This one makes me smile~
My Ankgor Wat beauties :) they make me smile too
Yellow beads for moms set~ :)

Remember yesterday and how I was so excited about the beads I had made? Well here they are all freshly scrubbed~ and I listed them on etsy. I took 189 photos today!!! Thats a heckuva lot of editing ewww... Not my favorite pastime but I got it all done and will be adding listings to Etsy throughout the week and beyond I am sure. Back to work in the morning my weekend is over. Oh and don't laugh they were making veiled snow threats on the weather report tonight, guess the old farmers almanac is pretty accurate this year.

This amazing photo was taken by an artist from etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5169053 It was taken in Ankgor Wat Cambodia and is the inspirational part of the etsy glass artists February challenge. First of all I didn't intend to make any beads today. I changed my mind and was going to go out for an hour or so and make some spring/summer colored accent beads. Simple and quick. Apparently my glass muse had other plans for me :)
I had forgotten that I had left a copy of the picture out in the studio. I saw it lying there and Suddenly my mind was full of color and ideas. I started torching away and dancing with the music on the radio~ Creative and full of energy I used up all of the silver foil pieces I had pre-cut for another project. I wound hot molten glass onto mandrel after mandrel, layer upon layer rolled on some silver foil and burnished it in. Flamed the foil off and then reduced it back to a shine, added a dab of frit, heated the whole thing to molten again and shaped each one before popping them one by one into the kiln. Then I worked on those accent beads for a while :)
I cannot wait to open the kiln in the morning!

Sue and I just finished this custom necklace for one of our customers on Etsy. It goes in the mail today~

I really love that the internet has allowed me to make friends and contacts all over the world~ It just amazes me that people can reach out and touch each other through the computer. I am especially enjoying flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/37376826@N00/ go take a peek~

Sometimes it strikes me funny that when things s l o w down. People get frustrated~ self included. I just tried to go to the etsy site and it won't even load because it is bogged down with traffic that I guess they just aren't quite ready for :) Remember when we all first got the internet and AOL was the solitary server? I remember getting booted off because it was "too full" wow how quickly things have progressed. Now if we can't get right to where we're going online or otherwise (traffic its all about traffic) we lose patience. Hmmm... sometimes I wanna be slow again.

I couldn't get very motivated to do much with my glass today either :( I tried and managed to make a couple of experimental color combo beads and a lopsided cupboard knob. But nothing spectacular~ There is always next week though.

I did manage to get some pictures taken of the jewelry donations for the AHH raffle. I am still just a little blown away with the generosity of people. I sent the pictures over to Sue http://www.silkroadcollars.com/ she will be running the raffle.

Its funny how some things pluck at the strings of our memories. I was driving this morning and saw a yellow celica on the freeway ahead of me. I immediately thought of a friend I haven't seen or heard from in a very long time. That led me off on a whole series of things that "pluck" Dragonflies, clear blue tropical seas, emblems of sunshine, the smell of fried chicken and clam chowder, the smell of Roses when the air is heavy with the moisture, The shortest day of the year, high clouds in the early morning, Studebakers, goldfinches and guinea hens, yes guinea hens. I could go on but I think you get the idea. These are things that bring someone, something or a moment in time instantly to mind, no matter how long it has been.

Today I listed a spoon bracelet in my etsy shop that I fully intended to keep for myself. I have tried to pick something out a couple of times but I find I want too many things and choosing just one is difficult. Don't get me wrong I have some things I cannot part with, they are mine alone :)

The response to my request for help for Heather and the Greyhounds was excellent. I am so appreciative and thankful for all of the donations that everyone sent. Every little bit helps.

Things have been pretty calm here weatherwise in the Pacific Northwest unlike the eastern part of the country. Brrrr...I have a feeling winter isn't quite done with us yet either my fingers are crossed.

Matt and I had dinner with friends last Saturday. They served us the most amazing mexican meal, everything was delicious and it was followed by cheesecake with lemon topping. Oh my gosh! Matt is still raving about how wondeful everything was.

during the fire
after the fire
Before the fire

I loaded the pictures out of order ~

Thank you to everyone who donated to http://almosthomeforhounds.org/ Heather is very appreciative. I am overwhelmed and happily surprised by your generosity. It is truly inspiring and wonderful to see people helping each other out. Thank You~

http://almosthomeforhounds.org/
Many of you aren't aware that I am involved in greyhound rescue. If you click the link above you can see who is directly affected by my involvement. Heather has singlehandedly done more for the greyhound breed than any other human I know. She has a bottomless heart for giving to these dogs. Right now she is in desperate need of a little extra help. There was a fire on January 12th that burned the volunteer quarters to the ground.
Now heather typically has about 60 greyhounds on hand and she does most of the work by herself. Can you imagine feeding and turning out 60 dogs all by yourself? So volunteers and a place for them to stay is really a necessity. She is working with the insurance company but it doesn't sound like things are going very smoothly. So any added help would be greatly appreciated. At the bottom of the page that opens here: http://almosthomeforhounds.org/
there is a link to donate if you like. If you donate please put a note in the comment section that you read it in Kris' post so she can track it.
We could all use a little good karma right?
I will keep you all updated~