Catching Up

Tonight I spent some time getting caught up.  These earrings are Christmas gifts!  The ones receiving them know what they are receiving and I'll be happy to deliver them.  I have a pair of these that I made for myself a couple of years ago and I wear them a lot.  They match everything, they're kind of funky and very fun.  I love Vintaj antique brass.  This look was inspired by something I saw on their website a long time ago.  Anyhoooo... Back to beading my DRAGON bangle.

Super-cute earrings!

Dragon Bangle

I'm making the Dragon Bangle pattern by Nancy Jones found in Beadwork Magazine, Feb/Mar 2011.  It was sooooo difficult to get it started.  I tried to begin this one while I was at a lecture but the light was terrible, I couldn't see the thread bridges and the Magatama Drops have an up side and down side.  I think it took me four false starts before I got the right tension and the figured out how to pick up those drop beads.  Actually, it took a glass of wine and some SOLID self talk, "I can DO this!" to make it happen.  Now, it's a super easy pattern and I really like the way it's turning out.  The beads are really funky and I LOVE the look.  Here's what I've got so far:

Dragon Bangle, in the beginning.

Made it Through the Snow

I had a conference in Canon Beach Monday through today.  The roads were pretty snowy heading over the pass.  I didn't drive.  My friend Aimee drove and did a great job... even had to chain up!  The kinda fun part was that we met many colleagues in the chain-up area.  For those of you reading this and wondering why we Western Oregonians chain up in the heavy snow here are a few reasons:  First, when chains are required you better put them on... 2 of my colleagues received tickets ($160) for not chaining up.  Second, the snow is different in Western Oregon.  It snows and melts, and snows... it's really wet and there are few snow plows here.  Third, most people don't have snow tires because a boat load of snow is rare and comes and goes quickly.
Having grown up with snow in Eastern Washington, I KNOW how to drive in the stuff.  That said, the snow I grew up with was colder and drier.

Whew, good to be home... time for wine!

Taken on Monday on my iPhone (from the car.)

Scrabble, Old School

Peter and I have been playing Words with Friends A LOT lately.  When we finish a game we get a new one going.  Today it's  snowy and we've spent the afternoon inside, reading and lounging around.  I thought it'd be fun to play Scrabble, old school.  I set up the board and as we played we both kept saying, "Words with Friends" is so much easier.  Yeah, duh, you don't have to ADD the scores when you play WWF, you can always have the board facing you, and there's nothing to set up or clean up.  We'll probably get a WWF game going after dinner.  It felt kind of good to play with the real tiles but I do like the game on my iPhone.  It's also fun to have lots of games going at once.  Alec Baldwin was playing WWF when he got kicked off that plane a couple of weeks ago.  It's addictive.  But hey, if you're on a plane?  Really?

I set up this picture because I don't know if I'll ever use this board again.

From Another Planet?

I was just settling into my beading nest when Peter asks me if I've looked at the sky.  He says, "It looks like we live on another planet."  Cool... I've ALWAYS thought that there was a parallel universe, which could be another planet... maybe I just turned into the other "me" who lives on another planet.  The planet where the sky is pink and PURPLE at night and the trees are three tones of yummy.  Whatever planet I'm on, there are great views from my deck.  These are our neighbor's trees.  Sometimes, in the summer, I wish they'd cut them down but tonight I rather like them.  Thanks, Peter for helping me notice the beautiful sunset tonight.  Another planet, yeah right!  Right?

Miz Mooz

They got here!  My very cool, GREEN, Miz Mooz ALEX sandals.  They're not really wearable in Portland right now but we're heading to Arizona in March and they will get plenty of use in the warm southwest.  My friend, Annie (who happens to wear size 7 just like me), tried on my golden Miz Mooz sandals last summer and bought three pair... red, golden and black.  She definitely got one of the last red pair in the country.  But I got some GREEN ones (check out yesterday's post where I talk about my affinity with GREEN.)  I'll soon have a lovely black pair of sandals, too.  It's kind of weird to have the same style shoes in three different colors, but hey, if the shoe fits!!!

Adding Green

I needed a fast project last night and I was paging through the Dec. 2011 Bead and Button Magazine and found "Neptune's Garden" by Carol Horn... and guess what?  The pictured sample was GREEN and PURPLE.  That reminded how much I love GREEN.  My brother used to say GREEN was his favorite color because it was the color of money (back when we were teens and we thought money grew on trees)... I like GREEN because it's a refreshing color and living in Oregon I see plenty of GREEN.  GREEN trees, GREEN hills, GREEN grass, it's everywhere in this GREEN state.  I really notice the GREEN when I've been away from Oregon for a while.  When you've been in Denver or Arizona or Wisconsin or New York for a week or a weekend and return home, you get off the plane and breathe. You really do notice the green, the freshness of the air, the trees, the mountains.  When you have lots of GREEN it means there's plenty o' rain.  But on the sunny, fresh days, there is no where better than Portland.  Some say Portland is a weird place... well, put a bird on it and it's great.

