And the winner is....

ADDIE! E-mail me your address and I will get the necklace out to you today or tomorrow.
Thanks to all of you who participated. Stay tuned for more.
And I might have some more pics up later today of some new creative endeavors.
Until next time-
Carter

Seizing the day

I know it's been longer than I promised for a bead give-away, but somehow the time has just escaped me. Don't really have any explanation for what I've been doing....just not making beads. For whatever reason, I haven't been in the mood lately. But I have my gusto back, and have been at the torch all day long, cranking things out.

So here's the give-away of the week: this really cool, big bead, on a silver chain.
The bead itself is over 2" long, and the chain is 18". The bead is a bit heavy for the chain, but it works. If you have something else you can put the bead on, go for it. This beauty has been sitting in my drawer of "I don't know what to do with these" beads for a while, so I decided it's a good time to give it a new home. Post here if you want to be added to the drawing. I'll randomly select the lucky winner next Wednesday, so be sure to check back then.

And for a bit of my personal philosophy, for any of you who care....I've been reading an interesting booked entitled, "Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap" by Edward Hallowell. Am I about to snap??? No...but I have realized lately that I am spread a bit thin. I have so many interests and so many things I want to do with my time, and there aren't enough hours in the day. This book has an interesting perspective on how to tackle the distractions and stressers of the modern world. We (or I am anyway) slaves to our computer screens, cell phones, tasks at work, tasks at home, and all of the distractions and commitments we have. When I really stop to look at the number of tasks I accomplish in an average day, I am stunned. But some days I am left feeling so worthless. Like I have done a lot, been moving at the speed of all light, but not accomplished anything of any real value. And I don't even watch tv, so I can't blame my escaped time on that! So this book has helped me put things into perspective, and helped me realize that I have a choice: I can choose to seize each moment for what it is, and live it to the fullest, or I can waste moment after moment doing things that won't really give me a feeling of fulfillment. Afterall, for me anyway, life isn't just about ticking things off the "to do" list; it's about being fulfilled by what you are doing. So yes, there are plenty of things that we have to do in life that aren't exactly fulfilling....they are necessary. But there are a lot of other tasks that we engage in out of habit, that are neither fulfilling or necessary, but still we do them and just waste time. SO.....why I am writing all of this? Because I have been feeling a bit burned-out lately by beads. But I have realized that what I am feeling isn't really burn-out, but distractions from all that's on my plate. So today I cleared my mind of all of those distractions, and I had a thoroughly wonderful day of making beads. My creative bead energy is back, because I took the time and the effort to refuse all of the other things that were vying for my attention. It reminds me of the ol' adage(it's something like this:): you can please some of the people some of the time, you can please all of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." I am learning that I can't do everything at once. I can't succumb to every task on my list at once. I can make beads now, do paperwork later, walk Finn after that, and then come back to beads. And be with each experience mentally as it is happening. Or I can be thinking about one thing while doing another, and never achieving fulfillment of the task at hand.....wow, what a simple concept!

It's so nice to have these "aha!" moments. The great thinkers have been trying to tell us for centuries: "Carpe Diem." Hmmm....looks like they have a very valid point!

I'm back at work today, after a lovely day away from beads. It's so nice to take holidays; often I tend not to actually not work (please excuse that double-negative, I know it's grammatically incorrect) just because when you're self-employed, there's always something to do. But yesterday I really did take the day off. And since I have been working for Beads Forever I really enjoy weekends and time off, because my work time is more structured since I work in an office with other people. There's a lot to be said for being able to walk away from work and not think about it. I used to not be able to do that, but I'm getting better at it.
I made some really neat beads on Tuesday that were inspired by a set I saw on ebay. I loved this color combination, and had to make some beads in these colors. I'm getting ready to work at the torch for a bit and make some more beads for this set.

And for a little splash of color, here's a snippet of what my Burning Man pants look like. How divine is this color combination and fabric? Ooohhh, I love 'em!

I've been working on some new jewelry styles and color combinations and should have some new pieces to post on my site in the next week or so. I'll probably put some more previews up on the blog soon as well.

Tata for now-

Carter

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th!
Since moving to CA (yes, all of you folks back east warned me about this), I have had so much exposure to the "left" side of the political spectrum. Although I am not as involved as I should be, I do try to keep abreast of what's going on in the world. So on this Independence Day, I am not quite sure how to feel about being an American. Yes, I love my freedom, but no, I don't feel good about the state of our world, and I have so much sadness for what we have done as a nation to the rest of the world. I am not going to preach or get on a soapbox here, but I will pray today for peace around the world. I hope in my heart that our nation and especially our leaders figure out soon that we aren't the only ones here on the planet.
Those are my thoughts for the day.
And if you want some very interesting food for thought, take a few minutes to read the blog today of Rice Freeman-Zachary, an altered-clothing artist whose work I have recently discovered, and who I really admire. Wow, does she have some powerful commentary today about the work of women artists...how we, as women, tend to always go inside for inspiration, rather than looking outside at the world around us. And how women tend to limit themselves to the confines of what's inside, rather than growing as artists by being open to the world around them. Very, very interesting....and so incredibly true.
It's so connected to the things I have been reading about and thinking about lately, related to metaphysics and the energy in this world. How we are all (whether human, dog, piece of clothing, rock) made up of the same particles of energy, and how we carry and transmit that energy when we move about in the world. How if we emanate negative thoughts (energy), we are only poisening the world around us with negativity. Just by using negative words and thinking negative things, we inhibit the positive energy inside and around us.
So on a positive note, may you have a wonderful holiday full of sunshine and happiness. Send love into the world. And God Bless not just America, but all of the people in the world.

Hello Monday!

Good Monday to you all, and welcome July! I can't believe we have flown through the month of June so quickly. Where does the time go?!

I had a wonderful weekend, and did something that I never, ever do: I went to San Francisco all day on Saturday with no agendy, and just hung out!! It was so much fun! Aveesh and I went with Tony and Lisa to Haight St. to check out the costume shops and fabric shops for Burning Man attire. And oh, boy, did I get the coolest pants in town! I'll have to post some pics as the date nears and my outfits are more complete.

We at lunch at a really yummy Indian restaurant, had icecream at Ben & Jerry's, and just enjoyed the day. It felt so nice to relax! Haight St. is so much fun. There's just so much to look at, so many people to watch, and the weather was gorgeous. It's days like this that I still have to stop and marvel at the fact that I live here.

I finished working on a wholesale order for a new gallery in Washington last week, and they had requested a variation on one of my favorite necklaces. I think it turned out really well...what do you think?

Lots on the plate this week. Electrician is coming today to do the wiring for our casting equipment. I'm working on some new jewelry projects for Bead Trust, which is fun and challenging since I don't normally work with semi-precious. And it's the 4th of July, so we have a day off. And yes, I am going to take a day off! Looking forward to it.
Another bead give-away coming in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled.

Until then....

Carter