Spying on Her Sun Bake

Mabel Lou here, posting for busy Mom again...

She's quite proud of herself for sneaking up on me while enjoying my morning sun bake to snap this pic:

As IF I didn't know she was over there creeping about in the grapevines! Silly Momma!

She's still a busy bee... her Trunk thingy went well and I will have more foodables! Thank you if any of you popped by to like or comment... apparently that helps stuff show up on stupid Facebook!

And she wants the neighborhood peeps who check in here to know that this coming Sunday, she will be selling her stuffs at the Back Door Bakery. She's gonna take jewelry there so come on by!

She's also wanted me to show off a pendant she sold. She says this bead is a symbol for something called autism and lots of special people suffer with it. The lady who bought it asked Momma to make it ready to wear so she did. Momma says this is close to her heart. Not as close as me...but close!

Staycation Travelogue 10/28/10

We hit Laguna Beach for shopping and lunch and a little ocean-side skygazing.

On the way home, we found ourselves not so happily stuck in traffic on the 5. After an hour, we stopped and decided to explore Downtown Disney. Other than a lame design for handicapped parking... why do they always ASSuME that handicapped people are mobile by wheelchairs? In reality, most handicapped just require closer parking. Downtown Disney gets an F on that design... but the rest was SO inspirational. Everywhere you looked was something interesting and my head was flooded with bead ideas!

Every fountain resembled giant flowers. The wrought iron was glorious! But these candied apples really caught my eye!

Help!

This is a charity that every beadmaker I know is involved with!  It's a wonderful charity that allows a child with a serious illness to tell their story with beads. Beads of Courage has applied for a $25,000  grant from Pepsi. Pepsi is giving away over a million every month and allowing the public to decide who gets the money!


Since voting began on the 1st, we've been steadily moving up. But only the top 10 charities in the $25K category can win. And now, we've not only stalled, we've moved back a step! So...I'm imploring ALL my friends to PLEASE VOTE! If you are on Facebook, you don't even have to give them your email.

And did I mention??? You can VOTE ONCE A DAY????  For you pet lovers, there's some amazing pet charities in the running for funds. I myself am a sucker for vets (veterans) and pets!  But please vote for Beads of Courage! Watch the movie... it will make you cry!


And... for those of you voting this weekend, I'm having a give away on my bead blog. If you vote, please note the rank number in the comments of the bead blog and I will enter you in my give away!

Da fine print: Neither Pepsi Co nor Beads of Courage endorses or supports this even in any way shape or form. This is my way of getting help for a fantastic cause!

Working My Way Back / POPPIES!

I'm slowly coming back online... still have no software to speak of and am trying to figure out what is needed in order of necessity. I hope to have those issues settled this weekend. I'm having a "Mama needs some new software" sale on my Artfire shop to try and get some income coming in...it's been a rough and expensive month for me. Coupon code "computer" gets you 25% off.

I also wanted to mention that many units of the American Legion will be out in force this weekend selling poppies to raise money for their disabled veterans programs. If you are shopping in Baton Rouge this weekend, you're likely to meet one of my relatives selling poppies.

Be a dear and help them out. The money goes to a great cause.

GABE Winner!

Welp, Twinkie's Global Animal Blogging Event a/k/a has come to an end. We've met lots of new furiends and picked up some new followers and found lots of new blogs to follow. Wow!

The winner of our prize is Piappies World! Since this is a custom pendant, it will be a few weeks before you will get to see it but here's the description from my GABE announcement:




I am a glass artist, working mostly in torched beads (oops! We are moving servers and that site is down!) and memorial beads containing the ashes of loved ones, however, I fuse from time to time. These art glass pendants were made with actual photos! That's family up on the left. The top right is one of our hiking buddies, Sue. And below... my regulars will recognize as the first Creekhiker logo. The winner of my drawing will receive a custom glass piece with their critter's photo fused in. Please know that this is a custom piece and will take a little time to finish and YOU will have to send me a high quality, high contrast photo of your pet.


This has been a lot of fun and I can't wait til GABE comes around next year!

