Etsy sellers and just so many talented artists. It was really wonderful. When we got to the table of Melissa Bryant of mywireempire, a print caught our eye:

Obviously, we had to have it. It was perfect. Gee, I wonder why . . .

And now the print hangs in our hall/kids' bathroom. It looks great!

Melissa Bryant makes amazing prints, and she's doing an animal a-z series. You can see more of her work at mywireempire.

On our way home, Alex took a few pictures of the wind turbines in Northwest Indiana. We had never seen them up close before, and boy are they huge! There is a long stretch of them and it feels like you will never pass them all. When we got home and I looked up mywireempire on Etsy to see Melissa's other prints, I found this one:

One of those cool coincidences, don't you think? Her print is called tiny paper cranes, and I just love it.

It was such a fun trip, and so nice to have the time alone with my boy.

I think I wore him out.

No Murrini Monday

2011-05-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm not going to do a Murrini Monday today because my pictures are so bad! I have some awesome murrini to show off, too, but my blurry photographs wouldn't do it justice. Once I get my photo issues cleared up, I will have a super-deluxe Murrini Monday.

In other news, I'm breaking up with ArtFire. I'm just not getting the attention I crave. I wanted this new relationship to work out, but I'm just not feeling it. Sure, there was the occasional bit of excitement. You know how it is in the beginning. But soon it began to fade. I was putting so much into the relationship, but I wasn't getting enough back. Call me needy, I can take it. I will keep the fire burning over at Etsy. ArtFire, I hope we can still be friends, just on a different level.

My ArtFire shop is currently open, but will likely close by the end of the month or whatever my last payment covered. So stop by for some deals, like the owls above.

Thanks, and Happy Monday!

Blurry Photos - Blame the Cat

2011-05-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm putting all the blame for my recent batch of blurry bead photographs on my cat, Bert. No, he didn't just jump on the table where I was taking pictures and shake things up, causing the photos to blur. It's not quite that simple. This cute little kitty bit through the cord on our camera remote. The camera remote allows me to take pictures of my beads without touching the camera and therefore moving it, thus keeping the camera steady and the pictures crystal clear. The remote is attached to the camera by a nice, thick cord, so no hands need to be on the camera when I take a bead picture.

So the other day my husband went to set up the camera and found the cord had been bitten right through. We knew right away it was Bert. He's done this sort of thing before.

These are the mini blinds in my daughters' room. He not only bit the cord completely off so we can't pull them open, but he has chewed through other spots of the cord, causing this pretty picture. He has bitten off the ends of pretty much every pull cord to all of our mini blinds. Now when we open them we have to hook the little stump of a cord over the top of the window frame so he doesn't chew off more.

But the fun doesn't stop at camera remotes and mini blinds - oh no! There's more! He has also bitten the cords on several pairs of ear buds. We all keep our iPods in drawers now to keep them protected from Bert. The problem for me is that I can't remember where exactly I hid my iPod. :(

Just the other day I took off a rubber cord necklace and put it on my dresser. Within seconds, Bert was on my dresser and with one swift bite he had severed the rubber cord in half. I couldn't have stopped him if I tried, he was so fast.

Does anyone else have this issue? Any remedies? Should I sleep with a squirt gun and be ready to shoot at a moment's pounce and bite? We've never had a cord-biting kitty before and he is driving us mad.

Of course, we love him to pieces. Pun intended.

Coupon Codes

2011-04-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm finally making use of the coupon code options in my Etsy and ArtFire shops. I did a coupon code a while back on Etsy, but only one buyer took advantage. So when I realized my Etsyversary (3 years selling on Etsy!) was last Saturday, I decided to celebrate with 20% off orders in my Etsy shop as well as my ArtFire shop.

For Etsy, use coupon code 3YEARS at checkout. The Etsy coupon expires tonight - April 27. These three Big Hole Beads are in my Etsy shop, in the Pandora section.

Mini Turtles in my Esty shop.

For ArtFire, use coupon code APRILSHOWERS (it has not stopped raining here in days!). The ArtFire coupon code is good through Friday, April 29. Gino the giraffe (above), is hanging out in my ArtFire shop.

Pinky the owl is also in my ArtFire shop, just waiting for a home. Who who will use the coupon code and snatch her up?

Happy Wednesday, and stay dry!

Happy Birthday Chunky!

2011-04-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our dog Chunky's 9th birthday. It was also National Pot Day, but we celebrated our dog instead. We had a cake that I under baked, so it was more like brownies with icing. Chunky got a rawhide bone.

I tried to take a picture of him with the bone, but every time I got close enough he'd take off down the hall. He must have thought I was after his rawhide. He was very possessive of it. So I got an action shot of him running back toward me (notice I didn't put the economy-sized toilet paper in the closet yet).

My husband got this shot of him and his bone. I guess he trusts him more than me.

Chunky did take a second to look up at our daughter when she tried to get in a picture. But then it was back to the bone. He gnawed on it until it was gone.

I think he had a good birthday.

Murrini Monday

2011-04-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

I took a couple weeks off from Murrini Mondays, and also from blogging. It wasn't on purpose, it just happened. So let's not waste any more time - let's see some murrini!

I'm having a lot of fun putting murrini on the tops of turtle shells. This one is a really cool piece from lori and kim that I think has silver in it - I love it how it spreads out over the shell. I did not put clear over this murrini.

These mini turtles remind me of candy, like Lori's Candy Jacks beads. I topped each of these murrini slices with clear for a magnifying effect.

Plummi the elephant has found a perfect slice of murrini and she is not letting go. Not even for a peanut.

This murrini works well as decoration on a mushroom.

Dinosaurs like murrini, too! This one is sporting a gorgeous sunny slice to match his sunny personality.

All of the murrini in this week's edition of Murrini Monday is from lori and kim.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Dinosaur Roar

2011-04-04T05:11:00.000-07:00

Recently made dinosaurs

When my son was little (he's 14 now), he was obsessed with dinosaurs. He could not get enough. We had countless dinosaur books, and his favorites were the ones that were fact-based. He liked me to quiz him on the different kinds of dinosaurs. Pachycephalosaurus and parasaurolophus were common words coming out his toddler mouth. I had never paid a whole lot of attention to dinosaurs, so I was learning along with him. His enthusiasm was contagious and his preschool teachers were quite impressed (and probably a little annoyed by his obsession with the dinosaur bin). He had a huge collection of dinosaurs and he named each and every one (names like Clammy, California Jim Johnson, Salty and Beanie). He kept track of their names and their species - Salty was a Saltasaurus, Clammy was a Euoplocephalus (yes, I had to look up how to spell them).

When I first started making animal beads, I made a few dinosaurs. I still have this one that stands guard under my computer:

I really liked this dino when I made it, and I was disappointed when it didn't sell. But now when I look at where I put the bead hole, well, it's pretty obvious why he's still here.

So now I've been giving dinos another shot, and I'm happy we still have my son's all-time favorite book The Big Book of Dinosaurs. It really helped me get some of the details down.

I know there will be lots more dinos coming out of my kiln, evolving and changing as I go. They're really fun to make.

Oatmeal Sabatoge

2011-03-26T05:41:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned before how much my husband loves his bicycle? I think I have. He is a bike addict. He rides every chance he gets. And right now, at 8 am on Saturday, he is over an hour away doing a road race. Outside. It's about 25 degrees outside. That's either devotion or plain craziness. But that's not the topic of this post.

The night before my husband has a race or a bike class, he packs up his car with his bike and helmet. He also packs a gym bag with a change of clothes, extra clothes for layering and water bottles. Some of the water bottles are filled with protein potions that will restore his body back to its normal state after her burns 1,000+ calories riding his bike. Also, the night before he has an early ride, he prepares his oatmeal for breakfast. He'll pour his dry oats into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Then he makes a little mixture of goodies to go on top. This bag of oatmeal topping consists of brown sugar, walnuts and dried cranberries, as far as I know. I don't really inspect it. So in the morning, all he has to do is add water to the oatmeal, heat it in the microwave and sprinkle his concoction of flavors on top and enjoy.

When I see that oatmeal all nicely prepared (with a banana) the night before, I just can't help myself. I start looking through the cabinets for something to hide in that baggie of brown sugar and walnuts. One week I put a couple chocolate chips in there. The next week I was a little more obvious - baby Swedish fish. Just a couple. But I'm careful to fully immerse them in the brown sugar, so hopefully they're a surprise. I don't think he noticed when I put white chocolate chips in the bag - they probably melted and blended in.

