GG Studio move is Official

Well folks its official - I have a REAL home in California - I am excited and terrified and happy and ....goodness knows what else. My sister always told me that she started her new life at 50 - and that I would too. Of course I have always been a little bit behind her, so I am starting my new life at 51 lol. This past 6 or 7 months have been a whirlwind for me and now I am off to a whole new life.

I hear that California is alot different then NY. I KNOW the weather is alot different, but I hear that California has its own "culture"....I sure hope I fit in :). Anyway, my new home is simply beautiful!! It even has a pool - an inground pool - something I have always wanted, and never thought I would have...not to mention it has 4 bedrooms and a loft that is really a beautiful office space. Then the best part THREE bathrooms - no more waiting to use a bathroom - one bathroom for each person in the house. Now that is LUXURY!!

I already have "California" plans with my neice Grace - we are going to take our "girl" dogs to the spa - no boy dogs allowed! The doggie spa lets you give your dogs a bath and a facial - lol and they leave with a pretty bow - actually I wouldn't mind that kind of treatment! Anyway, it will be alot of fun :).

I hope to be in touch soon - but, this week I am in California looking over my new home and doing a bit of relaxing....have to admit that I am not quite sure what to do with myself - feels a bit strange to not be at the torch, or cleaning beads or...well you all know what I mean.

I am California Dreamin.....

Changes at GG Studio

Well it's official GG Studio is moving to California! I cannot tell you how thrilled and excited I am, this is such a great adventure for me. It's a loooong story but basically it comes down to this - last year my sister encouraged me to come to Alaska to be with her, at the same time the housing market took a tumble and I just couldn't seem to sell my house. To be honest we had thrown around the "move to Alaska" idea for years. Unfortunately the final decision to take the plunge came at the same time the housing market took a plunge!

Sooo...the long story continues - lol. I told my brother, Doug about my decision to move - which was difficult as I basically stayed here in NY to be near him. But, I told him I was putting the house on the market...and that I was sorry but I had to move. It is difficult to be the primary caretaker of my mom at times and my life would change drastically. My sister would be living with me and I could go out once in awhile. Two days after I told my brother about my plans I received a call from him telling me that he needed a liver transplant (he NEVER drank a day in his life) his liver failed for unknown reasons. So we began a journey that spanned 5 very difficult months. I was to be put on as his living donor and hopefully he would get a liver from me. That never happened, after 5 months of fighting to live, my brother came here to my home a day before his birthday on January 29 -
on Feburary 1st he passed away.

Doug was in and out of the hospital and I was in a constant state of stress - my sister Carol spent hours on the phone encouraging me and just listening as I had a few mini break downs :). Of course my plans to move were put on hold during this time as I knew that Doug would need to live with me for at least two years, as he recovered from his transplant.

During this time I spoke with niece Tracy - now this gets complicated - lol - my nieces are close to my age - as my sister was grown and married when I was born - I was a little middle life surprise baby to my mom - who at 41 realized she was expecting me! So my sister could be my mom, and my neices could be my sisters lol. So Tracy says I sure wish you and mom (my sister) would come and live in California to be near me and my family - and I said well, I will go where your mom goes - but I am not sure we can afford to live there....now this is where the story becomes a MIRACLE.

My neice tells me well maybe you can convince my mom to come to California. My husband and I will purchase a home near us and you, my mom and Grandma can live in it and only pay the taxes - say what!!! Yes, for the TAXES - no mortgage payment. So I call my sister and she tells me that she would love to go to California - then the phone lines really burned up. Of course Carol was astonished - we all were - this is such a wonderful gift.

So now here is the kicker - lol - the house is bought - they closed on it last week - it's located in lovely Murrieta California - and that is ALL I know - except it has 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and I can still make my beads there! My neice and her husband Nigel purchased tickets for my mom and I to fly to California in a week or so. We will meet up with my sister , her 2 other daughters Kelly and Michelle and my neice Tracy and her daughter - my GREAT neice Grace. The excitement is unbearable!!!

It looks like my home in NY is going to stay in the family for a bit - as my son and daughter-in-law will be the new owners and I am off to Southern California to the Golden Triangle! When I return from my first visit - or maybe when I am there - I will post pictures of my new home! I am looking forward to living with my sister and being close to my great neice - Grace. So through all the darkness of the last year or so a wonderful light has appeared and I am so excited to be making this change. I think my glass art will be effected in a positive way in the coming months and I am looking forward to seeing what I am inspired to create!

