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A day in the life... Journal
Archive 9-17-04 thru 12-24-04
Wednesday, 12-15-04
Sunday, 12-11-04 All the fairs were wonderful this week and even better (for the Mellor family) it that they are all over! Now I will be concentrating on Bee's birthday party next Saturday, Christmas shopping & wrapping, and getting the house ready for the Mellor Christmas eve party. Today I'm designing our holiday card (we shot the photos last night), making & mailing Bee's birthday party invitations, baking ginger bread cookies with the girl scouts to donate to families affected by AIDS, and squeezing in a bit of Christmas shopping. Before I go, I'll share my minute of fame from the Center for Women and Enterprise Winter Marketplace on Thursday afternoon. I was interviewed by a reporter from Chanel 3 News, fun but I won't be leaving my day job for a career on camera :o) In hindsight I might have mentioned the name of my business, perhaps just once?... CWE News Clip (click on "Women and Enterprise" at the top of the page). Gotta run now and get things done, enjoy the day! Beth Sunday, 12-5-04 Big whoops in the Beeboo studio. If you purchased a leather cord with a fused glass pendant at the Princeton fair on Saturday 12-4-04, please check to make sure the cord fits the pendant. I usually compress the sterling silver loop end a bit for a smooth feed through the pendant hole and forgot! Some pendant holes are larger than others and may not present a problem. Give a call if yours doesn't fit and I'll swing by your house to fix, nice to do local fairs! The Beeboo Hotline is 978-464-5063. We are all doing well in Beeboo world. Yesterday Bee and I spent the day at the Princeton Congregational Church Fair. It was a very nice day. Sold some baubles and bought some beautiful crafts. Gramma surprised us with a visit and took Bee back to visit with Papa. After the fair I picked up Boo at his friends and drove out to Athol for some yummy pizza with Gramma and Papa. Perfect way to end the day. One of my purchases from the fair was a beautiful fawn (oil paint on a stone) to sleep by Gramma and Papa's wood stove. Very peaceful and pretty, makes me happy. Baubling it today to make sure I have lot's of pretty things in stock for Tuesday at UMass Medical School. Arranging playdates for both kiddos to make sure they are happy and out of the studio. Enjoy your day and see you at the fairs! Beth Monday, 11-22-04 I know the movie is not politically correct but I'm really connecting with Madeline Kahn's stage song in "Blazing Saddles". Anyone recall "I'm so tired..."? I may not dress as she does in corset, stockings, etc. (making James quite sad) but the emotions and full body exhaustion are there! Bee caught some belly bug over the weekend and we were both home sick today feeling pretty icky (technical term) I drove into work first thing in the AM and was working out of the house today. I think I got more accomplished than when in the office. Bee took some nice naps. A couple new photos of the kiddos. Boo looking extremely cute (what a face!)
and Bee mixing up then serving up some Swedish Meatballs for Immigration Day at school. What a pretty Swede!
2 days and counting 'til Thanksgiving! Once again.... YIKES! Saturday, 11-20-04 ACK! Thanksgiving is THIS THURSDAY!!! I've been making beads to send to the Beadin' Path in Freeport, Maine as well as to use in earrings for the upcoming shows. I'm also working on the "Princeton Outlook", a small local newspaper that I've volunteered to design. The timing isn't perfect for getting the issue out on top of the jewelry shows and bead orders. We also have the Mellor clan coming to our house the day after Thanksgiving for the Korv (swedish sausage) making party and the house is TRASHED. I'm feeling just a bit stressed out! I've decided to take a mental health break midday today to see "National Treasure" with the kids. Nicholas Cage...mmm...been a fan since "Raising Arizona". It's rated PG so hopefully should be an ok Bee and Boo flick. Off to rake a coupla leaves while the kiln cools. Back home after the movie to play with the Outlook design and make some jewelry. Maybe the kiddo's will clean the house :o) Enjoy the day and if you're writing your letters to Santa put in a good word for me...I'm really needing that hottub! Beth Tuesday, 11-16-04 Creativity is oozing from the walls of the Beeboo studio... I've been making bracelets, necklaces, and lot's of pretty earrings for the upcoming fairs, see the front page calendar for more info. I've been working with some beautiful fresh water pearls (green and white drips) as well as faceted aqua and purple chalcedony teardrops... mmm...
