Wed, 20 Aug 2008

LEROI MOORE 1961-2008

"We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program."

Goodbye to a great musician. Peace.

posted at: 11:54 | Link to this entry

Mon, 18 Aug 2008

Strage news stories

As I looked over the local news site of choice earlier, two stories struck me as bizarre.

1) A former mailman pleaded guilty Monday to hiding years worth of mail at his home near Apex. I have a friend who lives near the area and mentioned it to her. Her response, "wonder if that is where our taxes went?" Sad to say, but could be. I also am reminded of the Presidents of the United States of America -- Some postman is grooving to all our love letters... snicker

2) Residents of a rural Colorado town say a cow named Apple chased off a bear that had climbed into her favorite apple tree. Jack McDonald of Hygiene, about 30 miles northwest of Denver, said the bear had climbed out of the tree when the cow approached it Sunday afternoon. This is just so odd.

posted at: 19:44 | Link to this entry

Fri, 15 Aug 2008

My first draping project

Two glass squares, decorated with glassline pens, fired at full fuse, then fired again over ceramic candle molds in slump mode. And these are what I made:











posted at: 03:33 | Link to this entry

Thu, 14 Aug 2008

Kilns are fun

Since Sunday evening, I've been working with the kiln. First, I tried my hand at cabochon molds filled with frit. They took two firings to get the size right/take on the shape of the mold, but I'm starting to get the hang of it.



My next project was another frit/mold project. This time, a dragonfly tile. I really want to do more of these as I learned a lot during this project. I think I'll end up putting it back in the kiln, along with the molded cabochons, for a fire polishing.



Next, I got out my glassline pens and pen tips, and drew designs on two squares of tinted glass. Along with these, I made 10 fused glass pendants with dichro accents. Some of these seem really good to me. Some need more color. Again, I'm learning a lot here. The squares decorated with glassline pens are back in the kiln at the moment, draping over small ceramic candle molds. I hope they come out well, but no pics for the moment.



A pic of my kiln as it warms up for the draping project this morning.



A pic of my temporary setup. Tables are on the way, so I'm borrowing one of the booth tables at the moment.



As my husband pointed out last night, I have a good amount of glass. Here's a quick look.





posted at: 12:23 | Link to this entry

Fri, 08 Aug 2008

Bozo the Slut?

Potentially pretty girls should not be dressed like clowns.



That is all.

posted at: 01:06 | Link to this entry

Fri, 01 Aug 2008

Mini monsters on parade

Made by me :-)







I think I'm starting to get the hang of this...

posted at: 04:19 | Link to this entry

Mon, 28 Jul 2008

Craft Crazies

I have the craft crazies. I make jewelry. I've just ordered a glass kiln and will be ordering lots of glass for fused creations. Tish taught me to use my sewing machine last week and we're obsessed with ugly dolls. We also made a run to Michaels for shrinky dink supplies.

After a lot of cussing and fussing, many knots in the bobbin, an entire spool of thread, bouts of seam ripping, a trip to Rite Aid for plain sewing needles, and about 3 or 4 hours, I made an ugly doll. I am proud that I actually finished the damn thing. I'm proud that Tish taught me to use my machine, not showed me, as I ended up having to fix the bobbin 5 or 6 times, and I had to rethread the main thread as well. The pattern is from a book I found at Barnes and Noble, but I drew it out by hand on the back of a grocery bag, using the pattern Tish made me as a sizing guide. Pinning the grocery bag to the fabric was a pain, but it worked out, for the most part. I need scissors, patience, and a lot of practice...

So here it is:



I also made pet tags from the shrinky dinks with my prisma pencils and a sharpie.













posted at: 15:00 | Link to this entry

Thu, 26 Jun 2008

Featured in Bead Trends and Salon Bedazzle and more

It has been quite an exciting summer for Broads and Beads so far. We're attending the Farmers Market in Holly Springs the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month through Sept, and each Sat in Oct. Our hours are 8am-12pm and we're skipping the out of town festivals completely. Such a better work life balance and we love working with the folks of Holly Springs. Thanks go out to the coordinators, vendors, and the community members for welcoming us into the Farmers Market so warmly.

We had a gallery event at The Nature of Art in Holly Springs in May, and are featured jewelry artists there. Judie, the owner, is a real sweetheart and we adore working with her. Her gallery and frame shop have a wonderful selection of original artwork by local artists. It is such a great place to find gifts! We love shopping there as much as we love being featured there.

On a whim, I submitted some pics via email to a jewelry magazine. Currently, I have six designs featured in the July/August 2008 edition of Bead Trends magazine, which is really more of a gorgeous and glorious project/idea book than a magazine. I could not be more pleased at how well my items are displayed and how beautiful this magazine really turned out to be.



Tish will be featured in the next issue, and we'll both be featured in the one following for winter. Plus, we'll continue to submit our creations for future issues.

