Author: ShebaMakeda

Tales from the Torch: Feb. & March (part deux)

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I’m back on the Teenager’s computer again as the kitten Busta finally finished chewing through my laptop’s power cable.  Now doesn’t having a cat usually mean no pets chewing random valuables around the house??? i might as well have a dog.

Soooo… until i decide whether to replace the power cable and harddrive on my laptop vs buying a new one, i’m trapped in that teenage hellhole again… damn cat.  Anyhoo, i did manage to backup most of my pics from the last meltdown so found a few more from February and March. (I didn’t torch much in April/May as I had the flu.)

These random beads were for a long bead exchange on LE.  They’re all about 2-2.5″ long (except the purple one) which isn’t huge for me at all – my beads are normally 1.5-2.5″ long.  I think the winner made a bead something like 11″ long.  not sure what one would do with a massive (and fragile!) piece of glass like that…  I wanted to try bigger but about 4″ is my max. anything larger seems to be beyond the limits of my current torch – i can get there but it takes forever to melt all that glass and the results are seriously ugly.

 

This Chocolate Goddess was part of a gift package for Valentine’s Day… 

 

My sister snapped up this Winter Garden pendant as soon as it came out of the kiln… Note my improved stringer control – that Corina stringer DVD has really helped.

I’ve been torching all weekend and have some new beadies cooling in the kiln right now.  I’ll try to post them tomorrow…

i almost bought these shoes…

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they’re stunningly, frivolously, fabulously beautiful
and all my favourite colours.

i had dreams about them.  seriously.
showcased with a fantastic pencil skirt and an airy white shirt…
watching them dangle flirtatiously from the bottom of my jeans…
thinking about how they’d sparkle in the lights while i made my moves on the dance floor.

i even planned to make big beads in colours to match –
yes, another one of my ever so rare sets!

think about it…
just sitting there on a patio with my girlz
sipping a martini
enjoying the spring weather,
people watching
and chatting…
catching up on our lives.

and then i’d look down…
and i’d see my own fabulous beads
in all my fave colours
strung into a stunning necklace
nestled in the collar of my crisp white linen shirt
(ok, maybe not so crisp since this would probably be after work)
glistening in the evening sun.

and then i’d look further down
down the looonnng, lean expanse
of my blue jean covered legs…
(umm, ok i admit it. there may be a slight exaggeration here on the long part…)
(uuuhh, ok yeah.  perhaps a bit on the lean part too…)
and see my FAB-ulous new shoes
and my freshly manicured (and colour coordinated!) toes.

and i would be so caught by all this combined beauty
i would just have to breathe: “oooooooooooooooooooo”
and my girlz would catch the same view and also breathe:
“oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo those shoooeeesss…”

and then the other women passing…
at least the ones who understand
that since comfort and cute can’t always be combined
cute should win – most of the time
…only within the context of shoes, of course.
(smirk)

…they would also look down
and be caught in the colourful kaleidoscope 
of my stunningly beautiful fab shoe/custom bead combo.
and they’d lift their eyes to mine and smile
and say: “ooooooooooooooo… nice shoooooeeeessss!”
“…and nice beads tooooo!”

And i’d contentedly sip my girlie martini
or maybe Bellini cuz that would definitely match!

And know just for that one moment 
that my lampworking skillz
and my fashionista street cred were perfectly aligned in my world.

p.s. Can you tell i can’t wait for the new Sex and the City Movie to open?
(And no, i didn’t buy them, i stocked up on glass instead. choices. sigh)

p.p.s. Confused? Read my About Me or My Studio pages.

Newest addition…

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Nope, not beads this time – a cat.  Got him this week from a friend’s co-worker who’s new roommate is allergic to cats.  She sent this photo around and as soon as i saw that face i was sold.  i mean, how could i resist? just look at that superbly, self-satisfied smile!  I actually didn’t want another cat but the Teenager has been bugging me about getting a second one since last fall (when we lost our other cat Couche-couche) so i caved.  (The cat in the background is his sister – she went to live in the country.)

He’s now named Balthazar (the Teenager is currently reading Romeo & Juliet at school), Bali for short.  When my son suggested that name my first comment was “wait, you want to name the cat after a demon???”  Can you tell i’ve  been watching waaaaay too much Space TV?

Anyhoo, this new cat is HUGE, about the size of a small dog even though he’s barely a year old. And a typical cat in the fickle way he adapted to us within a day or so and began alternately demanding belly rubs/back scratches and then completely ignoring us. 

Bali’s a pleasant change though, since our current cat Busta is the most un-cat-like cat we’ve ever owned – so much so, we actually consider him our pet dog.  When Bali sat down and started grooming himself, the Teenager and i were both so shocked we burst out laughing.  Why? because Busta just… well… doesn’t.  And yes, he smells bad.  All the time.  Our old cat used to have to hold him down and groom him (probably cuz he couldn’t take the smell either) and we’re hoping Bali takes up those responsibilities as well.  Bathing a cat is NOT fun.

As soon as Bali stops hissing at Busta (who is just beyond thrilled to have a new playmate) i’ll get  a pic of them together to post…

Latest additions to my collection…

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I found these two quirky items from a UK ceramics artist while randomly surfing etsy (click either picture to get to her store). 

They are tiny, handmade and absolute perfection.  The base is offwhite clay with embedded glass (you knew there’d have to glass included, right?) and gold and platinum highlights. 

I had the teal pendant custom made and then found the purple brooch in her store – i LOVE purple!  I’ll need to wire the pendant or maybe make a necklace for it. i think i’ll wear the brooch to an event i’m attending tonite.

I keep picking them up to look at them ‘cuz they’re just too perfectly precious…

 

There’s thrills and then there’s just plain crazy…

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My sister just sent me this amazing video of someone hiking through this gorge.  While I’m not scared of heights and love a good thrill, this definitely falls under the category of things i love life way too much to ever try!  

A few times during the video i actually held my breath as the person made their way across particularly precarious parts of the path… 

(Originally built in 1901, this walkway serves as an approach to makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro, Spain.)