New Beads & New Classes...

Hi all...I have new beads to share & some news about my next classes...first off we saw 2 great movies this week, which does not happen often so I am sharing..Julie & Julia, it was a fun movie & well done, the other one is District which was awesome & well worth a see...& Over the weekend one of my other moms, who is actually my mom's best friend, had a birthday party for her first grandchild...in the photo you may also see my purple hair...I got it done last week, the pink was all gone...

I made lots of new beads, I will be listing them on etsy, the last of which should be up by about 6:30pm California time Thursday Aug 20th...

Now about the classes...I have been helping my friend Grace open Graceful Customs, here new Glass studio & jewelry workshop in Gilroy California. We will have a big grand opening party soon. I will be teaching & making my beads at the studio on a regular basis. We will also bring other teachers to the studio to teach classes in glass bead making, jewelry design, silver & stone work, just to name a few... my first class at the school will be on September 20th, it will be my 5 hour beginner lampworking class.

I will be teaching a 2 week class in Istanbul Turkey at the Glass Furnace from September 27th to October 10. many perspective students have said that they can not take two weeks off of their life to take this class...so the school & I have discussed it & added 3 classes for 3 days each inside the same two week period...so if you have signed up for the two week class you will get the full course, the 3 day students will get specific sections of it...

I know it sounds a bit complicated, but trust me it will be great, my friend Gunay will be my assistant & we will have a ton of fun...as a side note, I did not pick the schedule for my class at the Glass Furnace, it is part of the philosophy of the school, total immersion in glass & it works, the two week class we had last year was a great fun experience for me and I believe for the 12 students as well...Send me an email if you have any questions about these classes...

Last week's yummy bead goes to Ginny from FL. this week's yummy bead is an apple core drum bead with bubble eyes...its very yummy...enter to win it by making comment about a fun class you took once...or anything you want to talk about...

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

Jelveh

Peace

Melting in California & New Beads...

Can you say hot hot hot??? did I mention is was hot here in Northern California...? well it is, we need RAIN, where is the rain?...even with the heat I did make it to the torch one day this week, the rest of the time I was not going to sit in front of a torch when the kiln controller was reading 98 degrees inside the kiln before I even turned it on, that's with the lid down, doors of the kiln closed & it was turned off...OK enough whining, I did make some yummy beads that I am listing later today...towards 5pm California time...you can check them out here in my shop...

Last week I spent some time with my mom, my sister & her 2 sweet kids at the beach having lunch & ice cream...I had so much fun with them...

Last week's abstract fish creature bead goes to Brenda H. Enter to win this week's large yummy focal bead make a comment on this post...lets keep talking about colors and shapes of beads if you like, or you can tell me all about the cool weather where you live...wishing for a the summer in Oxford England now that I am in the middle of 108 degree weather here in California...

As you can see there is a link above this post to my next class in Turkey at the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, the best school of glass anywhere...I loved teaching there last year & I am looking forward to my next class, the school is a not for profit organization, so the cost you see for the two week, 6 days a week class goes mostly to the school. This cost covers your room & board & the fun activities for the two weeks that you are in Istanbul for, you have to pay for your own way there...please let me know if you have any questions about this very cool class & trip...from the pool side to the great rooms, to the infinity pool & sitting areas, to the library, the galleries, the shop & the class rooms, to the meals by the river & the very awesome people who run the place, oh my gosh did I mention the food, this is one of the best places to visit & take a glass class of any kind at, mine included...

here is a link to a very large collection of photos & stories from my last class there...I recommend that if you do decide to take this class, take a little bit longer time to spend in Istanbul & other parts of Turkey, this is one part of the world that you must see to believe...I have been 3 times in 2 years & I can not get enough...

Life is good...thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

Peace...

We have a Winner, New Beads & New Giveaway...

Hi all, hope your weekend was great & you are having a wonderful week so far...ours was good, a bit colder than I like my November, its been icy cold here in Oxford...can not wait till we go home for the Christmas holidays...

OK first we have a winner for last week's bicone bead giveaway and that person is Stephanie, thanks for all the comments.

Now for this week's giveaway I have a nice big (24mm)round spring flower bead, flowers on both sides, with a couple of friends, 10mm Sterling Silver beads I bought in Turkey this past summer...now to win this set please enter a comment in this thread about which bead set of mine from the past you wish me to make again...you can check these out in my etsy shop sold items, or on my web site archives, you can copy & past a photo of the set you like in the comment, if not just a name & where you saw it, or a link to it would be good too...one entry per person...

and now for the new beads...I have added a bunch of new yummy beads to my etsy shop, with some spring colors in mind, a few focals & such...hope you like, click here to see them...

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

Question & the Tooth...

Hi all...as you may have read the last post, we are back from Turkey...on our last day there, I somehow managed to damage my tooth that was under a crown for the past 10 years, long story short, if you ever need emergency health care while on vacation, you want to be traveling in Turkey...the place we went to was awesome, they took care of me & sent me home to my dentist...I already love the Turkish people, Turkish food & Turkey in General, now I am loving their health care system too, it makes the health care system and facilities in America look like the 3rd world...

On to beads & the question, first of all, I have some new beads just listed on etsy...click here to see the yummy www.jelvehdesigns.etsy.com

Second, answer this question here on the blog by way of a comment:

What 2 or 3 color combo you are looking for most in glass beads right now... you will be entered to win the yummy large flower focal(16x22mm)with the Bali Silver beads in the photo above...one entry per person, hubby will pick the winner by 3pm California time on Friday the 19th of September.

Thanks for stopping by...

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

Off on Vacation....

Hi all, my parents are here, and they are jet lagged, can you tell from the photo...? we are taking some time off to go on vacation with them...so there will be no new beads listed for about a week or so, then I will have some beads...for now if you buy any of the items listed in the shop, they will not ship until after the 12Th of September...

First up, a visit to Turkey to meet with some of my Glass friends & my aunt is coming from Iran to see us there, I have not seen her for 30 years, this is going to be a great trip...I will update with photos & story as time goes on...

Thanks for all the love...

Jelveh

Peace,

Greek Yogert Honey...

You ever have one of those days? you are going along, life is good, you have made great beads, the house is somewhat clean, you have got the whole day to do nothing but list beads, pick winners for the last of the weekly contests & send out an email to all... Then it happens, you have one of those creepy odd days, while you try & figure out why you were screaming at the guy on the phone in India, hired by the guy who owns your bank in the UK handling your money...you realize, its not your fault its not his fault, its no ones fault, sometimes life just is what it is... After the odd phone conversation, I had the worst hair dye job I have ever had, folks you have got to see this, perhaps not!! I am going back to have it fixed on Wednesday...if I feel brave I will take a photo for the blog, anyway, its light Orangey red all over the crown and darker red everywhere else, it looks as if my red root have come out and I need a root fix, save for my hair is all black, blue black when I went in and asked for a burgundy red colors....AARGh...So after that my ODD hair & I had to go to the bank downtown oxford to sort things out there. "Yes, that was really me trying to purchase tickets for our trip to Turkey in September on line..." I say, "oh OK, no worries then" the guy at bank tells me, "sure you can spend your money going on trips...its just our policy to look out for out of habit spending..." Out of habit spending, I was just in Turkey for 3 weeks...Perhaps I am planning on going back...So I will try & list my yummy beads for you today, its now almost 6pm...perhaps you have to wait till Wednesday for new beads...who knows... On the way home, I got myself introduced to a flavor of Ice Cream I had never had before, Greek Yogurt Honey...yummmmmmm life is good Jelveh Peace