One neat thing - I won't be packing my snow shovels!!!

Hugs
DeMarie

Some Fun with Sterling Wire

CLICK THE PIC FOR A CLOSE UP OF THE DESIGN
I really enjoyed working on this bracelet design - I used alot of wirewrapping techiniques and of course some of my boro beads. This bracelet is already spoken for, but I wanted to share the design concept. I tumble polished the entire peice for a lovely high shine....

Good Morning!

OK - today I am going to share a bit of a personal stuggle - lol. My YOYO weight - jeez - what a mess. I have spent my entire life on a diet!! Now, I have to admit that I have never had much patience in my life - I like a quick fix, but I realize that the stresses of the last year or so have made me turn to my old friend ice cream, alot of ice cream!! Unfortunately this friend came with a few pounds. So last week I joined Planet Fittness, I am so pleased - this gym is so in line with what I needed. The perfect place for those of us that are shy to go to those "pick-up" or "show-off" gyms. No grand standing is allowed, there is a dress code and the people that go there are REAL. I am so excited.

The other thing I have conquered is a bit strange. Over the last year I developed all sorts of aches - I mean ACHES - everywhere. It seemed like every joint in my body hurt all day, all the time - I kept thinking it was the extra weight or possibly stress. Well I am pleased to tell you that they are gone - almost completely - and all it took was an internet search.

A few days ago I Googled, words like joint aches etc...and came upon a site that discussed that some people are effected by Splenda. Well, I use Splenda in everything (I suppose I thought it would make up for all that ice-cream). Well, it has been 3 days now since I have used Splenda and I am blown away by the difference. So if you find that you consume alot of Splenda (remember it's in soft drinks, diet tea etc...) and you are achy all the time, try this quick fix. Certainly showed me how important it is to pay attention to what you put in your body.

So friends I am on my way to getting myself back on track, and I find that the workout at Planet Fittness has really helped me to feel better about myself and inspire a bit of art in me too!! I am going to give myself 6 months of intense reworking and then I am going to show you before and after pictures - I promise. Since I am still in the before mode I am going to wait so I don't feel so horrible about the before picture :) - I will even give you starting weight and ending weight - NOW that should motivate me to keep doing the right thing!

Finally Back to Blogging

Well it has been a long journey from November until now - as many of you know my brother passed away on Feb. 1, 2008. His journey to live was a long one that began in September. Yet now it feels like such a short time... He passed away in comfort at my home, after celebrating his birthday on January 29th - I will always remember how he enjoyed his birthday meal and how he gave "kudos" to the chef :)

It was a bit difficult to get back into the flow of creating again, but I am now back at the torch and creating. Art can be so comforting. It feels a bit strange not to be able to share my new designs with my bro - but I am sure he takes a bit of time to stop by and give me a bit of inspiration from time to time :).

I am going to be busy, busy, busy at the torch over the weekend and hopefully will have some fun beads to share with all of you by Tuesday. I also received approval to sell on Amazon, which is going to be fun - now you can buy GG beads, while shopping for other things on Amazon :).

Thank you all for the wonderful emails of comfort and support over the last months - it was so appreciated.

Hugs
DeMarie
return to shop for beads

New Beads!!!

New Beads have arrrived - I have posted them in the Studio's store

A bit about life

Hi everyone, first let me tell all of you how much I appreciate all your emails and I PROMISE new bead sets are going up tomorrow. Some of you know, and some don't, but a few weeks back my brother went into liver failure - a non drinker, non drugger (is that a word?) but he became ill and then was given the news that his liver was failing. So, he is now in the process of traveling back and forth to Mt. Sinai in NY - and getting things in order to receive a liver transplant.

I am hoping that my tests will make me eligilble to be a living donor...but there is a ton of paperwork to process before then! So please forgive me for getting a bit behind in Studio things.

I have been steadily filling custom orders and with a few exceptions - they are all on track - some are delayed due to waiting for some "fun" glass :) - sorry Pam! The glass folk I use supply great glass, but gee it's hard to get them to answer an email!!!

OK so now that I have unloaded all my life's problems on everyone, and I am off to string some beads!
Hugs