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...

Day Before....

So its finally here...the new Graceful Customs Glass & Jewelry Studio opens on Sunday the 20th of September...I am teaching my first class at the studio from 8am to 1pm and then the grand opening party is from 2:30 to 6:30pm....address is 10730 Center Ave. Gilroy CA...

We have booked Corina Tettinger of Corina Beads on October 24th and 26th, that class is full now, so we have decided to add a second 2 day class possibly on the following Wednesday & Thursday 28th & 29th of October...

Cute picture of Sammy enjoying the yummy flowers that hubby got me for our anniversary...we heard a noise, looked up and there he was eating roses...he is too funny...

Winner of last week's fish bead is Lee from HI, it will be the last item I am shipping before I go to Turkey for my class next week...the shop is closed for now, so no more beads from me until I come back...although I have been making beads at the new studio, testing all the torches (10 of them)and did make some pumpkins the other day...so make comments and I will enter you in 3 random weekly giveaways for the next 3 weeks...you never know what you will get, but I promise it will be yummy...

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

Jelveh...

Peace...

Italian Autumn Made it to a Treasury...

Hi all, hope your Sunday is going well...I feel like such a girl these days, another one of my bead sets made it in to a yummy treasury, check it out and make a comment if you get a chance...

Thanks for stopping, Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Oatmeal Red Made it to a Treasury...

Hope you are having a great Saturday...my Oatmeal Red with silver shine beads made it in to a yummy treasury...check it out and make a comment if you like...

Thanks for stopping by...

Jelveh

Peace

Two Weeks & one day....

Well the time has come for me to pack my tools & clothes...purchased my ticket to Turkey today for my class in Istanbul...you can still join me if you like...click here for more information...

Between going to a Concert last week to see Def Leppard, Poison & Cheap Trick & the very nice mini vacation we took to Santa Rosa, Wine Country's cutest town over the holiday weekend, I have had no time to do anything but get ready for Graceful Customs to open on Sept 20th & my class in Turkey...

so no beads, well there are a few, I will try & list them in the shop by Thursday night...currently there are 19 beads or bead sets in the shop as well...as I will put the shop on vacation/in this case work/mode, while I am in Turkey, all orders made by September 18th will be shipped before I go...I will blog still, have photos of yummy beads & even have bead giveaways during that time...

Speaking of bead giveaways...The yummy focal from last week goes to Nancy, please send your address...for this week I am giving away the very yummy fish Named Rose above...enter to win it by making comment on this post...

The very yummy Necklace above is made by one of my great client/artist friends with my Lava Pools bead, Lee has a great eye & I love how she plays with my beads...

I also had a blog post this week on Watch Me Create...There is so much good information on that site...I loves it...

I hope your labor day weekend was good too & your life is fun & well maybe not as busy of mine...thanks for stopping by...life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Full Moon Made it to a Treasury...

Hi all check out the yummy Treasury above, my Full Moon Valley bead made it to a treasury...take a look and make a comment on the treasury if you like...

hope you are having a great weekend, Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Grace's Studio...

Hi all, can you say busy, hot, fires everywhere...? California is having tough time with fires & very hot hot days...we have had several days over 100 degrees...send all the good thoughts you can for the people who are fighting these fires...

I have been helping my friend Grace open her new Glass Studio Graceful Customs...which is going to be an awesome place to play at, for Grace, me & any one who loves to torch or make jewels in a nice place...here is a link to the blog with photos & stories about the first two instructors there... Graceful Customs...I will be teaching my first class there on September 20th from 8am to 1pm...& Corina Tettinger will be teaching a two day class there on October 24th & 25th...we are so excited to have her...send me an email to sign up for a class...

I did have a chance to make some beads this week, I find myself drawn to Silver colors this past week, lots of blues & movement...I should have 3 new sets & 1 key bead & 2 focal beads listed by 5pm Thursday in my etsy shop...

Last week's yummy bead goes to Fairly Girly from the UK, please send your address...for this week I have an awesome large Golden Pink round bead (17x23mm)that was layered in crystal clear & then I added the details on top in black...this is one of my focal ribbon beads & it has a lot of love to give...enter to win it by making a comment on this blog post about anything you like...

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

Jelveh

Peace

Chocolate Turquoise Cream...

This past week was another busy one, full of fun & work...for the past couple of weeks we have been going to a new yoga studio called Silver Creek Yoga, it is perhaps the best thing I have done for myself in years...the place is awesome, from the amazing rooms to the great teachers, it is well worth a try, check it out if you get a chance. On Sat after a very relaxing two hours at yoga, we drove to Sausalito, this very pretty little town next to the Golden Gate Bridge, the views are amazing, the funny thing was when we were at the Bridge (photo below) half the bridge was buried in fog, but Sausalito is closer to the water so no fog & packed with people...we had a ton of fun. The stuffed Dog is Huston, a friend I gave to hubby a while back for his car.

I also worked on the new studio with Grace, in progress photo below...grand opening is Sunday Sept 20th, from 2:30pm to 4:30pm right after my first class there from 8am to 1pm...come join us for some food & beadmaking demos.

Changes have been made to my class schedule in Turkey as well, click here for the 3 day classes. Oh yes the title of this post, I made some Chocolate Turquoise Cream beads along with some other yummies which will be listed in my etsy shop by Noon on Thursday...

Last week's drum bead goes to Cynthia Lee, please send your address. For this week I have a yummy organic pink Marble like focal bead with sparkling details & bubble eyes, its a great bead measuring 31mm along the hole x 21mm wide...enter to win this yummy bead by making a comment on this post about fall colors or anything you like to chat about...

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

Jelveh

Peace...

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