TEXAS...

I had such a blast on my trip to Texas last month.... stopped in Kansas City for dinner w/ a bunch of my favorite Missouri friends & stayed @ my friend Stacy & Jerry's place overnight. THANK YOU! It was a long drive to Dallas/Ft.Worth on my own, but no problem. Just one quick stop in Wichita to check out a warning light on the truck, didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere, did I?

I picked up Mom @ DFW... I think I know that place like the back of my hand now... spent enough time driving around in circles looking for her!!! Not fun. Enjoyed spending time w/ her & meeting up w/ a few of her friends. THANK YOU, Bobby Jo (& Mom!) for all of your help!!

BeadFest Texas was FANTASTIC for its first year... I had so much fun, especially w/ my Mom being there w/ me... the first time she's ever been to a show w/ me. I think she was impressed. :o) I definitely plan on doing it again next year. So much fun to meet such wonderful customers, meet new vendors & see many friends, too... I really enjoy shows, although they kick my butt.

Here are some pictures that my Mom took of my display, etc...

(click images to enlarge)

I met up w/ a sweet group of ladies who took me out to breakfast & talked to me about coming to Waco to teach a class in the spring! They were awesome, Lisa, Jenna & Jill... I had such a great time getting to know them... & I can't wait till next April!! It was also great to be able to meet a few Facebook friends in person... Gwen & Debbie. I just love meeting online friends in person... being able to hear their voices & see their mannerisms, etc.... makes the online experience that much more personal.

Spent a few more days w/ my Mom... drove down to Temple, TX for a quick visit w/ my cousin, Eric, & his sweet wife, Kim... so wonderful to see them. Took Mom by Blue Moon Glassworks in Austin on our way to San Antonio & spent the evening w/ my Uncle (Mom's brother), Aunt & cousin. It was good to see everyone!

Dropped Mom off @ the San Antonio airport (SO MUCH EASIER than picking her up @ the DFW airport!!) & picked up my friend Sue! (more below about Sue)

We had such a blast in Austin for a class w/ JC Herrell @ Blue Moon Glassworks! JC is a phenomenal teacher... not just because her beads are fantastic & fun to do, but she's so knowledgeable about glass & enamels & what she does... the hows & whys enamels work specific ways, etc. AND, she couldn't stress enough about enamel safety... putting just enough fear in us so that we, as adults, can make an informed decision as to how much protection to use & what kinds of conditions we should work in. (proper ventilation, cleanliness, etc...) It was just plain wonderful to get to spend some time w/ her, too. She's one sweet lady.

& of course Jim & Rose Berry were, once again, the ultimate hosts! Love them. Blue Moon Glassworks is such a wonderful place to take classes... sure wish they were closer!!! :o) It was wonderful to have some time getting to know them a little bit better after class @ dinner a few nights. Good times. Can't wait to get down there again!

We had a great time running around Austin w/ Donna Mehnert looking for the fantastic mosaic murals by Aly Winningham of Terra Firma Studios. Here, we found the mosaic bench surrounding the fire pit @ The Domain (phase 2), called "Texas Hill Country Birds". It's fantastic.

& spending some time w/ Lisa Reid (who I met last November when I was in Austin for Andrea Guarino's class).... & was so happy to have a little time w/ Anne Ricketts our last night in town. It was also wonderful meeting Martha Brogdon in class... we're friends on Facebook... always nice to meet people in person.  Funny, too, a woman that I met @ BeadFest was in my JC class, too!! How fun is that?

It was awesome to have my new great friend Sue Peoples fly down there to take the class & then drive all the way back to Minnesota w/ me!! We have met just a few times & are friends on Facebook, but had never spent any time together. It was wonderful. She's such a sweetie... fun & a talker, just like ME... we were never short on words, LOL, it made the ride home a breeze. Can't wait to spend some more time w/ her.

Anyway... what an adventure!! Can't wait for the next one!!

