Mid-Tucson Report

What a jam packed few days it's been since I posted last! The days in Tucson are always long because you're working all day, and then gathering with friends at night. A few hours of sleep and then I'm up to do it all again!

Wednesday was the start of our show and it's traditionally one of the busiest days. Unfortunately, we had some pretty strong rain showers off and on all day so it wasn't quite as busy as usual. I can't imagine the rain deterring ME from getting out to shop for beads, but evidently not everyone is as dedicated as I am! I got to see many of my usual customers, and the editors of Beadwork and Step-By-Step Wire. (Don't tell, but I sold a seed bead kit to Denise Peck, the Step-By-Step Wire editor - she's a seed beader too!!) The ladies from Fusion Beads stopped by, and they'll be carrying some of my new kits on their website before long too.

I enjoy my neighbors, Janice and John, so much. Crazy Australians with spunky personalities and cute accents. We've been neighbors for years now and it's amazing how they become close friends even though you may only see them once or twice a year.

Thursday was slower since one of the major shows down the road opens on Thursday, but we had warm temperatures and sunshine so some of the stragglers from Wednesday showed up finally. Friday was more of the same perfect weather with many more people coming through. Friday night was a Karaoke party for our show, and I have to say I'm impressed with how well some of these folks sing! Not to mention impressed with out BADLY some of them do! It was a fun time and I'm pretty tired.

But there's no time for rest yet! I'm quickly updating this before I head out for Saturday's show. It's going to be 70 and sunny in advance of a cold and rainy day tomorrrow. I need to go soak it up!!

PS - it's quite amazing, but I've only managed to buy ONE bead so far! Only because I'm always at my booth and don't get shopping time...but I'll manage before the weekend is out...

It was the night before the Big Show...

Hello from Tucson! The bead and gem and jewelry forces of the universe are gathering in this corner of the Earth to show off the best we have to show for the next few weeks. There's simply nothing else like it. Interested in huge fossils and geodes big enough to hide small children inside? No problem! Want to see more pearls than you've ever imagined existed? Yup, we've got that! Acres of tents filled with beautiful and unexpected wonders await. Lampworkers have trotted out their best designs from the past year with which to tempt you. And every person I know in the biz is here. I can't wait for my show to start in the morning!

Here's how it has been going...
I left Austin on Sunday - had planned to leave by 10am, but hit the road around 11:20. That's practically early for me! I'm about 45 miles down the road when Mom calls. I jokingly answer the phone by saying, "What did I forget?" Except it wasn't a joke. I'd left behind a box of jewelry that needed to be with me. ARGH!! So I turned around and Mom met me half-way with the goods. My day just got 40 miles longer, but at least I had the jewelry. Thanks, Mom! The delay meant I was pretty darned tired by the time I arrived at my hotel in Van Horn, Texas at 11pm or so at night. So tired that I tried to check into the wrong hotel! I just knew my reservation was at the Hampton Inn, but they couldn't find it. So I whipped out my confirmation email...from the Holiday Inn Express. If it hadn't been pre-paid, I would have just switched to the Hampton. Reloading my luggage in the car and driving the extra quarter mile took my last bit of energy. I hit the bed like a rock and didn't move for 10 hours.

Monday was a shorter driving day, and I bebopped along the road while listening to my iTouch. Remember my last post about the cables in my world? Well, the saga continues! Since I updated the software on my Blackberry Storm phone, my wall charger no longer works. The only way I can charge it up is to connect it to my computer right now. And the cable I had to connect the iTouch to the car speakers? Yeah. Wrong cable. I haven't yet stopped to buy the one I need, so I was using my headphones to listen to the iTouch in the car. Why, oh, why can't they do something useful like make all cords and connectors universal?? WHY??

Anyway, as I was saying - Monday night I got into town around 8:45pm. Dropped my stuff at the Casita I'm renting for the second year in a row, and then headed around the corner for food. I was five min. too late to get the Chinese takeout I'd been hoping for, so instead I stopped at the grocery store and stocked up on a week's worth of meals. Another 10 hour sleep coma later brings us to...

Tuesday! Set up at the Best Bead Show day. But not until 2pm. Originally I'd planned on driving over to one or two of the other shows for the first part of the day, but honestly I'm pretty well out of money at this point and I knew I'd find things I wanted to purchase. I'm not good with temptation, so I figured it was best to stay locked up at the Casita and chill out.

When I finally got to the Kino Veteran's Center to start getting my booth all decorated, I was more than ready to get going! Right off the bat I started seeing friends left and right...Rashan Omari Jones, Amanda Jeffries, Janice & John (who's last name I can't think of at the moment) from Australia, Susan Nestor, Lori Dixon Greenberg, Margaret Zinser...and I didn't even go into the main hall yet! I got most of my set up done before my energy just dropped out of the bottom. I'll finish up in the morning.

