Goodbye My Amber

Today I mourn the passing of my beloved pomeranian Amber, who passed to a better place this morning. She suffered from a collapsing trachea, which is a common ailment of pomeranians, as they age. A small heart murmur exasperated her situation these later years and she suffered from coughs. She was with us for eleven wonderful years. She loved life, me and was the most affectionate dog amongst our three.

Life is precious and you never know when you will lose a love one. My days are emptier without her companionship but I will survive. I still can't believe that she is gone when only yesterday she was frolicking and running in the backyard, happily sitting under the shade of a tree (where she now rests in peace). Although her passing is an extremely sad event in our family, I am glad she was able to hold on until I returned from Philly, to say goodbye. I was only able to spend 3 days with her after Philly and wished I had more time with her but she left us knowing she was deeply loved. In the three years that I've worked from home, every day I would take breaks throughout the day to speak or play with her. I will continue to speak to her, as she will forever be in my thoughts/heart. She may be physically gone but my memories of her will forever be fresh.


Amber was the shining light in my life and a great companion, keeping me company as I worked. She saw me through a lot, in these years, through joys and disappointments. I will deeply miss her. I love you Amber (aka Hamburger, as her nickname). Mommy will miss your smile, kisses and cuddles. You will always be in my thoughts.

Thank you for allowing me to share my loss with you all,

Lisa

Disappointment and Feeling Violated ...

I know I have been absent from this blog for A LONG TIME. I've been quite busy with other things in life that somehow came in between having time to share news with you here. Tonight I felt a need to write here as I am still in Philly, after another arduous show. This trip was one of the most challenging and demanding ones I've made in recent weeks. It seems I have been living out of suitcases month after month, draining my energies quite a bit to be creative. On this trip and Bead Fest Philly, I had some highly positive moments (when some of you came to my booth to thank me for writing Bead Romantique and sharing my design sensibilities in my articles. So thank you everyone for all your kind words which truly keep me going - designing and writing as much as I do. Then there was the spectacular experience early Sunday morning as Marlene Blessing interviewed me for Beads, Baubles and Jewels.

With all these great things happening, I was deeply affected by the singular event on opening day, Friday, when I felt truly violated for the FIRST time. After 3 hours of the show opening when I turned my attention to addressing a customer and was not looking, one of my sample necklaces were stolen from my booth. It was the only piece that I did not have a display for. Of course I should have known better and pin down the necklace, but perhaps my faith in my fellow beaders were too high. Nonetheless, this act show a deep lack of respect to me as an artist. I guess I should feel flattered that whomever took my necklace loved my work. But I am not flattered. I am hurt but as with anything I will get over it with time. I just can't believe that after three years of exhibiting it has culminated to this one event that disappoints me the most. We've all had small items taken, that's part of business, but this necklace meant a lot to me.


However, I want YOU (the one who stole my necklace) to know (not that you would read my blog) but that you have deeply sadden me. The piece that you took was the debut project I wrote for Australian Beading Magazine in 2007. Although I can easily replicate the design, it is troubling to me that you felt a need to take something important from me. I would like to ask my fellow beaders to keep an eye out for this necklace. Should you see someone wear it amongst you, know that it was stolen from me. I can not fathom that the culprit would ever return it but my hopes is that if you feel inclined to return the necklace, if you have an inkling of a conscience that you may mail it back to me - no questions asked.

My address is:
PO Box 80491
San Marino, CA 91118

Or perhaps you can easily slip it back to me next year when I return back to Philly. This event almost made me think over whether I would come back to Philly to exhibit. I hope my spirit will be lifted as I fly home tomorrow. I have to set this disappointment aside for the meantime to focus on preparations for yet another show, this time in Denver. In between, I will be busy writing and have several assignments to complete. You may not hear from me until end of September.

Feeling violated and disappointment
Lisa

P.S. On a positive note, thanks to my friends at Vintaj, I have met my fundraising entrance fee for my Breast Cancer walk. Thank you Wendy, Jeanne and Jess.. you guys are the best!