The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This is my full report on the Tahoe Mountain Bead Retreat, sans pictures because I don't feel like tearing my suitcase apart to find the USB cord for my camera. I'm going to break it down into The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, as stated above, and I'm going to be perfectly honest, which may not win me some friends, but I think that the bad is just as important as the good, because people should be informed of what to expect if they're in the market to go to a retreat.

The Good

-All of our teachers and classes were great. I already knew that Beki Haley was a good teacher, as I'd taken a class from her at the Vegas Retreat and used several of her on-line tutorials. I also expected to enjoy Sherry Serafini's class, because she's one of my bead idols and the book that she co-authored with Heidi Kumli really helped me become proficient with bead embroidery. I was less familiar with Marcia deCoster, but I found that she was a great, fun teacher as well. I made decent progress on all three of my projects and am looking forward to finishing them.

-Sherry gets extra props because she gave everyone a Halloween goodie bag with mini candy bars, silly rubber toys (I got a spider ring!), crystals and cabs. We teased the other teachers about it all week. "Well, SHERRI gave us chocolate!" I don't think they appreciated that much ;)

-The free classes on Thursday were fun, although far less challenging. I enjoyed the opportunity to play with some new techniques and materials, and everyone who was teaching or helping did a good job.

-Laura Timmons was just plain awesome. Fun, friendly, generous, and quick with a compliment.

-The hospitality suite was well-stocked with tea, soda, cookies, fresh fruit, and other refreshments that I'm less familiar with because I didn't partake of them.

-The other hospitality suite was a full-service Out on a Whim bead booth, stocked with all sorts of wonderful goodies for sale throughout the retreat. You could either purchase things right away, or have a tray that you threw things into until you were ready to check out.

-When lunch ran crazy-late one day, the Bead Unique staff delivered our afternoon fresh-baked cookies directly to our class rooms, so we didn't have to stop beading to run downstairs to the hospitality suite.

-Bead Unique editor Pamela Hawkins sat with various members of my group several times to discuss what we did and didn't like about the retreat and what we might like to see at future retreats.

-Food in the Village was mostly delcious, service was friendly at all restaurants, and the little shops were cute and also well-staffed by smiling, helpful people.

-The swag bags and raffles were full of great stuff.

-Beki made sure that all of us wild and crazy gals from my home bead forum were together in the same class, and that everyone else in our class could handle us when we got raunchy. It was so great to spend 3-4 days with old and new friends.

-Rooming with my friend Maia, who I've known for almost 10 years but only met in person twice before now, was perfect. We both had the same low tolerance for cold, love tea, and were happy to spend our evenings talking with each other or calling/IMing home.

-The room was pretty good, other than the over-zealous heating. We had a full-sized kitchen, a super-deep tub and high pressure shower, a fireplace, and my couch bed was very comfy. The view from the balcony was great, though I didn't spend more than a few minutes on it due to the temperature.

-Dancing for friends and strangers, in a mostly spur-of-the-moment way, in a costume cobbled out of things I'd brought, with a borrowed stereo, and not losing my lunch due to stage fright.

-Generous beaders gave me rides to and from the airport, so I didn't have to pay for an expensive shuttle.

-Sherry and I were on the same flight out of Reno, and my new friend Jamie was leaving at the same time on a different carrier, so we all shared a fun farewell lunch at the airport. It was so much nicer than eating by myself!

The Bad

-After being asked repeatedly what we needed to bring, Bead Unique told us that we didn't need to bring anything, everything we needed would be provided in our kits, we just needed scissors for Thursday's class. While everything we needed was in fact provided for the free Thursday classes, we arrived at Sherri's class Friday to be told that of course she didn't provide needles and thread, because everyone had their own preference. Marcia told us the same thing on Saturday. Beki was the only one who included needles and thread. I was lucky to be in a class full of beadweavers wiser than me, who had packed their own needles and thread and generously shared with me. I hope the other classes were equally lucky!

-Though the restaurants did their best to handle over 60 hungry beaders in a timely fashion, our lunch hours usually ended up running late. This was especially true when we had Saturday's lunch at Twenty-Two Bistro, which had opened especially for us (they were closed for the off-season). While it seems like a nice idea in concept, in reality, the kitchen staff seemed pretty overwhelmed and it took forever to get our food. One person at my table had been served, finished eating, and left the restaurant long before my lunch arrived.

-Snow. Ok, yes, it was pretty. Yes, everyone was right, the cold temperatures feel warmer at a high altitude than they do in Tucson. But it was still cold, I still wasn't quite appropriately dressed, and I still slipped down icy stairs, banged my knee, and sent my luggage flying everywhere.

-Thursday's Meet the Teachers Dessert Social. Yes, you could in fact briefly meet your teachers as you purchased your kits for the week's classes, but if you wanted to say more than five words to them, you'd be holding up the line of the other 50 beaders behind you who also wanted to buy kits. Then by the time you got out of line, your seat had been stolen.

-Did I mention the over-zealous heater? The hotel had awesome heating provided by hot-water pipes under the floor. This meant that you could step out of the shower onto toasty warm tiles. But despite the fact that we had the thermostat set to 70, it never shut off on Wednesday. I woke up at 5am and found the bathroom floor was almost too hot to walk on, and I was drenched in sweat, so I turned the heat off completely. When Maia got up at 8, she went to turn it off because it was still swelteringly hot in the room! We had to leave the balcony door open all day to let the heat out. For the rest of our stay, we had the heater off, but even the ambient heat of the building was sometimes too much. Oh yes, and all of my chocolate melted on that first day :(

-There was a huge discrepency in the quality of raffle prizes. Some were crazy-nice (worth $100 or more), some were very nice ($50 range), some were pretty nice ($10-20) and some were meh ($1-5). Some people won multiple very nice prizes and others won no prizes at all. One friend of mine who doesn't string won a small package of crimp tubes. Twice. I think it would have been better if it worked life past raffles I'd been in, where you could pick your prize. Maybe the big-ticket prizes could have been raffled seperately, and then all other winners could have their choice of the smaller prizes. Then no one would get a book they already had, or something they couldn't use, wouldn't consume, whatever. Alternatively, really small prizes could have been bundled together into goodie bags.

-We were told that there would be sparkling cider for the non-drinkers at the farewell champagne toast. Now, I think this is relatively important. There are people like me who don't drink because they don't like the taste. There are people who don't drink for moral/religious reasons. And there are people who can't drink for medical reasons. When I asked if there was sparkling cider, I was given a weird look and eventually handed a glass of apple juice from a can, as were the other non-drinkers. Someone else said that it seemed like there was *supposed* to be cider and someone dropped the ball on getting it... but even if that is the case, the correct response is "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have any. Would you like apple juice instead?" (in which case I would have asked for water, because goodness do I hate plain apple juice) not a strange look.

-Did I mention the snow?

