Classes!

Oh my gosh, after teaching for 27 years, I decided to teach some more, but something way different this time! I taught two classes last week at Embellish Boutique in Pinetop. After getting some great tips from Sally Jean Alexander at Art & Soul in February, and some more practice with soldering, I was ready to share my limited knowledge. The first class was using a glass bubble and a dictionary definition. We taped and soldered the outer edges and then added the jump rings, and some beading at the bottom - what fun!  Some people even went home wearing their creations!

On Saturday we made glass slide pendants with dimensional objects sandwiched between - a bit on the tricky side, but everyone did a great job.  Most people went home inspired and excited.  What a great group of women.  It was so nice to share the afternoon with them and see their creations.  The photos show a pendant that Trish's (the store owner) aunt made for her!  It has some of Trish's grandmothers jewelry as well as a picture of her grandmother in it.  What a nice surprise and a heartfelt gift for Trish!  I wish I had gotten a better photo of it and more photos of the other pieces.  Next time. . .

Catching Up

I hate to say it again, but where does the time go?  The month of May was spent in Italy and Greece - now I can't complain about that!  It was so. . . beautiful. . . I took nearly 1500 pictures.  Don't worry - I am not going to post them all!  Here is one picture of Tuscany right outside the villas we stayed in.  The scenery was gorgeous despite the "unusual for May" weather we kept hearing about.  Everywhere I turned, I saw a picture and at times had to force myself to just put down the camera and just take it in. 
We spent 5 days in Tuscany and Florence.  We visited beautiful ancient cites and amazing sights in Florence and spent our days eating our way through them.  Our favorite town was San Gimignano, but we also liked Volterra as well.  Castellina, Radda and Siena were also places we stopped. We sampled wines at a vineyard and ate wonderful meals.  It was really dreamlike - especially with the cloudy, overcast and rainy weather!   In Florence, we went to the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery and the Statue of David at the Academia. 

We tried to find the restaurant in Palazzo Vecchio where Stan had lasagne florentine on his first visit, but couldn't find it.  We asked at several places and finally one waiter said they served it.  When the order came, it was not the same, disappointing, but still delicious!  More on the trip later. . .