Last, but not least, we're now on display at the best salon in Holly Springs. It's simply bedazzling. Ann Mary, of Salon Bedazzle by Ann Mary, Inc. selected a very nice display of necklaces and bracelets yesterday. We'll be adding earrings and rings as we go along. If you haven't checked out the salon, be sure to. Great services and a fantastic team, and the cutest owner this side of Raleigh.

It's nice to have such good news every once in a while. yay! Go Broads!

posted at: 03:25 | Link to this entry

Wed, 11 Jun 2008

Farewell to my Angel

My Angel flew away recently, if you believe in that sort of thing.

Angel Boberg-Webb, 31, June 5. Funeral 3:30 p.m., Sunday, funeral home chapel. Burial, Hollywood Cemetery. Arrangements by Farmville Funeral Home. Published in The News & Observer on 6/6/2008.

My mom, Steve, and I attended the funeral on Sunday. Even the 100-degree heat could not break the solemness of the event. A few of my high school friends or their relatives were in attendance and her brother, Bradley, finding his inner-strength somehow, spoke loving words in remembrance of her. He made her proud and was a true man on this day, one I can respect having known the little boy he once was. His words were true, touching, and hard to hear as memories of times past flooded into mind.

Angel was my everything growing up. She was my first real friend, the first soul walking this earth who understood and accepted me more than I did of myself. We shared so much, but were so different. She sparkled in a way I did not, with her eyes the color of the bluest sky and her rosy cheeks accenting a smile that really did light up a room. Pale and glowing, all at the same time, and fragile as well. She was always in a cast, brace, or sling of some sort, from falling down the stairs or stepping wrong or something equally silly. But she never let those injuries stop her.

She moved from Ohio to NC while we were in the 6th grade. She also attended the same church. We were in some of the same classes and the same church groups, and wasted little time embracing our new friendship. She quickly became the sister I never had, spending many afternoons and weekends joined at the hip. Her family large (one sister, two brothers, great parents), mine small (just me and mom), we were so different. She had faith when I could not, she believed when I could not, she prayed when I could not.

She was with me when I had my wreck at 16. We went to sweet sixteens and proms together. We went to junior-senior weekend together. She came with me and mom (and a temporary step-figure) on vacation, suffering with me through the step-figure's pale and lanky torso only clad in lemon-lime neon green speedos, as well as a dirt filled meal at the Dixie Stampede. I remember doing homework near the pool, then finishing in the sauna since our papers had gotten wet.

Since she was the only person who I ever felt loved and understood me fully and without condition, I was so protective of her. Whether it was to come to her defense when being teased by another girl or whether it was maneuvering her off the dance floor when a boy's hands wandered too far. I vowed that I would never let anyone hurt her.

I was her maid of honor and it meant everything to me to have such an honor. She was a beautiful bride, glowing and radiant, an angel in white. A little after her first anniversary, she was diagnosed. Something I, nor anyone, could physically protect her from. Non-hodgkins lymphomia type b. A very large tumor removed, larger than any those doctors had encountered before. After that, brain tumors. Chemo. Radiation. The usual cancer had invaded drill. It all took its toll on her. She had to quit teaching. She couldn't drive after a while. In the end, she spent her last few years in a nursing home.

Nine years of being sick. She would have been 32 in July. One-third of her life barely lived. But for those of us who knew her, we were truly blessed. She was my sister, my best friend, my childhood answer to sanity. I loved her wholly and completely. And I will miss her more than I can ever hope to express.

To my Angel, my guardian, may you sleep peacefully in the stars and shine as brightly there as you did while on this earth.

posted at: 23:58 | Link to this entry

Thu, 15 May 2008

Why I love my husband

If you know Steve well, you probably like him. He's smart, funny, insightful, and can be quite thoughtful. For example, last weekend he drove my mom to Kannapolis, NC to hang out with us at a festival that Tish and I were attending, and played Wii games with her when we were just hanging out at the house. Last week he sent me roses to cheer me up (greenish-yellow, pink, yellow, and lavender in color). Yesterday was our third anniversary. After coming home from a long day (we stayed up late the night before and he had to get up at 6 a.m. for work that morning), he brought me chocolate covered strawberries from Godvia. A little indulgence for us to share. We did save most of them for dessert, but we had to have a sample once I discovered what was in the shiny gold bag. He later took me to Vespa for dinner (scottata for our starter, orichette porcelle for me and rack of lamb for him), which is my favorite restaurant, where we were treated with free dessert wine when we declined their fantastic dessert selections (we explained we had dessert waiting at home as part of our anniversary celebration). Although Vespa only had one server and was fairly busy with walk-ins, like us, the service was fantastic and everything met or exceeded our expectations.

I feel really lucky to be married to him. Three very, very good years behind and many, many more to come. Happy anniversary to my love, Steve.

posted at: 14:59 | Link to this entry