See that yellow spot in the middle of the bag? I wonder if he liked his oatmeal and Gummy Bears this morning. I'll find out in a few hours.

Murrini Monday

2011-03-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

I skipped Murrini Monday last week because I had my giveaway going, so now it's baaaack!

Here we have a pug in a cozy spring sweatshirt, complete with a smiley face murrini. I'm so happy Lori and Kim made these! I have a few left and can't wait to dress other beadimals in happy face shirts.

Next up is a spring snake with a flower murrini tail, and and a white bunny with an decorated Easter egg murrini. The poor purple snake didn't get a murrini, and he looks pretty upset about it.

This purple bunny snagged a sweet Easter egg murrini, and she is not letting go.

Finally, here is a penguin with a fun sunburst murrini on his belly. I think even he is ready for spring. :)

All of the murrini in this post is from Lori and Kim. They try to post their new murrini on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so be sure to mark your calendars so you can get in on the new designs before they are gone! Ok, before I buy them all.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Major Markdown

2011-03-20T09:28:00.001-07:00

Tabby Cat Sheriff is retiring at the end of the month (ok, he's due to expire, but let's not tell him that), so I've marked him down again. I'd love for him to find a place in a nice law enforcement/kitty cat retirement center. Then I can bring in my new sheriff. Penguins make good sheriffs, but I think I might deputize a pug. Any other suggestions?

Tabby Cat Sheriff in action - see how he keeps the naughty turtles in line?

Beads for Sale at Beads of Couarage

2011-03-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

I recently sent about a dozen beads to Beads of Courage, an organization I've written about here before. Beads of Courage provides beads to children who are suffering from illnesses. The children receive beads to string for each treatment they have, each time they stay in the hospital, each time they have blood drawn . . . As you can imagine, these kids have very long strands of beads. I send beads to the Beads of Courage program as often as I can, and they are distributed to the different hospitals that are participating in the program. There are a lot of artists that donate beads - it's a really wonderful program.

Recently, Beads of Courage put the word out to artists that it would be accepting beads to sell on the BOC website. These sales would benefit the program. It took me a little while, but I finally got a small group of beads ready and sent them (with my last bead donation) to BOC. I just found out that my beads are now up for sale in the Artist Gallery. There are some really amazing beads and jewelry available on the site, all by different glass and polymer clay artists, and I'm so honored to see my little critters among the beautiful beads.

So take a minute to check out the Artist Gallery at Beads of Courage. You won't be disappointed. :)

Giveaway WINNER!

2011-03-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

I picked the winner the old fashioned way - I wrote down all the entry names and had this random lady (pictured below) pick one.

Wow, she has man hands. Who knew?

Anyway, the winner is nomadcraftsetc! Nomad Crafts Etc is actually a lampwork business run by a husband and wife. I already follow them on Facebook, and you can too at Nomad Crafts Etc. They do a really wide variety of lampwork - from pipes to big hole beads to marbles (check them out!). I will be contacting you soon for your info, Nomad Crafts! Thanks so much to everyone who commented!

GIVEAWAY!

2011-03-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I've done one of these. I have the best customers, blog followers and Facebook likers, and I want all of you to know how much I appreciate you. So I'm giving away this penguin-bunny bead.

I came up with the idea for a penguin-bunny because my 2nd grader just had a unit on penguins. She learned that male Emperor penguins have to keep the newly hatched eggs warm and protected by balancing them on their feet so they don't touch the frozen ground. The eggs are kept warm by a thick fold of skin that lays over the egg. They do this, without eating, for about nine weeks, while the female penguin is off at sea having a feeding frenzy. If the egg touches the ground during the incubation period, it will freeze or crack and the chick is lost.

My daughter's teacher gave each kid in the class a plastic egg and had them try balancing it on their feet as they waddled around the classroom. When the eggs eventually hit the ground, they'd pop open and their were a couple Starburst candies inside. My daughter came home from school that day with her little Starburst penguin chicks (she had drawn little bird faces on them) and refused to eat them because they were her chicks. I put them in her lunch and they came back, uneaten. She held out for a few more days, but she eventually ate them. But she saved the wrappers with the faces on them.

So, after that long explanation, I decided that my penguin should at least have a pretty egg to protect. So I placed a piece Egghunt murrini (from Lori and Kim) on this penguin's feet. Then I had to add bunny ears and a cotton tail, so his mate would be able to find him easily when she returns from sea.

For this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment after this post. I'll pick a winner on Tuesday night (March 15). I'd love it if you followed my blog as well, or liked me on Facebook.

Thank you!

Skunked

2011-03-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

Skunks have been on my list of beads to try for a while, but I just never got around to it. Then just recently I had a customer request one (apparently she has a friend with a pet skunk), so I gave it a try:

I was happy with how it turned out, and so was my customer, who also ordered a couple cat beads. The skunk and this kitty seem to be getting along well:

Oh no - I spoke too soon - run, kitty, run!

Too late. :(

Hippity Hoppity

2011-03-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

Bunnies, to me, have always fallen into the same category as monkeys. I'm talking glass monkeys. There is just an unspoken truth that monkeys are not a critter I can make. I even proved it to myself once by trying. Ug. I leave the monkeys up to my friend Louise, who gives them personality, style and the best expressions over at Fireseed Glass - they are amazing! If you haven't seen her glass monkeys, you are missing out (so go look!). But I digress . . . bunnies are a close second to monkeys when it comes to making them out of glass. I've tried them at different times in the past, and they just turn out ok. They wind up looking too much like cats with long ears. So I went with something simpler, like this pink Peep-inspired bunny:

It's simple and cute, and reminds me of delicious marshmallow treats, but it's lacking personality. I guess it would be hard to eat a marshmallow bunny if it was filled with personality, so that's likely why Peeps have such simple features. So now with Easter on the horizon, I've been wanting to try bunnies again. Real (ok, my version of real) bunnies. So the other night I made this guy:

I showed it to my husband and he looked at it for longer than I thought it would take to figure out it's a bunny. He turned it over and looked at it from different angles, then said something like, "Bunny? Or cat with long ears?" Really? I got a much better reaction from my girls, who are suckers for large puppy-dog eyes. So I was a little encouraged, and decided to make a bunny sitting up:

I was pretty pleased with how Marshmallow turned out, so I decided to add more detail with my next bunny. I had some murrini (now that's an understatement!) that had always reminded me of Easter eggs, so I found it and gave it to this blue bunny:

He's got a pretty tight grip on it, so I had to find more for my other bunnies:

Wait a second, you're not a bunny! Too late, the Pug bunny is not letting go of that murrini egg.

Now that's just great, first the Pug bunny, and now ninja bunny has crept into my murrini stash and grabbed one of my last egg-shapped murrini.

I figured that would be the end of my "bunnies holding Easter eggs" series, but how wrong I was! I popped on over to Lori and Kim yesterday and lo and behold . . . an entire blend of decorated egg murrini!

Egg Hunt was just what I was hunting for. Now all my bunnies, and bunny impostors, will get an egg.

Murrini Monday ~ Guest Edition

2011-03-07T08:52:00.001-08:00

I've been having a lot of fun using murrini on mini turtles. This set features all rainbow-colored murrini, and I think each one is from a different blend from Lori and Kim. So as you can see, I seek out those brightly colored blends.

I don't have any more new murrini beads to show, so I'm trolling Etsy for some murrini goodies today.

Nikki's fat cat caught my eye right away at nlcbeads. He's sporting some Triton and white murrini from rosebud101, and the rainbow effect is so cool! I think I might have some of that murrini in my stash, and I'm going to have to play with it today.

Muppet Murrini! I can tell you how to get to Sesame Street - via theglasszone. Aren't these fantastic? The detail is amazing and the likeness to my favorite monsters is spot on. So darn cute! And the creativity doesn't stop at muppets - this shop has everything from tropical fish murrini to Frankenstein heads murrini, plus lots of your favorite tv and video game-inspired characters.

Check out this beauty I found in my friend Ema's new Etsy shop, EmaKDesigns. Kalypso Pearls Under the Sea has so many gorgeous elements, and right there in the center is a lovely slice of murrini. Ahhh . . . love it. Ema isn't new to Etsy, she just started a new shop called EmaKDesigns. You'll find her signature focals there, including her beautiful tree beads, and several decorated with murrini.

