Hard Times

Hi everyone. I wanted to thank everyone for their super sweet comments on my last piece. Kind words from one's peers always mean a lot.

I know I keep saying I will catch up on your blogs, and I don't.  Please know my intentions are pure and honest.  It is just one of those times in everyone's life where everything seems to come up at you at once. I am strong and can handle what ever life throws at me; however, every once in a while I get knocked off my feet and need a hand up. I have wonderful people in my life that provide me with strength when I can't find my own. And I am forever grateful for them.

I do believe I will be fine. I believe that with all my heart, but until I actual get a all clear from my doctor, there will always be that underlying fear. Unfortunately these things take time. It would be so nice to be able to just take every test needed all in one day, but it doesn't work that way. It's take a test, wait a week, take another type of test. And so on so on, until it drags out from weeks to months. On top of all that I had to put to sleep Trouble (my chocolate lab of 14 years) yesterday. This is the 4th member of my animal family this year that has passed on from this world. My heart is broken from the loss of my furry babies.  Trouble had been with me the longest of all my pets. She has made 5 moves with me, lived in apartments, houses, and condo's. She has been her namesake, trouble for sure, but she has always been loyal, loving, and protective of me. She has had dementia for a year now, and it has gotten increasingly worse as time has moved on. She kept us all up at night, barking and pacing and basically being out of her puppy mind. She lost her hearing, and began having painful arthritis bouts. And just this week she could no longer hold her bladder. She would wet herself and cry. It was hard to make the decision, but I know myself I would not want to live like that, so we made the hardest decision, and helped her to move on.

So that is what is happening with me. As I said I know I will be fine, but I will also feel much better one I've gotten confirmation of that from my doctor. Which will take some more time.

Have a beautiful day everyone :)

Haute Couture Beading Contest

Hi everyone. If you are interested in entering a contest you need to check out this site! They have this really wonderful contest going on where you make pieces inspired by the Couture dresses they have provided. You just pick a picture that inspires you, make a piece, and email it to them with a brief description of why it inspired you. Easy as that! There is a list of fantastic prizes included also. I entered the piece in my last post. I've looked at the picture of the pieces already entered. I have to confess I am probably out of my league, but have to try right? Besides that I learned a whole new way to look for inspiration, and it was really fun to make the piece! So win or not I really had fun, and I plan to make some other pieces just for myself that are inspired by some of the other Couture pieces they have.

Good luck to anyone who enters! I hope you find it as much fun as I have.


Haute Couture Beading Contest: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Finally Finished!

hi everyone! I hope everyone is well. I do apologize for my absence. Sometiems it it hard for me to be on the computer. A mixture of lack of sleep, and the medications I take cause me to fall asleep as soon as I get on the computer, making it virtually impossible to do any blogging. SO please do know I have been thinking of you all, and will do my very best to catch up on everyones blogs.




So here is my latest piece :) it took several attempts, but I am pleased with how it turned out.

Homemade Bead Board

Hi everyone. Long time no post I know. I've been so busy beading, and then got knocked off my feet by a bout of salmonella.  I will try my best to get caught up on everyone's blog this week. I am anxious to see what everyone has been up to.

So if you are like me the little bead boards they sell always feel to small to work on. So I decided to make my own.

Each board measures approximately 21 x 15 inches. They are super easy to make. I took 2 - 3 flattened shipping boxes and taped them together. Any sturdy cardboard would work. Then I padded them with either some thick cotton fabric or a couple of the vellux bead mats you can buy for $1.00 or less at the bead stores. This makes them nice and soft to rest your wrists on, and also gives a little cushion to stick your needle in. I'm sure there are lots of other options, but the vellux mats, and cotton fabric were what I had on hand. Then I bought a yard of vellux fabric from Jo Ann's fabric store, using my coupon so it cost me around $8.00. Out of that I was able to make a wrist rest, 3 boards, a cover for my camera, and still have enough for either another board or another wrist rest. I wrapped the fabric over the top and secured on the back with a staple gun.

Easy as that and I have a large bead mat to work on. I love it as it is easy to swap out projects without having to pack everything up. I just cover with a piece of scrap vellux cloth to protect from dust, set it on the shelf, and grab another project that I am working on. I purchased some great little ceramic dishes from the dollar store that are shallow and wide enough to be able to easily string my beads onto the needle.

Here are some pictures:

busy busy busy

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I've been working on a beading project, which I have torn apart 4 times now. I am determined to make it work though, so it is has been consuming all of my attention. I am eager to see how it will turn out; however the perfectionist in me keeps willing me to tear it apart and start over, so I'm not sure when or if there will ever be an end to it. I keep reminding myself if I can just get through it, that I can always call it a prototype, and start fresh with a new and improved one once I get to the end of this one. I'm sure you've all been there :)

Anyways. I am hoping to catch up on everyone's blog and see what everyone has been up to this weekend. I am sorta penciling in Sunday for a day of blogging :) I also have several pictures of my studio that I took a few weeks ago, and am eager to share.

Okay. I gotta get back to the beading. Just wanted to drop a quick note to show I'm alive and say hi to everyone.

I know my contest/giveaway list is also behind. I will be updating that on Sunday also. So if anyone has any fun contest or giveaways please let me know. Would love to add them to the list.

Have a fantastic rest of your week, and a fun filled weekend :)
 

Ignorance and Arrogance...

IGNORANCE goes hand and hand with ARROGANCE. Okay, this happened a while ago, but I need to vent about SPRINT. I get my bill and there is a charge for one call for $40.00. Turns out it is to Canada. It never occurred to me that I couldn't call Canada as my calls are supposed to be unlimited. So I call, and I explain to the girl that I didn't know Canada wasn't included. This girl basically infers that I am ignorant, as she tells me that is is "Common sense" that  you can't call Canada.  Common sense she tells me. Now, I'm not sure if any of you have seen the sprint commercial where the man is bragging about how wonderful Sprint is and that you can call anywhere in AMERICA.

Ummmm...common sense right? So did Canada move to Europe? OR maybe Africa?  Hmmm..well as far as I know. Canada is still part of America, along with many other countries. It's funny how people forget that America is a continent and not a country. And sprint even chooses to advertise their ignorance and arrogance!

It's raining, it pouring,....

They say when it rains it pours. Sometimes it feels like life is one long monsoon season.


So after noticing an alarming use of the litter box I took my kitty (Jasmine) to the vet yesterday. Only to find out that my poor chubby kitty suffers Feline Diabetes. So now she has to have oral medication for infection, and 2 shots of insulin every day, plus weekly follow up with the vet. Poor kitty. I feel so bad for her.

SO, I just went through a 8 month period of daily medications and constant vet visits with my poor dog bodee who passed a few months ago. My cat (Juliet) is typically into the vets every 4-6 months for UTI infections and now I get to start all over with my kitty Jasmine. 

I'm really ready for the monsoons to end. I need some sunshine :) The other day I said to my mom "it will get better" to which she responded "no it doesn't. That is just a lie we tell ourselves to get through the day" I had to laugh because I think sometimes she is right. If you made it this far, thanks for listening. today I am just feeling sorry for self and  I really just needed to vent. Tomorrow I will be back to my normal chipper self.

Have a beautiful day, and thanks so much for allowing me to pout and whine :)