Beki's Beading Blog

The Beauty That Surrounds You!

2012-04-26T07:59:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share some of the beautifully amazing sights I have on my one mile walk to work. A walk I should try to take more often, but sadly, my busy life gets in the way of that.

How often do we leave our houses for work, or the grocery store, or to drop the kids off at school, or any other number of reasons?
Now how often do you take the time to look for the amazing beauty you are surrounded by?
I cannot count how many times I have taken this walk. Some days I notice the hawks on the wire hunting in the field next to my house, some days I notice my neighbors garden in full bloom, or the creek babbling a little louder after a nice rain. Some days I have on mental blinders and I spend the entire time going over in my head the myriad of things I need to accomplish the second I get to work and I miss everything along the way.

I have decided I am no longer going to waste that precious time running through my mental to-do list. Instead I am going to enjoy every moment of this short walk and take in all the amazing scenery I am blessed to live in.

Join me on my early Spring walk to work? (remember you can click the images to enlarge them for a closer view)

Just down the hill from my house is a lovely gate with white Wisteria. The trees in the background are home to some beautiful birds of prey in the area.

A few steps down the little path the city created on our street is a riot of shades of green with a splash of yellow blooming on one of the bushes. A creek runs the length of this street so the foliage is usually nice and lush.

20 feet more and across the street is a purple Wisteria, this one growing mainly in the shade of the beautiful tree behind it.

There is a slight bend in the road before the street turns on to one of the main streets running through town. There are some amazing oak trees in this area. Here is a shot of one of them with the gorgeous clear sky as the backdrop.

Another 30 or so feet brings us to this very majestic and very old oak tree. It has suffered some serious damage through the years from storms, stupid drivers not taking the turn slow enough, and also just from sheer age. I have no clue just how old this amazing tree is, but it has some pretty amazing character growing into its branches.

Almost before the main street are some flowering bushes planted by the city to decorate the area where the first two bus stops are located. I have no clue what the bush is, but it sure is pretty.

At some point, just before that last amazing oak tree the creek crossed under the road and is now on the other side of the street. It makes a sharp turn and even though it is not very full the sound of rushing water under the eucalyptus trees is beautiful.

This is California, so we must have some California Poppy's, right? The sun has just started to shine over here so they aren't quite open all the way yet. I bet if I had the time to sit for awhile I could watch them open up for the sunshine!

Another yard with some pretty flowers blooming...

These blooming bushes are all along the fence line by the Police station and city hall.

And just across the street from city hall is this historical piece of property. There used to always be sheep out in the field, but the folks who live here now use a riding mower to keep the grass under control. I miss the sheep. And I miss seeing the little lambs in the spring.

And then just across the street is a quaint little church. Oftentimes you will see artists setting up easels along the sidewalk where we are walking right now. This church is very picturesque. Tons of weddings are held here throughout the year. It is named Church of the Oaks. Recently, the three huge and very old oak trees that sat in front on the corner needed to be taken down. I know they had sustained some damage from a storm, but I think the main reason was due to an illness. The church had a big party when they planted some new young oak trees in their place. You can see one of them flourishing on the right side of the photo.

Back on our side of the street sitting a little bit back from the road is a beautiful country barn. This is just one block from the center of town.

At the end of this block is a house occupied by a very old woman who tends to her garden year round. She has her lawn mowed in a particular pattern, and somehow (I am sure with some major diligence) she rarely has an gopher holes in it! Here is a photo of the garden on one side of her house.

Now I will reveal my dream home! I have wanted this house for as long as I can remember. It is only 2 blocks from my store and this area is zoned so that you could operate a business from the home. So, wouldn't it make a perfect bead store!? It has gone up for sale twice in the past 30 years. Sadly, both times the asking price was a bit out of my reach. But I won't give up hope!
And while I appreciate the subtle gray and white paint job, I envision it being painted a deep sage green with turquoise trim. And that porch is just begging for a swing!

OK...we really need to get a move on....we're already late for work!

We needed to hustle past the park (it was too shady and the photo didn't come out well anyway!), past the intersection in the middle of town and the fire station and then....here we are! The open sign is on so we must be late! Check out the crazy huge redwood tree just outside my shop. I am so grateful that it is protected and that the building had to be designed around it.

Thank you for joining me on my walk to work. I have to let you go now as I have a ton of things to do today. But before you go, one final comment. I hope this little journey will inspire you to get out and take a walk yourself today. And while you're out there, be sure to take the time to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds you. Healthy for your body and your mind!

Have a great day!

A Brand New Forest

2012-04-04T08:02:00.003-07:00

I am blessed to live in Northern California! Within less than an hour drive I can be gazing up at Giant Redwoods. I can hear the Pacific crash against jagged rocks, or hear it gently flow to shore over a beautiful sandy beach. I can be in a major city (San Francisco) to enjoy an opera, world class dining, a Giants ball game, visit historical landmarks. I can be driving across rolling golden hills on my way to a babbling stream high up in the mountains. I am basically surrounded by a plethora of magical sights and wonders all within a moments reach.

This past Sunday, Shawn and I took a drive through our old home town (where we lived when Nick & Justin were born) of Fairfax. This is where Jerry Garcia used to just show up and play at The Sleeping Lady, and where the hustle of Marin county slowed way down. I am not so sure it is the same as 25+ years ago when we lived there, but it still holds some very special memories for us. Just on the other side of town lies the northeastern edge of Mt. Tamalpias. A breathtakingly beautiful mountain that sits right along the Pacific and overlooks miles and miles of the North Bay area. There are 100’s of hiking trails, a favorite area for bicyclists, several small lakes for fishing, and a very special pond that Shawn has been visiting since he first moved out to California from New Jersey when he was 18. This pond is the home to a very special breed of newt and the folks who frequent this area will watch over the pond carefully to make sure nobody is mistreating the newts.

We headed out on the short hike to the newt pond so Shawn could try and capture a photo or two of the little creatures, but we ended up being totally amazed by the very beginnings of a pine forest. It seems after our recent rains that fertile pine cones dropped to the ground and with the soil being soft and moist they took root. Everywhere we looked were these amazing wee little baby pine trees in their first few stages of growth. It was just magical.

They were growing all along one sunny edge of the newt pond and also a small way into the pond itself. I imagine the little newts were totally loving all the new little hiding places that the wee baby pine trees brought with them.

The brand new little pine forest is very thick and dense so we had to be very careful where we walked so as not to disturb any of the baby trees. Shawn found a clearing along the edge and laid down to get some of these amazing shots. I’ve left the images really large so you can see the little mini spider web and the spider that his camera managed to find. And also the amazing colors and “glow” that seems to be coming from the brand new little tree trunks as they sprout up out of the fertile ground.

I’d also like to take this time to point out what an amazing gift Shawn has for photography. I’ve known for a long time with the fabulous shots he’s able to take of my beadwork, but to just be able to lay down on the ground and snap photos like these blows my mind! Be sure to click the images to enlarge them so you can see all the amazing detail he caught in these photos!

We're hoping to take our kids there this coming Sunday for a picnic and to let them see the wee beginnings of a pine forest, too!

My 12-Steps of Beading

2012-03-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Below is my 12-step beading process....

1) Have an ah-ha moment for a new design.

2) Pick out the beads.
3) Change my mind about the beads I picked out and pick out new beads.
4) Settle into a comfy chair and begin the beading!
5) 1/4 of the way into the design get flooded with ideas for variations on the design.
6) Work in vain to try and shut my brain off to the new ideas so I can finish the first idea.
7) Give in and put down the design I am working on so I can go pick out new beads for the new design that won't be quiet in my head.
8) Change my mind about the beads I picked out and pick out new beads.
9) Scoop the beads and the partially finished project from the first design that got bumped out of the way into a UFO baggie.
10) Settle into a comfy chair and being the beading!
11) 1/4 of the way into the design get flooded with ideas for variations on the design.
12) Repeat steps 1-12

I am concerned that I'm not fully understanding the 12-step program. But I don't have the time to figure it out right now....I have some beads I need to pick out for this awesome design idea I have.....

Must like leaves!

2012-03-12T14:59:00.004-07:00

I know I do! Well, I better like them since I spent the past couple of weeks beading over 50 of them and then using 47 of them to create this Falling Leaves II necklace for a kit.

My original Falling Leaves necklace used almost all the same colors as this new design, except I removed the Colorlined Cream size 11 that I use for the veins and added a new color of Delica in a Raspberry Goldlustre for some of the leaves. But the feeling of Autumn is pretty much the same.

My original necklace has been a best seller for us in kit form for over 7 years now!