The Ugly

As I mentioned before, Cthuhlu took voter's choice for the "I Don't Think So" Ugly category in the Ugly Contest. After the contest was over, a couple of people tried to take their items, and were told that they weren't done with them yet. Everyone seemed to assume they would get them back at the end of the retreat.

On Sunday, they went around announcing when the farewell toast would be. They also said that they would be photographing the Uglies and getting them back to us. I took that to mean that they were photographing them that afternoon and we could retrieve them after the toast.

After the toast, I was returning to my room to get my evaluation form so I could turn it in, and I realized that they hadn't given Cthulhu back to me, nor had I seen anyone else getting their projects back. When I got back with my form minutes later, everyone had cleared out of the hospitality suite and the Bead Unique/All American Crafts staff were getting ready to tear things down. I could see the box full of uglies sitting right there.

I asked if I could take mine back, and I was told no, they still needed to photograph them. I said... when? Could I get him tomorrow before I left? I was then told that Pamela was taking them back with her and she was going to sleep for the first two days she was home (not that I can blame her on that count, I did far less work than her and I'm wiped out). I pointed out that I had spent *two months* working on mine, it was a major project, and I was not happy with their cavalier attitude as to when he would be returned to me. No one seemed to care.

My anger built up as I walked over to the Pub where a bunch of my friends were gathering for one last dinner together. I told them what happened, and I got a strong chorus of support and people telling me that I did not have to let them take Cthulhu. One friend confided in me that I had every right to feel uncomfortable about it, as they'd had one piece of hers for one year and another for two. So I said OK, I'm going back to get him! My friend Nikki came to be my moral support -- or maybe to make sure I didn't hit anyone ;)

When I got back, Pam was back, and I said "I'm taking my ugly." She said that they were going to take them home and photograph them and eventually mail them back. I pointed out that once again, this was 2 months of my life, my most major project ever, and furthermore, I had not signed anything giving them any rights to take him. I pulled him out of the box and left. She just stared at me and didn't respond.

The next day, several Bead Unique/All American Crafts staffers were also on the same flight as Sherry and I. They walked up to say Hi to us, and one of them (Russel I think) told me that I could have trusted Pam with my project. I said thank you, that's nice, but I did not want him out of my hands for any length of time, nor did I want to chance him being damaged by the USPS.

But the truth is, I was worried about a lot more than USPS damage. I was worried about not getting my project back for a year or more. Possibly never. And do you know why? Cthulhu was in the bottom of the box, under some neck displays, with no packaging. No label to say who he belonged to. He had been seperated from the bag of books I'd given for him to sit on (some trashy 1970s Lovecraft paperbacks). None of the items were labeled or wrapped up. I didn't see anyone taking any note on who he belonged to when I turned him in.

Honestly, after seeing that, I was supposed to expect that he'd arrive home undamaged and in a timely manner? I'd have been lucky to ever see him again.

Now generally, I try very hard to promote a good image to magazine editors, writers, and other staff, in case I ever wanted to submit a project or article. I like to have a good reputation within the bead industry -- and I think I've built a decent little one, through my work with BFAC and as a gem show vendor helper and that crazy girl dancing at the Swarovski party. But on Sunday night, I didn't give one whit whether Bead Unique and All American Crafts thought that I was a primadonna, a bitch, or any other appelation applied to a difficult woman. The fact of the matter is that they were the ones in the wrong, for never telling anyone that the Ugly Project entries would not be returned to their creators at the end of the show. That should have been spelled out from the very beginning.

And if anyone's made it through this entire post, I applaud your patience.

Home and stuff

I arrived home safely, but I am absolutely exhausted and not feeling that great. Hopefully tomorrow will bring the energy I need to unpack, find my camera cord, and do a full retreat report... but for now I'm going to collapse into bed.

Stories to tell

I am so very tired, after a very long day which was chock-full. Friends, beading, snow, stress, righteous anger, pub food, packing, hugs of farewell, it was crazy.

I have a lot of things to say, but no time to say them tonight. I'm leaving here at 9am tomorrow, and I won't get home until around 4pm. Luckily the snow has stopped for now, so I should have a safe drive home.

Regular full-length blogging with pictures shall return soon!

SNOW!

I walked through snow flurries in my pajamas today.

That's really all you need to know.

Awesome Day

Ok, I'm blogging after midnight and I should be in bed and I still have e-mail to write, so today's awesomeness will be given in bullet points.

1: Sherri Serafini is a great teacher and I love the project she designed for this retreat. I got a lot done on mine and hope to do more work tomorrow night at the pajama party.

2: The ugly contest was tonight. There were 14 entrants. Cthulhu won the "I don't think so" Ugly, which I'm guessing my lovely friends interpreted as "I don't think he's ugly" because they kept saying how adorable/cute/nice he was.

3. I danced tonight, for a mixed group of my friends and random retreat attendees. A few people clearly didn't like it, but most really enjoyed it. I had my first bout of stage fright, but I got over it. Shout-out to Bead Unique editor Pamela for loaning me her stereo, my friend and retreat roomie Maia for handling my music, and Colleen for taking photos that will hopefully turn out because she has a nice camera and skills.

4: There was other stuff but I'm so tired that I forgot it.

Hello from Tahoe!

Hello everyone! Tahoe* is great. It's cold, and only supposed to get colder, but our room is so ridiculously hot (even with the heat off) that I'm wishing I had brought my summer pajamas. All of the other public areas have been pleasantly warm, too, so I haven't turned into an elf-cicle yet.

I'm having a wonderful time here with friends old and new. Today we had our free extra classes, an assortment of four relatively simple projects, including wire crochet with beads, and making pendants with Super Gloss or whatever it's called. I really enjoyed playing with some new techniques. I also won some Vintaj components in a raffle, yay!

Tonight was the dessert social, which was also supposed to be meet the teachers... the only problem was that the teachers were also selling their kits, so there wasn't really a lot of opportunity to speak with them. I picked up my three gorgeous kits, ate some dessert, and caught up with friends. I wore my Steampunk Cameo necklace, which got tons of compliments, including from my idol Sherri Serafini.

All in all, a very good day, and I can't wait until the real classes start tomorrow!

*Technically I'm in a place called Squaw Valley, but I really hate that word, so I'm pretending it's actually Tahoe.

Brooch

I made this brooch for the swap in Tahoe! Isn't it beautiful? I love Dolly Ahles's lampworked cabochons.

In just a moment I'll be taking off for the airport, where I'll take off for Reno, by way of Phoenix, and then I'll be praying that the lovely friends who are giving me a ride will not have to drive through sleet or freezing rain or anything scary like that.

I'll try to keep up my daily blogging while I'm at the Retreat!

In all his hideous glory!

