Saturday March 27th ~ 2010

Wish me luck: My plate is full to over flowing and I leave my home for almost a month in less than a week. There is a great deal to update here. I have been negligent on several levels especially in the professional realm. So, here we go.

 Several months ago I was asked to submit and article and give an interview for Kalmbach Publishing. The publication is the Art Jewelry Special Wirework 2010. The magazine hit the newsstands just over a month ago and is still very much available. It is loaded with some very fun projects, I highly recommend that you all give it a thorough once-over.

While giving the phone interview, I was grateful to have the opportunity to attempt to give credit where credit was due. I would not be where I am today without the guidance and mostly gentle prodding of Kate Ferrante Richbourg. (Who is now associated with the totally awesome Beaducation.) I look back over these past 10 plus years of teaching and I will always be grateful for that fateful evening, when we were laughing while trying to puzzle out the mysteries of Chain Maille. A great deal of the silliness & humor of that night was lost in the final editing and that is just a sad fact of trying to fill as much information into a very limited space.

 Also out this month is the April 2010 issue of Bead & Button Magazine. In this issue the staff of Bead & Button ran a survey to ask the respondents to give up the names of their favorite instructors. When the top 10 were announced, I was blessed to be included with some pretty amazing company. These women: Marcia DeCoster, Celie Fago, Diane Fitzgerald, Mary Hettsmansburger, Lisa Niven Kelly, Laura McCabe, Cynthia Rutledge, Kim St. Jean & Sherry Serafini are some pretty heavy hitters in our world and to be in their company on any level is an honor.

If you take a look at the calendar on my website it will be noticed that I am a crazy traveler for the month of April. I am off to Interweaves Bead Fest Wire, April 9th - 11th, in King of Prussia, PA. I am teaching 3 classes and am really looking forward to participating in this show for the first time. The following weekend I drive south to Miami FL for Best Bead Miami, April 16th-18th. I am teaching there as well and will also have a table in the show. If you are in the Miami area please stop by and say hello. Then I am off to the Cleveland area to teach for the local guild the last weekend in April. Then I drive home and fall over for a few days before I get up and dive into the heart of the summer travels.

I have to finish up my tutorials for the Master Muse Series with Whole Lotta Whimsey. I am working away and trying to give Tonya all the images that she requires. It is a funny thing, I am a minimalist  when it comes to images for projects like these and it in direct contrast to what is required here.

I have classes to get up and moving for CraftEdu as well. Keep a lookout for them as well.

There is so much creativity out there right now, it is hard to keep up with it all. It is especially hard when the daily running of life just keeps interrupting.