Yikes... I can't keep up!!! LOL! Just wanted to write a quick note to say that I'm alive & well... just a busy busy girl.
I spent a long weekend in Missouri at the 3rd Annual Missouri Bead Retreat, having a blast & wishing it was much MUCH longer. Such fantastic people, makes me wish I lived there. I got some fantastic feedback on my beads... I've improved just a teeny bit since last year's retreat, where I had only been torching for about 3 months at the time!! :o) I made my first boro implosion there... it's not fabulous, but it was very cool to do. My first experience w/ boro glass, too. I also learned kumihimo (japanese braiding), did some chainmaille & played w/ some PMC, too.... as well as many other fun things. The weekend was packed full & like I said, WAY too short! We're all looking forward to next year already.
I've had a chance to torch a bit & have plenty of beads & such to sell, but finding time to photograph & list them seems to be my issue these days. I've GOT to find my groove... there's just so much to this business, it's hard to keep up & I seem to be all over the place!! I have NOTHING in my Etsy store... having just sold the last 2 pieces that were listed last weekend OFF Etsy.
Updating my website is another issue... I had it built as a Flash site & can't seem to update the flash portions myself... which is mainly all of the images!! LOL. Ugh. I'm going to TRY to get it updated sometime soon... don't know when, though. My main priority is to get items listed to sell on eBay & Etsy... probably more so on Etsy.
Anyway... I've had fun playing w/ some PMC lately, too, trying to come up w/ some awesome interchangeable pendant/bail designs. I'll try to post some of it... someday. LOL.
& I thought my last month or so has been crazy.... June is going to be even more so.... I'm going to Bead & Button in Milwaukee the 2nd weekend in June to check it out, then I have a few weeks to get ready for my parents coming to town AND make a 6 tiered wedding cake!!! (seriously) ... THEN I'm heading to North Carolina for my neice's wedding, I'll be doing her cake, too, the week after the first cake (this'll be my 3rd wedding cake... never had a class, etc... I've only made fabulous cakes for my family)... I'll be there for 2 weeks, wanting to spend some time w/ my sister & brother who live out there, it's been 4 years since I've seen my sister!!! (she's a new grandma!!)
Okay...I'm off. I'll be back soon, though, I have some fabulous pieces to show you! :o)
Julie
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
MOBR STORY #3 - NOSE RINGS...
MOBR stories continued...
So... Saturday afternoon, 5 of the crazy ladies decide that they're going to go get their noses pierced, kind of as a momento of the weekend, right? So... as soon as they leave, I remember that I have a simple wire ear cuff in my ear from 1999 when I tried to freak out some old church friends that I hadn't seen in 15 years or so by using it as a nose ring, LOL. So...(LOL)...I pull it off of my ear & hook it onto the side of my nostril & show a couple of people who are sitting there w/ me. Too funny. Being the instigator that I am, LOL, I come up w/ the idea that we could make some simple wire nose rings for EVERYONE else who didn't go get their noses pierced... 50-some of us! LOL!! So, we pull out the cheap artistic wire & start cranking out nose rings... my friend Deb dispurses them to everyone, telling them what they're meant for... everyone thinks it's really funny... which, of course, it is. We even got grandma, who must be in her 80's to put one on, LOL, all of the husbands, too!! I ended up w/ mine hooked between my nostrils @ the base of my nose, like a bull, you know? ...& had several rings left over, so I put some on my lip, too. LOL. It was pretty obnoxious.
When the truly pierced ones got back, they saw a few, then started noticing that everyone had one on & got a big kick out of it!! LOL. I was on the lower deck at the time (they were on the top deck) & I hear Kim Polka say at the top of her lungs [something like] "who's idea was this??.... Julie Nordine??!!!... of course it was!" LOL. Yeah, not a surprise... like I said...quite the little instigator.
