22 years of love

We were engaged in Guadalajara in the summer of 1986 and married on July 4th 1987 22 years ago.



We played Whitney Houston and our three children ages 7, 9 and 10 joined us.

I'll hold you, and touch you
And make you my woman
And give you my love with sweet surrender
Tonight our hearts will beat as one
And I will hold you, touch you
And make you my woman tonight

There's something in your eyes I see
A pure and simple honesty

Hold me in your arms tonight
Fill my life with pleasure
Let's not waste this precious time
This moment's ours to treasure
Hold me in your arms tonight
We'll make it last forever
When the morning sun appears
We'll find our way together

I believe you when you say that you love me
Know that I won't take you for granted
Tonight the magic has begun
So won't you hold me, touch me
Make me your woman tonight

There's something in your eyes I see
I won't betray your trust in me

I'll hold you
And touch you
And make you my woman (make me your woman) tonight .

I was in love then and I'm in love now

In two weeks we celebrate our daughters wedding and I wish for her all the same happiness I've had. And I'm betting she's not playing Whitney Houston!

Mom

This is Mom



Could she be any cuter? This is the women who fell and broke her hip May 2nd and then had a heart event and suffered from dementia and now, completely well, anxious to get on with it....she's 86.

She is so excited to attend my Daughter Lucia's wedding and her primary concern,what to wear? so my dear friend Rosemary went shopping and brought Mom 6 choices. She choose this dress and then posed.

I'm in charge of jewely.....we'll see how it works out.

Thank you Rosemary, love you Mom, see you all soon!

I want one of these

When we were first married I made Mark promise that he would never make me retire and drive an RV around the country, but last night I saw one of these for the very first time and I could definitely change my mind. T@B Light weight enough to pull with my 4 cylinder suv, totally cute, I could so see myself driving around the country and having this to stay in. I think Maya would be in heaven, traveling with the parents.



Lest I begin to rant, simply said, she is not with us this trip because the airlines are charging $275 each way to put your small pet under the seat, which seems a tad outrageous to me. She's missing the wind in her hair, canoe boat rides with her papa, rolling in dead fish on the shore (an all time favorite of mine, I washed her 3 times in 2 days last year)

Last night we took an evening drive into town for Marketfest. I couldn't help but wander in the Sheepy Yarn shop where I picked up and knit on the community sock. I love knitting with really small needles, not sure why. It brings me back to my days of knitting Barbie doll clothes. This sock is made from a knitted fabric which is hand-dyed and then unraveled as you knit the sock. A fun concept and there is something so totally nurturing about a handmade sock.



for now it's back to the beads....

Minnesota

I have many memories of this peaceful view. Going back 24 years I've been coming to White Bear Lake. In younger days I water skied on this lake. You need to know that in general I am fearful about physical sports, anything fast and out of control I'm generally not good with. But for whatever reason I loved water skiing. There's no more motor boat however, only the pontoon boat for those leisurely meanderings around the lake.




The week will be full of beading, I have much to get done, starting with this sample of an ellipse diamond bracelet. Moving on to my daughter's wedding necklace, more ringlet samples for Miami and possibly Dallas, a new idea I have in mind, oh and my Beads Baubles and Jewels demo. Clearly I am delusional about time....



And for the curious, that is my very own Debra Smith needle case acquired on my trip earlier this year to the Alaska Bead Company. It is very beautiful and brings me back fond memories our our trip to Seward. To Linda and Debra thanks for the memories! And yes, I do try to color coordinate my projects and my tools!

Diamonds are Forever

A little peak of the new Beadwork project

I said it was little....This one will be in the December/January issue of Beadwork. This is the final in the year long series that I've done for Beadwork this year. Thanks to Melinda and Marlene for having me! Previously submitted, Beadwork readers still get to enjoy Aug/Sept, a pretty pearl necklace and bezeled triangular rivoli. Oct/Nov is a gathered fabric cuff with stunning square Swarovski sequins, and Dec/Jan, (sneak peak above is a crystal encrusted bracelet).

I enjoyed the process, the challenge, and being on the cover! Now I need to turn my design energies towards my teaching schedule. I have a new necklace in mind that I'll be working on while vacationing next week. I find new designs have a tendency to show up when I'm most relaxed without the pressures of all that needs doing in my home/studio environment.

It's June 30th and June gloom may be officially over, since I woke up to an actual sunrise out of my east facing bedroom window.



The view from my west facing studio, still a bit gloomy.

The End Result

of the mirror story....

My Engineer made all the measurements, attached a heavy duty bracket between studs and then we waited for manpower, which arrived in the form of Casey's boyfriend Brendan who thankfully was glad to help with the heavy lifting while Casey and I supervised....

Checking the measurements




Casey and Brendan in the mirror



In place, I love it!



On a bead note, the last designer of the year is done (well except for the direction writing, that comes next)Sneak peeks later.

Heather Trimlett is coming over to MY studio. I love Heather and Heathers beads, have forever, and now she lives near me and she's coming over and we're talking collaboration and we're going to exchange some ideas and some beads and begin!

So time to tidy up the studio a bit.

Mirror mirror on the wall

When we moved here 3 years ago our realtor gave us a gift certificate to a favorite store and we bought this mirror and hung it over the fireplace. It was never quite right, but you know how you get used to things after awhile.....and so we lived with it and then! I found the perfect mirror.

Having removed the bathroom medicine cabinet about a year and half ago, and covering the unsightly hole with, I kid you not, silver poster board with a mirror drawn on it, it was time for a change. I justified the new mirror by swearing we could use the old one in the bathroom. A 1940's pink and green bath with a now modern twist!



One might think I'd learn when shown the day's efforts not to say, 'you know I'd really like to paint this bathroom white, take the cabinet doors off, install glass shelves and trim with molding.' You'd think....but I can't help vocalizing all my design ideas. So far the man still loves me.

Here's Mark making room for the new one(I didn't marry an engineer for nothing). It's fabulous I can't wait.



The new mirror is too heavy for me to help lift, so we're waiting on a visit from daughter Casey and boyfriend tomorrow. We need muscle power. Monday should bring a picture of the new mirror in place. It is going to be a big dramatic impact.

Jeannette's bringing lamb chops over for dinner and we're going to Verandize. It's a verb she coined for socializing on the Veranda. One of my favorite things about Southern California (as opposed to Northern California) is the ability to enjoy a warm summer evening out of doors.

I bought yellow tulips for the occasion.



And now I best get back to beading my last 'designer of the year' Beadwork project. I'm late, not something I'm accustomed to. They're being patient, but it really is time to get it done and write the directions.