Yes--I said FIERCE!

Kimmie here:





Feltzilla is looking much more ferocious these days!









Way sharper armor plates, angry brows, and yes flames, if you can dig it! I think they look pretty good, and not too much like he's puking at all. Next up some trimming and tidying up, a couple of pupils in those eyes and we are in business. I'm so tempted to try and make the eyes bloodshot. He's a little bigger than he was in the last post, but probably not big enough to make that actually viable. Oh well. I'm just so much happier with this result, can't wait to get him done and show off the finished piece! Maybe tomorrow.



I have lots to do right now. I didn't finish the 'update' post, so, long story short: we moved to Mammoth Lakes, CA for the ski season, and two days later Morgan got an offer of a full-time job in Hawaii. Guess where I live now! There I was, a badass snowbunny tearing up the slopes, and suddenly it's time to practice my paddling again. I hope I can remember how to surf! We have been on Kauai for almost six weeks, we're in a temporary apartment right now and without a car. Here's my mode of transportation:

I take my cart to the grocery, to the beach, even to Costco! We upgraded it with baby buggy wheels--does anyone else remember those Bill Cosby albums?--and it rolls like a charm. Morgan also made a really great surfboard trailer out of some bamboo and a golf bag cart. Don't have those photos uploaded yet, but will share next time.

Although I didn't bring my torch, I did bring my beads, so I signed up for the Softflex Glass Art and Bead Festival. It's March 4-6 in Honolulu, so if you are in town or want an excuse to visit the islands, check it out.

I'm looking forward to the show, but scrambling a bit for inventory and display. My table is bound to be pretty creative, to say the least. I'll post photos, for sure.

Work In Progress: or, Yes, I am Still Working on Feltzilla...

Kimmie here:

While we were in Montana, I got a face put on Feltzilla. This, I thought, was the final step, and I would call him finished:
Sorry about the blurry picture, but I didn't have a camera with a macro function there. The blurry photo is pretty accurate, though, in describing how the piece looked to me. I wanted it to be harder, sharper, meaner looking!

There were a couple of difficulties with this. I had trouble finding the finer felting needles I needed, and after we got back to Mammoth Lakes, I started working full time on the mountain. I was tired enough at the end of the day that FZ was not high on my list of things to do when I got home. Then, Morgan accepted a job in Hawaii...HAWAII??? So after one month of glorious snow, we moved here to Lihue on the island of Kauai. I brought FZ of course, and a few weeks ago I found a website that offered not only size 40 needles, but superfine 42's as well! WooHoo!

The finer needles are working wonderfully, but my obsession with firm fine felt is one that requires patience. Needlefelting is incredibly time-consuming: I spent an entire day on FZ, removing his face and adding felt so that I could pack it in and give him a solid, not-overly-fuzzy surface.
I tightened up his arms and legs, got rid of that paunch and lengthened his neck. He now has some very handsome plates on his back and stands a little taller. He is not so easy to pull in and out of his building though, so I have to make a decision about how removable I want him to be. I may have to compromise on those plates in order to keep the versatility. With the longer neck, I also plan to have flames coming out of his mouth.


The process of needlefelting is an interesting one, in that to add firmness, I am trying to add material while condensing the bulk. It's easy to try to add too much, and tricky on this scale to pack it in. But I think the results will be worth it. I learn a lot with each project, and this one is no exception. I am hoping to have a mold made of the ring so that I can make a multitude of FZs and offer them as special orders!

I have no pressing duties today, so am going to grab my needles and get sticking! ...I have new ideas and projects I want to work on, but am determined to Finish FZ First!

Major update!

Kimmie here:

Wow, these past three months have been epic. I'm going to update as much as I can right now, looks like the laptop is running out of juice.

At the beginning of November, Morgan and I schlepped our stuff to Mammoth Lakes, ready for a season of snow. We headed up to Montana to visit my parents a couple of days later, intending to stay for my birthday on the 11th and then come back so I could start my job as a lift operator. It was pretty warm when we got there, but snowed the next day, just a little:

Nice! It wasn't snowing in Mammoth, however, and my job training date was moved back a couple of weeks. We decided to stay for Thanksgiving! It continued to snow:

nice finger in front of the camera there, Kim!