Down in the Dumps

I've been a bit down lately and I hate posting here when I am. I can fake it for the bead blog... but this place is all me...my haven; my one true place. I don't fake it well here. So maybe if I get it all off my chest, the fog will lift. Here goes:

Mother
My mom has been really sick. Scary sick. She's 87 and her mortality has always been near the surface of my fears ever since I was a child and my father died. Now that we have the correct diagnosis (equilibrium issues), she is on the mend. But it's been a frightening week. I bought and returned THREE plane tickets in one day, unable to decide if I should go to her or stay put. Of all the many versions of me, it's Indecisive Holly I dislike the most. In the end, my poor sister bore the brunt of this one with me making phone calls and giving advice from here.

The Website:
While working on my taxes, I started to distract myself with the need to totally rebuild my bead website (Still in progress...). You know I'm bored if html code suddenly sounds interesting. It has been an all consuming project which is what led to the next problem....

My Left Elbow:
My left arm is numb...like it's asleep ALL the time. I've somehow damaged a nerve in my arm. I never knew how many things I do with my non-dominant arm until it started hurting. I hang onto the phone as if I'm sliding off Mt. Everest. On the computer, my elbow remains on the edge of the desk until I need to two-handed type. I drive with my elbow resting on the window sill. When Mabel joins me on the sofa, I scoot to the right; to keep from falling off the edge, I lean left. I sleep on my left side with the elbow bent and the arm tucked under OR on my back, lots of pillows and weight on my left elbow. If my hands get cold, I tuck them under my behind and put more pressure on the elbow. I rest on that elbow making beads.

WHO KNEW my world could be turned upside down by one freaking little elbow???

I went to the local massage school yesterday for a $20 massage and managed to leave with feeling in my index finger and thumb. Now, if the rest of them would wake up...

The IRS:
I owe more money to the IRS than I have ever owed in my life! And yes, I'm spitting mad about it. I took money out of a retirement account because I had NOTHING at Christmas. I took the money to pay property taxes and my house note... that's it. No Christmas shopping - I didn't give gifts this year. NOTHING frivolous... just keeping a roof over my head. And even though my business lost money last year, I still owe... a penalty for taking my own damn money. ARGH!!!

It wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't think it would be going to buy flowers for Nancy Pelosi or half of a screwdriver for the Pentagon.

The Job Prospects:
I send out resumes all the time and have come to accept I may not hear back as I always seem to be grossly overqualified or missing ONE thing out of literally forty required skills. But I've applied for no less than three jobs in the past month that I am a dead on skill match for. And... NOTHING.

But, there is always one cheery, wonderful thing in every blessed day. The one creature who can get me out of my head and out of my house. The girl who always makes me laugh. Here she is on a hike with Twinkie's pack.

And, you might enjoy this photo essay of the girl eating cream with her furiends from Twinkie's blog. And... these next pics are not photoshopped at all...just cropped! Hope they make you smile!

My Baby Doesn't Need Me...

Since my staph infection, I've practically had my days and nights mixed up. I wake up at 2 a.m. and get up and deal with taxes. Back to bed at 5 and up at 10. Nap around 4 - 7 in the evening. I'm sure Mabel Lou is confused.

Last night, I had two bead orders and I've felt zero creativity since my return from Baton Rouge. But I had to torch and since one order was a remake, I hoped doing the familiar would snap me out of my creative daze. It did and I ended up torching until 10:45.

I came in the house to check email and to see if there were any stamp orders and got caught up helping a friend on Facebook find some information. Around 11, Mabel wandered into the office and seemed rather excited. I petted her and told her I would be done in a bit. She persisted a while but eventually left me.

When I went down the hall at 11:30, I realized Mabel had put herself to bed! Now this is a first! We normally start heading to bed around 11. I coax her to potty with the promise of three pieces of chicken jerky: one in the hall and two on HER side of my bed. The first would get the girl in the house during her "prime time" - critter chasing on the back deck. The last two get her situated away from my corner of the bed.

When I saw her all curled up, I realized that 11 p.m. agitation was her way of asking for her jerky. When she didn't get it, she kept to the schedule and went to bed without me. If she were tall enough to reach the jerky on her own, I would probably be without a bed to sleep in!

