We are back and the Winner is...

Hi all, how is your week so far...? we are just back from London, we ended up not going to Paris, the trip along the tube by train under water had gone from 2.5 hours to 6 hours due to some fires a couple of weeks back...& by the time I found this out, it was too late to fly without paying an arm and a leg for the tickets...so we went to London for 2 days instead & saw so much we had not seem before...we got a chance to go in to Buckingham Palace & see the 19 State Rooms, but you could not take photos, here are a couple of photos from our visit which included Hyde Park, The Tower of London, Big Ben, a drive by most of the big attractions, the Crown Jewels & a lovely sunset Cruise on the Thames to finish the weekend off with...it was fun...

Lisa L. wins the Mexican fiesta beads shown in the last post...please send me an email with your address so I can send them to you...thanks for playing all...

Life is good here and busy still...mom and dad are leaving on the 2nd and we fly to Boston on the 4th...I may or may not have some beads to show, I have a couple of sets...not enough to warrant an update...I think I might hang on to them and have a big update when we come back...

Try and have a good week even though the stock market vows and political doings may conspire to change it for the worse...

Thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

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

And the Winner is...

Hi all, hope you had a good weekend...ours was happy, sunny & full of movies...one good and one really bad... We saw Tropic Thunder which was really good & we saw Pineapple Express which was really dumb & not as funny as you would think...

we have a winner for the last blog bead contest & that person is...Lisa D. of Portland...

Thanks for playing all...I will have more beads in a few days...

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,

Visitors...

Hi all, been getting ready for my parents visit, they arrive today, I am off to the airport in about 20min to pick them up...the driver just rang the door bell, got to run...

More on bead photo above & other goodies later when I get a chance...

Jelveh Peace

Eye Candy for your soul....

Hi all, Last week when I was in line at the Book Festival in Edinburgh, waiting to get my husband's copy of Will Self's book signed by him, I thought of another great writer I like named Christopher Moore, and how so much of their styles can feel the same, although they are different form one another...so I asked him what does he thinks about over lapping ideas in creative writing these days and how sometimes it is just plain plagiarism that we see in writing or in other art forms...he looked up at me, with his strange set of eyes & without so much as missing a beat he said, "its easy I just don't read what others write, that way I will never know either way" he laughed after he said it, so did I, we had listened to him for about an hour taking questions from a sold out crowd of several hundred people in a small venue. by this time I knew he was smart and funny, but I also believe he has a point...we are only responsible for what we do, not what others do...

When I first started to make jewelery with lampwork beads, I used to look at them all the time, eye candy was a huge reason for me to go to the forums... 7.5 years ago when I started to make my own beads, I visited the forums & sites of my favorite glass artists like Sharon Peters, Diana East & Corina & still do in fact, I took only 2 classes in person that was years after I had made beads, they were with Diana East & Sharon Peters...

When I got my own site up and running I wanted to make sure others could come and see my beads as they wished, I never locked my photos or got upset & never will get upset, when some were inspired by my beads while making their own...there are so many designs even names of beads that I have seen out there that could very easily be one of mine...some pretty obvious, some a 1000 years old...I have always been flattered & never ever questioned anther's creative mind...

Speaking of inspiration take a look at the eye candy photo of what the lovely artist Ginny made with a set of 3 beads I made inspired by the famed Salmon Egg Beads by Andrea Guarino-Slemmons...I added my own twist to them of course, in fact I have seen tons of people make the Salmon Egg beads, in some way or another, but never credit the original creator of them, I think this is getting harder & harder as I go along in my journey with glass, as I do not have time to look at other's work to see if they are inspired by mine or to be inspired by them, Andrea made the first of these beads years ago, as far as I know they are her design, but who is to say, prior to my eyes looking at this art form of 3500 years old, others had not done the same design...perhaps Will Self is correct...

In Ginny's hands my beads find a gorgeous place to call home...I love how she showcases & takes care of them, when you see these lovely works of art, when you see how it all comes together & makes a circle, gets handed down to the next group of creative minds, this is when I can not agree with what Will Self said...we must share art, we must share our creative minds, in this way we can all grow & better our artistic nature, not to mention the truth that Eye Candy is great for our Souls... What do you think about sharing art and Creative minds? Who is your favorite Writer...?

Thanks Ginny for all the love... & Thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

Peace

Things go Missing...

Hi all, today has been an odd day...I woke up & got an appointment for a minor checkup & all went down hill from there...I should have been back in time to wash the beads, take photos of them, list them, update the blog & send out the email to all... by the way the above is the group photo of the beads.

But that did not happen, so first Time went Missing...then there was no sun, then the photos took forever, since the Sun had gone Missing...then after I got it all together, after I had to drag out the lights and the cube, I sat down, got the photos up loaded to the lap top & started to write up the information...one of the beads went Missing, I have found it since, but now I can not find the other item that I need to write up my descriptions.

GAME TIME... Guess which item I am Missing now & win the lovely bead set you see above, These are so yummy...you will love them. Rules, one Guess per person, and one item per guess. Answers here on the blog only, first person who guesses correctly wins the beads...the blues in this set are all silver glass Picasso...yum.

Thanks for stopping by & by the way the item that went missing is still gone, I can not find it anywhere I have looked all over this house...

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