Awhile ago, my blog was "tagged" by a sweetheart named Fay (her blog here).  I had to, of course, ask her what the heck that meant!  Well, apparently it's kind of like a really cool blog chain letter.  You tag some cool people, and then answer the questions sent to you by the person who tagged you.  Whew!!

So.....if I understand correctly, the tag started here... I could be wrong, though - it's so freaking confusing!  What the heck is a meme tag, anyway? Feel free to add your comments.

Anyway - on to the fun part....the questions.

1.  What were you doing ten years ago?
10 years ago, I had just married my husband Ken, and we were living in Portland.
 
2.  What were you doing one year ago?
One year ago, I was doing pretty much what I am doing now...blissfully making beads and waiting for fall!
 
3.  Five snacks you enjoy?
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate and chocolate.  Oh, and chocolate.
 
4.  Five songs you know all the lyrics to?

Daughters - John Mayer
Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
Crazy - Seal
Come Back To Bed - John Mayer
That I Would Be Good - Alanis Morisette
 
5.  Five bad habits?
Wasting time on the computer (heh), washing my hands too much (a bit of OCD), procrastinating, eating chocolate, drinking coffee
 
6.  Five things you like doing?
Reading Harry Potter, making out with the hubby, driving in the mountains with the radio blaring, sitting by a bonfire, walking around the lake with the hubby.
 
7.  Five things you would never wear again?
Fake eyelashes, base metal earrings, green nail polish, a bikini, stiletto heels.

And now the tags!

Tag - you're it!

Su & Mike - the Tillerpeeps - my friends over in the UK, Mike makes pretty beads!

Donna Mehnert - Blackberrybeads - color combos to die for, and she's fun, too!

Kim Neely - well, duh.

Farmer Dave - what a sweetheart!

Watch Me Create - a bunch of lampworkers started this blog recently, and it's pretty damn cool.

So there we go!  Have fun. 

Seriously, it's about time!  It's been an interesting couple of weeks to say the least.

Aaaanyway, I am giving ebay another try.  I haven't done ebay in awhile because it's been really slow, and because I have been trying out other venues.  But this set is big, so I feel more comfy putting it on ebay instead of the smaller venues. 

I really like this color combo.  It's a bit like my Daughter of the Nile series, but richer.  Instead of Opal Yellow, I used Red Roof Tile, and instead of Silver Plum, I used Dark Violet.  The result is more of a terracotta clay look to the opaque beads, and a richer, more jewel tone look to the layered beads. 

Pff enough of the glass talk, just post a picture, girl!

Egyptian Princess
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120137029079

No, I'm not talking about the band A-ha here.  Even though I love them.  What I mean by this is that moment when a basic technique that has been alluding you finally falls into place. 

Sometimes we beadmakers just have one of those weird blanks in our brains that just keeps us from being successful at one small thing - one simple skill that we *should* have no problem with. 

For me, it is the encased triangle bead. That easy (yeah, right) round encased bead with little pointed triangles inside. Some people call them harlequins. For some reason.   

I've been encasing beads for years.  I can do encased stripes like nobody's business.  I finally tamed the encased floral (in a similar *eureka* moment) last year sometime.  I've layered a whole bunch of transparent and opaque glasses and have made all kinds of encased shapes in a bunch of different sizes.  So what the heck kept me from being able to do an encased triangle bead?  Who the heck knows. 

But a couple of days ago, at about 2am, over the seriously loud TV volume (I can still hear Picard's "make it so"!), the neighbors probably heard my squeal of triumph as I watched my encasing pull the triangles out perfectly on my first ever really good encased triangle bead.  I yelped "sweet!!" as I turned the bead on the mandrel a few times, bathing it in the flame before slipping it into the kiln.  I was on a high for the rest of the session.  All that over a simple technique that for some reason had been alluding me for **years**.  And I have no idea what finally made me try that one last thing that clinched it for me.  And I couldn't even tell you what that thing was - just that I can now make these beads with ease. 

Sometimes it just makes no sense at all - but I wouldn't trade that high for anything.  Yey!!

So, there's a small debate going on in the online lampwork circles about whther having a bolg on your business website is a good idea.  Or even having one connected to your business website.  Some say it's foolish - that personal blogging can hurt the business reputation or alienate potential customers. 

Others say that since the majority of lampworkers are artistic types and tend to be creative, emotional souls, we feel the need to open up our personal selves to anyone who might view or purchase our art...after all, bits of our souls are injected into each and every bead we make.

For me, I tend to see both sides of the argument.  On the one hand, just how much personal stuff do you all want to read?  Are you here just for the beads and only the beads, or do you honestly want to know my views on, say, the Iraq war? The Paris Hilton debacle (seriously?) Religion?  Do you feel closer to me as a person when I talk about things like last year's flood in my neighborhood?  My serious dislike for yardwork of any kind? My husband's and my frantic search for land to put a new house on?  My kitty's hyperthyroidism?

On the other hand, I really do feel like some people like seeing the personal side of the artists they buy from. And then there are people who visit the site not to buy, but just to look around and see what's going on in my world. After all, I think my mom still looks at my blog from time to time (hi, Mom!!). 