Maybe she does still need me...

Creekhiker - One World, One Heart

Before the Storm

It's that time of year! The One World, One Heart International Blog event is HERE! This is a fun way to explore new blogs, win prizes, meet other bloggers and have fun in the blogosphere! You can read more about it on our host site:

Now, here's what you are playing for:

This off mandrel glass heart was made by me, Holly Dare. It was made with dichroic, aventurine and high silver glasses. There is no pink in it... that is a reflection of my shirt (ARGH!!) which should give you some idea of how reflective this bead is. It will arrive, ready-to-wear, on a black ribbon necklace (from Jamn Glass). Measures: 1.8" tall x 1.2" wide x 1/3" thick.

Simply leave a comment to win. Make sure I have some way of getting in touch with you if you are the winner...blog, email or website contact page.Winners announced February 15th.

I'm also giving away another prize on my bead blog and there you will find links to some of my beady friends who are also participating in this event. My lampwork bead promotion group, The Fire Divas, is also hosting a giveaway with several chances to win on that blog and links to other Divas who are also hosting their own OWOH giveaway! Please check them all out!

Winners announced February 15th.

About the Creekhiker blog: Creekhiker is my blog about life with my "rotten-weiler" in the foothills of Southern California. The people we meet and the beauty we encounter on our daily hikes are often featured here. I hope you'll come back and visit again.

Shopping with Mama Nobucks

Maybe it's my underemployment and inability to find a job. Maybe it's that I'm always suspicious of retailers. Maybe it's that my ridiculously high property tax bill is due in a matter of weeks. Whatever the reason, my Holiday Spirit has been kidnapped!

I decided to give myself the day off on Friday. I took the girl for a serious hike, so deep into the creek, I got lost for the first time in years! My dog mom duties over, I went into Burbank.

My first stop was at the new mini-mall by the airport. When I worked in this neighborhood (2001), They had just opened Lowe's and Target and none of the restaurants were open. This particular mini-mall did not exist. You either had to bring your lunch or plan to spend 20 minutes of your lunch hour driving.

I had shrimp at the Fish Dish. I should say I had rubber shrimp. Maybe I'm just homesick for some tender succulent shrimp from Mike Anderson's or Brunet's. So much for lunch.

I headed to the movie theater and stopped in Barnes & Noble to pick up book I want for a Christmas Gift. I picked out a few beading magazines and the book. I almost freaked when they told me the book was $26! For that price, I would expect it to be printed on gold... or at least silver! I passed on the book, knowing I could get it for $14 on Amazon, paid for my magazines and left.

I got to the movie theater and had some time to kill so I opened my bag from the bookstore. I realized my three bead mags had cost me a whopping $35! WTH??? I really enjoyed the movie (The Blind Side) and saw another (Precious) but I wish I had seen them in the reverse order...one is an upper and the other is a downer. Both are Oscar worthy and the high point of my day!

But the whole time, I kept thinking $35 for magazines?? I planned on having Thai spring rolls and red velvet cake at CPK after doing a little shopping. I hit Bath and Body works... always great for stocking stuffers and several of my friends love their lotions.

But as I browsed the store, everything just looked the same. The same old stuff from years before; same old candles, same old lotions and potions. Sure they did have some new fragrances and some old favorites. You would think they would bring back the best seller from a few years back, Tuberose but no. This year they have Butterfly and I Love You.

Um, 'scuse me Mr. Butterfly, could you hold still so I can see what you smell like??? And just what should I Love You smell like??? Is it all candles and roses or raw sex??? Really, you could go in any direction with that...but I like names that mean something in my lotions and potions. Coconut, Waterlily, Lemon...those are fragrances!

My personal favorite was the candle named Moonlight Woods. Can you say "lawsuit?" The visit was good for a few laughs but I left empty handed. Ran smack into a glass jewelry counter..."Everything $5!" Yep, imported glass from China. ICK!

My tour of Macy's was just as fruitless. They were having a big sale - 25% off but it felt like all the prices were about 25% too high to begin with... like there was a mark up to compensate for the mark down.

