Busy in Bisbee Beads

I've been back at my southern studio for a week now and since my husband took off for a road trip I have had free rein to structure my days completely. Or un-structure as the case may be.

It's nice to be able to enjoy the sunshine again and take walks as I was finding that my last month or so in Alaska I was making use of my time largely indoors. And while that allowed me to get quite a lot done in the creative realm I was finding my self getting less and less exercise. The wood fire was so cozy and everything I needed was at my fingertips right in the house or the Garaj Mahal.

So yes, sunshine and walks and a ride on my bike plus a re-entry to "Pure Torcher Studio" South. The oxygen tanks are quite affordable here and they even deliver them for FREE so I'm not using an oxygen concentrator as I do in Alaska. I've been putting in a couple of hours a day nearly every day since I've been back. I don't guess I'll ever be the type of lampworker that can put in more than a 4 hour stretch in a day. I find that my hands rebel and make funny clicking noises and then there's pain as well. That's my signal to go do something else for awhile or even take a few days off.

Being close to the Mexican border as we are I'm finding relics on the migrant trails nearby. While most of it consists of sunwashed and flattened backpacks and clothing and water bottles there are some interesting items as well. Colorful toothbrushes, rusted cans and Bibles are among the pieces I have been picking up. I'd like to do a reliquary with the more interesting objects. The pieces are starting to take a form on my table. I'm just at the beginning stages of this idea.

The best thing happened today. I already got the new scanner that I ordered on Friday. The scanner printer combination I picked up here last winter didn't hold a candle to my CanoScan back in Alaska. (HP) There was no way I could scan any 3D objects and the quality of the 2D was less than desirable as well. I've got a newer version now CanoScan 8800F and the two photos of beads here are my first scans with it.

"Creative Handicrafts"

My last visit to the local thrift store netted me a 1938 book Called "Creative Handicrafts" by Mabel Reagh Hutchins which has the most basic overview of crafts from pottery to the art of dyeing. There are a few sweet illustrations but the most hilarious thing is an excerpt from the "Art of Dyeing" chapter.

After some pages of instructions on batik she includes some basic instructions on "Tie and Dye"
I quote... "This may be called the kindergarden class of batiks. It's a simple process---one really feels like an inmate of an institution for the feeble-minded while doing it---but affords much fun experimenting and many lovely effects may be obtained."

She obviously had never seen the complexities of shibori tie and dye!

My collection of rusty bottle caps is growing by day and I'm readying to create more bottle cap earrings.
Also my bamboo beads decoupage project is coming along nicely.

I'm spending a little bit of time down in the "Pure Torcher-South Studio" as I've just signed up for a local holiday bazaar at the Serbian Hall in Bisbee two weeks from now. I hope to have an array of goods since I've left the bulk of my inventory in Alaska.