So.....I'll continue to write in this blog....sometimes being personal and sometimes being all about the business and the beads....and most of the time a little bit of both.  I'll continue to make an effort not to cross the lines into a complete rant-fest about what's wrong with the world these days. And most of all, I will continue to try and connect with you, my visitors, for whatever reason you're here reading this. 

Yey - it's snowing!! Honest-to-goodness actual snow - not that weird pebbly stuff from last time.  It's been snowing all morning, and we have about 4 inches down now. 

I have no idea why I get so darn excited when it snows. It's not like I can use snow as an excuse to get out of work - I work at home!  It just makes me happy.  Maybe it's because it's so pristine.  I love the hushed atmosphere, and the way it makes the trees look frosted. 

Of course, there's always the point where you can have snow overkill.  Like in Colorado these past weeks.  But here in the PNW, I welcome it, as long as the power stays on and I don't have to drive.  Bring on more snow!

Talk about your long months!!  It feels like it's been three months since I have updated my blog instead of only one.  I'll just get right to it, then.....

What is with this quasi-sleet/snow/pebbles stuff coming out of the sky?  We were supposed to get honest-to-goodness real snow today and last night, but all we're getting here in the Cascade Foothills is this weird beanbag chair stuffing. I want snow!  Dammit.

So.....a few weeks ago, while we were enduring the worst power outage in the history of our state (don't quote me on that, but it sure seemed like it) my ebay account got hacked.  Thank goodness we were in Portland staying with family, and I was able to get it taken care of.  Unfortunately, I think someone has it in for me at ebay, because my auction that I posted yesterday got pulled.  Get this - for link violation.  For linking to my About Me page.  What's *that* about?  Anyway - after dealing with the jerk who hacked my account and violated trademarks by listing weird japanese sweatshirts, this doesn't seem so bad.  I just took the About Me reference out of my auction description and listed it again.  So there. 

So these beads are up today, and the price is still nice and low. Save me from ebay doom! Click the pic to see the auction.

The pretty blooms you see here were inspired by some great tutorials in this brand new magazine called The Annealer.  The premier issue just came out this week - I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already.  It's wonderful!

In other news - Christmas was really nice, New year's was uneventful (which is good!) and January is looking pretty okay as well.  Except for the weather.  The weather here these past few months has been really weird.  Did I mention I'd rather have snow?

The cool thing is that American Idol is starting again this month, and so is Heroes. So now I have something to watch while I teach myself how to knit.  My next knitting project will be leg-warmers, because it's going to be freaking cold this weekend!

Hope you all are having a great week.  Let me know how you're doing - tag the blog or make a comment!  Or just go over to my website and sign the guestbook.  Let me know you're actually reading the blog.  Otherwise, it sure feels like I am talking to myself.  LOL

~~Kandice

Everyone who knows me well knows how much I love cats.  I adore them - even though I just recently found out I am extremely allergic.  I will never be without a cat - no matter how much they make me sneeze. 

Today was a trying day for this cat lover, though.  For the last few months, there have been several stray cats hanging around my house.  I have been feeding them (I just can't resist!) and they have been braving the great outdoors (with all the wild animals, floods and cold weather included).  November was hideous in terms of weather, and most of the cats have not been around (I really hate to think about why they are gone).

Well, today one of them came back - a sweet fluffy black girl kitty.  She's so friendly, and so, so hungry.  So I fed her as usual.  She stayed by the back door this time (instead of going off on her own as usual) and cried and cried. 

So I figured I would try and bring her in and perhaps adopt her into my house.  Well, as most of you know, I already have one kitty - an orange Tabby girl called Pumpkin.  I thought this would work, because Pumpkin seemed okay with the black kitty eating by the door, and hadn't hissed or growled at her.  And I figured she might be ready for a new kitty by now (our cat Melody, Pumpkin's lifelong companion, died a couple of years ago). Well, apparently that wasn't the case.

The black kitty allowed me to pick her up, dry her off, and was extremely love-y. She also had no problem exploring the living room.  But when Pumpkin saw her, she immediately attacked her, and they had quite the fight.  Finally, Pumpkin ran out of the room. 

Well, after that I wasn't sure what to do.  I didn't want to put the black kitty back out again (neither cat was hurt, thank goodness), because with the winter here, and all the local wild animals (racoons, wildcats, coyotes, etc.) I am not sure she would have survived. But I knew I couldn't keep her at my house - not with the reaction I got from Pumpkin.

So I had the local animal shelter come pick her up.  I am feeling so guilty about that.  They said she would very likely be adopted - she's friendly and pretty. They think maybe she was abandoned here in the neighborhood, as so many cats are these days. But it still feels like I could have done more.

I'm so angry at whoever owned this kitty.  People really need to spay and neuter. And they need to stop abandoning their pets on the side of the road. It all just made for a trying day. 

So if you're in the Seattle eastside area, and want a fluffy, pretty, friendly kitty, check out the local shelter. Give this sweet thing the home she deserves.