Happy Murrini Monday!!!

The Making of an Irish Pug

2011-03-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

There are days when I'm at my torch making beads, and I'm on fire. Not literally, of course. But every little critter bead I make turns out how I want - the expression, the shape, the size, the personality - it all goes so smoothly. This isn't every day. Most days I come up with a few keepers and a few practice beads or wonky beads. And some days I shouldn't even light my torch at all. The day I made the little Irish Pug was probably one of those days. But I pushed on, and on, and on. Normally a pug, or even a pug in a shirt, would be an easier bead for me to make. I make pugs all the time and I get a kick out of dressing them up. I'd had this idea for an Irish Pug, featuring a wonderful little clover murrini from Lori and Kim, for a long time. I liked the play on words with Irish Pug and Irish Pub. Plus, pugs look good in green. So, without another thought, I lit my torch and started to make the bead.

I wound the green glass around the mandrel. Then I added ivory. I made the head and added the eyes and mouth. Then I realized I should have added the murrini to the green shirt before I put the head on. No worries, I thought confidently. I can still add it now. I flashed the murrini in the flame to warm it up, then heated the spot on the shirt where it would go. I placed the murrini in the hot spot on my bead and gave it a little push to make it stick. Only it didn't stick. It popped right off and dove into my messy glass piles on my table. Normally I'd have a back-up murrini at the ready, but this was my very last clover murrini. So I started moving around the rods of glass on my table, all the while trying to keep the bead in the flame so it wouldn't cool and crack. With my left hand I twirled the bead, and with my right hand I searched for that tiny piece of murrini. And then I found it. Oh happy day! The future of this bead was looking good again. I put the murrini off to the side and put my attention back on the bead. I had to reheat the pug's shirt in the spot where the murrini would go, so I turned the bead over in the flame and - pop! Half of it cracked right off. Apparently I hadn't kept the bead as warm as I'd thought. Into the water bowl it went.

RIP, Little Pug

But I was determined to make this bead at this torch session, so I grabbed another mandrel and started again. I put on the green, then the ivory. I even got the murrini centered nicely on the pug's shirt, so I was feeling good. Now on to the face. I grabbed a rod of black glass for the eyes and put down two big dots. Funny, it didn't look black on the bead. That's because it was dark transparent purple. In my frenzy to find the murrini, I'd moved all my glass around and mistook a rod of dark transparent purple for black. The murrini was already on the bead and it was my last clover, so I had to make the most of it. I heated up the face and pulled it off (don't worry, this is not painful to the pug). I re-did the head with more ivory, found my black glass and started adding the facial features once again. I did the eyes - black, then white, then dark topaz. When I was ready to put the eyeballs on, I picked up my black glass and heated it up. Just as my hand was moving the hot black glass to the tiny surface of the eye, my dog comes up behind me and makes this gross hacking sound, scaring the you-know-what out me. I made the eyeball . . . and then some. Ahhhhh! Pulling off one eye is nearly impossible to do without affecting the rest of the face. Somehow I pulled the extra black glass off (you can still see a tiny bit above the pug's right eye) and re-did the eye. I can't even remember how - I must have blocked it out. I added the the legs and tail and added ears and voila! An Irish Pug was born. Easy as pie.

Happy 10.75 Birthday!

2011-03-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. Well, sort-of. He and his twin sister were born on Leap Year, so he doesn't really have a birthday this year, or most years. He's had 10 real birthdays, and two of our kids have passed him up in birthday age. Next year he'll have his day, but this year he's 10 3/4 (which turns out was a tricky number to write in frosting on the cake).

This is my husband (we'll call him Bob) doing what he loves. Yes, that's snow he's riding on. That's how much he loves riding his bike.

So here's what I got him for his birthday (that's not my husband in the above pic). It's a sweet cycling t-shirt from One Gear Clothing on Etsy. It was hard to choose because there are a lot of great shirts in this shop, but with my husband's bike chain coming off during one of his Fall Cyclocross races, I thought this was a good choice. And he loved it!

Our son was just as excited as his dad about the gift he gave - a jumbo-sized container of cocoa almonds. These were on my regular shopping list yesterday and they are delicious, but they're even more fun when they're wrapped up like a present.

Our middle daughter wrapped up a pack of gum. I think that's two years in a row she's done that. It's always fun to guess the flavor through the wrapping paper. Good times.

Any guesses what our youngest gave him? Here's a clue - see that hole in her mouth? She pulled her tooth out at school yesterday (strategically waiting until school started so she'd be sent to the nurse to collect the coveted tooth treasure box), brought it home and wrapped it up. Just what every dad wants.

And there was one more gift. This one was from our dog, Chunky. He's very thoughtful. But he waited until the last minute to buy his gift. Lucky for him, the folks at CountryWorkshop have super-fast shipping, and his gift arrived with a day to spare.

I think we'll hang the new sign by our sliding glass door. No explanation necessary. And this gift was hit, too. CountryWorkshop on Etsy is one of those fun shops you can spend a long time in, browsing and reading. There are cute signs for just about everything there. Chunky chose well.

Murrini Monday

2011-02-28T05:29:00.000-08:00

Is it Monday already? Well, the good news is - it's time for some murrini!

My elephant beads are very fond of murrini. They suck it up in their trunks whenever they can. This purple elephant found the perfect match with a slice of Poolhouse murrini from Lori and Kim.

But recently I had a request from a customer to place the murrini up on the elephant's forehead. Her idea was meant to be a small circle on the forehead, like a jewel. But as you can see, I chose a piece of murrini that spread out and became more of a decorative headpiece. I still really like how it turned out - this elephant is ready to paint the town red. Or at least dark orange.

And here's that fabulous Smarties murrini blend at work on my mini turtles. Could this blend be any sweeter? I call these Candy Turtles, partly because they look like candy, and partly because I was inspired by Lori Peterson's Candy Jacks beads that she makes with her murrini. I top the shell with murrini, then a small glob of clear glass, which gives the murrini a magnified effect.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Maybeads ~ Where are They Now?

2011-02-26T07:48:00.001-08:00

And now, it's time for another episode of Maybeads ~ Where are They Now?

Buttercup the cow bead has learned that the grass is greener on the other side - the other side of the world, that is! She traveled all the way to The Netherlands, and now calls this grass-filled silver bowl ring her home. Marjorie from M-ixes Jewelry created the ring, and it's like nothing I've ever seen before - totally unique. Buttercup couldn't be happier in her new, lush surroundings. I think it's the coolest ring ever.

A few weeks ago I got a custom order for three pet beads: Oliver the chihuahua and Catreeny and Molley the tailless cats. I sent the beads off, and now look where they are! They're sitting pretty on this bangle-style charm bracelet my customer made. The wire work is amazing! And I love all the little touches - the pet-themed charms and matching lampwork beads she added (I only made the paw print bead, but the rest my customer added and they match so well). Now she can take her pets with her wherever she goes.

If you've ever made anything out of my beads, I'd love to see a picture! If you've made something out of someone else's lampwork beads, I'd bet they'd love to see a picture as well. It's super fun to see where our beads wind up.

Randomness on my Memory Card

2011-02-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

I take pictures of somewhat random things from time to time. They are usually of things I don't plan on turning into prints and will probably get erased eventually, so I thought I'd share them here.

My little sister turned 40 at the beginning of the month, so I made her a turtle ring. Just what every 40-year-old is wishing for, I know! My sister has two turtles as pets, and she is the one who prodded me to make turtle beads. The purple turtle in the picture is the one I made for her. There is glow-in-the-dark frit on it (from GlowJoe) and a sparkly piece of murrini (from Lori and Kim) - I pulled out all the stops for this ring. :) The green ring is one I wear. I think they like each other.

My sister had a wine and cheese party to celebrate her big milestone birthday, so I also made her some wine glass charms to use for the celebration. When I got to the party I noticed the boob and the fried egg were still not being used.

Any guesses what this is? Here's a hint: Watch it wiggle, see it jiggle. Yep, it's jello. And it's shaped like a human heart. This was a gift from my dad. For Valentine's Day he gave me a jello mold of an anatomically-correct heart. Kids, dinner's ready! Mmmmm, good.

Our dog Chunky is obsessed with tennis balls and playing fetch. He especially likes to chase down tennis balls in the snow. Sometimes, when we say we've had enough fetch and it's time for a break, Chunky will take his tennis ball and give it new look. Afterward, this is what is left and what he expects us to throw to him in the next round of fetch. Ick.