Till then...

~ Julie

ANDREA GUARINO-SLEMMONS...

I just got back from a long weekend in Austin, Texas taking a glass beadmaking class w/ Andrea Guarino-Slemmons at Blue Moon Glassworks. It was AWESOME!!!

Andrea has been the one artist that I've had on my "want to take a class with" list pretty much from day one. I love her style(s) & having met her a few times before, I really like HER, too. I had also heard that she was a fantastic teacher, they were right!

What a fantastic class! First off, I want to say that Blue Moon is such a wonderful place...those that live there & get to take classes from nationally (& internationally) known artists are spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!! (I'm just a tiny bit envious!) Jim & Rose Berry, the owners, are the sweetest people. We were lucky enough to hang out w/ them after class each night. I got a chance to sit at the quiet end of the table w/ them & were able to chat w/ them & get to know them a bit. Lucky me. :o)

(click images to enlarge)

Andrea is not only talented....but a really great teacher! Just because you have something to offer others doesn't automatically make you a good teacher.... she's a good teacher! :o) I learned so much from her. Not only how to use her techniques to make her fabulous beads... (& definitely some techniques that I can incorporate into my own style), but I also learned how to encase & keep my clear from getting scummy!

(I DON'T clear encase... I didn't "get it" back when I was first learning how to make beads & just moved on w/out it. I'm known more now for my opaque beads, so I never needed to figure it out. But who knows? Maybe I'll figure out how to incorporate encasing into my style!?

I'm so excited to not only

be able to do it confidently, but to keep it clear!! LOL!)I'm so pleased w/ my class beads...

I was so excited that a friend that I met in 2008 @ Glass Stock came along w/ Andrea to be her TA... Nicole Valentine (Nicker on LE). It was so nice to get to spend some time w/ her! Such a neat lady... AND she is a fantastic TA! She knows exactly what Andrea is doing when, had everything ready for her & just basically kicked butt the entire class. I can't imagine doing that class on my own as a teacher, there are so many pieces & parts to the class, Nicole was so good about really keeping it together & being there when we needed something from her (some glass, a tool, scratch my back, tie my hair up, etc... LOL) I'm so glad she came.

I didn't mention that I took this class w/ 4 friends, did I?? Kimberly Polka, Serena Thomas, Becky Caspersen & Jeannette Remmington. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun!! We stayed in an awesome little cottage that is part of the Austin Hyde Park Inn & is just a couple of blocks away from Blue Moon. So much fun. Lots of late nights hanging out on the back deck chatting & laughing. The 5 of us made up half of the class... I think that our familiarity w/ eachother helped pull in others in the class. (or so I'd like to think!) It was fun to meet the other ladies in class, a few of them came out w/ us after class, so we got to get to know them a bit better. Nice to make new friends. :o)

We enjoyed hanging out w/ Holly Cooper each evening after class, it was fun to get to know her a bit better (she was a teacher @ Third Degree Glass Factory's Midwest Glass Experience back in February)

& on our final night there, Donna Mehnert, Anne Ricketts & Jill Symons joined all of us for dinner. Nice to meet Jill for the first time, I so admire her work. I first met Anne @ the ISGB Gathering in 2007 when I was just a new kid on the block. She's such a nice lady (& talented!) ...it was nice to have a chance to visit w/ her on a smaller scale. :o) .....& Ms. Donna... I love me a Ms. Donna. I met her for the first time just this past summer @ The Bead & Button Show.....she's so talented & just a cutiepie. I'm so glad I got a chance to see her again. All 4 of these ladies live in the Austin area... I'm so jealous! All of that talent in one place. Dang. I'm glad that we can continue these friendships online... & I'll definitely be back down there to see them again.

Anyway.... it was such a great experience all the way around. A fantastic class over way too quickly... a great time w/ friends & a wonderful chance to meet new people & make new connections.

I'll be back.

Till next time....

~ Julie