So the show opens at 10am! Come see me!!! I know I'll get to see Brenda Schweder, who will be coming to spend a few hours helping me in the booth. I'm going to pitch a collaboration project while she's there...iron and seed beads...intriguing... And the various editors from the bead magazines will be coming through too. Jill MacKay is in town and promised to stop by to say Hi. Marsha DeCoster and Shelley Nybakke are in town, and I'm sure I'll see them at one spot or another. Gail Crosman Moore has made the trek here despite having broken her leg by falling on the ice last week. Can you imagine?? She's got spunk, that gal does!

I'll try to report in every few days at least. Wednesday is going to be a loooong day for me, since I need to get there early to finish set up, and then the show is open until 8pm. So after 12 hours in the booth, I'm guessing there will be no update tomorrow night. Although...one never knows...I will have photos!!

Cables are taking over my life

Oh, I do love a cool gadget. I'm not one of those tech geeks who buys the latest and greatest of every new thing out there. As a matter of fact, I'm absurdly proud of the fact that we don't even have a DVD player. I blame that particular circumstance on the emotional damage caused when we were early adopters of the late, great Betamax system instead of VHS. Oh, how I loved my Betamax. Sniff.

But I digress. There are a certain number of gadgets that make my life as a home-based small business owner who travels a lot much easier. My Verizon Blackberry Storm phone is attached to my body 24/7. I'd implant it in my body if it were an option. I'm down to 3 computers (from 4) - my desktop for the heavy duty stuff, the 17" screen laptop because it's fabulous, and the "Barbie" netbook computer because I discovered quite quickly that a 17" laptop is heavy to carry around as I travel. The 4th computer, my first laptop, was gifted to my sister-in-law for her birthday. I have a labelmaker that connects to my computer. I have an iPod. A speaker system for the iPod. USB cables to connect the iPod and phone to the computer. Let's not forget the charger cables too! And cameras! Yes, Mom and I both have them, along with a memory card reader to transfer the photos to the computer. Different chargers for both laptops. Car chargers for my phone and Mom's phone (yes, different.) And don't forget the cord that connects the iPod to the car speakers!

I AM DROWNING IN CABLES! We have a whole box - not a small one either - of various cables that's been sitting in the garage for two years and yet we're terrified to throw them away. I have two other hiding spots for cables that have been growing with wirey protrusions too (don't tell Mom.) I am currently using my handy-dandy label maker to make labels to attach to the identifiable cords and cables so at least I'll know what's what.

So what did I find it necessary to do today? Add to the list! A Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth headset has been added to the Tapestry Beads IT department! You know - I go on these regular road trips every year. Tucson in February. Santa Fe in March. Milwaukee in June. And that's not counting the trips to Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston that pop up. So it only makes sense that I should be safer and talk on the phone through a headset, right? Just nod your head yes, please.

At least it only came with one cord.

Moving right along

I'm so very confused! All of a sudden I stopped to look around me and discovered I'm better prepared for Tucson than I thought! Well, with the caveat that I let go of the illusion of having ALL the new kits ready by then. The truth is I'm still tweaking some of the designs. I have a bunch of samples to make up. And since the seed beads haven't been finalized I certainly can't order the supplies for them. Not to mention directions that haven't been written. So by letting go of being perfect, I'm finding a lot more peace and harmony. There's supposed to be a lot of that kind of learning for me this year!

While I was at the Texas Bead Retreat last weekend, I booked a teaching day at Beadaholique in Houston to teach the Night at the Opera bracelet. Glynna posted it on her website on Monday and by Tuesday all 16 seats had sold out! There's a substantial waiting list too, so I'm thinking we're going to have to plan a return trip in the not too distant future. (Glynna nicknamed the Night at the Opera bracelet NATO, and I love it!)

Additionally, I'll be teaching at Beads by Blanche in New Jersey in June. And of COURSE I'm going to have to tack on some additional days to schlep around in NYC while I'm there! Between the Bead & Button Show, and now the NJ/NYC trip, I'll be gone for about three weeks straight in June, but that's just how these things happen - in bunches.

So now that I have this "extra" time on my hands...I'm going to spend some time today shoe shopping! Woo-hoo! It's not even my fault, really. Living in Austin, like I do, my toes are pretty much exposed in sandals year-round. But it's looking like I'm going to be awfully cold again this year in Tucson with highs in the 50s and 60s and lows in the 30s. It's the only show I do where I'm outside in a tent, and it never warms up that much inside the tent. All of which means I need shoes with covered toes. And I only own one pair show-worthy pair right now. See how I HAVE to go shopping???

What happens at a Bead Retreat...

...should generally stay at a Bead Retreat. There's a vow of secrecy that should be required before you're allowed in. But since that didn't happen this last weekend, I'm telling ALL! Bwhahahaha!

Well, not really since I'm afraid of what they would do to me. But let's just say there were some amazingly inappropriate discussions that caused hooting and hollarin' in loud tones that included topics like: Just where is J pierced after all? What is up with G's yo-yo? And now everyone KNOWs that K is a slut for beads! There were some bottles being passed around and shots being thrown back on Saturday night. We didn't let the presence of a few guys stop us...poor fellows have now learned more about the female spieces than they'd ever wanted to know, I'm sure. And every once in a while, there was some beading done.

