Cassie Donlen: Lampwork Beads, Lampworking, Glass Beads, Jewelry and Supplies

This is the Mar 2010 Archive Page

March 23rd: Something fun to talk about..... AN AWESOME BOOK REVIEW about a book that you fellow beaders will LOVE!

So my friend Kerry Bogert went down the fun exciting path of writing her own book that has just been published by my favorite publisher Interweave Press. I have to tell you that the instant my eyes absorbed the cover and my fingers glided over it, I was excitedly sucked in. Just think of Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole! I know that is a strange thing to say but the cover is smooth like butter and from the moment that you touch it, you can't wait to absorb each and every page. In this case, YES! you can judge a book by its cover and this one will not disappoint. I promise!

If you are like me and love details and want lots of great descriptions on how to learn new techniques, then this book will deliver exactly that. Kerry covers a large array of jewelry designs that encompass many different techniques but all flow together as each project features her signature wire work that uses lots of fun bright colored wire. There is lots to learn in the book and lots of inspiration to be found in each page. You can purchase the book on her website or at Amazon. The photo is linked to take you to Amazon where you can see more photos of the book.

Now... being Kerry's friend has some great upsides! She asked me over a year ago to make some beads that she could use for her Bang Gals bracelet project in the book. I love the Bang Gal bracelet design and I sent her enough beads for her to make 3 bracelets. So the first project in the book features her design using my beads. I find that extremely exciting for multiple reasons.

1.Wow.... how cool is that? My beads are in a real book and they look really cool in those sweet bracelets and I'm quite proud to say those are mine.

2. Kerry did a great job making those Bang Gal bracelets that show off my beads in such a wonderful way. I love the color of wire she choose to compliment them.

3. Cool... look at that...Kerry states in the materials section of the Bang Gals bracelet that the beads are made by me. AND.. I get a nice multiple sentence mention (along with the other awesome bead makers who contributed some incredible beads) in the Bead Makers section in the back of the book.

4. Sweet.... and Tickle Me Beads.com even gets mentioned in the resource section of the book. THANK YOU!

5. It is really great to see a person that had a clear vision and a goal of wanting to write a book be able to succeed with a lot of hard work and perseverance and to come out on top with an incredible book that she can truly be proud of knowing that it was all worth it in the end. That is quite an inspiring story.

Finally... here are photos of the Bang Gal bracelets designed with my beads that are featured in the Totally Twisted Book. The photos are taken by Kerry. She emailed me the pics as a preview on January 10, 2009! See... I think I mentioned that it is a long process that involves lots of time and hard work. Whew...

So go grab your copy of the book so that you can experience all the same sensations! Enjoy!

March 18th: Man, I don't know about you guys but we are having the most difficult time adjusting to the daylight savings time change. I still feel like my body is functioning on the old time. The kids are too. Caiden has had a cold but he slept until 12:30 p.m. on Tues, 11:30 a.m. on Wed, and today was around 10:30 a.m. It's a good thing we have this week to adjust.

I haven't been doing much here behind the scenes except spending very large amounts of money on supplies for the Bead Fest Classes. I've been working on the prep work for getting the kits prepared, still have loads of beads I need to make, and lots of lists but I feel that I'm getting a better handle on things. It's just time zapper work I like to call it.

So I haven't played or created anything new or unique in what feels like years. I'm guessing after the middle of April, to hopefully get some creative juices flowing.

In the mean time, I did make a cute pair of earrings yesterday for an order. The poor gal had to keep reminding me to make them for over a month. But they are done and pretty cute if I do say so myself.

March 12: Good grief, today is the first day of the kids spring break, it is 4 p.m., I took them out running around doing fun stuff today, we've been home maybe 2 hours, and Connor (10 yrs old) is moaning to me that he is BORED! I always tell them it isn't my job to entertain them and he replies I know that and I reply, then why are you whining to me about it then? 10 min. later I finally tell him to stop moaning!

I'm really starting to feel the stress of crunch time and trying to get my act together for Beadfest Wire. I've got one class that is filled all the way, another class that I'm the most excited about (the whimsical bezels) only has a few spots left. Of course I'm teaching both of these classes on the same day so that should be interesting. I've only given one on one private lessons and the thought of having 20 people in one class all learning the same thing will be interesting. But, I did do a private class (thanks Jean!) on making the silver bezels and that will help a lot in carrying over the information for 20 people. I'm sure we will have a blast.

Not a lot else to report. Looks like I disappered from blogging. I didn't realize it had been so many days. I swear, I just blink my eyes and it feels like 7 days have gone by. Spring is in the air and just today I bought our season passes to the swimming pool. LAZY RIVER... here we come. And Six Flags opens on April 2. All a great sign that warm weather is coming. YIPPEE!!!!

March 1st: Wow! March is here. That means Spring is right around the corner. I'm getting excited!

I'm a tad behind but I just got listed the lampwork beads and or kit available for purchase over at Tickle Me Beads from the Spring Issue 2010 of Stringing magazine. I have a bracelet and a pair of earrings featured in the magazine. I will get the earring kits posted tomorrow. Just click on the photo to go to the listing.

Here is a pic of the earrings featured in the magazine. The kit won't be available for purchase until tomorrow night. Did you notice that they match the bracelet?

Feb. 28th: I finally feel like I'm back in the swing of things after being gone. It just seems like there are always 20 activities going on everyday and I seem to find ways to keep on adding more. All 3 boys start soccer back up next month, and over the weekend we took Caiden to our old martial arts school and signed up Caiden for classes. We started Connor when he was 5 and it was really beneficial for him. So not to give the same opportunities to Cadien, here we go again for round 2. Although, the big boys are interested in going again too. They are recommended black belts right now. They were starting to get burned out and complaining about going so we just stopped. So we shall see if they pick it back up too. It just costs so much money and I'm not sure if it is in the budget with the 400 other things that they are doing. They are going to really have to want it!

So Bead Fest Wire is coming up fast now. I've got a lot to do to get ready for it in the means of making up all the kits, ordering supplies, and figuring out how I'm going to get it all to PA since I'm flying! Which also means I've gotta make a boat load of lampwork beads. The Summer Garden Class is almost full now. I think there is only 1 slot left.

So between my breakfast with the girls tomorrow, trips to the gym every morning, a field trip this week, IEP meeting for Caiden's speech and OT therapy...and now martial arts 2-3 nights a week, piano lessons, Boy Scouts camp out, no wonder I feel like I don't have anytime to work:-) It all gets done in due time. Now that the distractions of the Olympics are about over, that will help a lot.

................................................................