Hmmm. Did I Sound a Wee Bit Self-Rightous?

About returning the bracelet? Just so that you know that I do love me some nice stuff; I gotta tell you that while in Belgium I did buy myself a wicked handbag from this company in France:

http://www.jlfoures.fr/pages/jlfoures_en.html

It's one of the red ones *ahem* actually the biggest red one....and it was worth every penny. My friend Leo helped me pick it out, she said that it was right for me, and I trust her exquisite taste.

So there. Feet of clay....etc.

Off to Ikea!!

So....we took the bracelet back to Tiffanys. It was so gorgeous, but I felt a bit weird about it. I guess it come down to this; I so appreciate the thought and love that David put into the purchase, but I'm not comfortable owning something so expensive, just because it's branded "Tiffany".

I'd rather we use the money for something that we can enjoy together, and I'd rather wear jewelry made by artists that I know and admire.

So having said all that....the Tiffany store....holy shit. It's just fabulous, filled with incredible items, and I'd highly recommend it as a place to window shop and drool. I saw a ring with a 5 carat (!!) diamond, the price tag was.....wait for it.....









$416,000.00





Maybe next year, LOL!!!

Definition of "Spoiled"

Um...that would be me.

Badly, seriously spoiled this Christmas by my beloved David and family and friends. I won't go into details, so as not to sound greedy, but a Tiffany bracelet....the Bose Wave II that I've been craving, (with the iPod dock; OH MY GOD!! My poor eardrums may not survive!), cool stuff from my kid from her trip to Turkey, lots of books, including the ElBulli book and piles of other wonderful gifts; ....I am a blessed and lucky and good karma'd and just plain happy girl.

Thanks everyone, it's too much.

I'm Home!

Flew in from Amsterdam yesterday at about 5 PM, after a fantastic teaching trip to Europe. I taught for four days in Leende, in Holland, and for four days near Bever, in Belgium. I've got tons of pictures which I'll put on my flickr in a few days, once they're edited.

I caught some sort of throat infection while I was away, (sorry to all of my students in Belgium for the nice hacking cough, sheesh!) and I saw my Dr. today who told me that my throat looked, and I quote: "horrific". My glands are so swollen that I look like a chubby chipmunk on bad steroids, and so here I sit....buzzed on cough syrup, antibiotics, and jet lag. It's almost 4 AM here, so I'm going to try to go back to sleep....wish me luck!

(Much more on my trip in due time, I need a few days to get feeling better.)

My Last Day in Europe,

And I'm going shopping with my new friends from Germany and Russia.....Leo, and Irena....and Irena! We're going to Gent which is supposed to be a beautiful town, so I'll take lots of pictures.

I'm in Belgium Now....

I've finished up four days in Holland, met some lovely people, and now I'm at Quinton and Griet's home in Belgium, having a great time!

I've not been uploading any pictures because, dork that I am, I forgot my camera cable. So I'll post pictures when I get home.

Be good, everyone!

Guess What I Found in Amsterdam??

I found Mecca for lovers of my favorite shoes, Crocs.

I'm teaching my first class at Miriam's studio today, it's the Rolls Royce of teaching studios, that's for sure! I'll post some pics later today or tomorrow.

In The Netherlands!!

Well, I'm here safe and sound and well rested, I had a great flight, and not much jet lag, thank goodness! I'm staying with Miriam who is hosting my classes, and I'm looking forward to teaching in her gorgeous new studio, and also to exploring this beautiful country.

As for pictures....I'm not sure if I brought the cable to transfer pictures from my camera! So I may not have any until I get back.

Still Packing.....

I need to learn to travel light, evidently. My new best friend is my luggage scale! Ack!

Packing For Europe!

I wonder how many people start their blog posts by saying stuff like: "Wow...it's been a long time since I wrote here, I PROMISE to keep up my blog...blah blah." I'd never say anything like that, nosiree bob.

Anyway. I'm off to The Netherlands and Belgium tomorrow, and I will try to post some pictures and so forth, can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this trip, and to meeting the friends that I've met online!