I've had a few requests to do a necklace that wasn't meant to be worn so close to the neck. So I designed a new necklace using the same Russian Leaf technique as well as a Russian Spiral Rope. The neckstrap is longer than shown in the photo, but can be adjusted to fit the beaders own personal needs. There is a hidden clasp in the front under the fall of leaves.

I'm hoping to have it available in kit form very soon in reply to all the lovely requests!

I also had a request to do one in Winter Blues and Whites....not sure that's gonna happen this year! Maybe next year. ;o)

Do Your Creations Have A Story?

2012-03-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Most everything I have ever created comes about because of an event, or a series of events in my life. Many times through dreams (hense the online name of DreamBeadr), but sometimes just because I saw something and it struck me in such a way that I felt compelled to "recreate" it. Usually in beads.

Sitting one day in my livingroom when the light started to filter through our back patio sliding door, it hit just right on this candle holder I have.

A week or so later, while sitting in the passenger seat of the truck returning home from a show, I started beading this bracelet....inspired by the candle holder.

I ended up naming it Julz after an online friend admired it. I've also made it in other colorways. It is a very popular kit for me.

Another recent creation is my Enchanted Necklace (which I am beyond thrilled will be included in Lark's 500 Beaded Jewelry Book due out later this year). Part of the inspiration came from the Dragonfly button I beaded around where I had an idea in a dream that I wanted the button to look like it was nestled into a comfy pillow of beads. The other part of the inspiration came from the ornamental plum trees outside my shop. In the spring time they are full of gorgeous blossoms.

And here is Enchanted

For my Ancient Seas necklace I was mostly inspired by the Ammonites. I was trying to replicate the colors, while adding a touch of another brighter color that is often found in nature, Turquoise, but without having it be too distracting. I had to dream about the design of Ancient Seas for several months before it came to life. Because it is out of my normal "style" of design, I have needed to learn to love this necklace. I certainly enjoyed the process while I was creating it, because so much of the design was new to me, which is always a fun place to be in my mind - exploring something new, but when it was completed I did not embrace it as quickly as everyone else around me seemed to.

I remain, however, very proud of this piece of jewelry. Last year my first time teaching Ancient Seas at the Bead & Button show the class sold out within minutes of going live. That was certainly a wonderful, and much needed ego boost for me.

And recently I've been playing around with Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW). I've also been totally enraptured by the series of books by R.R. Martin and recent HBO series Game of Thrones. Shawn and I have watched it twice now, and I am ready to watch it again! And we've also listened to the second book, A Song of Ice & Fire on CD while we traveled to our show in Tucson.

As I played a bit with altering bead sizes and making the CRAW turn corners, this necklace began to emerge. It reminded me a lot of Aria, one of the young female characters in the book who many times would much rather have been a boy. She is beautiful and slight of build, depicting her feminity, but also rough and fierce showing her masculine side.

So I named this necklace after her....Aria

So what inspires you when you create? Nature, books, music, dreams, something sitting on the table in your livingroom?

Bead Soup Blog Party!

2012-01-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest blessings I've gotten from the Internet has been the chance to connect with so many beaders on a personal level.

Over 15 years ago now I was feeling a sense of burnout from my customers. It seemed everybody wanted to be my "friend" because I owned a bead store. I would get invites to weddings, birthdays, social gatherings, etc., from people who I had no clue who they were! Every now and then they would let slip that they wanted to befriend me because I owned a bead store (and at the time one of the few in California!) and maybe they could get some "deals"! Serious? How hurtful that was. You wanted to be my friend so you could get something? Not because you liked me or thought I was cool? Or maybe because I seemed like a nice person, or because I had something in common with you? Not for any reason that would make me feel good....just because I had something you wanted? Yuck!

I crept into a little shell and found myself being really guarded when people were nice to me. That is so not my nature! You can ask anybody who knows me personally to find out that I am really outgoing, open, trusting. For me to recede into a shell was so uncomfortable.

But luckily for me right around the corner was the advent of the Internet and chat rooms, forums, email lists, newsgroups where like-minded people gathered. Yeehaw! So, I had this bright idea that I would join in the conversations but I wouldn't let on who I was. (such a smart girl!) What didn't dawn on me was that the spelling of my name is not common, (duh!...not so smart afterall are you, missy!) and within just a couple of weeks I was outed. I felt kinda foolish. And I felt bad that I was being deceptive. But I was craving some personal interaction with people and afraid to put myself in the same position I was trying to run from.

Luckily the group I bonded with the closest was a group on an AOL beaders forum. When I confessed my deception they totally understood and did not judge me for trying to be someone other than who I really was. And what was even better they accepted me first as just another beader. Someone to visit with. Rarely would I get the feeling that I was being "used". Instead I was able to share what I knew about beads and beadwork with a group of peers who happily shared what they knew with me in exchange. How freakin' awesome!

As years went by I have continued to develop online friendships. Some of them priceless. And one way of doing that I enjoy immensely is to join in to swaps, trades, events, causes that bring beaders closer together. Sometimes in groups and sometimes one-on-one.

I am hoping I get the luck of the draw on the upcoming Bead Soup Blog Party as I see this as yet another way to connect with even more beaders in a positive, fun, sharing environment.

Wish me luck! The draw is just around the corner!

Copyright? Again?

2011-12-10T09:40:00.001-08:00

I hate the phrase, “Beating a Dead Horse”. It sounds horrid. But it really is apropos for copyright issues. For those of us who have been online for several years, and/or those of us who have needed to discuss or deal with issues pertaining to copyright and beadwork, it really feels like you are “Beating a Dead Horse”. You speak your mind time and time again, offer links, give examples…but it seems to fall on deaf ears all too often.

But….there are so many reasons why the topic needs to be discussed again and again.

The main reason? Because people continue to steal others artwork, designs, images, instructions, ideas and claim them as their own. Or they will use another’s artwork and just not bother to credit them for it. Why credit someone? Well, aside from the common sense theory that mentioning someone when you’ve used something they have designed will then get their name out there…that maybe the viewer might think, “Hey! I really like this persons designs, I think I’ll go purchase a pattern from them, too”. There is also the notion that when you credit someone you are being considerate. I know, I know….manners, what a bore! They seem to be taking a swift exit stage left along with compassion, understanding, consideration and ethics.

Another reason to continually discuss the issue of copyright is that there are still people who question it. They truly do not understand the concept. Maybe they interpret the law in such a way that it becomes confusing for them. Maybe they want it to lean in their favor and so they intentionally interpret it how it suits them best. Or maybe they don’t give a rats a$$. Here is where I would have included the link to the copyright office. But since there is the excuse that the legalese makes no sense, why bother.

It really is rather simple. Did you design that pattern independent of seeing it elsewhere? If not, it is not yours. No matter how much of it you change, regardless of any percentage, color changes, bead size changes, focal point changes, etc., etc., etc. changes…it is NOT yours. And if it is not yours you do not have the right to claim it as yours. It is illegal under the copyright law for you to do so…but even more, it is ethically wrong for you to do this to a fellow beader. (PS...this blog post is not about coincidence, nor should coincidence be used as an excuse for you to be unethical. That is a different topic.)

Did you buy the pattern from a designer? See it in a magazine? Find it online? Purchase a kit? If so, regardless of what you do to this item it belongs to the original designer. You have both a legal and moral obligation to not claim it as your own.

You could make those changes you want to make, but then you simply mention that this item was inspired by So-n-So’s, Fancy Beaded Widget. There now…that didn’t hurt so badly, did it? Actually, if you stop and let yourself feel inside you’ll see that it actually felt good. You were a good person. And you helped out a fellow artisan by giving them the credit they earned. And you set an example for your kids, friends and associates by just making a really simple gesture. Wow…you should be proud of yourself for being such an honest and caring human.

The last reason for continually discussing this issue? Newbies. They happen every day. Thank goodness! They are a wonderful group of people, fresh, excited, eager to learn. Everything beady is amazing for them. I get energized just being around a newbie. Their excitement flows over in abundance and I get to feel some of it, too. However, the newbie can also be clueless. A simple mention that there are copyright issues involved with the patterns/designs they are learning from many times does not make a big enough impact on the newbie. Their heads are in the clouds due to the level of excitement they are feeling about all those sparkly beads and their newfound joy in what they can create with them that you pretty much sound like a Charlie Brown teacher when you start blathering on about copyright issues. But don’t back off. Keep teaching them. As with all things in life, there is more than one side. The newbie must accept the fact that there are issues regarding copyright that they will also need to take the time to learn about. And if you are the one dealing with that newbie, it is your obligation to help them learn it.

