Where'd the School Year Go?

Seems like I just submitted my proposals to teach at the 2010 Bead&Button Show (actually, that was last July -- time flies) and now the Show's almost here! I'm kidding, really. (Thank goodness that June is several months away and the boys' school year has three more quarters to go -- plenty of time to raise those first-quarter grades!) The good news is that Marlene and crew at Kalmbach Publishing Company have recently announced the classes and workshops we teachers will be offering.

I am super-psyched to present four iron wire classes and one surprise! I get to teach a three-day Fundamentals in Resin workshop early in the week! Look for the complete catalog late this month and sign up in January!

Here's my roster:

Maniacal Jewelry Pound
A three-hour wacky and wonderfully loud pounding of iron wire: a great chance to try the medium in a shorter time-frame.

Found and Captured

Create custom captures (bails) for all your fabulous cabochons and found objects.

Create Your Style with Swarovski Elements presents Winterfrost Pod

A beautiful combination of iron wire and flashy crystal.

All plain-loops! Simple-dimple!

A Pound(ed) Heart

Try your hand (and hammer) at forging 12 gauge iron wire. Grrrr!

Fundamentals in Resin by Brenda Schweder

A three-day intensive play-date where

 you discover and/or re-explore resin, resin, resin!

A Head-in-the-Clouds Tour of Greece

What a complement (and a misnomer) it is to be stereotyped as having your head in the clouds!

When my eldest son was in the fourth grade, his well-meaning teacher diagnosed him as a "dreamer." He didn't thrive in overly-structured environments like classrooms where you sit in nice, neat rows of desks, wear school uniforms, or move around the place to the tune of buzzers every 50 minutes. I didn't either. Nor did his Dad, really.

We see the world differently. We allow ourselves to take in beauty in ways many others do not. When we're in Greece, we go to the monuments, the museums, and the restaurants just like everyone else, but we see things that inspire us at our feet, our finger-tips, and yes, in the clouds. At least, I did.

Jim and I took around 1,000 pics during our 11-day tour of Greece. He was in charge of the camera, but I directed these -- my favorite shots -- which I present to you in a short faux slideshow:

Ancient Athens floor (tile).
The ruins at the Acropolis Museum, Athens.

A sneak peek of the floor tile from a side room.
The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, Athens.

Three sidewalk textures.
Athens.

Stone wall textures.
(Maybe the Agora?)

Rebuilt stone wall solution: what I call "puzzle fitting."
Near the Oracle at Delphi.

Iron storefront fencing (particularly interesting to this designer.)

Downtown Athens.

Stonework.
Thira Town, Santorini.

Residential door knocker.
Thira Town, Santorini.

Door latch.
Thira Town, Santorini.

Marble tile floor.
Senor Zorba Mexican restaurant, Santorini (open 12pm-12am!)

Cement wall-work, embellished with polka-dots of small, red volcanic stones.
Volcano View Villas, Santorini.

Motifs from ancient Akrotiri clay work (1800-1500 BC).
Santorini Museum.

Entrance to the Akrotiri Museum.
Thira Town, Sanortini.

A beautiful and fashionable fellow traveler.
Poros (A Saronic Island.)

Vestibule ceiling.
Museum, Hydra (a Saronic Island).


Sub-floor to an upper balcony walkway.
Museum, Hydra.


Beautiful sidewalk tile work in front of a restaurant.
The Plaka, Athens.


When there's no tile work, create your own.
The Plaka, Athens.


My teary-eyed stare at a bird-filled dusk sky.
The rear seating area of our ferry in the Aegean Sea.


And, 55 seconds of joy for you as well:

What's Tangled and Mangled and Colorful Throughout?

Peek of the Week No. 2, that's what! It's been a month since I shared Peek of the Week No. 1 on September 10th. Today I'd like to introduce Peek of the Week No. 2. In true Brenda form, you may have guessed it involves two of my favorite things -- Irish waxed linen and (of course) iron wire. But what gauge? How is it tangled? Is it a bracelet, an earring, a brooch? I'm such a trickster for keeping you guessing!