Same Song, Same Verse

From June: It seems like no matter how much we try, we can't seem to get ahead when getting ready for a big show. Originally we weren't going to do a show at Tucson this year - Jill was just going to shop. But at pretty much the last minute, we decided to do the Best Bead Show again. So Jill's been working long hours ordering beads and making kits for the last couple of weeks.

But it wasn't enough. It's never enough. We had our traditional Pre-Big Show Printer Meltdown, for one thing. And that's a whole other story. I'm still working, so my help was limited in getting ready - Jill was pretty much on her own. A last minute push, and Jill delaying her departure twice, got it done. I was up until 3 a.m. on Saturday night (Sunday morning?) and was up again at 7 a.m. Last night, bedtime was after midnight and we were both up well before 5 a.m.

In our business, Jill designs most of the complex, special works. I'm not as good a beader as Jill, and I design a lot of the beginner stuff. We always take great care with our instructions, and never is that more important than with instructions for a beginner. We want to make sure a new beader can succeed and be sucked into Bead World with the rest of us. Here are two new beginner kits that I've recently done. I don't have them on the website yet, because Jill has taken all the kits to Tucson, but I'll pull the trigger on that as soon as she gets home.

The first one is called Center Stage, and we have it in several colorways, including an orange/pink combination.

The one below is a wide bracelet - it's called Harmony. It comes with a fabulous button from Sonoran Beads. I'll do another colorway on this one, too. What do you think? Red/orange/pink?

Happy 2011!

You know, I was thinking last night, wasn't Y2K just a few years ago? How did we end up in the double digits of this century so fast??? It kind of makes my brain hurt!

You know what else makes my brain hurt? Preparing for all the new things happening here at Tapestry Beads this year! It's the time of year where we're finalizing a bunch of new kit designs, and picking colorways and making samples of them all. So I've got colors and supply orders on non-stop rotation through my brain. In addition to our regular kits, I'm also working on colorways for some of my national teaching projects, like the Pitaya Necklace, Rosetta Suite, and Evening Song Set. There will be kits available later for these, but for now I'm just scrambling to get colors picked. Luckily I have my beady minions to help me make samples, including my German co-Pitaya instructor, Martina Nagele!

And sometime in February you can expect to see my online video classes debuting with Beaducation.com! I am working out kit colorways for all three of those projects as well.

All together, I'm working on about 25 new colorways between them. AGH! No wonder I was just in bed, but not able to sleep! I decided to get up and work if I wasn't going to be snoozing. And I've missed talking to y'all!

My next blog post, I've got something to show you....It's 3:30am right now, so my photos wouldn't turn out great if I took them now. But in my best procrastinating way, I found it absolutely imperative to organize my entire Delica collection the other night....and tonight's dodging efforts centered on completely reorganizing my Swarovski stash. I know. I know. Believe me...Mom's already given me "that look." You know the one. But the good news is that they're organized! And it will make a huge difference over the long haul. I can't wait to show you my pretty new system.

I leave you tonight with this photo of Santa Jill. My elves were a little too interested in food and Play-doh to smile for the camera, but I guarantee you, there were lots and lots of smiles that day.

Participating in The Best Little Bead Box project!

Please forgive me for cross-posting, but I wanted y'all to know about this cool project I got to participate in if you don't know about it already!

I really don't know how he did it, but my postman managed to get both GIGANTIC Best Little Bead Boxes stuffed into one of our community mailbox lockers. I practically needed a crow bar to get them out of there! And I also thanked my lucky stars that I live directly across the street - because when you're carrying over 60lbs of beads, you don't want far to travel. Yep. That's right. Over 60lbs!!!!

I had a special message from Jean on my boxes too.

Coincidentally, the boxes arrived a day after a special thing happened regarding Beads of Courage, the charity that will be receiving the proceeds from The Best Little Bead Box auctions. I was out of town for the day, but my mother was at home Sunday morning and said she turned the TV on, looked up, and there was Margaret Zinzer (lampworker extraordinaire, and avid Beads of Courage supporter) on the screen! Mom thought quickly and started taping...whatever it was. Turns out it was a news story on CBS This Sunday Morning about the Beads of Courage program. What serendipity! And y'all, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I had no idea. Seriously. I really didn't understand what the Beads of Courage program was all about other than "sick kids get beads." And I'm willing to bet that a lot of you are in that same position. So please pardon my ramble, but can I tell you just a little bit about this program?

