Well my faithful friends, I am leaving for Seattle in the morning to learn stringer control (new stuff for my beads) that I hope will be very much loved and appreciated by my customers, hee hee!  I guess i am getting ahead of myself, I actually have to learn it first, ha!!  I am willing to travel to the end of the world to learn stringer from Corina Tettinger.  She is picking me up from the airport and we are heading to the city for the day.  We apparently are visiting the fish market, having lunch and generally just playing it by ear.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are learning days (private classes).  I told her today that she had her work cut out for her and she said in her German accent that i should not worry because she has a noose and a trap door that swings open for anyone that is not learning fast enough!!!  That was hysterical, I think we will get along just fine!!!  I will not be on the blog this week so I will have pictures and stories when I get back sometime probably on Saturday or Sunday.  I get home super late Friday night, well Saturday morning so I will get some rest and then put everything up including any beads I get from her, yummy yummy rub my tummy, yes i am giddy and stupid at this point!!!!!  Ciao and Peace

steph

They will be there by 1:00pm today, call 860-1750 to verify before going!!!  Just a couple of pics in the same color family!  This is SUIT ATTIRE, the colors just reminded me of a taupe or blue that you would see at work!!!  The bead to the far right is Heffalump, not suit attire.  Have a great weekend!

BEADS TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!  That is Saturday for the people not in the swing of school yet!  hee hee!

I love the fall set of beads I made for a customer in Alabama!!  Yummy!  I will be sending those out to her today.   My ugly chair came and i was pleasantly surprised that it did not look as bad as I thought, until my 20 year old came in and said “Mom, that thing is hideous”!!  I think it is growing on me and it is very comfy!  I will be out of town in the state of Washington next week for classes so I will not be blogging but you will see my pictures when i get back.  check this out!  I just love animals and the humans that love them!!!!!

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So, I am working today on a  customers fall beads (until I burnt my finger, ouch) and there in my back woods on the border of my house and my woods is a completely changed maple tree!!!  AAAWWWWW!!  I love Fall, I love when the trees change.  This one decided to go to sleep early!  Yay, my big ugly chair gets delivered tomorrow!  Still waiting to sign papers with the renters, we are kind of getting irritated.  Hey, have  great evening!!!!!!

working on beads like i mentioned before!!!!  Have  great evening!

more animals

Well, I made this cool bead that had a lot of layers to it in blue and it took quite a while (blue and then white dots and blue and white dots and blue and poking and clear = bubble dots + final clear encase, whew) and right before i put it in the kiln and when i was reshaping it my bead release broke and of course got on the bead, burning into it and i was not able to save it, boo hoo!!!  However, i still took some pictures of it to show the layers.  Also some other beads that will be going to Yelton’s next week.  I just played with triangles and bubble dots in different colors.  There are really not many (i warned you) but there will be a lot more by the end of the week next week.  Have a great weekend and WhoDey!!!!  I am going to the Bengals game tonight, Woohoo, I hope they play better for us!!  Check out my favorite dancers from So You Think You Can Dance!!  I just love them!

I love pink, especially against blue!!  Bad bead release bead!!

Soooooooo sorry for not posting any pics, but you have to have beads to post pics and truly I am trying to get my act together.  I will have a couple pics in the morning depending on what comes out of the kiln.  I went down for a little while and made just a few, i mean really, just a few!!!  Next week I have no choice but to torch for yelton’s so I am coming up with my color schemes while i sit in my comfy chair.  I should have my usual amount by the end of the week.  Enjoy this video, it is another one of those crazy prankster clips!!!  The running of the bulls, human style!!

So today was just jam packed with fun little things like a call from the doctors office telling me that my MRI lit up where I had my surgeries last year and that it could mean one of two things.  1.  I could have an infection in the disc or 2.  Significant changes to that area have occured since the operations!!  He seems to believe that it is #2 but to rule an infection out he sent me for blood tests and back x-rays (another test he just wanted updated, complete with bending forward and bending backward, OUCH)!  Also he said that the three discs above that area are degenerating more and so that leads me to believe he will head in the direction of fusion.  Ok, so i went to have my tires rotated and an alignment, and then on to the Valvoline for a oil change and finally on for blood work and x-rays.  Now I am home and awaiting the Open House for 8th grade in a hot and sticky school with no air conditioning.  Does it sound like a fun day to you?????  So, while I was waiting for my tire rotation I decided to walk next door to Petsmart and check out the kitties up for adoption.  I think that they get very bored just sitting there with the same toy dangling from their cage so I like to mix it up a bit.  I take all the toys down and put them on different cages so they have a new toy to play with.  Yes, I am probably breaking the rules, but come on is it that big of a deal?  I have done this a lot, I am a repeat offender.  I just think that they appreciate having something new to play with because some of them have been sitting in there a while with the same toy!!!  If Mark was not allergic I would probably be the “cat lady”!!!!!  This video cracks me up, I never knew turtles were so territorial.  I mean, this guy means business!  Good thing I did not have him attached to the outside of the cage to bat at!!  Watch this! 

Today I had my MRI and I had a hard time getting up off the table afterwards.  Oh well, I got over it and went on with my day.  Yes, I am still down about it and yes I am still upset that I am going through this again.  However, I always love to look for inspiring stories that can hopefully give me a different perspective and attitude to my life.  It is funny how we as humans learn to adapt to situations by the way we were raised.  Were we taught to look at life with the glass half full or half empty?  Animals on the other hand do what they have to for survival even if it means hopping for peanut butter!!!  This is such an inspiring story and it just reiterates to me that “all” life is precious and “all” life is meant to teach others something!!!  Watch this!  Beads in the next couple of days, sorry, i have been so busy!!! 