I took Buddy McDoggerson to his kennel this morning; as usual he got into the front seat and tried to hide....poor little dude! He know the gals pretty well though, so he was lured out with a treat and trotted off quite happily.

Good things:

1) - KLM has updated their fleet, and I'm flying on a brand new Airbus 330, which means that I'll have my own little TV screen, with a selection of more than 40 movies. Excellent!

2) - While ransacking my office in a fruitless search for my travel clock, David found a huge stash of Euros that I'd brought back from Italy! Excellent again! (Hmmm. I forgot to buy a travel clock. Tomorrow, however, is another day, and my flight's not until 6:30PM.)

3) I'm (more or less) packed, sort of.

4) I bought a new (Peter Robinson) novel for the plane; I had of course bought my book to read on the plane (Peter Robinson again; I'm hooked on Inspector Banks!) last Friday, but I read 'just one chapter' which turned into 'just ten chapters' etc....so naturally, I've almost finished it, thus requiring my additional purchase today. How's that for some convoluted English? Sheesh. I almost never read novels these days, but these are fun, they take place in the UK, and they don't feature annoying characters like those in Elizabeth George's novels. (I still read [and love] them, but Deborah St. James is starting to piss me off with her whining. Get OVER yourself, for God's sake. Too bad about Helen, though.)

5) Okay...that's it, except for one thing. Please remember to honor the sacrifice made by those who have lost their lives in war; tomorrow, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month; Remembrance Day.

Peace.

With Glowing Hearts

With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts With Glowing Hearts

Have at it, VANOC.

Sorry to be cryptic, I'll explain later. You can read about it here:

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/4924

Grrrrrrrrrr.

Tempus Fugit, and all that.

Good grief, it's been a month. Had a great time in Oregon, and now I'm gearing up for Europe in November.....sheesh. For those whom I've been neglecting while in my 'hermit' stage, sorry...I will call you. Soon. A quick picture...do you guys remember "Earl" the luffa? He's huge, and I'm looking forward to harvesting my very own luffa sponge thingys as soon as he's 'ripe' or whatever. Here he is; I'll be back in a couple of days with some beady pix, I've been playing with a new idea, and it's almost good to go, woohoo!!!

(Okay....the Earl picture is sideways. Damn. I'll edit it and replace it later, right now I've got to get back to work!)

Sneaking in one more picture, this bead's on eBay....I'm kind of in love with it.

A Drive-by Post, More Later!

Just thought I'd pop in, it's been a while! My Mom was here for a visit, and it's very lonely when she's gone. We had a great time, one of the highlights was a fantastic ride on "Chopper 9", the CTV helicopter. They gave us a great tour, it was a bit cloudy, so we didn't fly over the mountains, but we flew for more than an hour over the Fraser Valley, downtown Vancouver, and out to Horseshoe bay. It was amazing, thanks to my friend "Murman", our great pilot Derek, and of course my sweetie David who arranged it for us.

One picture as a teaser...more to follow once I get them edited. I'm torching today, it's finally cool enough to work without melting myself along with the glass!

Back Home After a Great Mini-Vacation!!

I had a great time wandering around Vancouver Island with my best buddy; we met a friend who toured us around the glorious Comox/Courtenay area....I'd really like to live on the island. Then we headed to Victoria for a couple of days, and did a few farmer's markets, etc. It was fun to be a tourist for a change.

I'm still stunned with the response to the Chaos tutorial, I can't properly express my gratitude to everyone who has purchased it, and to the hundreds of people who have contacted me to let me know how much they've enjoyed it. All in all it has, and continues to be a wonderful experience.

I was back on the torch this week, and I've got a new set up on eBay, much more to come next week! Tonight we're heading to the James Taylor concert....I'm meeting David downtown, which means that I'm taking (gulp!) public transit! Not being snobby , by the way, it's just that because I work at home, I never really need to use the skytrain, so for me it's kind of exotic. I'll leave you with a few fantastic pictures taken from the rail of the ferry on our return trip on Sunday.

