The Incredible Shrinking Beadmaker

Well, that title seems a little preliminary, but I thought it seemed a little catchy.

Today is my 3rd day on Phase 1 of South Beach Diet. I've never been a yo-yo dieter or try every goshdernit diet invented, but after seeing my friend Susan shrink to a hottie bod, I decided to give it a shot. I read her whole South Beach Diet Supercharged book before I began it. Then she lended me the first one, and I read most of that too.

What amazed me the most is that I already eat most of what one can have anyway. My biggest weaknesses are bread and potatoes, not sweets. But I do have some sugar-free candies on hand for sudden urges. I can feel my cravings for chocolate and other carbs quickly going away....I have to make myself eat the snacks between meals that I'm supposed to have. My skill in the kitchen is getting better....I can't wait til I can have root veggies so I can add them to my big veggie soup recipe.

My perception of my body feels different too. Granted, I've been doing a lot of exercising the last week, so of course I feel physically better. But my mind is so clear...my awareness is very sharp. I don't feel or look physically lighter (yet), but I do feel mentally lighter. The thought of buying myself a bikini for my 40th birthday is very enticing. I've been plus-sized since high school....not severely, but I've always heard "you have such a pretty face" and "you have such a great personality". Clothes shopping is sucky. I don't expect to start wearing really slutty or revealing clothes when I lose it, but I do expect to have a much better selection to choose from.

So for the next 11 days, I will eat no bread, no fruit, no sugary items, and low fat everything else. I'm eating lean meat like chicken and sirloin, lots of veggies like red peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach. Can't wait to sink my teeth into a nice Gala apple!

Polymer Clay Class 2009...the out-of-towners!

These are my new friends! All 4 drove from pretty far away from Cincinnati .... 3 from the east coast, and one from Texas! Here they are, having fun making beads.

Ok guys, here is how you make Stacker beads. Cut a thin slice fom 5 different colors of clay, right off of the brick. Stack them on top of each other, cut that stack in half and then stack the two half-stacks on top of each other. Got that??

Roll the cube of stripes into a ball, then begin to roll it so that you create a striped cone. Remember, don't roll it back-and-forth...just in one direction. You want it to be kind of like a cone-shaped barber shop pole.

Determine a good place to cut the striped cone. This spot looks pretty good!

After you cut the cone down the center from the point to the fat end, start to coil it onto itself, kind of like a snail shell, except the fat end is in the middle instead of the tiny end. This keeps the beads solid and strong.

Before you know it, you'll have a tray chock-full of Stacker beads, ready to be drilled! These gals were Stacker bead experts in just a matter of a couple of hours.

Thank you Marie, Leah, Carroll and Helen for coming so far to spend time with me, sightseeing, eating, swimming, beadmaking, laughing, driving, exploring and creating. I hope you can come back to Cincinnati again next year.......... for Part 2~!!

When People Use My Work, I Smile

Recently I got a nice stack of orders from this gal, Stephanie Hovsepian of Mine Hill, NJ. I was wondering, what the heck would someone need so many buttons for? Who is knitting sweaters in the middle of a hot summer? Then she sent photos, and it all made sense. Visit her Etsy shop to see more! Thanks, Stephanie, for your support of Ovenfried Beads! *(and ovenfriedbuttons on Etsy.)