A Funny!

This came today from my friend Lillian Rogers. I thought I'd pass it on. This way so all of you could have a laugh too. Our friend "L" has what we refer to as 'Lillianisms.' These are handy things we remember that bring us untold joy when we are traveling with husbands in the car. Like "Never feed the driver, or the car will never stop." She tells us of a tale where her and her beloved "W-A" (can you tell she's a Texan?) were on a trip and she had packed some food in a cooler in the backseat. She needed to use the bathroom and W-A kept putting off stopping. Finally he asked for a snack - she feigned being unable to reach the cooler and they finally left the road. And so she developed a Lillianism..........now be sure you say it with a great Texan accent and it will bring a smile to your face every time you're in the car. Oh, and don't pack many snacks either! So here is the 'funny' she sent............

The last line is priceless.......

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river.

Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed: 'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.

'Poof! ... God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.

After witnessing that, the second man prayed: 'God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river

'Poof! ... God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.

Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed: 'God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river

'Poof! ... He was turned in to a woman. She checked the map,Hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge.

GO AHEAD, SEND THIS TO A WOMAN WHO NEEDS A GOOD LAUGH AND TO ANY MAN WHO CAN HANDLE IT!

'If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you!'

How Long Have I Been Here?

I was breezing around the Internet and found a new widget. I love technology when it cooperates. It often doesn't when you're a techno-weenie. This one was pretty fun so I included it in the blog. Now you can tell what time it is while you're reading this blog. If you want a clock for blog/web or desktop here's the quick link:

Clocks

Times a ticking.....tic toc.

I Was Checking Myself Out in the Mirror....

And....I still think I look great from the back! Plus, I have a few new listings on Etsy for everyone to check out!







And the Wings "SCCCOOOORRRRRRRRREEEEE". I actually look more like the guy in the Red Wings Jersey. But who's looking from the front when I have such a great rear view? Can you guess my favorite sport?

Fifteen Minutes of Fame (Again)

I'm guessing this might make it a total of a half an hour this year. Whoo, I am stoked. I hope I can add this to my blog because I'm not sure how you capture a window so maybe I haven't and I'd like to show you what happened. So here goes:

Life Buzz -- Necklace
Description
Featured in the Nov/Dec issue of Bead Trends Magazine!!

There is nothing as intoxicating as life. No chemical could ever reproduce the elixir of "moments".. Like when you laugh so hard that your face turns red and you don't think you will ever be able to stop. Or when you step off a plane and into a terminal and catch the first glimpse of a smile from someone you have been anxiously waiting to see. Or when you pass a house whose garden is so breath taking and colorful, you u-turn 3 times to get a closer look. Or when you put on an outfit that is so stunning you feel as if you could take over the world. Even if your "moments" come from different origins than mine, you know what I'm talking about..

This necklace is 100% life buzz, a soul cocktail. I made one of these "orb" shapes on a whim for a previous pair of earrings and have not been able to stop. Something about the forming of the individual circles, paying close attention to make one of them slightly smaller in diameter than the other, and after soldering them, sliding them within each other to fit perfectly gave me the hugest buzz!! Each "orb" link is very sturdy because the circles were hammered and hammered around a steel mandrel and then soldered together and to each other, they will not misshape! In between the orbs are stacks of lampwork glass disc beads made by Sharon of rightturnartwerks of etsy.. She made these beads just for me, in all of my favorite colors.. Sharon I need MorE!! It closes with a hand crafted hook clasp and 3 linked circles so you can adjust the length. Necklace can be worn between 17" and 18.75". All components are sterling silver..

Added on Oct 22, 2008

Here is a link to her total Etsy Site! You're going to love what she does with jewlery. It's fresh and different.

MERISTEM

Tagged, I'm It!

Tag is a blogger's game, which is similar to the kids' game we played so many zillion years ago. Here's how the cyber-version of tag works;

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

7 Things about me that you may or may not know.

1. I used to manage a McDonalds (uck!).

2. I used to be a pretty good shot with a gun - my Dad taught me. Good artist = Good hand

to eye coordination.

