I'm Certified!!

3 hard but glorious days of precious metal clay and now I'm a certified instructor! Like lampworking, there is just so much to learn. I think this is just ticket I needed to keep me movin and grovin with my jewelry in a fresh new way. Also, Its nice to bird walk away from your main creative element and become involved with something else. I find it to be stimulating and opens the gates to growth as an artist.

Honestly, its been such a busy & intense 3 days that I just don't feel like uploading images to share. I made a great ring with silver & gold, a nice lental bead, woven earrings and a really neat pen. Plus, so much more detail information that my brain is just floating in what to do next!



Back to reality tomorrow and its back to work. I feel that I need a two day weekend however....thats how pooped I am :) To prepare for tomorrow I just had to finish up making sugar skulls! Like my day wasn't busy enough! Oh, but the kids love decorating them and learning about Days of the Dead!

Getting Certified

WOW. The last two days have been intense. I'm taking a 3 day certification course in PMC. So, if I pass, I will be a certified instructor...Whoooo, hoooooo!! I've been exhausted at the end of each day but am totally enjoying myself.

Our instructor, Celie Fago is just so darn nice. Her work is amazing. She makes it all seem so simple but believe me, its challenging. The Tetrahedron had everyone pulling their hair out!


We made a ring today with gold, ooooooh,aaaaaahhhhh! And tomorrow we'll make another ring with a stone and other interesting things....Each project is designed to have you perfect certain skills so its not a do your own thing kind of class. Of course the embellishments are your own but in order to pass, you have to be able to do certain skills with the pmc. Gosh, I hate tests!!!


These are our lentil beads........they all came out terrific! I'm going to patina mine tonight if I can stay awake. I'll show you all my goodies once they are all complete.

Oh, and a bonus to this class.......I met up with a long time friend! Karen too is taking this course and I'm so happy that we are working together. We've already discussed "play dates" Can't wait!

PMC Pretties & Pretty Packages

What a fun bunch of ladies! This was the recent group in my PMC class and boy were they talented! And such nice people! All of the work came out beautifully.....;) just like I told them it would. They were all so proud of what they did! To bad I didn't get a close up of the goodies.

I'm working on some packaging for the upcoming Holiday season. These fun containers are such a hit that I figured, Why Not? They will be offered in my Etsy shop BUT better yet, Why not take my PMC class in November and learn to do it yourself!!

I've Been Tagged!!

Tag is a blogger's game, which is similar to the kids' game we played so many zillion years ago.

Here's how the cyber-version of tag works;
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

7 Things about me that you may or may not know.

1. I used to be a controsionist. I could make my butt sit on my head.
2. My husband just said my feet are smaller then most childrens
3. I use to be a dental assistant & I HATE dentists
4. I once won a hand stand holding contest in a crowd of about 300.
5. I'm a vegetarian.
6. I love scary movies
7. I like to be around fun, happy, interesting people

People I've Tagged:
1. beadygirlbeads.blogspot.com
2. villa-design.blogspot.com
3. petrajansson.blogspot.com
4. humblebeads.blogspot.com
5. themermaidstale.blogspot.com
6. therealloriola.blogspot.com
7.aardvarkartglass.wordpress.com

Are You Rude??

I'm tuned into Oprah and this is the question....Are you rude? The author of the book, Choosing Civility, is on talking about rudeness and how it effects us. Gosh, I sure think people are rude....not everyone of course, but a high number of people are. PI think people don't consider how others would feel....they can't see anothers point of view. Yes, I've done rude things and as an adult, I've felt terrible about it (most of the time). Yes, people have been rude to me. OMG....and I think the worldwide web has given passive aggresive types the perfect camoflauge of being rude too.

Anywho, I think its a great discussion and it certainly makes you think. I know I'm going to be more conscious of how I act and treat others.....How about you? I can think of a few people who need to check themselves :)

Oooohhh, Check out the blog, Waiter Rant.........interesting.

