(photo copyright Stefanie Girard/Craftside)

Back home and trying to get into the GROOVE, its not easy though.

I had a great time in L.A. meeting lots of online friends in person and enjoying Unique LA. The show is run so well, has some great designers and REALLY great attendance! I may apply to vend at the Holiday show!


I have pics to upload and resize but for now I will point you all over to Stefanie's Craftside Blog where you can see more of the creative chaotic fun that was this past weekends event. Also at the booth doing make and takes were some amazing women: Christi Friesen, Tally Oliveau, Lisa Engelbrecht and Nancy Langdon . Talented Maria Del Pinto was our go to girl on Saturday and was instrumental in keeping us all well hydrated, feed and laughing. Much fun was had by all!


Stefanie has turned me onto the Sizzix diecutter and I want one!! Actually I'd like to have one I could hook up to my computer and print off my own designs. Not sure one exists but that would be a dream.


Also, I had lots of fun at the show but no sales sadly. I'll be busy this week photographing and uploading jewelry to the site and I NEED to send out a newsletter....Thats the plan anyway, we'll see if it actually happens because you all KNOW how much I love the photo editing part of business LOL.


While I was gone I got a bunch of fantastic submissions and uploaded images for the 1000 Steampunk Inspirations book. Wow!!! I am getting blown away by the creativity and having more than a few"I WANT THAT" cravings when looking at it all.



And onto a day late Bead Bloggers Linky Love set!
About.com Jewelry MakingIt is flower power time! Mix resin, real flowers, and beads for this necklace design. Art Bead Scene Art beads don't have to be round, they can be toggles too!

Barbe Saint JohnBarbe will be at Unique LA promoting the Steampunk Style book

Beading ArtsCyndi has a copy of "Totally Twisted" that she's giving away! Come enter the contest now!

Carmi's Art/Life WorldStranded by the volcano, Carmi has time for a little more window shopping.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork DivaFor Cindy, yellow is the color of anticipation.

Earthenwood Studio ChroniclesMelanie sets up a trunk show at her favorite local indie craft gallery. Check out her display!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the StudioResin has become quite popular in jewelry design lately. It's a lot trickier than Lorelei had originally thought. She tries out the technique for the first time.

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!Do not miss out on Andrew Thornton's amazing sale and giveaway! It is fantastic!!! Go now! Really fun!

Strands of BeadsMelissa creates a sweet Spring necklace from wasabi-colored pearls and a beautiful Lillypilly pendant courtesy of Artbeads.com

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Be entered to win a one year subscription to Beadwork magazine! Find out how!

L.A. Here I come!!!!!

Unique L.A. this weekend!!!! Time has FLOWN by, and I can't believe its already here. I'm all packed, excited and ready to go. This is one of those rare times I wish I had a car to drive down. Living in downtown SF, we never used the car. We were paying $300 a month for a parking spot as well as insurance for something we drove literally once a month. After a couple years,that seemed a bit ridiculous, so we got rid of it and have been using City Car Share (a short time rental service) which makes more sense for us. But I would have liked to taken the drive down the coast, with the hubby and dog and really enjoyed the journey. Flying down takes as long as driving when you factor in the shuttle and waiting times. Next year!!!

Back to Unique LA, with over 100 booths to buy some great products from, great food to nosh on and freebies how can anyone in the L.A. area NOT want to come out and make a day of it!

Come make some fun things for FREE, pick up some FREE blank journals and wrapping paper, and BUY some great books and products! All at the Quarry/Rockport booth!!!

The show is 11am - 6pm both days, at the California Market Center's Penthouse (110 East 9th Street) They say there is parking lots across the street as well as in the building. Its $10 at the door or in advance (kids 12 and under are free) and you get a killer goodie bag of stuff. I'll be there all day on Saturday selling books and jewelry as well as doing Make and Takes. My Make and Take schedule is 12-2 on Sat & 2-4 on Sunday.



For the full weekend make and take schedule for Unique LA, check out http://craftside.typepad.com/craftside/2010/03/craftside-authors-make-and-take-schedule-at-spring-2010-unique-los-angeles-.htmlCraftside Blog.

Won't you come and join the Beady Cruise?

Fresh from the info line!!!I Registration for the 6th annual Bead Cruise is open!!!

The Bead Cruise is an annual event hosted by beadmaker, designer and author, Heather Powers. 2011 will mark their 6th sailing! All the fun of a luxury cruise combined with a great bead retreat. Classes, workshops, nightly open beading sessions, a cocktail party, gift bags, door prizes, a bead bazaar and more! I want to go!!!!

The group will set sail from Galveston, Texas for 7 nights of beads, friends and fun on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas. You'll visit Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica while learning from some of the best instructors including: Dallas Lovett, Melinda Barta, Tracy Stanley, Heather Powers, Beverly Herman and Marcia DeCoster! There are some amazing classes being offered.

Registration opens April 10th! Space is very limited. Visit Bead Cruise 2011 for more information.

Make beaded jewelry, make friends, make memories that will last a lifetime!

Be a Bead Cruise fan on facebook

Get your Bead Cruise gear!

Gettting ready for Unique LA and Life Changes

http://allears.net/tp/wander/wander57.htm

Its been a weird week and feel like I'm on Mr. Toad's Wild ride right now. Some many wonderful opportunities are coming my way as well as a lot of upheaval. One day you're singing, the next you're crying and wondering how you are going to do anything let alone everything that must be done.

