ahhh no - not really! It has been such a fun few days that I don't know where to start!
Perhaps it would have been easier to just keep up my blog on the day - each as it transpired. But hey... a girl has to have some down time.
I'm going to start with my day yesterday, spent with Jo! I don't know about Jo - but I had a fabulous time. I'm hoping that Jo enjoyed herself & wasn't too culture shocked by Christchurch, or didn't feel like she was in a relatively decent sized city stuck in a conservative time warp.
I picked Jo up a little before 10.00am & we headed back here. Jo was showing me some treasures that she had bought for me & we chatted about New Zealand & such for a while.
Knowing that Jo had visited the Arts Center on Sunday afternoon I figured I should complete her education in just how deprived we are of bead shops (& how overpriced the abysmal content of those we do have is) in Christchurch. So whilst chatting we decided to head into the City to see the other 'Big' bead store, before coming back & hitting the torch. Of course Jo was amazingly polite when we got there & resisted doubling over in laughter when we went inside.
It was a quick trip & after stopping just up the road at our local cafe for a decent coffee (something we both need in order to function!!!) & something to eat for lunch we were back home in good time.
Fed & watered we hit the torch - you know I can't describe how amazing it was to watch someone else torch! Jo works hot & very quickly - you can tell she is a dab hand at this! She talked me through everything she was doing & why she did it that way, while I stood looking over her shoulder. Of course I bombarded her with questions.
First she showed me how to make a hollow bead, then a twistie which she then applied to a bicone. Next was a pressed bicone decorated with the same twistie in a different way, a critter in the form of a white bunny rabbit with red toenail polish & then she showed me how to blow shards! It was at that stage that I remembered one tiny little thing that I had forgotten all about in my excitement.....to go & grab the CAMERA!
This caused me the most excitement as I seem to be shard challenged, but Jo showed me a couple of tricks & I think I just might get lucky the next time I try! Just look at that beauty - I didn't want her to smash it, it looked so pretty!
Perhaps it would have been easier to just keep up my blog on the day - each as it transpired. But hey... a girl has to have some down time.
I'm going to start with my day yesterday, spent with Jo! I don't know about Jo - but I had a fabulous time. I'm hoping that Jo enjoyed herself & wasn't too culture shocked by Christchurch, or didn't feel like she was in a relatively decent sized city stuck in a conservative time warp.
I picked Jo up a little before 10.00am & we headed back here. Jo was showing me some treasures that she had bought for me & we chatted about New Zealand & such for a while.
Knowing that Jo had visited the Arts Center on Sunday afternoon I figured I should complete her education in just how deprived we are of bead shops (& how overpriced the abysmal content of those we do have is) in Christchurch. So whilst chatting we decided to head into the City to see the other 'Big' bead store, before coming back & hitting the torch. Of course Jo was amazingly polite when we got there & resisted doubling over in laughter when we went inside.
It was a quick trip & after stopping just up the road at our local cafe for a decent coffee (something we both need in order to function!!!) & something to eat for lunch we were back home in good time.
Fed & watered we hit the torch - you know I can't describe how amazing it was to watch someone else torch! Jo works hot & very quickly - you can tell she is a dab hand at this! She talked me through everything she was doing & why she did it that way, while I stood looking over her shoulder. Of course I bombarded her with questions.
First she showed me how to make a hollow bead, then a twistie which she then applied to a bicone. Next was a pressed bicone decorated with the same twistie in a different way, a critter in the form of a white bunny rabbit with red toenail polish & then she showed me how to blow shards! It was at that stage that I remembered one tiny little thing that I had forgotten all about in my excitement.....to go & grab the CAMERA!
This caused me the most excitement as I seem to be shard challenged, but Jo showed me a couple of tricks & I think I just might get lucky the next time I try! Just look at that beauty - I didn't want her to smash it, it looked so pretty!
Talk about obsessed - I had to take the wee beauty outside for a photo shoot! Am I easily pleased - or what!
Last of all Jo made a bead using the shard bulb she had blown (& subsequently smashed - sniff).
After we were finished torching - we wandered up to the cafe for another coffee & some fresh air, before heading back home so Jo could show me how to use the Kumihimo disk & plate she had bought for me. After a demo from Jo on how to weave the braids, I had a turn & we talked about fiber & textiles for a while....always dangerous around me as I quickly found an excuse for another shopping trip.
Remembering that she wouldn't be likely to get a chance to go to the Hands Ashford Craft store (home of the wonderful Ashford Spinning wheels, looms & their fabulous acid dye range) I thought perhaps that warranted a trip before I dropped her back at her accommodation!
So off we went shopping again & found some fabulous undyed silk fibers. Now I go in that store quite often & am frequently found to be wandering through the wools & fibers fondling things, but I had never noticed these before - it took Jo's eye to find them, a wonderful potential for dying & then using in weaving & kumihimo braids, as well as for book binding & altered art.
Jo assured me that she wouldn't be able to get this sort of thing at home in the USA - so it was great to have a pair of 'fresh eye's' with me, especially ones that were capable of making quick price comparisons on some other fibers we were both interested in that were worth purchasing here too.
It was a fabulous Day! More than I ever dare dreamed of. Today we met briefly for lunch & tomorrow Jo has ended up with a bonus free day so I am going to show her some sights!
Remembering that she wouldn't be likely to get a chance to go to the Hands Ashford Craft store (home of the wonderful Ashford Spinning wheels, looms & their fabulous acid dye range) I thought perhaps that warranted a trip before I dropped her back at her accommodation!
So off we went shopping again & found some fabulous undyed silk fibers. Now I go in that store quite often & am frequently found to be wandering through the wools & fibers fondling things, but I had never noticed these before - it took Jo's eye to find them, a wonderful potential for dying & then using in weaving & kumihimo braids, as well as for book binding & altered art.
Jo assured me that she wouldn't be able to get this sort of thing at home in the USA - so it was great to have a pair of 'fresh eye's' with me, especially ones that were capable of making quick price comparisons on some other fibers we were both interested in that were worth purchasing here too.
It was a fabulous Day! More than I ever dare dreamed of. Today we met briefly for lunch & tomorrow Jo has ended up with a bonus free day so I am going to show her some sights!
3 comments:
Wow! How fun was that!!!!! I'm happy for you, Deb! That had to be a great experience!
I am so glad you two got together. Jo is a treasure. So cool and interesting. I hope her interview went well, but would be so sad for her to leave our part of the country.
Tell her hi from back home and hope you two continue to have so much fun together.
Marcy
Well, I am sitting here, lost in thought, imagining that store with the spinning wheels and looms and silks and wools, oh my! It sounds like you are both having a wonderful time!
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