Tucson Gem Shows

I'll be at The Best Bead Show

....at Judy Kintner's booth.

Just look for "The Bead Spinner Lady"

It's booth MH-59

on:

Wednesday, Feb 6th - afternoon

Saturday, Feb 9th - afternoon

COPPER

The other day I was at Lowe's looking for nails and screws when I came across rolls of copper flashing. What a beautiful craft medium. Lowe's carried "Top Cop" in 20' rolls, but in several different widths. The 10" wide roll I bought coat me $26.






It's a paper backed copper foil that is quite heavy but very flexible. It cuts beautifully with scissors.





It does have some sort of coating that keeps it shiny. You have to work at it with a scotch bright pad or sandpaper if you want to age it.



I found it easy to punch with a simple hole punch.




I also found that it embossed quite readily with a hard-tipped pen.






This solves my on-going problem of how to back and display my Bead Journal pages. I can now see all 12 pieces with a copper tab at the top with small copper rivets. I'd use handmade "S" hooks over a thin copper or brass rod. Simple, elegant and exactly what I wanted.


As an aside... I used most of the roll to cover the top of a bedside table and the scraps will undoubtedly show up in other projects in the future.

Only in Tombstone

I was sitting waiting for my Doctor's appointment today, doing a bit of bead crochet, when it occurred to me that maybe I had fallen into a time warp. The waiting room was the audience portion of Schefflin Hall with a stage and hard wooden benches. It's the oldest 2 story adobe building in AZ, built in 1881. There was one couple sitting a few rows up from me talking and I could understand only two thirds of what they were saying - they were speaking a mix of English, Spanish and Papago. Then there were the two aging cowboys in front of me ... dusty, down-at-the heel boots, white hair in ponytails and cowboy hats that looked like they hadn't been off their heads for 40 years (or more) ... talking about what I thought were their girlfriends (or wives). It took me more than a few minutes to figure out that they were really talking about their horses! When they called my name, I got up, walked through the theatrical-style lobby, outside to the Chiricahua Clinic's Mobile Medical van parked on Fremont St. The van comes to Tombstone on the first Monday of the month. I sat inside the modern van, talking with the Doctor while 20-30 mph gusts of wind made the vehicle shudder. What a trip back in time and then quickly forward again to modern medicine!

The broad street that you see in the photo, goes through the center of town and dates from the 1880's when that width was needed to turn a 20-mule wagon team around for the silver mines.

2007 West - Ahead of the Storms

It had already snowed in NH before I left for my rather quick 3,346 mile drive to Arizona for the winter.

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Arizona did greet me with a spectacular sunset when I arrived in the desert.





I took a northerly route along the bottom of the Great Lakes and luck was with me as I hit only one day of rain and one night of "almost snow" in Ohio.

It was in Ohio that I kept seeing these signs along the Turnpike and had this mental image of a great visible joke strike me ...... Yea, weird sense of humor here....

...Man in trench coat standing beside the highway... and well, you visualize the rest of it!




In Chicago I saw exactly what I want to tow behind my Element one of these days. How great to have a teardrop trailer painted orange (with flames, of course) following along behind my Honda "lunchbox"!





After visiting with old friends in Chicago I headed directly South with a side trip to Metropolis Illinois to see Superman's home town.




Small town in the Midwest with this great huge statue in the center of town and Superman memorabilia all over.











I ended up staying over an extra day in Memphis to go to the Memphis Roller Derby Season Opener. It was the Prisskilla Prezleys Vs. Legion of Zoom and the Angels of Death Vs. Women of Mass Destruction. Go look at their site for some great stories and better photos than I managed to take. A good friend of mine has become a referee for the league and it was a "must see" event.



What a raucous, fun evening out - and ..NO, nothing is staged, they are one rough bunch of women!








Heading West through Texas always seems like the longest part of the drive. Due to "life in general", the beadtrekers did not manage to get together for a bead cave this trip. I was sorry to not be able to bead, laugh and eat with the bunch this time around. Hopefully in the Spring we'll have better luck.

Texas is usually good for some great photos. I'd never seen highway signs being delivered before and the boxcar art was really neat.

I had to make an overnight stop in Truth or Consequences for a soak in the Hot mineral springs - they really wash the dirt from the road off of you and leave you feeling as relaxed as a wet noodle.



I had the opportunity to visit "Pinch & Swallow", a hobby space for an Albuquerque Doctor. His murals were spectacular and well worth the time spent looking .

Heading out of New Mexico towards Arizona, I saw these signs for Arrey and Derry - first one name was on top and the next sign had the other name on top - Equal Opportunity road signs.

And this gas station with a sense of humor!

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Finally ... Arizona, unpacking the car, catching up on the news with my Sisters and High School friend, then stocking the pantry and settling in to vistas like this one.

I hope your holidays were as good as mine

and

wish you all the best for 2008