I need to order some better bulbs for the photo set-up before I add new items to the Beeboo website. The photo gods have not been kind, these are much more beautiful in person. If you are local to Worcester, MA, there is a fresh supply of the newest Beeboo Baubles at the UMass Medical School Bookstore. The rack looks beautiful with Beeboo multistrands, fused glass, my new style of pearl bracelets (two of which match these pearl earrings) and lot's of earrings. Just in time for the Holidays! Other than making pretty things, the Mellor family has been busy with birthday parties, cub scout meetings, and tonight a knitting group at the local library. Bee is very excited, Boo is not. We visitied with Gramma and Papa over the weekend and took a ride to Amherst, MA to pick up our knitting supplies. It was a beautiful day for a car ride on the windy back roads from Athol to Amherst. After the visit we went to see The Polar Express at the movie theater, very fun although not quite as relaxing as the book. I ate WAY too much popcorn ("buttered" of course.) Hope you are all happy and healthy. Enjoy the day! Beth Sunday, 11-7-04 Bead Fiesta was wonderful yesterday. I met lots of nice people, sold some pretty glass, and even shopped a bit myself. This was the first show and Mike and Bev McCarthy found wonderfully talented artists to participate. I enjoyed it so much I think I'll make this series my one bead show and participate twice a year in the Spring and Fall shows. I'll also have a nice check to send of to ALS-MA, 10% of sales will be donated to honor my Dad. It was nice to be directly involved in the sales. Normally my fused glass and lampwork are sold through Tatnuck Bead in Worcester, Massachusetts and as of yesterday the Beadin' Path in Freeport, Maine. Seeing what people were interested in at the show yesterday gave me some good ideas about color, size, shape, and sets. I'm ready to play at the torch and kiln to stock the stores, this site, and will have gorgeous glass for the Spring show. YAY! I've updated the beads for sale page marking what pieces sold at the show. I'll try to get new beads up this week. Remember that if you make a web bead purchase you have 2 weeks to live with the beads and return them for full refund (less shipping) if will not work in your design. Also, 20% of all Beeboo web purchases will be donated to ALS-MA. Today we clean the house (HA!) and then go for a hike with the Cub Scouts. Looks like it will be a pretty day. Hope you enjoy yours... Beth Tuesday, 11-2-04 Election Day! I voted first thing this morning, then James eliminated my votes this afternoon. I'm hoping the (my) good guy wins... go KERRY... go KERRY... go KERRY... We had a wonderful Halloween. The weather was perfect and Bee and Boo were particularly spooky this year. They had a great time walking the neighborhood and came home with full pumpkin buckets of sweets. They even brought home an extra candy apple for me, YUM!
Bead Fiesta is coming up this weekend on Saturday in Sturbridge, MA. Drop a line with your mailing address if you'd like to attend. I can send out a postcard invite with $1 off and all the details. I've stocked up plenty of beautiful fused glass pendants which need the final packaging and will be working on a few more bead sets this week. Lot's of pretty things to see and buy from myself and other talented bead artists. After Bead Fiesta I go into full production mode of finished jewelry for the December shows. Check www.beeboo.com for the full schedule.
Thanks for visiting and enjoy the day! Beth Thursday, 10-28-04 Gramma did a great job on Bee's costume, she is going to be a beautiful witch. Tonight we carve pumpkins for our house then go to the Ecotarium. It'll be fun to walk the grounds with all the lit jack-o-lanterns... spooky!
Tuesday, 10-26-04 The pumpkin carving party was very fun. The troop and families carved 40 pumpkins which will be on display at the Ecotarium's Great Pumpkin Nights. Tonight we go for a fitting of Bee's costume at Gramma & Papa's. Traditional Halloween this year, Bee will be an elegant witch and Boo a dashing Dracula. I pulled some beautiful fused pendants from the kiln last night. Two sets, one is a recreation of Monet which will be etched and the other I'm naming Velvet. The combination of colors and patterns remind me of a deep soft velvet fabric, really beautiful! Hmmm... prettier in person I think...
I'm contemplating having an open studio sale at my house in late November. I'd have finished jewelry and beads for sale and you could check out the studio and general chaos of my house (although I'd make an effort to pick up a tiny bit!) Drop a line if you'd like an invite when/if I settle on a date. Enjoy the day! Beth Monday, 10-25-04 In a bit of a funk... some days you just can't keep it together, you know? Tonight we're carving pumpkins with the Girl Scouts so will need to snap out of it! When I get home hopefully there'll be 40 pumpkins sitting in my front yard. We'll pile them in the truck to bring to the school cafeteria. I'm going to bring a nice creepy CD to play while we're carving to get us all in the mood. Give someone you love a big hug today! Saturday, 10-23-04 While some glass was in the kiln I started playing with my new pearls and stone making some triplet necklaces for the holiday fairs. This set has tiny ruby red pearls, pale yellow citrine and a really pretty pink faceted stone that I need to research with gold beads and findings. So pretty!
