Hi all, hope your summer is off to a good start & you had a great holiday weekend...we went to the Russian River for the holiday, although it was really hot hanging out at the water was fun...lots of things have happened since my last post which was in May, some are really good and well some are not so good...

Lets talk beads first, I have managed to make some beads in the past few weeks, and you would be proud of me I have actually listed most of them in my etsy shop below are some photos of the beads...after 10 plus years of making beads, once again I have changed my photos, from white background to gray & rocky background, so please let me know which you like best...the white ones take so long to do...change is good!!! right?

John Rizzi's last class was so much fun at our studio, check out photos of the day & beads here & other stories on Graceful Customs Blog

I have added new class & get together information to the left side of my blog, check it out, try & make it for one of our meetings, I think both the Chain Maille class & possibly silver soldering glass are full, but send Grace an email & get more information.

Keep an eye out for new tools from Graceful Customs as well...

The last blog post bead goes to Sandy "SanSan" from Sacramento, send me your address girl...for this blog post giveaway I have a bubble eye bead with deep see blues & silvered ivory, love this bead, it will make a great pendant...enter to win it by making a comment on this blog post...maybe tell me your thoughts about the new photos...

And here is the rest of the story...After months of doctor appointments, many many different kinds of procedures & drugs, we had our one and only IVF cycle & it did not work...So we move on now, although I have been feeling down about the whole thing, physically, emotionally & getting over all the shots & drugs is very hard too...as I struggle to get back to my daily life, I remember so many other people who struggle in their lives with far worse issues than mine...I remember my parents struggle to bring us to America so we can have a good life & not have to live in oppression. I remember how we had no money & my father a man with a PHD working  for 17 years as a card dealer in a card room club for tips, my mother, a master degree holder & teacher working at Kentucky Fried Chicken, so we could have good a life...I remember so many people suffering all over the world with far worse life problems than mine, from the middle east to Japan, from Arizona fires to Floods all over the country and so many many other ills all over the world...So we move on, life is good...I have so many things to be thankful for in my life...Life IS GOOD...
Thanks for stopping by...
thanks for all the emails asking about my whereabouts...
Jelveh
Peace

Past Few Weeks & Lots of New Beads...

Hi all, hope the last few weeks have been good to you & life is good...my life had a whole lot of things going on in it, perhaps below is the best way to explain it all...


Most of the time there was the usual fare...

At times there was a lot of Drama...

Protection from evil was needed more than usual...

Soon there was The Spring class to teach, students were so nice http://gracefulstudios.blogspot.com/

I often wondered about the collage or zentangle that is my life...which seems to be the new name for what we have all being doing and calling doodling for ever and ever... every time I turn around there is a new name for something that has been around by another name for a long time already...

And Just before I got to deep in to my head & got tired of the rain, spring sprung all around me...

And life is sweet & good...

This coming Sat is our bi monthly get together at Graceful Customs from 12 to 5pm, there will be door prizes every hour & bead making demos & bring your goodies/beads & such for show & sale...

John Rizzi is returning to Graceful Customs for another great class on June 18th, contact Grace for more information, John Will be teaching a one day beginning complex murrini class. Students should be intermediate level and have good heat control skills as we will be working off mandrel.John will be teaching at least 2 designs in class first he will teach a blooming flower murrini with detailed stamen center. In the afternoon we will learn how to make a complex rose murrini. several students have already signed up, he is a great teacher with lots of knowledge & talent not to be missed...

The yummy beads from the last blog post go to Lori A. of Pretty Things...for this blog post giveaway I have one of my collage, crazy quilt or Zentangle beads for you, this one is a bicone about 38mm with goldstone & black details & one eye...enter to win it by making a comment on this post...

Thanks so much for stopping by...life is good...you can check out a whole lot of my new beads in my etsy shop...

Jelveh

Peace

If I Ran the World...& NEW Beads...

If I ran the world, there would have never been an earthquake in Japan or anywhere for that matter...how sad the news is out of Japan...my heart aches for all of these people...

If I ran the world everyone's life would be full & happy like mine is, all would have a great partner with cute pets who loved them as much as ours do...

If I ran the world I would wish that all the lampwork instructors who ever came to our studio Graceful Customs in Gilroy to teach would be just as talented, just as nice & just as lovely a human as John Rizzi from John Rizzi Glassworks. He was the best teacher ever,talented, the students loved him, Frank, Grace & I loved him...We all learned a ton about murrinis...Also click here to check out the slide show photo album that Grace made with some the photos from the murrini class with John...

