Fresh From the Oven...

Before I show the group that I came home to today...I just want to put out a little reminder that we have a giveaway happening right now on our brand new Love My Art Jewelry Blog.   While there, if you are not already familiar with one of our members Barbara Lewis, read about her in today's post.  I haven't felt too great for the past few days....I've caught a cold from one or a few of the little boogers (no pun intended, of course) that I spend my weekdays with.  They are also known as middle school students. 

I did get a little pick-me-up when I got home and checked out the kiln.  I used some new glazes on some of these so I wasn't totally sure what I was going to find. 

I loved most of them. I've learned not to try to guess what others will love

 because it is almost never what I expect.

One of the news glazes has a bit of a matte finish.  That was unexpected, but they look pretty cool.

And some fall faves.....

That's all for today....other than a Mikito update.  If you are concerned about a dog without eyes...perhaps you shouldn't go any further. 

This has been an amazing experience.  I wrote about Mikito in a prior post.  I opted to have his eyes removed because of the pain.  He has been incredibly happy.  He's sitting on my lap as I type this, resting his little head on my arm limiting my movements, but when not on my lap, he runs to me when I call him.   Bill was out throwing the ball for the dogs when I arrived home and he literally ran up to the car because he knew it was me!!   It's unbelievable!!!!  He's barking just like he used to (a tad bit of an annoyance) and I almost thought he was going to jump up on the couch a little while ago!  I'm sad that he went blind, but I'm happy that he is no longer sick and seems to be adjusting to his new life without eyesight!

Once all the fur grows back in, I don't really think it will be that noticeable.....  He just looks like he is sleep walking ;o)  I'll post in a month or so when he has had time to grow his shag back!

Here and There...

So much going on... 

I took the pictures of the kiln to post at the Beads-of-Clay Yahoo group, but decided I would first put it here.   Check the group out.  Here's some quick links to the blog and the website :O)

BOC Blog
Boc Website

Here is what I came home to today after my day job ;o) That's after I got my dogs all settled in after their intitial excitement from seeing me. I was ALMOST as excited as they were when I opened the kiln. I, however, managed to stay on my feet and I didn't plow over any furniture with my surprise! Here is something to ponder.....

'LIVE EACH DAY BEING THE PERSON THAT YOUR DOG THINKS YOU ARE'

I'm not sure who came up with that quote, but I can say that I've never forgotten it
since the first day I came across it.

Woof!

A STORY...

Here are the beads (most of them) that are from the firing that I did yesterday. I've also made a bunch of connectors, pendants, etc., but have to decide which to list and which will turn into jewelry.

Decisions...decisions....

Guess, if this is as tough as it gets in the decision making world...

then I've got it pretty good....

On a personal note:

I've recently has a crazy experience where my little 8 year old toy poodle suddenly went blind in both eyes. I took him to the vet who referred me to Cornell. You get referrals there often when you live close by. Anyhow, off to Cornell we went. $1000 (hello credit card debt) worth of testing and drops later, they didn't know what was wrong with him. He kept getting worse. Next choice: the Neurologist. I felt terrible by this point and also did lots of searching within myself. I've been working on listening to my intuition the older I get.

We really should do that more often.

I made the decision that I was not going to go any further with this and I was going to just give it time. He was very sick and his eyes were a mess. Well...it's been about 2 weeks and although he is blind, he is almost back to his old self. He's up walking around, barking (which was very annoying and is now great to hear), eating and just being an ordinary dog. He is still getting drops to relieve the pressure pain and lots of drops for his VERY dry eyes (no tears at all). I have also had to make, yet another decision, and that is to have the eyes removed. It sounds kinda crazy and my guess is that he will look a little off (the Vet tells me it won't be as bad as I think), but it will take care of the pain.

Poor little guy....

So...why this story? Enjoy the times in life when decision making is as small as, "do I use this bead or do I use that one?" Even my Mikito the toy poodle story is small in terms of decisions that I've faced throughout my crazy life.

(It is pretty calm right now with my wonderful husband, 3 dogs and cozy home in the country

....do I dare put this down in print?)

Mother and Son Team....

Well...I've gotten so busy between my day job and....

...I really shouldn't say that since I'm a special education teacher and I don't even officially go back until next week...but.....it is the thought that counts!

I've still kept myself incredibly busy with beads....so many beads....that I have a hired hand ;o)

My son Ben Kulesa....the wonderful thing about this experience is that I can actually see ones one (a little proofreading in preparation for what is coming next week!) of my very own genes (the creative one, of course) hard at work.....and...in some cases...it appears that the gene is even working harder!  Perhaps...it is because it isn't even 23 years old yet ;o) 

We are becoming a mother, son team and it is working out fabulously!  We started out with him making beads under my direction and now he is making some of the old faves, but also creating his own styles.  Most of our combined creations will be for sale, but some will be set aside for jewelry that he and his lovely wife Tiffany (picture coming in future post) will design.

We will eventually offer those designs for sale on our website Artisan Beads Plus once we complete the store that is currently in the works.  We are going offer both jewelry and made-to-order beads from some of the personal Etsy favorites.   You will be able to special order certain styles in a variety of colors in any amount. 

I'm excited about it...  I just wish the work that goes into creating a website would grow its own hands and brain and do it by itself with me just pushing the 'go' button...!~!~!  Nuff said.....  Here's the latest firing.  Some of these are reserved, but many will be listed on Etsy starting tomorrow!

I hope to glaze again this weekend and have one more firing before heading back to my little rural district in the hills of Central New York...