Polymer Clay Beads

Over the last year, my daughter and I have been making miniature candy out of polymer clay, to diffuse the desire for real sweets. It worked. 

A few weeks ago, while in California I started thinking of making beads out of the clay. 

I knew we would be spending 3 weeks in the country upon returning to the east coast, and a beading project seemed appropriate for the rainy days and the TV free evenings coming up.

On our last day in L.A., my dear friend Julie watched my daughter, who was asleep in the car, while I ran into an art store. The store didn't have much clay left, but I found a few colors, enough to mix and make more. I couldn't wait to get started and once we got settled and unpacked in our house in PA, I got dove right in. 

Making beads turned out a lot more complex than I anticipated and it took many days for me to get to a place where I was happy with the results. It has been two weeks now and I finally completed three necklaces, check them out!

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Mrs Nelson's Bookstore visit

Mrs. Nelson's Bookstore was new to me, but what a pleasant surprise! We arrived early and walked around the entire store looking into every red trimmed window. 

What a wonderful, big and very comprehensive store! The people from Mrs. Nelson's were welcoming and very sweet. They had a gift basket for me with  water, fruit and a scone. How great is that?

A quilt was spread out for the children to sit on, in front of a comfortable armchair, framed by a window streaming early morning sunlight. Children and parents started trickling in. 

The reading was pleasant, relaxed and much fun. 

Someone from the store had downloaded a free coloring sheet from my website, and coloring time for the kids was scheduled after I was done reading. Another brilliant idea.

My book Hugging Hour sold out immediately. Unfortunately they had not received Bella & Bean in time for the event. 

My dear friend Michael also didn't make it in time for the reading; he drove an hour to La Verne. But let me tell you, the store alone is worth the drive, and I was very happy to see him for a little bit anyway. 

Overall we had a great experience at Mrs. Nelson's, and we are sure to go back there whenever we can.

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Vroman's Bookstore visit

I've always liked Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, so when Marla Frazee and my publisher both told me about the bookstores weekly story time, I knew I wanted to be part of that. 

The story time organizers were so nice. They had provided a great space to sit, flanked by books.

 Vroman's had ordered a lot of my books, both Hugging Hour! and Bella & Bean.

Attentive kids and thoughtful adults showed up and listened happily as I read.

I recognized many dear faces in the audience. 

The whole trip to California turned out to be much fun. Story time at Vroman's was a highlight. Oyher highlights were the Pecha Kucha at Big Buddha Baba, the Book Party at Sue's, and the reading at Mrs. Nelson's. The photo's from Story Time at Mrs. Nelson's will follow shortly.

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A short week in Los Angeles

So far our trip to L.A. has been a whirlwind: parties, a Pecha Kucha, book readings and visits with dear friends. I have one more reading coming up and soon I will have plenty of pictures to post.

It never seems long enough; I never seem to be able to spend as much time with my friends as I would like to. My husband likes to refer to this week as my West Coast Book tour. Call it what you want, it's great to be here and to see everyone.

Pictures and more coming soon!

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