My Biggest Blunder

I'm really good at planning out how to make something work out, and then at the last minute doing one thing that causes the whole thing to almost fall apart, like making 90 pmc endcaps ALL with the hole too small, then having to make them all bigger. Lucky for me I'm pretty good at getting over it, moving on and it all working out in the end, and hopefully learning from it. This week I think I made my biggest blunder yet!
I purchased a new display that comes apart for transporting to shows. Three weeks ago I made sure to order it in time, so if I decided that the best way to get it to the show was by shipping I would have enough time. I double checked that got it on the UPS truck on Friday it would get there Wednesday.
Well last Tuesday evening, my boxes arrived just as promised (Thanks Julia!), so early Wednesday I got to work putting this thing together. I read the instructions, and was SO patient and determined to do it right all by myself, since Robbie won't be there to help in Santa Monica. It took a while but I got it all put together and my family didn't mind having our living room taken over too much.
On Thursday, I put the display shelves in and figured out how I was going to lay everything out, and what display things I needed to bring with me to the show. Everything was going really good, until it got to the hanging earring display I was going to rig up between two vertical bars. To make a long story short, after trying several different things that didn't work so well, a trip to the hardware store and a few moments where I could have cried, I ended up finishing around 10:20 at night, using my original idea of how to do it. I can't even remember why I didn't just go with that one in the first place now!
The next morning I double checked to make sure my earring display worked and only had to change one wire and it was done! Yay! After two long days of figuring out my display, I was anxious to get this thing packed up in a suitcase to fly or, shipped in the mail and out of our living room.
So we packed everything up, decided that shipping it was the best way to go and got to the UPS store. Despite being really tired and stressed, when I walked into the store I knew that I needed my boxes to arrive in Santa Monica ON Wednesday. Then I'm convinced my brain must have shut off and stopped functioning almost completely! When the girl behind the counter said that it that my boxes would get there by 7pm on Wednesday, I thought that that was too late because I needed to set up the show on at 3, and if they didn't get there till 7 pm that would be way too late. So unless I wanted to pay $86 for the small package, and who knows how much for the larger one, I was going to need to fly with them. So we went and bought two of suitcases big enough to fit all my display stuff and my clothes, felt much better and went to the Halloween parade at Kai's school. Everything was working out, I thought.
Then we packed the display stuff into the suitcases. We got the first one to weigh 42 lbs, so I still had 8lbs for clothes and a few other things that needed to go in. Things were looking good. Then I packed the second one and it weighed 60 lbs. without some important things I wanted to bring! I really wanted to be able to not have to pay the $50 for overweight baggage, and be able to lift the thing off the baggage carousel. At this point, at 7:00 on Friday evening I gave up, cleaned up the living room and made dinner. After dinner after I had relaxed and had a glass of wine, and was watching a movie with my family when I suddenly realized that I wasn't getting to Santa Monica until THURSDAY, so those packages getting there by 7 on Wednesday would have been just fine!!!! I told my husband and he thought it was REALLY funny. I guess it is really. I just haven't laughed yet.
So now I'm going to haul everything into the laundry room, where I don't have to see it, and can forget about it for at least the rest of today, maybe even tomorrow. I've learned that working too long, being tired and stressed totally affects my ability to think clearly and make good decisions. I just hope I remember this next time!
It's Halloween and the sun is shining. My sister and her boyfriend and my adorable nieces are coming over and we are having a party! I wasn't planning on dressing up but I've changed my mind and I'm dressing up as a witch. Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!

My next show will be The Contemporary Craft Market in Santa Monica, CA. It is November 6-8 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. This will be my first time participating in this show and also my first time flying to a show. I'm really excited to be participating in this show and to be going to California.I'm especially excited about seeing the Pacific Ocean. I'm going to be super busy setting up, being at, and taking down the show, but if I only get to do one fun thing in Santa Monica, it's going to be going to the beach! I was born in Newport Beach and spent the first 11 years of my life pretty much in the ocean or at the beach. My sister and I loved to body surf, boogie board swim and just play and get pummeled by the ocean all day. I think it was way easier for my mom to take us to the beach to be entertained all day, then to deal with us being bored and cooped up at home. Thanks mom! Even though we moved away when I was 11 I still get really excited and feel at peace at the same time when I'm at the ocean and around palm trees.

I have some postcards that are good for two free admissions to the show. If you would like one, or even two send me an e mail at Larissa@risabeads.com and I will put them in the mail for you!

Well here's what I pulled out of the kiln this morning. New colors are so refreshing! I already have more ideas I want to try.

Yay for new glass!!!!

On my way home from the show in Portland I stopped at Bullseye Glass. I had never been there before and discovered it's pretty much glass heaven!

11 years ago, when I first started lampworking, Bullseye was the first glass I used. That was before they began making round rods, and all that was available for lampworkers was cut up sheets of glass in long skinny strips. I loved all the colors, but eventually switched to Moretti because they made round rods which are way easier to turn.

I had to restrain myself and only buy a few, ok maybe 20 colors and today gave myself a play day. Yay! I really just wanted to play with the colors, so I did. I can hardly wait to see my beads when I get them out of the kiln in the morning.

It was really interesting and fun working with a different glass. I kept thinking it felt silky and smooth to work with. It takes a little more heat to melt it, so I had more time and it kept it's shape easier. Usually when I make round discs and flowers, around the hole wants to melt and I have to be super careful to keep the hole nice. This glass wasn't doing that and it was kind of nice.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of my beads here. But be warned, they could be really ugly! I never know what I'm going to get when I open the kiln, but that is half the fun! Sometimes I make something that I am sure is just fabulously beautiful and when it comes out it's really not so pretty. I'll just have to wait and see......

Portland Here I Come!

Next week I'll be heading to Portland for Bead Fest Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. Here are the show hours:

Thursday Sept. 24, 5-9
Friday Sept. 25, 10-7
Saturday Sept. 26, 10-6
Friday Sept. 27, 11-5

I'll be at an Artisan Table in space #16. Hope to see you there!



I've come up with a new color combination for a Lovely Bloom Bead. I'm calling it Marina. I just love the vibrant blue, and how the lighter blue radiates out from the center.

PMC

Here are some photos of what Precious Metal Clay Silver looks like in various stages. If you don't already know what PMC is, I will tell you! PMC is made from silver particles and a binder. You work it like clay and then fire it in a kiln at 1650 degrees F for two hours. All the binder burns out and you are left with pure silver! During the process the peices shrink a little. It is pretty amazing and a super fun material to work with. These ones were carefully rolled out thin, then rolled on a rubber spiral texture template. Then they were cut into circles using various shapes of circle cutters, similar to very small cookie cutters. The holes were made with straws. Finally the edges were cleaned up a little and they are ready to be fired. After they were fired they are slightly domed and polished. Then they are blackened in a stinky liver of sulfer bath, rinsed and polished again to highlight the spiral texture. From there they are connected to the end of a bead with a silver tube rivet.



Silver Precious Metal Clay before firing:
After firing in a kiln at 1650 degrees F for 2 hours:
After doming:
After tumbling to remove the white residue:
After being blackened in liver of sulfer:
After polishing:
After being connected to handmade glass beads with a tube rivet:

My Next Show

I will be participating in the American Craft Council Show at Fort Mason in San Francisco. I am in booth #1030. If you are in the area come and see some of the finest American crafts!