New Guest teachers

We finally changed the front page photo... I still have the dogs (greyhounds) Linkin and Lilly, and I still have my son Erkki who actually will be 17 tomorrow. Everyone was saying his photo is so outdated... and many people didn't realize that Liisa our head designer is actually my daughter.
We will have to take some new photos of the dogs and put them on the staff page as welcoming committee. And get my son there as packer, and Jaani, Liisa's husband who is our computer and internet guru. Though he said he will use his same silhouette photo that he has on facebook.

We have been getting ready for our Bead and Button teaching jig.. If you are going be sure to look us up. Consider taking one of our classes! Find us at meet the teacher night.

I just posted the classes that Jean Campbell will be teaching. She will be here Nov 12, 13, 14th 2010. Above is one of her classes. Check out all the guest teachers.. We have some great ones!

Go to Facebook.. and look us up ..Crystal Creations Bead Institute

Make it a super week.

Home From Bali!

Well it certainly was an exciting 12 days. The trip there was about 37 hours all together. The longest being a 14 hour stretch on EVA air. But I was middle class so the seat reclined and other than the guy next to me coughing all the time it was very pleasant. The layover in Taiwan was fun. All the shops were manned by young kids in suits, black with pink shirts. Very high tech looking and professional. Arriving to Denspar was hot.. the air port was hot and there was my first real exposure to Bali. Lots of fast driving cars.. tons of scooters. Mothers with high heels and kids on scooters, and 3 people piled on with no shoes. The scooters drove really fast too and even when it rained they still drove fast. I asked on driver how come I never see anyone walking on the streets.. he said it is cuz they scoot everywhere. The hotel was considered a 5 star in Bali. It was really a beautiful resort with lots of old Indonesian charm and charter. The registration was open air, and there were many lush gardens and the ocean. I had a Balinese massage to start the time off. Monday started the 6 day "Date With Destiny" program with Tony Robbins. 800 people were there and it was fantastic. Long days. Most nights we got back to the hotel about 12:30. In fact the day after the event I was going on a tour and forgot something in my room. When I went to get it I realized that something was different.. I had not gone to my room in the day time up till that point. For 2 days after the event I was able to see some of the Bali lifestyle.
Went to the market.. Where you need to offer 1/3 of whatever the item is marked. Had the privilege of visiting several bathrooms. OMG Pay for the toilet, ( I have a feeling any guy puts a box there and charges you) and you have to pay more for paper. The toilet usually doesn't flush and there is a bucket of water there for you to pour some into the toilet. And the floor is usually very wet from people spraying water around. I saw a sign in the airport that said.. This toilet is free. And then there was a sign in another bathroom showing how you are supposed to sit on the toilet not squat on it. In some of the department stores again I saw a huge amount of young workers in uniforms.. A driver told me they get about 120 per month to work full time.
I had lunch in a mountain resort overlooking the rice fields.. and it rained so beautifully.
All in all in all... I had a great time.. and I am really happy to be living in a place where you can count on a reasonable bathroom (other than the occasional gas station), and where you drink bottled water for fun rather than it being a must. The Bali people that I met were very sweet and soft spoken. Tony was outstanding... and I think EVA air was great though I never want to fly American Airlines again. Ill post photos as soon as I can get them off the camera.

Leaving tomorrow for Bali!

Got back from the North Carolina College tour trip with Erkki. Looked at North Carolina School of the Arts, and Elon. Tried to go see a few bead shops.. Managed to see 4, and the rest that I tried to see apparently went out of business. That is always so sad. The 4 I did visit were nice, though one of them said they were closing end of april.
We found a Whole foods that was really great. So we ate breakfast there every morning. As an added bonus there was a unique clothing store right next to it. I thought it looked like some style I would like. As I was shopping I realized... I can buy some new clothes for bali.. here. And I did!
The weather was totally perfect spring time weather, and we got to see performances at both schools. ANd on the last night there was a biker convention at the hotel were we ate so we got to listen to that all night..

So I have loaded my Ipod with lots of tapes..got a new one. When we went into the Apple store it was crowded.. I really should have bought stock years ago when I was in Chicago and realized that this apple store was totally jumping...and they are still jumping. It was a great buying experience. A young guy.. helped me and then pulled out his I Phone. I thought great now he's gonna start texting or something. Well the I Phone actually turned out to be a scanner, then a credit card machine, and then I signed my name with my finger. Totally fun experience.

