Saturday, May 30, 2009

cuffcake!



i made this in a custom cuffcake class with jason!! my favorite teacher and btw my favorite husband!! i sat next to amanda, who did a good bit of filing for me, and michelle stamped my secret words on the inside. then when i got distracted by customers, jason finished hammering it out. so hmmmm, did i make it?? OF COURSE :) i put the leaves on!

it was so much fun, i can't wait to make another! i hope that amanda is in my class again - grin!


this is baby lanette or "babette", the creator of the cuffcake!! she was a lot younger in this photo :) stop by on a friday, and you can meet her in person. she makes AWESOME jewelry.. look she's already holding chain nose pliers in this photo!! just kidding.



this is lanette and amanda circa 2009.. without them i wouldn't be wearing my cuffcake today.. thank you!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

curvee bracelet!




look what lori made! a "watermelon tourmaline" curvee bracelet. it's really made of swarovski crystals, but it looks so awesome in gemstone colors. I love her matching earrings too - wow! Want to make one? Stop by the store, we have full color instructions and a free DVD with purchase of kit!

val made a double row version in crystal pearls, so elegant :)

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

doggie bloggie

ruff ruff! i made this on memorial day! i'd been wanting to make a fluffy bracelet for a while, and was inspired by some brown vintage lucite beads. I remembered that i had some jujubead doggies in brown that have been hibernating in my iris containers, just waiting to break out!



JUJUBEAD fans, if you want to make one, let me know! I'm happy to help you figure out the layout/bead count and choose colors. You need 5-7 jujus :)


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

quick cluster earrings


our customer pat came in with a request for an earring design! luckily there was no price quote, so i was able to be creative with gems and technique :) this is made with vermeil, london blue topaz and rutilated quartz using the tip drill wrap and quick cluster technique! i think they're super pretty!





Saturday, May 23, 2009

donuts and danishes

i finally finished my donuts and danishes bracelet! I LOVE IT! it's named thusly cause the knots look like the twist donuts at zippys, and michelle thought that the coily part looks like cheese danishes. we obviously love treats at tbg!

whew, i thought that making it with the silver wire a small challenge, but hand polishing it after i egged it made me break out in a sweat.. no kidding! i was going to bed, but i have to cool off first, thus the blog.

i also met my penpal from American Samoa today! Monique came to the store and visited with me after emailing each other for over 2 years.. it's so cool that we can get to know people with our fingers on a keyboard!

Friday, May 22, 2009

clay day

what a fun day!  i skipped school and played all day!  did ceramics in the afternoon and papercrafting in the evening!  pictured are ceramics that KELLI made, not me. i only strive for that cuteness.  she's going to do a ceramic sale at the store in june before she moves to new york.  i'm going to get me some kitty cups!!   

one of kelli's real kitties peed in my very absorbent unfired pinch pot.  i guess that's what happens when you use a kitty litter box to store our little ceramic projects.  KELLI!!! NOOOO!!!!



while i was out, our old friend tony hall stopped by the store with his new baby sofie. what a cutie!  jason's so cute too.  as soon as we got home, he was like.. put the baby on the blog!.. put the baby on the blog!!!!  

Thursday, May 21, 2009

dolphin ears!

today, lisa was wearing such a cute pair of earrings that she made with jujubeads. i LOVE jujubeads! they are made by my friend Kim who is the bombdiggity of beadmakers!
here is a cute lil girl that came to the store today :)

kim and i met over 12 years ago, when we were both budding lampworkers (glass beadmakers). she has blossomed as an artist, and me? well, i'm her biggest fan and collector! we sell her beads and it's so difficult not to take them all home - today i adopted a grey kitty with pink cheeks, yay! come see proof of my dedication hanging as a mobile in the store!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

found hearts

we went to sweet home cafe for korean hot pot tonight, so yummy! we had half  "regular" and half "curry/spicy" - 100% yummy!  

found our heart shaped necklace as soon as i got home.  michelle shaped the hearts, and i hammered the heck out of them, and it turned into this beautiful necklace.  it was hiding in my house for the past couple of days, and finally came out to play! 

to my number one fan, janice: here's the pic of the necklace... enjoy!  sorry, it's not a lingerie shoot as promised :0 ha ha!


