Happy New Year

Get Ready 2013 ....Get your beads on and Party!!

12 More Shopping Days To Go

Gift Certificates are always so nice to get and to give. Contact me at cfmcgraw@cox.net if you would like to purchase a gift certificate for someone special. Gift Certificates can be purchased for any amount.

Don't forget this week through the 15th the Cowboy Christmas and the Cowboy Market Place is going on.
The past few years I have gone to both and decided last year that I really like the Cowboy Market Place much better for what I like to buy and look at. Check it out at the Mandalay Bay ....I'm on my way over there right now. To see more about both venues I have a link to both of the gift shows on the right side of my blog- look for "Special Events"

                               HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Get Inspired

Don't you need a MRI yet?

Lori (left) Ronna (right) too much fun in class yesterday 

Ronna just got her MRI yesterday ....no no no not a medical MRI a Beadmetaler MRI. Ronna brought a new student to class yesterday and now has a $40.00 credit to use toward her next class.
Need a refresher on how my MRI program works?
Monthly Referral Incentive = MRI
Lets use Ronna and Lori as an example. Ronna has been taking classes from me for quite sometime (and does beautiful work if I do say so myself) she suggested her friend Lori take yesterday's class, this was a really fun class and the class fee was $40.00, now that Lori has completed this class Ronna gets this same amount of money of this class fee towards any class she wants in the next 30 days ...how cool is that.

Art and Soul almost here

Just a reminder that Art and Soul Las Vegas is almost here. I just went to the website and there are surprisingly still plenty of openings in classes. I have already signed up ....have you? We rarely get opportunities like this to come to town for us artists and if we don't support it we won't have them anymore. For several years I went to Portland to take classes like these and now they are finally here.
For more information look on the right side of my blog on this page and look for "special events" then click on Art & Soul retreats to learn more.

Las Vegas 2012

 

 Join us as we will return to Henderson, Nevada and the exciting

Green Valley Ranch Resort!
(Info for the Resort is on the "venue" page)

June 14-18, 2012

 Registration Opens

August 15, 2011 at Noon Pacific Time

Happy Earth Day

Today I am off to see the annual Earth Day Movie, last year it was about Lion Prides and this year it is about Chimpanzee's. Each year Disney comes out with a Nature movie to celebrate Earth Day and if you go see that movie the week of Earth Day a portion of the money goes to saving or researching that particular subject. This year the donations will go to the Jane Goodall Institute (read more below)
The movies are more documentary with beautiful photography and heartfelt stories.

At the turn of the 20th Century, they numbered between 1 and 2 million . . .        now there are estimated to be fewer than 300,000 chimpanzees remaining in the wild. Incredibly—over the past 100 years—we may have lost as many as 1.7 million of the chimpanzees that roamed the forests of Africa.

When a 26-year-old Jane Goodall first arrived at the then Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in the British protectorate of Tanganyika, she brought only, her binoculars and notebooks. Her mission was clear: shed light on the little-known lives of the resident wild chimpanzees. But in response to the deepening environmental crisis throughout Equatorial Africa, over the years her work expanded. Today, Dr. Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute strive to protect chimpanzees and their habitats through community-based conservation programs in Africa--while continuing the research that started it all more than 50 years earlier.

Get your Color on

Spring is here and it's time to start thinking in spring colors when you make your next piece of jewelry.
The spring colors are so bright and beautiful, turquoise always comes to mind when I think of spring but this year I am going to try to incorporate more greens and yes ...yellows!

Glass Craft & Bead Expo

This is a really good show for anyone who is into fused glass, lampworking, beading, art clay or any craft for that matters. The show runs for about 5 days but the first few days are only for the people who sign up for classes. Friday March 30th - April 1st the show is open to the public with $15.00 entrance fee that is good for the 3 days. Great place to find beautiful custom beads, kilns and any tool for the glass world you have been looking for. I swear every year the artists get better and better. For more information and hours of the show click on the link on the right of this page under "Special Events"

                    Have a healthly, happy Valentines Day

Sweet Beads

Last week I had heard of a new bead store on the west side of town so I thought I should go check it
out for myself and all of you. The store is a small "sweet store" tucked back in a corner of a small strip mall type center. I walked in the door and was greeted with warm smiles and hello's by 2 very nice woman who were working at the bead table. I told them I had just heard about them and that I needed to look around to see what they carried so I could let all my students know about them. We talked about our backgrounds and they were so excited about all the metal classes I teach.
The store is very new and they are still getting their footing on supplies but they carry all the essentials of beadwork. They have all colors of seed beads & fire polish beads along with teardrops, roundels, Preciosa crystals, and all the other basics for beadwork. The store is located on Charleston between Jones and Decatur just about 1 blk away from Heddy's Fabrics on the opposite side of the street. Please stop by and meet these very nice ladies and remember...support your local bead stores ...we can't do without them.
Tell they I sent you.
Sweet Beads
5734 W. Charleston Blvd
Las Vegas, Nv.
Phone: 900-8228
Hours: Closed Mondays
Tues-Sat. 10:00 - 5:00 pm  and Sunday open 12:00 - 5:00 pm

The Power Of Blogs

3 years ago I placed an order via the Internet with a well know artist -I'm not saying who....so don't ask.
After a few months went by and the product didn't arrive I emailed and got no response after another
month passed by and no product ; I emailed again and this time the person did respond and told me I would have my product by that Christmas (3 years ago). Since then I've emailed dozens of times and even broke down and wrote a letter expressing my concerns about the lack of ethics of the company and individual, I even said I didn't want nor needed the product anymore but wanted my money back....no response.
Now 3 years later I am fed up and decided to try one more time. This time I simply wrote:
"If you don't contact me or send my money back I will blog about you ....and not in a good way"
I got a Pay Pal refund that day....ahhhh the power of Blogs.