Yes, at long last, Cthulhu is complete! I stitched the last beads on early this afternoon, clipped all the stray threads, and basked in the afterglow of the largest, most involved project I've ever done. Just look at that malevolent glare!
All those beads! He's surprisingly heavy now -- I'd estimate he has at least 50 grams of seed beads stitched down to his body.
His back is only lightly embellished, and good thing, too. The closer I got to his head, the harder it was to manipulate the needle, and I managed to snap another one! His dorsal ridge is accented with the same bugle beads that outline the veins of his wings.

I'm really proud of myself for completing this. Yes, I had to scale back from my original plan, and yes, there are some goofs, and yes, I may go back someday and add more beads, but... I beaded Cthulhu! And completed him on time! And only lost 1d100 sanity points in the process.

I'm such a tease...

I was recently invited by the lovely folks at Artbeads.com to participate in their blog partner program. They send beads, I blog about them... what more perfect arrangement could there be? Of course I said yes! And look at what arrived in my mail today, all wrapped up like a present...

I bet you're wondering what's inside, but because I'm a wicked little tease. I'm going to make you wait to find out until I get home from Tahoe and make them into jewelry. In the meantime, if you want to see what another Artbeads partner made, you should head over to the Earthenwood Studios Chronicles and see Melanie's jaw-droppingly beautiful necklace.

Beading break

I decided to take a short break from beading this evening, since I spent all of yesterday evening and this afternoon (minus Yoga class) beading. Cthulhu's right leg is almost done, as is my brooch for swapping. Though I like this brooch so much that it will be hard to let it go! I'll have to get more cabs from Dolly in February, they're simply beautiful.

Tomorrow, Chris will be in CA for a business trip (flying out early morning, flying home late at night), so I'll again spend almost all day beading -- though time will also have to be made for laundry and packing. I have to get out my winter clothes, because it's going to be COLD in Tahoe. I have to find the pretty chenille scarf that Mom made for me, which I've worn all of once because I live in the desert. And I have to somehow fit 5 days worth of clothes, beads, jewelry, oatmeal, tea and toiletries plus my laptop, digital camera, and a book into one checked bag, one carry-on, and one personal item. Too bad Chris won't be home to help me pack, he's really good at it. I always say "You'll never fit all that into one bag" and yet he makes it happen.

Stupid ankle

Back on Tuesday, I hurt my ankle at the gym. I don't know if it was too many box jumps, or if I stretched it too far doing dead lifts, but it definitely feels like I jacked up my Achilles tendon. That tendon, by the way, is my body's main way of trying to sabotage my attempts to work out. I would have expected my lack of upper body strength to be the big hurdle, but no, it's my stupid, short Achilles tendon, which keeps me from being able to squat and which now is keeping me from doing anything more active than limping back and forth across the house.

In all fairness, my ankle would probably be fine by now if I hadn't had the brilliant idea to take my injured ankle up to Tempe and dance on it for an hour. I didn't want to miss my belly dance class, since next Thursday I'll be in Tahoe. And honestly, it was an awesome class. Something clicked and I didn't really struggle with any of the moves, and my arms never got tired, and I had fun. The four students in attendance were doing so well that Cari, our teacher, kept picking faster and faster music and changing up which moves we transitioned to and from to keep us on our toes. It was amazing. I feel like I'm really progressing in my goal to dance well enough to perform and teach, instead of stumbling my way through class. I still have a long way to go, but the forward momentum is there.

Now if this stupid ankle would just catch up with the rest of me!

So very close...

Cthulhu is so very close to done... Just his right leg and his back left to do! I might even finish him over the weekend.

For his leg, I did concentric rings of beads around a Czech pressed glass bead with a spiral pattern. I used those same pressed glass spirals to accent the wing tips, then outlined the veins of the wings with bugle beads. I also put bugle beads on his toes, so they weren't beadless.

It's a nice feeling to have my goal in sight at long last!

Time for a new pic

Take one last look at these earrings -- they've found a new home!

Tomorrow I'll have to pick a new photo for the right-hand sidebar :)

Still my favorite

Elvensoul is today's Daily Special, and it's also still one of my favorite necklaces ever. The colors, the style, the rich, leafy fringe... It's pretty much the essence of my work and inspiration, all in one little necklace. Someday, it will find a good home! If it doesn't sell this week, it will definitely come to Tahoe for Show and Tell!

Speaking of Tahoe, I leave in ONE WEEK and I think I'll actually get Cthulhu done in time! Hooray! Now to see if I can also get my brooch, necklace and Super Secret Jammies done in time. I'm going to try to work on the pajamas in the car on the way to Tempe tomorrow.

Something special

This necklace is very special, because it's for an artist collective that I'm joining! The Shelley House is a cooperative effort by a number of very talented Etsy sellers, a shared shop where each item is inspired by the previous one. Because we'll only be adding two items a month, it was decided that we should "seed" the shop with some pieces inspired by Mary Shelley (our namesake!), so that our shop won't look so empty for the first month or two.

In honor of Shelley's heartbreaking life and her most famous story, I made a Gothic necklace featuring a stitched-together winged heart. It will be for sale when The Shelley House opens on October 1st!

Significant progress

The last time that I posted about Cthulhu, I had just started on his torso... Well, the torso is done and now I'm working on a leg! I need to buckle down and work hard this week if I'm going to finish him and all of the other projects that I want to do before I leave on the 30th! I may very well be stitching beads onto Cthulhu on the flight to Tahoe!

I broke two more needles on Saturday night, as I attempted to finish the torso and accidentally found myself stitching along a seam. That brings the total needle death count to three.

Sunday Blogginess

I didn't do much worth blogging about today, so here's a picture of Maggie, captured mid-bark. It was taken last month not long after her dental cleaning -- hence the bald patch on her leg where they shaved her for the IV! Those are all grown back in now.

Remember! Tomorrow, I'll post a new picture of Cthulhu!

No Cthulhu Here!

Today was supposed to be a Cthulhu update, but I didn't get a chance to photograph him. It was a busy day of beading his belly (so close to done!), going to the gym (fun but intense workout), stringing crystals while watching Monk, and then cleaning house. Actually, I'm still supposed to be cleaning house.

I seem to get more blog action during the week, so I'll probably go ahead and save the next bit of tentacled goodness for Monday. That will give me time tomorrow to finish his belly (assuming I don't do so during tonight's game) and start on a leg.

Belly dancer shoes

I bought these shoes not to actually dance in (I dance barefoot whenever possible), but to wear to and from class and maybe to other dance-related things. They're very cute, and they were very affordable. The antiqued metal sequins would even look appropriate with a steampunk belly dance costume, and they're easier on my feet than pointy-toed, high-heeled boots.

I also bought a night gown for my Super Secret Jammies for the pajama party at the Tahoe retreat. I was just going to wear my normal fleece pants and thermal shirt, until I was struck by Brilliant Inspiration yesterday. Now I just need to find time to assemble the Super Secret Jammies while finishing Cthulhu, making a brooch, beading a necklace, packing for the trip, and cleaning the house. Time to get focused!

