G'evening, all,

Hoping your week went/is going well! Sounds like we, on the West Coast, are going to have some rain this weekend. We have been under water rationing around here, so this is a good thing. Except that, my sister, my niece and I have plans to go sell at the local Flea Market this weekend. This threat of rain may put a serious crimp in our plans... we shall see. The TV weather people have not been 'right on' (far from it) lately with their weather forecasts, so I hope they are wrong about this weekend's rain forecast. Our weekend plans will be fun if the showers decide to take a detour and go elsewhere. My sister and niece are awesome to hang out with... we have a lot of fun together... as do my brother and I... isn't family the greatest?! I am truly blessed in that department.

I am back in the bead biz, thanks to Mike (who built my kiln) for fixing my kiln... THANKS MIKE for fixing my 'coffee fried kiln', for all of your patience and for walking me through the re-programming process of the control thingie... I'd have been lost without your help!

And, by the way, for anyone who is looking for an awesome kiln, I very highly, highly recommend Michael Crowley's kilns... you can find him (and his kilns, of course) at http://www.theglasshive.com/ . I sure do LOVE my kiln!

It is sooooooooo nice to be back behind the torch, making beads again... I really missed making beads... I gotta be way more careful with that morning coffee though, that's for sure!

My latest bead collection is up on ebay (and has been since April 29th - just didn't get a chance to get in here to update my blog until now)... please, simply click on the bead collection's title (that follows) and be taken directly to its ebay auction...

LOVIN' THE REDWOODS::: Another collection of my favorite beads to make... a collection of my handmade artisan lampwork glass beads in my REDWOODS design, which I have named this time, LOVIN' THE REDWOODS... with their rich, brown 'redwood bark' colored designs on their earthy sage green background, these colors will work year round... and they truly are comforting colors to work with and to wear!

There are 15 beads in this collection... to start this collection is a 24mm x 25mm centerpiece/focal bead in a lentil shape... and... to go with this focal bead are 10 smaller lentil shaped beads that range in size from about 17½mm to 19½mm... also included are 2 matching pair of small round shaped beads that are both about 7½mm x 10mm... these smaller beads were created with matching earrings and/or 'danglies' at your clasp or throughout your creation in mind... all of these beads are decorated on both sides and have been gently etched to a satin matte finish... they have been temporarily strung on satin ribbon and this strand of beads measures approximately 9 inches long... the start of something wonderful... just add some of your favorite accent beads, perhaps, some Carnelian gemstone beads and your vivid imagination and creativity and you're set to go!

This is a 3 DAY auction.

LOVIN' THE REDWOODS ::: A collection of 15 handmade artisan lampwork glass beads...



LOVIN' THE REDWOODS ::: A view of the other side of these beads...



LOVIN' THE REDWOODS ::: A view of these beads in my hand to give you a visual reference to their size...




I have a couple more collections of beads that I will be adding to ebay tomorrow. Hoping that your upcoming weekend brings you some nice R&R and fun times.

Take good care and thanks so much for stopping by, Gracie :)