Commemorative Bead Project

The Bead Society of Greater Washington is having a black-tie gala on June 25th in Washington, DC. I would love to attend, but the ticket price is a little high for me. I'm going to see if maybe after my next paycheck they still have tickets left, but I've already made peace with the fact that I probably won't get to go.

They have asked for volunteers to make commemorative beads to be handed to each attendee. As a member of the Mid-Atlantic Society of Glass Beadmakers, I raised my hand at the last quarterly meeting. So I need to make 15 beads using a limited set of colors so that everyone's beads will be somewhat similar. The colors chosen were periwinkle, light ivory, lemon yellow, and medium red... someone talked them into letting us use a little clear too...which made a big difference to me since I like to incorporate a lot of clear in my beads. The challenge for me was that this combination really did nothing for me...and I would not have thought of putting them together. So I really had to push myself to come up with a nice way to use them together, and still have them look like something I would make. I made eight so far. I plan to finish the rest tonight. Here are the first eight. I don't know about that little blue bicone...it looks kind of primative. Maybe today's torch session will be more inspiring!

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White Peony?

Can peonies be white? (I'm so lame with gardening! Help me, Satrina!) The other two specimens in our back yard that I haven't killed are separated by a sad looking azalea bush. I know for a fact that the magenta colored one is a peony, but the other looks just like it, but in white. They have the same kind of buds, and they blossom the same...so why not? I just want to make sure I'm calling this the right thing! LOL!

Rescue 37 update and pics from the first roll!

Well I got the first six rolls back from developing!! First, I had completely tumbled these rolls...some were in different parts of my house even, and I put them all in this basket...shuffled them up...laid them out in lines of five to count them... and then picked out six randomly from each line! So you can imagine how amazed I was when this happened... here are the dates that came back:
9/6/03, 9/6/03, 7/31/03, 7/31/03, 12/2/03, and 12/24/02. Can you believe that two pairs actually belonged together??? How funny is that? I mean really, what are the chances?? So far the oldest roll to come out in this project is the one from December of 2002. Wow, am I behind or what?

So the status on Rescue 37 is six down, 31 to go! He he he

Here are four pictures from Roll 1, dated 9/6/03. The venue is the York Fair. It comes around each September for 10 days. They have rides, games, animals, good food, music, and traditional contests for produce, livestock, arts & crafts, and baking.


Wow, Sammie was so little! She was 14 months old at the time this was taken. Was I having hair issues or what?

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I always like to photograph the entries in the horticultural hall. Here is some colorful corn.

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They always have a little area where you can pay to feed baby deer. Here is "Baby Meets Bambi". I didn't get a picture of it, but there was this most adorable little baby pig that was running around in there too. He was the cutest little thing!

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Here is David giving some hay to another fawn. David was pretty little back then too! He was almost three years old.

Oh, and if you are wondering how Sammie is wearing two different outfits if these pics were from the same day, it's really not that surprising...she was,and still is, the dirtiest little baby around, and frequently experiences wardrobe changes. I don't know how she manages to get so dirty, but I usually have to wipe her face three to four times daily...not just a little wipe, but a total cleansing. It's worse when she has a runny nose, then her hair gets glued to her face by her snot. Ewwww!

I'll be posting pictures from the other five rolls soon... especially since it will be a while before I can rescue anymore rolls. It's a start though!

Ah, choices, choices....

I haven't announced it officially yet, but the sweater has been done for about a week now. YAY! Actually...it's not quite done yet because there are still strings hanging, but I'm calling it done. I will get my act together soon and get an official post about it up.

In the meantime, Congratulations to Otomayim! You came closest with the finish date! I need you and sillyduckie to make a choice now....

Below are colors of embroidery floss. I'm going to use this to make the bracelets. Please choose either one solid color, or any color combination you like for your bracelets!

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The colors are, from left to right, Silver, White, Lemon Yellow, Sun Yellow, Mustard Yellow, Orange, Red, Orange-Brown, Magenta, Watermelon Pink, Bubblegum Pink, Baby Girl Pink, Lavender, Purple, Lime Green, Grass Green, Turquoise, Royal Blue, and Black.

Like I said, choose a solid color, or any combination of colors you choose. Congrats!!

If at first you don't succeed...

Well I gave it a try, sillyduckie! You asked if I could make a sandal bead without the hole. It took me about 45 minutes at least, when to make a regular one takes me 10! Sheesh! I need some serious practice.



I'm not too impressed with how this first attempt came out. It is not very smooth, and I forgot the flower on the straps. Very primative! If you don't mind waiting a little bit longer, I'd like to try this again and hopefully, with practice, will get it to turn out the way I had hoped. I plan to work on it again this weekend. On the up side though, there's no hole to clean out afterwards, so that kind of makes up for the extra time it takes to make. he he

Congratulations, Satrina!!!

Hey, T, you guessed 37 on the nose! Way to go! You have just won yourself this lovely little book. I hope you enjoy it!