Last year we had a bead show & Melissa (Villa Designs) used my necklace display to hang some of her fabulous disk pendant necklaces from & ended up packing her stuff up a little early to go have a swim... but forgot about her necklaces & left them behind... about 8 of them. Mind you, I'm the new kid there, but I take all of these necklaces & pass them out to people... guys, too, LOL, TRYING to keep track of who all had them, LOL, & waited patiently for Melissa to come back. Of course as I'm passing them out, I'm asking others what kind of sense of humor Melissa had, LOL, luckily she thought it was pretty funny.
Anyway...check out the pictures... you'll see lots of nose rings around page 8, including a few of me...not pretty, LOL. You'll also see some of the real piercings, too. Then the group picture of the ones who were pierced. 2 more went to get theirs done the next day. LOL. Silly girls.
...to be continued...
So... Saturday afternoon, 5 of the crazy ladies decide that they're going to go get their noses pierced, kind of as a momento of the weekend, right? So... as soon as they leave, I remember that I have a simple wire ear cuff in my ear from 1999 when I tried to freak out some old church friends that I hadn't seen in 15 years or so by using it as a nose ring, LOL. So...(LOL)...I pull it off of my ear & hook it onto the side of my nostril & show a couple of people who are sitting there w/ me. Too funny. Being the instigator that I am, LOL, I come up w/ the idea that we could make some simple wire nose rings for EVERYONE else who didn't go get their noses pierced... 50-some of us! LOL!! So, we pull out the cheap artistic wire & start cranking out nose rings... my friend Deb dispurses them to everyone, telling them what they're meant for... everyone thinks it's really funny... which, of course, it is. We even got grandma, who must be in her 80's to put one on, LOL, all of the husbands, too!! I ended up w/ mine hooked between my nostrils @ the base of my nose, like a bull, you know? ...& had several rings left over, so I put some on my lip, too. LOL. It was pretty obnoxious.
When the truly pierced ones got back, they saw a few, then started noticing that everyone had one on & got a big kick out of it!! LOL. I was on the lower deck at the time (they were on the top deck) & I hear Kim Polka say at the top of her lungs [something like] "who's idea was this??.... Julie Nordine??!!!... of course it was!" LOL. Yeah, not a surprise... like I said...quite the little instigator.
Last year we had a bead show & Melissa (Villa Designs) used my necklace display to hang some of her fabulous disk pendant necklaces from & ended up packing her stuff up a little early to go have a swim... but forgot about her necklaces & left them behind... about 8 of them. Mind you, I'm the new kid there, but I take all of these necklaces & pass them out to people... guys, too, LOL, TRYING to keep track of who all had them, LOL, & waited patiently for Melissa to come back. Of course as I'm passing them out, I'm asking others what kind of sense of humor Melissa had, LOL, luckily she thought it was pretty funny.
Anyway...check out the pictures... you'll see lots of nose rings around page 8, including a few of me...not pretty, LOL. You'll also see some of the real piercings, too. Then the group picture of the ones who were pierced. 2 more went to get theirs done the next day. LOL. Silly girls.
...to be continued...
MOBR STORY #2 - TATTOOS & DRUNK FISHERMEN...
MOBR stories continued...
So... I still haven't shown you a photo of my new tattoo...(I told you I got my first tattoo over Spring Break in Colorado, didn't I?) (click on the pictures for a larger detailed one...how fun!)
So... I still haven't shown you a photo of my new tattoo...(I told you I got my first tattoo over Spring Break in Colorado, didn't I?) (click on the pictures for a larger detailed one...how fun!)
This is me flashing Fritz...
This is Fritz feeling me up...I'm quite relaxed, can't you tell?
This is my itty-bitty first tattoo...before the center was filled w/ fuscia...
Guess I need to take a picture of it completed, don't I??
So...what does my tattoo have to do w/ the bead retreat, you ask?? LOL! Well...where do I start?? :o)
There are some fishermen who are at this resort every year the same weekend for a fishing tournament...they've been coming up there for over 20 years, from what I understand. For the past 3 years since the retreat has been happening there, these guys have come over in the evening (after a day of fishing & drinking) to see what we were up to... watching people torch, drinking more beer, chatting w/ the crazy fire freaks, LOL, & a few of them have even tried their hand at making a bead!! They're a great group of guys... most of them are older guys, probably in their 60s... some younger ones, too...more than likely their sons.
