WELCOME Let The BOC Bloggers Open Studio Tour Begin

Maple trees that  line our long driveway from the road.  These are very old, maybe 150 years old.  Every year they turn the most gorgeous shades of red, yellow,  orange and green.  I grew up in the Southwest and we never had a Fall.  But we always had sunshine. 

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Beads-of-Clay Bloggers Fall Open Studio Blog Tour. 
I am so pleased that you have come to visit  today. 

oops I am a bit camera shy

a little bit about my studio and what I am doing in it.


I have been making ceramic beads for quite awhile now.  I began making them because I was looking for beads that had large enough holes to string onto the cord I was using then to make macrame necklaces.

This is a picture of two of my first  ceramic pendants.

 I didn't know much about ceramics back then, circa 1998 but had some wonderful friends and instructors along the way.  A little later I had the Beads-of-Clay Yahoo group to help me along.  That was about  the time the group was getting started and everyone was trying to figure out how we could get ceramic beads to be accepted into the artisan bead community.  Marsha Neal Minutella,( MarshaNealStudio LLC) the organizer of today's event, was one of the trail blazers and early founding members of the group.  She has always been generous with her fabulous ability to think and organize and in sharing her creative ideas.  Thank You Marsha for making this happen today.



       I love making beads and pendants because I love color, shapes, texture and natural forms from plants and nature.  And I love the surprise each time I open the kiln.

AT 2:00 PM EST today, I hope you will leave a comment to participate in my first Giveaway, this Maple Seed Wings  Pendant.   And then hop on over to the other Ceramic Bead Artists who are participating today.  You can get there easily by going back to the BOC blog and clicking their name under their thumbnail picture.  You will be instantly transported to their blog.

Come back at 3:00PM to have a look inside my studio and leave a comment to win my  2nd Giveaway which includes one of my toggle clasps and a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy Store, and yes, you can use it during my 40% off sale today. Thanks so much for visiting.

And after the second drawing I will share a wonderful recipe straight from the old world for Apfelkuchen and show you pictures of a traditional fall activity we do around here.

Have a great time and lots of luck winning a Giveaway.