OMG $90 million! What in the world would I do with that kind of money?

I invested a very small amount in a team syndicate at work, and also got myself a system 8 ticket in hopes that I can win even just a little piece of the huge jackpot. To be honest, I’d be very content with just $5000 - it would be enough for me to purchase a big oxycon and a new kiln. Anything above that would be a bonus, but $90 million… geez… I’d just cross my fingers and hope that I didn’t have a heart attack!

Good luck to everyone who has bought their tickets :D

I came back from the dentist yesterday with my mouth and teeth all still in one place but also came home with some not-so-good news. It turns out that my problem tooth has a hole in it so it definitely has to go, but the problem is that it has a hooked root which is right next to my nerve which can be a huge problem if not left in the hands of the right people. In short, I will need to get all four wisdom teeth removed (yep, you read it right - all 4!) so that we know that I definitely will not have any issues in the future, and it will need to be done by a specialist surgeon in day surgery. Not happy! It’s not so much the surgery that I’m annoyed by, more of the fact that I need to organise to get it done as well as organise to have time off work to get it done - and being on a project means that I can’t just take time off when I please. I’m also not happy that I will now have to spend much more money than I had hoped. I had my xray taken today and will have the results on Monday, and I’ll be making an appointment to see the specialist some time this week. I think I’ll go back to bed and curl up under my warm blanket..

I am living with the wisdom tooth from hell. Actually I have 2, but only 1 is from hell at the moment. My bottom left tooth is about 85% out of its gummy cave but the stubborn 15% still trying to push out is giving me grief as it pushes up against my jaw. I’ve had a continuous headache since Saturday (at the pendant workshop!) and it hasn’t been getting any better. I have a scheduled appointment with a dentist this Friday and hopefully he can pull the 2 buggers out before my smile looks wonky… and to make it worse, my teeth have already slightly moved :(

I’ll be high on mersyndol capsules at any time now…

I just found this awesome etsy shop called ‘Cupcake Social’, and I’m in love with her cupcake liners! It inspires me to bake some yummy cupcakes. Here are a couple of my favourties that I thought I should share:

Yesterday I attended a full day workshop on glass pendants with Bernie Stonor and had a fantastic time! I had so much fun learning off mandrel pendant techniques and every dollar was definitely worth it. Bernie is such a knowledgeable man who is willing to share what he knows and help in any way. I’ve got plenty of ideas floating around my head about the kinds of pendants I can make but I have a feeling that my good old hot head torch won’t like the challenge. Then again, if I can make butterfly murrini then I’m sure this shouldn’t be too hard. I’m going to give it a go tonight if my arms let me - that was the only set back, that my arms are now very sore from holding up the glass rods up high when melting glass and not having anything to lean on (since I’ve gotten used to torching with a creation station). My pendants are all still with Penel at the moment (featured in the first pic behind Bernie) since they were sitting in the kiln but when I have them posted to me I’ll post a picture. Here are a few pics from yesterday’s class:

I knew this would happen. I’m addicted. I love it. I’m addicted to glass fusing now. It’s all I think about right now.

I am feeling so frustrated that there isn’t enough time in the world for me to keep making and creating glass creations. Last night I made a few very beautiful pieces, all of which I just need to anneal then attach findings on to. I spent all night last night looking up more info and supplies on the net to feed my new addiction whilst I waited for my pieces to cool. I’m dying to go back on to the torch but the freezing cold temps in the garage are keeping me away. Maybe tonight I’ll get some beading done, or at least get started on a seed bead bracelet project that I’ve been itching to start after much inspiration from the craft fair. Can’t wait to play with glass some more :)

The bead fair is now over! All in all I had a successful show. The duration was a bit long but it was well worth it. On the last day I managed to spend a fair amount on a glass fusing kit as well as stock up on some gorgeous seed beads which I plan to turn into a lariat and a bracelet. The spending doesn’t end there though - I got so carried away and my imagination went wild on Sunday that yesterday I decided to spend up big on glass decals at my local ceramics shop. I made a few fused glass pieces last night which don’t look too bad, and I’m going to garnish a couple of them with cubic zirconia’s tonight before I anneal them and turn them in to pendants. Expect lots more fused jewellery and cabachons from me - I think I’m addicted! I’m a little worried that I may end up lampworking less as my fusing addiction takes over. And now comes the hard part… do I only want to stock up on COE90 or COE96 glass? And where will I store all this glass?!

