Week of Quakes...& New Beads...

Some how the two topics don't go together well...but this whole week there has been several Earthquakes where I live in California & then a very large 6.5 quake just day before yesterday in Northern California in Humboldt County which was a rather large quake, but nothing that happened here even compares to this major catastrophe in Haiti, a country that is already & always so poor & in need...So in retrospect to all that is going on in the world & the large loss of life that I am sure we will hear about, it seems kind of trivial to me to tell you all the cool stories of my life this past week...so lets all of us pray & wish the best that can be for the people of Haiti at their time of need... I read there was already web schemers trying to get folks to donate money for Haiti, so be careful who you donate to, the American Red Cross is always a safe place to donate...

I do have new beads, lots of yummy ones, I will be listing them in my etsy shop from now till Thursday morning....here is a photo of what is coming...there might even be more that what is in the photo...

This past Friday we had our first monthly meeting at Graceful Studios, the theme was hearts, we met some new people & fun was had by all, Grace showed us her new Silver torch & how to use the flex shaft for carving & sanding, I made heart beads & much food was had by all, Jennifer our wire wrapping queen also fixed a broken silver ring of mine using Grace's new Silver torch...photo below of some of the fun...

On Sunday I had two very yummy students Loni & Pat, they are so so nice...I also tested one of the new colors of Double Helix while making a fish for them...photo below...

Meredith wins the yummy bead from last week, please send your address...enter to win the focal bead on the top of this page by making a comment on this post...

Thanks for stopping by, I am grateful that my Life is good, it is not good for so many others in the world...
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 New Year...

Happy New Year...

Guess where in the world we are? we had a great holiday, it was awesome, we swam with Dolphins, we snorkeled & we got a whole lot of sun at the beach...life is good...hope you had a nice & safe New Years too...

Our Christmas Boutique at Graceful Studios was awesome...we met so many lovely people...it was a great success, read more about it at Graceful Studios blog & see the few photos we remembered to take...

There will be bead winners & new beads on Wednesday Jan 6th 2010...

On Friday the 8th of Jan 2010 from 2pm to 7pm we will have our first monthly get together at Graceful Studios, this months theme is Hearts, remember to bring any handmade heart items for show & tell & maybe sell...it can be jewelery, glass, metal or any other handmade craft as long as it is heart related...there will be a drawing for $25.00 Glass Giveaway...see you at the studio at 10730 Center Ave in Gilroy California, click here to email me if you need more info... remember we will have our get together 2nd Friday of every month...

My next Glass Bead Making Class is on Sunday Jan 10, 2010 from 8am to 1pm there are 2 spaces left. I will teach lampworking classes on the second Sunday of every month, for more information on this you email me...

One last yummy news, my friend & fellow Lampwork Artist Anne Ricketts of AMR Glass Works has made a great tutorial on how to make Glass Shank Buttons by using Jelveh Designs Key Mandrel...click on her links & check it out...she is awesome & so it the tutorial, you can bet there will be some Shank Buttons for sale soon in my etsy shop...thanks again Anne...

Thanks for stopping by, life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & Happy New Year...

Hi all, hope you are having a great holiday season so far & are all ready for Christmas & an awesome Happy New Year...you may have noticed I have not blogged, added beads, updated facebook, twitter, flicker or any other means of communication for over 2 weeks now...Thanks for all of your concerned & whats up with you? emails & messages...

All is good & life is good in the world of Jelveh...I was just taking some time off from being out there so much...I think we all need to do that from time to time...unplug as it were...so back to our regularly scheduled program we go...lets see I have been rather busy making a ton of beads for fun, for special orders, for gifts & for our big Christmas Boutique at Graceful Studios which is this Sunday from 10-5...Grace also thought Garnet & I how to make soap, we made a ton of yummy gourmet soaps for the Boutique with Grace & for gifts...I tried & spend some time with family & friends too which is always nice...below are some photos of these adventures...oh yeah we got some NEW TO US furniture for the living room dinning room finally too...so yes busy busy here...

The cutest little girl, my niece is 3 years old on this week, she had a Shrek party & was dressed as princess Fiona for her special day...

Here is the cutest guy on our new couch, so yummy, both the couch & my hubby...

& here is a shot of the soap making party we had...so much fun, want to do this again soon...

OK the Winner of the yummy bead from two weeks ago is FiberOne of SC...please please send your address...in fact anyone who has won a bead in the past few weeks, please send your address, as I have some yummy beads just waiting for their new homes...OK for this past two weeks & the next two weeks, I am giving away 1 set of 5 beads, your choice of colors to 4 people...enter to win a set of beads by making a comment on this post...

Also in the spirit of the giving season, every purchase from my shop until the end of Jan, 2010 will get a 10% discount via paypal after payment has been made...Anything purchased after Dec 20th will not be shipped until after Jan 5th, 2010...wow 2010...how time flies when you are having fun...New Beads & goodies will be listed in my etsy shop soon, you just have to keep checking...

Thanks for stopping by, have a safe & fun Holiday season...Life is Good...

Jelveh

Peace

Leftovers & More...

Hi all, hope you had a great Turkey day...ours was was very nice...having 4 days off was really good, we did just about nothing...went for long walks, did a bit of yoga at home, did a bit of shopping & that's about it...oh yeah ate a whole lot of yummy leftovers, what about you?

this past weekend I managed to list a ton of beads as promised...I will have a couple of new yummy sets, focal beads & leftover sets by Thursday 2pm California time in my etsy shop...

On Wednesday last week I had a quick, as in short intro class to bead making with the nice people in the photo below...Sharon, Lisa & Kevin...Lisa was a natural, Sharon's beads looked really good for a beginner & Kevin did great too...he is also a boro artist, although we had very little boro glass at the studio, he did come back on Sat for about an hour & showed a bit of boro, the second picture is the swan he made for us...he is going to come back to our studio to teach a 2 day intro to off mandrel boro class sometime around spring vacation 2010, I will keep you posted of the dates...

Graceful Studios News: We have added a calendar of events to our blog upcoming dates of note are my lampworking class on Sunday the 6th from 9am to 2pm, & the Christmas Boutique on Sunday December 20th from 10am to 4pm...see you at the studio...

Last week's two yummy focal beads go to Amy, send your addy girl...for this week I have very special bead, I love love this apple core bead with a modified harlequin design...I was going to list it in my shop, then I realized I did not have a yummy bead for the giveaway, so now you can 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

Wire Wrapping Class, Yum...

Took a yummy Wire Wrapping class with the very talented Jennifer Le at our studio in Gilroy today, I have never done it, so imagine my surprise when I actually made something very cool...Jennifer is a great teacher, her next class is sometime in Jan 2010 in our studio where she will teach us how to wire wrap a ring...The photo above is the very lovely Petrified Wood Cabochon that Jennifer let me pick out of her yummy rocks...below are more pictures of class... 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