Pretty copper

I don't use a lot of copper, but I'm still so happy with this necklace that I feel like I should design with it more often. Mysterious Portrait is not only a beautiful tribal piece, it's also today's Daily Special!

There's not a whole lot I can blog about right this very moment, but I will say that I have a lot of new and fun things coming up later this month! No more boring ruts for me, though my life is now busy enough that I'm definitely falling into routines. It's the only way I can make sure that everything gets done.

It's less than two weeks until I jet off to Tahoe. I still have to figure out how I'm getting to the retreat from the airport. Also, currently they're experiencing lows in the 30s. At least the days are a very tolerable 70s, but I may be freezing the nights away. I wonder if I can sneak Topher along with me so I at least have a warm, fuzzy cat to keep me warm when I sleep?

Daily Specials are back!

Somehow, I forgot to restart the Daily Specials when I got back from vacation. Well, after their long absence, they're finally back today! And Verdant Pageantry is today's special.

I'll be glad when Cthulhu is done, so that I can get back to giving my shop the sort of attention it deserves. I miss adding new items!

Custom Earrings

Today I took a little break from working on Cthulhu to take care of a couple of commissions, including these earrings. Made for a friend of my mother-in-law, they're designed to match a pretty fused glass pendant that she loves. I used Czech firepolished, rounds, and crystals in three different shades of greens. They look very much like something I'd wear, so of course I'm very happy with how they turned out!

It was fun to work on a simple project, so I might make some more easy earrings later this week to go in the Etsy shop. I should really be working on getting the shop ready for Halloween and Christmas. Hard to think about those when I'm still running around in tank tops, but since when has Arizona's weather ever admitted the existence of Autumn?

Good bye, Wasteland Tribe

My Wasteland Tribe necklace is going to a new home, living with a fellow steampunk belly dancer. In return, I'm getting a bunch of beautiful hair accessories. It's just the sort of trade I love.

It's always a wonderful feeling when one of my more involved pieces sells (or trades, in this case). It validates the hours that I spent on it, knowing that someone else loves it as least as much as I do, and that it gets to go out into the world instead of hiding out in my jewelry case.

Best Bead Today!

It was a small show today, and not very crowded at all. There were no cheap Afghani coins (I really should have bought several strands last year!), the cab guy from last year wasn't there, and Jane's Fiber and Beads did not have the seeds I need for Cthulhu.

That said, I still had fun! Chris talked me into buying a glass ring as my first purchase. Then I purchased the beads on the right, a mini-focal and four spacers in black and raku. Lousy picture, so you can't see the beautiful rainbow colors. They'll make a nice goes-with-everything necklace. In the center, some new beads from Green Girl Studio (well, the Medusa coin isn't a new design, but I like mine so much I decided I should make one up for sale, too). On the left, three gorgeous lampworked cabs from Dolly Ahles. The top two are for me, hopefully I'll have time to make them into something before Tahoe, because I have the perfect dress to go with. The bottom one is for the brooch swap at Tahoe.

I'm very happy that Best Bead has moved the September show to the same location that the February show is held in. It's more convenient, the perfect size, and the vendors who I spoke to all seemed to be happier with it. Now if they could just attract a few more awesome vendors for my shopping pleasure!

Best Bead Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Best Bead Show for a little shopping. Only a little, because the Tahoe retreat is less than 3 weeks away, so I really need to save my money for kits, souveniers, oh yeah, and food. I guess I'll need some of that.

I'm looking forward to the show, not only because I'll hopefully score more Cthulhu-green beads, but because Green Girl Studios will be there, and of course, awesome local lampwork artist Margaret Zinser. I'm sure there will also be lots of other great vendors to tempt me with their wares. After all, last year I came home with gorgeous cabochons and a strand of Afghani coins (most of which went into my bra, so if I get the chance to replenish my stash, I will).

Tentacles All Akimbo!

I've been pushing Cthulhu's tentacles out of the way so that I can work on his belly. I decided to make things more interesting by doing a free-form branchy design, like some sort of bizarre kelp washed up on the shore of Ryleh. I'll probably fill it in with more of the opaque green that's become the main color on his body, assuming I can get my hands on a tube or two at the Best Bead Show this weekend.

While I was editing this photo, I realized that I haven't yet taken a shot that shows his completed arms (they're sort of hidden in tentacle-shadows here), so I'll make sure to include them in the next Cthulhu update.

Blog Feature and Treasury

My Turtle Talisman necklace was featured by fellow Tucsonan and FAE Team member 88Links in her Tucson Thursday blog post! Make sure you check out her shop; her maille and wirework are beautiful!

While we're on the subject of Etsy, I'd like to direct you towards my latest Treasury, A Murder of Crows.

Driving like a driving fool.

Just a quick update for those who are cheering along my driving progress... Though I'm not quite ready for rush hour yet, I'm at the point where I'm confident enough to drive on any road in Tucson now. I'm still having a little trouble getting the right speed for turns, and my parking skills are atrocious, but I can get around town. Chris is of course taking advantage of this ;)

In other news, we saw 9 today, and it was really awesome. Gorgeous graphics, engaging story, lots of suspenseful action. I'll save my full review for the e-zine I write for, but I do highly recommend it. Just bear in mind that it may be too intense for little kids! There's plenty of death and scary robot monsters.

Drywall!

Tonight, two of our friends came over and helped to hang the rest of the drywall in the game room -- finally. We've been working on thos project for eons, it seems. Next up, mudding!

But next up right now... sleep!

One year of puppies!

Last year, Chris and I spent the Labor Day weekend driving up to the northwestern corner of New Mexico to adopt Daisy and Maggie. Here's the picture I snapped of them in our hotel in NM -- as you can see by those smiles, they'd already accepted us as cool people, and were clearly prepared to teach us how to spoil them rotten.

Bringing these two cuties into my life is one of the best decisions I've ever made. They cause me so much happiness, with their silly antics, unconditional love, and adorable faces. Here's hoping they'll be with us for many more years!

Nose in a book

Well, I didn't intend to, but I somehow spent most of today reading, and just finished the book I was working my way through. Of course, I have about four more lying around the house to read...

Also got a little more work done on Cthulhu, though not as much as I should have. I'll be able to dedicate more to him tomorrow, as I don't intend to start another book yet.

Whoops!

Almost forgot to blog today. My schedule is still messed up from being in NY -- would you believe that I got up at 8:30am today? Ridiculous.

Just got done enjoying a nice evening of gaming with friends. I got some work done on Cthulhu, finishing his arm/hand *and* his face. Tomorrow I'll do the other arm, I hope. Would have started it tonight, but I was already sleepy and decided to just focus on the game.

