'Hot Glass for Cool Kids' Tutorial Ebook for Beads of Courage

Have you heard? The Soda Lime Times has just finished publication of a new ebook filled with fun lampwork glass bead tutorials called Hot Glass for Cool Kids. The tutorials were all written with the kids from Beads of Courage in mind, and ALL money from purchases of the book go directly to Beads of Courage. By virtue of my last name, the tutorial I donated is the very first one in the book (thanks Dad!). I also had the honor of being able to name the book- a bunch of possible titles were submitted, and the one I came up with got the most votes- a fluke to be sure, but Diane Woodall generously sent me a bunch of wonderful prizes for being the winner.

The bead at the left is the one I donated a tut for- encased silver with a special technique for some cool organic designs that can be used in a lot of different ways. The bead at the right uses the same technique over an enameled background.
 
Get your copy right here, right now! There are 20, count 'em 20 wonderful new things for you to try out and make for Beads of Courage, your friends, family or yourself! Here's a photo of the cover showing all of the tutorial beads- pretty cool!

Catch the Sun- Focus on Life Week 30

Roiling water by the ford- you want us to drive through that???

The swimming hole after the storm.

Oh my, I've missed a few weeks- though Sally's prompts always influence what I'm paying attention to on any given week! I've been moving halfway across the country (again) and have landed in upstate New York (again). Anyway, this week I've been humming  'I'll Follow the Sun' for days on end. Sometimes I feel like that's what I'm doing. I was staying in a cabin in a state park and, because I am addicted to white noise, was quite surprised when I woke in the morning to see that there had been a deluge of some kind. One bridge was covered with water and pieces of the other had been taken out and floated down the stream. Though I was looking to get some nice photos of sun glinting off of all of the water action, I just mostly took a lot of photos of whatever I saw- lovely scenery! To see what everyone else has been up to, start at Sally's Blog!

No Diving! (No Kidding...)

Some Indian Pipe flowers reaching for the sun

A spot of sunlight!

Focus on life week 26 ?????

 Well, this being week 26, we're just about to embark on the second half of the Focus on Life Challenge. Most every week, Sally's blog sends me out and about on a walk to see what I can find- that's one thing I love about this project - getting out of the house, thinking about something I wouldn't normally be thinking about on my weekly 'Sally Walk', camera in hand.

A couple of weeks ago I started noticing some of the little plants that grow up between the cracks in the sidewalk. Ever since I saw the book Wild Green Things in the City, I've been enchanted with these little wonders. Kind of make me think of my own life, forever pushing my way past this and that obstacle and (hopefully) coming out on top. 

When I went on my walk today, the first thing I saw was this lovely feather out on the sidewalk. Thought I'd photoshop it up a bit- I loved the week we all altered our photos- what fun that was. Something I really want to continue investigating.

Thanks Sally, for all the great ideas, and for getting me a little ways further outside my box. Looking forward to the next 26 weeks! Come see what everyone else is thinking about this week at Sally's blog!

You Are... Focus on Life week 25

Well, in my mind I changed this from 'you are' to 'I am' So that's what I'm going with!
One thing I am this week is late! I've been forgetful about blogging lately.
This week, I am a bead researcher. I have a lot of ideas about making focal beads- what looks good and what doesn't. But the question is- am I right or wrong? So- I'm asking y'all, among others, for a bead assessment. Here are four beads- all very similar in color, but different in shape and other design details. So the question is- do you have a favorite? One (or more) you don't like? can you explain why??
When I make beads there are always a lot of different thoughts and ideas knocking around my brain- about what I want to do with that bead, what I want to do next, and what others might find interesting about how this all works. One burning question I keep coming back to is what makes a good focal bead!!??!!
Let me know what you think! To see more of what we are, check out Sally's Blog!