I haven't been posting my Tuesday Training posts because I haven't really been training. I couple weeks ago I ran my six miles and felt great. I drank a ton of water and made sure I was hydrated throughout the day. But by 8pm that night I was sick with the chills. I know I wrote about my issues with this before and I got some great advice about keeping water with me all day, and that's what I did. And I drank it. But there's something more going on with me and my body just doesn't seem to want me to push that hard. Getting the chills is not the worst thing ever, I know, but if it happens after a 2-mile run or a 6-mile run, it will likely happen after a 13-mile run, and I'd rather not go through it in a hotel out of state. So I'm officially not going to run a half marathon. I'm totally bummed. I'll find another fitness goal that suits me better. My son, however, still might run it. So if he wants to, I told him I'd be happy to make the trip to IU to cheer him on. Maybe I'd even run the 5K for fun. :)

Murrini Monday

2011-02-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

I have held off on buying murrini for the last month (talk about will power), simply because I wanted to concentrate on all the wonderful blends I already own. I was actually successful in resisting and I made a small dent in my murrini collection over the last month. But when I saw Lori and Kim's newest blend of Smarties murrini, I didn't event try to resist. They had to be mine. And now they are! They arrived last week, along with Poolhouse and some Parakeet frit. I probably won't use my frit for parakeet beads, but I've already tried it on a turtle and it is really pretty. I've also tried out both murrini blends and they are fantastic! The colors and designs just pop - they are so much fun! I don't have pictures of my beads with the new murrini yet, but I do have some newer beads (pink ones!) with some of my older blends to show.

Murrini is really fun to use for owl eyes, and the colors in this murrini were perfect for a pretty pink pandora owl.

Despite the mortified look on his face, this pug is pretty happy in his pink snowflake murrini sweater.

Rosa the pink hippo wears a pretty rosette murrini on one side. Now she can always stop to smell the roses, if only she could bend her neck back far enough.

Beads of Courage

2011-02-20T08:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I sent off 103 beads (it doesn't look like that many, does it?) to Beads of Courage. These beads will be used in their program that allows children coping with serious illnesses to string beads, each one representing a different treatment or milestone. I had a bunch of animal beads in this batch, including nine that glow in the dark. I also took apart a lot of the bookmarks I had made a while back and put those beads in, too. The holes in those beads are nice a big (I used 1/8" mandrels) and would be easy for little kids to string. Plus, they were just sitting in my cabinet when they could be out there doing some good. :)

I was all set to send my beads in in January, but I waited until now because this month only, I'm also entered to win a new torch. Marcy, of StudioMarcy, is generously donating a torch to the cause. For every 25 beads donated, or $25 donated, the donator gets a raffle ticket for the torch giveaway. So for my 103 bead donation, I'll have four chances to win the torch. But the competition is very stiff! You would not believe the amount of beads that are pouring in to Beads of Courage! Marcy started a blog to show them all off, so check them out HERE. If you are a lampworker, there is still time to get your beads in for this promotion. You know you've been sitting on some beads, just waiting to clean them and send them in - now is the time! You could win a torch, but you know you'll just feel good making your donation regardless.

Maybeads ~ Where are They Now?

2011-02-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

It's time for another episode of Maybeads . . . Where are They Now?

A few of my owl beads had the good fortune of heading to Hawaii for the winter. Now they are hanging out on these fabulous pens made by Jennifer Garrison. You can find them at Night Owl Jewelry on ArtFire.

This blue owl is as happy as can be perched between silver on another fantastic pen designed by Jennifer. You can find it in her ArtFire shop, and also at Cute and Fun on Etsy. Jennifer has a lot of shops, so be sure to check them all out!

These doggies are living the good life on these exquisitely braided bracelets made by Laura Farrell of eXQUISITEcANINE. Laura also makes gorgeous braided dog leads and pet portraits, and you can find more of her work at Kanga-Leads.

Laura's Etsy shop has only a couple items in it at the moment, but my golden retriever bead is hanging out there on this super creative bracelet (check out the clasp!).

Happy Heart Day!

2011-02-14T05:25:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

SALE!

2011-02-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

I just added a SALE section to my Etsy shop. Some of the beads are close to expiring (holiday beads and others), and some I just decided to mark down a couple bucks. Here's a sampling of what's on sale:

This murrini turtle is small but mighty. It has different murrini on each side, and a cute one on its rear.

A sweet blue cat with a red heart murrini on his belly.

The Santa gator is long overdue to find a home. This is a very big bead for me, and I took $7 off his original price.

I've marked down 12 more beads, so I hope you find something you like in my SALE section!

Super Dog Tags!

2011-02-11T08:18:00.000-08:00

My glassy friend Paula not only makes fantastic glass dog beads, but now she's carrying custom-stamped dog tags (for actual dogs) in her jewelry shop. The bone-shaped Super Dog tag is my favorite, but she's got a whole bunch of designs to choose from and more in the works. Why should humans have all the fun? Or as Paula puts it - Every pet needs a little BLING.

More bling for your pet from IslandTopGems.

My new Super Pug bead sure would look sweet wearing a Super Dog tag from IslandTopGems, and I bet your pooch would, too.

Paula's gorgeous glass beads are in her PaulaNC shop.

Murrini Monday

2011-02-07T06:40:00.001-08:00

It's Murrini Time!

These sweetheart turtles are headed to Austria today. I'm having a ton of fun with the Sweetheart blend by lori and kim.

This turtle features purple murrini encased in clear. I'm really enjoying the results when I encase the murrini.

Another sweetheart bead ~ nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a pink elephant offering up her purple heart.

This Irish owl is quite happy with the shamrock murrini he's sporting on his belly. It's from the Lucky Charms blend from Lori and Kim (all the murrini today is from lori and kim, I should point out).

Happy Murrini Monday!

That Special Bead ~ Fire Divas Jewelry Challenge

2011-02-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

That Special Bead - you know the one - the one you've been hoarding and holding and waiting for just the right moment to turn it into something fabulous. That bead. The piece you make with that bead could win you even more beads! Enter your jewelry design in the Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge! The theme is That Special Bead. It is entirely open to your own interpretation and we hope you have fun with it! For some inspiration, head over to our Flickr page. You can win some fantastic prizes; see them below!

That Special Bead (or beads) has to be made by a Fire Diva (hey, I'm a Fire Diva!). The deadline is coming up, so get your entries photographed and entered.

Winged heart bead like this one by Lori from

http://www.ashlyndesign.etsy.com/

$20 Gift Certificate to janeldudleybeads.etsy.com

$40 Gift Certificate to hollysfolly.com

$15 Gift Certificate to teasebeads.com or teasebeads.artfire.com

$25 Gift Certificate to http://www.arensea.etsy.com/ or http://www.arensea.artfire.com/

A bead donated by Lara from www.lutrick.etsy.com and www.lutrick.artfire.com

$20 Gift Certificate to http://www.artfire.com/users/BabsBeadsandDesign

$20 Gift Certificate to www.etsy.com/shop/uglyducklingbeads

This set of beads from RiversEdgeGlass

Now the boring stuff:

All submissions must feature Fire Divas' lampwork. We require the name of the Fire Diva who made the beads used in the submitted piece, so if you submit something, please be ready to provide that information.

We will allow one submission per person per contest, and a maximum of two photos per submission. Entries may be submitted here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/firedivachallenge/) for approval, no later than February 10, 2011. No Flickr account? No problem. You can also email your submissions to firedivas @ gmail . com (no spaces). Please include, in the comments section or in your email, the following:
Information about the beads:
Description of the piece:
Inspiration for the piece:
Submissions will not be approved without all of this information.

Fire Divas reserve the right to approve or reject any submissions.

Fire Divas reserve the right to modify or cancel the challenge at any time.

The winners will be determined by an open poll which does not allow multiple votes.

Therapy Thursday ~ Starring Heinz Doofinshmirts

2011-02-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

I have three kids that range in age from 7 to 14. Two are girls and the teenager is a boy. You might think that finding a tv show that all three of them would want to watch together would be no easy task. But you'd be wrong. Phineas and Ferb is that show. And it has plenty of adult humor in it, too, so I openly admit to LOLing at it, too.

Here's a sampling ~ enjoy! And Happy Thursday!

SNOW DAY!

