Beadygirl Blog

Take A Seat--A Week in Color--Vintage Chairs!

2011-10-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the treasuries I created with vintage chairs. If I had the space and the money--I would buy ALL of them! :-)

***In other news, I TOTALLY messed with the colors/theme/layout of my blog and can't seem to get it back to the way it used to be! I will fiddle with it more later. In the meantime--sorry for the EXTRA HUGE banner and the white background in the center. :-)

A Week In Color--GLASS

2011-10-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I got through all of the colors (AND Rainbow!) for glass and even figured out how to get a treasury picture here!!
You can see ALL of my treasury lists by going HERE . Next up, vintage chairs! I was going to do A Week in Color with vintage items, but when I started looking for red items, I found there were a large number of chairs and seating things! That set me on a path toward a rainbow of vintage chair treasuries! See those next time!

A Week in Color--Yellow Bellied, Baubled and Beaded!--Glass

2011-09-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

I was suprised that there were SO many great choices to pick for yellow! I could have done TWO treasuries for this one! A beautiful banana bead from the Etsy shop lunacyglass is just one of the yummy YELLOW

items in this treasury !

A Week in Color--Orange ya glad!?--Glass Treasury

2011-09-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm two for two so far this week! (although I'm kind of a day behind!)
Here's orange!

A perfect pumpkin from the Etsy shop AdamArtGlass1 is just one of the awesome ORANGE

items this treasury !

A Week in Color--RED (A Treasury)

2011-09-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

A beautiful bud vase from the Etsy shop kivaford is just one of the wonderful red gems you'll find in

this treasury !

I'm going to try to do a new treasury each day this week for all the colors of the rainbow--you know how I LOVE them! We'll see if I can accomplish that. I might have to actually spread it out over SIX weeks instead!

In other news--It snuck up on me at the last minute but this weekend I'll be at the
9th Annual Bead Bash!!!
Sept. 30th & Oct. 1st, 2011
Best Western Regency
3303 South Center Street
Marshalltown IA, 50158

PLEASE come and see me! :-)

Crazy for Cream

2011-09-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Of course it's been months since I had an update here! Time goes by fast and yet for ME, not much comes up that is exciting as say, a CHICKEN showing up on your doorstep. Sadly we lost that chicken, but have added four more. More on that later. I wanted to show you some new beads I've been working on--most of them listed in my Etsy shop.

Hope all is well in YOUR world. I worked on Halloween beads last week so THOSE will be up next. Take care until then! :-)

In Need of Blog Material

2011-07-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a hot lazy summer so far. No shows, no vacation, just wet and then HOT. We've done the pool and the beach but that's about it. We did have a chicken come stay at our house. Just out of nowhere a CHICKEN shows up. I had to do a crash course in chicken care and did the best I could on such short notice but alas a raccoon got to her and she just went downhill after that.
We are now quasi planning to do chickens RIGHT (coop and THEN chickens) but it's been so hot that the thought of trying to do ANYTHING outside hasn't been very appealing.
Just needed to get some little thing up here because I hadn't updated in SO very long!
How's your summer going so far?

clap clap clap Bead Show!

2011-03-16T21:51:00.001-07:00

Good Lord, my last blog post actually says "The holidays are almost upon us" (or something like that!) can you tell that not much exciting happens around here? Just beads. And even those, some people take pictures of their beads every day and post them. I'm not good about that either. WELL, if you're looking for a chance to see my beads in person, you're going to get four chances in the next four weeks!! Hopefully I will doing a show near you! (check events!)---------------------->
The first of my four shows will be this weekend (March 19th-20th):

I've got new beads and bookmarks even some earrings and pendants! Hope to see you there!!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is virtually upon us! I was going to wait until Christmas Day, but I've decided to start the sale early! As a holiday "Thank you" to you, I'm offering 25% off everything in my shop EXCLUDING "Beads Made To Order" and the "Bead-of-the-Month Club" and Gift Certificates. Discount will be refunded to you through PayPal OR I can send you a revised invoice, whichever is best for you! Happy Holidays!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/beadygirlbeads
I was just reminded that I can use the Etsy coupon code thingy that will deduct your discount automatically so I'm going to go check into that right now.

I hope you all have safe and happy Holidays!

Twin Cities Bead Bazaar!!

2010-10-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend! Come see me!!
MORE INFO

Lincoln Bead Bazaar

2010-10-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hi beady people! Those of you who follow me on Facebook have probably heard that my in-laws have moved to Africa for a couple of years to work for Bead For Life. While I am sad to see them go, I am also very excited for them in their new adventure! They left last week and made it safely so I can at least breath a little easier. :-)
I will update more on that as they get settled and start sending pictures. We can share the experience vicariously through them!

In other news, this coming weekend I will be in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Lincoln Bead Bazaar. This year the Bead Bazaar is being held in conjunction with the Textile Society of America's biennial symposium. VERY exciting!!

I hope to see lots of people! What better way to spend the day than looking at beads!? I'm sure many vendors will have "you can't beat it" bargains and even I will have a 50% off basket! :-) Come on down!

Iowa Bead Bash

2010-09-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend you can find me in Marshalltown, Iowa at the 8th annual Iowa Bead Bash! Vendors from 8 states around the Midwest come together to bring you everything you could need to bead!
Sept 24th 5-9 pm
Sept. 25th 10-5pm
For more information you can go to the website:
www.iowabeadbash.com

Hope to see you there!
P.S. I have a 50% off bowl!!! :-)

Fire Divas New Jewelry Challenge!

2010-08-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

Hey Beady people! It was so nice to meet so many people at the Bokamo Designs
open house! Steve and Terry (and Ziggy!) are WONDERFUL hosts!! I didn't even get any pictures taken to share, but maybe I can steel some from them. :-) They have a beautiful set-up! Thanks to Steve and Terry so much for having me!

