MICHAEL BARLEY...

I took a 2 day class this weekend w/ Michael Barley @ Malcolm Potek's Glass Studio in Minneapolis.

IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!

Not a surprise... I have been told by MANY that if you were going to take just one class, it should be Michael's. They were right. He's a wealth of knowledge... years & years of trial & error & experimentation... & is so generous to share it all. I learned so much... I took LOTS of notes & sat down w/ them tonight to figure out what glass & tools I have on hand & what I need to pick up. I've already place a few orders. :o)

Michael's a sweet, sweet man. Some of us went out to dinner w/ him Saturday night... I was lucky enough to sit by him & got to visit a bit... we were both Air Force brats, so we talked about moving around as kids, etc...

I need to take pictures of my class beads.... but here's a picture of Malcolm, Michael & myself...


Other than a few of Michael's beads, one of my souvenirs from the weekend was a nice speeding ticket! LOL... wondering if I can write it off as a business expense? Darned Minneapolis speed traps. I was only going 15 over the limit... ugh. My only other ticket before was when I was 9 months pregnant w/ Sam... 14 years ago. Oh well... this one won't effect my record or insurance... "excessive acceleration"... nice fine, though...thank you.

Oh yeah... I forgot, I had just finished listening/singing along/crying to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" when I got stopped, LOL... I'm sure I appeared a little teary-eyed for the officer.

Did you know you can pay your speeding tickets online now? Cool, huh? ;o)

TREASURES 2008...

I did my first solo bead show this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. From what I understand, it was a slow show, but I was actually really happy w/ how things went. I sold quite a bit & the response to my booth & my beads was fantastic... really encouraging. I was told by many that I had the best booth there... I don't know about that, LOL, but it was warm (if not a little lopsided, LOL.) & I think inviting. The lady who ran the show told me afterwards that many many people commented to her about me & my beads... that was great to hear.

I can't tell you how many people were just floored by my beads. I don't quite understand it. I mean, I really like them, LOL, but reactions make it seem like mine are quite unusual, which I can't really say they are or aren't. I didn't make it around the show at all to check out the other vendors...

I'm just really happy. I feel like I'm on the right track. It feels really good.

People loved my acorns. :o) I sold most of them.

Anyway... here are some pictures of my table. Working w/ Jennifer Ionta & her wonderfully warm table dressings & displays made me realize that my beads looked REALLY GOOD w/ the nice warm coppery, cream & gold tones....

rather than the stark black & white stuff I had used before.... so she showed me how to make the cute necklace display busts & such. The top tablecloth was a bit wonky, LOL, & is waiting for some nice trim to go around the edge (in from the edge about 1")... but I was really happy w/ the whole thing.

I didn't see that the top cover wasn't laying evenly until I saw the pictures... it is also hanging down too low in the front, tassles are hanging funny, too... LOL. Oh well. Brayden (10) came w/ me (for 3 days!) & helped me set up! He was good... really enjoyed wandering around shopping...it was a gem & lapidary show, too.... so he got some cool stuff.

It's hard to tell in the picture where my stuff ends & the guys beside & behind me begin.

Notice the grid of little 2" square dishes from Pier1... I just love those... think I'm gonna get more. I made the busts..... the trays are collage frames from Kohls... just mounted some fabric over the glass!

Brad built that wood shelf for me... I had him drill holes around the top sides & back, about 3" apart so I could mount the busts & copper wire "things" (to hang chains & earrings & such from) anywhere... so it's pretty versitile...
& the back side of that shelf is open, so I was able to tuck all sorts of stuff behind it, like little zip bags, boxes, calculator, etc...

So... all in all it was a great experience. My beads will be at the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar this coming weekend while I'm @ a class w/ Michael Barley!!!

NEW WEBSITE IS UP....

The new site is up.... check it out & let me know what you think about it. I needed to simplify the whole thing a little bit so I could update it myself. It had been about 10 months since my original site had been updated because I couldn't update the Flash sections, which were mainly images, the most important to keep current... I've changed my style just a tad. ;o)

Till next time...

~ Julie

GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART...

well it's time to go...