I will post further updates on "Rescue 37". So far, six rolls of film are in the hands of Wal-Mart. I will swing by there on Friday to pick them up. I can't wait to see what comes back! he he he

Thanks for playing, T and C! You guys are funny!

A Blog of his own...

Loboto-Bear, my recently discovered Moochie, has been given his own blog now. Why? Just because he's mooching it up here in my house doesn't mean I have to share blog space with him! If you would like to keep up with him, you can visit him at Club Moochie.

Stranger in a Strange Kiln...

I got up this morning and did my usual ritual upon waking after a night of beadmaking... ran over to the kiln to see what the temperature was. It was down to a cool 103 degrees! Safe enough to open the door without stressing out my little beadies. I gently pulled them out one by one... "Not bad. Not bad." I found just what I had expected to find. Not ready to clean them up yet, I was about to put the mandrels in a jar when I heard a strange noise. There was a "click-click" sound coming from inside my kiln. I was pretty sure all of the mandrels came out...and none were poking out of the kiln door. "Hmmm...the kiln is off, so why would it click?"

I didn't hear it again, so I turned around to leave the kitchen. "Click-click". It was a grinding kind of click like my kiln makes when it is controlling it's temperature. "How can this be? The kiln is off! I must be going nuts!" Being the paranoid person that I am...I stayed and looked around suspiciously...quietly hoping it was just in my head. Nope! There it was again! I bent over to take a look inside the kiln. That's when I saw it!



This little creature was mimicking the sound of my kiln! How in the world did it get in there? I don't remember making this little guy.

I carefully stuck out my hand and picked him up. It seemed like a harmless little guy. He looks like a duck, so I said, "Hey there, little duck!" To my surprise he let out a roar like a bear! How odd! Maybe he thinks he is a bear.

This confused duck quickly jumped out of my hand and headed for the bag of pretzels on the counter. "Hey, you little mooch, save some of those pretzels for my kids!" He ignored me and kept snacking.

I don't know what's going on...but I think he is getting comfortable in my house. The worst he has done so far is eat our food, but we can handle that. I think I'll take some time to study this strange duck that thinks it's a bear, and see what I can figure out. From what I can tell so far, he likes to mimic sounds. I don't know if it has a name, so I'll just call him "Loboto-Bear".

The Memory Rescue Project and Contest!!

Here is a current project of mine. I have this basket full of undeveloped film. Only a few of them are labeled, and they are from spring of 2003... so I know this film goes back to at least 2003! Sheesh! You know that commercial where the boy is stuck in a cannonball and he's yelling at his mom for leaving him in that position in the digital camera forever? Well, I need to rescue all the memories that are hanging out in these little film rolls! I plan to bite off a little bit at a time. Today I'm taking five of the rolls to Wal-Mart for developing. I'm excited though because I have no idea what will come back! Don't you love that?

So here's the contest part... (Pay attention!!) Each person is allowed three guesses at how many rolls of film are in this basket. The person who comes the closest without going over wins the book below:
It's all about organizing your scrapbook space. It's brand new... unfortunately one of those book club books that came before I could decline it. I have flipped through it, and I'm ready to pass it on to someone else who may get some value out of it. So if you think you might like this book, guess how many rolls! You have until next Sunday night to guess. I'll announce the winner on Monday! Good luck!

How much is that kitty in the window?

Mr. Kitty has a new way of getting our attention if we don't come outside to adore him... besides his cute little meow, he has learned to jump up on our very narrow window sill. "Meow, come out and pet me, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!! I'm lonely!"

The dangers of pizza...

Gee, you think??

A Sesame Summer...

Since we purchased season passes to Sesame Place, and it doesn't seem too difficult to drive back and forth in one day, it looks like we will be having a Sesame Summer! The kids really enjoy the place. Most of the attractions are water areas, so you can hang out and relax in one place for a long time... no long lines to wait in or cranky kids... just splashing and having a laid back day. We visited again this past Thursday the 19th. The weather was perfect! So here are just a few of many more Sesame pictures to come.

"Non lasciare che il passato ti dica chi sei...lascia che ti dica chi diventerai."

This is found at the back cover of Laura Pausini's most current CD, "Resta in Ascolto". I only got as far as Italian 3 at UCLA, so forgive me if my translation (or interpretation) of this line is kind of loose... but I internalize it as, "Don't let the past tell you who you are...let it tell you who you will become."

Sometimes I feel like a stranger looking in when I reflect on my past. It was, for the most part, quite happy and full of great people.... but also it was very bumpy at times...and even full of moments when I wasn't sure if I would see the light of the morning. Now and then I find myself spiraling in...and I have to pull myself back out to reality. My here and now is what it is because of what I have experienced, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have been part of that journey. Each of you have made quite an impact on me... and I look forward to what's coming next.

A little bit closer...

I have finally stitched this puppy up, but it's still not done. I have completed the trim on the neck. I am working on adding inches to the bottom of the body... so I'm almost there! I hope it looks okay when all is said and done.

Oh give me a home....

