Fishing for Trout.... It's not what you'd think....

I know you expected to see some of my fishing pictures displaying my catch of the day. Well...I will give you this little fishing report... We went fishing last Wednesday evening on Taneycomo Lake. The weather was beautiful and for the first time in ....well who knows how long... A LONG TIME....I caught the only two fish of the night....

That's girl two....Boy...Z - E - R - O! GIRLS RULE...BOYS DROOL! Oh yeah...Im dancing a fish dance!.......

Anyways...not gonna share the catch - mostly because there are no pictures. I did intend to put up something today that was to boost your business sense when it comes to craft shows, but that will have to wait until another day...BECAUSE............I found this post thanks to Steve at ArtBeads.com and his multi-daily tweets.

This is a necklace that was posted on Beading Arts...and well what can I say...It suits me perfect and besides that...I get to promote a fellow artist. And by the way, I love this piece by Amy.

What will you use to for your inspiration today??? Enjoy this post by Beading Arts

Fishing for Trout

Originally, I had planned to make this a much more complicated necklace, but as I played with a few ideas, I finally realized that I really didn't want to distract too much attention from the central medallion. So I settled on three knotted cords and a strand of ribbon yarn. I chose colors that would not only look good with the fish, but would also look vaguely like running water.


1. Cut all your fibers to at least 25 inches if you want an 18 inch necklace. I used a straw cut to various lengths in order to space the beads out properly on the cords. I used a mixture of vintage lucite and ceramic so that it wouldn't get too heavy. Knot below and above each bead, and cut all the ends even when you've finished.


2. Wrap the ends through and around a large jump ring so that the raw ends point downward. Pull the knots tight and glue them with jeweler's cement for security. Attach a chain to one of the jump rings, and attach a clasp to the other end of the chain. When the cement has dried, clip the ends close.

Finished!

Polymer clay medallions available from Amy E Fraser.

Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Technorati Tags:handmade beaded jewelry,wearable art,beads,jewelry,necklace,mixed media,beading

Now I wonder......If I wore this necklace....Would I always catch more trout??? Hey...It's worth a try!

August Project of the Month Clubs are Ready

Hello to all my POM club members,

just a quickie post to let you know that the projects are now available for download.

Please visit the appropriate link to your club:

www.mixedmediajewelrypomc.blogspot.com (Jewelry POM)

www.polymerclaypomclub.blogspot.com (Polymer clay)

Have fun! and share your photo's with me!

Facebook and Old Friends

It's story time today....(by the way though, POMS will be out later today or first thing tomorrow)...

Today's story is about Facebook. I know some of you don't get it....it's okay...my Dad doesn't get it - he really doesnt get text messaging either...he says..."Hey, If I want to talk to you - I'll call you on the phone!". I often wonder if when back in his day....his Dad would have said..."why do I need to call you on the phone? If I want to talk to you...I'll just come over?"...Maybe I should ask Dad that?

Beyond the fact that some people question WHY TEXT...Why Facebook? We are in the age of technology and that is really bringing us closer to the entire world in an instant.

I digress though and say that I at one time didn't get facebook either..I mean do people really care that Im eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch? Seriously? Probably not. But...I did the facebook thing so that I could keep up with the kids...see the kids forget that you are there friends and you can learn allllll sorts of interesting things about them....when "they're in a relationship" or when they have a fall out with their girlfriend and "they are single" - you can learn all about them and not even talk to them....

So...I have a facebook account (and Im going for the most friends wins so - be my friend :o)) and I primarily use it for business networking (works wonders!) and the occassional keep up with the family and my close friends.......but.........there's more...And so the story goes.....

I moved to Springfield, Illinois when I was 5 and lived on Somerton Road near the fairgrounds. The lot beside us was empty, but soon someone bought it and built a house. That's when I met the little girl next door, Carol. She had an older brother Joey and a younger brother who was just a baby named Sean. Over the years, Carol and I played together - aLOT! We liked the same thing, we loved to ride bikes, we loved dolls and we both had an incredible imagination...and we made "clubs" out of blankets...makeshift tents that we called the "club house". And...you HAD to be a member of the club to get in...so NO BOYS ALLOWED!

In 1979 I moved to Branson, Missouri. We took an occassional trip back "home" to visit friends. But I only remember visiting Carol and her family one time - not too long after we moved. After that I never talked to her again. I still have a couple of friends from Illinois and I've asked about her often, but they also lost touch...and I always wondered what ever happened to my little strawberry blonde friend Carol...........

So Im sitting here at the computer yesterday writing out the next Jewelry POM club project and my phone goes DING! - that's a text message...and I look on it and it says "Are you the Linda I lived next door to on Somerton Road" and it was from CAROL!!!!!! and it was a facebook message!...and Im thinking OH MY GOODNESS! CAROL!!!!! ITS HER ..and she found me!
I couldnt type that message back fast enough...so many things were blitzing in my mind....like ...she took the time to find me..WOW! and WOW! after all these years it's her...and then flashbacks of when we were kids and how I tormented her older brother Joey endlessly and teased him so bad and he would get so mad at me.....and clubs...and bike riding...it was like a trip back thru time! And so....we reconnected! After all these years.

