And The Winner Is......

Peter did the honors late last night so here it goes.........drum roll...............The winner is Deb!! Congrats Deb!! Email me with your address and I'll get your surprise package out to you this week.

If I'm not to tired, I might have photos from todays adventures. If not, then on Monday :)
Enjoy your day........Be or Bead Happy!

What a Day!

It was such a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and I had the whole day to spend with Pete. That doesn't happen often so I need to take advantage of it when I can. It started out early....around 6:30 with me (those are my feet) sitting in my Sky chair out on the porch. It was amazingly quiet and I was in bliss with my coffee and good book.

Around 10:30 Pete and I set out on the bike for a nice country ride to Skeneatlas


The ride there took about 2 hours and when we got there we ate lunch at the Blue Fin Grill overlooking Skeneatlas lake. Afterwards we walked the town and shopped....I was limited in what I could buy due to the bike thing...Darn it! I saw a few things I would have purchased and tons of garage sales along the way I would have stopped at....Oh, well


We got back on the bike and headed to MacKenzie Childs in Aurora. I haven't been to their studio in about 6 years. It had changed hands and was closed to the public for a while but reopened about 2 years ago....today was our first time back and WOW....it was even better than before




We took the house tour (couldn't take pictures inside) and it was like inside Alice In Wonderlands house! Everything painted, patterned and simply beautiful. It sounds like it will become a bed and breakfast in the near future. Can't wait for that



Well, that was the day and What a Day it was! Hope you enjoyed the photos....tomorrow, more bike riding around the finger lakes for a Poker Run! I don't know if my butt can take another full day but I'll give it a good try! Peter pulled the winner...check in tomorrow morning to see who the lucky duck is :) Keep scrolling down to see all the pictures of the MacKenzie Childs estate!

The Count Down Has Begun

I wasn't going to but I went in to school today to begin preparing my room for the school year ahead. YIKES. I'm not ready and my room isn't ready either. Loads of art supplies to unpack and put away, pictures to put up, and lesson plans to get prepared. The good thing is that I've been doing this for 13 going on 14 years and I know the ropes & what I need to do. After a few hours, the room began to come together ready for my wee friends to come create!! Its hard getting back to a structured schedule but after the first week, I'm back in the saddle.

As the fall approaches, so does my favorite holiday~ Halloween and Days of the Dead. Two totally different holidays. I just love halloween since you can dress up and become someone else. Cider, donuts and all those treats!! Love it!! Days of the Dead is really about remembering those who have passed on and to poke fun at death. Its really a wonderful holiday. Each year I have the second graders make sugar skulls, a traditional Mexican treat during this holiday. Soooooo, here are my Dia de los Muertos Sugar Skull Beads.....I have bones in the kiln right now. I know these aren't for everyone but I LOVE them.


Today is the last day to post a comment & be entered into my surprise drawing!! If you left a comment everyday, your name is entered 5 times! I'll be pulling a name from my bowl tomorrow night.....I'll even include you if you post a comment tomorrow before I pull the name :)

A Bunch of Hearts

A Bunch of Hearts
Originally uploaded by bella103

Hmmmm, now I need to do something with these. Pendants, of course, but some may become part of necklaces. Do you have a fav??....I have mine. I like the one in the center...turquoise wings, double blue heart and dots.

Young & Young at Heart

This morning I shared some time with my beautiful niece, Shelby. Its hard grabbing time with a teenager. I remember back then....it was all about friends and good times. So, who can blame her that THAT is what she is about. I am especially connected to Shelby since I was in the delivery room with my sister when Shelby was born. What a miracle. It makes me feel like Shelby's mine as well as my sisters.....

If I haven't mentioned it before, I'll say it now....I hate my picture being taken. I guess pictures make me realize that I am actually getting older (Not Old however!) & I hate that. I'm young at heart. I suppose nothing changes....the young, Shelby, and the young at heart, (Me), both had a horrible time getting a photo that we liked of ourselves. Against, my better judgement, I'll show you just two of the many we took. By the looks of us, it would have seemed we were on a photo shoot of some sort!! Vanity never leaves us I guess.