But then I went to the shoe store to find some sort of sandels to wear with my new linen pants, and there I got to listen to the 2 sales people talk about how big their butts are, and how her husbands' mother needs to get a life, and so on and so forth. They actually talked a lady out of a pair of shoes... and me too espically when she called me Hon. At the end of it all she told me I could go on line and rate my experience.. Oh I will....

So I have my books on tape, first aid supplies, sun screen, shots, shoes, map of LAX air port, passport, camera, plug adaptors, & a new outfit, and I am ready for my 37 hours of travel..

Stand by for some some photos.

till we talk again.. gp

Bali Trip, Gemstone Sale,

Went for my annual physical the other day and am very happy to report that Dr. said everything looks great. Cholesterol, even though it was low to begin with, went down.. and fasting sugar, liver functions, thyroid, and everything else on the profile was great. I even lost some weight..
All in all very happy. We talked about what shots I might need for my trip to Bali.
Did I tell you I am going to Bali? I am going for the Date with Destiny event with Tony Robbins. I decided this year I will do the Master program. Full force.

The gemstone sale is making lots of people very happy!. Still lots of beauties left so come on in. Going to visit 2 colleges during spring break. Both in NC. Erkki has been taking driving lessons, and studying acting with Michael Haney. Liisa's working on a great new design.. and Jaani still refuses to put his photo on his facebook page. Till we talk again.. gp

Gemstone Sale

If you been looking at some of the gemstones in the cases, now is the time to stop in and claim them. Its our spring sale and they are 35% off. Sale starts Friday and continues till march 31st 2010.
Just recently got back from a Tony Robbins event. Unleash the power within. Went with Liisa, her husband Jaani and Erkki. It was great! He delivers a great product.
3500 people were there and We all walked on Fire. Well hot burning coals...Now I can add that to my fire eating and breaking boards with my bare hands.
I have been cooking more and more food at home now because I am totally fed up with not being able to find healthy vegatarian food anywhere around here except, Field of Greens, and Whole Foods.. If anyone knows of any other vegatarian or raw food restraunts let me know please!
In Feb I went to Tucson.. Though we have put out some of the goodies that I bought there we still have more to process so be on the look out for that. Tucson was great, there was a great vegan restraunt there that I went to every night.

So till we meet again. Dream Imagine Create!

Getting Better all the time!

Well a little better anyways.. writing blogs I mean. So I have a really great tip for people who, like me, wash a dish at a time rather than putting them in the dishwasher. Not that I was "one" dish at a time.. but I use a dish, leave it out.. then when I need to use it again I have to wash it.. I used to squirt a bit of dish soap out and clean it, but it was bother me because all the soaps are "ultra" concentrated now and I am sure I am using too much. I got a sprayer bottle and made a dish soap mixture. Now when I use the dish... I spray the dish soap mixture on it and easy as pie... it is ready to brush a bit and rinse.. I love my little idea.
I feel like I have finally recovered from the Holiday rush, the big sale, and inventory etc... Now to get ready for Tucson. During January we were fortunate enough to have a couple of great bead teachers. Huib Petersen and Met Immon. I learned from met how to properly stretch your beading thread, and that fireline can be colored by using your inkjet color cartridge. We made some great little shoes, and a beautiful right angle we necklace. Met had us working on the Egyptian wave bracelet, and crystal triad. Very interesting. Not constructed at all the way I thought. We learned how many times each thread size passes thru different beads.
Cynthia Rutledge, Melanie Potter are coming up.. a couple of the classes are sold out already so if you are interested don't delay. Happy beading everyone.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!... I have to say I think I am more excited about 2010 than I have been about any other year. Not that 2009 was bad. I actually had and accomplished alot of goals and had fun. I think it just got so crazy at the end of the year with sales, and my final pushes to clear out clutter, and then do inventory that I just feel tired and ready to put that behind and start anew. The end of year sale went great, thanks to all of you that attended. And a special thanks to those of you who showed up every day. I hope everyone had a great holiday time with friends and family. Liisa and Jaani come over for Christmas. We played on the Wii that I got myself for my birthday, and we ate little pizza's for lunch. Use some really healthy and hearty english muffins, made from sprouted grains. They tasted a little too healthy. For dinner we went all out with homemade potatoe soup. Simple. Well Liisa and Jaani might have had to stop and get pizza on the way home. It was a fun day till we started playing monoply on the wii. OMG it started dragging. Get money buy things, owe money and have to sell... Liisa, Jaani and I were all trying to escape but Erkki wouldn't let us go bankrupt so we made some crazy selling deals to get out of the game..It was funny. So now the new year starts... We have several new beading classes we are working on, and I am excited to have time to work on that.. Have a safe and happy year. Glenda