Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I wish there were more hours in the day! Ever day I get up and have a to do list I swear I am going to complete, and every day I make it about 1/4 of the way through the list. There are so many things I want to get accomplished, and I need more hours in the day to get them done!

I am still being challenged with the clubs I've joined. My local bead club has met twice now. I've got another kit from them that is full of beads that I never work with, so again it is going to be a real challenge for me to complete a piece. Which, I suppose, is the point of doing a challenge, to be challenged. So it is certainly working!

I am still struggling with the pieces I am trying to make for the online bead journal. I've started and stopped 4 different projects. The rules are that the pieces has to be the same size each month, so I am struggling finding the right size, that is both interesting, but I can still get it done each month. And I am running out of time, as we are supposed to be ready to start showing our pieces next month, and I still haven't totally completed one piece. YIKES!

Other then that I have been working on these necklaces that I have photographed here. I am kinda excited about these. I've been wanting to do them for a long while now, so it has been fun to finally get them out of my head, and completed. I am looking forward to making more of these, and hoping they will be well received in my etsy store. (Crossing my fingers!)







I recently bought a few mixed media books, primarily mixed media and fabric. I have been reading, and am really looking forward to trying some new techniques, in hopes to be able to combine it with my beading. So hopefully I will have something to show from that in the not to distant future.

Hope everyone is well.

(HUGS)
 

Friday, February 11, 2011

CAUSE AN UPROAR!

I know no one, including myself, likes to think of sad things, or to hear about sad things. But I love big cats so much, so I feel I have to pass this one on.  It's so very easy to help. Just by watching the video you can help.

For everyone who watches this video  Last Lion National Geographic will contribute 10cents to help save our big cats that are on the verge of extinction. I know that doesn't seem like much, but it will add up quickly if we all do it. And it will take everyone to save our big cats.

If you want to know how to help more see their website at Cause An Up Roar but please do watch the video if you can. Every little bit really does help.

Thanks everyone!

(hugs)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Jasmine's Angel




Following up on my Scottsdale Bead Supply store challenge piece Original Post , I finally finished the piece. Due to my kitty Jasmine's curiosity it wasn't without drama!

As I am working on the piece I set down my needle and thread and started working on my clasp. As I am working suddenly I notice my piece sliding away from me. 

Jasmine has grabbed the thread and is eating it. After a frantic search for the needle I realize, she has swallowed it.  I call my vet, and they are out of the office.  This is where things start falling into place, for this beautiful angel to rescue my kitty. I take her to another local veterinarian that I have been to a few times in the past. Come to find out, they don't have the equipment needed to remove the needle. They want to send me to a pet emergency clinic that can help her, however, they need payment up front. And it is going to cost $2000.00. Needless to say, I completely fall apart. My pets are my babies, and they are basically telling me she is going to die because I don't have the money to help her.

I am on a extremely limited income, i have no room on credit cards, $35.00 in my checking account, absolutely no way to come up with $2000. So basically they tell me, they can try to pull it out, but they can't tell from the xray if the needle is stuck into her esophagus, and if they pull it could push into her lung, rupture her lung, and of course, this would cause her to die. Obviously it's the rock and a hard place scenario, do nothing she dies, try this and she will probably die. So I tell them they have to try.

So they shave her little leg and are getting ready to put the iv in her, because they need to sedate her to try this, and they get a phone call. Some amazing, beautiful spirit saw my distress on her way out, and not only did she see my pain, but she has decided to respond to it. She called and tells them, she wants to help me, and she basically pays the whole bill for the emergency procedure. Complete stranger, never saw her, don't know who she is. At the time when I heard this, I was literally speechless. I've heard people say they were speechless, but I literally opened my mouth and nothing come out. I was so overwhelmed with emotion I could not even form words.

So we run her to the emergency place, they xray her, and sedate her and remove the needle. come to find out, the needle had penetrated into the esophagus, and into her lung. Had they tried to pull it out, it would have pushed further into her lung, and it would have definitely ruptured her lung. So had that angel not called when she had, if she had waited 5 more minutes to call, she would have already died.

So Jasmine is home, and is healing up just fine. And my life is forever changed, by this woman who was a complete stranger, and saw another person in pain, and helped. My mom is a social worker, so I was raised to help when I could, to be involved in causes, and to always give my last dollar to someone on the street who was hungry or in need. Never ever in my life though, did I ever imagine that I would be on the other side of that. That someone would see the need in me, and respond to it. You hear stories of angels that see people in distress and respond and help, but I never thought someone would help me like that.
I don't think there are words to express how deeply this Angel touched me. Nor what it meant to me for her to save my lil Jasmine Kitty. This kitty sleeps next to me every night, with her little legs wrapped around my arm in a hugging fashion. To lose her only because I could not afford to save her would have been devastating to me. I've been dealing with a lot of things, and I really feel like it would have been the straw that broke the camels back had she died. So this woman really saved me as well as my kitty. I will never forget what she did for me.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Tim Holtz and Ranger go WAY above and beyond!