Next stop, the Ikea holiday tent. I love to pick up wrapping paper or cute little ornaments. But this year, they've put a big red heart on everything! And not even a cute heart...they've tried to make it look like a bell or something. I just stood there, wondering if it was Valentine's Day. I get it...'Christmas is LOVE!' but I don't want my decorations to look like another holiday! Come on!

By this point, the $35 I had spent on magazines was killing me. I went back to the bookstore and got a refund and left without getting dinner. After this shopping trip, a cup of soup and a grilled ham and cheese just felt more to my liking.

Last Day to Vote!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Fire Divas are having a Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge! Several of our members have made wonderful pieces for YOU to vote on and voting ends tonight at 6pm PST. First, you can feast your eyes on these beauties in big, clear pictures. When you're done savoring them, please vote for your favorite in bite-sized images on the right side of the Fire Divas' blog (link below). The winner will receive a really cool prize!
















So please take a moment and encourage the artisans participating. Go vote on the Fire Divas Blog.

In General

Life has been a bit of a downer lately, which is why I haven't been posting.

• Trying to switch credit card processors to cut my overhead. The sales rep made a huge blunder which rendered me unable to take credit cards for over a week.
• My largest sales volume in over a year came in during said week. So much for my stellar reputation of turning orders around quickly.
• Still no job. A few nibbles from a headhunter but I'm not so sure said headhunter is really on the ball.
  
• My resume : interview : job ratio is really killing me. In my lean and hungry days - when I could afford to work for nothing - For every 10 resumes I sent, I got one interview. For every 1.75 interviews, I got a job. My ratio was probably better than that if you count the fact that I often begged to meet someone even if they had no job. I've been hired 10 years after the fact on some of those!
• In eight months of sending out resumes, I've had two interviews. One was for a job. One was with a head hunter.
• Married friends who have never had to work a day in their lives (much less understand the ins and outs of running a business) really seem to annoy the heck out me lately. After mentioning to one my great week of sales, she dared suggest that all should be well in my life. Let's do the math on that, shall we? On my largest order last week - $400, I had to pay sales commissions of $40. Raw materials cost me another $100. My credit card processor took $14.40. That puts me down to $245 and change. Let's see... I need to order new wood mounts. $85. I haven't ordered food color or pads in ages....$500. And my $1000 mortgage is due.... Yeah, honey, things are looking great!
• I probably ruined a ten year friendship for being my usual direct self.
  
• Being my usual direct self landed me the job of "firing" people from a bead group I belong to. Odd how the thing that can scare someone close to me can the very thing treasured in another situation.
• What I find most annoying about both is that people ASSuME that because I'm direct, I have a think skin. I don't. I get hurt...a lot. I get disappointed in people a lot. And most days, it makes me want to crawl into a cave and stay there forever.
  
• My nightly swims, Mabel Lou and hiking are my saving grace every day. Speaking of which...it's about that time.
  

Finding My Voice

(NOTE: This was originally published on Holly's Folly Bead Blog. I'm having so much fun with this class, I wanted to share it here too!)

I've been taking a workshop on Facebook (is there anything that doesn't go on there??) on finding my voice as a beadmaker led by Sylvie Lansdowne. It's meant to encourage lampworkers to find their own path and avoid copying others.

This is week two of my class and we were to interpret a painting of Sylvie's choosing...she chose 24 for the fifteen of us to pick one. I got to pick first (thanks to my being on FB all the time!). I chose this one by Ford Smith called Serenity Rising.



And here is my interpretation (front and back):

I went for a very literal interpretation and I love the results. I went for this option because I enter a monthly contest on Art Bead Scene and this year, we are interpreting famous paintings into finished jewelry. I've longed to be able to do a literal translation in glass but the inspiration paintings there never "spoke" to me in that way. But this one did...

I was exhilarating working on this bead in the flame for over an hour, praying it didn't all turn to crap. I made a crucial mistake halfway through by putting in my treetops before finishing the water and trunks... that ruined my hope of it looking two dimensional with a flat / painted surface. But in the end, I realized that was sort of silly and I love the dimension I ended up with.

