Boundless Passion!

I am a bit behind on my assignments, so decided to just go back and see what word assignments to write about. Boundless and Passion were the two assignments I missed. So, why not combine them? I'll get two assignments done at once! Well, parts of my life lack passion, but other parts are filled with passion. Boundless means limitless. I am working on manifesting limitless success in all my endeavors. Color always gets me very excited. This morning I signed up for Picnik, a program that allows you to make collages of your photos.

My first photo collage has all my favorite colors in it!

The pink haired Troll and the owl candle holder were so beautiful together. I looked around the house for colors that I am passionate about. The striped square bowl I got in Nashville a few years ago with a large glass ball on top. It is in my bathroom. Then the silk painting I made in Anchorage, Alaska at Color Creek several years ago. Some of the most fun I have ever had! If you are in Anchorage, AK, or nearby. do go see Mary Hertert owner and fiber artist extraordinaire! You can play with fibers for a day or sign up for one of the many great fiber classes.

One areas of my life that I really want to be Boundless in is my ability to support myself with my business. Beady Eyed Women® is the name I gave it many, many years ago. It started with a dream about writing beading books back in the 1980's. I was working full time, had 4 kids in the house, three of them teenagers and was te

aching workshops at the Shepherdess here in San Diego. I wanted to travel and teach and write beading books full time. It took about 6 years before I was free to go full time. All the kids were out of the house, I was single again and living in a small granny flat in Pt. Loma. A very beautiful neighborhood above the Pacific Ocean. Morning walks were incredible! I was sailing a 16' catamaran, working on my business, writing and had a partner that helped make it all come true. Vicki Star and I put on beading retreats in Julian. From each retreat came a book, 6 in all. I named them "The Beady Eyed Women's Guides to Exquisite Beadwork". This name had been in my head for many years. We called the Retreat

s "Beady Eyed Women's Mountain Retreats". They were very successful. There were almost no retreats back then. The business grew and grew and we both quit our other jobs to do it full time. We were partners for 8 years. Vicki left about 5 years ago to move back to Ohio where she grew up. I continued on with Beady Eyed Women®, trademarked the name and made an excellent living. Until about 3 years ago, the business was financially very successful. Then the economy went downhill. I am now re inventing myself,the business and learning about social m

edia, blogging, working on marketing and making daily goals. Taking the Capturing the Moment workshop with Andrew Thornton and Kate McKinnon jump started my creativity and got me all excited again. I feel Boundless and Passionate about Beady Eyed Women® again!

MAKU Raku & Beads!

I adore Marianne Kasparian's Beautiful Raku pieces. Take a peek at MAKU Studio. I was fortunate that my booth was located near hers at The Tucson Bead Show. Of course shopping was a must! Raku has such beautiful texture. The first time I saw Marianne's work was at the Bead&Button Show last year. She is so lovely and fun to talk to. It would have been nice to spend more time together visiting, but at shows, time is pretty spare.

How could I resist creating a montage of the pieces I bought at the B&B Show and The Tucson Bead Show. The ammonite had to go in with the Raku ammonites. The large rectangular piece has amazing texture. All crackled up and ridged. This week I beaded a bezel for it, added crystals and pearls and strung into a necklace. The two Raku beaded earrings were very quick to make. I love the moss green with the grey tones. And how perfect the dagger beads go with the dots on the Raku beads. Today I will work on the triangular piece. It is bezeled with 22k gold fired Delicas. Now what to pair it with? A brand new day gives me a new opportunity to create... After a trip to the Zoo to walk, that is!

It's Hip To Be Square Sale Extended

Thank you everyone for making The "It's Hip To Be Square" Kits Retirement sale a great success. They are almost sold out. I have a total of six left.

Click here to view the remaining kits.

My friend suggested continuing the sale until tomorrow. What a great idea, especially since it is President's Day and many people have the day off. Plus she hadn't had time to shop yet and would be sad to miss the sale!

A Jumble of Really Good Stuff!

Playing with my new camera while trying to get my work done for the Talmadge Art Show next weekend doesn't leave much time for Blogging. So, here is a box of good things I am looking to add into my necklace designs for the show.

Spirals seem to be a strong draw for me. I have new MAKU Raku pieces along with a stone with a carved spiral full of tiny Herkimer Diamonds. Watch gears and parts, Glass Garden Bottle cap beads and some pieces of rusted things I'v collected on my neighborhood walks. Ohhh, the potential!

It is a very rainy day in San Diego. Good weather for creating beautiful things in the studio.

Back to work!

Talmadge Art Show!

February 27 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

I am honored to be among the artists chosen to exhibit at the Talmadge Art Show here in San Diego. The new venue is The NTC Promenade at Liberty Station in Point Loma. This is a beautiful location at San Diego Bay, just up the road from the airport. When the Naval Training Center closed, this prime property was developed into a beautiful neighborhood complete with shops, restaurants and gallery space. There is a golf course, and beautiful homes. Point Loma is one of the loveliest neighborhoods in San Diego. Very picturesque indeed. Please come visit me and the other great artists for this one day opportunity to see real working artists and their fabulous work.

NTC Promenade in Liberty Station

(619) 573-9260

2801 Rosecrans St

San Diego, CA 92106

Map to Liberty Station's Promenade

Going Home! The Flirting Bench & the Sunset

Here is the picture of me leaving with the Flirting Chair tied to the top of my car as I am just about ready to drive away from Kate's house. She and Andrew are waving goodbye to me and shooting a farewell picture of me and the Hot Pink Haired Pirate Troll waving goodbye to them. I snagged this photo from Andrew's blog...