Kids with serious illnesses go through so much, both emotionally and physically, and it's often hard for others to understand everything they're dealing with. When a child enters the Beads of Courage program, they are given a length of string with beads that spell out their name. After that, as they work through their treatments, colorful beads, each representing a different treatment milestone are given to the child. For instance, they get a yellow bead for an overnight hospital stay, a white one for chemotherapy, and a glow-in-the-dark bead for radiation treatment. It's not uncommon for children to amass 10, 20 -- even 35 -- feet of beads. It helps young patients track and celebrate their progress, but it also gives them a way to get through upcoming procedures as well as a way of sharing and telling their story to friends and family. It's a visual representation of their courage. The CBS story brought both my mother and I to tears (please click on the link and watch,) but also immediately made us ask, "What can we do to help?"

Which brings me back to the Best Little Bead Box(es). As I opened each treasure in the box, fondled the beads, lusted after them and set aside a pile to keep, I kept thinking about that question: What can I do to help?" And slowly I repacked all the beads but one strand of beautiful purple lucite flowers from The Hole Bead Shoppe. I intend to make into a special, commemorative necklace from it to remind me of how honored I am to be participating in this project. But everything else? I decided I couldn't accept any more. I have more beads than I can use in a lifetime, and I'm lucky enough to have my entire world surrounded with them. So the beads in the boxes? Well...they are for the auction, and ultimately for the kids.

The spirit of sharing and giving also made me dig deep into my own beady treasures to add to the stash. And dig I did! Everything from crystals to glass, seed beads to pearls, and gemstones to lampwork. I've got it all in here. So please forgive the sparse commentary....but enjoy the BEADS!

Pearls (there are a LOT more of the green ones!), a silver chain, Ruby Zoisite, and some glass strands.

Cool side/top drilled pearls, and some interesting finish glass beads

The pink stash includes some Rose Quartz, Button Pearls, and a bunch of glass beads

All glass beads, some vintage

More glass - how cute are those butterflies?

Furnace glass I picked out for a bracelet I never made.

David Christensen Furnace Glass

Um, can you tell I really like Furnace glass?

All semiprecious gemstones

I threw a bracelet I made in there! Why not?

Some of my all time favorite seed beads, including Size 8 3-cuts by Toho. Sparkly!

Some of my specially coated 2mm Swarovski crystals

Green Girls clasp

Sterling Silver clasps

Fun beads from Susan Nestor!

The pendant on the right is polymer clay

Pendants

Lilly Pilly, Dichro, and a stone pendant

Cabochon

Metallic lampwork beads by Donna Mehnert of Blackberry Beads

Porcelain

Lampwork

More lampwork

Adorable small set by Pam Way of Yellow Dog Beads

Another Pam Way set

Assortment of Tagua Nut pendants and beads

Holy Cannoli

Man, when I owe you a blog post, I REALLY owe you a blog post! I have yet to tell you all about the fun and interesting Beaducation video shoot (went great - I'm known as One Take Wiseman there!) And I do have stories and photos. But honestly? It's going to be next week before I have a spare moment to write a coherent account!

Why? Oh, because I'm INSANE! Wait. You knew that already. Why do I keep rediscovering it? At some point I have the nerve to actually convince myself things like "Oh yeah...I have a lot of down time in between Thanksgiving and mid-January." ???!!! NOT

So what I'm staring at right now is having roughly eleventy billion people over to our house on Saturday for our annual Tapestry Beads Open House (and if you're within driving distance of Austin, why aren't you coming??) and we've been rushing around like mad to get ready for it. The new bead cabinet and slat wall means having to fill it all up with fabulous things to buy, so I've been ordering vast quantities of seed beads, tubing and labeling them, and then getting them organized. Same goes for firepolish beads, crystals, needles, yada, yada....

