Well here it is, the last day of this year. And the first time I have posted since July??? ooops. Kind of let this go for a while. So, excuses...my computer was flaking on me a lot (no really, it was!) and I was on my ipad more than the computer and I can’t update from that. Good news, I recently got a new computer!
And then there’s the kitties. We added one more to our group in September (4 total now) and she is sooo adorable! Nikki (posing in Santa hat) is now 8 months old and just as cute as can be, but she is a handful! She gets along with great all the other kids and has quite the out going personality.

Travel: Kentucky for the ISGB Gathering, 8 days in San Diego for a bead show, plus I taught and took a workshop, Mammoth Lakes for a long weekend with good friends
Roger and I finally got back into warm water, one glorious week in Cozumel was just what we needed to rejuvenate and inspire! And one of these days, I will go through all that video I shot, which will also be easier with the new mac.

The holiday season has been busy as usual. Thank you to all who thought Jujee Beads made the perfect gifts for their special ones. I appreciate your business!

Be sure to check out my new tutorial on making puffin beads in the latest issue of the Flow, the annual woman’s issue!


Goals for 2012: update my website & etsy shop more often; continue to go to gym and yoga; come up with some really cool, new bead ideas and themes (already in my head....just need to produce!); dive in warm water; teach more!
All doable, right? Wish me luck!

I hope your 2012 is wonderful, happy and healthy! Cheers!

CHECK OUT MY UPDATED SHOW SCHEDULE!

Tags: glass beads, lampwork, flamework, fish, frogs, kitty

Sometimes I update my site starting with “wow, I can’t believe how long it’s been...”. Well, this time I am just embarrassed how looong it has been since I have updated! There has been a lot going on, as usual. I had my SCUBA show at the beginning of June which was very successful Thank you for all who stopped by to check out the new designs! I also would like to thank Mazet Studios and Rickie Voges Designs for being part of my show.

And now it’s July and just 2 weeks before my next show in Louisville, KY. at the Gathering and then a week after that, the BSSDC show in San Diego on August 6th & 7th. I am doing my best to create new goodies as well as replenish my popular beads, like my shell sets and critters.

A new item I have been on is putting sea star designs on old skeleton keys. I have also been making beads on the keys too. I will try to post more pics very soon.

It has been very warm here in So Cal so I decided it’s about time Sebastian get a little trim. This is a fun shot of his “lion cut”. He is very happy! Yes, he really is! (I like his new tail!)

I am also pleased to call my self a diver once again. It had been almost two years, but I finally got back int he water, battling the 50° water temps here in sunny So Cal! I got to see my favorite critters, the nudibranchs. And they were everywhere! I saw 7 different species! It was very exciting and yes, I was cold, but it was it was worth it. I didn’t take a camera, but my friend Jim did and got this great shot of my favorite CA nudi! More news soon....

April 29th, 2011. Endeavor Space Shuttle Mission STS-134. Launch time 3:47 EDT

This will be the very last flight for the Endeavor. And the ONLY flight for Orbits the Space Kitty! Orbits will be taking off along with 50 other bead buddies aboard the Endeavor for it’s final flight....and for Beads Of Courage! As some of you may know, “Buzz, the Space Frog” was aboard last year’s Atlantis flight STS-132, also the final flight for that space craft. This is very exciting for me! It truly is an honor to be part of the launch as well as another awareness and fund raiser for my friends at Beads of Courage! Good luck and best wishes to the entire crew of the Endeavor! We’ll see you when you return to earth!

I love this photo (Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller ) I took this from the NASA website. I’ve been here once before....wish I could be there on the 29th...but Orbits will be there in spirit for me!

Next up, the Long Beach SCUBA show is approaching quickly. This year the show will take place on June 4th and 5th at the Long Beach Convention Center. This is always a very busy show for me and the most work! I am very excited this year to have, once again, a selection of glass goodies from the Mazet Studios. Along with lots of new goodies from me, including a new line of bottle stoppers and jewelry! I will post a few teaser photos soon....