I also love how the devit on the purple makes the back look like a two dimensional version of the front.

This project was fun and eye opening for me! I hope to be able to do more of these. I also LOVE that I have a new favorite painter!

Featured Artist Interview

It's been an exciting week bead-wise for me... Good sales, parting with a favorite bead that sold and I'm a featured artist with my lampwork beads team on Etsy, LEST Beads.

It was REALLY hard to part with this bead when she found a new home this week!

You can read the interview here. And while you're there, check out the other fabulous lampwork artists that make up the Lest Beads team!

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I'm in my deep, dark pre-birthday funk. It is a dismal place in my head and I'm so depressed, I'm sleeping a ridiculous number of hours. So don't expect to hear from me until...I'm....45! (It KILLS me! Oh, the drama!)

Simple Math

Wind storm + fires nearby = Blowing Ash.

Wind storm + fall leaves + blowing twigs = Debris Everywhere.

Pool + Blowing Ash + Debris Everywhere = One Big Freaking Mess.

One Big Freaking Mess + Overly sensitive pool equipment = Too much of Creekhiker's Time.

Impending Art Show + Smaller booth = More time needed to consolidate beads = One stressed out Creekhiker.

One hot day + One stressed out Creekhiker + Work on pool + make & organize beads + look for a "real" job = one really bad mood.

OR

One hot day + One stressed out Creekhiker + day spent goofing off at horse jumping show followed by lunch and shopping (for art booth materials and dog food) with girlfriends and our favorite Chihuahua = one relaxed Creekhiker ready to take on challenges of the weekend.

In the Meantime...

While I'm on the mend, I did a little housekeeping... you may have noticed over to the right.

I've started a Bead Blog... I'm hoping to journal my creative process there.

And as for the links here, I LOVE the new blogger feature called "My Blogs." It ranks them by update times...so if you're near the bottom, it's time to update.

I was a bit melancholy doing this... Velvet has been at the top of the list for so long. It was a visual place of honor since she's the one who inspired me to start this journey.

And in other news, I have a bead in a competition with my Etsy Bead Group, Lest Beads. The contest is Red White & Blue and here's my entry:

Patriot by Hollysfolly, originally uploaded by HollysFollyGlass.

I would really appreciate your vote for me in the competition. Click HERE and scroll down to the very bottom { I was one of the first to enter ;-) } and check the radio button by Holly's Folly Glass.

Thanks for voting and I will be back soon!

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Interesting Google Search

I frequently check what people are googling to come into my various websites. Of special interest to me is my bead site, mainly because, in true Creekhiker form, I named it on a whim. No research, no forethought. Holly's Folly - because glass is certainly a folly for me.

As it turns out, Holly Folly is a gay holiday festival. Uh that would not be gay as in just plain old fun. You can see where people searching for the well-established festival might be a tad disappointed stumbling into my humble little jewelry site.

But tonight I noticed what someone had googled which had led them to these beads in particular:

"A Box of Chocolates" ~Beads by Holly Dare

The person in England had searched for "non-fattening chocolate". And found glass!

Oh Sweetie! I do apologize! And if you ever find it and it tastes good, please let me know!


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Outta Here...

I'm off to Bead and Button 08. For you Mabel Lou fans, she is being taken care of by her granny.

In case any of my beady friends are stopping by, here's my schedule:

Wednesday: 8 am – 3 pm - Class - Solid Ornaments

Thursday: 8 am – 3 pm - Class - No More Round Dots

Friday : 1pm – 4pm – Class – Glass Fish

5 pm – 8 pm – Class – Fused Photo Pendant

8pm – 12 am – Lampwork Madness

Saturday: 9am – 5pm – Class – Italian Stringer Techniques

7pm – Social and Breast Cancer Auction

Sunday: 9 am – 4 pm – Class – Silver Luster Beads

I'll be flying home after class.

And...since I'm out of town, your comments won't appear until I'm back next week. ;-)



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Bead Crochet

Several readers have asked about the bead crochet project I spoke of some time back. I finished it pretty fast but wanted to make a focal bead for it. It's finally done and linked in to this post. (Click on the title.)