If I ran the world my beads would get listed all on their own in my etsy shop  but that is not the case, I had a great time making beads, this week I worked with a lot of silver glass & more spring beads...but I struggle often with listings, I fuss with photos, names & the story of each set, each bead...but at the end I will get them all listed I promise...below is photo of what is coming...speaking of beads, I am teaching a "All About Spring" one day class at Graceful Customs Studios in Gilroy on Sat April 16, Check out the information on the Studio Blog, class is limited to 8 students.Click here to Contact Grace to sign up...

If I ran the world everyone who made a comment on my last blog post would be a winner, but that is not the case, there is only one set of beads to give away, so it goes to Ginny C. of FL...for this week I have a set of Egg and friends set of beads in the shades of Blue, lavender & Ivory...enter to win the set by making a comment on this blog post...

If I ran the world life would be good for everyone everywhere...thanks for stopping by...life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

New Beads, Rain & Sunshine....

Not sure what the weather is doing anymore, on Friday when we had our very successful March Get Together at Graceful Studios it rained forever...All kinds of new folks showed up & we shared some food, beads, Jewelry & silver soldering...it was a great mixer...the next meeting is Friday April 9th, my next class is scheduled for Sunday April 11th & don't forget on the weekend of April 24th we are having are great Rock Carving class with Carmen & Ron Martinez from Arizona  click here from some information about their last class at our studio...

On Sat when the sun was out for a while, we went to Monterrey for some fun, we saw the very cool Alice in Wonderland with my in-laws & had dinner at the very yummy LALLA Grill...on Sunday I had a class with a very nice student named Jill, she was great at the torch & made some cool beads...

I did manage to make some fun beads this week too...I will be listing them from now until Friday at 12noon California time in my etsy shop...photo below if you like any of them let me know & I will reserve them for you...

This past week's landscape bead giveaway goes to....Joy F. send your address please...ok for this week I have two very yummy beads to share with you, one is a encased flower bead with a Dichro base & the other is an ellipse shape bead which is feathered on both sides...both very yummy, I made them both while demoing on Friday during our March Mixer...enter to win them by making a comment on this post...

I am conducting a color survey on the right side of this blog for the next few days, please stop by & vote...your feedback on colors is always appreciated...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good & not only because our taxes are done with & its still March...
Jelveh
Peace

TON O' Beads Thursday...

Hi all, hope you are all doing well out there...we are doing fine...I am catching up with my rest & seeing family...we spent some time with both sets of our parents in Santa Cruz on the Beach at the Crows Nest...it was a fun day...ok now for a relatively short blog with points of interest...oh yeah lets not forget the weather, its been raining mad here again this week...I guess I am thankful, last year there was a shortage of water in California...

Ton O' Beads Thursday reminded me of when I was a manager for a movie theater chain in San Diego back in the day, we had discount ticket nights at 3 of our theaters so we called them, TightWad Tuesday (I hated that name), Discount Wednesday (that was at my 10 screen theater, classy name I thought) & Thrifty Thursday (not so bad a name I guess) So I decided to have a discount promotion this Thursday, check below for more information...

First of all DONT FORGET, please click here to vote for the yummy Kelli Burns Bracelet to win Bead Style's Magazine Challenge with my Beads...Today is the last day to vote...

I will have a ton of new yummy beads listed in my etsy shop by 1pm Thursday March 4th. You will get a $10.00 Discount when you purchase 2 or more beady items from my shop from today until the end of Monday March 8th California time...BE SURE to mention MARCH Discount in the comment section when you check out & I will refund your discount via Paypal...here are some photos of the beads I am listing...

And yes there is more beads...I had some fun at the torch...let me know if you see any beads you like me to reserve for you...

I also had a short post on the Watch Me Create Blog, check it out....

Last week's yummy bead goes to Ginny of FL...for this week I have what I am calling "I would make myself a bracelet with these if I had the time" Beads...The yummy group of 4 beads, 1 Bali Silver bead & clasp, in the top photo can be all yours, enter to win them by making a comment on this post...

Mark your calendars, next Friday March 12th, we will hold out 3rd Monthly meeting at Graceful Studios...the fun starts at 3pm, there will be a drawing of all the folks who attend for a yummy gift bag full of goodies...I will demo some new yummy beads or anything you like to see me make & I know how to make it...& Grace will be sharing some silversmithing secret with us...want more information on where we are in Gilroy California? send me an email

Thanks for stopping by...Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Spring, Photo Story & Beads...