Anyway, as I was saying, GREEN is another fav color.  I'm going to put way more purple in those flowers than what's in the sample... and I'll change it up some.  But I really like the look of diagonal peyote stitch. I also like the PURPLE beads I have on the outside edges. This picture doesn't show it very well... but they are quite pretty.

More Purple

Okay, yeah, I'm still rockin' purple... or lavender or amethyst.  These are some earrings I just finished.  Thanks to Marcia DeCoster and her amazing and I mean AMAZING book:  Beaded Opulence.  This pattern is called "Medici Drop".  I think these earrings are sooooo cute and sophisticated.  But the purple thing... see how cool the nail polish is?  Obviously I'm wearing some purple every day.  I may wear these earrings tomorrow, during the day, just because I can.

Do NOT look closely at my cuticles, they need some OIL:)  Just look at the purple!

Youngest Grandson Turns Three

Yesterday Cal turned three years old.  He was so excited to have the day be all about him.  He loved the balloons, the pizza, the cake and ice cream.  But mostly loved the love.  And don't we all.  Have a lovely day.

When I'm Old I'll ROCK Purple!

Purple Glasses, Purple Nails, Purple Earrings (can't see 'em), Purple Sweater, Purple Scarf

I didn't really know that I LOVE PURPLE until today.  I just got my nails shellacked with PURPLE.  Last year I got PURPLE (ish) glasses. I have a few pairs of PURPLE earrings. I love the PURPLE scarf that I got last year on Mackinac Island, MI.
When the clock struck 12 on January first and 2012 showed it's beautiful face it heightened my awareness once again the in seven months I'll have a birthday that ends with a big, fat, lovely ZERO. Yup, the big SIX-OH is coming fast.  So why not PURPLE?  Then, I remembered this little poem and it seems to fit where I may (or may not) be going...

WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE
By Jenny Joseph

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick the flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit.

Not to worry, I don't see myself joining a "Red Hat" group any time soon.  I prefer red wine to brandy. I wear gloves in the summer only when I weed!  I prefer Miz Mooz ALEX sandals (check them out, so cute and I just ordered the GREEN ones) to anything satin. AND I learned to spit (through my teeth) from my brother, Dave. Getting old-ER doesn't mean OLD.  My Mom's not OLD and she has a kid who's going to be 60 this summer (and a son who is 62).  

Remember that Clairol commercial from the OLDEN days?  "You're not getting older, you're getting better!"  Yeah!  So let's all ROCK some PURPLE!  

Chocolate and Organizing

I am so addicted to chocolate.  I'm trying to eat my way out of the Christmas stash and once it's gone I can cut back.  If it's in the house, it's soooo getting eaten... by me!  I LOVE it!  I made some of that nasty/yummy fudge... you know that stuff.... marshmallow creme, chocolate chips, WHITE sugar... mmmm.  It's almost gone... so good frozen.  The Almond Roca is almost gone.  Then it'll be back to occasional dark chocolate and maybe a small red wine chaser.
Tonight I'm finishing organizing the bead studio.  I got some shelves at Home Depot and they went together very easily.  I'm not finished but here's what I've got so far.

Enough talk, I gotta get back to organizing, then beading something spectacular.  But first I'm going down to the fridge and see if there's one more hunk of fudge in there.

I'm Back!

Whew!  We made it through another holiday season.  It's not easy in my profession.  The season between Thanksgiving and Christmas is EXHAUSTING!  I'm back in the swing of things now.  I'd say that I will blog more in 2012, but that would sound like a resolution and I resist them!  I do enjoy the blog and I know that my readers (mostly family) have missed reading my muses.  So here ya go!

I wanted to use this great picture of Peter helping tie ribbon to the tags for the earrings that I sold at Joel's awesome jewelry sale.  I did pretty well.  My goal is to earn enough to pay for my stash and I almost did that (well, not really, but Peter might read this).  I put the earrings on little Christmas trees and they looked real cute.  

I'm liking Dragon Flies these days... don't know why... I think they are going out of style but they do look cool.

Today I am organizing.  Youngest son inherited Grandpa Carl's homemade bookcases (which were too big for my beading space) so I got some nifty shelves at Home Depot today.  I've put them together and they fit under my sorting area.  I'll have some pics tomorrow, when things are put away, labeled and looking good.

Well that's enough for today.  I'm BACK!  Thanks for your patience... whomever "you" are:)