Greetings from Turkey....

Tonight at the Persian Dinner Nasrine & I made, OK Nasrine made dinner, I made Salad & Yogurt Dip with the help of Gunay who cut vegies...it was a great meal...thank you Nasrine... Hi all, I am in Turkey, have been here for about 5 days now & yes Ginny I am having a blast...everyone is awesome & they are all now addicted to glass beads...my student Elif said to me today that she no longer wants to be a Ceramics students at the Mimar Sinan University, she is here with her friends Aybuke & Gozde on scholarship as a part of their degree in Ceramics & Glass Design taking my Glass Bead making class...I also have a student from Iran named Nasrine (makes the best beads) who saw my beads on line last year & waited to take my class this year...also I had two other students for the first 3 day class, my new boyfriend Altan & his assistant in real life Gulsen...

Last but not least my assistant & favorite bead maker friend Gunay has been doing the very hard job of translating from English to Turkish...I teach in English to Gunay, she translates to Turkish, then I teach in Persian to Nasrine, at first it was odd, but now we all speak English, Turkish & Persian, sort of...its kind of a mad house, but a good one...we have discovered that Persian & Turkish have many words in common, so we have started a list on the board in class...We laugh so much that the office people & hot shop people walk by our class wondering what kind of party is going on inside...Next week I will have 15 people total in class including Gunay & myself, most everyone will be speaking Turkish, it will be an interesting 3 day class I am sure of it....

First night here, out to dinner with my friends Pinar Hakim & Gunay & my new friend (red head)Gaye. A photo of our lovely dinner... Nice day for a drive to Istanbul...

Brenda wins the bead set from last week, as she was correct I was just leaving the house & saying goodbye to Sammy...so pick your colors girl...

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

Jelveh

Peace

Where in the World....

Lets play a game, you guess where in world I am writing this email from, and the first one who guesses right wins a set of 5 beads, their choice of colors, when I get back to the studio in Gilroy...don't be fooled, my language may be deceiving you on purpose, so think about this one hard...

In the mean time the Opening of the studio was a huge success...you would be able to see it more, had Grace and I not been so busy running around feeding & demoing beads for our over 100 guests through out the day, we might have taken more photos...I asked my mom who is the usual photo person at all events if she took any photos and she say "oh no, I forgot" so there you go...I had 4 awesome students for the class which was from 8am to 1pm, then I melted glass & showed off making fish & pumpkins for the rest of the day as guests arrived, I think I saw Grace twice the whole time, once in the start of the class in the morning and once when we sat down at the end of the day with my mom & hubby & Grace's hubby & had a glass of wine & relaxed...

We had 5 different vendors who brought their yummy glass beads & jewelry...the Rock Carving people were so in to the glass they were at every demo I did...and signed up for later classes...

so here are a few photos that we did manage to get from a couple of other people...

hope you are doing well too, thanks for stopping by...life is good...

PS we have added another 2 day class with Corina on October 28th & 29th, send me an email if you are interested...

from somewhere on the road...Jelveh...

Peace...

October is all about PINK...

Hi all, we are back...Boston was amazing, Katie is an awesome person, she gave me yummy cookies and gloves she made herself...I was so spoiled...on my last day there I got my toes & hair done. I got a bit of pink hair as you can see in the photo, it was all for Breast Cancer Awareness, so it went to a good cause. On Tuesday my mom is having a tiny bit of something removed from one of her boobs, she is fine, it is just an outpatient thing, her mamo came back with something in it, but its all good, caught plenty early enough to be bad. This is a lesson to all of us to get tested & make sure to do self exams every month...

Sadly in England they don't think you need a mammogram as early as you do in the states, I have had mine done by my sister every year. Here in England the NHS DR. said to me, oh you don't need one until you are 50. So I guess we all have to be our own advocates.

BEADS, where are they? what are they? oh yeah I make them...I should have some new beads sometime this week...for sure, as I miss the torch very much...

I know the economy is scary, but go out and spend a little bit, don't break the bank (well someone broke them already)but stay positive, don't let the press spook you, know that all is good right here, right now...the other stuff will pass...

Thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

Peace

In Search of the Constitution...

So today we went for a lovely walk on what is called the Freedom Trail here in Boston...one historic building and or exhibit after another...all marked on the sidewalk with a stripe of red paint or red bricks that have been made to look like a red line...we went looking for the USS Constitution, the Oldest Commissioned warship afloat in the world...that is how our walk began, we saw some cool places & I learned some facts about American History, hubby knows most of it, he used to teach Western Civ in college. here are some photos & stories of our trip today... there I am starting our walk...but that's not the USS Constitution. So we keep on going, first of all, Boston is gorgeous, clean & friendly...we walked to a market area & met all kinds of cool people... This next photo is of the Old State House, I love how it remains its glory & is even complemented by all the modern buildings around it...this is we saw everywhere we went on our Walk... We had lunch at a wonderful & famous place called the Union Oysters House on Union st. This is the oldest restaurant in America, in 2003 the owners got a call from the Interior Dept. telling them just that & giving the building its justly due historical standing by making it a National Historical Landmark, it was built around 1717.

And here is me enjoying my lunch...

Martin met up with Paul Revere... After a few other great stops including a the very cool Copp's Hill cemetery, we took a walk over a bridge & followed the signs to the UUS Constitution...She is lovely, I took about 114 photos yesterday, I will put them together with slide show later & put in to a blog, but for now here is a photo of me with the USS Constitution.