I'm going to go cry some more now.

Hello all

Just to update you on the flood - it's all pretty much gone now, and they have fixed the street.  I feel for the people who own the houses down the road, though.  They probably have their work cut out for them.  Our house, being on the hill, avoided the major damage.  We just had some leaks and were blocked into the street for a few days.  Whew!  The creek has gone down a little, but it's pretty interesting to see where it has carved out a new course for itself.  Mother Nature is sure a powerful chick!

On the bead front, I am working on some cool cell phone charms and keychains to offer for holiday giving, and have been doing some revisions to my website. I really wanted to do something to expand my business a little so that lampwork buyers can shop for other components to go with their beads. So, I have added crystals and plan on adding some other kinds of beads and findings as well.  This will be slow going, as I gather the funds to finance this expansion, so please hang in there with me.    I also added gift certificates for the holidays.

I'll continue to have periodic auctions and also accept orders from the Made to Order pages. See the sidebar to your left for links!

Soooooo what else have I been up to?  Well, I am addicted to a few shows on TV, and have been doing a lot of reading lately.  Let's see - that new show Heroes is fantastic.  Ken and I just can't get enough.  And I started watching Supernatural, which I love as well.  While making beads, I have re-runs of Frasier running in the background.

As for reading, I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series, in preparation for the 7th book and the 5th movie (I can't wait!!).  I also started a new series called the Retrievers by Laura Anne Gilman. It's a really good series about a woman who is a supernatural thief. It's funny and quirky and has a little bit of a love story. It reminds me a little of Kim Harrison's stuff.

I'm also really looking forward to seeing my grandma and my cousins who are driving up from Idaho for Thanksgiving. I can't believe that's almost here....this month and last month have just zoomed on by. 

I'll end this with a pic of my latest bead set on ebay.  It was inspired by my little sis Peggy - who loves vintage style and clothing. Click on it to see the auction.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

So it's been really interesting here the last couple of days with all the flooding going on.  Several towns in western Washington, including my own, have had some pretty serious stuff happening.  This morning I got a chance to go out with my camera and take some pics and shoot a little bit of really bad video to show everyone.  Basically, we are pretty much trapped at our house for a couple of days, except when the neighbors can cart us into town in their big pickup truck - and even that's pretty difficult. 

The one- mile stretch of our street has several spots that are knee deep, and a bunch of houses are completely flooded.  It's pretty scary.  Here are some pics of the street just outside our house - thank goodness we live up on a little hill, or we might be in trouble (like some of our neighbors). Basically, the levy up on the river on the hill above our house broke, so the creek is sweeled up and rushing down into places it normally would not, causing flooding. Parts of the street are broken off, and some places have an entirely new creek.  This is nothing really compared to the depth of the water further down the street towards town, but the video I captured of that is too big to upload.  We are on a dead end street, so this is the only way out.  The guy in the first pic is standing on a bit of an island - it's deeper about 20 feet in front of him where the bridge used to be.

In this pic, you can see the creek on the lower right side where it is rushing past our neighbor's house - the creek split and has basically made that house an island - and they had to evacuate.  Earlier this morning there were people out sandbagging the area to try and divert the creek away from the house. The center of the pic is where the other side of the creek is meeting with the near side, in front of this house.  That is a street, but you can't really tell with all the water.  The water is all through their yard and up to the house, and is actually rushing by (as opposed to just a standing water flood, which is how it is down the street a ways.

A closer picture of the street where a bucnh of asphalt has been broken off and is floating away.  Who knows what this road will be like after the water goes down.

So for the next few days, we are stuck at home and will be hoping for the rain to stop soon!

Picture-stealing thieves are rearing their ugly heads yet again.....I just got email from a few people regarding a new violation and also one I already knew about. 

This website, http://www.studiosoft.it/, has several of my bead sets pictured on their order page - strangely enough labelled "Italian Fine Jewelry" and "Murano Glass Jewelry".  Once you click on those pics, you get a page full of beads made in China.  Hmmmmmm.  At any rate, they stole 5 of my images.  Several other images there look familiar to me - possibly other lampwork artists'?

I also have an update on this website, www.ctekloflower.ru, which has no less than a dozen of my images on several of their pages, and also images belonging to several other prominent lampworkers.  A very nice lady from Russia emailed me to let me know she spent money there and was scammed. I reported that website a few months ago to Interpol, as well as several other agencies and have had no resolution whatsoever. Makes one feel just a tad helpless.

Apparently, even watermarking images isn't helping these days.  This website, http://www.pizazzglassstudio.com/index.aspx, has stolen several images from lampworkers (this time I wasn't one of them, but I recognize the images that were stolen), and those images had the watermarks and copyrights snipped right out of them before being put up on this person's site, and being credited incorrectly.  The nerve of some people.  This is a US website, so at least the copyright owners have some recourse. 

So, beaders and beadmakers alike, be careful who you're buying from.  Do your homework to make sure you aren't being scammed. And keep a watchful eye, lest your hard work appear on someone else's site.