I had a huge order of Devardi glass arrive at my lampworker friends place (Nat) which I still have to pick up, and I’m stressing over where I will store the glass as I’ve run out of room in my wine rack.  Here is a pic of the goodies (still in Nat’s possession)… all 11lbs of glassy goodness!

How gorgeous are the pinks huh? I can’t wait to play with this stuff! Might start with a few encased florals and spacers first.

Today was an exhausting day… Got up nice and early to finish off pricing things and packing things away, then headed off to the Darling Harbour exhibition centre to set up the stall at the Sydney Craft and Bead Fair. Man is this place HUGE or what… it was a complete mess and chaos when I arrived there at 2pm but by night time the place was half packed away behind crafty curtains. I just love the atmosphere at these things especially when we set up… there’s this buzzy feeling filled with excitement in the air. 5 hours later we were done with setting up the stall. Got home at 8. here are a few pics for a sneak preview…

Make sure to drop by and say hi if you’re around. The show goes from tomorrow until Sunday so there’ll be plenty of time and opportunity to walk around the entire fair - should be fun! I personally can’t wait to have a good walk through the bead fair and also visit a few of the stalls in the craft fair such as the reborning doll stalls (I can smell another expensive hobby starting up) and a few of the quilt places. I’m tempted to buy another big cross stitch (maybe of a ballerina or something) but I haven’t even touched the tiny one I bought at the Craftfest back in March… maybe I shouldn’t buy one? lol! Anyways I’m off for an early one tonight. Big day tomorrow… and the next 4 days. Wish me luck!

I’m sitting in the hotel room at the moment procrastinating from having to tag and price beads, also feeling disappointed that I won’t be able to see the Canberra glassworks properly while I’m down here. We had dropped in to the glassworks 10 minutes to close, not realising that the place shuts at 4pm and then finding out that they are only open from Wednesday to Sunday. I was able to have a quick browse through the glassworks shop and saw work of lampwork artists Sarah Murphy and Carole Griffth, and also view other spectacular glass art and sculptures by other artists. So far we’ve visited Cockington Green and Questacon (so much fun! - note to self: do not wear heeled boots to Questacon again). I’ll have to come down here again some time and stay here a little longer. Canberra does seem like a boring place but then most people don’t really know that there are plenty of things to see and do down here. I’m also a little disappointed that we can not buy fireworks as non ACT residents - what a tease!

I best be getting back to the beads. We’ll be heading home tomorrow but will be visiting either the War Memorial or Parliament House first.

After reading some people’s comments on a new kind of glass that has come onto the market, I have a few opinions on it myself. Lots of people have been quick to dismiss the good sides of the glass, disregarding the fact that this glass is very affordable and can be beneficial to those who can’t afford expensive glass, without actually trying the glass themselves first. So here’s my 2 cents…

Personally, I think every person should try it out themselves before making judgement on it. When lampworkers started beadmaking we didn’t know which would be better to use - BE, moretti, vetrofond etc and then new glasses like DH, CIM and ASK came out which all looked very pretty but we had no clue how to work it.  Devardi would be another thing to experiment with and until we personally try it we will never really know what it’s like. For me it’s a cheap glass that I’m willing to part a few dollars with to try out. If it works then great! if it doesn’t, well no biggie - at least I can say I tried it myself. For example, we are always told not to encase the opalino’s/alabaster’s but I’ve successfully been able to with no problem and have no cracking at all.

All I can do is give my own personal feedback when my glass arrives but I suggest that people try it out themselves before criticising it.

As I said, just my 2 cents… everyone is entitled to their own opinions.