At Andrea's house today on the bluffs above the beach; it was not nearly as hot as it was in Seattle. We could still pound away and solder, craft and learn. The weather is expected to get unbearably hot here for about the next week. I hope not! Hot, sticky days wear me out and make working in my studio and especially the heat of the shop, not fun at all! Stay cool and watch for new pieces here tomorrow. School's out after that!



The parts all laid out for the next box. Ready for another day of creativity and learning. Just wait until tomorrow when I add the bracelet we finished today!



Everyone working so intently on their projects in the class. Today's class was very physical, lots of heavy duty hammering on Andrea's anvil and my entire upper body and back is sore. I am feeling my age - dang it!



This is the etched copper side of my " box ".


This is the sterling silver side of my component that I have made. It will end up being a pendant sometime officially tomorrow.

Today I learned new jewelry techniques and remembered some skills from high school and college. My friend Steff flew in to teach four of us silversmithing techniques, something I had been looking forward to for months. We began by etching designs onto copper or silver metal plates. This was deja vu for me as I did etching in school and it is pretty much the same as before. Steff was right, it IS like riding a bicycle and many things came back to me out of the far reaches of my cobweb filled brain. This is my copper plate and it looks like a mini etching plate, ready to have a print pulled from it. Two more days of this intensive class and I might finish something and improved my skills! Great fun with wonderful people!





One of my sterling silver etched plates created in class. with a bit of luck and Steff's teaching skills; it might be a wearable art form tomorrow!




Andrea and Steff working away on our etchings in class. Steff is a terrific teacher and we are all so glad that she could come in from Chicago.






A picture from class today in Andrea's studio of Kathy and Steff working.

I am a nice person, truly. I enjoy life, take care of my family, work very hard and am grateful for all my blessings BUT i hate the little yappy dog next door! It is 11:34 pm!!! and that dog is barking away! I have fantasies of how I will do it in. Hoping that a coyote eats it or an eagle swoops down during the day and snatches it up and flies back to its nest and slowly feeds the little fur ball to the young eaglets waiting for a late dinner. I often yell out at the dog to shut up but it makes Phil mad and my neighbors act like they do not understand english. I mostly really think they do not. Sigh.... where is a hungry coyote, a wily fox, a lurking weasel, a pouncing mountain lion, when you really need on!

Yesterday, on the way to take Jacob to camp near Mount Rainier; we stopped in Brinnon to pick up his friend, Joshua. There, right beside their home and in the back yard was a whole herd of elk! There were bulls, young adults and moms with nursing babies! It was so exciting and Joshua said, they are so used to his family; they are practically tame. They weren't too sure of me but graciously allowed me to snap away at them with my camera. I did get pretty close. What a wonderful way to begin a Sunday or any day!

Sometimes it is nice to just have a reminder. I love all my friends, family, customers and the people that will be my friends that I just have not met yet.

This day has fooled me. When I woke up at an unearthly hour of 6:30 am, the day had dawned cool, misty and foggy. I could hear the fog horns on the water through the open bedroom windows. I thought it was marvelous but now, it is warm and sunny and my inspirational day of fog and mist is gone!

When we were in Tacoma, we stopped into the Washington State History museum and went to the top floor where an exhibit on women's voting rights was installed. It is just a shock to read that men thought that giving women the right to vote would destroy our government among other dire warnings! I think we as women, need to remind our younger sisters that women were not and perhaps not even now; afforded the same rights as men. Today we have wage disparity and even in my own working environment: I find myself not treated equally with the men I work with. We must not take women's rights for granted, remember the history of these hard won rights and work to ensure that these rights are kept equal among the sexes in the US. That is enough on my soap box for now but it has only been in recent weeks that this unequal treatment has been brought home to me. Just when I thought that such treatment was old, old news!

Well, I am off for a few more hours to work in the studio. xo, Lois

Home from Tacoma

I think the charms look impressive all together in this shot that Jake took. I don't mean impressive in that I have an inflated sense of self but that the designs and pieces look like a large abstract painting or assemblage. I have to admit, I am happy to be home and happier still that the day is cool, cloudy and rainy. After the heat of the convention center this past weekend; this is soooo refreshing! Many thanks to the customers, friends and fams who came out to see me at the show!




This is Jacob working hard ( ? ) at the show! No, not really; he is watching the booth before opening so we can run around and socialize. He has grown up in this business and we try to tell him that it can take him places and give him skills that will be invaluable in his life. At 12 though, you just don't want to hear these things.




This is a picture of our booth at the Puget Sound Bead Festival. It was a wonderful show and so great to see everyone that I haven't seen since Bead & Button. It is always a surprise to me how we are a bit like gypsies in this business and how we so quickly build friendships between customers at these shows.

Sally Ally is looking so sweet and innocent here as she peeks out the cat door of the newly painted cat house. Love those colors for certain. I say she is innocent because the minute she sweetly looks at you and you being the naive fool that you are, reach and pet her, chomp, you get a Sally love nibble. Ouch!

Spent the entire day packing for the Puget Sound Bead Festival. I wish there were little fairies that would enter into my warehouse and carefully choose merchandise and gently pack it into totes. Man it just plain wore me out. I worked from 8:15 this morning to just a little bit ago. We even had to have chinese takeout for dinner. Just too tired to cook. All three of us worked on getting ready for the show. Anyhow, I am feeling a bit burry eyed here so off to bed with me. G'night!

Isn't this flower from my front yard flower bed just beautiful? The coral hues of its petals remind me of every beautiful sunset I've ever seen. I love the way it reaches for the sunlight just past my front porch; the gentle reediness of the leaves.... So pretty! It makes me happy just to gaze at it.

I worked all day in the studio making things to fill the jewelry racks and display cases in my shop. I have quite a collection of jewelry and window ornaments ready to be displayed.

Off to bed with me. Night!

HAPPY JULY 4th TO a GREAT COUNTRY!

The best fireworks show that I have ever seen was the event held in Washington, DC in 1976 to celebrate our nation's Bicentennial. I had a view from the roof top of the old Naval Medical Center building and I looked out over the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. I could see almost the entire mall from that perch. The show, presided over by President Ford went on forever. It was my first BIG CITY fireworks show and even now as I think about the spectacular lights in the sky; my breath catches in my throat. The show ended that very warm, dark, cloudless evening with a laser light show of green rays emanating from the top of the Washington Monument. You could hear the enormous crowds spread out on the mall gasping and oooo-ing. ( It WAS 1976 and lasers were very new science. ) As we walked back to our car or however we came to downtown, I don't really remember, ( It WAS the 70's after all ! ) I thought I will never forget this night in the nation's capital and the patriotism this incredible show ignited in me. So, Happy Independence Day to all of us! Long may we live freely!!