So why am I beating this horse again? Because I experience copyright infringement often, either in my store, or through email, or I see it online when I’m browsing. Today I felt the need to bring it up again because I got an email from a newbie beader. She was so excited about what she just finished beading. She was also clueless that just because she was the one to put the beads on the thread she was not the original designer. She was the beader. The designer of the pattern was never mentioned. I did my best to help her understand that she gets even more kudos from me (and others) when she takes just a moment to acknowledge the originator of the design when possible. Her original reply was simply, “Why?” After a few more emails I am happy to say that she understands now.

Oh, by the way…the design she beaded was mine. She didn’t notice the name from the magazine article. I'm thinking next time she'll look for the name. =o)

Wild Horses of North Carolina

2011-10-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

After we left Washington, DC we made our way towards the “Outer Banks” of North Carolina. Our goal was to get to Corolla, NC and the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge which is located on the north end of the Corolla Island. We were going to see the wild horses!

The history of these wild horses living here started about 500 years ago when the Spanish explorers arrived to this coast area. Because these coastal waters are very shallow the Spaniards would sometimes need to toss heavy items overboard to keep afloat. The ancestors of the horses that inhabit this area now are descendents of those who swam ashore.

The horses adapted to this coastal region and in the mid 1980's a paved road was built and some serious construction of homes began. Sadly, the horses would be hit by motorists, so a fence was put up that spans from the Atlantic across the stretch of land to the sound on the other side to contain them in an 1800 acre refuge. They are safe now.

The highway which runs up this area of the outer banks also extends on to the beach and similar traffic laws apply, with reduced speed, maintaining a minimum of 50 feet distance from the horses and obeying standard traffic laws. Of course, we saw every one of these laws broken during our tour. People can be really stooopid!

Here is a shot of the highway.

As our tour guide drove us down the beach we were lucky enough to see several horses enjoying the cooling breeze and ocean air. What an amazing sight this was!

A mama and her babe!

We were also driven inland to find more horses and we saw several, but the shots didn't come out so good. Except for this one. This is a horse they have named Cyclops...for an obvious reason. He only has one eye. He lost the other fighting to maintain his herd of females. You can tell by his attitude towards us, even enclosed in our vehicle that he means business. His females were just on the other side of a thicket. Our tour guide was very respectful of Cyclops and kept a good distance from him, well over the 50 feet mandated by law.

I was able to find my home out here! Isn't she beautiful?

There are 100's and 100's of these homes all built out in the sandy dunes of this refuge. I can only imagine the amount of money required to get the materials out here along with the labor. Most of the homes were built as vacation rental units. What a fun time that would be!

There are also many weddings held out in this area. We spotted these two. This one with the guests just arriving....in their fancy clothes...in the sand!

And this one where the happy couple have already taken their vows and are now having some stunning photos taken. What an amazingly beautiful location for such a special event.

Back onto the “highway” and headed down the beach to see more horses we also saw these amazing cypress tree stumps along the shoreline. Remnants of an old cypress forest that grew here peek up out of the ocean waves. I am so intrigued by the thought of just how old these stumps are and that they remain even with the constant motion of the water.

And these sweet little birds that get to forage around these ancient stumps and shells washed up along the shore. This is truly a magical place on the planet.

After our amazing adventure, we had some of the best BBQ I have ever had a little place called the Duck Deli, in the town of Duck. If you get to this area make sure to stop here for a meal. Crazy good!

See you at the next stop!

Washington, DC

2011-10-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

First let me say...the weather is crazy here! One minute the sun is out and literally 10 minutes later lightening, thunder, and torrential downpours. Then it stops after a few minutes and the sun peeks out again and the temps crank back up to the low 80's. So different from NorCal weather for sure.
It rained off and on most of the day we were in town, but it wasn't so bad that we didn't fully enjoy our time here. We took a trolley tour and learned a lot from the various drivers we had, plus they were all funny, too. If you're interested in a tour like this (on/off options, 3 different routes all for one price) I highly recommend the Olde Town Trolley company. They operate in several different cities.

We got to see several areas of town, including all the main DC sights. I have to admit, while I was intrigued with the thought of the amount of politics swirling around this area of the planet, what really got my attention was the architecture. I would love to return here and be able to slowly make my way through the various neighborhood viewing all these amazing buildings.

Sadly, we weren't able to do any of the museums, so I'll mark that down for what to do here next time as well.

Here are a few of the more than 170 images I took. Some through raindrop splattered windows, but I still think they came out okay. Oh...and the first one is of a flower at our campground just after a rain. So pretty!

This is the bottom of the flag pole out in front of the Union Station where we picked up the Trolley.

Every where I looked there was one ornate item after the next. I loved it!

The is a corner on the front of the Union Station building.

My first glimpse of the capitol building with this beautiful statue.

I am amazed at the architecture of this building. They began building it in 1793.

Love this sculpture. I wonder if something like this could be created with beads. I think a long, tightly woven strip of Peyote that is wound back around itself might work.

My house! I figured there had to be at least one of them in the area! =o)

The Jefferson memorial.

The Washington Monument. Until recently you could ride up to the top and check out the town. Sadly, the recent earthquake in the area damaged the top and it is closed until they can figure out how to repair it.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. They were preparing the area around it for its dedication on Sunday.

Not the best shot of the White House but it seemed like every time I got a decent view of the building it was either raining or I was on the wrong side of the trolley! Check out the secret service guy. He's really in focus! LOL

Some amazing buildings!

These next two images are of the ceiling the Union Station. When it was built they used over 70 pounds of gold leaf. At todays prices that hovers around 2 million dollars worth of gold on the ceiling! It is stunningly beautiful!

The outer banks of North Carolina are next....stay tuned!

Vermont, Maine, Boston

2011-10-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Reminder...if you want to see an image enlarged for more detail just click on it.

I have to admit, I was really sad to be leaving the Adirondack's. I love being in the mountains and all the quaint towns and the amazing colors of the trees were such a joy for me to see. But we must move on. Our campground for the night was just outside the town of Westport, NY. A lovely little village town along the shores of Lake Champlain. We arrived a little late to do much more than get parked and plugged in, so we didn't see too much of the town when we arrived, but what we did see was beautiful.

In the morning we drove in to Westport and past an amazing building that I wanted some pictures of. So...Patti turned up a street to turn around. Bad move! LOL We ended up on a teeny tiny winding residential road in a 33' motorhome. I imagine the residents were considering us all levels of foolish, We did, however, find these really cool old milk jugs with a “FREE” sign on them. So we picked up two of them. Every night since then we've needed to move them outside and bring them back in every morning. What were we thinking? There isn't enough room in here for the three of us to move about easily let alone adding two milk jugs. But, stubbornness and an odd affection for the dumb things has kept us from leaving them behind anywhere. I continue to move them outside each night.

Patti found this really cool bush in the yard of one of the homes that we passed (read "passed" as pulled into their driveway while trying to back up on the street...repeatedly). They remind me of Kiffa beads. Mainly that deep orangish-reddish shade of glass, but also the drop shape.

After about 30 minutes or so we managed to get back out to the street. Here are images of the building we worked so hard to get back to. Check out the ornate scrolling along the top of the tower.

And here is a shot of the town library.

And the great sign out in front of the fire house.

Driving towards the ferry that would take us across Lake Champlain into Vermont we drove through several lakeside towns. One of them was named Moriah. Kathy spotted the top of this building hidden down a road. Since we were still a bit shell shocked from our last innocent “turn down this road” adventure, I made Patti pull into a parking lot and I walked down the road. This building now houses the town offices of Moriah, but I imagine in its day it must have been a hotel of some sort. All I know is that I absolutely love it! It is for SURE one of my houses!

On to Vermont. As we were taking the ferry across Lake Champlain you could just barely see this old lighthouse peeking out thru the trees.

We meandered along a two lane road past dairies and farms and huge grassy fields. Thru little towns with general stores and folks hanging around chatting with each other next to a piece of farm equipment. My imagination hopes the folks who live in this area are as peaceful and calm as their farms look.

I didn't realize I was taking a photo of some folks taking a photo of this beatiful setting until I opened the image here to resize it.

We were headed for the Ben & Jerry factory tour! It was a lot of fun. And we left with way more ice cream than a motorhome freezer knows what to do with! Ice cream for dessert as often as you like? Sure, sounds good to me! =o)

After we left this area we begin driving through more beautiful trees and mountain roads. It seemed like every corner we turned was another postcard worthy view. I just cannot seem to get enough of them!

As opposed to the 1st abnormal school? ;o)

We stayed that night in Eastern Vermont. The next morning would be a short drive through New Hampshire and then on to Maine headed for the coast.

The terrain slowly changed from that riot of fall foliage colors to more green the closer we got to the shore.

