New book cover

I just heard from my publisher that my book is being printed again.  This time it will be in paperback (this makes the price a little lower) with a new cover.   For the first printing, it was part of a heritage series of books, and this time it will stand alone.  The news of another printing is good!  That means the book is selling well and they need more!  Yay!

My second book is taking form slowly.  I have been working on it in the evenings, but have a long way to go.  I can't say much about it yet, unfortunately, but I think it takes a little different slant on glass bead making.   My photographer Kevin Brett Soul Imagery is coming next week to start photographing for the book.  I must clean up my studio before then!

Hot hot hot

Here in eastern PA it has been hot, hot, hot this summer!  I remember last winter, when we were all tired of the endless snow!  This photo was taken in Feb, early in the day, with lots more snow coming.  Now I am tired of being hot any time I go out.  Thank goodness our house is air conditioned!  It has been running almost nonstop, and I am dreading the electric bill when it comes.  We have been making some changes to reduce the bill, like putting the tv and computer on power strips and turning them off that way.  We had already changed all the light bulbs to more efficient ones and try to be more aware of turning lights off.  All this has helped, particularly since our electric company was deregulated last winter and the rates went up something like 30%. 

Stay cool, everyone!

Kuztown Folk Festival 2010

What a week!  There were 3 days over 100 degrees and one day of rain.  I drank lots of water, used my neck coolers constantly, had fans running, and managed to survive.  In my 15 years at the festival, this was the toughest.  (Well, the year of the tornado and storms was tough too!)  The funnel cake stand was right across the street from me, and I only had 2 all week.

My friend Carrie spent 5 days demonstrating for me.  She made lots of beads and  explained the process to lots of people.  Notice the purple neck cooler, and the bandana on her forehead to stop the sweat from rolling into her eyes.  The kiln is behind her, so she got the heat from all sides.  

My other demonstrator was Jenna, who was there for 4 days.  She started making beads when she was 11, but only gets to torch once a year when she demo's for me.  She managed to miss the really hot days, but still needed a neck cooler.  Both of them are really dedicated and I had to remind them to take a break once in a while.

The old fashioned birch beer wagon is just down the street, but I have never tried it.  Our big treat this year was smoothies- so cold on a hot day!  I also bought a big bag of roasted almonds to munch on all week.  This was not a week to diet- I had an ox roast sandwich, bratwurst, bbq pork, corn pie, funnel cake- you get the picture.  Now to launder my long dresses and pack them away for another year.