I love boats, many of you don't know when I was about 18 or so, I worked for a Boat shop, I was the only girl in the shop, I used to cut the fiberglass for the hulls of 27 & 37 foot Xpress boats made by Alsberg Brothers. Not sure if they are in business anymore, but I used to be so good at my job, that I almost cut myself out of a job, the shop only made one and half boats a month & by the end of my first month there I had cut enough fiberglass for 13 boats, so I started to help in other areas, I learned how to paint the molds that the glass & balsa wood was then laid on to make the hull of the boat, I learned how to fit in the bulkheads & interior cabinets & other goodies like the shower, I worked on polishing the wood, I worked on the top deck, including fitting in the hardware for the sails & the Gel Coat...I love boats so to see this one, even though her Square sails where down for up keep, was an amazing experience for me...not to mention the lovely history of this 211 year old boat...

Today I am meeting with Katie, more on that later, thanks for stopping by... Jelveh Peace

Beads & trip photos...

Hi all, how are you doing? how is your September coming along...? ours is great...Listen up this one is long & has a ton of info in it, including photos of our travels this past month & new beads to win on the blog...time goes so fast when you are having so much fun...save for the Tooth issue which I had to have pulled here in England last week...life has been really nice here...even the weather has been sunny which is not usual of Oxford this time of the year at all...

Mom & dad just got back from Spain, they spent a few days in Barcelona they had a great time & saw a great Opera Flamenco while there... http://www.operaflamenco.com/index.html

Here are some photos of this month's trips so far, we will be going to Paris this weekend & next month hubby & I are going to Boston for a week, for his work... if you want to see the photos larger & read the captions click here http://picasaweb.google.com/jelvehdesigns/MomDadTrip# other wise see the slide show...

So on with the beads, the lovely Mexican Fiesta beads above are up for grabs, lets do it like we did last week, tell me what shapes & number of beads you like best by way of commenting on this post...only one comment per person, all entries will be put in a drawing for the Mexican Fiesta beads in the photo...drawing will be held on Friday same as last week...you have until 3pm Friday California time to enter...

I also made some beads & listed them on etsy...to see the yummy click here www.jelvehdesigns.etsy.com

Thanks for stopping by & looking & my photos & reading the blog...

Jelveh

Peace

Back for a day or two...

Hi all, our time in Turkey was awesome...I can not describe in words to you how it felt to see & spent time with my aunt & her gorgeous daughter...it was amazing, we cried, we laughed, we talked for hours...we visited all kinds of cool places & mostly spent time together...as the days passed I realized how much of my life somehow has been lost to me...these people, my family, I should have known & never knew...at times the sadness overwhelms the happy feelings I collected while on this trip, I miss them so much already...it seems too private an issue for me to talk about more here...just go love your family & friends as much as you can...life is too short not to...our time in Turkey was certainly too short...looking forward to seeing my aunt & her daughter (my new adopted daughter) again soon...

I may not share more photos of the trip, for now here are some photos of a night we all went to dinner with some of my friends that I have in Turkey, these lovely people were in my class this past June, save for Pinar who introduced me to the school that I now teach at regularly...I made a special glass bead project to share with my friends...here are some photos of it...in one photo you can see us all in the bathroom sharing & in another Gunay, Burcu & Ayse are already wearing their beads...we had a great time...I miss them already too...

Went to London & saw the Eye on Sat...Going to Stone Henge with mom & dad on Monday while hubby works...then we are off to Spain at the end of the week...more later...perhaps even a few new beads on Wednesday...keep an eye out...

thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

Peace

What is today...?

Hi all, we are back, I have been so tired, I don't even know what day it is... we came back a couple of days ago from Edinburgh in Scotland where we enjoyed a bit of the Fringe Festival, from Music to Comedy, from Theater to the Book Festival & everything in between, this town rocks for a whole month...click here to see some of what goes on at the Edinburgh Festival...there is a link below to our photos from the trip...

We saw one of Martin's favorite writers Will Self, he was amazing. We also saw 2 great Comedians, Shazia Mirza & the ever so funny Mark Watson, I don't think I have laughed this much & for this long forever...

Here are some photos of our Trip...we loved the castle, the city as a whole is so alive, with its rich history & all the people who bring so much art & talent to the city during the festival...we were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people & the wasting of so much paper used to print information for the hundreds of shows at the many venues that you can visit...

There is so much more to talk about today...I saw my "President" Hillary give one of the best speeches I have heard this year on why we are all democrats & we should stick together...I cried when I watched, I think Mr. Obama will be our next President & I think he will be a good president for America, but I think we missed a great opportunity as a people to elect a person of great intellect & strength to be our next President...Hillary is such a class act...maybe in 2012?

Where are the Beads...? I will list some yummy beads for your after 4pm on Thursday...I will send an email letting you know when they are up...& yes there will be a chance to win some yummy beads on the blog... We are so excited my parents will be here next week, they are staying for a whole month, we are going to Turkey with them in about 12 days to see my aunt who is coming from Iran to see us, it will be the first time I have seen her in 30 years...& we have a big dinner planned in Istanbul with my Turkish friends & fellow glass addicts...so much going on...more on this later...

Thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

Peace

Camden Market...

Over the weekend, Hubby & I went to London to visit the famed Camden Market. It was raining pretty hard, but we had a blast, it is perhaps the best Bazaar I have seen anywhere, although you will not find the same kind of items as you would in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, you would find just about anything you want, I am not even sure what more we could have found, it goes on & on, in & out of buildings, side street, & under ground & right off the street...its not really just a market as it feels like a market town...amazing...

click here to see a few photos of our day...it was hard to get the camera to focus & most sellers did not want photos of their shops taken, some of the outer stores did sell a lot of things not hand made, but there was just as impressive as a collection of Vintage, Antiques & of course Handmade Art...I even met a very nice glass artist who is from Turkey, she will be taking my advanced class in April in Istanbul at Glass Furnace... Hope yours was good too...Thanks for stopping by

Jelveh

Peace