Cthulhu is Well-Armed

Finally! At long last, I've finished Cthulhu's head (except for that pesky blank spot on the face that I need to break down and fill in) and moved on to his arm! This shot allows you to see the stripes that I did for the side of the head -- they wrap around the back and to the other side -- and the spiraling beadwork around his right arm. All of the arm work has been done today, and I'm pretty sure I can finish the arm before Chris finishes work today.

After that, I need to decide what to do with the hand. I'm thinking I might just accent it with beads. Given the fact that I only have a month left, I'm not sure if I have time to fiddle around with a good way to completely cover the hands. Not since I still have the other arm, both legs, the entire torso and the wings to work with.

Ear Goodies

There's a special benefit at Plaza de Anaya this weekend, and since I can't make it there, I decided I would make some jewelry to donate to the raffle. So today I took a little break from working on Cthulhu and made the above items.

One pair of earrings with jade from the Rings and Things show, bronze freshwater pearls, and some pyramid pendants that I bought in NY last week.

One pair of earrings with Mingo and Asho cane glass and Swarovski crystals.

One ear wrap thingie with a goddess pendant, moonstone pendant, and moonstone and Swarovski pearl beads.

To learn more about the benefit, donate, and/or attend if you're in the Phoenix/Tempe area, click the above link!

Moonbeams, Stars and Comets

The latest FAE Team exhibition is live, with the theme of Moonbeams, Stars & Comets. It's a very beautiful collection of celestial-themed and inspired objects, so please give it a look. I missed the initial deadline due to my vacation, but three of my items will be added later in the month.

In other news, I appear to be mostly over my cold, and I'm working on Cthulhu again, with the hopes of finishing his head today.

Back in business!

Not only am I back from vacation, but my Etsy shop is, too! I just re-opened it this afternoon, and as soon as I'm over my airplane cold, I hope to start promoting it heavily in an attempt to make some spending money for my trip to Tahoe.

There are a couple of changes you should be aware of, however.

First, I'm no longer offering free shipping. Instead, I will be shipping all of my items via Priority Mail, for $5 for US customers and $8 for international buyers. I will have the occasional free shipping sale, so keep your eyes open for those.

Second, I have left the Etsy BeadWeavers' team. For various reasons, I decided that it was not for me. Instead, I'll be focusing more of my attention on the Fantasy Artists of Etsy team, and on an exciting new group venture that I'll be able to tell you more about soon.

New York Ren Faire

Here's a picture of me vamping it up a bit at the NY Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY. If I look just a little rumpled, it's because this pic was taken at the end of the day and that top sash had taken several dives into the muddy ground, including one where I thought I'd lost it for good. Luckily a vendor saw it in the path and hung it on her booth, and we walked by and saw it.

My costume is pleasantly cobbled together from items that I brought from home and items that I bought while in NY. Oh yes, and I'm wearing elf ears! I wasn't going to get them, since I don't do faerie costuming as much any more, but everyone thought that I should try them on and they looked perfect on me, so my MIL gifted me with a pair. She also bought a pair for herself, to go with the horns she bought last year. She looked so cute with her elven ears! The vendor even poked a hole in them for her cartilage piercing, making them look even more natural.

Over all, the Faire was muddy but awesome. There was an incredibly light misty rain off and on throughout the day, but otherwise the weather was perfect. Neither too hot nor too cold for my costume, and the clouds kept me from adding to my collection of sunburns. I was a bit disappointed that I had to layer my white choli over my green tie-dye top, but I think it looked OK.

The nice thing was that my brother-in-law Pete and his girlfriend Lisa were able to join us for the day. We wouldn't have been able to see them otherwise, as Pete is going to school a couple of hours away from home.

We caught quite a few shows throughout the day. I was excited to see that Wolgemut was performing that weekend, as I'd heard good things about their music but hadn't yet picked up any CDs. We spent a few minutes watching an impromptu jam session with them and another musician (one of the guys from Karpathos, I think), in an attempt to earn some free beer, and then we caught their 4pm show. Unfortunately, in the middle of their second song, their bagpipers pipe broke, a victim to the humidity. It was repairable, but not immediately so, so they apologized profusely and said they'd only be able to play one more song, which didn't involve the bagpipes. Then they said that everyone should clap along or dance, and of course, I chose the latter option. I was the only one who did so, and then to my utter amazement, they waved me up onto the stage.

So, without any warming up or preparation or anything, I improv-ed a dance to the song, using only a few moves because almost everything else that I knew totally fled my mind -- ha ha. But it was awesome! Possibly the coolest thing that has happened to me so far this year. After the song, they thanked me for my dancing, and Chris and his family told me how cool they thought it was, and of course, we bought CDs to make up for only getting a few minutes of music.

I was also able to get my shimmy on with the belly dancers later, when one of them caught me bouncing my hips along to the last song and pulled me out (they'd been pulling girls in throughout the show, but I was standing in the back avoiding notice... he he). It was a lot of fun, even if we were dancing in a muddy, grassy field (they were dancing in golashes!).

Anyway, my luggage finally arrived earlier (hence my ability to pull pictures off of my camera), so I should really go do some laundry and put away all of my purchases, so I can get the suitcases out of the living room.

Lost Luggage

Chris and I arrived safely home in Tucson. Our luggage, however, stayed in Atlanta. They were supposed to put it on the second Atlanta-Tucson flight and get it to us tonight, but here it is 9:30pm and no luggage yet.

I'm really fed up with airlines, as there were other small problems before we even got onto the plane this morning. After my trip to Tahoe in October, it's going to be a long time until I fly again. This is ridiculous.

Home tomorrow

Today was utterly and completely awesome -- except the parts where we drove through New Jersey -- but I just spent the past 1 1/2 hours packing, and I have to be up in 5 hours to fly home, so you'll have to wait to hear about it.

Not a quiet day

Despite not having any major plans, I still managed to be occupied for most of the day. I'm going to have to wait and post about my adventures after I get back, at this rate.

Tonight we went to an Afghani restaurant and there was an amazing belly dancer who gave two performances with a variety of props, including wings of Isis and a veil fan.

Earlier in the day, we saw District 9, which I thought was good but needlessly gory. That doesn't always bother me, but today I was feeling overly sensitive to such things.

I am once again overly tired, and I have to get up early tomorrow to go to Ren Faire, where it will hopefully not be raining as much as it has been all day.

So tired, but I need to blog!

Damn my commitment to daily blog posts! I spent well over 10 hours in NYC today, 12 hours if you count the time on the train to get there and back. There was a lot of walking involved, and my feet are tired. Actually, scratch that, all of me is tired.

My stupid camera batteries died as soon as I turned my camera on, but luckily Chris's phone has a good camera and he got some nice shots. I'll share at least one in tomorrow's post... and I'll buy decent batteries before we go to the Ren Faire. Those rechargeable hybrids may be great for the environment, but they're lousy for my camera.

Anyway, everything today was awesome and I'll make a full trip report tomorrow, when I should hopefully have some down time to rest my poor tired feet and catch up on internet stuff.