We spent three wonderful weeks dyeing yarn, knitting (Morgan learned to knit!), slalom snowboarding behind the ATV and trying to ride our bikes in the snow. And boy did we eat well!

OK, the computer is about to give up the ghost. Next: onward to Mammoth, and the snowiest December on record!

We Have a Winner!

Kimmie here:

A Big Thank You to Susan B., winner of the Magpie for Andrew.

I hope y'all will visit his blog and bid on some of the wonderful things being auctioned there.

I'm working at a big quilt market this weekend, one more day to go then home to Encinitas and then we are moving up to Mammoth Lakes on Tuesday! We're hoping to squeeze in one more surf before we take off. After unloading we will head up to Montana for a visit with my parents until I return for training as a lift operator on Mammoth Mountain for the season. I am SO excited, can't wait to snowboard myself silly this winter!

Sadly, I won't be able to take my torch with me, but I have a good inventory and will update my website with loose beads and finished jewelry, including some great new button pendants. We will return to the coast in June; I'm sure I'll be bursting with inspiration. Of course, I expect to be knitting and felting up a storm while in the mountains, so it won't all be stuff from my stash here in the blog and on the site.

And by the way,
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We're still here!

Kimmie here:

Joan and I have both had a lot going on the past month; I am moving in a couple of weeks to Mammoth Lakes, California to work on the slopes for ski season! I won't be able to bring my torch to make beads, but I will be updating my website with beads and jewelry from my stash, and I hope to be felting up a storm :-). A snowstorm, that is!

Our friend Andrew Thornton, a wonderful artist, has some big medical bills coming at him, so I decided to offer up my magpie wearing a monocle and sterling top hat in a silent auction to raise some funds. If you want to place a bid, you can email me through my website, not the blog: kim at cuteglassbeads dot com. You can also bid via facebook message to the Kim Van Antwerp http://www.cuteglassbeads.com/ page or to me. You can check out Andrew's work and see some other great things to bid on at his blog: http://www.andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

The high bidder as of Friday evening (central time, I will be in Houston) wins the bird. In a slight departure from usual procedure, if you are high bidder and get outbid, I will let you know!

Off To Connecticut!

I will be ehibiting at the CT Bead Society show this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11 & 12. This is a very sentimental show for me. This was my first bead show Sept. 15, 2001. A customer at the Guilford Handcrafts Expo had mentioned there was a bead show in North Haven and gave me the info. It was all of $35 to exhibit and I figured what do I have to lose? I grabbed my friend Louise and off we went to CT. Oh............one little hitch 4 days after the towers fell. I will never forget driving over the Tappan Zee and looking up the Hudson river to see the huge columns of smoke still rising. None of us knew what to expect at that time. We called to see if the show was still being held. Life must go on was the general feeling and the show was still going on, so off we went. CT Bead Society show was about 20 tables in a smaller banquet room at the Holiday Inn. We came. We set up too much display(you can take the girl out of the craft show but you can't take the craft show out of the girl) and we sold BEADS to NICE people! We were in heaven. Possitively giddy on the drive home we decided "We could run a bead show!" and Spring 2002 we held the first Berks Bead Bazaar. So giddy that we missed our exit and started driving into the city. Turn around. Back on track and on to countless bead shows which have been added and dropped over the years. The CT Bead Show is now about 3 times its original size and 2 days instead of one. It had quite a peak but like alot of shows has leveled off a bit. I have high hopes for this year. Just feel like it is going to be good, but even if it doesn't quite meet expectations I will continue to do the CT Bead Society Show for sentimental reasons.

Halloween Starts Early at Penny Michelle. Boo!

Halloween is Coming to Penny Michelle!
Get an early start on your Halloween designs...
All FINDINGS on the Halloween page are 25% off now thru September 13th
Discount will be applied when your card is charged and NOT reflected in the shopping cart. Discount does NOT apply to finished pieces or beads.

Grab 'em now and be the belle of the witch's ball for Halloween