OK well since the busy busy life of Jelveh seems to be a regular event anymore...in the interest of time & so you wont get bored reading my stories, I decided to do a photo blog of whats up with me & Jelveh Designs these days...so here it goes...first off this is another exciting weekend at Graceful Studios as our friend & the very talented lampwork artist Corina Tettinger is teaching her very Full to the Rim, all about Flowers class at our studio...we are so very honored to have her here with us, stop by on Monday the 22nd of Feb for our first ever Meet the Artist event, where Corina will be sharing some of her yummy new designs...oh click on photos to make them larger...

Grace & I saw Avatar (my 4th time) & had Sushi girls night out...photo is from our Friday meeting...

Valentines day was great, need I say more...what does it mean when your shoes match your furniture??

We had a great time Friday at the studio, folks came all the day long...brought lots of green spring goodies to show & tell, check out the butterfly Sioux made...last min guest, not pictured, Edward, Sharon's partner won the prize giveaway for the day...he was so sweet he told Sharon she can pick what she wants, she is taking my class this month so she opted for Glass as her gift...

Grace showed us how to make the Viking Weave Bracelet & Jewels pictured on the left had a great time learning it...I think I will try my hand at it one of these days too...Grace used copper for the demo...

I made some yummy beads if I say so myself, there is more than whats in the photo, I will be listing them all today & in the next couple of days in my etsy shop...

Hubby & his aunt share a birthday, the whole family got together at a great party hosted by hubby's parents...the food was awesome, even though I was under the weather we had a great time...

We even got a bit of Gardening in, both our lemon & orange tree have so much fruit this year...there is lots more left, we could not reach it all...

Now to the bead giveaway, last week's yummy Grateful Dead beads go to Mel P. of UK, send your addy girl...for this week a pair of yummy Opal Red beads for you...loving this new frit, will be working with it more this next week...enter to win this pair of beads by making a comment on this post...

Last but not least the next big news, the very talented Lampwork Artist Heather Trimlett is teaching a 2 day class at our studio Sept 11 &12 2010...contact me for more info on this class....

Thanks for stopping by...life is GOOD...

Jelveh...

Peace...

The Sun has come out & New Beads...

 
Hi all...the sun finally came out a bit here & there...we had a busy weekend, a breakfast out with family for my mother & my brothers birthday...then we did some antique & thrift store shopping...it was really fun...

I got a chance to make some beads & I am really proud of this group...I have listed some of them in my etsy shop & will be listing the rest by Thursday 10am California time...below is a photo of a few of them...

Last week's bead giveaway goes to Dorothy, please send your address...this week there are two beads up for one winner in the top photo, the tree bead & the lentil scroll bead...enter to win them by making a comment on this post...

I was trying to add a calander to my blog for all the cool up coming events & classes at the studio...but I am having a hard time adding a cool one & the one that blogger has is not a good size...do any of you know of a good calander widget that I can add to my blog, so for example I can tell about the Friday Feb 12the get together at Graceful Studios from 2 to 7pm...more on this later...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good...oh dont forget to stop by this link & vote for Kelli's bracelet to win...

Jelveh

Peace

New Beads & SO MUCH RAin...

Ok, I know its winter & we are meant to have rain, but lets face it, its been over 20 years since we have had these kinds of storms, day in & day out its been raining here, today there was 75mile an hour winds & even a tornado warning right in my town, the hail was so huge & went on for so long I thought the sky light was going to break...maybe one more big storm on Thursday & then we are done for a while, I hope...

In Bead News...I have listed a few yummy sets & new focal beads in my etsy shop...

In other news, over the weekend I went to Arrow Springs for the January NOR CAL ISGB meeting & a glass buy for the studio, my friends Garnet & Corina Tettinger went with me, Corina was in town visiting Grace & I for a few days...we had so much fun, the photo below is Corina, Sharon Peters, me & Corina's cute dog Bonsai...

On Sunday we had a great wire wrapping class with Jennifer Le at Graceful Studios, I missed the morning part, but showed up for the second part where we wire wrapped some rings, below is a photo of our fun...3 of the rings in the finished picture below are made with my beads, which one of them do you think I made?