I wanted to tell you about another great opportunity for you!

The Fire Divas are hosting another Jewelry Challenge! The theme for this callenge is "The Holiday Season." Pick any of the upcoming holidays and celebrate them! You can see holiday-inspired Fire Diva creations in our Flickr. By entering this challenge, you have the chance to win:

http://www.beadygirlbeads.etsy.com/

http://www.twoglassyladies.ca/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JanelDudleyBeads

http://www.arensea.etsy.com/

http://www.teasebeads.artfire.com/

http://www.artfire.com/users/BabsBeadsandDesign

http://www.lajewelrydesigns.etsy.com/

http://www.hollysfolly.com/

http://www.lutrick.artfire.com/

Owl bead from http://www.maybeads.etsy.com/

http://www.emakaye.etsy.com/

Now for the details:

All submissions must feature Fire Divas' lampwork. We require the name of the Fire Diva who made the beads used in the submitted piece, so if you submit something, please be ready to provide that information.

We will allow one submission per person per contest, and a maximum of two photos per submission. Entries may be submitted here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/firedivachallenge/) for approval, no later than October 15, 2010. Please include, in the comments section, the following:
Information about the beads:
Description of the piece:
Inspiration for the piece:
Submissions will not be approved without all of this information.

Fire Divas reserve the right to approve or reject any submissions.

Fire Divas reserve the right to modify or cancel the challenge at any time.

The winners will be determined by an open poll which does not allow multiple votes.

I encourage you to enter--this could be our best jewelry challenge ever!

Open House With Bokamo!

2010-07-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Bokamo Designs Open House!

I'll be doing the open house with Steve and Terry Rhoades for the first time and I couldn't be more excited! If you've never seen Bokamo Beads at a show, you're in for a REAL treat! They have the most amazing silver and every color, shape and size of Czech bead you could possibly want! Steve makes his own fabulous Boro beads and there will be jewelry and all kinds of stuff!

Bokamo will have ALMOST EVERYTHING 50% OFF!
Beads
Silver
Crystal
Lampwork
Czech Glass
Treats too!! :-)

I will have all carded beads & jewelry 20% off! (Which is basically everything I have besides baubles, spacers and bookmarks) A first for me!! You gotta come!!
Something for everyone at super-great prices!!!

August 6 – Noon to 7pm
Saturday August 7 – 10am to 6pm
Sunday August 8 – 10am to 4pm

5609 W. 99th Street (99th & Nall)
Overland Park, KS
913-648-4296

Anything not sold from my Etsy shop will be going to the show with me. As soon as I get back from the open house I'm off for Colorado. It's going to be a big driving week for me! In the meantime this week I'll be busy getting ready for the show, taking the kids to swimming lessons and taking care of 9 baby tree frogs!

They are so small and cute I can't stand it. Don't worry--we're taking REALLY good care of them. I've figured out how to get the live crickets in the cage without touching them so all is good with that! :-)
It'll be fun watching them grow. We may have to give some away though, the buying of crickets every other day is getting tedious and expensive! More updates (and better pictures!) on the frogs later.

Be sure to mark your calendar for the open house next weekend! Would love to see you there!
Ta Ta until next time XO

Fire Divas Summer Jewelry Challenge

2010-07-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

I know I'm bad about blogging...
I didn't even get a chance to tell you that I was in the July edition of Bead and Button! I know right?
Page 52. Pretty exciting. My first time being in a publication. Whoo Hoo!

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far and that you had a happy and safe 4th of July weekend. Rain and more rain here but...what can you do?

I wanted to let you know about the Fire Diva's Summer Jewelry Challenge! The prizes for the Fire Divas Summer Jewelry Challenge have been announced! All the details can be found here. Now you can see what incredible prizes are up for grabs!! If you haven't been to the Divas' bolg lately, you should go on over to the new Meet The Divas section! :-)

I don't know much more for now. I'll be doing an open house with Bokamo Beads in Kansas City the first weekend in August. More information on that VERY soon (yes, I promise!).

Happy Birthday To Me!

2010-05-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since I've updated here. You should know by now that I'm bad about that!

Today, May 30th, is my birthday! In celebration I'm having a one-day sale. Since I'm turning 40, (GASP!) I thought it would be fun to take $4.00 off of each item purchased TODAY only in my Etsy shop . This DOES NOT include Beads Made To Order, but everything else goes! :-)
I've added a few new things and plan to add a few more later today.
Hope everything is going well in your world. The end of the school year is VERY near so I've just been working hard because once school is out for the summer (*que music*) my time at the torch is limited!

I don't promise that I'll update here again soon because well...it just never seems to happen! You can follow me on Facebook though, I post over there at least once a day. THAT I can do from my phone and it's MUCH easier! :-)

Hope to see you at the sale.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend. Bless our Vets!

Get Your Green On!

2010-03-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patty's Day! Hope you find a great way to celebrate! Everyone's Irish on March 17th, right?!
The Twin Cities show was fantastic! So great to see everyone--vendors and customers alike!

It's spring break and Grandma Lorna is here from Colorado. She brought food and new clothes and likes playing board games and will go on bike rides...it's great! :-)

The Fire Divas have a lot going on right now too:
The Quarterly Jewelry Challenge is going on with lots of fabulous prizes including a gift certificate from yours truly!

Don't forget to vote in the Easter poll and check out the beads of the day. Good stuff!

I've got new stuff on eBay
new stuff on Etsy
And if you haven't done it--think about becoming a "fan" on my
Facebook page! :-)

Have a great St. Patrick's Day! Go Green!

Bead Show!

2010-02-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the 11th Annual Iowa Bead Fair!
"For The Beauty of The Bead"

Saturday Feb. 20th 10-4

Sunday Feb. 21st 10-3

Here's just a little sneak peak of some of the beady goodness that will be going to the show with me!