What happened was, I was hanging out at the rail on the top deck, enjoying the sun, and the captain announced some Killer Whales off the port side. I had to do my "boat think" for a few seconds.....("duh...., I think Starboard is right, so Port must be left um, where's the front, er, the bow?" etc. etc.....anyway, I seemed to be on the "left", so I stayed put). Anyway, there was a crush of people at the rail, and up ahead we could see some tails, but not really the whales. As we drew closer, my camera batteries died. Really. So a nice young guy with a kick-ass Nikon SLR took these pictures, and was kind enough to email them to me. (Thank you!!) So not my pictures.....but I was there! This was my first wild Orca sighting ever. One of the most amazing things that I've ever seen; it was utterly thrilling.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

I'm Out of Town,

So if you're trying to reach me, it may take me a bit longer to reply. Tutorials will still be going out, no problem!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

My Internet connection was down!

I've had a bit of a terrifying morning, trying to figure out why my internet was down, fortunately David managed to get me up and running again. If you've sent me an email, I will be replying shortly!

I've gotten caught up with tutorial deliveries, and have re-stocked my Etsy store. Sorry about that, folks!

Happy Canada Day!!

Making Beads!!

I've got some crazy new glass from Double Helix; so I'm heading down to play! Have a great Monday, everyone!!

I Am Humbled.

I've been so happy to see the response to the tutorial, and really...all I can say is that I'm honored to be a part of such a supportive community of talented artists.

I'm overwhelmed, actually.

Thank you so much to everyone who has purchased the tutorial; I can't wait to see what you create!

Thank you.

The Chaos Tutorial

Yes, it's coming soon, I promise! It is essentially finished, but it is being converted into an easier to edit format, and is being tidied up and made more attractive and user-friendly by a friend who very kindly offered to take it on.

Thanks to everyone for being so patient, it won't be long now!!

Tickets to see James Taylor!!

Needless to say, I'm thrilled!!

It's one of the perks of having a hubby who works in television; he occasionally get tickets to various acts who come to Vancouver. David came home last night with two tickets to see James Taylor, whose music I've loved for, lo, these many years. (I think he got them for me....he's never been a fan. What a sweetie!)

So July's looking pretty good. I'm taking a little vacation on the Island with my best buddy, then James Taylor on the 18th, then my Mom arrives on the 29th.

Now back to work on the tutorial that I'm writing, I'm having more fun writing it than I had expected, but I'm not used to spending so many hours staring at the monitor, I'm glad that I never put my computer programmer diploma to use!

Farewell, George Carlin

You will be missed by all of us who loved your irreverent views, and hilarious ways of stating them. Damn.

The Tutorial...it's Coming Along!

David and I did the final photography for the "Chaos" bead tutorial that I'm writing, I hope to have it available by next weekend, if all goes according to plan. I thought I'd post a few random thoughts about my classes in beadmaking, and how I teach.

1) I've never, ever, asked, told, or insinuated to a student that they should not use the techniques that I've taught them. That would be silly. I teach it....my students have purchased that bit of education, of course they should use it! Just ask any of my many former students. Suggestions to the contrary are erroneous.

2) I've never, ever, accused anyone of "copying" any of my beads, or any of my techniques. Never.
Suggestions to the contrary are erroneous.

3) I've never, ever, suggested that I was the "first" to use copper mesh in beads, marbles, or in any other form of glass art. Never. Suggestions to the contrary are erroneous.

4) I have developed a very specific technique that uses copper mesh in beads. I am delighted that so many people have been inspired to take this technique and "run with it" in so many creative ways. I will be selling a tutorial that will show the user how to avoid some of the (many) pitfalls inherent in the use of copper, and showing how I do what I do with it.

These things needed to be said, in the worst way, and I've decided that anyone who is interested in the facts can read them here.

(It will be a wordy, possibly annoying tutorial, (called "Making Chaos"), but it will be funny, too. It's how I write.....it's who I am, as a beadmaker, and an educator.

Peace. Please!!

Poor Buddy!!

He came home last night, as it turned out he didn't need 'major' surgery, but he did have to be anesthetized so his vet could take care of his problem.

He's still, as of this morning, very, very groggy and sort of "not Buddy" if that makes any sense.