I have had a lot of requests from beadsters who buy from Yelton’s wondering about ordering beads, seeing how beads are made, and the list goes on!!!  This is how I feel about it!!  I absolutely love my customers, it is why I do what I do, well, mostly why I do what I do!  If you live in the area or even if you don’t live in the area and want to visit the area and want to see how I make my beads I would love to show you.  This is pretty much how all beads are made and have been made all through the years.  The Troll beads, the Pandora beads, the Venetian beads, trade beads, you name it, so if you are interested in meeting me just let me know and you can come to my home and see what I do!!!  Kalypso beads is just little ol me in my little ol studio!!!  That is why there are only so many beads to go around!  That is why they are pretty much one of a kind!  Also, I have had requests as to if Yelton’s can have me make special beads and the answer is YES!!!  Will they look identical to one you see in the store?  NO!  That is the nature of glass!  I will do my best!  My beads have names and I will try to make one like it but for the most part i try and make beads one at a time about every two weeks when i bring in a shipment.  I want to thank each and every one of you for purchasing my beads and following my blog because i truly enjoy doing what i do.  I also love blogging and I am glad that I am no longer talking to myself anymore, lol!!!  Watch for more beads at the end of this week.  I have a very busy week with lots of appointments ahead so I will not be at the torch much this week.  stay tuned!!!!  Email me if you have questions and please comment me on my blog, not many of you seem to do this!!!!!!!!  Have a great evening!!!!  PEACE!!!!!!!

Just trying to get some customer beads done!  Here are a few pictures, some repeats of yesterday, some new!!!  How about that Michael Phelps????   Oh, by the way I am still waiting for Victoria Brown to email me back about her August Around the World bead contest Win!  She must be on vacation or something.  Just to let you all know!!!  it is a beautiful crisp warm clear day here in Cincinnati and it is just lovely!!!  Football is just about here, pre-season yay!!!  Go Bengals!!!!!  I have a bengal bead somewhere.  Oh yeah, Yelton’s has TWO!!!   Enjoy what is left of your Sunday!!!

Soooo, we bought a new bed and mattress set for anna, a new mattress set for Amanda and a big 1 1/2 lazy boy for the hearth (tv area in kitchen) for all of us to be more lazy BUT more comfortable in.  Yes, I have finally bought a lazyboy!  I have never enjoyed their esthetics and quite frankly I still don’t but knowing how comfortable it is and will be on those sleepness nights I have caved!!  No more trying to fight over who sits in it because it seats 2 comfortably so we will be closer together (even if we are not in the togetherness mood) and happy while watching TV!  This is just a few beads I made yesterday, not too great but I like the coral and olive green together.  Have a great night!

yesterday I bought some really ugly teeth candy for my daughter Anna and Andrea!  I took it out to them, they were waiting in the car.  we preceded to drive and stop at lights etc.. while they stared at people out the window with their ugly teeth.  The looks on people’s faces were so funny I cried and literally had to pull over in a parking lot because I could not see through the tears.  I needed a good laugh and there is nothing better than unsuspecting people and their reactions when they are caught off guard.  Come on, you know it, you secretly love to see someone fall down or get scared as long as they do not get hurt.  I will never forget the time when i was a teenager and my mother and I were at a pet store and they had a monkey in a cage.  My mother has an even bigger personality than I (meaning you either love her or hate her, hee hee)!!  She was leaning into the cage and saying “ooohhhh what a cute monkey you are” and googoo baby talk like that.  All of a sudden the monkey swooped down and grabbed my moms glasses and it pulled her face in close to the cage and she was screeching and raising a raucous in the store.  I laughed sooooo hard I had to sit on the ground so i did not pee my pants.  the whole time she was saying “ooooohhhhh, that monkey grabbed my glasses, oooohh, please get my glasses” and her hair was disheveled and she had this bewildered look on her face.  I will never forget it because I knew she was fine but her reaction was so funny and that monkey had her glasses.  Soooo, where I am going with this is that i have been down a little because of my back the last few days and when I saw the teeth I thought I could have fun and make myself laugh a little.  Yes, i am a little nuts but hey, life is short.  The great thing is I laugh at myself all of the time, I think it is important to not take yourself too seriously!!!  Check out this video, I would definately have bought tickets, popcorn and a seat to see this!!!!!  lol!!!  Have a great weekend and pics tomorrow!
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Check out the wingspan!!  This is Michael Phelps breaking the record of all time!!!  What a wonderful photo, the photographer is wonderful and made this almost impossible feat into a work of art!!!  I love the Olympics!!!!  It is wonderful to see people come together from all nations and coexist for even a short time!!! 

Ok, a  few pictures, these are going to be at Yelton’s today.  the purple and amber bead is so pretty, inspired by Kristina Logan.  You have to see it to appreciate it!!!!  I have been working on being able to make one of these since this style  is what inspired me to make beads in the first place.  Please take a look at her site www.kristinalogan.com and enjoy her work.  she is a pioneer in the glass beadmaking world and has been working for many years at perfecting her craft.  I wanted to be able to make one of these beads and this is my best attempt so far.  I will probably never sell one of these again since it is not my design but it wanted to sell one bead with her inspiration in mind.  My favorite is her amber and purple colored bead so that is what i attempted!  If you want a bead that took me 2 1/2 hours to make, this is the bead for you!!!!  Ha Ha!!!  Again, the picture does not do this bead justice, it is horrible!!!  Go see it!!  ok, have a great day!