Whirlwind!

Last week was something else! Bizzy, busy.

I was so bushed that last night I went to bed at 7:30. This morning I was rumbled awake at 8:30 by the garbage truck in front of my house. I'm still moving slowly.

A recap of last week.

Sunday:: Finalized, and emailed newsletter announcing the trunk show. Anyone who needs to send out large batches of emails can't go wrong with verticalresponse.com in my opinion. The site has some marvelous features, and is very, very affordable.

Monday:: Taught a wire bracelet class to three very enthusiastic students. We had a grand time. I also ran my weekly errands... bank, post office, printer, and grocery store.

Tuesday:: Worked at the shop, and taught a wire wrap class that evening. I got home at 9:30.

Wednesday:: Ordered seed beads, and stringing material. I treated myself to a class with Claire, and learned how to seed bead bezel a Swarovski Rivoli. It was nearly 10:00 before I went home.

Thursday:: The first Beading Circle started at 2:00. Lorie came in for a refresher on the clasp I'd taught her in the wire working class on Tuesday. Louise, Theresa, and I worked on finishing our Rivoli bezels. Theresa's daughter Amanda came along with her mom. She found the new book on beaded rings, and made two adorable little crystal/seed bead rings for her little girls. Claire dazzled us all with some pieces she'd brought with her, and worked on a project while she was there.

This week... I'll bring cookies!

Friday:: Guy arrived for the trunk show at 12:30! We chatted for nearly an hour, then decided setting up for the following day's activity might not be a bad idea. We started at 2:00, and worked until 6:30.

Saturday:: The trunk show took off like a rocket!! We had customers waiting for the shop to open. There were several times that it was impossible to fit one more person into the sunroom to shop.

I had the opportunity to see what was being purchased, and let me tell you... there are going to be some really cool projects happening in the weeks to come.

My favorite items were the smallest and the largest! There were 2mm seed pearls. Guy explained that it had taken them seven days of shopping in Hong Kong to gather the selection he'd brought.

In case you missed them, I bought a nice selection for the shop.

The largest items they brought were resin beads. They were in the 20-24mm size range. I was particularly attracted to the black and white pieces. There were two strands of striped ovals that I really loved! I loved them so much that when I was helping Guy set up for the show Friday night, I placed them at the bottom of the heap.

They were still there when we were breaking down, so guess what I got! Yeah, I know, grow up Carol :D

J-Me arrived for the show around 1:30 and brought some more things with her. She had metalized charlottes, Soft Flex wire, and their new pave' crystal balls. I made certain to load up on them.

....and peacock beads!

They're wonderful. I purchased bags of loose peacock beads, and strands. If you missed the show, you'll be able to see these beauties. In the days to come, I'll post some projects featuring them.

Saturday night:: We started breaking the show down shortly after 5:00. I shopped for the store for a couple of hours, and we headed to my house for a dinner of pizza, and salad.

After dinner we entertained ourselves with a silly game we've invented. I don't have a TV. Instead, I have a 24" iMac in my living room. We'd each take a turn choosing a song to search for on youtube.com. We're all in the same age group, so it was fun finding videos of the music we grew up with. We'd reminisce about what we were doing at the time the songs were popular, or when they came out. It was a great way to get to know one another better.

The only song we didn't find on youtube was one of Guy's choices. It was by a reggae group from San Francisco known as The Toyes. The song was 'The Lucky Sperm Club.' We found it on Lastfm. Here it is.

This week is going to be a little quieter, but not by much!

Tonbo-dama

More years ago than I care to admit, during my early teens, I lived in Japan. The years spent there greatly influenced my aesthetics. From the color palette I prefer, to my love of stylized natural forms, and simple design, those were very important years.

In February, 2008 I traveled to Tuscon for what I believed to be my last Gem and Mineral Show. I went to say good-bye to people I'd worked with, and I went to buy some treasures for myself.

While at the Best Bead Show, I encountered a group of Japanese lampworkers and fell in love with the pieces they were offering. The bead pictured above was made by Yuka Kawakita, and is one of my treasures. I was also able to purchase a bead by Ryo Ono on that lucky day.

Tonbo-dama translates to "dragonfly ball." It's thought that the name came about because when the molten glass is applied to the core bead it resembles a dragonfly's eye. The actual origin of the term is unverified.

Lampworking arrived in Japan during the Edo period, (1603-1848) when trade was started with Portugal and Spain. Beads have been made in Japan for about 400 years.

Early 'lamps' were charcoal burning furnaces shaped like a volcano, which concentrated the flame at the top. While American and European lampworkers use a flame they work behind, Japanese lampworkers still work over their flames. Modern torches are shaped like Bunson burners, and are designed especially for Japanese made glass.

...and since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a video of a Japanese lampwork artist. Yep, it's in Japanese, but it's still fun to watch.