Patti was totally focused on getting her lobster dinner that she had been waiting for. Our campground directed us to a restaurant called Bufflehead (this is a type of duck, apparently) but sadly, they didn't have steamed lobster, just lobster pie. So we had a seafood pasta instead with the intent of heading to a different location for lunch the next day for lobster. This is an image of the Atlantic from the backyard of a house across the street from the restaurant. I'm sure they didn't mind. ;o)

I did a little research online and learned that a place called Nunan's had great deals on lobster and came highly recommended by folks from all over the world. We headed that way...only to discover they didn't open until 5pm. Poor Patti. She pouted for a bit and we decided to just go have a light lunch and then head back to Nunan's for dinner. We soon discovered that many of the restaurants in the area close “for the season”...or in other words, around the beginning of October. =o/ Finding lunch was not easy but we eventually found a hot dog stand....along with the other 50 travelers needing lunch. This would be the 1^sttime in my life I've waited close to an hour for a hot dog. Will probably be the last time, too.

After lunch we drove around thru the small coastal towns in Southern Maine. There are certainly some beautiful homes on these roads. We also drove out to the York lighthouse.

Look! My house!!

Some cool yard art at a shop in one of the little towns.

I just keep thinking of Shawn saying "Does anybody know where the hell we are?" every time we drove by one of these signs.

Mine....just in case you were thinking of calling it!

Stunning white on white. The architecture is just amazing me every moment!

Finally time to head back to Nunan's for dinner. It certainly lived up to all the good reviews. This was only the second time in my life I had ordered a lobster. And since their special was for 3 lobsters that's what I got! Patti ended up taking my leftovers home for dinner the next night.

Lobster, lobster, lobster!

And homemade blueberry pie! Yum!

The next day we headed towards Cape Cod. We drove around the small towns along the shore and I found my house!

Then we headed towards Salem. There wasn't anywhere for us to park the motorhome so we just drove through town and then headed towards Boston. We stopped to see the John F. Kennedy memorial library and museum. The architecture of the building was amazing.

No photos allowed inside, but I was able to get this great shot of Boston from the pavilion.

Next stops...Hoboken (I'm not kidding!) And Washington, DC! See you there!

Hershey, Amish, Niagara Falls, Adirondacks

2011-10-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sadly, Patti came down with a stomach flu so Kathy and I spent a few days just bumming around Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. We didn't want Patti to miss anything so we just scoped out the area. Drove by Hershey's Chocolate World just to see how to get there, had a long lunch at a Panera Bread (great soup!), went to the grocery store and hung out around our campground.

When Patti was feeling better we got right back into our great trip. We had breakfast at Miller's Smorgasbord, an Amish area restaurant that has been around since 1929 and was pretty highly rated online. It was just OK for us. The ham was really good, and I had a mushroom omelet that was tasty, but a lot of the pre-cooked foods were kinda sub par. I had read up about another restaurant in the area called Dienner's. We had planned to go there for dinner, but sadly, they close at 6pm. On a Saturday night! LOL Oh well. We ended up down the road a bit at a place called Jennie's Diner. Really good, portions way too large, our waitress Sarah was great! If you're ever in this area I highly recommend you check out this diner.

Anywho...after breakfast we went to Hershey's Chocolate World. Sadly, my battery had died on my camera and I discovered this as I was walking in the door. =o(

But check out their website if you're curious. It was fun. We did a chocolate tasting adventure and learned a little about why various types of chocolates taste different. It was fun.

Then we headed back over towards Amish country. We went to Lititz and had the best soft pretzel I've ever had in my life at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery! Beautiful town. If we had more time we could have easily spent the entire day here. Then on to Intercourse, another quaint town, Blue Ball and then back to Ronks where our campground was. After dinner we hit the sack and slept like babies. Might have had something to do with all that chocolate!

The next morning we headed towards Buffalo, NY. We went to the Anchor Bar & Grill for wings, and they were just as good as we expected. Off to our campground which was in the town of Niagara Falls. And yes, every time I say Niagara Falls I following in my head with the words, “Slowly I turn, step-by-step” from the Three Stooges skit.

It has been overcast and rainy for several days now, which hasn't bothered me too much, but I had hoped it would clear up a bit for my first view of the falls. Sadly, it didn't but as you can see from all the pictures I took (and this is only about ¼ of them) it didn't take away too much from this amazing sight.

We took the Maid of the Mist boat ride which brings you right into the center of where the two falls come crashing down. The power generated by the amount of water crashing down is just amazing. There really is no explaining it...you just need to find a way to experience it for yourself. I was in total amazement.

Here are some of the images. A few from the boat, a few from the shore and the observation deck - which I thought I would be too chicken to walk out on, but after I survived the boat ride I felt a little fearless....for a few minutes anyway! I have to say I am really proud of myself that I didn't let my anxiety get the best of me and either keep me from going on the boat, or needing to take a pill which would have altered my experience. I enjoyed the exhilaration of it. But I won't lie, I also got really scared for a bit. =o)

Some beautiful flowers I spotted on the walk down to the boat.

The following are several shots I took of the falls from the boat.

You can see the air getting mistier the closer the boat gets to the falls. The intense power of the water actually pulls the boat about a little, and of course the wind generated by the falling water can be felt as you try to stand up straight on the boat.

This is a view of the observation deck as seen from the boat. Looks small from this angle.

Areas of the rock on the ramp back up to the observation deck have water seeping through. This beautiful moss and ivy could be seen in several places.

This is a view of the American Falls in the foreground and the Horseshoe Falls in the background (they're on the Canadian side of this area) from the observation deck.

These plants line the walkway towards the gift shop (aka the exit).

We saw several squirrels, including several black ones (my first time seeing one in person) all over the park. This little guy barely held still long enough for this quick shot.

We drove to Syracuse, NY after Niagara Falls but had a really hard time finding a campground. We considered staying in a hotel but for some reason decided to camp out in the Walmart parking lot. BAD idea. BIG mistake in judgment on our part. First of all it wasn't in the best neighborhood, so we were a little on edge about that. Then the noise. I guess some people find it amusing to stop their cars next to RV's in the parking lot that have all their curtains drawn and just sit there...for 5 minutes or more....directly next to the window. Or the folks who rev the engines of their diesel Hummers while they drive circles around the RV's. Add to this the numerous apparent drug deals that took place until well after 2am in this same parking lot. Oh...and the trains! Let's not forget the trains. I think there were at least 3 of them. Yes, you are right...I didn't sleep that night! LOL

We needed to get the oil changed in the RV. Another difficult task in this area for several reasons, but we finally found a place that would do it at 1. So we found a laundromat, grabbed a sandwich, got the oil changed and finally headed on our way towards the Adirondacks. We stayed just outside Watertown at Bud's Campground. Great place! Super nice guy. Here is the view from our campsite.

Today we drove across the Adirondacks mostly on Highway 3. An easy and stunningly beautiful drive which took us through several small mountain towns and villages, past sparkling lakes, rivers and streams and happily also past some amazing Autumn colors. I have at least 3 seed bead mixes I'd love to make using some of these colors now. Such stunning inspiration!

In between these amazing colors were glorious and majestic pine trees with their deep forest green hues and well as twinkling Aspens, some that had changed to golds, oranges and reds and others that were a bright lime green. All those colors! I was on overload. It made me feel very comfortable and very happy. Since I spend the majority of my life surrounded by beads in every color imaginable, I hadn't realized how much I was missing that. This drive filled that need very well.

BTW...I have not altered these images except to resize and in a few of them I cropped them a bit. These colors are exactly what my camera picked up. Amazing, huh? I know for folks who live in areas where the leaves change colors it might not seem so awe inspiring. To me it was like magic.

Tomorrow we start making our way towards Kennebunkport, ME and a lobster roll with my name on it! I'm really looking forward to the drive through Vermont as I heard the colors are crazy amazing there right now.

See you again in a few days!

Hwy 81 into Hershey, PA

2011-09-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

On the way out of Nashville I spotted my home! Wouldn't it be fun to live in a place like this? The tree-lined driveway is about ¼ mile long.

On to Knoxville to visit with a family friend.

After we left Knoxville we headed towards our campground for the night. It ended up being just outside the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. YAY! What a bonus. We hadn't planned to head in that direction, but the available campground took us that way. It was a bit of a drive after a long day, and we couldn't see much of anything when we arrived, but we woke up in a beautiful setting nestled in the woods along the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains.

After showering and getting the RV ready to go we hit the road and headed into the park towards Gatlinburg, TN. What a beautiful drive. Below are some of the images that I managed to get. I was so in awe that I kept forgetting to take photos. Silly girl! But I did buy some beautiful postcards at the park gift shop. Along with some Smoky Mountain Blackberry Jam. So good!

