Friends

Category

Two months house bound.

So today is two months exactly since we moved into our house.  It doesn’t feel like two months at all.  Time has just flown by.  We were wondering how we were going to adjust to living stationary, when we had been traveling in the RV for over four years.  You’d think it would be quite an adjustment right?  Hardly seems so.

Greg says I am happier than I have been in a while.  I was getting so tired of being cooped up in the RV.   Don’t get me wrong.  I love that we spent that much time on the road.  We met so many wonderful people and saw so many places we had never seen.  Gotten to know the sub cultures of America.  It was awesome!  However, we found ourselves working six days a week at the torch (which we still do, we love that too), and not sight seeing as much or doing as much.  It got to be confining.  If we were just traveling about and exploring, that life would still be awesome.

I just love having a house to ramble around in.  Our pets seem happier too.  Especially our bird.  We have a 12 year old, almost 13, Gold Capped Conure.  Miniature type parrot, for those of you lacking in bird knowledge.  Anyway, she use to have to stay in her cage while we worked all day.  Not good to have the bird free while open flame was happening.  So now she gets to hang out with me all day, while I do computer work, and with Greg at night watching the tube, while I torch.   She is quite happy.  The dog would be happier if we got carpet, but she is pleased as well.  Plenty of places for her to sleep.  She changes rooms every few hours.

All in all, we are quite happy and have not seen much of the cabin fever set in.  Is it because we are doing work to the house to fix it up and that keeps us busy?  Maybe it is because we are still getting to know this area and find new stuff all the time?  Maybe it’s our happy flowers out front, that we planted?  Maybe we are just nesting.  My goodness, I even wished for a sewing machine today.  Now that is a crazy thought!

I can’t wait for visitors to start coming.  So far we have three lined up in the next two months.  We are excited to show off our place.  :-)

Beadmaker or Artist?

I was having a conversation with another fellow lampworker about what we consider ourselves. Bead maker or artist? We both said bead maker.

I consider Greg to be the artist of this pair. The way he comes up with ideas, implements them and runs with it, is amazing to me. He doesn’t want anyone to show him how to do something. Most of the fun for him is figuring it out. While on the other hand, I am more results driven. If something doesn’t work after a few tries I get kinda frustrated and give up on the idea, unless someone shows me how. I’ll tell you a secret…are you ready? Okay here goes. If I can’t figure something out, I ask Greg to do it and show me how. Is that cheating? Probably, but since he is my partner in life and business, that is just the way it goes.

Okay so back to the bead maker verses artist thing. I am in no way getting into the art vs craft debate. This is just about how I see myself. What I find kind of humorous is my friend said they same thing. She does not consider herself an artist. Now here is the humorous part, I own and wear more of her beads than I do anyone else. I love them. Maybe it is her passion for bead making that shows through, maybe it is just that I feel her joy when I wear them, or maybe, just maybe it is because she is an artist and just doesn’t see herself that way.

I have neglected to tell you who this person is on purpose, as I am not sure she would want this to be public knowledge. You know who you are though, and yes you are an artist. Does this mean I could be too? Maybe or maybe not. I just like to melt glass and am thankful everyday I get to make my living doing it.

The bead I copied.

Last weekend I spent time with my friends Angie and Vern of Bead Addicts.  What do bead makers do when they get together?  Well, they make beads of course.  I saw my trip as a play date and I tried new things while I was there.  One of them hits Justbeads tomorrow as my All Hallows Eve inspired set.

I made a few others I am still working on polishing up and still some I left with Angie and Vern.  I don’t have pictures of those, but I made a few more when I got home.  The ones I am showing you today are a direct result of me trying to copy (yes copy…I said it) one of Angie’s beads.  Here is the Angie bead I tried to copy (she gave it to me back in may at bead camp).

These are the two that I came up with after coping it:

They look exactly the same don’t they?  LOL…okay maybe not.  So it’s not like I used exactly the same colors or tried to do it exactly the same, but I was for sure trying to get the same shape of the flower she made.  Obviously, I made a mistake somewhere.  I am pretty sure my round middle area was too big and the petals were too small.  So I did a bit of tinkering and turned it into something I liked. I am now calling them my ruffled flowers.

Okay, so I usually don’t talk about the “copy” issue.  It is a big taboo and no one wants to be called a copier.   I don’t think I am in too much danger of that, as every time I try to copy something, it never ever looks like the the persons bead I tried to duplicate.  Personally I think coping is good for trying new techniques, you never know what might come from it.  As far as people who blatenly copy others ideas and call them there own, well….that is another matter entirely.

So thanks Angie, I think I found a new bead I really like, while totally and completely botching my attempt at your flowers.

Hello from TN!

Hello from Crossville, TN.  It is just gorgeous here this weekend.  The perfect fall weather, nothing like what we have down in Louisiana.  It is mid 70’s, with a slight breeze and last night got down into the 40’s.  Okay I admit it, I was cold, but come on, I am use to 90’s with the low of 73.  But it is gorgeous weather.

Aside from the weather the company couldn’t be better.  Angie, Vern and I spent all day torching yesterday.  I perfect opportunity for me to play and just try new things and new glass.  Angie has a bunch of glass I don’t normally stock.  I am actually a bit afraid now, as I think I am going to just have to have some of those silver colors.   They are a bit expensive, but wow, lovely.  Hopefully my beads I made with it come out good then I can show you a few of them. 

So lots of torching, talking, and luaghing going on here.  Couldn’t be better, accept I heard my dog is moping around waiting for me to come home.  Poor girl.  She’ll just have to wait it out until tomrrow, if Angie doesn’t kidnap me. 

Road Trip!

Tomorrow morning I am headed out early on a road trip for the weekend with my friends Angie and Verna. They live in Tennessee, so Greg is letting me out by myself. This will be the first time I have been on a road trip by myself since I was 19 when I can home from College my first semester in Oregon to California. Do I have any clue what I am in for? It is 600 miles, gonna drive it in a day by myself and then back on Monday. I do have another friend in Alabama, who is roughly half way, so I am gonna stop and have lunch with her on one of my breaks, both ways I hope.

I am off to pack, wish me luck! I even got some new glasses so I can see while driving. lol!