You'd laugh to see just how LITTLE beading I accomplished while I was there! Quite literally, one beaded end cap, and less than 2" of a beaded rope. Now, I also taught 2 classes, had about a bazillion folks from all over Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and who knows where else to catch up with. This group of ladies and I have been bead retreating together for years now, and it's such a joy to share their lives. And I was selling kits here and there too.

Sandy had tried to talk me out of teaching two classes this year because she wanted to make sure I would have enough time to enjoy the retreat. I resisted because I love teaching these ladies so much! But by the end of the weekend, I told Sandy that next year, I'm going to listen to her. One class only. There were too many conversations I missed. Too much exhaustion by the end. It's all part of my 2010 theme of finding more balance in my life. I'm usually either going on full speed ahead, or I've got the engine completely cut off. A happy medium is the new goal.

So I slept most of Monday in recovery. And Tuesday, there's something going on...hm...what is it again? Oh yeah! My birthday!

I plan on doing a slew of fun stuff all day long. Some personal shopping. A pedicure. Time browsing at the book store. Taking myself out to lunch (alone on purpose - no time constraints - sweet silence - I'm a good companion to myself.) A friend is taking me out in the evening to see Toni Price at the Continental Club and later, Malford Milligan at Antone's. Both are singers who used to live in Austin and moved away in the last few years. The fact that they're both performing here on my birthday is unbelievable!

Wednesday, it's back to work. Only 10 more days at that point until I leave for Tucson. Can it all be done? Will Jill maintain her sanity? Are there enough beads in the universe to make the number of kits Tapestry Beads needs? Stay tuned...

Frozen fingers

Hey...I just figured out that the warm spot on the bottom of your laptop that's such a pain in the butt the rest of the year is the perfect place to warm your frozen fingers so you can type a blog post!

I'm really quite over this coldest winter in decades baloney. I'm a hothouse flower, it seems, and my productivity is quite tied to the temperature. Which is why it was a really good thing I had so much to accomplish late last week when the wind chill dropped to the single digits in Austin. I didn't have the luxury of hibernating in my bed covered by blankets and fur children like I wanted to. So I layered on clothing until I looked like the Michelin Tire Man (remember him??) and toddled off to work away.

We had an open house of sorts on Saturday here at the Studio. It was a call for folks who had old projects they needed to work on and perhaps needed my help with to come and gather for companionship while beading. We had a full group all day, and lots of laughter and a couple of finished projects got standing ovations at their moments of completion. We had enough fun that we decided to do it all again in two weeks.

I'm getting ready to leave for the Texas Bead Retreat in Temple, Texas on Thursday. I'll be teaching the Kumihimo with Beads class, as well as a new class for creating your own beadwoven end caps for Kumihimo. I spent the day packaging up bobbins and S-Lon cord, and next I'm putting together the kits. I also found some new sources for base metal endcaps, and if I'm lucky, I'll be able to get them in my hot little hands before I leave this weekend.

Designing block - OVER!

What a complete relief to be back in the swing of work. I'm already behind on deadlines, buried in emails, and happy as a clam. I do so love my job!

I can't believe I lost so much work time in December, though, due to my own shut-down. I know I needed a break, but that was more like a forced work stoppage than a vacation. Now I'm scrambling to get all the new designs I assigned to me created in a sadistically short time frame, but I have no one to blame but myself. So I'm cranking it out like a little soldier.

Last night I had a design idea that I doodled with, and managed to get about an inch and a half of something I thought was usable. Today I worked on it for pretty close to 12 hours straight, and here's what I've got:

I'm planning on re-designing the clasp loop because it got too big and ungainly for the rest of the project. It's out of scale and throwing off the balance. Luckily I have an idea for that, but it's too late now for me to work on it any more. I need sleep!! I'm also thinking it wants to have an optional tassel hanging off the clasp area. What do you guys think?

OMG - So beautiful!

From June: I can't remember if I posted here of on Facebook that I was painting my bedroom. It was a hideous shade of intense yellow when we moved in, and after living with that color for two years, I was DONE. I painted it a soft celery green, and spray painted all my bedroom furniture a dark brown. That was topped of by a beautiful green, brown, and tan quilt.

I've been deciding on art. I wanted to get some macro flower close-ups, and surprisingly, there were quite a few to choose from. It took me a while to decide, but I bought the photos just before Christmas, and Jill framed them as my Christmas present. We finally got them hung this afternoon, and I couldn't be happier.

I did get some glare on the photos, but I couldn't wait to share them. These photographers are amazing. I found two of the photos on Etsy and the third on another site called Smug Mug.
From left to right:
"Tulip" by Andrea Lazar; closencounters on Etsy
Unnamed white flower by Rosemary; rojoimages on Smug Mug
"Tinge" by Jenny; flandersfield on Etsy