What? you think, another bead that isn't a lentil !  ;)

For the longest time I have left the more organic arty shapes

I am enjoying this again and love playing with new textures and colors.

Today my bead fell off somewhere in the garden, so tomorrow the hunt is on and it is not even Easter yet ;)

I hope I find it, our garden is big!

 

                              Had a fun day at the torch yesterday and this is one bead I like a lot!



We are having a rainy Sunday, just the right weather for making beads :)

 

I love the colours that both Clio and Kalypso produce!

Wig Wag!

                                It turned out darker then wanted so today I will make another one;)

After a wonderful 2 days a way in the mountains, hiking, camping in the middle of nowhere, I feel a bit more relaxed!

I really want to get to the torch today and play with the new glass I received form Donna, you know the new "moody Blue" she made, lets see if I can get the glass to make those awesome colors she managed to coax out of it :)

I had a great day giving a private class, and a good chat about everything that has happened!

My Flight is booked, I will be arriving in the States if all goes well on the 1st of April, I am still very nervous about it all and hope that all will go well this time !

Visa Approved!!!

It has been a nerve wrecking couple of days for me, but this morning we got up at 04.30 and left to drive to Johannesburg at 05.30 the appointment with the US embassy was for 08.00. The queue was not too long and we were ushered in one by one. My nerves were on edge and after the initial handing over of the documents I had to sit and wait to be called in again, I expected to have a sit down interview for at least a half an hour, but to my surprise I was called to the little window again and questioned on my reasons for wanting to go to the US and a lot of detail surrounding this, but after some time she approved the visa, I was so relieved you can't imagine, I wanted to hug the woman! If it wasn't for an immigration lady that Portia knew we would not have been able to present our intentions in the correct light, and I am very grateful for that help.

Our next plan is to reshedule the dates for my visit, Portia will let you all know as soon as possible.

Back at the Torch!

Well I mustered up some energy to make some beads, best therapy :)

Cancelled workshops in the USA

After leaving here on Wednesday evening, full of excitement and happy that the day finally arrived, I travelled a full 24 hours to get to Chicago.
I went through passport control with no problems, but then to be asked again at the customs why I came into the US and what my reasons were for coming?  From there onwards it became a problem that I wanted to give workshops in the US . I was detained, questioned and sent back home the same evening, I will leave out the awful details of how I felt!

Here is an extraction of the waiver condition which let me to believe that I did the correct thing.

"The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is administered by DHS and enables eligible citizens or nationals of designated countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without first obtaining a visa."
I qualified and received my ESTA waiver approval.

I am home again feeling terrible at having put Portia, and all the participants through this dissapointment, and the cancellations which had to be made as a result of this.
I will try and sort out the issues with the US embasy and try to get the appropriate visa. I hope that we can reshedule sometime in the near future.

I have been in contact with all the participants that I have e-mail addresses of, should there be anyone who has not received a mail from me, please let me know.
I want to again express my sincere apologies to all of you, and I hope that I can make it up to in some way with my possible next visit. I want to thank each and everyone who has responded in such an understanding and kind way, this is what has made the whole event somewhat more bearable.

Thank you again,
Astrid

   

Fairy Dust!

I am so excited, Wednesday I am leaving for the US, Doing some last minute preparations and packing all the goodies which have to come along... I don't think I have much space for clothes;)

Here are some more beads I did this weekend, It is a pity you don't see the sparkle of the dichroc glass all that nicely on the photo, it shimmers through the layers and just adds that something special.

            

                                                                        

 

  

Yellow roses!

A garden of roses I promise you, thorns and all ;)

A bit like me then....;)

Wig Wag!!

Nooo, I haven't gone mad, its a bit off my regular track, I know! 

I will be teaching this technique in Switzerland and Austria and I would like to take along some different ideas on what to do with them, so you might see some more in the future;)