I am also very happy to introduce you to the first of (I hope, I hope) many awesome tools from Graceful Studios, this one is an awesome short rod holder, the best one of its kind I have ever used...The Hold Me Tight Rod Holder is so strong & so great to use, & with some glass costing one hundred dollars a pound or more who wants to lose even an inch of it... You know me well enough to know I would not back a tool unless I loved it & I just love love this tool click here to check it all out & purchase one...

Last week's bead goes to Jane who likes to email me her entry...Send your address Jane...he yummy bead above is this week's bead giveaway...she is so very yummy & about 18mm along the hole...enter to win it by making a comment on this post...

Thanks for stopping by & reading this log post...life is good & very busy...I did not even tell you that in the past week we have had dinner with my in-laws 3 times, went to see Avatar for the second time, had a big party for my parent 47th wedding anniversary or that I had several fertility related Dr's appointments...

Jelveh

Peace

The Mouth of The Well of the Itza....

The Mouth of The Well of the Itza....Better known as Chichen Itza, we went to Cancun Mexico for the holidays, we had one of those awesome all inclusive vacations we had heard about & never thought we would take...it turns out I love laying on a beach reading a book & taking in the sun...The snorkeling in the middle of the ocean was awesome, swimming with the dolphins was amazing and we also went to the ruins of Chichen Itza...

although the ruins themselves & the history of them is pretty cool, the drive to the site & the tour were not the best, I recommend going on your own with a book, you will see more of it that way...below are some photos of our trip...mostly we just relaxed in the sun & ate too much food...2 days before we left I finally went to the DR. after feeling ill for some time, turns out I had Bronchitis & an ear infection of all things...so I was in the sun & on meds, but I still had a great time & got a tan...

I have a new blog post about my Ribbon Beads on Watch Me Create, check out & leave a comment, let me know what you think...

I do have some yummy beads for you which I will be listing them in my etsy shop by 9pm California time tonight (Wed 1/6/10)

Don't forget to join us at Graceful Studio this Friday for our first get together, we are still trying to come with a cool name for our event that will take place the second Friday of every Month...

Ok now to the fun part of our program, there are 4 winners, each of you will get one set of 5 beads, you get to choose the colors & I will do the rest...Lee, Sue (the one who commented on the last post), Brenda & Ginny are the winner's of a set of 5 beads each...send your requests in ladies...

For this week's giveaway I have the yummy bead above, first one I made when we got back from vacation...enter to win it by making a comment on this post...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Happy Thanksgiving...

Hi all, hope you are all ready for Turkey day & you remembered to get the sugar for the cranberry sauce unlike me...so now we are making the stuffing & cranberry sauce tonight...This Thanksgiving I am so very thankful for everyone & everything in my life, specially my yummy hubby, all of my family & friends, Life is good...

I have an appointment this morning, then at 1pm I am teaching a 2 hour class to 4 students at the studio...then after than I am cooking...so that is the plan...

I ask myself where is the time to add new beads, I have them I promise, I have a couple of pairs of earrings too & a few pendants...I have added a few items to the shop already & I will add the rest of the goodies to my etsy shop between now & Sunday night I am sure...

Last week's yummy bead goes to acptuser, please send your address...for this week I have 2 yummy focal beads for your beading pleasure, one person will win both of them, enter to win them by making a comment on this post about anything you like or what you are thankful for...

over the weekend we had a Rock Carving Class at the Studio, it was a great 3 day class & lots of fun was had by all, I took a couple of photos when I stopped by on Sat after my yoga class... Well I am off to my appointment then to teach & then to cook & then to add more goodies to the shop...

Thanks for stopping by...Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Beady Wednesday, I mean Thursday...

Hi all, how are you doing? ready for Thanksgiving yet? Hubby & I are in charge of the Turkey, Stuffing & the cranberry sauce...thank goodness for Harry & David, we picked up the Turkeys, now we just have to cook the stuffing & cranberry sauce...life is good

Over the weekend we saw the movie 2012, it was good but it was about 30 minutes too long...I mean really no one edits anything anymore...half way through I am thinking do we really need yet another climatic scene of another plane taking off just before the runway caves in? I think we are over stimulated as a people already...

oh yeah we are here for beads, I had a great time making a bunch of yummy beads...I am going to start listing them in my etsy shop after I blog today & until Thursday eve the 19th...so keep an eye out...here is a photo of what is coming, plus I am adding a few other items like finished earrings & pendant necklaces & yes a bit of silver findings too...I am thinking Toggles...

