Meet Some of My New Friends

We're just back from a weekend at the beach.  It was cloudy almost the entire time and even rained a bit, but looking at the bright side, that's always great for taking photos, the beaches aren't as crowded and we had fun checking out St. Simons as well.

So the first photo is of my two buddies.  I thought the shell was empty until the end of my walk and all of a sudden a bunch of little crab legs came out of the shell.  That one got popped back into a tide pool quickly.  And the Starfish was pretty quiet too at first.  Another one that I thought was already a goner. Then I flipped him over for some photos and all of a sudden, a few of the little legs started to move. Yikes!  Back into the ocean this one went.

This is the last of my buddies.  I called him Louie. Louie had gone over the rainbow already, but I thought you might want to see his lovely blue markings.  Aren't the colors of nature interesting?

I'll have some more of my photos for you soon.  But I'll leave you with a question.  How often do you see starfish pictured in that color?  Not too often, right? I wonder if people would ever want glass ones looking like that?  They're quite striking, but don't read "summer" or "ocean" necessarily.  Yet, they are.  So what do you think?  Should I make some to reflect the real Georgia starfish, or stick with my ivory colored ones?  I'm hoping you have an opinion.

See you tomorrow.

A Day At The Beach

I'm a beach person from way back...I grew up on the beach and then moved away as a young teen.

So if there is an opportunity to get near the water, I jump at the chance.  Last weekend we went to St. Augustine, FL.  Having never been there before, I was delighted with all the ocean, boats, history and yes, even the tourist kitsch.  ( Easily amused, I must say.)

We visited the Fountain of Youth- and were told that this really wasn't the exact one, because it had dried up a long time ago.  I am not sure what made Ponce de Leon think he'd stay young from it, because it really didn't look that great to begin with.

But we stayed up the road on Vilano Beach.  Being off season, there was plenty of beach to share.  Here are a few of the morning squatters.

And using the camera on my phone, I took this photo to see whether I could capture a bit of the sparkle in this shell...

I believe the answer is "yes".

I'll have some other photos of the area in the near future.  For those of you longing for a warm beach, this wasn't it.  Chilly and windy, but still lovely to my eyes.  It will be quite a while before that water is warm enough to dip your toes in.

See you tomorrow- www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Back From the Frozen Tundra

Okay, perhaps it wasn't frozen tundra, but I am back from visiting my delightful relatives in Wyoming. (40 mph winds and -10 degrees!) In typical Lamberson fashion, we were snowed in, and couldn't leave town. This is a photo of the road as we braved the just opened highway.

Taking a few days off gave me time to think about creativity and working in glass. Do you ever just sit and think? Where you want to go, what you want to do?

The cold and wind chill did not inspire my creativity, nor did the extra splash of kahlua in my coffee either. But there was one funny thing that did.

Have you ever played Apples to Apples? It's one of those fun family games that just about anyone can play. You are given a topic and you have to match as best as possible, one of your cards to it. I kept thinking that there is a connection there to creativity. It was fascinating to see how different people thought. It made me wonder how that could relate to my glass art.

And then I realized that it reflected the way I think sometimes. I enjoy putting two things together that don't exactly fit. Whether it's monkeys wearing hats, or birds wearing jewelry, having two pieces that are a little atypical, tends to make me smile.

So tell me about your holiday. Were you inspired somehow? Or have a brainstorm in between the sugar overloads? I'd love to hear.

See you tomorrow, right here. http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Key West Vacation and Inspiration

I had made this bead quite a while ago and named it, "Vacation Wishes". As I was going through my vacation photos, I realized that this bead must have been lucky, because mine had come true.

My friend's husband had won a house for a week in Key West with with a $25 raffle ticket and they generously invited us and another couple to join them in their bounty.

The weather was gorgeous, the tropical plants were plentiful and you couldn't beat all the fresh fish right from the day's catch. I can see why people go down there and return often. There were a lot of characters living down there and they seemed to pride themselves in it.


We stayed in Jimmy Buffet's previous home and the most recent guest had just been Hulk Hogan. That sure made us laugh.

It was a very nice, but definitely not over the top place with three bedrooms and two baths, but the best part, was that it was right on the canal, so a boat could motor right up to the back. I spent a lot of my time on that back dock near the water. A resident blue crab, lots of little brown and white jelly fish and other fish seemed to be the major inhabitants among the coral. I really enjoyed watching them, checking out how the current was and that red kayak that you see in the photo got plenty of use too. We'd kayak around the neighborhood and get a great view of what houses and boats were nearby.

For those of you familiar with Key West, it's not all lazy days. The nightlife is quite active too. We did our share, but tended to gravitate to the outdoor local hangouts in the harbors where people and sunset watching is at its best. There are plenty of characters down there for sure. We did a bit of the tourist stuff and I noticed they could use a few lampworkers down there. The cruise ships come in and the town is packed.

But for me, I'm okay returning home. Yes, my friends continued sending me photos of their fun filled days as they stayed for the entire week and I was sorry to miss the rest of the explorations. But I'm anxious now to incorporate some of my photos and sketches that I made down there into some tropical beads. Our International Society of Glass Beadmakers' annual Gathering will be in Miami this summer, so I'd like to have a small line of beads that are in tune with the locale. This short vacation was perfect for the inspiration and photos to get me started.

Changes in Attitude, Changes in Lattitude...

Woohoo, I'm excited. My husband and I are joining two other couples for a few days in Key West, Florida. I've never been there before.

It's been very gray and rainy here for the last couple of weeks and a few days of sunshine and goofing around sounds very refreshing. I'm looking for some fun inspiration too.

If any of you know about Key West or the area around it, would you mind telling us of places to go or things to do? I'd appreciate it. We leave this weekend.

Reportedly we're staying in one of Jimmy Buffet's previous homes. I'll let you know if the margaritas and cheeseburgers in paradise make me want to sing.

Fire and Brimstone Rocks On!

So what exactly are "whoremongers"? I'm trying to figure this out. Is it similar to fishmongers who sell fish?

As promised, I decided to show you the quirky side of my weekend trip. One of the highlights was this billboard, which absolutely amazed me. I mean, what are they trying to say?

So I started thinking about divorce and television put into that same category, as well as where is this lake of fire, and can I melt glass with it?

If anyone has any insight to this billboard, or perhaps a joke that can go with it, I'd love to hear it.

Now for the even lighter side.

While driving, one of the things that cracked me up was that there was a building. One side was a Medical Emergency Care Center, like what we call "Doc in a Box", and the other side of the building was a gun and ammo shop. Life's little jokes all rolled into one place.

And - can you believe this? I saw people herding cattle while driving golf carts. That was so cute. I hope they got them rounded up before their batteries went dead.

And - we saw floating condos at the lake. Complete with tiny kitchenettes and bathrooms. First thought was, "where does the waste go- I'm not swimming near there", and then someone explained that it was contained and disposed of properly. Whatever that euphemism means. Honestly, they looked like fun. Tiny little barrack looking buildings lined up along little docks with a place to park your boat. You can rent ski-dos or whatever they're called and drive them right up to your back porch. I'm kind of thinking that could be a rip.

Soon, I'll write about one little town that we passed through, which made me think that time can actually stand still. Maybe my next post. (then i promise to get back to glass and melting it.)

take care,
Marcy