We stopped in Gatlinburg for lunch and a quick walk down the touristy main street. Lunch was really good. Tennessee BBQ at a place called Calhoun's. The ribs are amazing. They've won several awards for them, but to be honest the side dishes were what really blew me away. Tennessee corn puddin' (like a corn souffle but not too puffy) and Spinach Maria (creamed spinach with cheese on top that is browned under the broiler...yum, yum!) They have the recipes on their website and I fully intend on making these dishes for my family when I get home.

The town is very touristy but also had a sweet quaintness to it.

While walking a few blocks down the street it started raining really hard. But it was so warm out I actually welcomed getting soaked. I am having a little trouble with the heat and humidity. Basically I whine several times a day while I feel as if I'm melting.

As we headed out of town towards our campground in Bristol, TN we spotted an 8 mile drive of area Arts & Crafts. What a wonderful experience. There are a little over 100 artisans along this drive that sell either out of their homes or out of homes that have been turned into artisan studios. I wish I had days to spend here stopping at every single place. Luckily for my pocketbook the RV couldn't fit into most of the driveways. I did manage to stop and find a really cool gift for Shawn made by a guy who does a little leatherwork, a little woodwork and is just learning to chip arrowheads. Loved it!

The next morning we headed towards Hwy 81, a beautiful scenic drive thru the Appalachians and the Shenandoah Valley which runs along the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A short detour on to Hwy 11 which zigzags back and forth under and around Hwy 81 gave us this great view of Pal's hotdog stand. Tons of ducks hanging out in the parking lot. I got a huge glare from the owner when I tossed a little snack out to them. Ooops! Sorry!

PS...note the men standing in the french fries? I didn't even notice this until tonight when I adjusted the image for the web. LOL

We stopped at a great little diner out in the middle of nowhere called Casey's and I had one of the best hamburgers ever! Along with handcut fries. Kathy had a grilled chicken sandwich and Patti had catfish. All really tasty.

Sadly, we got lost for a good 40 minutes trying to find our way back to the highway. Neither the RV's GPS nor the one on my phone could manage to figure out where we were. Hopefully someday they will get a better signal in this area as I think Casey's Diner deserves more patrons!

We drove to Harrisonburg to have dinner before heading to our campground. Here are a few images from this town.

An old Piggly Wiggly building.

An ornate Catholic church.

A close-up of those amazing doors!

Hey look! Another one of my houses! They're everywhere!

Finally back on Hwy. 81 we drove until nightfall and got to see a pretty amazing electrical storm. Again, an amazing site for a CA girl. We have lightning once in awhile, but it looks nothing like this type of lightening. Some of the flashes lit up the entire sky a rosy pink shade. Very pretty.

Up the next morning and back onto Hwy 81 towards Hershey, PA. We drove in 4 states in about a 30 minute time period. Something totally amazing for a girl from NorCal, where it takes a good 4 ½ hours minimum to get out of CA. We went thru Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. How fun! Then all of a sudden we were in Scotland! LOL

We ended up needing to stop at an RV repair place in Harrisburg, PA for a few minor fixes and actually spent the night in their parking lot that night as the repairs ran until late in the evening. It is part of the service they offer. They are open 24/7!

It stormed pretty heavy with lots of wind and rain and because we were parked on asphalt we could really feel the RV moving in the storm. Flash flood warnings in the area but we were safe where we were located.

Sadly, the campground we wanted to stay at tonight had some flooding issues and couldn't take our reservation. We're hoping to stay there tomorrow night after our visit to Chocolate World (doesn't that name just sound awesome!?) tomorrow.

Here is a view of the sunset from the campground we're at tonight.

And here is dinner! Yum, yum!

Off to indulge in copious amount of chocolate tomorrow! I better get a good nights sleep!

See you all again as soon as I can make time.

Nashville Tennessee

2011-09-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

Friday, September, 23^rd, 2011. I arrive at the Nashville, Tennessee International airport and my sisters are there to pick me up in my new home. This is my first view of the RV. It's a nice one with high 7' ceilings, an important feature for a family that hovers around 6' tall and more.

Off we went to dinner and I was starving. I had just had a 12 hour travel day with a single veggie sandwich from an airport vendor I'll spare you the details, but just suffice it to say that I had trouble deciphering some of those veggies! Traveling is always an adventure!

After dinner we pulled into our space at the Two Rivers RV park just around the corner from the Grand Ole Opry.

Saturday, September 24^th, we started the first day of our journey together. Remember my sisters had started this trip from San Diego, so they had already been on the road for a little over a week. First we had a very HUGE breakfast at a Cracker Barrel, then Patti decided I should drive today! Nothing like tossing me right in there! LOL Actually, I have quite a bit of experience since I've been driving our truck to shows for so many years. We drove around the Grand Ole Opry. We had looked into getting tickets for the venue there this weekend, but since it was Dolly Parton it has been completely sold out for a while. Impressive building as was the Opry hotel across the way.

Next stop was Centennial Park in Nashville, a beautiful park and right in the center is a replica of the Greek Parthenon. Since there was nowhere for us to park the RV I just pulled into the bus area and ran up the steps and down into the grass to take this photos. Pretty impressive. I would have loved to have gone inside to see everything. Like its predecessor in Greece, the Parthenon in Nashville faces east. In antiquity this would allow light to come into the building as the sun came up and the doors were opened.

Here is a close-up of some of the ornate structures on the building.

Thebronze doors weight 7.5 tons each. They measure 24' high, 7' wide and 1' thick. There are two sets (4 doors total) of these enormous doors in the Parthenon. This makes them the largest set of matching bronze doors in the world. The Parthenon doors in antiquity were only slightly lighter and were wooden with a bronze overlay.

This is a close-up image of one of the decorations on the door.

I lucked out as there happened to be a craft faire happening at the park that day! How fun! There are few things I enjoy more than seeing the wares of local arts and crafts folks. But just where would I find a place to park this beast? As we drove around the circular drive of the park I just happened upon about 4 parallel parking spaces really close to the faire. They were right next to a large mud puddle so I think most folks avoided them. They were perfect for me! Patti napped and Kathy and I walked around the faire.

After this we drove over to see the Belle Meade Plantation. A 30 acre historic site 6 miles west of Nashville. The centerpiece of the property is the Belle Meade mansion built in 1853.

I spotted this sundial on the massive lawn in front of the estate.

And over the side are the old dairy building (that they now store cases of wine in) and one of the slave quarters in the background.

And this is a replica of an old cabin on the plantation.

From there we drove to the Belmont Mansion. Belmont Mansion is the largest house museum in Tennessee and one of the few nineteenth century homes whose history revolves around the life of a woman: Adelicia Hayes Franklin Acklen Cheatham.

To end our evening we went to the Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater and had a buffet of overcook veggies drenched in butter, fried chicken, meatballs in a mushroom gravy, something smothered in BBQ sauce and Nilla Wafer pudding! All while watching past their prime country singers.

This image of a stunning willow tree in Centennial Park is for Shawn. Look how beautiful it is!

Today we head to Knoxville for a quick visit with an old family friend. Then we're On The Road Again.....

My Journey Begins

2011-09-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

I'm heading out the door in a few minutes. My bags are packed after at least 1/2 a dozen tries. I had to leave behind things I never thought I could live without....I just bribed myself that if I couldn't survive I could always go buy another. Odd how we can trick ourselves like that. It's like setting the clock back 10 minutes so you're always on time!

Because we'll be driving with the morning commute traffic (how do people do that every day!) we're needing to leave extra early to get me to the airport on time. But I don't mind, it will be over 2 hours alone in the car with Shawn. It will be nice to have that time with him just before I leave. I cannot even express how much I am going to miss him. And my kids! And my dogs! OK....no more of that! I don't want to start crying again.

SFO here I come! A short (hopefully) layover in San Diego then I'll be in Nashville by dinner time!

Shawn bought me a point and shoot camera as a gift for my trip, so I'll be sure to take some lovely photos of all the sites I'll be seeing to share with you all!

Talk to you soon!

All I need....

2011-09-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

If packing for a month long trip isn’t enough to convince me that I must have multiple personalities, I don’t know what will! Or even worse, I am beginning to feel like Navin from The Jerk. All I need is this book of matches, and this chair, and this thermos….

As I am preparing for this several thousand long mile journey with my sisters in an RV I am trying to determine what the best projects (beads, knitting, tangling, etc) as well as clothes to bring would be. I decided I am far too scattered today to even think of which projects to bring…ala Scarlett O’Hara, I’ll think about that tomorrow! However, I need to get my clothes situation in order. At the moment my entire king size bed as well as every open surface in my bedroom is draped with almost every article of clothing I own. What a mess! The only things I haven’t pulled out of the closet are my velvet show clothes….altho, now that I think about it, what if we go to dinner somewhere fancy one night? Argh!