Bead Fair 2010 will be held in the Visitor's Center at
Living History Farms
in Urbandale, Iowa. There is easy access off 1-80/35 at exit 125.

Hope to see everyone there!!

The New Year and Then Some

2010-02-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

So, the last time I posted was back in OCTOBER!? Way back in 2009? Wow. I really AM boring I guess. Maybe boring but never bored. It's important to me that I shouldn't be bored. EVER. Always have something to do. With four kids, a husband, a cat and a business to run, it's not hard to find something to do. Just in case though, I always make sure I have paper and pencil, a good book and some beads with me--almost wherever I go.
ANYWAY.... I don't know where all of THAT came from!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! A little bit late but I mean it. :-) I do have some shows coming up. ----------> Check over there for event listings.
The Fire Divas are always good about posting on the Fire Divas' Blog:

There you can find all kinds of good stuff including Bead of the Day and info on things like the 4th Annual "One World One Heart" global blog event!! Pretty cool stuff--you should go check it out!

I'll have to get back with more updates soon (yeah I know, so don't hold your breath!) it's already past my bedtime tonight. Who's reading this anyway?
I'll leave you with some pictures from Narnia. Well ok, not REALLY Narnia--it's my yard. And they're from last week. Only 6 inches of snow to show THIS week. Not too very exciting--only 6 inches. :-)

Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge

2009-10-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

I am a new member of the Fire Divas! A group of lampwork bead artisans promoting the use of artisan made glass beads. The belief is that, by promoting one another's work, we all benefit. :-) What an organized, talented bunch! I'm proud to be a part.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Fire Divas are having a Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge! Several of our members have made wonderful pieces for YOU to vote on. First, you can feast your eyes on these beauties in big, clear pictures. When you're done savoring them, please vote for your favorite in bite-sized images on the right side of the Fire Divas Blog . The voting will stay open for one week - then the winner will receive a really cool prize!

You can also find us on Facebook at the
Fire Divas Fanpage

It's all new to me so I have yet to get myself completely emergered, but I really look forward to being in the group.

And for other news...my fall shows are over. It's usually kind of sad, but I did four in a row (and one I helped at in between!) so I was kinda of ready to get home and CLEAN the house I guess! ha. No really, I did clean the house. I don't remember the last time I did that! No more shows coming up until Feruary--which will be here soon enough.
Well, off to get the kids ready for school. Have a great day and don't forget to vote in the Fire Divas Challenge!

I love My Customers!

2009-08-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Two of the latest installments of works by my talented customers!

These wonderful works above were done by Linda Jones of Wild Wicked Beads. Her Etsy shop is definately a treat for the eyes! I have admired her work for quite a while and was so honored to have her work with my beads!

These super-fun pieces were done by Gergana Todorova of Geri Jewel Art. Check out her Etsy shop for wonderful, wearbale art!

Birthday Sale

2009-07-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

It was 20 years ago today...
In honor of my daughter's 20th birthday (No, I am NOT old enough to have a child that old! ha) everthing in my Etsy shop is 20% off today! That includes the sale stuff and everything! :-)
Here's my shop ------------------------------------------------------->>>

It's Almost the End of July!

2009-07-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for such a long time! I guess my life is just really BORING! Wow.
I guess we HAVE been painting the house. What a long drawn out process THAT has turned out to be! Can you say "vinyl siding"? My husband says we'll never paint again. We'll see. Here's a preview--we started with the shed:

No shows this summer--kind of depressing. Can't wait for the fall shows to start. The weather is making it FEEL like fall, however!

I've been listing as much as I can in my etsy shop, you can find new things there. I also donated some "swag" for an event call the Des Moines Swap-O-Rama .
Swap-O-Rama-Rama is "a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing." Sounds cool huh? August 1st. You should check out the website. I'm also working on some things for the Iowa Shakespeare Experience . That should be a good time for all!
Well, that's about all the new news that I have for now. Hope summer is going well for everyone. It's going FAST, that's for sure!

Bead Blast 2009

2009-04-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be doing the Kansas City Bead Society Bead Blast . I've never even been to this show but I've heard very good things and there are a lot of fabulous vendors!

It's coming up next weekend:

Saturday May 2nd 10am to 6 pm
Sunday May 3rd 10am to 5 pm

Cost : Adults $5.00 Children 12-6 $3.00 Children 5 and under are Free (There's a $1 off coupon at the website)

Kansas City Market Center
6800 W. 115th Street
Overland Park, KS 66211

Check the website for vendor and class lists, coupons and directions. In the meantime, everyone stay healthy and dry (not possible in Iowa this weekend!!) and I hope to see you there!

2009-03-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Wow what a whirlwind it's been since last I updated! It was great having Grandma Lorna here!
Thanks to all of the people who came out to the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar in Hopkins, MN. It's always great to put faces with names and meet new beady people! I think we may have even born a couple of new bead people at the gas station up from our hotel! We left the two young cashier men with some beads for thought and I have to say they seemed very intrigued! :-)
I'm getting ready for the Omaha Bead Bazaar which is April 4th at the Westside Community Center. If you're in the area, this is a really great one-day show with many fantastic vendors!
Check my "Upcoming Events" for more information.
I'm going back to the torch, then to the nursing home with my grandma and then tonight is "Fun Night" at school. Whew. I need a clone!
Talk to you soon!

Grandma's Coming!

2009-03-15T02:49:00.000-07:00

Of course, as always, it's been a long time since I've updated here. I've been doing more of the Twitter and Facebook thing. Now that I've been doing that, I feel like I have more to say than just 140 characters will allow, so maybe I should do my babbling here! :-)
Anyway.... Grandma Lorna is coming from Colorado tomorrow. I think I've told you before that she's somewhat of a celebrity around here. Today we will spend the day cleaning and telling anyone who will listen (even strangers at the store!) "Grandma Lorna is coming tomorrow!". Tomorrow will be hours of, "How much longer?" and "Is she here yet!?" until finally after ten long hours of driving, Grandma will arrive to a barrage of, "DO you want to play hide and seek!?' and "Can we go to the park!?" and "Do you want to use Mom's bike and we can go for a ride?" and and and....
That will all be before she even walks in the door! Once in the door she will not be allowed to use the bathroom privately and she will be instantly obstacled with pictures and projects from school, toys from Santa that she's hasn't seen yet, and anything else that can be quickly carried out and placed at her feet to see. It happens pretty much the same way every time. I guess that makes it somewhat of a ritual. I hadn't even thought of it that way until now.
It's always exciting when Grandma comes!

To You

2009-01-18T03:38:00.000-08:00

To all of my wonderful customers, I would just like to say a big: !!!

Thank you for allowing me to do what I love! It's important for me to be able to create in my life and without your support of my beadmaking, I probably would have just kept creating more children!! haha!
Have a great Sunday. We're off to the Kiwanis club pancake breakfast and then to the Pinewood Derby races for Boy Scouts. I'm sure you'll wanna see pictures of that! :-)

Second Sunday

2009-01-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

Hello! Happy New Year! Geeze, hard to believe that as a child (and even into high school) I thought I wanted to be a writer! Now I can't even seem to keep up with a blog!
I hope everyone had wonderful holidays. They were fast and furious for us but the weather did do its part to slow us down! With 4 new inches of snow yesterday, it's like Christmas all over again! The kids love the snow of course and even my husband secretly can't wait to get on the tractor and plow our mile-long driveway! It's not REALLY a mile long but...I wouldn't want to clear the snow with a shovel. Actually, I wouldn't want o clear the snow myself at ALL! :-) That's what I have all these kids for--haha.
Anyway, I just wanted to say Happy New Year before it was Valentine's day! I've got several shows coming up that I'll update soon on the "Upcoming Events" section.
Take care and stay warm!

P.S. I know I'm not supposed to mess with Texas...but for my southern border friends (and my little brother too!) we Iowans don't have much sympathy for your 53 degree days in the middle of January. Sorry! As you're walking around in your sandals and short sleeves, think of me here with my four layers of clothes and wool boots. At least I work with hot glass and not ice sculptures! :-)

Hello for the Holidays

2008-12-23T13:36:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays!
I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm and safe this Festivus season! For those that celebrate it, as Quentin (8) just said, "Tomorrow's tomorrow is Christmas!!" I like that.
I want to share a video with you. It's made by a fellow Des Moinesian and Twitter(er) which is how I even found it in the first place. I don't know a whole lot about Brandon Barker but from the pictures on his blog, he and his family look so lovely and happy that I can't help but smile and feel warm inside. Hope you don't think I'm weird for saying that. There are SO many other reasons for thinking I'm weird, you don't need to make that one of them.
So anyway, this video, shot IN Des Moines has been played over and over in my house for the last two weeks. Owen (he's 6) and I love it and dance around the kitchen to it. Even Quentin, who usually rolls his eyes when Owen and I listen to show tunes and watch theatrical excerpts on the YouTube got into this video..."Wait, did he just say, 'Han Solo'?". (you'll understand better after you watch it)
Anyway, I hope you'll like it as much as we did.

I wish for warm smileys inside for everyone this season. And BEADS. Everybody needs beads! We're leaving Santa Rice Crispie Treats and beads! :-)

Customer Appreciation

2008-12-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

As a bead seller I'm always curious about what my customers MAKE with the beads that they buy from me. I am always so happy and honored when my customers chose to share what they've made. This beautiful bracelet was made by Joanne Jovich . Joanne is the owner and artistic force of JJ's Jewels . Here are a few of the other wonderful works she has to her credit!

Go look through her Etsy shop and find something for someone on YOUR gift list!

Have a great day!

Cyber Monday

2008-12-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

I titled this "Cyber Monday" but in truth, that's about all I really have to SAY about it! :-) I hope if you decide to shop online today that you find everything you're looking for and that you get free shipping ta boot! I know there's free shipping in my Etsy shop, you can go there! Here's some of what you will find (some have already sold):

They are some of my favorite discs to date!

Anyway, so did you eat all of your leftovers? If you didn't host Thanksgiving at your own home, chances are (like me) you may only have leftovers of your own contribution. Myself, I'm a little sick of green bean casserole and pie. I know that may sound a little like blasphemy. haha. Some time ago I started putting part of the French's Fried onions IN the casserole as well as on top. I don't think I'm going to do that anymore. Too much mush later when you want to eat it leftover. That's my two cents about green bean casserole.
Just now as I was writing this, every time I tried to type "bean" I would first type "bead". Go figure. I think that I should go make some green beads just for the opportunity to name them, "Green Bead Casserole"! There, a goal for the day.

We had a great time on Thanksgiving and I hope you did too.
Hope you have a great Cyber Monday as well!!!

OK, I Figured It Out....

2008-11-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

The eBay template thing that is. Here's what's up there now.

A couple of the things I've moved over from my Etsy shop.

Quentin had his 8th birthday yesterday. We spent over two hours in Toys R Us trying to spend the birthday money that was burning the proverbial hole in his pocket. Some of that money he's had for more than a week so I was actually impressed that he didn't pressure harder to spend it before his actual day.

After the two hour Toys R Us stay and a quick trip over to Target just to "make sure" there was nothing better THERE we went BACK to the toy store and came home with this:

It's part of the Agent series. Pretty cool. Thank goodness for Dad and big brother Alex though... I think it would have taken more than a week to put together otherwise. All I can manage to do with the Legos are destroy them. I do like to set up the little guys though. :-)
On the way home from the toy store Quentin said, "We were in Toys R Us so long, it started to feel like we were in another world!" I had to agree!
ANYWAY... hope you're having a great sunday. Quentin's sister bought him silly string for his birthday, so I'll be spending some time today cleaning THAT up!

eBay Blues

2008-11-20T02:27:00.000-08:00

I was planning to list some things on eBay for the first time in quite a while. Apparently it's been so long that I can't even use the template from my last auction. Boo hoo, no cheating for me. That'll teach me huh?
In other news, guess whos husband has volunteered to be the assistant to the Cub Scout Den leader? Whew yeah...does that now trump MY cooking and sock washing? Will I now have to stop complaining about the bathroom? What about yelling about all the mud that gets tracked into the house on any given day? It's a complete mix of pride and fear for me here. :-) Don't worry, I'll come up with something!

And to add a little color, Owen thought I should post this:

They are Playmobil People that have been recycled and turned into magnets. Very very cute! I got them from the Etsy seller
Sigmosaics. They came all the way from Portugal and in just a week!! Wow!
I guess that's all I have for today.

11-11

2008-11-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Last week on Wednesday we attended the full military funeral of my husband's grandfather--Grandpa Marvin. While the Army veterans played "Taps", my son Quentin (7) stood in salute the whole time. I couldn't help wondering why he would do that. What innate obligation did he feel? While it was somehow sweet and endearing and drew the attention of the Army soldiers (much to Quentin's excitement), I couldn't help being concerned for his obsession with "Army guys". My thoughts flew to the future. Would HE some day want to join the Army?

Today, almost a week later, as I'm hearing and seeing the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Taps" being played over and over today, I am overcome with emotion. I'm sure I'm not alone. The fears of military service that I hold for my sons are the reality of so many mothers past and present. I'm not sure that I fully understand my emotions today but I am in touch with the fact that while Quentin was saluting at his Great Grandfather's funeral, I was more than fearful--I was proud. So maybe today for the first time my eyes have been opened in a different way to Veteran's day. My grandfathers are both veterans, my father, my husband's father, several of my cousins, my uncles...I'm proud to say that.
For them and all other Veterans past AND future--Thank you.

Beware

2008-11-06T04:58:00.000-08:00

Well, I learned a lesson the hard way last sunday--one that I should have known already. I was at the lake with my almost whole family- my inlaws, my husband, kids, even my sister-in-law's dog! We walked around the lake, played at the park area for a while, and got back to my van only to discover that someone--in the light of day (high noon) with many people around and in a crowded parking lot--had smashed out my van window and stolen my purse.
What a violation. It's somehow my fault for leaving my purse locked in there, but it doesn't make it any easier to accept. Of course there's the hassel of canceling and replacing the credit cards, checkbook, insurance cards, cell phone.... but it's the personal items that are not so easy to replace. The $120 in cash isn't so easy to replace either. I NEVER have cash--go figure! Heck even the purse itself was vintage and it came from Amsterdam.
ANYWAY...I'm just telling you this so that you too can be aware. Especially with the Holidays coming, don't leave anything of value in your car. Even a trunk is not a safe place and especially if you lock something in your trunk while you're IN the parking lot of a store or mall. People hide and out and watch for just that kind of thing.
I don't mean for this to be a downer, but I hate when this kind of thing happens and I don't want it to happen to anyone else.
Be safe, be aware.

Minnesota On My Mind

2008-10-23T05:27:00.000-07:00

Boy I'm bad about blogging! I probably say it all the time, but I just don't know how some people keep up!
I DO want to let you know that I'll be in Minnesota this weekend for the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar! If you're in the area, it's a great show with many a cool vendors! :-) I'll be set up in the same booth as Amy's Creative Bead.
I also want to mention my IMMENSE gratitude to one of the coolest people in the world--Cathy Collison. If you don't know Cathy (where have you been? ha) she is the owner of
Glass Garden Beads and the creator of the famous Bottle Cap beads. Last weekend she was ever-so-amazing as to bring me THREE pounds of a certain green-colored glass that if you know me--you know I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for but am very rarely able to find. I'm not even going to put the name of this green glass in this post lest it might come up in someone elses desparate search for this coveted color! I bought all three pounds and I'm not sharing! :-) You know the cartoon with Daffy Duck..."It's mine! ALL mine!"
ANYWAY...Cathy is so great! I just love her so much, (even before the green glass!!) and if you ARE planning to come to the bead show this weekend, you can stop by her booth. You won't get to meet Cathy in person this weekend however because she's doing the South Central Minnesota Studio Tour which is a very cool thing too! So, I just wanted to give a little credit to Cathy and for my fellow bead makers let you know about my new stash!! :-)

Hope to see you at the show!

Treasury Tuesday?

2008-09-18T07:16:00.001-07:00

Well, it's Thrusday! I missed Treasury Tuesday! It might take me a while to implement this new "event". :-)
MEANWHILE....my youngest child has lost his first tooth....we've had our first Cub Scout meeting....and some of the first pictures from Grandma Lorna's trip to Africa have come in. Grandpa has 3000 MORE, but it might be a while before I see any of those!

(Owen looses his first tooth)

(Grandma gets to kiss a Giraffe!)

(Brite shiny new Boy Scouts!)

Treasury Tuesday

2008-09-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

I just decided RIGHT now that I was going to try to start doing a "Treasury Tuesday" promotion. I KNOW today is Wednesday (no really, I know! ha) but the treasury that I got this week WAS made yesterday, so it still counts. This is the treasury that I made this week on Etsy.
I've got more to add, but for now I'll just leave you with this.

Darling Dollys and Some Little Monsters Too!!
(I had to remove this because it kept changing and didn't reflect what was really in my Treasury!)

Friday

2008-08-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

We went on vacation this year. Last year I sent the kids with my husband to Colorado with the kids while I went to the Gathering! This year going to the Gathering was not an option for me, so I got to go on vacation too. My in-laws live in Boulder (can you get any better?) so we always have the perfect vacation destination! While we didn't carry our own camera around very much, my father-in-law is almost never without HIS. I don't have any of his pictures from vacation yet, and he and my motehr-in-law are now in AFRICA! They are even slated to go to a beadmaking factory!! Can't wait to hear all about that!

I love to go UP the mountains, but I do NOT like to come down!

ANYWAY... what has everybody been up to? It's been a long time (as usual!) since I've updated.
School is back in session here. I've got 3 kids in school and one who's already out. I've got a 1st grader (Owen), a 2nd grader (Quentin), and a JUNIOR in high school (Alexander). Wow! Where does the time GO? Owen, who is so fond of school, made that comment that 1st grade is BORING!! "You have to sit at your desk almost ALL day!" he said. He's missing kindergarten a lot I think! Quentin says, "Wait till you get to 2nd grade!" :-)
I kinda misss kindergarten myself sometimes and I sure could use a special nap mat with a designated time to use it!
***do you know that they don't even DO that anymore?! They sure did when I was in school, and I only went to kindergarten for a 1/2 day!***
Hope you all had a good summer. I feel like I'm way behind and since we've been back from Colorado, I've been feeling VERY restless. I'm a little caught up in the whole political scene and not feeling very inspired work wise. :-( Hopefully that will last only about a minute more and my muse will return!!

New Things on eBay

2008-07-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Some new things up for grabs on eBay. I've been trying to do a few things over there lately. Good to keep a "pressence" you know.

***In other news...I heard a blip on the radio that they found WATER ON MARS! I'll have to do some more research and get back to you on that one. Feel free to do your own research and get back to ME on that one too if you want! :-)

Tera's Treasury

2008-07-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I so totally understand the excitement that is creating a treasury on Etsy! Today I got my very first one!
Go see!!

ArtFest Midwest

2008-06-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

Coming up THIS weekend is the
ArtFest Midwest ! As one of the demonstrating artists, you'll be able to see me live and in person! Since that is probably one of the higher up things to do on your "To Do" list, you should stop out if you're in the area! You won't even have to take a boat! We're pretty much all dried out and ready to party arty! :-)
Here's a picture of me there from last year (remember the camera adds ten pounds! ha):

Hope to see some of you there. I'm pressed for time--as always and going a little insane, but I'll be ok once the show starts. No, really--I will!!

Hooters

2008-06-11T02:50:00.001-07:00

These little guys are going to be up on my eBay later today to try to help my sister-in-law fullfill her pledge goal for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer . All the money from this auction will go toward my sister-in-laws goal.

I hope they do well! :-)

Tomorrow

2008-05-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated here in a long time. I guess that's because it took me about a month to finish the LAST entry. I encourage everyone to read my last entry if you haven't already.

ANYWAY...

Tomorrow's my birthday!!
I JUST decided--just now, that those are three of my favorite words. Well, when they are said in that order. :-)

"Tomorrow's my birthday" is so much more fun than, "it's almost my birthday" (which I've been saying all week!) and it's SOOO much better than, "yesterday was my birthday" (which I will be saying the day after tomorrow!).

So, if it's your birthday tomorrow too, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Grandma Lorna Wants to Save Second Base!

2008-05-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day. I wanted to get this post done on Mother's Day--kind of like a tribute, but the message is still the same a day later.

My mother-in-law--aka: Grandma Lorna--is doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer !

Some of you may have guessed from this blog title, that this post was going to at least have SOMETHING do with breasts--right? Well, what's really funny, is that I had to EXPLAIN what second base even MEANT to my mother-in-law ! Doesn't matter--she's not really trying to save second base for the reasons that the term "second base" was coined anyway!
:-)

Let me tell you a little bit about my mother-in-law. She's pretty popular at our house, but unfortunately for us she LIVES in Colorado. Great for a vacation destination, but we miss out on a lot of baked goods and Sunday dinners being that she's so far away. (I'm just KIDDING! She doesn't even bake all that much and for dinner on Sundays she and my father-in-law just eat popcorn!) I just wish we lived closer is all I am trying to say.

Anyway, so Grandma Lorna (and Aunt Sarah) are going to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I just think that's fantastic. My mother-in-law is such an inspiration and so commited to philanthropical causes, that I am completely and totally proud of that woman. That's right, no stereotypical mother-in-law for me folks--I got a good one! :-)

What else does she do? Well...she volunteers several times a week at the Medicine Horse ranch in Boulder. Mostly she MUCKS. Do you know what that IS? Cleaning out the manure and soiled bedding in the horse stalls. Wow.
It's a wonderful program and she loves being part of it.

She's also a doula. She's worked with several mother's pro-bono--cuz that's just how she is. She's part of the
Colorado Doulas Association . If you know anyone having a baby that's looking for a doula in the Boulder area--you should look her up!

She recently attended the
Conference on World Affairs (CWA) where she met a wonderful African woman who is part of
IPI (International Peace Initiatives) . What's really cool is that the lady is from a part of Africa where my mother-in-law will be going this summer (third trip there!) so she is going to visit her when she gets there. My mother-in-law is buying jewelry supplies to take with her to donate to the IPI and also clothing and school supplies.
She's also going to tour a GLASS FACTORY while she's there! She better at least take some pictures for me!! :-)

So...that's about all I can say about Grandma Lorna right now. (After SHE reads this, she may have more to add--haha!)

***This isn't the reason I'm doing this blog BUT...if you would like to donate to ANY of my mother-in-law's causes, I'm sure she would be very grateful. If she had her choice right now, and you WOULD like to give something, I'm sure she would choose the Avon Breast Cancer Walk.

You can actually go to her

direct link or my

sister-in-laws (who still needs to meet her goal!) to donate.

If nothing else, you can just root for her. I know we are! Go Grandma!!

Earth Day

2008-04-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day! I just heard that my fair city of Des Moines (That's in Iowa folks) is voted as one of the cities to have the cleanest drinking water in the country. Whoo hoo!
I feel good about the fact that I have been recycling household containers/paper etc. for at least 18 years! Though really, I've been doing other forms of "recyling" my whole life. (hand-me-down clothes and art from found objects count!)
Anyway, I don't have a whole lot of time this morning, I have to get ready to go to the ZOO with my son Owen's kindergarten class. What a good way to spend Earth Day huh? Afterwards I think I'll go downtown and pick up some garbage. :-)
I'll leave you with some recyclable "art" that Quentin (he's 7) made. He even cleaned up his mess afterwards How sweet!

Sunday Special

2008-04-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Man it's always a long time between Blog posts for me isn't it?
I'm so sorry about that.
Some people are so GOOD at this kind of thing. I tend toward silence, and then EXCESSIVE RAMBLING. I think today you might get the latter!

I want to say HI and thank you to my new and return customers to both my last Minnesota and Omaha shows. It's so much fun to meet new people and familar faces and see my beads come back to visit--all grown up and made into jewelry! I sure have some talented customers! Good to see everyone and I hope to see you again next year!

What else? Well, I've been trying to stock my Etsy shop. I've had lot of different things pass through the store in the last week. Some really good stuff I think! :-)
OH! Here's something I totally meant to BLOG about a long time ago and then just never did.
Not really sure where to start....
OK, I'm sure all of you know of Cathy Lyberger of Aardvark Art Glass . If for some reason you don't know of Cathy's wonderous works, go--familiarize yourself! I'll wait.
Cathy has recently joined the Etsy movement too! You can see her shop here . ANYWAY..so quite a while ago Cathy had a thing on her Blog about The Ardvaark Project . Cathy's blog is one of the only things that will cheer me up some days and I often follow ALL of her posted links because I think she is cool and want to know about the things SHE thinks are cool. Ok, so upon her mention of the Aardvark project I immediately went to see what the hoopla was about. Part of the project is the Pimp My Aardvark . So I ended up buying two aardvarks for "pimping" (mordern slang for the act of changing something to make it new and fresh) but until NOW hadn't done anything with them.
(Geeze I can really make a short story long.)
MY POINT!? Well Quentin (he's 7) got tired or waiting around for me to do something with my plastic, squeaky (yeah--they SQUEAK!) aardvark, so he took it upon himself to "Pimp" it.
***side note: I didn't tell Quentin about the "pimp" part...he saw it briefly online and he thought it was PICK your Aarvark, so it was all good!***

Here's what he came up with:

I thought that was pretty darned clever. He's got a metal slinky-type stretchy bracelet that he "borrowed" from his little brother rubber banded around the aarvark that is supposed to make the cannons. That's what he said anyway.
So, maybe you had to be here. Well, at any rate, if you are so inclined, go check out the aarvark galleries. They just might inspire you. :-)

Ok, just one more thing I wanted to share before I have to go play Playmobil:
Owen (he's 5) said to me in the car the other day,
"Mom, I know why we can never go on the Oprah show"
"Oh really? Because we're not Tom Cruise or haven't written a prize-winning novel?"
"Um no Mom, it's because we're mentally healthy and you always keep the house clean"
I about ran off the road! I don't know where he came up with that, but it's so funny on several levels!
Have a great day guys!

What's Your Sign?

2008-03-25T07:24:00.001-07:00

I'm a Gemini!
I think it's kind of ironic that I was working on this Etsy poster sketch (you know, for the one day when I actually GET a treasury!)

when I just so happen to get an email from my husband (of all people) with a list of Astrology signs and descriptions. More on that below.
In the event that I NEVER get a treasury...I'm going to at least give you the links to the Etsy shops that I WOULD feature. :-)
That's only fair right?
From the poster sketch above, they are as follows from left to right:

Luminosities

peachesandme
**********************************************************
The following Atrological descriptions were contained in the email from my DH Matt. I have removed the parts about having "BAD LUCK" for not forwarding the email on to 27,000 people. I really HATE that!

Remember, if you are on the cusp (born at the end or beginning) of another sign you most likely will have features of both signs...which may lead you into total confusion......

CAPRICORN - The Go-Getter (Dec 22 - Jan 19) Patient and wise. Practical and rigid. Ambitious. Tends to be Good-looking. Humorous and funny. Can be a bit shy and reserved. Often pessimistic. Capricorns tend to act before they think and can be Unfriendly at times. Hold grudges. Like competition. Get what they Want.

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart (Jan 20 - Feb 18) Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality. Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional. Can be a bit rebellious. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out. Eccentric personality.

PISCES - The Dreamer (Feb 19 - Mar 20) Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very crea tive and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.

ARIES - The Daredevil (Mar 21 - April 19)
Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered.) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athl etic.

TAURUS - The Enduring One (April 20 - May 20) Charming but aggressive. Can come off as boring, but they are not. Hard workers. Warm-hearted. Strong, has endurance. Solid beings that are stable and secure in their ways. Not looking for shortcuts. Take pride in their beauty. Patient and reliable. Make great friends and give good advice. Loving and kind. Loves hard - passionate. Express themselves emotionally. Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums. Determined. Indulge themselves often. Very generous.

GEMINI - The Chatterbox (May 21 - June 20) Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty. Lively, energetic. Adaptable But needs to express themselves. Argumentative and outspoken. Like change. Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent. Beautiful physically and mentally.

CANCER - The Protector (June 21 - July 22)
Moody, emotional. May be shy. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic.

LEO - The Boss (July 23 - Aug 22)
Very organized. Need order in their lives - like being in control. Like boundaries. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help Others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive. Creative energy. Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is impor tant to Leos. Attractive.