3. My feet are wide - like flippers! : - D.

4. I sing loud and badly in the car when I am alone.

5. I work with delinquents and gang kids - all substance abusers. Oh, and I like my job.

6. I'm quiet 90% of the time.

7. I love popcorn.

Here is the list of the people that I have tagged. Well, actually there is no list. Everyone I could think of tagging has been tagged before. I know, it's a bummer. But rather than just let the tag sit there being unanswered I decided to play by sharing my seven things and just saying a "Hello Everyone out there!" and I love you open-minded blogging taggers out there. So, please go ahead and share some more about yourselves. You're great/ you're wonderful/ and I love reading your blogs, seeing your beads, your artwork, your kids, your animals, and everything else you care and dare to share. (((Hugs))) Sharon

Hen-rietta's New Hat

HAHAHAHAHA! Sharon made a funny. This is, of course, Henrietta. She raises chickens and is thinking they’re just the greatest thing ever. Her favorite chick is the Rhode Island Red Hen. In fact, she loves that chicken so much she decided to wear it to church last Sunday. You can imagine the stares they endured…but Henrietta stood her ground and was as “happy as a hen” with her new millinery. She’s thinking maybe next week she might give Ricky the Rooster a chance to attend Sunday service. After all, he always insures she’s on time!

That's the write up I'm going to put with this new sugar skull on Etsy. The skulls are getting more and more complicated...and more and more fun.

Thank the powers that be that this bead wasn't in the kiln when I had my "blow out". Well, nothing actually blew up - it melted. I included a picture of my mess and I'm blaming it all on menopause. It's probably more like I'm doing too much and got distracted after I turned the kiln back up to high to hit that all important annealing temperature one additional time. Now why would I think I needed to do that? Duh, heck if I know...but I did.

Then I promptly turned around to go and fold some laundry and left the kiln running and running...........running................and.........running..............and running...............and heating...........for the next seven hours (overnight).

Luckily I go down every morning early, before work, to check how I did the evening before. And again, luckily, I am a safe person when I set things up. So, under that kiln and against that wall is heat protection made to withstand a wood stove. The kiln was over 2000 degrees and had maxed out when I caught it. Nice to know I could throw pottery and then glaze it in that tiny kiln but what a mess I made. The glass melted and dripped below the kiln shelf (on which I had put some fiber board for cushion for heavy beads) and on to the bottom fire brick. Probably a good thing I had coated that long ago with kiln wash. As it was I had to dig some clumps out of the brick and scrape glass off the shelf where the board hadn't protected it.

Tonight's beads came after my clean up and putting kiln wash on everything again. Nothing major in the way of great - no skulls. Just a retest on that kiln which took a lickin' and kept on ticking. Who'd of thunk! Go Jen-Ken.

Oh, and Ms. Mallory Hoffman tagged me....I'm thinking I'm it! I'm going to her blog to figure it out and be "it" for awhile. I could use a good it after the melt. Or maybe find a hen for my head...or Rhode Island Red for the next fun dye job since my pink is now faded to a memory.

What's Your Secret?

As per my usual routine when I'm pooped I start cruising around the Internet for interesting stuff. On the first page of my search I found something interesting AND arty. I think I may have stumbled on it before and didn't remember it or maybe I read it about it somewhere. Either way, I thought I'd pass it on. What a cool concept this is. Send a postcard - give up your secret. Go there and look for yourself because they're really great and most of them are very cleaver: Post Card Secrets

Secrets...what would I tell if no one would find out? WOW! Whoa...ummmm, slept with a rock star (NOT!). I'm not sure I'm brave enough to tell secrets. I've never played Truth or Dare either. I did play spin the bottle at teen parties. Sounds kind of lame and tame.

