Surprise!

It was Mark's 64th birthday and for months I have been keeping the secret that kids and grandkids would all be joining us.  Keeping secrets for me is really hard work, not because I want to tell, but because I forget and am very apt to give it away.  I almost did several times but always recovered.....

and in the end, he was very very surprised.  I told him of an outing I had Saturday morning to visit friends, but assured him I'd be back to have lunch with him (it would have been very anti climatic if he decided to go out!)  We had all these elaborate plans for saying surprise, but I forgot the Maya was going to announce any visitors to the back veranda.....So as they all snuck up and Maya was making a ruckus Mark came to find out what all the fuss was about, and of course we all yelled surprise!  It took him a few minutes to regain his composure, he was so stunned.

It's rare when we can all get together....so we spent a fun weekend barbecuing, playing in the pool, hot tub, visiting the zoo, and playing Sam's all time favorite Rummy-O.  A friend gifted us the set years ago and Sam's visits are never complete without multiple games of Rummy-O.

The traveling bracelet went along, so here a few photos ....  Showing the beautiful Carribean fish!

and the turtle, in front of the turtle exhibit at the zoo, how fitting!

And here playing with beads in Grandmas studio!

Birthday weekend!

First off, for you who were reading yesterdays post....I added the wrong link to the traveling bracelets, apparently I am no longer as good at multi tasking as I used to be!  I was researching car seat rentals and accidentally pasted the wrong link...all fixed now, thank you for pointing it out, it was not an attempt at weird spam, just a lapse in paying attention.

And just to make you really crazy on the same post I didn't notice that the odd angle of the arm holding Emily Rose, the cute little Pomeranian modeling Ganesha, gave the appearance of a headless person.  I was so focused on her cute little face....so as not to freak you out, I've removed the photo and will pay better attention to her surrounding next time!

So with that behind us....

For Ellen who likes posts about beads, here is a photo of Two by  Two, a bracelet I did which will be in the Kalmbach book which is a publication of work by the Create Your Style Swarovski Amabassdors.

and now, the Birthday weekend....It is Mark's 64th, which of course brings to mind 'Will you still love me when I'm 64?' and the answer is yes!  We're going to have an amazingly fun weekend which I'll tell you all about next week!

Ganesha's last day

The second of the traveling bracelets to have come my way spent a lot of time at home in my studio....but yesterday we went on an outing.  To bead with friends for a few hours, at a lovely ocean view home on the coast.

 Hanging out on the gorgeous rubber vine

Enjoying an ocean view and breeze

 and adorning the decor

and serene among the beach rocks and shells

It was a most needed day of friendship and beads.  I love taking the opportunity to bead with others, and am appreciative of having found this group of talented beaders who have welcomed me into their midst.

Bead Soup

After years of observation, it has come to my attention that most beaders do not prefer this method of beading.  This is interesting to me, because the beads speak to me so much more clearly when they play together like this.  I see color combinations I might not have thought of, I'm am visually pleased as I work.  I love these little palettes laying about the studio.

Back in my freeform days I always mixed the beads which I thought had many advantages, portability being one of them.  I could put all of the beads in one container, rather then stopping to put them all back in their own little correct container.

The other bonus of working from this pile is that I have a built in 'repair kit' when I'm done.  I just spoon the remainder of the palette in a baggie and toss it in the drawer.  If I ever do have a failure it would likely be years from now, when I'd have no idea how to find the correct bead.

I've come to realize I'm in the minority, but old habits are hard to break....

A few of my favorite things - Swarovski Elements

It's probably no secret that I like my jewelry sparkly.  A quick look of my supply lists suggest a minimum of a gross of crystal in most designs....like Spirit Flight and Pacific Morning Glory

and lately I'm quite enamored with the Swarovski pearls....like in Cassandra

so today is an exciting day, Swarovski Elements has unveiled their fall 2013/2014 Innovations, and there are some stellar new colors and shapes!

I'm in love with the light turquoise and the Crystal Blue Shade, and in pearls the Crystal Grey is going to pair nicely in many of my pieces.

And the new shapes are brilliant as well, the leaf and the victory pendants and....well go have a look, it's all there on the Create Your Style Site.

Ganesha's travels

Or lack there of.  Seems that I am hunkered down inside these days.  We did go for a short ocean walk yesterday morning, but between workload and weather   (heat and humidity that we're not used to) we've been staying in.

I'm using the new bead chair daily and have almost finished a second Vienna.  I try to always make a second before sending a first one off for a sample.  Even with the best notes and photos, it's easy to miss a step if you don't have a sample in hand.

I've also started a  Helix bangle from the special pre-order pages of the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork book.   

From the Facebook page, it is described as

An exciting new book in process by Kate McKinnon and Jean Power, with Christina Vandervlist, Dustin Wedekind and Gabriella van Diepen. The theme of the book is geometric form, and even advanced beaders will find new ideas and inspiration.

 Pre-order your copy and you will be able to access all the fabulous patterns being shared. You might also consider liking the face book page where you will see stunning photos of pieces being made by tall the pre-order folks!

But back to Ganesha, my second in the Traveling Bracelets series, hanging out in the studio.

Also completed in my stay at home marathon beading sessions are ten beaded beads for a beaded bead swap I joined last year in a burst of enthusiasm.  I must say it did end up being fun, and I shipped them off yesterday for their travels to England to be matched up with their owners.  I will in return receive ten beaded beads, in my personally chosen color theme.  It will be my task to make my beads into a cohesive necklace and present photos by sometime in February.

The great outdoor camping adventure

Those who know me really well probably just spit out their coffee, or at least are thinking they've stumbled onto the wrong blog......I don't actually camp, but hey this was close.

The evening was very hot, there was a blue moon (second full moon in one month) and I hadn't yet put the sheets on our bed....

What better time to camp on the roof deck.  This house has a large roof deck.  The downstairs having 7 rooms and 2 baths and the upstairs having only 2 rooms and 1 bath, the rest of the space is an outdoor roof, surrounded on all sides by 3 1/2 foot walls and the art deco signature style short railing.

When we moved in we had dreams of making it a space to lounge and watch sunsets, but with a few other things on the list that took priority, well we haven't.  A couple of years back we did have to replace the roof which on a flat roof is quite important to the absence of leaks, but not necessarily pretty.  And the paint job of the previous owners was poorly done and shows most on the interior walls of the roof deck, but it's still a good spot for sleeping under the stars.

Fist we laid a canvas tarp, then the air bed, clean sheets and a duvet, 4 big comfy pillows to lean against, two nightstands, a lamp, a bottle of wine on ice, a candle, a bed for Maya,  an iPad, and our 'camp' was complete.

We listened to the Mocking Jay, third in the trilogy of the  Hunger Game series.  The moon rose and was beautiful, the stars came out and sparkled and I drifted off to sleep.

During the night I woke several times and wished I could turn out the light, it was very bright.  The covers became damp, but under them was still warm and cozy with a gentle cool breeze that we wouldn't have felt indoors.

It was a lovely evening, but I don't think I will be going camping anytime soon!