2011-02-02T08:39:00.001-08:00

We're having a major snow day here in the Midwest, so I've decided to try out my Etsy coupon code again. Use SNOWDAY when you check out of my Etsy shop and you'll get 15% off your entire order through tonight. How's the weather by you?

This is the view out our back door. My husband shoveled a path so the dog could go outside and do his business.

Here's our dog Chunky in the path he created running around looking for his tennis balls. When the snow melts, we expect our backyard to be covered in tennis balls.

Look at the snow drift coming off the roof - isn't that cool?

Look! There's the driveway!

Inside, the kitties are getting a little crazy. Bert jumped on top of the bookcase - something he's never done before.

Hope you're staying safe and warm. :)

Tuesday Training

2011-02-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

I did my first 5-mile run last week! And I felt pretty good, too. It took me 55 minutes, so I'm averaging an 11-minute mile. Back in the day I averaged a 9 to 10-minute mile, so I'm slowing down. But speed isn't a main issue for me. I'm more concerned about endurance. I'm hoping to hit a 6-mile run by the end of this week. That's it for today.

Art at Work ~ Lampwork Headpins

2011-01-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen headpins like these before? They are lampwork headpins, but don't they look like pretty little balloons? My glassy friend Mallory made them, and I think they are so much fun! In fact, I own the set pictured above. I bought them a few months ago. Each one is unique, just like lampwork beads. Until recently, I've used them as props for my bead pictures. But the other day I made a small bead set that just happened to match one of the headpins perfectly. So I strung them on and added some silver findings and some crystals, and voila:

Doesn't the headpin just make the piece? I haven't finished the wire-wrapping yet, but I'm thinking I'll just finish it off and it will be a long pendant. My 7-year-old daughter saw it on my work table and was saying how pretty it looked. So I held it up to about where I'd wear it and I asked her if she thought it would look nice on me. And she says "Yes, but not with that shirt."

This headpin set is called Poker Face. There are enough for five pairs of earrings.

I love this set of Freeform Leaves headpins. It would add something completely unique to your jewelry designs.

More of Mallory's headpin can be found in her shop, rosebud101, in the HEADPINS/SUPPLIES section.

Happy National Chocolate Cake Day!

2011-01-27T13:39:00.001-08:00

I received an urgent email this morning from my husband informing me that today is National Chocolate Cake Day. He even provided a link, so I knew he wasn't making it up. That would be something he'd do. After dinner on most nights, he's been known to say "Where's the cake?" When I make a grocery list and leave it on the counter, he'll pencil in "cake" on it. One year on his mom's birthday, when we weren't even going to see her on the actual day, he decided we needed to celebrate it anyway and he went out and got a cake and had them put Happy Birthday Grandma on it. Then we had the kiddos sing Happy Birthday to grandma and blow out the candles, all while we video-taped so we could show grandma at a later date just how much we cared.

I think you now know how important cake is in our lives. So after I checked my sources and verified that today is indeed National Chocolate Cake Day, I set out to make a cake. I have a very easy and very delicious chocolate sheet cake recipe (that I'm sure lots of other people have - it's so good!). The only ingredient that might not be on-hand is sour cream, but lucky for us I had some. Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Sheet Cake

cream together:

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. sour cream

2 eggs

add:

2 c. flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

melt together and add:

2 sticks butter or margarine

1 cup cold water

4 T. cocoa

Mix until smooth and pour into a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees, 25-30 minutes.

Icing:

1 stick butter or margarine

4 T. cocoa

6 T. milk

1 pound powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

Melt the butter, cocoa and milk together, stirring with a whisk. Add the powdered sugar slowly until there are no lumps. Stir in vanilla. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add a tiny bit more milk.

Pour the icing over the hot cake and spread to the corners with a spatula. Let cool and eat!

Tuesday Training

2011-01-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

I know I didn't have a training post last week, and that was just pure laziness on my part. But I haven't been lazy when it comes to training. I've kept my runs at around 3 miles, and even had one 4-mile run last week. I felt pretty good during and after, so I think I'm progressing at a good pace. The key has been the rest days. I did my 4-mile run after a rest day, and I don't think I could (or should) have done it after another day of running. I also started lifting weights last week. I really need to tone up all over, so strength training is a must.

My son started his training last week, too. He's more of a natural runner than I am, so he's already doing 3-mile runs. Sheesh. So far so good for him.

This week I hope to continue to progress, and I'd like to make my long run at the end of the week a 5-miler. I can do it. :)

Murrini Monday

2011-01-24T08:51:00.001-08:00

It may not surprise you that I have a collection of turtle butt images on my Facebook page. I like to pay close attention to detail in this particular area, so it was only natural that I placed a red and pink murrini heart on this Valentine turtle's backside.

Clive the pandora owl might look familiar if you saw my Fritty Friday post. His eyes are made from murrini I selected from Lori and Kim's Outback blend.

These mini beads are both sporting Sweetheart murrini from Lori and Kim.

Today and tomorrow, use coupon code BRRR2011 at checkout in my Etsy shop, and receive 15% OFF your entire order!

Happy Murrini Monday!

Fritty Friday

2011-01-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

A new feature - Fritty Fridays! This won't be as regular as Murrini Mondays, but I do plan on having fun with frit every once in a while here - so look for it on Fridays.

I been using frit more and more on my beads. Frit is crushed or broken glass that you can apply to your beads for color and design. You can make your own by super heating your glass and then plunging it into cold water, causing it to break into pieces. Or you can can buy. I like option 2. Lately I like buying frit a lot.

The frit I used for this turtle is from Lori and Kim, my murrini dealers. That's right, if you didn't already know, they've expanded into the frit industry. This blend (this is why I love to buy frit - the artists who make it create the coolest blends!) is called Sweetheart, and Lori and Kim made it to match their Sweetheart murrini. For this turtle, I took a light blue bead and heated it up, then rolled it in the frit blend and melted it in. Then I encased the whole thing in clear for a somewhat magnifying effect. I love this blend! The colors are right up my alley.

Here is the same blend on a pink heart balloon bead. This bead is not encased, so the frit is right up on the surface. Doesn't the green look like textured paint?

This fritty kitty doesn't really look fritty now, does she? I rolled this white kitty in one of my most recent fabulous fritty purchases - glow frit. It's from GlowJoe, and it's actually pink. I bought the small size - which refers to the size of the frit. I like my frit pieces fairly small because my beads are also small. GlowJoe offers three sizes - it's good to have choices.

And here is the best part about glow frit - Fritty Kitty glows in the dark! I am thrilled with how this bead turned out, and I especially love the picture (my husband took) because you can see the silhouette of the kitty glowing in the dark. If you haven't tried glow frit yet, I highly recommend it! You can add a whole different dimension and appeal to your beads by sprinkling a little bit of this glowing fairy dust on them. Super fun!

This owl bead is wearing raku frit feathers. Raku frit was one of the first frits I bought. I love it for owl beads - it has so many different colors swirling around in it.

Murrini Monday - Love & Kisses

2011-01-17T05:30:00.001-08:00

There is no end to my love of murrini. I'm spreading the love with hearts and kissy lips for all my little critter beads.

Panda Bear Love has a super sweet pink and blue Sweetheart murrini belly.

Kissy My Boston Terrier Butt, literally.

Nothing says Valentine's Day like a pug in a red heart sweater.

Metallic Kitty Cat is sporting her own Sweetheart murrini.

This little pug is keeping warm with pink murrini earmuffs.

The pugs have found homes, but the rest of the beads are in my Etsy shop. Murrini for this edition of Murrini Monday is brought to you by Lori and Kim.

Beads of Courage, Glow Frit & a Torch Giveaway - Oh My!

2011-01-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

I've written about Beads of Courage before, but I've been meaning to share a video about it for some time. Jean Baruch, a pediatric oncology nurse and founder of Beads of Courage, was recently on the CBS Morning Show. Her moving interview and interviews with children in the program can be seen here. After you watch it, you will know why this program is near and dear to so many lampworkers' hearts.

I recently ordered my first batch of Glow Frit. Frit is crushed up glass that can be used on beads for decoration. Glow Frit actually glows in the dark! And here's the connection to Beads of Courage - GlowJoe , the artist who makes the Glow Frit, includes an extra packet of frit with all orders, with one stipulation: use some of this frit to make beads for Beads of Courage. Ok, Joe, you twisted my arm. :)

These little glow critters will be in my next shipment to Beads of Courage. Each one is made with GlowJoe's Netty Confetti Glow Frit. I have a couple more glowing turtles to send, too.