Last week's yummy dichro bead goes to lucky Kristen, please send your address...this week's bead is large focal from my Ribbon Tornado series with bubble eyes...enter to win it by making a comment on this post, love to hear about your holiday plans...

Graceful Studios News: We are going to start having monthly get together at our studio in Gilroy, each party will have a theme, first one will be in Jan 2010 & theme is hearts, every one should bring a heart related glass, bead, piece of art or jewelry with them to the party, we will have open torch for a few hours, a bit of nosh food & a ton of fun sharing & being...oh yeah I almost forgot we will enter everyone's name in a drawing to win some goodies, January's giveaway will be $25.00 in Glass Rods...more on this later...

Thanks for stopping by...Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

New Beads & Veterans Day...

Is one day enough to pay tribute to those who serve & die for the rest of us...? I just wanted to send shout out to all of our veterans for all they do...

Well its finally cold here in Northern California, I mean it was cold a couple of days ago it was 54 in the middle of the day...I know what a wimp right? but not used it at all...over the weekend hubby & I took advantage of the nice weather & had a picnic at the park...on Sunday we went to Santa Cruz & got a couple of much deserved massages...

I managed to make some yummy beads in the last week or so even though I have been feeling a bit under the weather...I will have them all posted by 7pm tonight California time in my etsy shop...here is a group photo of the beads I am listing today & on Thursday...oh I may add some sterling silver goodies too, so keep an eye out...

I wrote a quick blog & posted some photos on Watch Me Create, check it out when you get a chance...

oh yes the winner of last week bead is jozd5150 please send your address, for this week I have purple & blue flowers on a bed of dichro...yummy, enter to win this bead by making a comment on this post...what was the last fun thing you did in the sun??

Thanks for stopping by...life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Finally, New Beads...

November already? what happened to August, September & October? Oh yeah, I remember I was busy running around the globe...well after being gone pretty much from September 15th until the first of November, I am back...I have had such a fun past few weeks, as you may know I was teaching a two week class in Turkey that was awesome & I met so many new friends & had fun with my old friends, but I also was teaching class an average of 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, for two weeks...then I came back, made some beads, helped Grace put the finishing touches on the Graceful Studios...a couple of days later Corina Tettinger arrived for her class, we had two awesome, 2 day classes full of great students in a span of 6 days...see Photos of students in a previous post below...

I played the role of assistant to Corina, from getting her coffee to certain size stringer to making beads for her to make some awesome design on, I did it all & I was happy to be able to do it...Corina was/is a very talented glass artist & an amazing teacher, queen of all glass beads in my mind, she was also fun to hang out with, very generous & nice...Grace & Frank worked their tales off as well, Frank ran around & made tools & adjustments to all equipment & of course without Grace & her loving nurturing ways, there would be no Graceful Studios, she did so much work to get the place going & made sure we all ate & had fun the whole time...

The class was so successful that most of the students are already signed up for Corina's next class in our studio on Feb 19, 20 & 21st, 2010, where she will be teaching a 3 day class called "Let it Bloom" everything & anything to do with flowers of all kinds, from surface to encased & a few she has never shown before...

And now back to our regularly scheduled program, first off if you have won beads on my site in the past two months and don't have your bead yet, please please send me your address via email & remind me which bead was yours, I have a few sitting here waiting to go to their new homes...

As you may recall a few posts down, I had two beads to giveaway last week, well one of them, the aquamarine rivers bead, the one on the right, I gave to Corina as a gift never remembering that I had offered it here in the drawing, so I will make another one for the lucky winner of that bead which is Stephanie, the other bead the swirly lentil goes to Ginny of Florida...thank you all for playing along...the lovely focal lentil above about 30mm round I made in Turkey in Class while I was teaching, love the way it came out, this one is this week's bead giveaway...enter to win it by making comment on this post, possibly about your last class or workshop experience...

Oh yeah almost forgot I made a ton of beads, photo above shows them together as a group, I am happy to report after years of not making too many Dichroic beads since I was not always getting good results & the glass is expensive to waste, I finally learned from Corina what was the problem, the glass was not the right stuff, Corina brought some with her for the class, I ordered more from Frantz and made a set of my garden beads, inspired by Corina & her Dichroic beads...I listed them & others yummy beads in my shop on Etsy ...some made in Turkey, some made here before & after we hosted Corina at our studio, so you can imagine my mind is full of new ideas & designs, there will be a ton of new beads coming your way as soon as I get some much needed rest...

Thanks for stopping by...Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace