IT'S ALL GOOD!!!!

 Hello! It's been a long time since I have had enough time to "blaaaaag" to you!! Ya know how it is....kids, work, kids, work, husband, kids, work - kinda in that order too!

I recently attended the Teton Bead Retreat! Wow, it was awesome! To have an entire week to make friends, bead, sit, visit, bead, share wine - dinner - and stories, and to bead some more - we all had an amazing time, and we all got along so well.  Mega-bonding was had by all!  Okay, truth, I started this blog post in August and now its October.  What?!!  Welcome to my life.  Hey, I still want to talk about the Teton Bead Retreat - and I have pictures!!

Let me just start this blog off by telling you all that the Teton Bead Retreat was first class all the way.  My friend, Amy Loh-Kupser, held it in Driggs, Idaho.  The view from her HUGE, HUGE studio was amazing!


Here's a photograph of the Grand Tetons from the Idaho side of the mountain range.  What a great place to take a week off.  And, the town of Driggs was so cool.  There were great restaurants, a great bead and fiber (yarn) store, an amazing grocery store (the cook in my loved this place), and so much more.  It was fabulous!  I wish I'd taken some photos of the town.  Next time.










This photo was of the moon coming up over the Teton range one of the nights we were there.  It was beautiful; there's no way the photograph does it justice - but it was gorgeous.

Okay, so moving on.  The accommodations, the food, the beading (and kits), the setting, the studio we all worked in -- all of it was great!  Better than I expected.  Not that Amy is a slouch at organizing.  She's not!  I just didn't expect what we got.  Amazing. 

So I have some photos that show Amy's studio.  The studio is over 3,000 square feet of beautiful, perfectly lit, gorgeous-ness (is that a word).  So check the photos out!

Looking to the right.

Looking to the left.

Looking down into one of the Dormers.

I'm pretty sure there were six large Dormer windows down the length of this studio.  I have Dormer-envy!  I swear!








I've never been to a bead retreat or taken a class from anyone - so I did not know what to expect.  Yep, that's right.  Besides the two how-tos my mom gave me years ago, I've not taken classes.  Self taught here --- all of it!

Anyway, the "pro" that Amy brought in for all of us (besides herself) was Jeanette Cook of Beady Eyed Women - all around beading guru, San Diego fellow resident, goddess of the artsy-fartsy, and all around cheap wine connoisseur.  God, she walked in with 6 bottles of wine and made a joke and I just knew I was going to love her!  Jeannette is funny, talented, and saucy as hell.   What a pleasure she was to get to know; and I do love her work so much.   I took a few snaps of stuff she brought with her.  Wow.

 Some of Jeanette Cook's Work!  

             More of Jeanette's Gorgeous Work!                    

And Yet a little bit more of Jeanette's work!

Oh, look, it's Jeannette - ain't she cute?!

 



Some of my fellow classmates.  I worked really hard and didn't finish any of the classes, except this medallion bracelet.  It was a gorgeous bracelet. 

 So the question really is, what do you do after a long day of beading.  Well, you decompress by helping Jeannette drink all that wine she brought with her.  God bless Jeannette!

And here we all are doing just that!

Sharing stories and laughing.

Visiting!

  My friends! Jeanette in the glasses; Amy in the tank top! 

   

 Amy's gorgeous work.  She does the best patterns in the business.  If you haven't seen her work firsthand, you need to.  Go see both Amy and Jeanette whenever and however you can.  Artistically speaking, it is so worth the time to do so.  The inspiration has been incredibly worth it for me.

This is a design Amy made for me.  I couldn't speak after she showed me the kit.  I've never had a friend "do" for me.  I'm usually the one doing all the giving.  Amy, I can't thank you enough for the love, the thought and effort that went into this surprise.  It blessed me.  Thank you so much!

Okay, everyone stay tuned for more good stuff.  More to come and hopefully (if it all goes to plan) sooner than later!  Ha!  And, I promise that if I actually finish the Jeanette swirly noodle thing she tried to teach me that I will post the results here for you!