spring break

This past week has been a little... unusual. Our friend and neighbor, Kat, fell out of bed and broke both of her arms. Yikes! Terrible! And since her partner, Kathleen, was away visiting her very ill mother, we had Kat stay here with us for most of the week, along with their two little dogs. It's gone really well actually, and lots of other friends have stepped up to help too. But I have to say, having four dogs in the house has been a most amazing experience. Fortunately, dogs like to sleep a lot. But when they're all up and feeling playful at the same time, it's total chaos. Three of the four are small, and they're all used to being in someone's lap much of the time. Anyone who sits still for more than a minute will soon be surrounded by dogs on all sides. Our big dog Lucy feels a little bit left out, but she's not allowed on the furniture because, well, she's large.


Mercedes is the tan Puggle. Sarafina is the little black one, also part pug, I think. And you know Heidi, our own little Sorority Wiener Dog.


I love this picture. I had treats and a camera at just the right time. These girls will do anything for food. Mercedes even jumped up on the kitchen table one day and ate about four bowls of dog food. She must have been a poor little starving street dog in a past life, because she goes crazy over food.



I think our doggie guests will go back home this evening. They'll be good medicine for Kat. Man, I feel so bad for her though. After the surgery she's having today, she'll have pins in one hand, a plate in her other wrist, and no use of her hands at all. It's going to take a lot of help from all her friends. I'm glad we're right here, just a few doors down the street. We'll do what we can to help at the house, and maybe we'll get to bring the dogs over for some play dates. We've become sort of attached to them.

stringing along

I jumped right in and made something with the pretty strand of citrine I bought at BeadFest. I haven't made a lot of finished pieces in a while, but I'm rather pleased with this. Maybe I'll have time to have Kathleen Brennan photograph it for me before I sell it. It's not "logical" to make these big, expensive pieces these days, but so what. Sometimes you just gotta make something yummy.

good news from ethiopia

The following story arrived in my email this morning, from a friend at Project Mercy. It's nice to read some good news now and then. The photos were all taken at the compound. I can almost smell it! And it's particularly nice for me to see Marta and Deme smiling back at me here. I hope you enjoy the article.

(Click each image to make the pages larger so you can read them. If you want me to send the article to you as an attached document, just drop me an email.)

signs of spring

If you were on my Beadist Mailing List, you'd get lovely messages like this one, sent out today...


Hello Beadists ~
Watching for signs of spring, I noticed the first daffodil of the season yesterday, in Santa Fe, shyly unfolding its yellow petals in the wake of an early morning snow flurry. I find courage in the bravery of flowers, and joy in the playfulness of the prairie dogs, as they yawn and stretch after their long winter's sleep. Yes, signs of spring are everywhere, if I take the time to look. The sun beams warmer on my skin each day, and encouraged by that, I find myself drawn to some of the warmer hues in my glass palette. Somehow I feel the chill begin to lift, just looking at them. I hope you'll begin to thaw too, cheered by the beauty of nature, and of course, beads...

My best to you, as the seasons change, predictably, and still sometimes, surprisingly.

~Kim~

bead show & tell

I just spent two days at BeadFest in Santa Fe, where I saw lots of beads, and even better, lots of favorite friends. Times being what they are, I didn't buy the usual ton of stuff I might have in past years, but I still found some lovely things that just had to come home with me. I didn't notice until I got it all together in one neat pile that I was operating on some kind of of theme. Just look at the colors; how everything gets along so well together, in a nice sunny sort of way. I can't wait to dig in and play with all of it. Ideas are bubbling up!

amigurumi

Ever hear of Amigurumi? Me neither, until a few days ago. It's the Japanese art of making tiny crocheted animals and other things. When my kids were little, I used to make little bears for them, but I had no idea I was doing Japanese Art. When I ran across this the other day, something in me was instantly smitten, and I went digging for my crochet hooks. I made the mouse that night, with a pattern I found online. The next morning I made the bear from memory. Pah! Who needs a pattern! Most of the Amigurumi I'm finding online is not felted, but since I'm also currently obsessed with felting, I decided to do that too. Next I want to try needle felting. I'm not sure I'll be able to make myself stab such cute little creatures repeatedly with barbed needles. Then again, I have no trouble drowning them in hot water and scrubbing them until they're fuzzy...

big in japan

OK. I admit it. I've been avoiding my blog. I'm just so busy just trying to make ends meet, creative banter is about the last thing on my mind. But Rick and I have a Plan B under construction, so maybe things will ease up soon. What crazy scheme have we come up with now? Life on the road with the gypsies! If things work out, we hope to rent our house and hit the road in a trailer... for about a year. That way the house can take care of itself, more or less, and we can feel free to move about the country. All this sitting here and waiting is making us feel much too restricted. Time to shake things loose... if, if, if it all works out...
I'll keep you posted.

Lots of time in the studio can be good or bad, depending on how much fun I'm having. I was needing a break the other day, and got sucked into some "Amigurumi" web sites... little crocheted animals. It's big in Japan, and apparently here too, although I'd never heard of it before. Last night I made a very cute purple mouse, and this morning, a red bear. Very small, and relatively useless. Sometimes cute is enough. And while I was absorbed in all this Japanese stuff, a snip of graphic design caught my imagination, and before long, there were new beads in the works...





I'll show you my Amigurumi pets after I put their faces on...

yarnbombing

No time for blogging today. We're hosting Soup Night at our house, which is fun and low pressure, but still requires a bit of work... like making soup and cleaning up the house. But since I'm in a yarny frame of mind, here's a link daughter Julia sent me this morning: Yarnbombing. Now why didn't I think of doing knit and crochet graffiti?

amulet scarf update

A while back, I posted a pattern for a cool knitted "amulet scarf". I sent some of my Caviar Beads to my friend Maia, and she did a trial run of the pattern. It looks great, I think. She says to make your scarf longer than the pattern actually calls for. Here are her pictures. I think I'll make one too... after I make something with my lovely Twhirl yarn... I'm still enjoying the look of it sitting there waiting for me.