Anyway... Saturday night, I was hanging out w/ a small handful of ladies around 2am or so...3 of the drunk fishermen were there, too...Larry, our favorite (in his 60s, probably), is there & 2 younger guys are w/ him... they're standing behind me chatting w/ eachother while the girls & I are sitting at this picnic table chatting w/ eachother. Somehow the subject of tattoos come up & I mention that I had just gotten my first one over Spring Break. Kimberly Polka (Red) is sitting across from me & wants to see it. There is a light attached to the table right beside me, so I lean into the light & flash her my tattoo.... it's high enough that I'm not really showing anything, but these 3 guys all move in, leaning over my shoulder to get a look @ my tattoo! LOL!! I suppose from that angle they get a nice glimpse of my cleavage, too, LOL, (or my "valley" as my youngest used to call it when he was 4 or so, LOL.) but that's it. So.... for the rest of the weekend, Kim is talking about my "titty-tat" & is telling different drunk fishermen to come up to me & ask to see my "little titty-tat"... or something like that. LOL. OMG. Of course I flashed them, LOL, that's what it's there for... of course it's meant to be flashed to my hubby, LOL, but it's not THAT low, so I didn't have that big of a problem showing it off. I could wring Kim's neck, though, LOL... it was pretty funny, actually.
...to be continued...
MOBR STORY #1 - BEAD TRADING
MOBR (Missouri Bead Retreat) continued...
BEAD TRADING...
It was great to see other people's beads... did alot of trading w/ others, got some FANTASTIC feedback on my pieces & ended up w/ a bunch of awesome beads to add to my bead collection. I had out my beads for what felt like the majority of the weekend... not necessarily on purpose... I brought them out Saturday night to organize them because they were EVERYWHERE (in different boxes, etc) & showed them off a bit... then stayed up till 3am hanging out, so I tucked them under a table where the kilns were instead of waking up my condo mates that were sleeping in the living room where my stuff was stashed & then next morning they were out on the table being oggled & fondled. LOL. I didn't mind one bit, I like people checking out my stuff :o) ...but they did remain out the majority of the day & it felt a little bit like a "Look at me! Look at me!" kind of thing, you know? I know I'm a showoff, LOL, but not to the point where I'm trying to outshine everyone else. I know I'm not that important.
One of the trades I made was one of my fabulous necklaces (the one pictured on the back of my postcard, actually... ) for some fabulous beads. I love the beads, but I am kinda kicking myself for not taking the money she offered instead, I'm supposed to be making money at this, not collecting beads. LOL.
Here's the necklace I traded...
to be continued...
BEAD TRADING...
It was great to see other people's beads... did alot of trading w/ others, got some FANTASTIC feedback on my pieces & ended up w/ a bunch of awesome beads to add to my bead collection. I had out my beads for what felt like the majority of the weekend... not necessarily on purpose... I brought them out Saturday night to organize them because they were EVERYWHERE (in different boxes, etc) & showed them off a bit... then stayed up till 3am hanging out, so I tucked them under a table where the kilns were instead of waking up my condo mates that were sleeping in the living room where my stuff was stashed & then next morning they were out on the table being oggled & fondled. LOL. I didn't mind one bit, I like people checking out my stuff :o) ...but they did remain out the majority of the day & it felt a little bit like a "Look at me! Look at me!" kind of thing, you know? I know I'm a showoff, LOL, but not to the point where I'm trying to outshine everyone else. I know I'm not that important.
One of the trades I made was one of my fabulous necklaces (the one pictured on the back of my postcard, actually... ) for some fabulous beads. I love the beads, but I am kinda kicking myself for not taking the money she offered instead, I'm supposed to be making money at this, not collecting beads. LOL.
Here's the necklace I traded...
to be continued...
3rd ANNUAL MISSOURI BEAD RETREAT (MOBR)...