Cthulhu hitches a ride.

Cthulhu hitched a ride in my purse today, accompanying me on a trip to Long Beach to meet a friend. It's hard to tell in this pictue, but I've finished the top of his head, finally. I didn't get a chance to work on him during my flight out, due to the tight space in the airplane, but I've stolen a few minutes here and there to work on him.

However, Cthulhu didn't get to come bead shopping with me today, because I didn't trust him not to escape my purse and wreak untold havoc on the sanity of the bead store employees.

We went to three stores today. Wherefore Art Thou, a small shop where I found nothing to buy, my usual standby of Ace Handicraft, where I bought a bunch of key pendants, some vintage beads, and a couple of neat focals, and Beads and Stitches, where I found some matte pearl Czech glass and other neat things.

Tomorrow we're off to NYC for shopping, site-seeing and Wicked!

The sun, it burns!

No pictures today, because I forgot my camera and Chris isn't here right now.

We went to the Nassau County Art Museum, except not really. We actually went to a museum on their grounds dedicated to miniatures, where they were having a rather disappointing Alice in Wonderland themed exhibit. Then we ate a picnic in their grassy field, visited their guest shop (where I got an awesome painted and embroidered scarf), and walked down one of their nature trails.

Once again, despite sunscreen, I managed to burn. It isn't a bad burn, doesn't hurt, but I don't like being red in the face. I fear it may be time to join the ranks of the hat-wearers, even though it drives me crazy to have a brim obstructing my view. I suspect that skin cancer would drive me even more crazy.

Also, we went to Utopia, the goth/hippie shop that we always visit. I almost bought myself a corset, but instead I just bought two faerie tanktops which were on clearance sale, and four packages of new scents of my favorite brand of incense.

Anyway, time to iron the things that got wrinkled in my suitcase.

A day in the garden

I arrived safely in NY last night, and am just now sitting down with a computer. My day of travel was a little harrowing, but I got in just a little behind schedule.

The picture above is one that Chris took on his phone, of some pretty orange mushrooms that we saw on a nature trail at the Planting Fields Arboretum, where we spent our afternoon. It was a lovely day: warm, a little humid, a mix of sun and clouds. We picnicked in the shade, read, and explored the grounds. All in all, very enjoyable.

Now I'm quite tired, after a day of walking and sunshine, and a very large dinner, so I'm going to veg out for a little until bed.

In the air, hopefully

Because I will probably be too tired today to blog after I land in NY, I am pre-writing this post and scheduling it to show up while I'm either in a plane or in an airport. I'll be spending at least 11 hours of my day tomorrow in planes and airports, and that's assuming they actually give me a seat in Atlanta, which they're trying not to do.

So check in Monday for the harrowing details of my two-layover trip from AZ to NY via GA and VA!

Too much to do!

Hello, internet. I'm so busy right now that I don't even have time to edit a cute puppy picture for this post. Despite getting up hours earlier than I normally do, I'm still behind on all I wanted to do today, and it's less than two hours before I have to take the dogs to the kennel. So I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not too chatty.

I'll be trying to keep up my daily blog schedule while I'm in NY, and this time I remembered to pack my camera, so there should be pictures, too!

Not dead but dreaming.

After last night's wild party to celebrate HP Lovecraft's 119th birthday, I found Cthulhu passed out on the dining room table. This gave me a good chance to take a photo of the work I've been doing on the top of his head. When he woke up, he was feeling a little light-headed, so I gave him a hand up, and snapped a shot of the beads on the back of his head. Even though I'd turned the flash off, he was still irritated and threatened to eat my soul, but we both know he didn't really mean it.

Happy Daisy Dog!

I decided that since I took a bunch of pictures of the dogs, I'll use them on posts where I don't have any new Cthulhu or other bead-related pictures. So here's Daisy, being cute and happy. For some reason, she puts her ears back when she's happy. I think it makes her look kind of like a seal. This picture was taken between her bouncing up and down excitedly on the couch trying to get me to pet her (which I did) before running over to the other end of the couch to wrestle with Maggie.

Today I had another workout, and I got more advice on how to deal with my ridiculously short Achilles tendons, and I lifted 25lb bars, and I jumped around a lot, and I rowed 500m. Actually, I did that first, but whatever. I don't go back to the gym until the Tuesday after I get back from NY. I will get plenty of exercise while I'm gone though, as I'll spend at least one day walking around NYC and one day walking around a Ren Faire, and I'll probably dance a bit, and practice my squats. I will not be sedentary, that is for sure.

The Face of Evil!

After reaching the end of the thread I was using to work on the top of Cthulhu's head, I decided I should really put some more work into his face, even though it's difficult and annoying. I actually made a bit of progress before reaching the end of that thread as well, and can probably do the rest of the face in one go, if I'm feeling particularly patient. I need to push onward, as there are only 5 weeks left until the retreat, and a whole lot of Cthulhu left in need of beads.

By the way, if you are a fan of Cthulhu, even when he's not covered in beads, you should probably check out the Indie Squid Kid blog, where they're having Cthulhu week!

And now, cute corgis!

To make up for yesterday's gloomy post, here is a picture of Daisy and Maggie! Awww. I took a bunch of pics of them yesterday before things got lousy, and this was the only pic of both of them in which neither one has a blurry head. I'm telling you, they just don't like to sit still.

As for yesterday's badness, I think things are going to be OK for now. Sorry to be all doom and gloom like that. I usually try to keep that stuff out of my blog, but it was late, I hadn't blogged yet, and I couldn't force myself to be positive.

I think tomorrow will be another Cthulhu post. Today my arms are tired from working out, so I really don't feel like trying to hold my camera steady.

Blank

I said I'd update every day, but today has been awful and I have nothing I want to say.

Cthulhu's Dark Head

Ok, this is a really lousy picture. I forgot to take Cthulhu outside for photographing before it got dark, so I had to take the picture at my desk instead. It's dark because I'm between Cthulhu and the light. I'll try to take a better picture in a couple of days, when I'll have more progress to show.

I got very frustrated with how hard it was to fill in the little bits of the face, so I've moved on to working on the rest of the head. I'm mainly using some matte opaque pea green size 11 seed beads that seemed rather fitting. I also decided that the four sections of the crown of his head should have ridges. Size 8 seed beads seemed to be just right for that, and I fortunately already had some that matched the lime green 11s I was using on his face. Now I'm outlining the ridges, and filling in the rest of the head.

Working on the head has proven to be a lot easier than the face, which makes me confident that the main body and limbs shouldn't be too challenging, either. This means completing the project should only be an issue of time and appropriate beads (both of which I should have enough of), and not an issue of skill/feasibility.

Delicious!