Scarecrow Festival

On Saturday Pete and I went to Fairports Scarecrow Festival. What fun. It was a day and night long event filled with what else, scarecrows, food and shopping! Pete works in Fairport and his transportation department all worked as a team and created a scarecrow for the event. I was so excited to see Pete working on a creative endeavor!!! He was really in to it too. I think it came out fantastic.

While we were strolling around I came across an interesting sign. Carrot Dogs?! Pete thought this was just the name of the vendor but I needed to really find out. Nope. It was a Carrot on a Hot Dog bun! I love carrots. After we walked around for a bit I came back and tried one. Delicious! A new favorite of mine.


I love the fall and all that it brings. The cider, the colors and all that is harvested is something I look forward to each year. Spring, Summer and Fall are all the seasons I like. Winter is the one I have a hard time with. I hate being cold. And, it gets so dark so early that I feel like I have to get to bed so early. I do try however to enjoy the cold months of winter. We skate, crosscountry ski and sled. But I really like knitting inside under a warm blanket the best :) Gosh, I sound like an old lady :)

Answer this...Just for fun

Four, Four, Four, Four...

A) Four places that I go to over and over:
B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
C) Four of my favorite places to eat:
D) Four places I would rather be right now:
E) Four people I think will respond:
F) Four TV shows I watch:

How would you answer this??

I'm adding another one to the list:

G) Four things you really hate:

Here is one way I answered this email:
A. Starbucks, Wegmans, the bathroom, Michaels
B. Donna, Kim, Meg, Sue
C. King & I, Dominics, Cams, India House
D. On a beach, having a massage, in bed with Johnny Depp
E. Kim, Sue, Meg, Donna
F. CSI, Miami Ink, My name is Earl, The Office
G. spiders, mean, nasty people, meat, toothaches

Hmmmm....Whats Cookin?

I've been in a bit of a domestic mood as of late. Really its been a cooking mood. Sunday I made homemade salsa, bananna bread and asaragus soup. Not all to be served together :). Later in the afternoon my sister and two of her kids came over and then the bread and soup were gone! Just what I wanted :) I also had the three of them make a few glass beads....they were a little afraid but loved the challenge.

At school I've been cooking too. Ha, ha, ha.....cooking up some Cookie Crayons that is.


The kids had so much fun making these. I had so much fun making these. I'm already thinking how these will inspire some great beads!

OMG! I LOVE It!

My friend Deb wired up this heart I made her and I think it looks awesome! She just has to teach me. A while back Deb won my FREE Bead drawing by posting comments on my blog. I was happy to send her the Kumihimo necklace and heart I made inside a cleaver package.....more on that later:) This was so fun, I think I'll be doing another FREEBIE soon.

Please check out her blog. She's talented and kind.

Preoccupied with Anxiety

Good God. I am my own worst enemy. I can go from 0 to 60 in a split second..........and I hate being this way. I'm talking anxiety. For almost a week I've had a tooth issue. Came out of the blue....there was no particular tooth event such as something falling out or anything but I had a toothache. I thought okay, maybe there is something stuck and it will work itself out. So, the weekend went by and it still persisted. (it did get somewhat better but remember, I think the worst). On Monday I bravely called the dentist and went in after work. He took exrays, poked around in there, and told me that my teeth are fine. He said it was probably something stuck and it eventually worked itself out..........I knew it. BIG relief.

BUT. Monday night the space behind my last molar (the tooth I thought had an issue) puffed up. A nice way to say swelled up. God. There goes my anxiety levels again. Root canal. Extraction. Infection. Pain. This is what I was thinking. I rinsed and rinsed with salt water and was patient for a day. So today I called the dentist again. I was sure that my file had red flags and flashing lights all over it indicating I was an anxious nut case. They reassured me AGAIN that my exray indicated my teeth were fine and I should not be alarmed by the puffiness. I described it and it was not an absess as I had kinda thought but not really believed. I've had an absess before and know the difference.

Don't you just know that practically right after I got off the phone with the dentist......the puffiness was gone. All better now. What a crazy fool I am.

Needless to say....................I haven't made any beads this week since I've been preoccupied with my anxiety.