I'm quite worried about him, but hopefully he'll perk up by later today.

Pretty Happy With This One!

Buddy McDoggerson is not well

Poor little guy, he's got to go to the vet yet again, to have a problem in his, er, 'nether regions' dealt with. (Just in case he reads this....I won't get too specific.)

He's kind of miserable, which makes me kind of miserable.

*looks around...he's out of the room..*.

Okay...it's his anal gland, one has burst, again. There were no symptoms, nothing to look out for, not that we really, you know, LOOK all that terribly closely. And because he's a wee bit, um, "headstrong", he has to be sedated for this sort of thing. As would I, methinks. Mehopes.

So David will do doggy delivery, (the hard part), and I'll do stoned-post-op-doggy pickup, (the easy part). Everything will work out "in the end". Yeah....just shoot me now.

MMMMM....Tangerine Bumbles....

These will be on eBay later today!

Just a quickie, so to speak.

Makin' beads, and having fun. That's all....carry on. Talk amongst yourselves....smoke 'em if you got 'em, etc. etc.

Nothing like a weekend of gardening to help one forget about work 'issues'. It's finally been 'almost' summer here, so we did some planting and yard cleanup.

This is what Buddy looks like after he's been strewn with Lobelia blossoms that I've trimmed from some overgrown plants. Tres macho, n'est pas??

Requiem for a Mouse & Earl Update

Gee, there's nothing scarier than when your mouse bites the dust when you're working in Photoshop! I thought my entire computer had croaked, (which would have necessitated my purchasing a skookum new computer!) but in fact it was just my poor " Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous" scroll mouse which is now pushing up daisies; and yes....I'm metaphorically challenged today. Sue me. I called my personal computer tech, and he suggested using another mouse, which, as you can see, is working.

I have for your delectation, an updated picture of Earl the Luffa. Earl has been languishing in my workshop, under a fluorescent light, due to the dearth of 'actual' sunlight in our part of the planet. He's doing okay, but as you can see, his roots have become a bit promiscuous, in fact they've moved over to the next little pot thingy. So it's into a grown-up pot for this guy. I hope he makes it, I really want to see what a full-grown Luffa looks like! Off to edit photos for eBay and Etsy. With apologies to Robert Burns, btw.

I've Got Nothing

This is day two of torchworking where I've simply had no inspiration. I don't even feel like doing 'production' work....just don't want to be melting glass today.

I've actually done some good work this morning, but my heart's not in it right now. I go through these phases from time to time, and I've learned that it's better to just "walk AWAY from the torch" and do something else. Also, the climate conditions continue to suck in the Pac NW, they suck beyond suckedness.

So I'm going to pack up Buddy McDoggerson, load him into my beater, and take him for some "goin' in the car", which he loves.; gas prices be damned. I'll take back the hideous monstrosity of a clock that I bought when I was evidently in a fugue state last week, and stock up on some low-carb groceries.

Then I'm going to come home and eat nine pounds of bacon. Just kidding.

Yep....there's no more boring subject matter for a blog than the weather. So I'll spare you.

Oh, for some reason, I'm growing mildew. No doubt it's the drought conditions that we're enduring.

In other news, CTV bought the stupid "Hockey Night in Canada" theme. So I'm basically sleeping with the enemy....my hubster being a CTV dude. He's crowing and gloating, but since CBC usually comes out on top, I'll let him have his little victory.

In other-other news, I've opened an Etsy shop. Feel free to check it out and let me know how it looks. Also feel free to buy my stuff! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5511934

Off to go wading in my yard.....

The Theme Song for Hockey Night in Canada, *Sob*. Not.

Much as I love CBC radio, it was getting a bit tedious yesterday listening to all of the angst regarding the end of the licensing agreement for the theme of "Hockey Night in Canada". I guess that as a Canadian, I should care about this....but I don't.

Maybe because I have better things to do with my time than watching a bunch of millionaires with sticks chasing a hunk of rubber around on frozen water, while occasionally taking a "time out" to beat the shit out of each other.

Grow up, Canada. It's a song, for God's sake. It's hardly a tragedy.