Here is the tentative guideline of the part of this road trip I will be on:

Starting September 23^rd, I will fly to Nashville, TN from there our itinerary is roughly:
Kingston, TN
Knoxville, TN
Appalachian Trail
Bedford, VA
Hagerstown, MD
Hershey, PA (CHOCOLATE!)
Buffalo, NY
Niagara Falls
Albany, NY
Keene, NY
Concord, NH
Somersworth, NH
Kennebunkport, ME
Salem, MA
Boston, MA
Nantucket, MA
Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Providence, RI
Hoboken, NJ (Don't ask!)
Baltimore, MD
Washington, DC
Chesapeake Bay, VA
Chantilly, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
Alligator River, NC
Wake Forest, NC
Seagrove, NC
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA (Hello, Paula Deen!)
Daytona Beach, FL
Orlando, FL
Miami, FL
The Keys
Naples, FL
The Everglades
Tallahassee, FL
Sometime around the end of October I will return home to Cotati, CA

Now…just what does a girl (plus size at that!) pack for so many different weather variations when all she can bring needs to fit into one suitcase? I am laughing hysterically at the moment as I contemplate this thought over and over again.

I imagine I could just bring 2 skirts, 2 pants, 2 tanks, 2 shirts, 1 sweater, tons of undies and a few pairs of socks along with several rolls of quarters so I can hit up the Laundromats often.

Any packing advice? I have only 12 days left and I can’t find my bed!

My Best Friend...

2011-09-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I have been together almost 30 years. He jokingly said last night, “I think I’ve been with you longer than I’ve been with myself!”

As I’m preparing for this road trip with my sisters, that is planned to be about a month long, I started to feel anxiety about being away from my family. My husband. My kids (we do Sunday dinner almost every week). My dogs. The anxiety kept building until I had to look it in the face and figure out what my big problem was. In the almost 30 years that Shawn and I have been together, the longest we’ve been apart was 10 days. And we still talked to each other every single day. Out of approximately 10,579 days together the longest stretch apart was 10. Dang!

I imagine for some folks they might look forward to the break. And I’ll be honest, a little break is nice now and then…from anything! But for me a day or two is plenty. Shawn is my best friend. He’s my husband, my springboard, my biggest cheerleader, the person who I trust to go to for advice about life, my art, if these pants make my butt look big…pretty much everything. After 10,000+ days I’ve come to depend on him for so many things in my day to day life. Some might analyze that and question whether it’s healthy or not. All I know is that it works for both of us. We actually like each other as people, trust each other, we have a good time together. We see things the same way (well, for the most part), we enjoy doing a lot of the same things and if there is something one of us enjoys that the other doesn’t we either compromise or go our separate ways for a few hours.

So, can I handle being physically apart from him for that many days? I have an anxiety disorder. Will my anxiety rear its ugly head and cause problems? Will my sisters know how to handle me if my anxiety gets too intense? Will I be able to deal with it? Shawn is my grounding source if I have a major panic attack. Can I have one without being able to physically touch him to help make it stop? I have absolutely no clue at all.

I do know that Shawn, while also sad and stressed that I’ll be away for so long, is fully supporting that I take this trip. It really is a once in a lifetime adventure for a gal like me. He is concerned about how well he’ll be able to handle the business alone for that long. I’m only a phone call away, I say. We reassure each other whenever one of us gets slammed with the reality of what I’m about to do…in just over 2 weeks from now! What a beautiful trip it will be! I so wish I could do it with him.

I haven’t booked my return flight home yet. It somehow eases my stress to know that I can come back home sooner if I need to. My best friend, Shawn, suggested that to me. He really knows me very well. He always has my back.

Caught up in a Tangle!

2011-09-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've been dealing with some painful back issues lately. As a way to escape from the pain without over medicating myself I thought to do a little drawing. Something I used to do in what seems like now a past life! Actually from about the age of 8 to 20. After I got pregnant and started my family it seems the drawing just got set on a back shelf and forgotten about.

So, when I first picked up a pen and paper I just sat and stared at the blank whiteness of it for a good 10 minutes. Nothing came. I guess I thought it would be like riding a bike and I would just sit down and art would spew forth from my fingers. LOL Not the case!

After 10 minutes I finally managed to draw a little made up cartoon character I used to draw. I've drawn him a 1000 times, so it took all of 60 seconds out of my day. Not what I was after. I was searching for something that would let me immerse myself in the pen and paper, let the creativity flow and help me escape the pain for awhile. Something other than my beads that I always turn to in times of need. Why no beads? Because at the moment I am stuck in a zone of needing to create for either classes or kits and my mental state of mind is not conducive to that. Trust me! I tried.

After dealing with the frustration of not having a single thought in my brain that I could draw, I remembered having seen a few beady friends talk about Zentangles. Basically, from what I knew, a way to doodle starting with a set of steps that would then allow you to experience the "zen" of drawing. Seemed silly to me...drawing was always zen-like for me. Why would I need to give it a name, or start in a certain sequence in order to get there? Why do I always have to question everything?

So, I googled and got 474,000 links! LOL Let's start at the first one! This took me to the Zentangle.com website. These are the folks who coined this term and the sequence of events. They have a plethora of information, lots of additional links, instructions, patterns, etc. Looks like fun! So, I took a trip to the craft store for a sketch pad and some nice pens. They didn't have the pens suggested (Sakura Pigma Micron) and their sketch pads were all generic. But as I was walking thru the store I spotted some stiff paper cutouts in fun shapes like leaves and butterflies. Maybe I could just draw on one of those? I headed to my local art supply store, Riley Street, for the pens.

When I got home I was really anxious to get started. But in normal fashion for me, I tend to not follow the "rules" (actually they are just guidelines, but if they act like a rule I seem to run in the opposite direction). This is something that many times in life has gotten me in big trouble, and other times has allowed me the freedom to discover things I love. So...I don't fight it! LOL

Here is my first (finished) "zentangle" which isn't really a zentangle but more of doodling the zentangle fashion on paper.

I actually started doodling on this leaf shape first, but the butterfly shape was sitting out on my table and it kept screaming my name. So I set the leaf down, completed the butterfly and then returned to this leaf...my second "zentangle"

I promised myself that I would try to draw on un-shaped paper for the next one, trying to follow the guidelines. I got close! I didn't do the dots in the four corners thing, but I did draw in my sketch book for my third zentangle.

I am totally experiencing the zen-like state of mind I was searching for. It is a wonderful escape!

I am planning a long road trip with my sisters Kathy & Patti to start later this month. I can't wait to see what shapes I see while driving around the country that I can add to my drawings!

I also plan to blog about this journey, so if you'd like to follow along while I travel from Nashville, TN up to the northern most corners of the US and down to Florida, check back here often!

~ Beki

Who will love my things?

2011-07-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

“Her name was Sooz”. “She died from brain cancer”. “She loved her husband, her dogs, beads, rubber stamps, paper arts, glitter, costume jewelry, knick-knacks, repurposing old unwanted treasures, and she had great taste in clothes”. “I am most certain she would be very pleased to know how happy you are to now be the proud owner of this”. “No, her husband will be moving soon”. “Yes, the artwork is very eclectic”. “She most certainly had a blast creating in that room”.

These and many similar sentences are ones that I repeated 100 times over yesterday. At first, almost painfully, then as the day moved on, they became almost liberating for me, like a growth of spirit and mind.

But in the back of my mind my brain was processing my emotions about it all. What will happen to my stuff when I go? Will my family know how much this is worth? Or how special that thing is? Will they make sure those two things are sold together? Those two pictures really should stay together…

Susan Yasinitsky Hara was an online friend. I met her many years ago (15 maybe) online on rec.craft.beads, one of the original newsgroup locations where beader’s congregated to visit and build online friendships. She was also a very good customer. Sooz, as she was known famously for, was an outspoken, opinionated, caring and very social member of that newsgroup. Abrasive at times (many times actually), very vocal in her opinions, especially if it were in regard to something she felt strongly about, but also very loving and caring of her friends. She gave freely of herself on many levels. Sometimes so much that it was a detriment. But, some people are just that way; they burn bright and hot, passionate and intense. Many times those are the stars that burn out way too soon.

That was the case with Sooz, I believe. She had a lot of life in her, many things she wanted to create, so much invested in the tools and supplies to create them, such a love of life and things she surrounded herself with. But sadly, cancer overcame her and that intensity that defined her, the blazing light that she was, burned out way too early.

The Bead Society of Northern California was contacted and members were asked if they could help to oversee the sale of her estate. It took several members weeks to pour over all of the beads, jewelry, altered art supplies and the myriad of other craft and art supplies that Sooz had collected. Plus her personal items like clothes, jewelry, and household items. The sale was to be held on Saturday, July 30th and Sunday, July 31^st in Berkeley, CA.

