Archive for September, 2006
No really…she is! This woman can make the most intricate, delicate flower canes you’ve ever seen! We were lucky enough to have her come to our guild for a workshop a couple weekends ago. We learned how to make rose, daisy, & leaf canes as well as how to assemble them into beautiful tiled jewelry. Here are the 6 tiles I made during our two days together. They aren’t finished just yet…but this will give you an idea. I can’t claim the poppies are mine…she gave me some of her cane slices. Just gorgeous… *sigh* Here’s a link to her webpage where you can see some of Lynne’s work.
September 30th, 2006
Ok … so I’m going through a Christi Friesen phase. ;) Can hardly wait for her workshop with the guild next month. I broke down and made my first dragon focal bead pendant. These are so fun! Check out her self-published book for all kinds of wonderful ideas on how to make these creatures. The picture is a bit dark, but hopefully you get the idea. I used gold & green Premo! clay with natural pearls & glass beads in this guy. Haven’t decided what his name will be yet. Any suggestions?
September 29th, 2006
Just took a trip to NYC. It’s been a few years since my last visit. Back when I worked for an airline, I used to try to go at least every 3-4 months. There’s something about that city that is magnetic… it has an energy about it that draws you to it again & again. I love that it has so much culture & diversity packed into such a small space. You’re bound to see anything happen there.
My boyfriend Mike is a huge Yankees fan. For his birthday, I surprised him with airplane tickets, hotel reservations at the Grand Hyatt & two tickets to a sold out Yankees-Red Sox baseball game. Yes, amazingly enough, I managed to keep it a surprise until the evening of his birthday. That was hard! 
Two days later, we hopped on a plane & jetted off to the Big Apple. We packed quite a bit into just a couple of days…strolled through Times Square every night (it was near our hotel), took the night tour of the Empire State Building Observatory to see the city in all her glory, faced dozens of dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, spent some time in Central Park, had a wonderful dinner out at the Redeye Grill on 7th Ave (with a great shrimp appetizer!), & of course spent some time at Yankee stadium. We actually had to spend an extra night in the city when our return flight was cancelled due to weather…but no complaints here!
September 29th, 2006
I’ve always loved Sarah McLauchlan’s album “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy”. She really entered a whole new level of songwriting with that album. Although it’s kind of a creepy premise (written from the perspective of a guy that was stalking her), I think the song Possession is beautiful. I picked out the chords on my piano & recorded my own version of it a few years ago. I’m not the best with my studio equipment, so this is pretty bare bones voice & piano. You can listen to an mp3 by clicking on the image above. Hope you like it!
September 14th, 2006
I love music. I love listening to it. I love playing it. I love seeing it in action on a stage. I love the incredible flow of creativity that it stems from. I love the natural high it can bring when you’re in a stadium full of people belting out the words to a favorite song & you want to hug every person in the place afterwards. 
My mom tells me I sang before I could actually talk. Not so sure I believe that, but I do know that I’ve always had my own radio station going on in my head. If I had the talent of the musicians I’ve always admired, I would definitely be doing that for a living! I can recall most of the stages of my life in musical phases… there was the classical music / opera phase…. the Harry Connick Jr phase…the Tori Amos phase…followed by the extended U2 phase. Let’s see, then there was the Natalie Merchant phase… the Ani DiFranco phase… and I’m sure I’m missing several inbetween. To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’ve outgrown any of them. 
My boyfriend gave me an iPod recently, and I have begun to listen to music from my dusty CD collection more & more. Sadly, I have very little opportunity to play my own instruments since I live in a condo & share walls with neighbors that aren’t huge music fans. I stumbled across some tunes tonight that I recorded a few years back. I think they might be fun to post here…so I’ll upload a few to share & see what ya think. Lots o’ different stuff ranging from piano/voice covers to instrumental soundtrack pieces. Hope you like ‘em!
September 11th, 2006