Truth, I've been sitting here tapping the keys and trying to think of something I'd share. I'm sure there is some weird quirk somewhere. Actually, there are tons of those, truth. I don't care for phones, but love computers....oh, I know (light bulb moment). Something no one knows (not even BFF). I once threw a Royal typewriter at the refrigerator and put a dent in it. Long , long, long story.

What's your secret?

Darn, Shucks, Drats, 9834uifvkaspjnv u7rf&*^W#$HJ!!!!!!!!!!!

How absolutely annoying when this happens. I have this great skull to post and after I photograph it I see the "line". Oh you know... the line....the crack...the zip up the bead you love so much.

Despite the obvious flaw that will send it to a ditch or land fill somewhere for a future generation to find I thought I would post it here because I like the way he turned out. Gold tooth, patch, roaming eye ball.


So today I will make Johnny #2 and be thankful for great quality control!

Ring a Ding Ding!

I recently instructed another great group of women at Anne Sturdevant’s shop, the “Bead Weasel” in Midland, Michigan. It was a soldering class. It’s delightful it is to teach students who already have some knowledge of soldering and don’t mind being given a great detail of information to sift through. It was a refresher for all who were there. This is not a project oriented situation and because I had knowledgeable students I was able to bring extra information and projects. I loved showing them how to make my standard “safety pin “earrings and some solutions to various solder issues that have arisen for them.

One of the issues nearly everyone has is cutting the appropriate length of ring stock needed to make a particular size. Let’s see, there is the wrap a string/paper/tape around your finger method. And that can work pretty well if the ring is for you. But what if you want to make a standard size 7 set of stack rings, or a wide band for someone who wears that size? Each of those situations would require a slightly different length even though they are both for the same size. A wider band needs more length or it will not fit the finger properly. Yeah, I know, it feels complicated.

A long time ago I saved a chart and some information that would help me with just this issue so I am posting it here so everyone will be able to use this guide to help them when they want to make a ring. As is often the case when we are making rings it is also good to remember that you are likely (99.9%) going to have to put it on a ring mandrel and round it up with a mallet. In doing so it is going to make the ring a smidgen larger – a lot larger. It is an easy fix to make something a tad larger than smaller after all your soldering and hard work, so keep that in mind as you are creating your shank. I have had to recreate many a ring when I neglected to take this and the width of the band into account when I was cutting a shank.

Ring Sizing Chart

Getting ring sizes right:The easiest way to get a ring sized right is to cut the stock or wire to the right size to begin with! It's easy once you know the size you are targeting. The formula is :

(Inner Diameter Of Ring + width of shank) X PI. PI is a constant 3.142.

The width of 18 ga wire or flat stock is 1mm. The following chart shows the inner diameter of the various ring sizes:

5 -- 15.7mm

6 -- 16.5mm

7 -- 17.3mm

8 -- 18.2mm

9 -- 18.9mm

10 -- 19.8mm

11 -- 20.6mm

12 -- 21.3mm

13 -- 22.2mm

So -- if you wanted to make a size 8 ring with 18ga round wire you would cut (18.2mm + 1mm X 3.14 or 60.3mm of wire and make a circle and solder.

Powerful Woman's Motto

Live your life in such a way that when

your feet

hit the floor in the morning, Satan

shudders and

says....."Oh Shit .... she's awake!"

HEY! I got a bingo here!

This is to much fun for words. I'm not terribly political...I vote, but I will widely admit to having ADD with many things. Politics tend to be one of them. When I didn't watch the first debate some people I work with were just appalled. Sorry about that but I like to be entertained or torching. So here I am cruising around the web and I find what may be a solution to my inability to find the debates entertaining enough to pay attention.

I love this!!! It's political bingo for the debates and was created by Bob Staake. You can download these great Lingo cards for you and your friends from his site and play bingo during the debates, Presidential and Veep. When the candidate says the "buzz" word during the debate just cross it off. Get your Lingo cards and play along: Lingo Bingo. What the heck, if it gets me to watch (or you) and provides that much needed entertainment factor I'm yearning for then all the better.

And, don't forget to yell it out - "BINGO"