New Beads

Darn it! These pictures really don't do these beads justice at all! Need to work on that before I put them up for sale. The Goddess has so many different tones and is much more shapely than the picture shows. She has a beautiful figure with a bit of a womanly pooch tummy. She feels wonderful in your hand and I'm sure that if she was hung from a neck, the wearer couldn't help but unconsciencely feel her all the time. It's the angle she was taken at on the front facing picture that throws her looks off I think. I couldn't wait to put her up her though.

The Man in the Moon bead is a single hole bead so that it will hang nicely as a pendant. Again, the angle the photos were taken from aren't working in his favour but I just couldn't wait. I really like his strong facial features. He's made from opal yellow which gives many different colours depending on how long it's worked in the flame. That's why I chose the colour for him cause it adds interest beyond the shape and features.

Well that's it for now kids, my kiln is fired up and I'm going to go turn the torch on for a bit before bed. I pulled some stringers just before I went to the gym tonight cause I couldn't wait to play. Tomorrow I hope to paint, alter and paint. I am going to fool around with some vintage bodybuilder photos for the gym I go to. The people that own it are so special, such nice people. I think some altered photos would be right up their alley for the gym.

Spring is almost here!

I saw my first Robin today! That can only be Spring is on it's way and after a long stormy winter with barely not a glimpse of sunshine, it can't happen too soon for me. Sunshine makes me feel so much better, and much more alive. I do love a good rainy day, but sunshine keeps the doubting demons and SADness away. Good to know spring is on it's way, good to see that lone Robin in my garden. Sending Spring wishes your way too.

Coulda been an Art Day

Well, today was going to be an Art day but so far I haven't gotten enough chores done to give myself permission to do my other work. I'm not sure why I feel I have to accomplish a certain amount of housework before I can create when Art is equally important to our house as vacuumed stairs. Art not only makes for a happier Alpha Female but it adds to the income of our home which makes for a happier Papa Bear! When he bid me adieu to me this morning I told him I was going to have an Art day and he was happy about it but still I struggle to allow myself the time before the house is spic and span. What's with that? I know he would have no qualms about it if the role was reversed. He'd leave the chores for the fun in a heartbeat, so why do I feel so different? Whatever the reason, I sure wish I could get over it!

Tonight will be fun. We are going out to one of my favorite local places and having appies and bevvies with people from my hubby's business group. One of the ladies is interested in carrying my lampwork glass jewelry in her day spa. I just need to allow myself the time now that the weather is warmer. Glass rods are too shocky in the cold of winter since I work in the garage and when I do brave the hot flying glass, I get a chill I can't shake so for the 2nd year, I all but stop melting glass in the winter. That will hopefully be soon remedied... just in time for nie warm spring.. Anyway, back to what I was saying, I'm looking forward to going out. Nights out are few and far between plus there are some people I really enjoy in this group. I usually get some nice stimulating conversation and lots of laughs. Should be fun.

Well the chores are still calling me, so no more fun here... off to fold!

Tend those short and curlies Mr. Attendant!

So here I am... Making my first blog post and although I have a thousand different ideas of what to write about, I'm going to write about nose hairs. *GASP* It is an important issue even if it is bordering on taboo, but it's an issue that still does affect (afflict?) many. What brought this to my attention today was my trip to gas up my vehicle. Now, most of the time, when one thinks of nose hairs one thinks of some old man with eyebrows and ear hairs with pronunciation to match. One does not think of a man of maybe 40 at the most, to alert you to check your own the next time you see a mirror. I went to pay for my gas and a car wash and there they were! I couldn't avert my eyes from them so to save myself the embarrassment of being caught looking, I stood inspecting the handcrafted dog treat tree with square treats with round holes to fill it. His nose hairs may have well have been square blocks trying to fit in his round nostrils cause they were *trying* to fit! Bushes of follicles curling out and suspending in the air being exhaled. The stray few didn't know what to do and curled around, attempting to cling to the outside of said nostrils. And Ear hair, insulating and comb worthy, possibly providing a sound barrier. At what point does one say, "hey, they gotta be free, no need to cultivated the shrubbery anymore".
I for one am acutely aware of my aging hairs and not just the odd grey that pops out of my mane, shinning at me, reminding me I'm not as young as I think I am. One in particular poked rebelliously out of my widows peak today. As I was looking in the mirror while getting ready to go on one of my numerous runs for the kids today it broke free of my other curls and waved as if it was alive, waved with a backbone that refusing to conform, waved as if taunting me to yank it out but I did not give in. That rogue grey is my medal of honor. I earned it. 3 young boys and moving from a reliable pay cheque to the unpredictability of Self employment -it's earned - it's mine. But, all the other hairs... now that's another matter!
Children don't have visible nose hairs. I guess that's one of the glorious things puberty brings. As a child without nose hairs, I was grossed out as my Dad perched on his stool, going through his evening phone calls while mindlessly yanking out his nose hairs. Now that I am roughly the age he was then, I realize it wasn't mindless, it was a necessity. A grooming need to avoid the follicle people from trying to emerge from their cavern to check out life on the outside. And yes, like him, I now yank them out without regard to the imminent pain and sneezes. Yes, I pinch several of them and pull for all I'm worth. The quicker and the more at once the better. It speeds up the process and the pain. I've developed a little technique now though - my nose hair yanking, I find that funny but it's true. I'll share it in case it helps someone else tame the haircicles. Wrinkle up your nose as if you have some horribly foul smell swirling to your sinuses, pinch a clump and yank. It's the wrinkling that numbs up the pain.
Why is it with age that we don't only get the skin starting to droop and the greys starting to sprout but we also get random hairs that decide to step out from the crowd and reach for the sky? Suddenly hairs that used to have growth limits now grow with abandon to all former laws of nature. What court changed these laws! I want to petition the court for an injunction! I have eyebrow hairs that I have to watch for so I can yank them out before they have to be combed into a ponytail with my locks. I have a fine hair on the edge of my ear that grows even longer before I notice it to evict it. I have a fine blonde hair on the back of one of my arms that grows several inches long till it tickles me to realize that I'm growing the start of a wing! I have a fine pore hair on my nose that FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE will tickle the tip if I don't look close enough and realize it's there for me to pluck! What the heck! Again I want an appeal!!!
Now my husband on the other hand, keeps trying to embrace his new found eyebrow length. I have to threaten to pluck them (which the big baby can't take) before he will cut them. Once he trimmed them himself way too short. His eyebrows endured a brush cut. They looked crazy. Stubble above AND below his eyes! Now he saves it up for haircut time and has the stylist do it for him. Doesn't trust me, but he will let a stranger do it. But at least he takes care of it. He keeps threatening that when he's old he's just going to let them go wild and if he had ear hair, he's going to let that go too. He has a goal in mind to be able to hold a pencil on the ledge the rebels will form. Myself, I have much grandeur wishes for my old age, holding a pencil on my eyebrows isn't one of them. But this brings us back to my original quandary...
At what point do you say to hell with it, let 'em grow, let 'em grow, let 'em grow. Please people, Just say NO!!