We also have some (a lot of "some") finishing touches to the house remodel. Like hiding all the unpacked boxes we have yet to find homes for. But to hide the boxes, we had to clean out the garage because there was no place to walk in there, let alone hide things. So that's what Mom and I did all day today - and now we have a pile roughly the size of Mount Everest in our driveway for the Salvation Army to take away. Once upon a time, we'd planned to make money off it and actually have a Garage Sale. But then we got over it. The problem is, Salvation Army said on the phone today that they had room in the truck they were sending out for about 20 boxes. HAHAHAHAHAhahahaha....cough, gasp. So whatever THEY don't take, we hope the neighbors steal overnight. Because we need that crap, er, stuff, gone by Saturday!

Want any of this? Please? Car not included.

I've also got a big wholesale order I'm trying to get out the door by Friday, which involved making kits because I was out of some. I still haven't done any of the printing on that. I have to make a special trip to the fixtures store for hooks for my slat wall because when Mom stopped by there Tuesday to buy them, they were out of stock. Of course! So they had them brought in from the San Antonio store. Nothing like doing an errand twice. My last box of seed beads will not be arriving until Thurs or Fri, so Mom and I will be labeling like crazy at the last minute. Oh! And I'm also supposed to be updating the instructions for the Beaducation videos and sending those out, as well as deciding on 3 kit colorways for my class on Dec. 11th, because I gotta get those beads ordered like yesterday.

Meanwhile, proving that delusions are hereditary, Mom thinks she's going to bake brownies and cookies and stuff for the Open House, do all the Christmas decorating, help clean the house, and help label the seed beads, and install the knobs on her bathroom cabinets.

Down time. Yeah.

BABE report

Bead people are SO MUCH FUN! I've discovered it over and over again as I travel to new places from coast to coast and it makes me happy. We share passion for color and texture and beautiful things. We have a joie de vivre that shows in our faces and interactions. We have a common language. A special "handshake" (consisting of going straight to the jewelry one is wearing and exclaiming upon it.) It's no wonder I adore bead shows so much!

And the BABE show in Oakland, California was no exception. I was able to hang out with some of my most favorite people on Earth - fellow bead teachers that live all across the country. I made new friends as well. And who knew how awesome the food was in Oakland??!! I had some of the most tasty meals I've ever encountered! It's hard for this Texas girl to admit the best Mexican food I have ever eaten was at Tamarindo in Oakland!

But let me tell you - this show was also not my finest organizational moment! I forgot: the tablecloth, the boxes that I use to make my riser, the credit card machine, my hair dryer with the diffuser (essential for a curly haired girl), and the display for my 2mm Swarovski crystals. AGH!!!! So I borrowed a tablecloth, used some aluminum pans from a store across the street to make a faux riser, hand wrote all the credit card transactions, and air dried my hair. The 2mm crystals stayed in my bag instead of being sold. I know...you are all thinking "Packing list!" Yeah. I know.

Monday I spent sadly saying farewell to my hotel roomie, Barb Switzer, who was the best roomie ever, and then driving across the bay to Redwood City where I will be hanging out another week. Tuesday brings my first filming day for my online video classes with Beaducation. Eeek! I'd better go get some beauty sleep!

I will leave you with a variety of photos from this weekend's show...

Lavinia Touchton, Jill Wiseman, and Peggy Goldblatt. Some of my favorite students turned friends!

Tracy Stanley, Jill Wiseman, and Janice Berkebile adopting "The Pose"

Nikia Angel caught me working hard!

Beaducators gather together! Tracy Stanley, Jill Wiseman, Kate Richbourg, Dallas Lovett, Barb Switzer, Colin Mahler, Janice Berkebile, and Lisa Claxton

The annual technology meltdown

At least once a year you get one of these blog posts, don't you? The sad, frenzied madwoman, trying to cobble together a host of printers and faxes and scanners and whatnot to get her danged job done! Where's my IT Help Desk when I need it??

This time, it's still partially an after effect of the flooring redo. We had to unhook everything and rehook it up and we moved the printer to a farther away spot which necessitated a longer cord because I haven't stopped to figure out how to wirelessly connect it yet. So I finally got the longer cord and all should be well with the world, right? But no! We're out of magenta toner on our monster Dell printer. No problem. I skip off (drive) to Cartridge World and get a magenta cartridge. I've used them before in a pinch, and while it's not an official Dell cartridge, it worked and was $75 cheaper. Naturally, I let it sit there for days before I really needed it. Which was today.

