Bally Beads New Retail Jewelry Store

I love Bally Beads and spend a lot of time there selecting the gemstones, pearls, and other components that I'll use to make my jewelry. Everyone on staff is knowledgeable and friendly.

They've always been a wholesaler. Recently they have opened a high-end retail jewelry store. A few components are also sold in the retail section, such as these Russian pendants shown here. I've seen Russian pendants before, but these are of much higher quality than usual. The pendants feature hand painted reproductions of masterpieces of art work, including Picasso, Klimt, Mucha, DaVinci, and many, many others. The art work on the pendants is outstanding. Best of all, there is a discount for jewelry designers. They've been flying off the shelf.

They are featuring jewelry lines from designers like Rocki Gorman, Nina Nguyen, and their very own Nona Hudspeth. They have Australian Boulder Opal set in 14kt & 18 kt Gold, sterling pendants, and beads in Larimar gemstone.

Bally Beads is located in Rockwall, Texas, right in the Dallas area. Check it out. Plus, for all you jewelry designers, there is the wholesale portion of the store. They have lots of great beads plus a good selection of unusual and collectible African Trade Beads and fine gemstones. You can visit in store, on the web, or mail order.

More Bally Bead Photos

From top to bottom: the entrance to Bally Beads retail showroom, a second view of the entrance, and a second showroom.

First Day of High School

My 14-year-old son has started ninth grade and high school. It doesn't seem possible. Next, he'll be driving. Yikes! He's had a good start this week and seems to appreciate the extra freedom high school students get compared to middle school.

Indiepublic

Here's a great site that I found recently:

It's a social networking site for artists, designers, DIY'ers and those who like to shop these products. There's lot of good info and fun here. Here is a link to my Indiepublic page:




Check it out!
Visit Indiepublic

Nose to the Grindstone

I don't know what's been wrong with me this summer, but I've had a real problem getting any jewelry work done. I have been learning some new techniques. I did finally get a website up, but I'm way off the mark on production. Yikes! My biggest shows are coming up in September and October. I need to make money. This is my job, or at least the main one.

Finally I've finished some pieces with wire worked donuts. These are all necklaces sets and there are matching bracelets.

Dish Delights & High-flying Treats

I gave up the nonfiction this week and read a couple of paperback mysteries by two of my favorite authors.

The first is Diane Mott Davidson's Dark Tort. Goldie the caterer solved another murder and then some. This last one has some interesting fallout from her investigation as it turns out there was more going on than just one murder.

I also read Dead on Arrival by Lori Avocato. Lori has introduced a second love interest for Pauline and added a lot of sizzle to the storyline.

These are both good books well worth reading. I reviewed both on Amazon.

No Bra Burning Here

I don't usually do these quiz things but this one made me think about some things. Here is my result on the quiz.

You Are 96% Feminist

You are a total feminist. This doesn't mean you're a man hater (in fact, you may be a man). You just think that men and women should be treated equally. It's a simple idea but somehow complicated for the world to put into action.

Are You a Feminist?

I once made my Mom very, very angry by referring to her as a feminist. She said something about never having burned her bra, etc. I was completed flummoxed. Mom didn't think she was a feminist? In the 60's she was the second female real estate broker in Texas. Real Estate is primarily a woman's field now, but it wasn't back then. She specialized in selling ranches in excess of 10,000 acres. She got a private pilots license so she could show people ranches from the air. She had her own business. She ran for public office. She was very feminine and put together. She volunteered as a juvenile probation officer. She told me stories about how as a window designer for a department store she made $300.00 a month. When she quit they hired a man to replace her, gave him $800.00 a month and an assistant. You get the idea.

So why is feminism such a dirty word? Here I always thought it meant believing that people should be treated the same and paid the same for the same work regardless of gender. I'm pretty sure that's basically the dictionary definition. I think I had that conversation with my Mom about twenty years ago. Has the negative perception of feminism changed? I wonder what younger women think about it.

BTW, if your quiz results show "less feminism" you get a different picture. You get a picture with no boxing gloves and a sexier look.

Maker Faire Austin

Quoting from the website, the Maker Faire is "a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make things. We call them Makers." It's coming to Austin October 20-21, 2007. We're planning to go. My husband has an engineering/physics background and is always making something. I get into the craft aspect of it. Hopefully our teenager will find something interesting there as well, although that may be too much to ask for.

Here's a link to the Make Blog and another to some archives with pictures taken at a previous Maker Faire. The current Handwoven Magazine has a great article about weaver Sandy Drobny at the San Francisco Maker Faire, in addition to a pod cast and slide show online featuring a number of artists and crafters. The archives above feature more tech oriented software and engineering things and the Handwoven slide show features art and craft things (fashion, glass beads, weaving, sewing etc. ). There's a great quote in the slide show where glass bead artist Ralph McCaskey refers to a Maker Faire as "mutant Disneyland". I suspect there will be something there for everyone. It should be fun!

My husband's favorite magazine Make, and one of mine Craft.