These critters aren't scared of the dark one bit. What a super idea - glow beads for kids! Thank you, Joe!

I highly recommend this seller. Try the Glow Frit and add something unique to your beads ~ plus help out with Beads of Courage - it's a win-win!

But wait - there's even more good news when it comes to Beads of Courage! One of my bead idols (yes, there is such a thing), Marcy of StudioMarcy, is giving away a torch. That's right. She won another torch (ho hum), and because she already has one that is practically identical to this GTT Cricket Torch, she wants to give it away. But there is a catch. A good one. Marcy will put your name into her torch raffle for every 25 beads, or $25, you donate to Beads of Courage. The more beads or money you donate, the higher your chances are of winning. But the big winner will be Beads of Courage, because a torch is excellent incentive for lampworkers and non-lampworkers alike to make more beads, as well as go through their bead stashes, to donate to the program. For all the details on Marcy's giveaway, head to this blog she set up specifically for this event.

I don't know about you, but I sure could use a torch upgrade. So let's all start making and gathering up more beads for Beads of Courage!

Fire Divas Bead Challenge ~ True Love

2011-01-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

It's time to show your love for another Fire Divas Bead Challenge! This month the theme is True Love, so check out the entries below or at the True Love Challenge on the Fire Divas blog. After you fall in love with your favorite, don't forget to vote on the right side of the Fire Diva's blog!

Entry 1

Entry 2

Entry 3

Entry 4

Entry 5

Thanks for voting! Results will be posted in one week!

Recipe Time ~ Biscotti

2011-01-12T05:11:00.000-08:00

I never thought I liked biscotti. I always assumed it was dry, and I'm not a cookie dunker, so I wasn't really interested. But one of my cookbooks, called One Smart Cookie, by Julie Van Rosendaal, has a biscotti recipe that I decided to give a try. This cookbook, I should point out, is "All your favorite cookies, squares, brownies and biscotti . . . With Less Fat!" And I have to say, we enjoy everything I've made from this book, but the biscotti is probably my favorite.

There is only a small amount of butter, so it's really pared down already. But I've experimented and replaced half the sugar with Splenda, as well as whole wheat flour for part of the flour. It turns out crunchy and delicious every time!

Basic Biscotti

2 T. butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanila

2 cups flower

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Anything else you'd like to mix in - we love butterscotch chips!*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

~In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.

~In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture, along with any additions you may have, to the egg mixture. Stir just until combined. If it seems dry, use your hands to complete the mixing as the dough comes together.

~Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Divide in half and shape each piece into an 8" long log. Place the logs 2-3" apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, and flatten each into a rectangle that is about 3" wide.

~Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm and starting to crack on top. Transfer logs to wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp. to 275 degrees.

~Place logs on a cutting board, trim the ends and cut each log diagonally into 1/2"-3/4" slices with a sharp serrated knife. Place biscotti cut side down on the cookie sheet.

~Return them to the oven for 15 minutes, then flip the cookies over and bake for another 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

*You can get very creative with your "biscotti additions," or you can keep it simple and just thrown in some butterscotch chips (highly recommended!). But I've also tried adding the zest of one lemon, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and some chopped dried cranberries. That's a good combo, too! Another idea in the book is to add slivered almonds, almond extract instead of vanilla, and chocolate chips.

Tuesday Training

2011-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Is it Tuesday already? So, this week was a decent training week. I just finished up a short run (2 miles). I had planned on a longer one today, but I haven't taken a rest day in about 5 days, so I realized partway through that I'd have to make it short. I plan to take tomorrow off and hopefully I'll do a long run on Thursday. And by long run, I mean 4-5 miles.

I still have not signed up for the half-marathon. I "like" it on Facebook (does that count for anything?) and I keep getting updates about sign-up. I hesitate for a couple reasons. First, I'm still not sure I can do this. I'll be training on my treadmill for most of the time, and that's a lot different than running outside. Second - there is a cost involved. It's $50, which isn't enormous, but I don't want to sign up and then have to drop out for whatever reason and lose my payment. Plus there would be a hotel stay, at least one night, probably two. And back to those updates I get on Facebook - the pictures that accompany them are obviously of college kids running last year's race. These are young, fit athletes. Let's face it, it's intimidating.

I also know I'd be a much better runner if I dropped a few pounds so I'm really trying to put better food into my body. I've upped the fruits and veggies and am seeking out recipes with lean protein. I'm feeling good, but not completely confident. I'm not trying to talk myself out of this - these are just some of the things going through my head lately.

Murrini Monday - watch it walk away

2011-01-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Kiss My Pug Butt - Lips murrini by loriandkim. Mwah!

I'm having way too much fun with murrini lately! I realized this week that most of the murrini I used on the backside of my beads. So let's just sit back and watch it walk away.

This pug Valentine is sweet from the front.

And sweet from the back. xoxo.

This black pandora kitty cat needed a pop of color. So I added a pink and red heart murrini. Meow.

Two pandora turtles covered in pink and purple murrini.

And last but definitely not least, my very first glow murrini turtle! Murrini for this bead is by JanelDudleyBeads - so be sure to check out her shop for her amazing glow beads!

Ooooh, it really glows!

Look Ma, No Holes!

2011-01-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

I've had requests for beads without holes (not exactly a bead, then, now is it?) before, and I've always said I can't do that. I really wasn't sure how that works. Besides, beads are made on mandrels, which are rods that the glass is wrapped around, and that creates a hole. So how on earth could I make one without a hole?

Well, a couple weeks ago I got that request again - for a turtle without the hole. But this time, instead of automatically saying nope, I decided to figure it out. Turtles are one of my very favorite beads to make, and they are also fairly basic. The shell is a round bead - not a lot of sculpting to do there. So it seemed like a good bead to try out sans hole. The only way I could see doing this little sculpture would be on the very tip of the mandrel, so there would be a little dent under the shell (but who really looks there, anyway?).

So I wrapped the glass around just at the tip and closed off what would have been a hole. This left a nice big space on the top of the shell for decoration, so for the first one I rolled it around in some pretty frit. Nice. Then I put the face, feet and tail on it and voila! It was a mini turtle sculpture!

After I made one, I had to try again. So for the next one I added a nice piece of murrini (from rosebud101) to the top of the shell, and then a blob of clear to magnify the murrini. It was looking good! But then I ran into a little problem. My little sculpture was coming loose from the mandrel. Every time I added something - the head, a foot - the glass would move around. This can happen when you're making a bead, but the glass is at least wrapped around the mandrel, so it likely won't fall off. But working up at the tippy top of the mandrel, I knew that this turtle could take a nose dive at any second. So I finished up quickly and probably in the nick of time. The turtle turned out just fine.

Not the clearest picture, but here are the turtles perched atop their mandrels.

Order up! Three turtles with the works - but hold the holes, please.

The fritty turtle is on its way to Canada, to my customer who inspired me to finally make these little guys. Two of the other turtles have moved into my son's fish tank. They are a little hard to see, but one is perched on the dinosaur skull and one is near the teeth on the gravel. Burrito Man, his lone fish, is happy for the company.

Time for a Mini Rant

2011-01-05T13:56:00.001-08:00

Today I pulled myself away from my torch long enough to run some errands. We were out of milk, I needed more gas for my torch and my cat bit through another headphone cord (I kept this one in a drawer, so he is pretty remarkable) - so I had a few things to get at several different stores. At three of the five stores I went to, I ran into the same problem: the stores had been switched all around. You know what I'm talking about. The electronic department used to be right here, I know it! But now it's a grocery section with fresh produce. Where on earth are the earphones? That was at Target. You've heard of the book Who Moved My Cheese? Well at Home Depot, I wanted to know who moved my gas. One. Aisle. Over. But for the life of me I couldn't find it. And Sam's Club, too, had rearranged everything. Why??? It's all the same stuff, just in different places. I don't get it. And I probably wasted a good hour wandering around these stores. Ug!