Knowing one of these Bead Society boards members as I do, when she emailed me about some of the items in the estate, I could “hear” the tone in her voice…she was overwhelmed. While I have some deadlines knocking on my head, I felt I could spare a day to go help get the remaining items prepped and ready for sale. So on Friday I drove down to Berkeley and met her at the house. Walking through the door it was easy for me to fully understand why she sounded so overwhelmed in her email. Oh my goodness! The amount of jewelry bits and pieces that had been collected was astonishing. They had been sorting for weeks, and many, many weeks would still be needed for a dozen or more sorters to come close to getting it completely sorted out. But the estate sale was beginning the next day! What to do? What to do?

My ability to “take charge” rose to the surface and I became a general. Spouting orders of move these here, put those outside, bring those inside, tables along this wall, and let’s begin to make some grab bags! We worked almost 12 hours straight, stopping quickly for two very welcome meals provided by Sooz’ husband Kevin. Still, when our muscles ached beyond being able to ignore them any longer and our brains got so muddled that words no longer came out properly and our eyes were so fuzzy from exhaustion that we had no clue what we were looking at any longer, we had to call it a night and hope we had prepared enough for what was to come the following day.

Kevin was feeling the stress, the frustration of losing his wife way too early in life, the anxiety of strangers coming in to his home, the anger at people touching her things, taking her things away. I did what I could to assure him that the people who would come would also be in love with all of these things and they would cherish them as she did. Or was I assuring myself? He left before they sale began. Off to spend the day somewhere else….anywhere else.

Even more emotions to process for me. Is this what my husband would do if I go first? I would hope so. No need to martyr yourself in this scenario. Let it go. Leave while it happens. Don’t torture yourself by watching people touch her things, his things, their things. He needs the money that will be raised from this sale and that is the focus he needed to keep in the forefront of his mind. Don’t let the emotional attachment to “things” blind you to the reality of life. This is for the best. It really, truly is.

8am on Saturday I find myself hustling about as quickly as I can to make sure things are displayed in a way that will make it easy for people to shop, pricing larger items one by one, putting signs above huge baskets and drawers full of the 1000’s of grab bags we created, stacking tray upon tray of rubber stamps, 1000’s of rubber stamps! And setting up household items so they would be easily seen and hopefully admired enough by the estate shoppers that they would want them all.

9:45am. The line of 100 or more is down the street (and will remain this way until well past 1pm). They are excited to shop. There are sure to be treasures. The emotions well up inside of me again. Are they sharks? Are they here to feed? To paw over someone else’s belongings without any concern or care for them? Is their main objective to buy a dead woman’s treasures for fractions of what it is really worth? Oh how horrible those thoughts are.

When I die, I don’t want bottom feeders coming with their claws to grab at my things. I cherish my belongings, they are mine. I give thought to everything I own. My beads are precious to me only after my family. Will anybody know how special that little box that sits on my dresser is to me? How cherished the contents are to me? Will anybody care?

10am. I needed to push those emotions down. This is no time for these kinds of thoughts. My friends need me to help them with this task they have taken on. Kevin needs this sale to happen. He needs this money. He needs to be free from these items. He has no use for beads, or rubber stamps, or women’s clothes.

The line at the door needed to be monitored as only groups of people could be let in at a time. The house could only accommodate so many at once. In they came, excitement exuding from them. And I was wary of them. Be respectful of her treasures please. Be respectful.

And much to my astonishment they were! There was very little “dickering” over prices. I could see people pick up a little trinket and hold it gently in their palm. Look at it carefully and appreciate it for what it was. Pick a book off the shelf and finger through the pages, admiring the quality of the book, of the pages, how they had been kept in such good condition. Hold clothing up to them and appreciate the quality of the fabric, of the stitching; the colors and style. Laugh as they looked through the 1000’s of rubber stamps, how some were comical, others a bit risqué, other still obviously custom created. Be overwhelmed at the abundance of the collection.

My emotions settled. Everything was going to be okay.

I spent the remaining several hours answering questions about beads, jewelry supplies and craft supplies as well as giving the bits of information I knew about Sooz as most every person I came into contact with throughout the day asked questions about her. Why? I am not certain. Curiosity? Does it matter to know who owned this item before you? But I am certain that they listened intently. A few would have tears immediately well in their eyes when I would tell them what she died from. Or that her husband was still here, but without her. And all of them, seriously every single person who I dealt with immediately cherished the things they just bought. They were here because they too love beads, jewelry, art supplies, paper, good quality clothing, and artwork.

And so it passes from one person to the next. These little items that someone carefully chose, loved, admired and displayed with care and attention pass on to the next person who will do the very same thing.

Sooz, you would be happy to know that your treasures have gone on to new homes where they will still be loved, used to create, displayed to be admired, worn to flatter, and owned to comfort.

Oh, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to reflect upon my own possessions. My thoughts about what will become of my treasures. These beads that I am surrounded by, that I love so very much whether they are expensive collector’s items or a tube of seed beads. They will always be treasured by someone. Only those who really want them will have them. Only those who truly appreciate their beauty will bother to come and get them. And when I am gone and no longer have a need for earthly items like that, someone else will get the same joy they bring to me.

Bead & Button Show 2011

2011-06-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hope you enjoy all the amazing creations from the folks who entered their work into the 2011 Bead Dreams competition. Shawn did a great job taking photos through the glass! He also tried hard to get the name placards for the piece in the photo, but as you'll see, some of them are a bit out of focus. The camera was also much more interested in the beads, beadwork, and artistic creations. =o)

At the end are the wonderful creations by our beading friends from Japan!

Enjoy!

Until next year....

Japanese Beadwork Exhibit

2010-06-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

What a joy it was to see this exhibit!

Beadwork from the Bead & Button Show 2010

2010-06-20T15:21:00.001-07:00

The show was beautiful this year!

This year I tried hard to capture the name tags that accompany the beadwork. If any tags aren't showing or only show partially, my apologies. I took the shot of the hall with the displays before the show began. I took the photos of the beadwork after the show had opened and lemme tell ya....it is NOT easy getting women to move out of your way when they are gazing lovingly upon beautiful beadwork! As such, some photos may be at odd angles! =o)

I hope you enjoy browsing some of the amazing beadwork that was on display. I know I certainly did! Congrats to all the entrants!

The Bead & Button Show celebrated their 10th anniversary this year. Prior to that the show was called Embellishments and was organized by a different company.

The end!

I feel loved!

2010-05-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, May 15th, was the NorCal Bead Society Bazaar. A wonderful show held each Spring at the Oakland Marriott convention center.

And one of two times during the year when I'm assured of getting to spend a few minutes with some online friends who train up from the Fresno area. One of those friends is Arline Lewis.

Arline is a talented and prolific beader and a wonderful friend. Be sure to check out all her amazing beadwork on her blog.

This year, when Arline came into our booth to give me my long awaited hug, she had something else with her as well. A beautiful gift bag with huge flowers on it and bright orange tissue paper peeking out the top. I certainly wasn't expecting a gift! How sweet is that! I also wasn't expecting how quickly this gift would bring me to tears. I am such a wuss!

I have volunteered on the board of Layne's Legacy - Beading For A Cure since it began in 2002. And every year up until this year, I also supported the cause and the wonderful beaders who donate so much of their time and talent by bidding on several of the projects when they are put up for auction. Sadly, last year, eBay told us that if we sat on the board for this charity we would not be allowed to bid on any of the items. Something about shill bidding, I guess. Which, I suppose if you were a dishonest person would be an option in your life, but it is certainly not an option in my life. I truly want to win those items and my studio is proof positive of that as I am surrounded by more than 20 items I was able to win from previous years.

Those wins mean so many things to me. That I get to support the artists who create such wonderful pieces of beadwork. That my money goes into the pool to be donated in Layne's name to the NCRRA each year. But also that I get to reward myself for all the time I donate to this cause. Unfortunately, all those things were taken away when eBay said we could no longer bid. How sad!

When the beadwork began to arrive, I was just heartbroken seeing all those wonderful projects people had created knowing not one of them would be mine.

But, my champion arrived in the form of a redheaded sweetheart, when Arline handed me that gift bag. Here is what was inside.....

Ellen Chasse's framed Dragonfly! One of the items I was lusting after soooooo badly!

I felt the tears welling up instantly. I tried real hard to hold them back....but it was futile! They welled up so quickly and just spilled onto my cheeks before I could take a second breath. I was so beautifully touched by such a thoughtful and generous gift.