There are some benefits to Chris being gone. The main one is that I eat whatever I want. Tonight I had lobster ravioli and truffle flat bread. He eats neither crustaceons nor fungus, so these were rare treats for me. And delicious treats. Mmmm. I'll eat the rest of the flat bread tomorrow, with either a chicken patty or marinated ahi steak (he'd actually eat those, I won't spend the entire week on a shellfish and mushroom binge).

I've made some fun progress on Cthulhu today. I think you'll like what you see tomorrow.

Etsy Shop on Vacation

I decided to go ahead and put my Etsy shop in Vacation mode a week early, so that I can spend the week that Chris is gone focusing on getting the house clean, working on Cthulhu, and maybe even making one or two shiny new things to wear on vacation*.

There will be changes made to the Etsy shop when I get back, and a few changes to my website as well. There will also be more destashed beads in the shop (I plan to photograph them before I go so I can start listing ASAP). There may even be new jewelry, but probably not. Cthulhu is taking most of my beading time right now.

Speaking of Cthulhu, I'll probably post about him again on Sunday. I haven't been working on him as much as I would like, but I feel like my momentum is back.

*I say all of this, but I'll probably spend most of the time reading novels, since I'm going to the bookstore tonight to stock up.

Just a quick post...

Having a gym class in the morning and a dance class in the evening does not leave me much time for things today! I need to leave for Tempe in 40 minutes, and I have a few things to wrap up before I do.

My gym class taught me more things that I suck at, but I also feel like I got a good workout, so I guess that's the important thing. My quads still hurt from Tuesday. Hopefully class tonight will help me loosen up. At the very least, I don't go back to the gym (not counting Sunday's yoga session) until Tuesday, so I should have time to fully recover and be able to tackle whatever they're throwing at us next. I don't like the fact that I'm already behind schedule.

In the meantime, the corgis are mostly recovered from yesterday's dental ordeal. For whatever reason, the vet wasn't done with them until 6:15 in the evening. I had to get a ride from my parents to pick them up, so Chris wouldn't be late for krav maga. Of course, my parents are bigger dog people than I am, and Mom's van already had two crates set up in the back with pads and blankets -- ha ha! The girls had a comfy ride home.

Ok, off to put a few more beads on Cthulhu's lumpy head and then get ready for class.

Steamy Earrings

Tiger in a Taffeta Dress earrings are today's Daily Special. I'm honestly surprised that these haven't sold yet. They're a good price, and they're beautiful. Maybe the photos are to blame. I'm not really thrilled with that blue background, very few things have looked quite right when photographed on it. At some point, I really need to start the process of taking better images of most of the items in my Etsy shop and on my website. That probably won't happen until at least mid-October, when the Tahoe retreat is behind me.

Today is a really busy day. The dogs are at the vet getting their teeth cleaned, and will be coming home sometime this afternoon. I need to clean the house for tonight's game. I need to get some major work done on Cthulhu. I need to sit down with my companion DVD for belly dance class and find where the moves I need to practice are, and then practice them. I need to string two packages of crystals during tonight's game. Also, I have to try to keep the group on track so we can wrap up our current game before Chris takes off for NY. With all of that on my To Do list, I should probably wrap this post up.

I started at the gym

Medusa Turning to Stone is today's Daily Special. One thing that I love about Green Girl is that she made not one, but two different Medusa bead/pendant styles. This one, and a two-sided flat coin with Medusa's head on the front and a snake on the back. That other one is in a necklace I made for myself and wear all the time, in gorgeous olivine greens. Mmm.

As stated in the title, today I started attending Chris's gym. I guess that makes it my gym now, too. While at the gym, I learned that I suck at squats. I also did a lot of rowing. I also hung out with my friend Casey, who is my learning-to-workout partner, and who does not suck at squats. While I was trying to learn to keep my stupid heels flat while squatting, he was lifting big heavy weights from a squat. So in a way, it was actually good to suck, because I was a lot less tired at the end than he was. I'm going back on Thursday, to learn what else I suck at.

Oh, to be full of win!

I've already told you before that TotusMel's Wunderkammer is one of my favorite blogs ever. It's a finds blog that features dark, steamy, and unusual finds, quite different from the cutesy cupcakes and indie fashion that other blogs focus on.

To celebrate the blog's beautiful new look, TotusMel is having a give-away, and that is why I wish I was full of win, or at the very least, one of those lucky people who wins drawings. All of the prizes are amazing, but I'd really love to have the custom bustle skirt pictured above! I know, I know, I already have a bustle skirt, but this one is a totally different style. These things are important.

Would you also like a chance to win fabulous steampunk prizes? If so, you should head on over to The Give-Away Post and read up on the rules. There are so many ways to enter, and the more people who enter, the more fantastic prizes are available. Jewelry! Crowns! Sexy bustle skirts! What more could you want?

Aren't weekends supposed to be relaxing?

What a busy weekend this has been! I drove back and forth across town so we could take care of Chris's friend's pets (his cat is so beautiful and soft!), we had a game yesterday, yoga today, and then Casey came over and the three of us spent just over an hour working on the game room. We got two large wall panels up, and Casey cut the drywall for 4 small panels, which Chris and/or I can put up at any time. That leaves only a couple of spots left for drywall, then it's time for tape and spackle, and after that, PAINT! The paint is my favorite part, because it will brighten the room up. Drywall is really drab and ugly without any paint.

Anyway, yoga was awesome, and all of the driving has given me a lot more confidence on the road. I almost agreed to drive the three of us to get gelato tonight, but I decided to let Chris do it. I could probably drive there, but I'm not sure how well I would have done with driving and conversing with Chris and Casey. Better to remain on the safe side.

So now it's time to grab a couple of hours of vegging out in front of the TV, watching a DVD of Psych and stringing crystals, before facing another busy week.

Driving update

Just got back from Chris's friend's apartment. We're taking care of his cat and guinea pig while he's out of town, and I've been doing some of the driving. Today I drove us there and back, my first time hitting the road in the middle of the day, with traffic and stuff. Also, my first time running a red light, because I misjudged how quickly I needed to stop when it turned yellow. Oh well, no one's perfect.

I'm almost to the point of being ready to tackle some major roads, which means I'll soon be able to drive anywhere in town, and Chris will soon take utter and complete advantage of that and make me drive everywhere. I guess it's only fair, he's been doing all of the driving for the 11 1/2 years we've been together ;)

The Evil Eye!

Why is Cthulhu giving us the evil eye? Is it because he objects to being called cute? Perhaps he's offended by the fact that he's being covered in beads? Maybe he's annoyed that I stuck my needle into his hand. Most likely, he just can't help it.

The eyes probably are the most evil part about this project. If you're not familiar with this style of eye, it's a hemisphere with a shank in the back, held in place by a sort of pronged washer sort of deal. This means that the cloth around the eye had metal or plastic under it instead of plush, which makes it very difficult to anchor the needle to stitch the beads down.