This is a small problem in the grand scheme of things - I realize that. Just had to get it out. Happy Wednesday. :)

Tuesday Training

2011-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

I'm late in posting this week's training results. I'm still a bit of a slacker due to the holidays. But I did manage to get in one 4-mile run last Tuesday. Wow - it wiped me out! I did a couple miles on Jan. 1 (you have to work out on Jan. 1!), then 3+ miles the last three days. So since New Year's Day, I've logged 12.1 miles. Not even a half-marathon in four days. But I'm still plugging away. I'm drinking a TON of water so I don't have those dehydration issues. My knee bothers me a little, but it doesn't hurt, more of a discomfort. I'm thinking that I need a new pair of running shoes. Now that's an understatement. Mine are a couple years old and they have obviously had it. Plus, I bought them on my own and wasn't properly fitted, so who knows if they are the right shoe for me. I will definitely have to splurge on new, quality running shoes if I'm going to run a half-marathon in 3 months. Then I will stop saying if and start saying when.

Murrini Monday

2011-01-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

This week, on Murrini Monday, I've got some results from the striking murrini I talked about a couple weeks ago here. I'm also excited to share my very first glow-in-the-dark murrini owl. And if you haven't checked out Lori and Kim lately, what are you waiting for? They have a new product to pair with your murrini, and it's fantastic!

So let's get to the murrrini . . .

This pup was my very first attempt at using the striking murrini from Lori and Kim. I was so happy with the results! I'm still not sure how I did it, but I will definitely try it again. The colors are just amazing!

This was my second attempt, and it obviously didn't go as well as my first. I just couldn't get the color out of the murrini. I don't know if it has something to do with the kind of glass I put it on (it was metallic black), but it just wasn't happening. I'm not giving up on you, striking murrini!

Here is a sweet blue owl with a very nice slice of murrini on his belly. He looks innocent enough.

And here he is in the dark! This murrini is so cool! My glassy friend Janel, of JanelDudleyBeads, made this glowing murrini. She uses it a lot on her beads, and they are stunning! I highly recommend checking out her shop.

And here is one of my new favorite murrini pieces, from Lori and Kim's First Kiss blend. I was lucky to get this slightly before they went on sale, and I've already ordered more. And if you don't like it, you can just kiss my turtle butt. :)

Happy Murrini Monday!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

This picture has nothing to do with New Year's Eve. I just like it.

I haven't been much for making resolutions in recent years. It's not that I think I won't keep them, but I just didn't have a whole lot more to resolve to do that work out more and eat healthy and get more sleep. These are on my mental list every year, I just don't make a big pronouncement or anything.

But this year a couple things happened that have me thinking more about health and mortality and setting a good example for my children.

A couple months ago I had a routine mammogram. A couple days after that I got that phone call you just don't want to get. The technician had seen something, and could I please come back for some more pictures. Don't worry, it could be nothing. I took their next available appointment. I had a second mammogram, and then an ultrasound. I watched, somewhat anxiously, as the tech highlighted things on the screen and made notes. At one point I asked about the highlighted portion - I said something like "Is that the spot you're concerned about?" And the technician said, "There are two spots." That's when it really hit me that this could be something. I lay there thinking about my family and all the things I still wanted to do. It felt surreal. The technician called in a doctor, and they continued to look and discuss what was on the screen. By this point I was ready for bad news. Whatever it was, I was going to accept it and move on, and do whatever it took to get past it. And the news was good. The doctor and the technician had determined that what they were seeing were just lymph nodes - healthy lymph nodes. Big sigh of relief. But now I'm taking this moment to remind you to get your annual mammogram. It doesn't have to be a resolution, just an appointment on your calendar. But be sure to schedule it.

The other near miss happened just last weekend. And this was much more of a physical near-miss. I was coming home from a musical with my kids. We had just met my mom at a local theater to see The Music Man (front row seats, so we could see the spit and everything!), and my mom drove home and we were on our way home. Almost there, actually. We had just started singing our own rendition of 76 Trombones when the red light we were sitting at changed to green. I started out into the intersection and within seconds there was a car speeding toward us on my side. Another surreal moment. The other driver was going really fast (the speed limit on the street he was on is 45 mph), and I barely had a second to react. I slammed on the breaks, but we were hit quickly and hard. My kids were screaming, and I'm pretty sure I was screaming. We came to a stop facing traffic. My girls were crying. They were buckled up - one in a booster seat, and both were fine. My son was next to me - he was fine. We were all just shaken up. But we were, physically, fine. I had never been in an accident like that. There was no time to react. Those few seconds while my mini van was out of my control seemed to last forever. But I could not have asked for a better outcome. My van was hit in front of the driver door, and the other car took off my bumper, as well as a lot of other parts. But we were fine. The other driver was fine, too. And here is the part I will remember, and I will make sure my kids will remember, too: the woman in the car behind us pulled over and came over to our car. She calmed me down while I called the police. She checked on my kids. She asked for a pen and paper to get the other driver's information, just in case he took off (he couldn't take off because our cars were pretty much attached at this point). She stayed with us while we waited for the police. She spoke to the police as a witness, and then she left. My kids got to see firsthand how to act in a situation like that. This woman was wonderful, and her example is exactly what I would want my kids to learn from. I asked the police for the woman's name, and it turns out she lives in our neighborhood. I've been without a car for a few days, but yesterday the other driver's insurance set me up with a rental car (no one will recognize me in a Ford Flex!), so today I'm headed to the store for a thank-you card for this amazing woman. So for a personal resolution, I'd like to be more like her in 2011.

On a lighter note, here are my other goals for 2011:

1. Buy firewood and use it before the winter is over.

2. Plan on and go on a vacation for more than 3 days (a week would be great!).

For my work lampwork, I have a few things I'd like to do in 2011.

1. Get my beads or jewelry into a shop or gallery. I had the perfect art shop picked out and I just found out it's closing. It was called The Wandering Turtle and it was in Bloomington, IN (yes, where I went to college). From what I saw online, it looked like a great fit for my glass turtles. But obviously I have to fully research where I would like to be represented because I don't want the shop to close while my beads are being sold there, just in case there are issues getting them back. So I've been looking for a fun, eclectic place where my beads can hang.

2. Find some different ways to advertise. I'm starting off 2011 with a new advertising venture. I follow a blog called The Curious Pug, and last month Alycia, the blogger, put out a call for advertisers. This blog has nearly 1,000 followers! It's a tremendous blog - lots of crafty posts and plenty of personal ones, too. So I made a couple new pug beads, photographed them, and my husband turned them into a small button ad for her blog. I'm curious to see how much traffic this brings to my shop. I'm as curious as the curious pug.

3. Speaking of blogs, I'd sure love to increase the traffic to my blog. I would love to hit 200 followers by the year's end - which would be 37 more followers. I don't think I'm going to participate in the One World One Heart blog event this year, but I will definitely do the dog version called GABE. That's how I gained some new doggie blog followers last year, and I really enjoy those bloggers and the comments they leave.

4. Relax and have fun. Sometimes the business part of what I do can really get to me. But making beads is fun! I want to continue to enjoy what I do.

Happy 2011 to you!!!

Therapy Thursday

2010-12-30T05:00:00.001-08:00

I could sure use an upper, how about you? This kid will crack you up. I love when it's obvious his nose is itching. And who cares about the words to the song anyway.

Happy Thursday!!!

Hump Day Recipe ~ Focaccia Bread

2010-12-29T06:23:00.001-08:00

I hadn't made this in a long time, and all of the sudden I remembered this recipe and decided to make it last week. The recipe is called Italian Focaccia - Onion Bread, and it is from The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith (remember him?). I changed it a tiny bit after I made it the first time. Notice there aren't any onions on mine.

Focaccia Bread

2 packages dry yeast, dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water

3 cups unbleached flour

olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped

6 green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

OR what I use - thinly sliced tomatoes, oregano chopped garlic

Fresh-cracked pepper

Place the water and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add half the flour, 1/4 cup olive oil, sugar and salt, and mix with electric mixer until smooth. Add the remaining flour, and blend in by hand. Place the dough on floured board and knead for 5 minutes. Place the dough on a Formica countertop or on plastic wrap, and cover with a large metal blow. Allow to rice about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

When it is doubled, punch the dough down and knead it for 1-2 minutes. Roll out to fit a greased 9 by 13" shallow pan (I used a round cake pan) and place in pan.Let rise until not quite doubled in bulk, then punch hoses all over it using a fork. Brush the top of the dough with some olive oil, and then the tomato paste. Mix together the yellow onion, green onions and garlic and sprinkle on top OR place thinly sliced tomatoes on top, maybe a little garlic and some oregano. Preheat oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

The Frugal Gourmet says this bread is great on a buffet, or slice it in half and use for Italian sandwiches. I've never done this, but it sounds good! A little salami, a few green olives, red wine on the side . . . mmmm.

