Bad blogger! & end of the year update :)

So, I have decided that I am just not a good blogger! And those of you who pop in to check my blog probably agree. Perhaps I put a bit too much pressure on myself. I want to share what's going on with me.....the "me" that is an artist. I hope to share stories of inspiration and creativity o' plenty, but the "me" that is a business owner is so damn busy that the "me" that is an artist is sitting on the back burner toasting her bunz.

Most of you check in to see how my business and kids are growing....well, let's start there. My business, beaducation.com, is, well how shall we put this, simply put, it's amazing! We have grown immensely. The last few months have sure taught us some lessons. Our sales and customer outreach is bigger than we thought and are trying our darnest to keep up :) My staff here, is top notch. I have the most talented and dedicated team, and I am soooooo grateful!

As for my kids, don't get me started. Oh my god, they are so great and fun and sweet and kind! Between the 2 of them, 3 teeth have been lost in the last month. Izzy is 9 now and Lucy will be 7 on the 21st of this month (my Solstice baby....bringing the light) We went to the doc yesterday and my poor Izzy, she is so tall. I love it (I was super tall at her age too) but she HATES it. She is off the charts tall, not like a little over the 90th percentile off the charts, like way off the charts. I am sure it will come in handy somehow (volleyball? bullying boys?). Anyhow, there is a slight update for ya :)

As far as "me" the artist, I got a lot to tackle in the next few weeks. I will be submitting 2 chapters for a wirework book Denise Peck is writing, proofing the final layout of my book (yeah!), reorganizing my office (I will post a before and after) and then it's time to start crankin' out some jewelry. I need to come up with 2 new classes....one for Hooked On Wire 2010 and one for a Wirework Retreat I will be teaching at in Laguna, CA in Oct (more info to follow....this is gonna be a BLAST!). Oh and tomorrow is Beaducation's end of the year party....oh yeah, I will post photos of that fer sure. We have all worked very hard, it's time to blow it out, the Champagne is chilled, the limo is booked!!!

So, it's time to get my bunz off the burner, clean this office, light a few candles (I always work with a candle lit....mmmmmm) and let the creativity flow......wish me luck :)

Facebook anyone?

Did you know that Beaducation has a Facebook page? We post info about products, upcoming events, sales and most importantly, what we have for lunch. We also occasionally post discounts for only our Facebook fans.
Come join us :)

Hooked On Wire 2009

I just returned from teaching at the Hooked On Wire Retreat. What a blast! The students were great, the projects were great, the hotel was great....pretty great time! I will be taking pictures this week of my demo samples. But for now, here is one.

One of the perks of this retreat is all the project are brand new. So as instructors, we have to come up with a new project and then teach it to 30-48 people without having ever taught it.....hummmm, sometimes that doesn't go so well. But this weekend, it went great. As I demo'ed I came up with more and more ideas. The room was buzzing with creativity.


I wil be teaching the bracelet at Bead Fest Santa Fe at the end of March, and as a 7 hour workshop at the Bead&Button Show in the beginning of June. I will also be teaching this pendant (this exact pendant in this picture) at the Bead&Button Show as a 3 hour class.


Thanks to all the lovely ladies (and lovely David!) who came to the retreat this year. I hope you had as much fun as I did :)

Felt like sooooo long ago?

There are chapters in my life where the years just kinda come and go. Yeah, there is always good news and bad news and kids growing and changing and such but all in all, pretty smooth sailing. Well today I realized that it has been exactly one year since my first Thyroid surgery and it has me reflecting on the passing of this year. This has not been an easy year. Was it really just a year ago? Feels like longer. I am not writing here to blab about the details but more to explore this whole thing called time.

How often do you recall an event in the past and say "man, that seems like ages ago" or "seems like just yesterday"? So here's my question; if there are positive or negative feelings associated with an event, do those feelings define the perceived passage of time? My first surgery, and all the hell that came with it, seems like waaaaay longer than a year ago. My wedding feels like "just yesterday" but maybe that is because it was a blast and I wish I was still there. I certainly don't feel like I can possibly have a 6.5 and 9 year old. Seems like their births and toddler hoods truly were just yesterday. Watching my step dad take his last breath seems like forever ago, yet it was just in March. Maybe the bad and yucky things feel like forever ago, and the positive things feel more recent.

Hummm, not sure if I am coming up with a proper theory here. I will sit on it.

This is the kinda stuff that keeps me up at night pondering. I tend to get hung up on the stuff that has no explanation, go figure!

Bowling

I love bowling!
My kids love it too!
Good fun for the whole damn fam!

New art....i'm a big girl now

We recently bought a new painting. It is the most expensive piece of art I have ever bought and well, that kinda makes me feel like a grown up.

My daughter Izzy attends an art class on Saturdays to learn to paint oil on canvas. This piece was painted by her amazing art teacher, Bernard Beneito. He is this wonderful gentleman from France who is highly influenced by various cultures, Blues Music and New Orleans. This painting depicts the beloved Marianne, a national emblem of France, relaxing over Paris. This is one of Bernards very favorite pieces and I am quite proud to have it on my wall.
















Izzy is on her 12th painting. Bernard has been trying to push her to paint people. He knows she is ready but she has been reluctant. He finally got through to her a few weeks ago and she is 3 weeks into this painting. Here she is working on her 2nd layer. I am gonna need a bigger house soon with more wall space!

Viva la Mexico

A few weeks ago, I returned from a most excellent trip. Me and my daughters, my mom and one of my sisters went to Cabo and stayed at the Dreams Resort. Yep, all girls.... girls gone wild....not so much. More like girls go relax and read and swim and eat! If that is wild, then we were out of control.

It was a great trip. My mom and sister are both amazing women who's company I cherish. It was so nice to spend so much time with my kids, especially in an environment that was so fun for them. Lucy honed her swimming skills and Izzy honed her swim up to the bar and order a drink skills (she was quite proud of her independence). I got a lot of sleep...a lot...much needed. And I got a bunch of work done on my book. I know, lame, I brought my computer and worked. It actually worked out great because I had to bring the girls inside for at least a few hours each day (so they didn't melt), so I worked then and after they went to sleep.

It was really beautiful. The first two nights hosted a full moon. The moon rose over the horizon each night like a fireball, bright red.
















My favorite picture from the trip is this one of Lucy checking out the ocean from our balcony. The pose, the colors, the sassy suit....I love it!