In other news, CBC in Vancouver has gotten CRTC approval to start broadcasting on FM, I think it's going to be 88.1. Finally.

Hmmm. Where are my Pictures??

Maybe I spoke too soon about loving Firefox, lots of pictures that I've posted on various sites have disappeared. No doubt it's a glitch, but I don't have time to fix it right now. Damn. And, all of the tools for choosing fonts and so forth for my blog have gone bye-bye as well. Double damn.

Okay, now everything's back to normal. Ghosts in the machine, no doubt.

Oooookay. Lot's going on right now, but I gotta tell ya....I'm pretty happy about my switch to Firefox! I can actually easily get into my blog now, with Netscape it was becoming increasingly annoying! Too cool!!

I had a fantastic week at Red Deer College, just a great bunch of students, a wonderful facility, it was an incredibly positive experience, and I would be delighted to teach there again. My only glitch was my trip home, my flight was cancelled so I had to spend about 8 hours in the Calgary airport. I got lots of reading done, so the day went pretty quickly.

Pictures of Earl the Luffa coming soon, he's basking in some nice artificial light, since the weather in Vancouver is simply vomomitous....rain, rain, and more rain. It's freakin' depressing, and I'm getting fed up.

Here are a few pictures for you....a paperweight that I made in the hotshop at Red Deer, and a Chaos marble. This marble escaped at one point, and went rolling across my workbench, leaving a nice little trail of scorchy goodness. If I'm going to be making marbles, I've gotta get me some tools.

Man, did we get a lot done today. Went to Amsterdam Nurseries and got some Broom (ground cover) for the nightmarish hill in our backyard. Also got four really nice rhodos for the terraced area.

Cut the grass...blah blah. The yard is shaping up nicely though, so it should be pretty gorgeous by the time we're done.

Earl grew about half an inch today, the little dickens!

Here is is, my baby luffa. (or Luffa aegyptiaca) for all you latin requiring plant-heads out there. Isn't he cute? (Actually, these plants are both "he" and "she", so I've got some pollinating in my future). I think I'll call him Earl.

I'm feeling *quite* lazy today, did my shipping and shopping, and damn, it's hot out there. Not that I'm complaining.

So I started some fairly weird seeds a couple of weeks ago.....I really dig weird plants. (Get it??) But seriously, if I see a plant in a store that looks as though it came from Mars or something, I have to buy it. It drives David a bit crazy, so that's an added benefit.

Anyway. I started seeds for a Luffa. You know the luffas that you buy to use in the shower? Yep, it's a plant, a kind of gourd. It looks spectacularly hideous when mature, so it's basically right up my alley, plant-wise. I'll come back in a little bit with a picture of the baby plant. It's still in the cute stage. A scary thought.....when I'm away teaching, I'll have to leave it in David's care. Yikes.

Lilacs are almost blooming!

It's raining for the fifth day in a row, but it's supposed to be nice for the weekend...how very "un-Vancouverish"!

About my lilacs, when we moved to this house there was this scrubby shrub in the back yard that was not particularly lovely, in fact I almost yanked it out; but decided to wait until the following spring to see if it did anything interesting. So last spring, it gave me a lilac....one single lilac. Which bloomed while I was in Italy, so I missed it.

This year, it's got about 40 flower heads, and they're just starting to open, with that fantastic perfume that's my favorite flower smell........far better than roses, even. I'll take a picture within a day or two.

Lilacs always make me think of "Marjorie Morningstar", and the kiss she didn't get from Wally ...the poor sap. Have a good one, it's off to the beadatorium for moi!

Okay....it's been a long time since I've updated. Sorry 'bout that. So it's May in British Columbia....my lilacs are almost blooming...and I'm going to attempt to post every day. The operative word being "attempt".

I'm flying out on the 24th to teach a five day class at Red Deer College Summer School of the Arts, so I'm pretty pumped about that! I usually teach two-day classes, which are great, but sometimes I feel rushed, simply because I've added so many techniques to my original agenda that I now feel as though I have to drop some things. There is only so much time, you know? So five days is just heaven.