Tuesday Training

2010-12-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

There's not a whole lot to report this week. I kind of took it easy with the holidays and everything. I did get some running in, though. And the one day I logged 3 miles I made sure I had water with me at the treadmill (and I drank it!), and then I took the water bottle with me and kept drinking all day. I didn't have any dehydration issues.

My kids are still home for winter break, so it's been tricky to fit in my running. I will definitely run today, and by next week I hope to have some 4-mile days under my belt. If I'm feeling good, I'll make the big investment and get fitted for running shoes. The ones I've been wearing are over a year old and they have had it.

Murrini Monday - Results

2010-12-27T20:33:00.000-08:00

Remember this afternoon, when I challenged myself to use all 18 chips of murrini in my little dish? (If you don't remember, just scroll down to my last post.) Well, I did it! I used all the murrini. I made 9 beads and I had a blast!

I lost a couple pieces of murrini in the flame (due to shocking and cracking). It's always a huge bummer when that happens, so it's good to have back-up murrini of the same kind on your work station. Lucky for me I had some spares nearby and was able to replace the broken pieces.

So here are my results. See if you recognize the murrini from my little dish.

This blue hippo has identical flower murrini on both sides.

Herbie the Love Pug.

Here's that blue and green murrini with the pink center.

This is the backside of a dog bead. I think I could have used the murrini better - it would have stood out more on a darker color.

This is one of my favorite kinds of murrini. It looks so simple and innocent before it hits the flame, but when it does - watch out! It does some cool stuff. I love how it spread out on the wiener dog - now it's a red hot!

Here is the sun murrini I waited for forever to try. Why did I wait so long? I love it! I did break the first sun murrini in the flame, but I quickly got a substitute.

I LOVE how this bead turned out! This is the Kronos murrini by Mallory at rosebud101. I didn't know what it was going to do, so I put it on black and encased it. Isn't it cool?

And last but not least are my two cracked beads. The snail was so cool - but you can see the crack up on top. I used pajama blue, then added the Triton murrini by rosebud101. I left them sticking out a bit, then encased the bead. At this point I decided to turn it into a snail, and I love the effect of the murrini popping up like that. I will definitely try this again.

The pink turtle is my other casualty. I encased veiled rubino, then added this awesome Girlie Girl murrini from loriandkim. I was really excited about this bead and very bummed when I saw the crack. Encased beads are a challenge for me because my set-up can make it tricky for these beads to cool properly. That's just something I have to remember when I'm making this kind of bead. The snail and turtle will likely go into my daughters' wonky bead collection.

This was a really fun bead-making day. I highly recommend it. :)

Murrini Monday

2010-12-27T10:18:00.001-08:00

I don't have any finished murrini beads to show off today, so instead I'm showing a small stash of my murrini. I picked out a bunch of murrini that I'd really like to use, and I'm challenging myself to use it all by the end of the day. I know, it will be rough, but I think I'm up for it.

There are 18 pieces of murrini and one dog hair in my dish. I really want some red in my shop, so I picked out a few nice red pieces, including a heart (Valentine's Day is coming up, you know). I also chose a yellow sun, which is a design I have had for a long time and just haven't tried yet. I'm thinking maybe a "day owl" - you know, as opposed to a night owl. Much of the murrini is from lori and kim, and six glorious pieces are from rosebud101. The ones from rosebud101 are called Triton and Kronos, and I know I've used one of them before but can't remember which. I'm thinking turtles for these - can't wait to see what they do! And the dog hair, maybe I'll just make a collage with that. I think I can find some more laying around here somewhere.

Just another view of the murrini. Oooh - look at that blue and green one with the pink in the middle. What should I do with that?

And in case you aren't a stalker of lori and kim, allow me to fill you in on the announcement on their site: January 1st is going to be a biggie! We will not only have four new murrini blends but we will also be launching a brand new product line! Stay tuned! Say what??? New murrini AND a new product line??? What are you trying to do to me, Lori and Kim? Can I support another glass addiction? As Lori and Kim say . . . stay tuned! And stay tuned for the results of my murrini challenge - hopefully I'll have pictures later today or tomorrow.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T09:03:00.001-08:00

To those who celebrate Christmas ~ Merry Christmas to you!

Christmas Tree Cat

To everyone ~ I've just put a bunch (ok, 27) of beads on SALE. I'd love to clear out a lot of the critters who have been waiting around patiently for their turn for a ride in the bubble-mailer. So I've marked them down 40%! This is the biggest markdown I've ever done, and I hope the little critters aren't insulted. :) I'd just love for them to find homes.

The beads in my shop that are on sale are in my Holiday SALE section, and they are already marked down. Obviously some are Christmas beads, but there are a lot more non-holiday beads and lots of doggies.

Lapis Blue Owl

Happy The Turtle

Mel The Metallic Black Dog

Have a Happy!

2010-12-24T07:23:00.000-08:00

Whatever you celebrate this time of year, I hope it's happy! Enjoy the time you have with family and friends.

These aren't all our kids - two are friends who stayed one evening for the magic of the Hanukkah candle lighting.

As you can see, my beads celebrate another holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday Training

2010-12-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

Since I made the grand pronouncement last week that I wanted to run a half-marathon, I've made some slow and steady progress. But there's been one setback, and it's kind of a big one. First, the good: I've managed to log at least 3 miles every time I've run on the treadmill. I did take a needed rest day, and I did walk one day. So I haven't gone full force, which is good for me. I tend to charge ahead and burn out. That being said, I did my usual 3 miles Saturday morning and I felt great. It took me about 35 minutes, which is about normal for me. I didn't run very hard. I'm still trying to just run without stopping. But by Saturday night I knew I was dehydrated. I started getting terrible chills. Now this is something I'm very familiar with, and I was planning to write about the pros and cons of training for a half-marathon and putting this dehydration issue at the top of the "cons". I've struggled with this forever. When I was a kid I didn't know what it was, just that I was getting the chills a lot. I assume my parents thought I was sick. I'd freeze during the night, then wake up drenched in sweat. As an adult, I started putting 2 and 2 together and realized that I usually experience this after I worked out. I never feel sick or chilled during my workout, it's only at night when I'm winding down for bed. My doctor seemed kind of nonchalant when he told me I was "just dehydrated," but this happens to me a lot, and it is not pleasant. I know I need to drink more water, but sometimes I just don't feel thirsty and I forget. But come evening when it's too late, I curse myself out for not drinking. I do believe I dehydrate faster than most people. I have no idea why, but it has ruined many a night for me. I really need to get this under control, or running 13 miles will be out of the question. It's very frustrating. So if anyone has any advice for me or has experienced anything similar, I'd love to hear about it.

Murrini Monday ~ It's Striking

2010-12-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

Striking Color Glass Murrini by Lori and Kim

I use a hothead torch. I guess it's like a beginner torch. I don't know any different, so I can't compare, but from what I've heard, you can get better heat and control from other torches. And apparently you can have success with striking glass colors with other torches as well. Striking glass is glass that changes color in the flame. I have a few basic striking rods, and I've been able to get some colors out of them. Nothing major, but good enough for what I wanted.

So Lori and Kim, my murrini dealers, have been making murrini from striking glass. Each time they list it I look at in and drool at the results, but I think about it too long and it sells out quickly. But last week when I put in my murrini order, there it was again, a beautiful batch of these gorgeous (or should I say striking) murrini flowers. I dropped them into my cart (along with Midnight Masquerade and Razzmatazz) and figured I'd worry about how to use them later. Well my package arrived yesterday, and all of the murrini is just gorgeous! But I'm most anxious to try the striking blend, because maybe I'll get results like this:

This image has been pilfered from the Lori and Kim store.

I have some custom orders to finish up before I can play with my new murrini, but I would flip if I could make pretty beads like the ones above.

Lampworkers - have you tried striking murrini on a hothead? Any tips for me?

On a Roll - a Blog Roll

2010-12-19T08:41:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to point out that I've added a Blog Roll to the lower right-hand corner of my blog. These are blogs I follow and read, and the authors are all lampworkers and artists I greatly admire. I just added this feature to my blog, and I'm sure I'll be adding more blogs to it in the future, but for now, enjoy the ones that are there. They are great reads and even better glassy eye candy.