Tuesday, May 19, 2009

sunny sunstone

so after talking to amanda yesterday, and discovering she had done a one piece bangle, i was inspired to make another one! the first bangle (in the previous post) was done over 3 episodes of the original star trek - jeepers, captain kirk was a cutie!

this bangle was done during the end of death race and the beginning of tropic thunder. now you know how long it takes to make these! i love how this one turned out cause the addition of the love stamped disc was an after thought (cause the bracelet was too small) and it made me feel quite inventive. i REALLY like how you can customize it with just about anything.

i was going to stamp "honor my body", so that i remember not to put too much white sugar into it. but that was too long. i figure "love" covers just about everything! the stones are sunstone, mined in oregon - so cool, i bought them from Derek, who owns the mine and dug out those stones :)

i'm going to shower and start another one! nitey!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Eggy bracelet

After work yesterday, i felt like all the creativity had been sucked out of me. I boo-hooed to Amanda, who suggested we both make bangles! We cut our wire and went to our separate homes and got busy!! When we spoke this morning, we both had made them in the excitement of wearing them to work on tuesday :)

Mine is above with my favorite gemstones: citrine, rose quartz and moonstone. I had a boiled egg snack today, so I "egged" my bracelet to antique it. I LOVE IT!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

congradulations!


today, my "baby" beadgirl of the store graduated from college!  kelli will be going on to grad school in New York this June - goooooo kelli!

here's a pic from our dinner celebrating her last day of school.  she's sandwiched between her loving parents, Kathy and Dave :)

If you didn't know, kelli is our webgirl, in charge of making our site look cute, run efficiently and loaded with neat ways of keeping you updated.. not to worry, thanks to computer technology, cause she'll be able to be my webgirl from afar.  Yay, kelli! love ya!

Friday, May 15, 2009

booby check!

Today I did a love and energy healing on my friend that has breast cancer.  I send out a reminder to ALL of you, to please do breast checks!  

Don't know how, or what you are looking for?  Come to the store.  I have a breast model that has faux lumps that you can poke around, so you know what you are looking for!  Don't be shame, or shy... it's your life, and as I learned from janice... you are your best advocate :)


Sunday, May 10, 2009

TBG Town Meeting

We went out for dinner at Kanpai's a couple nights ago, and surprise!  They don't have dessert.  Now that's a Bead Gallery no-no.  We almost stomped out of there, OUTRAGED!  Instead, I chose to voice my concerns via video.  This is an edited, less dramatic version, for you to understand where we are coming from.

Friday, May 8, 2009

crazy hair day

Today, Kim (jujubeadz lady) and i were kickin' it old school... like 70's hair old skool!!  you rock, Kim!!  Ka'i, hmmmm.  Next time, he MUST wear the "aunty taffy" wig.  I love working at the bead gallery!!!




Thursday, May 7, 2009

Beer Run

Jason and I went to the czech republic when we were younger, and I got to make beads!  See that glass rod I'm holding? It's HEAVY!!  The tip is in a very HOT pit of fire, ready for me to transfer it to the bead "stamping" machine.  The guys that work in the factory (see sweaty man behind me) drink a lot of beer to keep hydrated :)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Our charity fair was so much fun!  We raised about $12,000 and still counting cause our raffle has another 6 days to go!  There are LOTS of prizes in this raffle, including beads from my private gem collection, an energy healing, mochi platter, jewelry, a spiritual healing, and least 50+ more prizes..

Here's some pics for you to see!





Saturday, May 2, 2009

May Day is Lei Day!

 but i'd rather be wearing beads around my neck.....

charity fair vibes are going strong as we head towards sunday...  I'm so pooped and it's always at this time, somewhere past midnight that we look at each other and say, "what the heck are we doing?"  and talk about synchronicity... my friend janet emails me an article that says the following: 

... human happiness derives neither from external validation nor solely from within, but from "between": through the relationships created by love, work, and "something larger than yourself" -- whether it's a religious group, a volunteer organization, or a political campaign.

"A lot of people seem to have learned through their experiences during the presidential campaign that being part of a community and making a difference -- even a small one -- is deeply satisfying. No matter how busy or stressed they are right now, volunteers report that they always feel better after taking a few hours to do something positive for their community along with a bunch of like-minded strangers. It has the effect of putting their own lives and problems into perspective."

Funny huh... when you ask a question, you get a answer.  I just so happen to like this one!
see you on sunday.. if not, buy a raffle ticket!