Another problem I encountered while working on Cthulhu is that the thread I was using was too fine and kept breaking, so I had to force a thicker thread through the tiny eye of the needle I'm using. But at least I haven't broken any more needles -- yet.

Cthulhu's face is mostly covered in lime green colorlined size 11 seed beads leftover from a past BFAC kit. I considered using the pink-lined lime beads leftover from this year's BFAC kit, but two things stopped me: I hate them and I hate them. Ok, maybe that's just one thing.

I'm filling the rest of the face in with the size 15 beads from the first step, as they're smaller and easier to use in the tight spaces leftover in his face. Also, I got bored of using the same color. I think there will be more variety on the rest of his head and body.

Another night in Tempe

In a few hours I'll be off on my weekly trek to Tempe for dance class. Yay! With any luck, the class DVDs will be back in stock. The problem with practicing during the week is that I have to rely on my mental image of the move, and sometimes I get to the next class and find that I've been doing it wrong all week. It also doesn't help that I don't have a mirror to work in front of -- I rely on my shadow, and my reflection in the TV screen. That problem will soon be in the past, at least, as my friend Helen is going to trade me a mirror for some dogsitting. Hooray!

I'm also trying a new restaurant tonight, one which is right next to the studio and comes highly recommended by the folks at the studio. It will be very convenient if I like them, as it will mean that we won't always have to drive around Tempe to get food.

Tomorrow I'll probably have another Cthulhu post. I got some work done on him last night and intend to do more today, in between housework and class.

Oh yes, and in honor of dance class, Spiral Journey is today's Daily Special!

Busy, busy month!

Even though I'm very busy this month, I'd be more than happy to make you a Custom Crystal Bracelet, which is why they're today's Daily Special!

I guess I must have been bored, because suddenly I have a lot going on in my life. Not only do I have dance class, learning to drive, and beaded Cthulhu to work on, but next week I'm going to start going to my husband's gym, and a couple of weeks after that, I'm off for a week in NY.

The gym is partially because Chris has been nagging me to try it, and mostly because I would like better strength and stamina for dancing. My arms especially tend to get tired really fast, and I know it will be even worse if I'm trying to work with props, especially heavy ones like my sword or my fire fans. Plus, of course, more muscle tone will make me look better in my coin bra ;)

As for NY, it's my annual visit to my in-laws, and I will be putting my Etsy shop into Vacation mode during that time. I haven't decided if I'll take any of my jewelry along to NY. I usually do, because my mother-in-law likes to shop in person -- but tighter luggage restrictions mean I may have to leave my jewelry case at home in order to have enough luggage space left to bring home whatever I buy in NY. That said, if there's something you've had your eye on, you should probably buy it now just in case I take it to NY and sell it.

Anyway, right now it's back to housework and Cthulhu for me!

Sanity-Crushing Ugliness!

Here he is, in all his plush glory, Cthulhu! And he's sporting beads upon his brow.

Why is Cthulhu being adorned with beads? Because he's (hopefully) going to be my entry in the Ugly Beaded Project contest at the Tahoe Mountain Bead Retreat in October.

When I first heard about the contest, I started thinking. While it's perfectly acceptable to submit something you already have lying around the house, I've only completed one truly ugly necklace (being a perfectionist, I'm quick to stop making something ugly, rather than trying to salvage it), and I have no idea where it was. Besides, it was ugly in a rather unspectacular way.

I didn't want to miss out on the competition, but I also didn't want to make an ugly necklace on purpose -- what a waste of time and materials, since I'd never wear it! But then I thought back to a project I've wanted to do for years -- a fully-beaded plush Cthulhu. Though the plushie itself is pretty cute, Cthulhu is a pretty ugly dude, and while he probably won't be ugly enough to win any sort of prize, he'll be something I'll be happy to have around my house long after the Retreat is over.

So far I've just stitched some matte metallic iris size 15s along his brow line. I tried to continue that down to the eye, but after breaking one needle and bending another, I decided that seam was too tough to sew beads into. Now I'm trying to decide how I want to bead the rest of the head, and what beads I want to use. Definitely lots of greens!

FAE Team Feature

I'm August's Featured Artist on the FAE Team's Squidoo lens! Thank you, Aquariann, for bestowing this honor upon me.

I'm really enjoying my membership in FAE Team. It's nice to be part of a group of artists working in different media, all with a love of fantasy, faeries, renaissance faires, dragons, and more. I've found my teammates to be fun, friendly, and chatty -- you'll see a few of them posting in the comments section here on the blog on a pretty regular basis.

In other news, I have permission to share my Ugly Bead Project on my blog, so I think I'll do the big reveal tomorrow. Are you excited? I'm excited.

Oh yes, and Summer Dragonfly is today's Daily Special!

No driving today

I planned to practice driving tonight, but it was *really* windy. Not only does this make it harder to control the car, but since we haven't had a lot of rain, it's very dry, so there's blowing dust everywhere, messing up visibility. So since Chris was at gaming yesterday, that means I took the entire weekend off from driving. Well, after the crazy ordeal Chris put me through on Friday (driving halfway across town and back on dark, narrow roads), I deserve the break.

In other news, I set a secret goal for myself last month -- to actually update this blog daily, no matter how busy, tired, or cranky I was. And I did! 31 posts in 31 days! Woohoo! I'll try to do the same this month, though the NY trip may throw that off.

It's dog time, not blog time!

This is my favorite picture of Maggie -- I love that I captured her mid-yawn and managed to get a photo where she's showing her true cuteness, instead of looking sulky.

Today Chris and I took both of the girls down to the vet for their annual check-up and booster shots, in preparation for them being boarded while we're in NY. It was a bit of a stressful ordeal for them -- the vet and vet tech were both very nice, but that only goes so far for a dog when strange objects are being put into their orifices! Maggie especially wanted no part of it, though she still licked the vet's nose while being stethoscoped, and walked up to the vet tech for good-bye petting at the end.

Since then, they've spent most of the day in a post-vet drowsy state, showing the appropriate enthusiasm for food and opportunities to go outside, but otherwise adopting a feline-like system of moving from one nap spot to the next, largely based on where I am. AJ's in the office? Let's sleep on the loveseat or behind her desk chair. AJ's eating dinner? Let's sleep under the table or on the back of the couch, the better to occasionally wake up and make sad, starving eyes at her (they got fed before I did, don't believe them!). AJ's not paying attention? Let's go take a nap on the people bed! Silly dogs.

But when I sat down to write this post, Daisy became suddenly animated, barkingly insisting that she needed attention now, then jumping up to put her paws on my leg and nose her way between my arm and body, so that I'm hugging her. This is a frequent trick of hers, and she seems very pleased with herself for doing it. Now that I've turned down her advances, she's back on the loveseat, wearing her "I'm the saddest puppy ever" face. Guess I should go make it up to her!

By the way, Gossiping Pixies are today's Daily Special. Thought I should tack that on here...