On the phone all morning calling the scouts for pumpkin carving on Monday. Carve a pumpkin and get a free pass to Great Pumpkin Nights at the Ecotarium. A radio station is donating the pumpkins, too good to be true! Mellor family visit later today and Maynard family visit tomorrow. No time for Higgins Armory this weekend but it's good to know we can pop in to the library any time and pick up the passes. Gotta love the local library! Enjoy the day. Beth Friday, 10-22-04 Friday (yay!) and a fairly quiet weekend ahead following an uneventful week. We watched GOBS of baseball. I'm not a huge fan but the Red Sox games were pretty exciting, I'm actually looking forward to watching the World Series (scary!) Girl Scouts on Wednesday went well. Bee, Boo, and I went for dinner at Mom and Dad's last night, an impromptu Thursday night out. Papa helped the Bee with homework and played a computer game with Boo. Gramma and I chatted over coffee. Nice night. This weekend we're going back to Gramma & Papas to visit with Auntie Susie up from NY City, making Halloween costumes (only a week away, yikes!), and then visiting with the Mellor clan over pizza. Sunday I'm contemplating a visit to Higgins Armory. The kids love it and I just found out that I can borrow free passes from the Library, nice! Chicken News: Sunshine, our petite white hen, has decided to stop laying eggs. She laid the first three (one every two days) then nothing. We've decided that she is angry that we'd been taking the eggs away. Bee and Boo are desperately trying to think of something to place in the coop to console her. We tried to hatch the first two (nothing) and I used the third in a batch of cornbread. You know you're desperate for an egg when you use a tiny sunshine egg. The thing can't be more than an inch high. I could have borrowed eggs from my neighbor but we'd already asked for carrots, kidney beans, powdered surgar... Sunshine's egg did the trick, yummy cornbread! In the studio I've been playing with more fused glass and will continue over the weekend. I bought some dichroic frit and have been adding it to the top layer of the panels for some extra sparkle. Very pretty! I may also light up the torch this weekend. I hope to have a huge collection of beads and pendants for the November Bead Fiesta! I was asked to donate something to the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE) raffle at the Winter Marketplace, December 9th at the beautiful Union Station in Worcester. The CWE is a wonderful nonprofit organization whose mission is to "empower women to become economically self-sufficient and prosperous through entrepreneurship". I took a fast track course to business success with CWE when starting up Beeboo, an awesome experience. This is a great group to support. Check out the necklace, and contact Stephanie Griffin at CWE if you'd like to buy a raffle ticket! The photo gods were not overly kind to me Monday night but there are a few photos up on my new BEADS to BUY! page. I'll try to reshoot this weekend if time (and the photo gods) permit. It seems hit or miss these days with the photography, time to tweak the set-up. Enjoy your weekend and think of me if you're relaxing in a hot tub with a nice glass of wine! Beth Monday, 10-18-04 Happy Monday! It's nice to be starting a fresh week. The weekend was busy, busy, busy... Friday night was the cub scout pack meeting sponsored by the Princeton Fire Department. Lot's of good fire safety info passed on to the kids through an entertaining magician, clever. Followed up the pack meeting by firing up the torch and kiln for a late night lampwork session (keeping all the fire safety info fresh in mind.) You can never have too many pretty beads... Saturday I played with fused glass early in the day then went shopping for party bag supplies for Boo's Ice Cats (Ice Hockey) birthday bash on Saturday night. Man, was that exhausting! Taking 5 7-8yr old boys and 2 9yr old girls to a hockey game in the crazed birthday section. We spilled 3 popcorns, 1 soda, and 4 strawberry/choc milks. The kids all had noisemakers, huge foam scratch paws, hats, and tons of energy. I think it was the longest 3 hours of my life! but fun just the same. We included bags of Harry Potter - Bernie Bott's Every Flavored Beans in the party bags. Way too fun... flavors include vomit, grass, dirt, earwax, and spaghetti, as well as some yummy fruit flavors. The kids were having fun Sunday morning testing the beans out on their Dad. Sunday AM I had Cub Scout Training then picked up cousin Laura to hang with Bee & Boo while I went to Tatnuck Bead's 2nd Anniversary Celebration. It was lot's of fun, visiting with bead artists, seeing old friends from High School (yikes!), chatting with Tatnuck Bead staff, and customers. I was a bit tired and cranky from the late night on Saturday but managed to stay alert by wandering the store and drinking lots of delicious cider. Sunday night was an early to bed night for the Mellor family. I have lot's of stock for the November Bead Fiesta. If you'd like a postcard sent out for $1 off admission contact me with your address and I'll pop in in the mail. I'm hoping to set up a preview/purchase page on the site for some of the bead/pendant stock. (So many pretty things and so little time...) Nothing on my plate tonight. Hopefully the studio photography god's will be kind and I'll have some glass images to upload later on... Enjoy the day, looks like a beauty! Beth Wednesday, 10-13-04
Saturday, 10-9-04
I'm entering production mode making beautiful lampwork beads and fused glass to sell at Tatnuck Bead's 2nd Anniversary Celebration next weekend, Oct 17th. Stop by between 1 and 5pm to say hi and/or buy a bead. Bead Fiesta takes place on Saturday, November 6th in Sturbridge, MA. I'll be set up with an even larger display of beads and pendants plus a few finished designs. The first week of December is when you'll need to find me to purchase finished jewelry. Three fairs that week; UMass Medical School, The Center for Women and Enterprise at Union Station, and The Princeton Art Fair at the Congregational Church in the center of town.