We still have lots to catch up on...but......as much as we have in common then...we have the same in common now. She loves to make jewerly and she sells what she makes. She's a writer and writes for the local paper. Her dream is to be a novelist...and I KNOW she can do it! She has two little girls - adorable little girls and she's still the same beautiful strawberry blonde hair grown up girl that I remember. MY FRIEND CAROL!

She probably has no idea how that one little sentence she texted made my whole day! Im still saying WOW!

So NOW do you get Facebook??????

Beading in No time

Took a little break from the studio today to go fishing with my Dad. He got a new depth finder and was just itchin to see how well it worked. He doesnt have to twist my arm at all to go with him.....seriously......I jump at every chance I get to go fishin with him. Although the fishing wasn't that great, I did enjoy the time with him. We saw a momma deer and her two new fawns drinking at the waters edge. Amazingly they weren't scared of us at all and it was fun to just sit there and watch the fawns play for a few minutes.

Last was an incredibly wonderfully creative week with Jen. But now, it's back to working on my book - Beading in No Time due out next spring. As the title indicates, these projects will be easy to complete and perfect for all of you who want instant gratification.

I love to create designs that you will actually wear and are timeless. As always my style is to give you an idea and then allow your creative process to flow.

Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some sneak peaks of what's inside...so stay tuned or book mark this page....or subscribe!

Did you know you can follow me on Facebook?????

The Last day of the Friendly Plastic Marathon

We are winding down the Marathon and have enjoyed every single creatively intense moment that it brought! There was never a dull moment! Seriously....could there ever be a dull moment with us????

I think the most important thing that I took away from this week and really every time I am around Jen is "don't follow directions"! If it isn't going to injure you in some way or burn down the house - then go for it! Explore! Experiment and create! So what if it doesn't turn out the way you wanted? Maybe its better...or maybe it isn't...in any case...you've released creativity and its flowing and somewhere down the road you are bound to discover something amazing! Thank goodness Friendly Plastic is an expensive medium to do just that with.

Yesterday we explored more alcohol ink techniques and painting with alcohol to remove color and create effects.

On top of that, we added fine silver punched shapes from paper type clay.



Jen also explored using a white pen to create designs on alcohol inked non-heated friendly plastic. Then she placed it on the griddle where she embedded the SeaHorses



Once the resin was applied....WOW! You can NOT believe the depth of this piece and unfortunately a good picture to show the depth is beyond my photography skills.

It seems that when working with Friendly Plastic it tends to "grow" and morph into little excess shapes. One of the advantages of this is that even the smallest piece of Friendly Plastic can make a piece of jewelry pop!



The FP has been taped on...because....I have other shapes in other colors that I can interchange with a little piece of double stick tape to coordinate with any color I have on! And the tape does not hurt the silver surface in any way....gotta love that!

We did take a afternoon break for some local sightseeing! My studio is nestled in the Ozark Mountains of Southern Missouri, just north of Branson. It's a gorgeous area full of lakes and touristy things like country music and such. But what a wonderful place to host a crafty retreat! Would you like that?

Here are a few highlights from yesterdays Branson tour to share.

Here is Jen and I on the deck of Bass Pro's floating restaurant White River Fish Company on Taneycomo lake



Just a block up the road - next to Starbucks and located in one of the original buildings from the late 1800's early 1900s in historic downtown Branson is the Plum Bazaar Bead store - can't miss it the building is painted two shades of purple and every inch of the store is crammed full of wonderful and unusual beads...it's a must go to destination! The ladies of the store were very helpful and friendly!






Next a little sightseeing. Branson is known for it's beautiful lakes with crystal clear water, luscious ozark mountains and outdoor sports, music shows and family activities.

Taneycomo lake was created then the dam was built in the 1950's. Above the dam is Table Rock Lake and below is Taneycomo



Because the water comes from the bottom of this 250+ foot tall dam, the water is very very cold and great for trout fishing. Now, Jen didnt believe me when I said the water was cold...so she had to stick her foot in...



I think she figured out I was right......but the cold water did feel good on a hot day like yesterday.

The fly fishing was great. These anglers caught several while we were standing there.



This is the view of Taneycomo from on top of a scenic look out



And this is a view of Table Rock Lake and a view I had out my bedroom window when I was growing up.


And last night we finished up a few pieces and relaxed watching a movie.

Jen's gone home now, I tried and tried to convince her to stay and bribed her with chocolate, but she still had to go! It's okay though because we will be together again in October for a much bigger retreat at her studio. Jana Ewy and Liz Welch will be there too!

I say we should try to plan a big FP retreat to the Ozarks.. We have low cost airlines that fly directly into Branson. What do you think?.....am I twisting your arm?? Just a little???