I just realized that I haven't written about my little road trip to the 3rd Annual Missouri Bead Retreat in Lake Ozark, Missouri!!
My friend Deb (Deb Hopeful Journeys on LE) & I drove down to Missouri a week ago to go hang out w/ 50+ crazy women (& several very brave guys!) at this great little fishing resort on the Lake of the Ozarks. This was my 2nd year, Deb has been all 3 years. OMG, what a blast! Deb & I drive well together... great conversations.
First of all, our friend Jeannette was supposed to come down w/ us but ended up super sick the day we were leaving, so she didn't come (yeah, big bummer). Everyone really missed her.
Like I explained back in my GOIN' ON A ROAD TRIP post in February, most of us stayed in a 4 unit building that had an upper & lower deck that spanned the entire back of the building that you could literally fish right off of. The upper deck was decked out w/ torches for everyone to use & the lower deck was set up for workshops & hanging out.
It was wonderful to see so many friends from last year. Most of these people are from the St. Louis area... I wanna move to St. Louis, really only to hang out w/ them. LOL. There were also people from Kansas City & other parts of Missouri, as well as Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa & us, the Minnesota chicks. :o) Plenty of new people, too... quick friends, for sure. I don't know what it is about these guys... I'm normally semi-introverted when it comes to being w/ a group I don't know, but even last year, I was instantly comfortable & chatty & felt like I just belonged.
There was torching... again, this year I was too busy to do much of that, LOL, I think I made 2 beads the last night we were there! (Oh... except for my very first boro implosion!! It was my first time doing anything in boro & anything off mandrel!! It was very cool. The colors are a little too subtle for my taste, but it was my first, I'm really proud of it!) Others, though, couldn't be pulled away from the torch. LOL. We participated in workshops...chainmaille, bead bending/watch making, fusing, PMC, kumihimo, dying silk cords, silver bead lining were the ones I participated in... I passed on the macrame' bracelets & Viking Knit classes since I learned those last year!
See the pictures here ...such crazy people!
Okay... this is such a huge post & I have more to say, so I'm going to break them up into individual posts...
to be continued...
My friend Deb (Deb Hopeful Journeys on LE) & I drove down to Missouri a week ago to go hang out w/ 50+ crazy women (& several very brave guys!) at this great little fishing resort on the Lake of the Ozarks. This was my 2nd year, Deb has been all 3 years. OMG, what a blast! Deb & I drive well together... great conversations.
First of all, our friend Jeannette was supposed to come down w/ us but ended up super sick the day we were leaving, so she didn't come (yeah, big bummer). Everyone really missed her.
Like I explained back in my GOIN' ON A ROAD TRIP post in February, most of us stayed in a 4 unit building that had an upper & lower deck that spanned the entire back of the building that you could literally fish right off of. The upper deck was decked out w/ torches for everyone to use & the lower deck was set up for workshops & hanging out.
It was wonderful to see so many friends from last year. Most of these people are from the St. Louis area... I wanna move to St. Louis, really only to hang out w/ them. LOL. There were also people from Kansas City & other parts of Missouri, as well as Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa & us, the Minnesota chicks. :o) Plenty of new people, too... quick friends, for sure. I don't know what it is about these guys... I'm normally semi-introverted when it comes to being w/ a group I don't know, but even last year, I was instantly comfortable & chatty & felt like I just belonged.
There was torching... again, this year I was too busy to do much of that, LOL, I think I made 2 beads the last night we were there! (Oh... except for my very first boro implosion!! It was my first time doing anything in boro & anything off mandrel!! It was very cool. The colors are a little too subtle for my taste, but it was my first, I'm really proud of it!) Others, though, couldn't be pulled away from the torch. LOL. We participated in workshops...chainmaille, bead bending/watch making, fusing, PMC, kumihimo, dying silk cords, silver bead lining were the ones I participated in... I passed on the macrame' bracelets & Viking Knit classes since I learned those last year!
See the pictures here ...such crazy people!
Okay... this is such a huge post & I have more to say, so I'm going to break them up into individual posts...
to be continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