I just finished torching, had a grand old time, too! :o) I'm building up stock for a show I'm doing next weekend in Des Moines... Treasures 2008. It'll be my first real show that I've done on my own... scary. (not really) Making lots of hearts & other focals... I just love making "loose" beads, as opposed to making utinsil handles. I love them, too, they're just more intensive since I have to get them the exact right size for a specific utinsil and if it's a set, like the salad servers, the shapes have to match eachother, too... so it just takes more out of me. I get to PLAY when I'm making individual focals, I just love that freedom.

Anyway... it's 2:51 am as I write this. I'm pooped... but thought I'd continue on & post a picture before heading off. Hmmmmmmmmm... which one?

Here you go... a heart, my specialty...
Terranova2 w/ Opal Yellow stringerwork.


Whatcha think about this one?

Don't know why the background ended up being so blue... it's supposed to be black... but I wasn't going to tweak it anymore. Bottom right is just about right-on for the colors.

Till next time...

Goodnight sweetheart, goodnight...

LOOK AT THIS FABULOUS PIECE...

I'm in love...
I can't help it...
Isn't this fabulous??
(click on the image to see an enlarged view)

Of course the base is Opal Yellow (what else is there? LOL!)... & then has my favorite triple threat of Double Helix glasses on it, as well as SIS.

I put it on a hand-forged fine silver interchangable bead holder... & of course has one of Heidi's (JamnGlass) gorgeous hand-dyed silk ribbon.

I just love it. I did 3 of them the other night... will be doing more for the bead show I'm doing next week. Makes me wish I had a lentil press. I think it would be a fabulous design on a lentil. Hmmmmmm... what presses do I have?? :o)

What do you think?

I'll show it off on LE tomorrow... thought I'd bring it to you guys first. Lucky you. ;o)

NEW WEBSITE...

Yes... this time last year I was talking about having my new website built & ready to launch in December.

Well... I had her build it in FLASH & for some reason, I can't update the images to save my life... so it's still got all of the old images from 2007 on there... UGH! I even had a friend who BUILDS websites take a look @ it & she couldn't figure it out. It has something to do w/ the templates that it was built off of. It certainly gave my original website chick a hard time as she customized it for me.

So... I found Homestead & easily built a new site myself that I'll have no problems updating. Yeah!! It's in the middle of having the domain transferred... will be another week or so.

Whew.

Sucks to have wasted so much $$$ on the first site, but it's done its job (kinda) for the past year, right?

Check out my new site soon in the coming week or two... let me know what you think.

LOL(s)...

I didn't tell you that my brother, who's an online marketing pro, told me that I should limit my LOLs to just one or two a post.

That's really hard... I'm such a smart aleck & to me it helps my many readers (insert LOL here) get an idea of my sense of humor or even just the tone of my posts. I'm a happy girl... I like to keep it light.

He should know better (insert LOL here)... I got my sense of humor from him. :o)

Now I suppose he's gonna tell me to limit my smileys?

Or my dot-dot-dots...

;o)

Here... I'll show you another picture while I'm here...

(insert LOL here)...

BACK TO BLOGGING...

Okay... I have so much to show & so much to say about my west coast trip, but those posts are in limbo as I get some pictures together, so those posts will magically appear as September posts sometime soon. LOL.

But in the meantime, someone on LE sent me a private message asking when I was going to update my blog... I didn't realize anyone was reading it, I figured I've been talking to myself, LOL... so if you ARE reading this (& you know you are!)...post a comment or two from time to time, if you will. It's nice to know that I'm not really just talking to myself. :o)

Anyway... I thought I'd start posting some images of current pieces! How'd you like that?? :o)

I've been having a blast torching since I got home... I did two (successful!) shows the two weekends after I got home & I'm now getting ready for a bead show in Des Moines, Iowa a few weekends away called Treasures 2008... I sure hope it's a good show & that people aren't too freaked out about the financial crap going on these days!

It's fun to do "just a bead show"... instead of an art show where you need to have finished pieces. I love making finished pieces... jewelry & objects like utinsils & such, but those kinds of pieces take so much more thought & planning... I love just being free to see what happens when I torch sometimes, you know?

I can't believe I didn't show this piece off to you yet. Isn't it gorgeous? I actually sold it today. Woo-Hoo! :o)

I'm lovin the silver glasses... Double Helix's Terranova2, Luna2 & Psyche especially. I have so much to show... but I'll tease you for a bit, revealing a few pieces at a time.

Till next time...