The last 10 days have been pretty intense for me. My husband has been out of town, so I've been doing double duty. Triple if you count being mommie, daddy, AND the work he does for my business. I feel like I've been holding everything together pretty well, but am SO relieved, happy and excited that he's coming home today! The boys have been so sweet. They have been extra nice and helpful and have been really good about spending the weekends with me at the Indoor Market.

Most mornings between getting the kids to school, and bead making, I've been walking up to the top of Pilot Butte, a tiny state park right in Bend. The panoramic view from the top is amazing. You can see SO far. Rolling hills and buttes, and all the surrounding mountains. There is my personal favorite Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, The 3 Sisters, 3 Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson, Black Butte and Mt. Hood way off in the distance. You can also see Smith Rock just outside of Redmond. Every day it's been so clear and beautiful. Of course today, the one day I remember my camera, it's hazier and you can't see as far and clearly, but you get the idea. It's gorgeous! Walking up to the top and back really helps ground me and get my head out of it's early morning sleepiness, and prepare me for the creative and busy day ahead.

One day, ok maybe more than one, when I got home from walking and took a warm shower, all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and go back to sleep. I had to remind myself that my beads aren't going to make themselves. Despite being really tired I AM still really excited about some new jewelry designs I'm working on. So I dragged myself out to the garage/studio, turned on the music and fired up the torch. Instantly I felt refreshed and remembered how much I love this medium, how lucky I am to get to do what I love every day and live in such a beautiful place. It's good to know that after 12 years of bead making I still love it just as much, probably even more because my skills are better.

An exciting thing that happened this week is that I taught my first private lesson since moving to Oregon! It was really fun. I STILL don't have my own place set up for teaching. If you have been patiently waiting, THANK YOU. I have some ideas of how to winterize the garage, and once that is finished I will be back to private lessons at my house. It should be soon. I think the frosty mornings are going to be the biggest motivator for me to make it more comfortable in there!

Tomorrow we are celebrating our youngest son's 8th birthday with a party at our house!!!!!!! I'm baking him a cake and decorating it with the theme of his favorite book, Richard Scarys Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. Better start baking now!

Beautiful Day

Today, like most days, is a beautiful day here in Bend. The sun is shining and you can feel the crispness of fall creeping in. The kids are at school and it is eerily quiet around here! My husband Robbie is studying for his ski/board patrol class and I am waiting for my mandrels to dry so I can go melt some glass.

Yesterday we spent the day emptying almost the entire contents of our garage into our driveway so we could finally finish (after almost a year and a half!) moving in and organizing the garage. People kept driving by and asking if we were having a garage sale, which I think we just might do if we can find the time. My studio is in our garage along with way too many bikes, snowboards, skis, the gear that comes with, and all my craft fair booth things. Now it is a much nicer place to be. Robbie even hooked up our sound system. Yay! I'm really excited to go turn up the music and make beads today.

Here are my newest creations:

Colorful Circle Necklace in Eggplant, named by a very nice girl who visited my booth at the market this Saturday. Thank you!!!

Orbit Earrings in Turquoise, these are really different than anything I've made before. They can be ordered in many colors.
Matching Orbit Pendant in Turquoise, can also be ordered in many colors.

And a sweet and sparkly bead with little violets and cz's