These days the words "customer service" seem to be more of an oxymoron, however; you do every once in a while you run into a company that really truly does believe in real customer service, and will even go above and beyond to make their customers happy.




Way back when I took a class from Tim using the Ranger Paint Dabbers. It was a wonderful class! Learned tons of fun techniques. And we made this great little How To book in his class to use for reference. What a great idea right? I just love this little book.
A while later, I took another class from Tim learning how to make some domino jewelry pieces.
This is a photo of photo's (my scanner isn't working) of me, my mom (Barb), my aunt (Fran) my cousin (Julie) and of course, the teacher (Tim). I had a ton of fun in this class, and again learned so so much!


So of course, after taking his classes I bought tons of product. I absolutely fell in love with all of it! And of course, I can't do anything in moderation, so I bought all the products in every color I could get my hands on. This is my Tim Holtz shelf. No, it isn't all the stuff I have, but this is the stuff that fits nicely on my shelf. If you haven't explored his site yet, you really need to. So very many wonderful products to get your creative juices flowing! Tim Holtz
Unfortunately I got so busy that my wonderful paint dabbers sat on the shelf for a long while and didn't get used. And when I did go to use them, they were dried up. Well this bummed me, as these paints aren't supposed to dry up like that. So, I sent Tim an e-mail, honestly thinking not much would come of it. Well, to my Amazement, not only did Tim respond in a super friendly matter, but he contacted the company for me, and in just a weeks time I received this box at my front door (today!). Yep, that is every color of paint that I had, plus a few that I didn't! I mean, WOW WOW WOW. What company does that? None, well, none except for Ranger that is! For anyone that isn't familiar with Ranger Dabbers, each bottle start at around $4.00 per bottle in the stores and some sell for around $6.00. So this was a big investment I made, and it was a HUGE deal for Ranger to stand behind their products and to replace them for me. Especially in the absolute no hassle way that they did. 

I can't begin to thank Tim, and Ranger enough!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you are all having a fantastic day. I am super excited about my box of paints so I am off to create!










Saturday, January 8, 2011

Beading Group

So I decided to join a few groups this year. One of them being the Bead Journal which I am super excited about. I have two ideas for that one that I am still tossing around. I have to decide soon though! This is the first month so I need to get a piece done.

The other club I joined was with the Scottsdale Bead Supply store. Today was their first "challenge of the month club" gathering. Each month we meet for a half hour or so to get our kits, and to share what we made with the last months kit. I had a lot of fun today meeting everyone. It seems everyone there is into something different so I think it will be a lot of fun getting to know everyone and finding out about their different style and likes.

The kit this month was Garnet. It came with two garnet strands, crystal rondelle's, Swarovski crystal element, and some silvery metal beads. I have a month to come up with a piece of jewelry from these components. We were told we can add what ever we want to the beads. I have to be honest that I don't have much of a clue as to what I'm going to do with them. I am really seed bead dependent. Everything I make is 90% seedbeads, so this is going to push me out of my comfort zone.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic new year! 

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

We finished all the candy and cookie trays, and gave them all out to our friends and families. My fiance is in New York working so he is with his family, and I am here with my mom. The rest of our family is in Michigan enjoying a very white and cold Christmas. I miss them all so very much. Mom and I played some yatzee and watched a movie, then listened to Christmas music and  had a lovely dinner, followed by a ride around the neighborhood to see all the lights. We did a quick check to see where Santa was (just heading into Detroit Michigan according to NORAD), and now we are off to bed!



This year we agreed to no gifts, as there is nothing we decided that we needed that was worth going into debt for. I did get some beads for my mom for a bracelet she wants, but I didn't get it made, so it is more of a Promise of a gift, which I guess is okay :) I did however end up with wonderful gifts, even though we had agreed on no gifts :) I got a new matress from my mom which they delivered tonight so my most wonderful christmas gift will be a wonderful nights sleep! And my brother and his family got me a gift card for amazon which I am so super excited about. I read a great quote the other day that said a book is a gift that you get to open over and over again. I agree! I love books and have a huge wish list on Amazon so I'm very excited to go check out all the new beading books..Any suggestions???

I hope that all my blogging friends are having a warm and wonderful Christmas Eve surrounded by your loved ones.

Merry Christmas my friends!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Oh Christmas Trees

When it comes to decorating for Christmas we have at times been compared to the Griswolds.  Our motto is you can never have enough decorations, especially when it comes to trees. I could explain it, but I think this one is just easier to share in photo's. Believe it or not, we decided to go mild on the decorations this year...

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree...



Kitchen Mini Tree
Front Room Snow Fairy Tree
Snow Flake Tree Front Room
Dinning Room Tree's


Dinning Room Fruit Tree
Half Wall Tree

Red Room Mini Tree

Kitchen Mini Tree

Red Room Fun Tree


My Studio Tree