Home Sweet Home. It's so true! I love my little house. It is much more beautiful since Kate gave me her Flirting Bench. I found the perfect place to put it after two tries. First, I tried the back yard. It got lost amongst all the other lovelies back there. So, I placed it in the front entrance to my house. Perfection! Thank you Kate, it is a beautiful addition to my home.

And then there was a most unusual sunset here in Lemon Grove.

I got in two shots. The first shot, just as I was closing the curtains, the crimson cloud appeared and I dashed outside with my camera.

A minute or so later, the color is more intense as the sky darkens.

Capturing the Moment Day 3

Catching up on Capturing the Moment

Our trip to The Lost Barrio was so full of colorful things! Deciding which to photograph was easy! The store fronts are all painted in beautiful colors against the industrial brick of the building.

All my favorite colors are in front of these stores. Even the Graffiti is beautiful here!

Inside the stores were amazing treasures. I am a sucker for glass balls this store had every color! My favorite is Cobalt Blue.

Blue Fridge, Pink Chair at The Eclectic Flea.

I miss my comrades very much. Kate & Andrew, Holly, Baba and Dawn. Each person brought something valuable to the workshops in their own special way. Mornings were so lovely gathered together around Kate's table. Laptops open, discussions about the previous day's pillaging and photographing and blogging assignments over coffee...

After our mornings together, we all set out into the wilds of Tucson, visiting Antique malls and the Gem Shows. Copper Country Antiques was the first stop where Holly found a cache of Troll dolls. She chose one that was dressed up like a pirate! Coincidence? There we were on the Pirate's Trail in Tucson plundering and pillaging the antique malls and gem shows. She showed me where they were and I got a Vampire Troll. My audio book for the road trip is Bram Stoker's "Dracula", so this was the perfect doll for me. To my surprise, Holly gave me her Pirate Troll! Thank you Holly. I miss your kindness and lovely voice.

Holly and me posing with our Hot Pink Haired Trolls from Copper Country Antiques

Capturing the Moment Day 2 Assignment - Lines

Day 2 of Capturing the Moment. We were given the task of looking at lines in our world. There are so many once you begin focusing on them. At 22nd Street Antiques there was an abundance of lines to shoot. Lovely lines from every angle and in many forms. Choosing just a few to post was a challenge. It is great to be given a specific thing to look for in our world of so much to see. Of course I took lots of pictures!

The Iron Flirting Chair in Kate's yard. Beautiful lines! The best part is she gave it to me for my yard! It will look so beautiful in it's new home and I will think of Kate every time I see it.

This Op Art Record Case gives the illusion of even more lines than the obvious ones.

Mud Cloth.

Looking down into an old tool box with saws lined up.

The next assignment was to make a color wheel of photos we took while out and about on Day 3. Those photos will be in my next post...

Capturing The Moment Day 1

Our class consists of four women. Baba, Dawn, Holly and me. We are having a great experience together with Andrew and Kate. Day One: Out we all went on a Pirate's Pillaging foray to the Copper Country Antique Mall with photo shoot assignments. Look for interesting vignettes and unusual items. Somehow I became focused on Religious icons. Some are arranged beautifully and others are silly. Below are my favorites.

Is Jesus a bit annoyed?

It appears that Jesus is asking the duck a question.

This is quite the Religious gathering!

What a serene Mary.

What will we find today? Keep watching for the next installment of Adventures of The Pirates Pillaging in Tucson!

Road Trip To Tucson

Tucson Bound!
Driving from San Diego to Tucson is great. The desert is beautiful in Winter and I love a good road trip. The ever changing landscape is always entertaining. Here is the view of the valley and mountains just beyond Yuma, AZ.

This year, my booth was at The Tucson Bead Show at the Doubletree Hotel. Kate McKinnon invited me to stay at her house again this year while working my booth.

Kate McKinnon and Andrew Thornton's workshop, Capturing the Moment session two began the day after the show ended. Signing up for the workshop was an after thought and I am so glad there was a space left for me. Capturing the Moment is all about Photography, Blogging and looking at the world with new eyes. Staying at Kate's place is wonderful. She allows me to reside in The Vintage Barbie Dream Coach, a restored vintage trailer out in the back of her house. Sweet digs!

There Are No Accidents!
My first full day here in Tucson was a day off for me. I went to check out the "To Bead True Blue Show" and walked into the TierraCast Booth first. There was Julie Young with open arms and a great big smile! In their booth was a fun little photo studio with vintage clothing and props to use while they take your picture. Who should I see dressing up and posing for photos but Tatiana and her friend Sergei!

Tataina is my E-Pen pal from Moscow! We had never met before, but had been emailing each other for the past six years. This was such a wonderful surprise. We hugged and all dressed up for a photo together. Julie and I invited them to Kate's party on Saturday night, and they agreed to come. Always a great party.


















Friday morning, back to work! I set up my booth at The Tucson Bead Show at 6:30 am and the show opened from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. It was a wonderful three days.

















My booth neighbors and customers were great! The visiting is always so good. This is my booth neighbor, Colleen Loader of Exotic Design. Photo on the left side. She is from Sydney, Australia. I loved her different costume each day! She is so fun!






















The next picture is Maiko Kage Felton of Happy Beading. We met when I went to Japan to teach about 3 years ago. She lives about just up the road from me now!

After the show was over, the workshop, "Capturing the Moment" began. It has been great! Check out Kate's Blog as well as Andrew's blog for some more great shots. It is so fun to go out and play with my camera. I got some great pictures during our first two days of assignments.
Here are just a couple of my favorites...
The sailing buffalo angel on top of Copper Country Antiques. A great place to practice using the camera.
I wanted every one of these Dia De Los Muertas statues. They were so beautifully done, each in her own Victorian era gown.
Kate wondering if this is THE jacket for her.
Lovely blue glassware!

More to come...