In a nutshell, we have to leave SF because its just way too expensive. On top of all my recent work responsibilities with shows, events and the book we got a monkey wrench thrown into our lives and now have the added responsibilities of looking for a new place to live and packing/moving... Talk about stress! We've been talking the past few months of wanting to move to somewhere more affordable/larger, with an outside area for Bettie, so we could save $$$ and actually go on vacations, etc....but it was just talk until about 10 days ago. Now moving has become a reality that has to occur in the VERY near future. We started looking around the bay area, and found many many scam postings for apartments. That sure makes you discouraged, to put it mildly. We've put a bit of a hold on it to see what job prospects are like, because we don't want to move to one side of the bay area and find ourselves working 2 hours away on the other side. Everything is contingent upon everything else, nothing can be decided without knowing what everything else will be. And did I mention, there is no room for error in any of this because this is a very expensive state to live in? GAH! I hate not be able to make a decision and take action on it, this holding pattern is driving me a bit bonkers. It's very stressful on us both, trying to remain focused and seeing it as an opportunity for change and good things, rather than freaking out.

I'm excited about going down to Los Angeles for Unique LA in a couple of weeks, it will be a nice mental diversion. I spent the past few days cutting and sewing ribbons for the make and takes, and creating some charms to hang from them. I 've been digging thru stuff to use, and found a couple of wood discs. I had a bag of them but couldn't find them so ordered some more to make these.

.

They were simple, easy and will look fun hanging from the ribbons I think. I just need to order more jump rings and I can pack it all up and ship it down.

I've also been working building stock for my shows. I'm moving much slower than I would like, I just can't focus on the task at hand. Need to push myself though cause I don't have alot! I also need to start the sorting/selling/tossing that comes with moving. Not looking forward to that, but it must be done.

What I really want to do, is curl up in bed with a post of Earl Grey and read thru all this weeks bead bloggers.

A Bead A Day: Do you have a knack for using unusual odds and ends in your jewelry designs? Lisa is looking for ideas if you have a minute to stop by!

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy looks at easy metal jewelry making this week on her blog.

Art Bead Scene ABS Editor, Cindy Gimbrone asks the readers to weigh in on where she should go next.

Beading Arts Cyndi has found a *lot* of seed bead tutorials lurking in her blog's archives!

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi makes a jacket pin in order to justify another crafty purchase.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Cindy follows her heart and stripz and makes some new beads.
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles A mix of brassy metal components and chain from ArtBeads.com inspires Melanie to make a springtime woodland owl necklace.

Jean Campbell Jean shares yet another travelogue. This time, it's Portland, one of her new favorite cities.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Designing jewelry that is unique can be hard. Lorelei got some cute Signature tags recently and shows them off in this post.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean emphasizes the importance of checking out the auction of gorgeous treasures from tons of artists which is being held for Michele Goldstein, lampwork artist, organized in a stunning way on Ebay by Anne Mitchell and Gail Crosman Moore! It is not too late to bid on something amazing!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew hosts another Thursday Giveaway! This time, the prize comes courtesy of LillyPilly Designs!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday and the Easter Bunny was generous. It was a cold, blustery, rainy day in SF, not good for easter egg hunting. So we went to Wondercon, hung out with friends and had a good time indoors. I only bought myself some Peeps candy this week, but this morning wish I had gotten some chocolate too. It doesn't seem like Easter without a chocolate bunny. I use to LOVE the Cadbury Creme eggs, but can't stomach that much sugar in one setting anymore. Tomorrow I'm going to buy some peanutbutter eggs and mini cadbury eggs, and it will be half off to boot!

Tonight the rain poured hard, so we crawled into bed with the heater on and watched Sherlock Holmes. I still wish Watson had been older the Holmes, but otherwise enjoyed the movie. Well, I enjoyed it except for the scenes on the bridge at the end. I have vertigo and I got sick from just watching them on a tv. I can't imagine how ill I would have been if I had see it on the big screen.

Tomorrow, its back to work time. I gave out a bunch of Call for Entries for the 1000 Steampunk Inspirations book at Wondercon. I need to email all those people a "nice to meet you" note. I also need to build up inventory for the upcoming shows and look for another place to live. Not looking forward to the latter...........

Now on to Bead bloggers goodness!

A Bead A Day Do you love a craft project AND making jewelry? Lisa is looking for some interesting ideas for new glueable findings! Stop by and share if you have a minute! http://abeadaday.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-glueables-lets-get-crafty.html
blcrone123@...

About.com Jewelry Making It's time for a fling, a spring fling that is, and why not start by making a pretty beaded flower?

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene Free Project: Bead Cap Tutorial.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts I'm certified!

Beading Arts Cyndi shares how she constructs her bead embroidered cuff bracelets for the Bead Journal Project.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Cindy re-interprets a traditional Easter icon into Grunge Bunny!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie sees a new line of beads in the internet adventures of Molly the Owl

Jean Campbell Jean tells all about her adventures in San Francisco during Beading by the Bay--a creative retreat.

Snap ot of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Although Andrew has posted about this,Jean wants to emphasize how beautiful the motivation and the necklace Andrew and Loreli made, for Relief for Haiti!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew collaborates with fellow designer, Lorelei Eurto, on a necklace to be auctioned off to raise money for the Red Cross's Haiti Relief Fund. Bid while you still can!