Thank you, Arline! You are a kind, generous, talented, thoughtful, caring, compassionate, beautiful, strong woman and I am honored to call you my friend.

I wonder how many typos there are in this post. Do you know how hard it is to see the monitor through tears!

Free Shipping!

2010-04-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I recently spent a few weeks photographing, editing, re-editing, and creating a database for over 200 new colors of Japanese seed beads to add to the website!

So to honor all that hard work, and everyones patience while we went through the process, we have offered Free Shipping on domestic orders from 4-18-10 thru 4-25-10!

Hope you take advantage of this deal! With the increase in shipping costs it turns out to be quite a good savings for our customers!

The light was NOT left on....

2010-02-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I travel a lot for
business. I've stayed in 100's of different hotels. Of course,
you wind up picking some favorites; comfy mattress, good continental
breakfast, roomy, great shower, easy parking, nice staff, etc.

I have also stayed in a few Motel 6's, generally out of necessity
in that they are the only horse in town. A couple of them weren't
bad. One was an old Comfort Inn that had changed hands, so the
beds weren't too bad. Most have the feel that you've walked into
an upgraded cardboard box, and the walls generally aren't much
thicker. I stayed at one where I had to get the moving pads out
of the truck and dump the contents of two suitcases onto the mattress
to make it soft enough to consider laying on. I swear it was
a slab of concrete that they had thrown the barf colored, smoke
smelling, and paper thin comforter over.

Speaking of smoke smelling....if the room is a smoking room, the
ashtray is right side up. If the room is non-smoking, the ashtray
is turned upside down with a no smoking symbol on it. WTH? LOL

Aside from the one I'm about to tell you
about, the worst one we checked into was just a wee bit too close
to a truck stop area. We checked in anyway as we were exhausted.
First things first, I pulled down the sheets. Then I turned
around and left! I'll spare you the details.

Onto my most recent Motel 6 experience.
As usual we're on the way to a show. Tucson Best Bead Show in
this case. We got a late start (common) and so we needed to make
up time by driving later than we like to. This basically just
means we drove until we were ready to pull over on the side of
the road and kill each other. And, as luck would have it, all
the rooms in the town on our route were booked. But guess what
was available in North Los Angeles? Yes, you're right! A Motel
6. The one with the sign blinking in and out, even! Oh joy!

We checked in, asked for a room not facing
the freeway (because this wouldn't be common sense to offer),
pulled our truck around to the back and parked. As I stepped
out of the truck a security guard was no more than 1 ½
feet behind me. In a weird Norman Bates kind of voice he says,
"You can't park here". I about jumped out of my skin
at the sound of a voice behind me. I turned to see a vacant eyed
man. I said, "Excuse me?" "You can't park your
truck here" in the same monotone voice.

Shawn came around the truck and conversed
with the security guard and discovered that even though there
were over 100 open parking spaces, at 1am, this guy wanted us
to park our truck out on the street, "Where the truck parking
is". Yeah, that is NOT gonna happen buddy! About ½
my business is inside that truck. I am in North LA along side
a major interstate. The truck will either be parked right outside
my door, or directly in front of the lobby.

After speaking with the hotel clerk, who
didn't like to hear me say, "I'd like my money back",
the truck wound up parked directly in front of the lobby.

We get our overnight bags and paraded around to the other side
of the motel to our room. I notice now an older model Cadillac
with an intense bright gold paint job, low-profile tires and spinner
rims parked a couple of spaces down from my door. Lovely!

We unlock the door to the cardboard box,
walk into the stale smoke smelling non-smoking room and prepare
to get what little sleep I think will come my way.

As I am opening my luggage to get the
air-freshener, I hear a small dog begin to bark, a yapping kind
of Chihuahua bark. Then another joins in, then a third. Yap,
yap, yap, yap, yap. But I don't hear a sound from the owner trying
to hush them. Maybe they'll stop soon? 10 minutes later the
dogs stop yapping. I have now washed my face, brushed my teeth,
laid down a blanket over the bedding, fluffed my own pillow and
proceeded to fall about a foot down into the "mattress".
It seems the box spring was broken. This will make for a nice
backache…I just can't wait!

The second I turn off the light bulb….not
the light, the light bulb, I hear a deep male voice outside, then
a second, then a third. The drug deal begins. It takes about
5 minutes. One of them returned to his cardboard box, the other
two got into a car, slammed both doors and drove away. The second
the car door closed the three yapping dogs started in again.

Shawn let out a small chuckle and I turned
to him with a look that basically said, "We are not amused",
channeling Marie Antoinette I am sure.

It is relatively quiet now for about 10
minutes, until the next "customer" arrives. This time
the voices were much louder. Either the dealer was upset or the
buyer was, I couldn't distinguish, but I wasn't about to investigate
either.

The dogs began their serenade. This time
their owner was disturbed enough to get up and use the restroom.
Remember the thickness of the walls? Yeah, no details here either.

This chain of events proceeds in the same
manner for the next couple of hours, then a new set of fun enters
the mix. I call them ceiling walkers. Normally someone will
check in, be assigned to an upstairs room, walk around getting
ready for bed and then be done with it until morning. Not the
case with my special ceiling walkers. There were two of them,
and they walked, and walked, and walked their cardboard box for
over an hour. Maybe they had just visited Cadillac Man two doors
down just prior to checking in?

They finally calmed down enough to stop
walking, and then apparently switched their moods to one of a
little romance. The visual of their bed falling through the floor
of their cardboard box and landing on mine was a bit unnerving,
to say the least. Not to mention that no amount of pillows over
my head would drown out the constant squeaking of the mattress
and floor boards. Thankfully, for me at least, this didn't
last too long. However, it did rile up the dogs pretty good.

It is now 3:50 am.

It seems that Cadillac Man's hours of
operation end around 4am, as his last visitor left the dogs barking
at about 4:15. Finally…a little quiet. Well, except for
my wonderful husband snoring loud enough to wake the dead next
to me. But I have learned, after 27 years, to tune that out.

Blissful sleep has now filled my brain.
Ahhhhhh

4:45 am, the ceiling walkers seem to be
in a big hurry to leave, but before they can leave they must walk
for 20 minutes. And of course, the dogs must bark at their walking.
This in turn caused their owner to need to use the bathroom again.

SLAM!! I've heard the sound every single
time I've been stupid enough to stay at a Motel 6. It is the
sound of a door with no cushion hinges closing as someone exits
their room. The walls and windows shake, the plastic bottle of
non-descript shampoo/conditioner falls into the tub, and in this
case, the dogs bark.

Maybe I should start crying? No, that
won't change the situation. It might release a little of my frustration,
but it's not worth the effort at this point.

So, the ceiling walkers and the dogs and
their gassy owner have left the building now. Phew…maybe
a little rest will come my way!

5:30 brings light beaming in through the
crack in the plastic drapes and like a laser beam it lands directly
on my face and…..a rooster crowing! A rooster crowing?
In North LA? No way. I'm delusional. The lack of sleep has
made me nutty. The pillow smashed over my head all night long
has deprived my brain of enough oxygen to actually think coherently.

No, it is true. There is a rooster crowing.
And crowing, and crowing and crowing.

Oh My God! I give up! I toss my covers
off, and proceed to haul myself out of the hole I've been wedged
into in my mattress. Stomp over to the bathroom, flip on the
light switch….flip on the light switch…..flip ON….I
can't believe it. The FREAKIN' light is burned out!

Yo, Tom Bordett, I would like YOU to personally
come change this light bulb!

I turn on the light in the "vanity"
area so I can see without breaking my neck in the bathroom, then
I turn on the water in the shower where it proceeds to drip out
of the faucet. Did I not turn it all the way? No, I turned it
all the way. All the way water pressure is equal to someone pouring
a glass of water over your head.

I turn it back off, take a standing bath
in front of the vanity sink, brush my teeth, get dressed and am
out the door in 2 ½ minutes. I need to get out of here!

As we walk around to the front of the
building where I pray our truck is located so I don't wind up
in prison for murdering a security guard, I notice on the other
side of the wall the roof a barn and other outbuildings. It appears
we were lucky enough to stay right next door to the last remaining
farm in North Los Angeles. How special! BTW, the rooster is
STILL crowing. Every living thing, with the exception of Cadillac
Man is wide awake, you can shut the #%*& up now!

A 500+ mile drive through the desert and
we arrived in Tucson. I was a little grumpy…just a little.

What's that you say? It must be fun getting
to travel all over and do shows? <blink, blink>

Seriously, I can't imagine myself doing
anything other than this! =o)

Whimbeads New Year Sale

2010-01-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

Ringing in the New Year with a Special Sale!

Special offers good from
Jan. 1st, 2010 to Jan. 8th, 2010

Click here for full details!