The joy of play!

Amazing what can be made with few glass rods! I'm playing around with the pleated look. I like how these glass beads came out.
I hope you are having fun doing what you love best!

Change is good.

 

 

I'm not sure where this blog is going...

I stopped working at the torch for a while and have only recently jumped back in making beads and selling them on Facebook private auction groups. So far it seems to work much better than selling on  Etsy.  I'm going to list a few things on Etsy too but will be doing most of my selling on the auction groups for the time being. Etsy keeps changing  and not always for the better or in favor of the artisans.

I'm archiving older posts while pondering where to go from here...

It's a sunny Tuesday here. I hope you're having some sunshine too!
Back soon...

San Antonio Murals

Last time my daughter was visiting here, my friend Irma took us on a tour of the murals on the West Side. We took some pictures, that I found again few days ago  while organizing the folders on my computer

 
 


These are from "La Musica de San Anto" mural project by a local artist David Blancas.

You can read more about the project here.

 Here is an interesting link if you are interested in creating a community mural.
Perhaps next time you're in San Antonio, you may want to take a tour of our San Antonio Murals.

Live Simply

These are the days where life seems to speed up with each passing moment!
So much to do... so many choices...
I have to remind myself to simplify as much as possible and make time to smell the wonderful flowers of life... Sometimes everything else has to wait!

 Have a great weekend doing what makes you happy!

I Love Signs of Early Spring!

I snapped this photo on my daily walk today. The sun was shining, the sky blue with a scattering of soft clouds. I love San Antonio winter. How is the weather where you are right now?

I’m back stocking my Etsy shop again. Let’s see how it goes after the break.
Happy weekend my friends!

Happy Fourth!

Celebrate Freedom!

It's a Blessing When....

... I'm being reminded  to act from love!

Donna Eden on Energy Medicine

I have used Donna's energy rebalancing exercises for years. She is great!

This is a quick, simple method she teaches in the video to help rebalance our energy when we are scrambled.
 It works for me so I'm sharing it.
~smiles

What's New

Made some beads for my pandora bracelet!  Listing some for sale in my Etsy shop.
I hope you are having a lovely weekend!

We will fall. We can rise.

What  brave determination! 

"It is not that we fall that matters so much, but how long we remain on the ground..."
~Anon.

I hope you are having a great day! xox

Pears and Photoshop

 

Kim Klassen has me addicted to Photoshop and Layers!!  I had a blast when I took her Skinny- Mini free workshop and learned how to work with layers and texture....well, still learning really... 
If you think you want to take her class, Photoshop Skinny-Mini eCourse May Registration is open and  class begins on May 16th.

In the photo above I used her wonderful free texture 'WarmSun' and layered it over four times. Applied 'Levels' and 'Text' as she taught in the class. Check the before picture below.

Kim is such a wonderful teacher that I signed up for her next class, 'Photoshop  Essentials eCourse' starting April 26th. I'm so looking forward to it.  Go take a peek if you want to know more about it.

Happy Spring!

The wind of change blew in literally this morning!  From hot and humid to a much appreciated cool wind.

 I have opened my front door and all windows to let in the change.  Moving forward!

I'm heading to the studio to melt some glass right now.  I hope you are having a nice Monday!

You Can Do It!

I've been busy juggling many creative learning curves!
I'm not one for taking it slow. I like to plunge in and truly immerse myself in whatever it is that I decide to learn by shutting off everything else for a while!
Sometimes I have my own doubts about my capabilites or talent.  Imagine how refreshing this video was for me when I discovered it as I was reading the many posts I have missed on the page of my  'flying lessons' group .

I  love this little spark!
Enjoy!

Ooops!!

I don't know how I forgot to mention this free 5 week interactive watercolor live online class!
I realised  some of you  from Flying Lessons might have wanted to sign up for the live classes  which started today!  Not to worry, there is still next Friday. Today was an introduction but if you want to follow through with the rest of the classes here is how you can  sign up for Molly's FREE webinar series, "Watercolor 101" and  "Learn about color, papers, brushes, drawing and composition, as well as many great painting techniques that will help you create your own special works of art."

http://creativelive.com/courses/watercolor101/

 Molly is  a great teacher I found. There is also a chance to win some art material from Daniel Smith for retwitting about the class!

Happy weekend !

How do we choose?

As a subscriber of TED talks, I sometimes get in my inbox a talk that takes me to a deeper level. Going through some changes and choice making  recently, I was  taken by what Sheena Iyengar shared in her research. I thought I would share it here. Enjoy!

Happy Weekend!

I'm off to core some beads with my little coring machine!
I used to core my glass beads by hand, a much more laborious and sometimes unhappy experience when the occasional bead would crack under the hammer!

Then along came  Dave  and his sweet little 'Impress', and the rest is history!

I love tools that make my work easier.. This one gets 10/10 in the long list of tools I use in my work. Beadmakers are known ''tools-aholics ! I invented this word right now, but it's the truth.. LOL!

 Have delightful weekend doing what you love best! xxoxx

Thank you Harvey Ball!

"Never in the history of mankind or art has any single piece of art gotten such widespread favor, pleasure, enjoyment, and nothing has ever been so simply done and so easily understood in art." 
~Harvey Ball


Isn't it interesting how sometimes, as you search on the web for something like a recipe or what have you,  somehow you end up someplace else not intended but that surprises you with a delightful  bit of information you didn't know?




The Story : In the early 60s State Mutual Life Assurance of Worcester, MA initiated a merger that had bad effects on company morale. In 1964, State Mutual cooked up a “friendship campaign” to get employees to smile whenever they answered the phone, paid a claim, or typed a report. The company turned to Harvey Ball for graphic support. Ball reported that he spent about 10 minutes designing the smiley face, and he was paid $45 for it. This was the only profit that Ball ever made from his most famous creation. Neither Ball or the insurance company trademarked or copyrighted the smiley face. In the early 1970s, the smiley face image became a symbol for an entire generation of Americans, emerging as one of the most well-known images in the country.
The smiley face craze, was the work of two brothers in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain, who were in the business of making would-be fad items. In September of 1970 they drew up a smiley face added the words "Have a nice day," and copyrighted the image and words. Soon they and their many imitators were cranking out buttons, posters, greeting cards, shirts, bumper stickers, cookie jars, earrings, bracelets, key chains, and many other items. The fad lasted about a year and half; the number of smiley buttons produced by 1972 was estimated at 50 million.

Dear Blog....

I'll be  back soon...
Rushing around trying to get caught up with some urgent things...xx

Two for the price of one- Cherries anyone?

 I found these Siamese pair in the bowl of cherries I was eating last night at 2:00am..

It brought me back to the time when I lived in Sydney... In the summertime we would drive, kids, family and friends, away from the city heat to the countryside and the cherry orchards. When we got there each was provided with a large colored plastic bucket so we could pick cherries right off the tree. Needless to say, we ate more off the tree than what went in the bucket!!  It was all included in the price though.. The day would always end with a lovely picnic and much laughter!

I met a man the other day who reminded me that the most important thing is always the present moment..So true!

Don't Worry...

Sometimes when in the midst of our own personal storms, we forget that  there is always a light at the end of our own dark tunnel.  I've been through it, you've been through it or still going through it...
We're all navigating in the sea of life  and this sea sometimes rocks our boat with violence as we learn  to be better sailors ...

This song is dedicated to those of us that are dealing with difficulties right now..

Keep the trust!
With love, May the Blessings Be!