...where the kitty cats roam...

Target has the Miss Spider's Sunny Patch collection, and we thought the kids would enjoy this fun outdoor playhouse. So far it's a hit!

My Rhodo-whositz is blooming!

Presenting the only thing in my garden that I haven't killed...just because it's pretty much self-sustaining... the rhododendron.

"I told you sooooooooo".....

Those are the words I keep hearing in my head from that annoying woman who writes that little blurb in knitting patterns... I can hear her nagging, "Take time to check your gauge!" So she is mocking me now... "I told you to check your gauge!" I reply to myself, "Yeah, yeah, get off my back!" Okay...so I could have done two things... either did like she said and knitted a swatch to make sure I had the gauge right...or ran to Ben Franklin or Uncommon Threads to buy the right size needles.... but noooooooooooo, I'm too impatient for that kind of stuff.

As you can see above...I ended up with sleeves that were 25 inches wide, when they were only supposed to be 17 inches wide, and a body that was 21 inches wide, but like 20 feet long!!! so I found a solution...

Turn the sweater the other way and stitch it up opposite! ha ha ha So now what was supposed to be the sleeves has become the body, and the body is now the sleeves...really long sleeves! I started to stitch up the one side, but I keep having to go back and redo it because it just doesn't look right. After I'm done stitching it up, I'll have to add a few inches to the body since it is pretty short now. So I'm close to being done....but yet soooooo far away!

I did learn something though...the reason I always avoided the gauge thing was because I didn't really understand it completely. I understood it as far as figuring out how many rows will make an inch...but it didn't occur to me that the number of stitches per inch could be so dramatic just by jumping up one needle size!! Wow! I now know better for my next project...and yes, there WILL be a next project because despite the frustration, I still really enjoy this!

Treat

Here is the peanut butter sundae I had Wednesday night at the York Street Treat in Hanover with Scott, Jenn, and Paden. They make them "ribbed for your pleasure".

A Mother's Day walk...

For Mother's Day, the kids were with the in-laws, and Keith and I enjoyed a day out together by ourselves. We enjoyed a movie, had a little picnic at Rocky Ridge, and took a quick walk beneath the rustling trees. It was a terrific afternoon.

First dance of summer...

After rain and blustery cold wind on Friday, the sun was shining bright on Saturday, and we returned to Sesame Place again after the museum to get in just enough time for splashing around. After a little while though, the kids were too cold and we spent the next 20 minutes changing back into regular clothes again. Oh well, there will be sunnier days ahead, and more time to splash at Sesame Place!

"Please Touch"

Saturday we ventured a little bit south of Sesame Place down to Center City, Philadelphia. We wanted to check out the Please Touch Museum, a special place created just for kids to explore and learn. It is located right across the street from the Franklin Institute.

The kids explored different areas ranging from parts of Mr. Rogers' set, a miniature farm where you can pull rubber turnips out of the floor, part of a real bus you can board, and a kid-sized grocery store complete with a stock room and a deli counter!

At one point there was a performance in the theater. A pair of dancers by the name of "Junk" put on an intriguing performance under a black light and dayglo costumes. Just don't touch the glowing green butt frog alien thingies..whatever they were! Hilarious though! Kids were either so scared they were crying, or so amused they were wetting their pants with laughter.

Stop the world, I want to get off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, seriously, stop that spinning!! I don't know what they do to lubricate the "World Twirl" at Sesame Place, but man, can those cups spin!!! First Sammie gets in...then me...then David...and finally, Keith...hold on to your lunch because when Keith gets in, he has this evil grin on his face... a menacing kind of look. "I'm going to be sick," I think to myself. He can't spin the tea cups at Disneyland like he can spin this ride. Before you know it, we're going a million miles an hour. Rather than think about how badly my head is pounding, I decided to whip out the camera. Here is Sammie and David trying to hold on too... Obviously they were having so much more fun than I was! (Oh yeah, and Evil Twirlmaster Keith too)

Not too late to guess...

I'm more than halfway completed with my sweater! Anyone who wishes to guess on my completion date is still welcome to do so! I had to back up a few rows Saturday night though... somehow I was two stitches short, and with this pattern, that's really important...so I had to undo! I think in the time it took me to reverse what I had done, I could have gotten another five or so rows done!!! Oh well... that just puts me closer to the dates you guys have guessed. He he he

Toaster Squirrels?

This morning for breakfast David wanted to eat "Toaster Squirrels". That probably would have been pretty messy... so I went to the freezer and found a box of "Toaster Swirls". He didn't complain about the compromise.

*ATTENTION SILLYDUCKIE!!!!!*

HEY SILLYDUCKIE!!!

If you meet the 12-Page challenge I gave you to complete by midnight Pacific time tonight, I will send you the following:

1. Groom Duck: He's been waiting for his bride to join him now for almost a year. (I'll tell you more about that some other time.)
2. This yummy cheeseball mix I just bought today at Brown's Orchards.

Hope you are scrappin' up a storm!!!