The month of April began in Las Vegas for the annual Glass Craft Expo which included a great class with Josh Mazet and always a fun weekend with my sister, Lisa and all of our show buddies. I came home to my “purrfect” kittens and found they had gone wild! As Roger says, they don’t touch the floor anymore! It’s from the chair to the couch to the table...to the shelf and so on! But honestly, they (Orbit and Isabella) are dong great and we couldn’t be happier with the new furries. Sebastian is getting along so much better than I thought , which makes us very happy.


This weekend the So Cal Flame Surfers are hosting a fund raiser for Beads of Courage (BOC) at CBS in the City of Orange. We will have torches going for 6 hours straight making beads for BOC plus Don McKinney will be demoing paper weights and other goodies in his hot shop. And speaking of Beads of Courage, I am happy to announce that I have a second bead that will be flying into space this month on the next Space Shuttle launch! “Orbits the Space Kitty” will be taking off along with 57 other bead buddies on April 29th.
I am very excited to be part of this mission and helping Beads of Courage!

My next show will be back in the the City of Orange next Saturday, April 23rd at the OC bead society Art of Adorning/Bead Bazaar. Be sure to stop by...this is a fantastic bead and jewelry show. Plus it’s outside on the grounds of the Bowers Museum and the weather is usually beautiful.

After my OC show, it is SCUBA show time again! I will be in my designer mode which is so much fun. for the past several months I have this on my mind and it will be time to start putting it all together. Stay tuned for some fun stuff, including octopus earrings and some new nudi jewelry! It’s all coming soon.....

It has been a whirlwind of emotions at the Carlson house. It was tough saying goodbye to our darling girls in the past 6 months, but we are happy to report that we have welcomed in two little kitties and we couldn’t be happier! They were 5 months old when we adopted them 4 weeks ago, so they are past the teeny tiny, teething and curtain swinging days. But they are still very playful and kitten curious! They are littermate siblings, a boy and a girl. We’ve had them for 4 weeks and they still do not have official names. (I know, I know!) We try a name out for a day or so then change it. Hopefully by the next update, they will be named.
Sebastian has been SO wonderful with them! At first, he wasn’t thrilled and gave us the most disappointing glares. But he has come, knowing he is now #1 and I think is amused by the little ones running around. They are so adorable and most entertaining. Their first 5 months of life in a foster home was very good...they are happy, healthy and getting bigger everyday. We were very lucky to get this pair.

Okay, still have to talk about BEADS! I will be at the Los Angeles Beads Show this Sunday in Culver City. Click HERE for more info. I have been having a lot of fun with beads on keys. This is one of my favorites that I will have at Sunday’s show.
Be sure to check out my available fish beads on my Sea of Fish page. Shell sets and more frogs coming soon!
My next show, the Las Vegas Glass Craft Expo is just around the corner, then the Beads of Courage Challenge and the Art of Adorning Bead Bazaar. The next several weeks will be very busy! My show schedule is up to date for more info and dates. Hope to see you soon!

It was a very cold week in Tucson! Temps got as low as 18° during the night and managed to creep up to the 50’s during the day. Add the 25 mile an hour winds sweeping over our tent and you’ve got some pretty chilly working conditions. But the winds calmed and the sun warmed us up some by Sunday, just in time to pack up and head home.The show was still good, saw many of my Tucson regulars and met new folks from new places. Now that I am home, I have been taking photos of my beads and will be posting those very soon. So please, check back in a day or so. I promise this will happen!