We spent this morning selling popcorn for the Cub Scouts in East Princeton. Tough crowd! This afternoon I clean the house (have to write this so I'll feel guilty if I don't do it...) Have a nice weekend. Get out and enjoy the colors if you're in New England. Beth Thursday, 9-23-04 I've added a running donation total to ALS-MA on the front page. I'm sending off the latest check today after totaling in the % of UMass sales. Hopefully it'll make a difference for people suffering from ALS and help in the fight for a cure. Life seems very busy these days! I'm trying to train the kids to take charge of the chickens in the a.m. so I can actually get to work on time. Half the challenge seems to be waking them up and getting them out to the coop so early in the morning, then the other half of it (for James) is stopping them playing with the chickens in time to catch the bus. Once they're out there they don't want to leave. Maybe quicker to just do the chicken dance myself! Work at Tufts Vet today includes website updates, CD duplication for a teaching project, work on some figures for publication, and a quick illustration revision. I've decided to take tomorrow off to prepare for the yardsale (haven't even made a dent in this!) so am trying to take care of some loose ends. Tonight I have to decide between a ride out to M&D's to visit with my sister or going to the Annual Meeting of the Princeton Arts Society, which I recently joined. I'd love to meet and talk to other local artists but my sister is in town for a very short visit ...Tough call, Art meeting would involve babysitter since J is helping my folks pick up a new power bed for Dad. Visit with Mom, Dad, and siblings might be the way to go... I am going to be taking part in Tatnuck Bead's 2nd Anniversary Celebration in October and Bead Fiesta in November with displays of naked glass beads and pendants and a few finished designs. I'll list details on the front page of the site when they're finalized. OK, back to work for me. Have a great day! Beth Tuesday, 9-21-04
We did not picnic on Sunday at Mom and Dad's, much too cold! Instead we had waffles for lunch with fake-bacon and Gramma's homemade applesauce. Later, a nice fire in the fireplace and Shrek on the TV while Bee worked on knitting with Gramma. A perfect afternoon. Tonight we prepare for a yard sale (this Saturday) and I might get some studio time in, yay! Bee decided that cheerleading is not for her so we have much more free time on our hands. I don't mind a bit. Who'd have thought that the cheer gig would be so intense! Off to pick up the kiddos at the bus. Enjoy the day! Sunday, 9-19-04 No movie Friday night. I had forgotten about the birthday party for my niece. Boo and I shopped for the present while Bee was at cheer practice. We picked Bee up and raced to the party for a fun night with the cousins.
No jewelry or bead making this weekend (so far), I've been organizing my post show mess and spending quality time with Boo. Bee was invited for a sleepover and he's feeling a bit left out. James is in NH for the weekend with siblings spreading his sister's ashes by the family cabin. We'll be off soon to pick up Bee and visit with Gramma and Papa for lunch. The sun is shining and it looks to be a beautiful Fall day, perfect for a car ride and a picnic! Enjoy the day and thanks for stopping by! Friday, 9-17-04 and day one of the beeboo online journal... I had the first Fall show at UMass Medical in Worcester yesterday. It was a nice day, selling pretty things, seeing old friends. 10% of UMass sales are going to ALS-MA, I have a large check to send out from Summer direct sales and web sales (20%) + the new UMass donation. Thanks for your help!
Weekend plans include Bee's cheerleading practice tonight then maybe a movie (promised while I was in mid-crazed-preparation-for-UMass-show-frenzy), a football game Saturday night (Bee's cheer squad), a visit with Mom and Dad either Sat or Sunday, some time in the studio (I have some pearls I've been dying to work with), and cleaning the house... insert crazed laughter here... Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by! Beth • Beeboo |
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