I have some hearts to share also. I'm going out now to clean them and then take a quick picture to post.

Sunny Amphoras

Sunny Amphoras
Originally uploaded by bella103

I made these into bubble bottles and they were a hit at last weeks show. I made a tiny wand and filled with bubble water......tiny bubbles!

My Exciting News is.....

As I mentioned, on Saturday night there was an artist party after the show. At 5:30 all the vendors strolled upto the mansion where a catered party was waiting for us. Wegmans, the supreme grocery store in our area, catered the event with new items they will be including at Tastings, their resturante, and on the food bars. A brewery and winery's were there also for those who drink. It was a wonderful ending to a very hot and long day.

Then the directory of the event spotlighted 5 "budding artists" as they were called....young people who displayed their work in a general Artist Tent.....The Arena Group is a group of artists who gather weekly and have showings....this is where the budding artists displayed their work. The director announced that each artist won a certificate & poster and one of them won a cash prize too. It was so nice for them.

Then came the awards for the vendors. During the day several judges came through the booths to look at work. You don't ever know what they are looking for exactly...meaning there is no published set of criteria for judging......You can assume its like any other art critique..... craftsmanship, design, composition and overall appeal. The names began to be read off and everyone clapped for the "winners". I just put a nice danty sized chocolate cupcake into my mouth (with blue frosting) when I heard MY NAME being called!! Whoo Hoooooooo.......I won!! I went up and recieved my blue ribbon, a certificate and a nice check!!! Do you think I had Peter take my picture?? No! Didn't even think of it....not to mention, I hate my picture being taken since I nearly always hate the result.
So there. That was my exciting news. Yesterday I made what seemed like dozens of hearts for my next show.....I really only ended up with a short dozen. Funny how they look one way going into the kiln and sometimes when they come out....well, your not so excited about them. More than half are "good ones" while a few will go to the bead grave where I will use them for other stuff.

Beautiful Views

Along with coming to the Arts Festival, you could also stroll through the magnificant gardens. I should really dig up some of our wedding pictures to show you that these gardens are very well kept. Things look pretty much the same as they did 17 years ago. Sonnenberg is now a historic landmark too so it will continue to be a great destination for visitors.


I didn't have the chance to go thru all of the gardens but I did get most of what was special to me.




So, I've shared set up and the beautiful views but I still haven't shared what was really exciting to me. Tomorrow I'll share that :)


I just want to remind you that if you leave a comment today thru Friday here on my blog your name will be entered into a surprise drawing! Hmmmmm, what could be inside this cute package???

Show Set Up & Comment Bead Drawing!!!

This past weekend I did a show at Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua. I've done this show for 8 years and it remains to be among my favorites. The organization and friendly atmosphere of the staff is unbeatable. I took a few pictures to document what set up is like......you really don't get the full effect since the temperature was near 90 on Friday when we set up but you can see in Peter's happy face just how fun it really is!

First we had to check in as we drove onto the grounds. We got a packet of information, badgets, parking sign and an invitation to an artist party after the show on Saturday! Whoo, Hoooo....that was another new thing! After check in, we pulled up to our spot and cheerily began putting that puzzle of a tent together.




Really, I did help with things but I needed to document so picture taking was important too. After the tent and tables were set into place we could go home. Saturday I arrived bright and early to set up my display and put things in place.


I went to the top of the hill in front of the Mansion and took this picture of all the tents set up on Sunday morning. This show is extra special to me since Peter and I were married here 17 years ago....I have more pictures for tomorrow and more exciting news about the show!!

For the next week, anyone who leaves a comment here on my blog, I am entering their name into a bead drawing! Leave a comment each day and get entered into the drawing!!!