Last night Mom and I both worked to get that new cartridge in the printer to no avail. It simply doesn't fit in the slot. I tried again this morning just to make sure. Hasn't shrunk overnight. So do I return it and get another one? What if I waste my time and it still doesn't fit? They are the ONLY place in Austin to get a toner cartridge on the shelf for this printer. Everything else is delivery only. Which doesn't help me TONIGHT.

Okay, I can work around this for the moment, right? My urgent need today is to get my Bead Fest Santa Fe Booth Rental Contract printed out, filled out, scanned into the computer, and then faxed. Because the deadline is today to keep my same booth spot. Because this is ME and I waited until the deadline day. You've been following along and this is expected, right??

Luckily I just bought a second printer for the house! The new desk setup in the Bead Room has a cheapie ($25 and I ain't kidding) inkjet. Go to Bead Room and print out contract. Fill out contract the old fashioned way. With pen. Move back to the Office to scan into computer so I can fax through email. No old fashioned fax in our household - we don't have any phone lines. All cell phones. Put contract page 1 on the scanner. Hit Scan on the software. Error! Can't communicate with the scanner. Look at scanner. Silly Jilly! Scanner not turned on! Turn scanner on. Restart software so it can "communicate" with the scanner this time. Hit scan button. Error! Can't communicate with the scanner. Waaaa?? Follow long and complicated cord snowball to discover scanner cord not plugged into computer. Plug into computer. Restart software again. Success this time!!

So it has now taken me 45 min (plus another 15 to write this post) to do something that should have taken 5 min. and I still don't have a working main printer.

Technology? Bite me.

A little of this, a little of that

I think I've mentioned before that while I used to be a great multi-tasker, age is taking it's toll, and I now function best doing one thing at a time. I don't actually hate it. I do think my focus is much better that way, and I don't make as many mistakes.

BUT! When I have a bazillion things to do, it's hard for me to switch around from project to project, because I would actually like to finish things sometimes. I had started working on getting the new bead cabinet all stocked up, and beads ordered, and on bead room organization of those beads (all one task) but I'm still not finished.

And it's killing me! Because I have to put it aside now as I'm getting closer and closer to the twin deadlines of leaving for the BABE (Bay Area Bead Extravaganza) show on Thursday, and finishing the preparations for the Beaducation classes video shoot which will happen while I'm out on the West Coast the week following BABE.

The boxes of kits for BABE will get shipped on Monday. I still need to burn some CDs to complete the kits for a number of designs. That will be Sunday's work.

And I'm also reviewing and tweaking the instructions for the 3 Beaducation classes, and making the samples for the video shoot. It's kind of like Groundhog Day. You make a sample up to a certain spot where you know you're going to want to do a demo for the video, and then stop and package it up. Then you make the sample again and go past that demo spot to the next demo spot. And stop and package it up and start all over again. For example the project I'm working on tonight I decided I need 6 different samples. I may be over-preparing, but I want everything to go super smoothly!

Sluggin' and Chuggin' Along

Somehow I thought I'd be done moving back in the house by now, but I certainly should have known better. But massive progress is being made. Tonight I was up all night working on the monster known as The Bead Room. I need a trip to The Container Store and a trip to Big Lots for more storage containers. There are about 7 boxes of mishmash that need to be sorted through and homes found for the contents. I'm still contemplating whether I need to put a table or a couple of short bookcases back-to-back in the middle of the room. The room is already so small, and I quite literally have every inch of wall space taken up with shelves and the desk, so it's the center of the room or nothing. Maybe I can consolidate and purge a little more...

Saturday is also a BIG day because Mom and I are going to head on down to the store fixtures store and get our slat wall panel! This will go in the front room where I have all the beads for sale, and once we get that installed the the beads hung up, that room will be finished! Yippee!

So you know how I had that poll for what class you wanted me to teach at the Texas Bead Retreat? Yeah. Well. How about something totally different?!! Because the earrings class was the low vote getter. And after figuring out everything that's going into the Grapevine Bracelet, I decided I couldn't really teach that as a short class. And despite having touched nearly every bead I own in the last week, the Tila beads remain elusive little suckers. I guess they must be in one of the dreaded mishmash boxes. Where they could remain for QUITE some time.

My new plan since time is up for me to get the class info to Sandy Pardo? I'm going to teach Smadar Grossman's amazing Mumbai Masala bracelet!