On another sad kitty note...it was just 5 months ago we lost our Baby girl kitty. Her sister , Truffles hung in there for another few months, but lost her battle against time and left us just a few days before I left for Tucson. It was so hard to say goodbye, but it was all we could do to help her. We will never forget Truffles and Baby. They were the best pair of kitties we’ve ever had and we are filled with warm and fuzzy memories along with plenty of photos. Thank goodness for digital! I love you Truffles and Baby and I miss you both terribly! 1992 - 2010 & 2011

I am excited to enter my busy time once again. January marks the beginning of a very busy time for me. I have 5 big shows plus one teaching gig in the next 5 months! Plus let’s throw in taxes and home project too! So I’ll be quite the busy beader this year! I have been having fun making dicro beads on to antique skeleton keys. This aqua blue is one of my favorites, so I made a necklace. My next show coming up in 2 weeks is the Tucson Best Bead Show. Anyone coming to Tucson for all the shows and excitement, I hope you will stop by our show and say hello! Check out all the new goodies! I will try to post some pics before I go. I have updated my show schedule for the new year. I also hope to add a few more teaching gigs. Happy new year and hope to see you soon!

So much has been going on! I guess that’s the usual for this time of year, but why is it that each year gets busier! You’d think we would “have it down” by now! But it just sneaks up....faster and faster...every year!
I haven’t been on the torch much lately, trying to take a little time off for organizing, which is an ongoing project. But I’ll be back on it very soon. The Best Bead Show in Tucson is just around the corner. And just like the holidays, it will be February before we know it!

Last night Roger and I attended an elaborate Christmas party at his work, SpaceX. It was lot of fun and very exciting since the company just made history with their latest, very successful rocket launch. Roger led the recovery team who picked up the capsule after it had circled the earth and splashed down in the Pacific, right on target! It was a very good day! So the party was well deserved for everyone there.

Well, gotta go make cookie dough for my cookie and craft day with Maya tomorrow. It’s our 4th annual. She says she likes our craft & cookie day more than her own birthday! So I had to share one of my favorite pics from 2008. Maya was 6yrs old here. She finds pink is a perfectly good color for Christmas cookies. Have a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a fantastic 2011!

Remember a few months ago I was posting about my “Buzz, the Space Frog” bead that took a ride on the last shuttle? Well check this out, Buzz is back home and is now on tour with the rest of his space bead buddies. The beads were strung together and can be seen here being held by Astronaut Ken Ham. Along side Jamie Newton (his photo) and his daughter Sydney, who inspired the Beads in Space idea for Beads of Courage.

Would like to own a replica of “Buzz the Space Frog”? They are a limited edition bead, only 25 will be made and then they are history! Beads of Courage is selling these commemorative beads exclusively. You can purchase Buzz HERE!

The Bead Society of Los Angeles will host their annual Fall Bead Bazaar this coming Sunday, October 24th from 10 to 5pm. I am back in my usual spot, in the entrance to the auditorium....you can’t miss me! Be sure to stop by and see the new goodies I have been working on plus lots of favorites.



My next show will be BABE! on November 13th and 14th. This is a HUGE show with lots of very talented glass artists as well as most of my favorite vendors, like Via Murano, Bead Trust and Arrow Springs! If you are in the NorCal area, stop by Saturday or Sunday....and save a few $ on admission by clicking HERE!

Most of us living on the So Cal coast have been complaining all summer that we never had a summer! Well....”someone” is getting us back with temps of 100° even at the beach! This week has been record breaking HOT! Not the best torching weather, but I have been doing my best to make a few pieces each day, I have a lot to catch up on.

I did take off last Sunday and went out on a friends boat in search of the magnificent blue whale. These massive creatures have been visiting our coastal waters recently due to the abundance of krill in the water. We were treated to one that actually surfaced on its side and “waved” to us with its enormous pectoral fin! (where was my camera? that’s right, in the cabin, in a bag, in its case) As we were heading back we were once again visited by another (or maybe the same one?). I managed to get this little sequence of shots. The “blow” from these animals can shoot up 30 feet!

I recently bought a big sample pack of dichro form CBS and have been experimenting. I am happy with the results so far! I am happy to introduce Aria, Alexa and Zoe!. (click on each for more info)
I hope to put more on Etsy...but, I always say that. Subscribe to my RSS feed for updates!