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News

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I was going to post something else today but had some news.

First, I can walk!!! Like magic, there was NO PAIN today! No cane, no walker...just me! Wow! And while I started to have doubts when Mabel took off on me in the middle of nowhere (punishment for no run yesterday), I managed just fine.

Second, the "job interview" was a request that I volunteer teach. I can't really afford to sit in traffic 6 hours a week and make no money. But, I did learn how to get into the already full glass blowing class... Yeah!

Yesterday was exhilarating and expensive, and painful as I still had to use the cane / walker. I stopped by Pacific Artglass yesterday only "needing" a few items. I had started some Halloween beads and found I had no orange. As soon as I got in the door, Karen and John both see me and exclaim, "The moretti is fully stocked!!!"

This only happens about twice a year... the chance to grab any color rod you want right off the shelf. I was a little overzealous and over spent... and wouldn't you know, the one color I was dying for (straw yellow), they didn't get in.

Then I went to the crochet class and remembered they teach glass bead making there. They had the color I was looking for...tons of it! So I had to pay retail but I'm all stocked up on glass and can play til my heart is content I run out again.

Finally, the bead crochet was so fun! I had tried to teach myself a dozen times and failed. But in class, I realized, it's really simple...you just have to make sure the cord is over the previous row's bead. It was really fun, once we all got a few rows and the project started to take shape. And the teacher is coming back for a free follow up class to help us finish off our projects in a few more weeks. Very nice.

Whew!

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Well things are mostly peachy here.

Mabel only has very minimal damage to her kidneys! They still function fine but her creatinine levels are slightly elevated. Her liver function is fine. And thank goodness for the urine test because the vet found she had a bladder infection unrelated to the bad food. So she's on antibiotics and anti-diarrheal meds for the next eight days. And no more canned food EVER! I feel like we dodged a bullet.

There is water in the creek!! It was almost bone dry yesterday. We had to hike quite a ways east to find water. But tonight, it was higher than it has been in months. Mabel Lou and I were both doing the happy dance. I hope to make it down to the waterfalls tomorrow.

The house gets new windows tomorrow. They arrived a week early! After I got new siding a few months ago, it made my circa 1958 front windows look really crappy. I'm sure my back will be in fine form tomorrow night after moving all that furniture. But I'll now be able to get a cross breeze in the house! Yeah!!

And on a sour note, my oxygen concentrator is being weird and I only got to make 8 beads today. I have no idea what to do for it... the pressure drops out the minute I light the torch. Oh well, guess I'll have to actually work in the shop on something I'm supposed to do instead of playing on my torch.

I attempted three off mandrel projects and succeeded with two before the oxy con problem. So yeah again!

And, for Janet, the tale of urine collection. I really wanted my vet to keep Mabel and get the sample but he seemed to think I could do it. What he doesn't know is that Miss Mabel is a modest girl. She really doesn't like anyone looking at her while she's doing her business. Her favorite places here are all where I can't see her from the porch. And at the creek, she runs ahead and tries to finish before I round the bend. Even now, I'm supposed to check her poop to make sure it's firming up. Tonight, she just glared at me because I stopped and watched her. And I swear, she really didn't finish. Brat!

So, I gave her water and put her on a leash, hiding one of the plastic dishes I keep in the shop for glass staging behind my back. I took her to all her favorite places. Nothing... she just kept looking at me like "Why am I on a leash in my own yard??"

So I took her inside and tried again an hour later. Nothing.

I kept her outside for a bit. It was close to 100 yesterday. Then she got more water and we tried two hours later.

As I walked her to her favorite spot, her rear end started to dip. Still she kept looking at me all strange. But finally gave in to nature. When she turned her head, I jammed the plastic dish under her. As soon as I knew we had a enough for the doc, I stooped to get the dish back. She jumped and turned around, staring at me with her best, "What the hell are you doing to me back there?" look. But of course, we got to take the leash off, so all was forgiven.

I don't know what I would do with a boy dog!

Thanks to everyone who said prayers and wrote and called. We really appreciate it!