VIRGO - The Perfectionist (Aug 23 - Sept 22)
Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

LIBRA - The Harmonizer (Sept 23 - Oct 22)
Nice to everyone they meet. Can't make up their mind. Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic, and very social. Hates to be alone. Peaceful, generous. Very loving and beautiful. Flirtatious. Give in too easily. Procrastinators. Very gullible.

SCORPIO - The Intense One (Oct 23 - Nov 21)
Very energetic. Intelligent. Can be jealous and/or possessive. Hardworking. Great kisser. Can become obsessive or secretive. Holds grudges. Attractive. Determined. Loves being in long Relationships. Talkative. Romantic. Can be self-centered at times. Passionate and Emotional.

SAGITTARIUS - The Happy-Go-Lucky One (Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Good-natured optimist. Doesn't want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome). Indulges self. Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing. Doesn't like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient. Fun to be around. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Doesn't like rules. Sometimes hypocritical. Dislikes being confined - tight spaces or even tight clothes. Doesn't like being doubted. Beautiful inside and out.

*******************************************************************

Whew! That's all from me for now--took me an hour just to do THIS! :-)
Have a great day!

Day After Leap Day

2008-03-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

Oh I'm so bad about keeping my blog current! I'm sorry about that. I'm just sure that you don't need to hear about my unexplained all-over body swelling (that kept me from my torch for a week) or the YET ANOTHER bout of strep throat that has kept the kids home for most of this past week--SO....I procrastinate! :-)

There IS something blog worthy going on in our fair city that will even be made into a National Geographic show at some point I believe. There are crews in Downtown Des Moines THIS very minute preparing to move a 750 ton building !

It's the biggest mega-move to take place in America this year! Jeremy Patterson is the head of this moving crew. Pretty exciting.
My husband has been downtown with our 7 year-old (Quentin)since 7 this morning (scheduled moving start time). Supposedly it's slated to take about 8 hours for this move even though they are only going a few blocks with this building.
It's after 9am now and my husband just called and said they were going to try to drive to higher ground to get a better view.
Whew. I'll keep you posted.

Monday Morning

2008-02-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well the weather has been interesting this morning. Around 5 am I see flashes of lights through yonder window (*points with head*) and it's lightning! Followed by thunder. Followed by freezing sleet pellets (I think that was the official news term used).
Wow. Everything you've ever heard Jeff Foxworthy say about the redneck weather in Iowa--he's right! [You HAVE heard that right?]
Ok, actually I DO have a story to tell, but you'll have to wait until later. I'm going to go make some beads and then I'll be back. Ta Ta for now.

You can look at my eBay auction while you're waiting with baited breath-ha!

Love Your Legos!

2008-01-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

If you've Googled at all today, you probably already know that Lego is having its 50th birthday today! Well, that's cause for celebration in our house!! What better reason to go buy some Legos?! (Please Mom, can we?)

Anyway, thought you might like to buy some Legos of your own that WOULDN'T get sucked up in the vaccuum!
Hope your day was great!

TGIF

2008-01-25T03:39:00.000-08:00

Well since it's next to impossible to get a treasury on Etsy, and even if I COULD get one, I don't even think I know HOW....
Here's my little tribute to everyone's favorite food. (Well ok, not EVERYONE'S favorite....but it's pretty popular at our house!) and a salute to the Etsy sellers who "sling" it! :-)

Hope your day is like....BACON!

Brrrrrrrsday

2008-01-24T07:11:00.000-08:00

Um, so yeah, it's pretty COLD here!

Wednesday

2008-01-23T10:43:00.001-08:00

I'm coming to you cordless!
My very special old computer mouse conked out (too much ZUMA!?!)so.....my dear husband hooked up a cordless that we had. Now....I don't mean to complain, but UGH! I hate change when it comes to things I have to use every day--often for hours a day! This mouse is HUGE! I drawfs my old IBM mouse and takes up my whole hand! My IBM mouse had a button in the center....this new-fangled cordless mouse has a WHEEL. I understand that wheels are for mice, I just think that mice with wheels belong in CAGES! haha. That's a joke---get it?
ANYWAY.....
Nothing much else to say I guess. I've reduced the page numbers archived on this front Blog page so you will have to click back if you want to see some past posts. I did that so you could get to the bottom faster to see the larger version of my Etsy mini of favorites. Cool huh?
I'll be back later to pout some more when my dear husband hooks up the HUGE cordless keyboard that all the bells and whistles. Geeze. :-)

Saturday

2008-01-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

My two youngest children have been up since 6:30. Quentin (7) has informed me that he's going to dump out the Lego box (all 35 gallons!) so he can make something really "COOL" (Maybe even something that I can put on You Tube!). You know what happens when the 7 year old dumps out the Legos though right? The 5 year-old (Owen) is going to need to dump out the 35 gallons of GEOTRAX to go with it.
We're in for a long day folks.
I haven't even made breakfast yet! I wish there was some place that would deliver bacon. :-)
I don't really have a whole lot else to say so I'll leave you with that thought.
Bacon. ha

Saturday

2008-01-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Saturday. Not a whole lot to say about that except that it's COLD. Freezing cold!!!
The kids have Monday and Tuesday off from school and I'm sorry, but I'm not looking forward to that! :-)
I changed my top favorites (scroll down and look at the Etsy mini) to reflect some rainbow items. LOOK--one even has SKITTLES!!! Wow. They should make chocolate covered Skittles. Chocolate covered skittle BEADS. That ironed and did laundry. Wow. That would be cool. :-)
Sorry, I'm in one of those moods. Actually this is just my personality--see why I don't BLOG more?
Ok, I have to go help Owen (5) find R2-D2.....he seems to be lost in "la-la Land" as Grandma Lorna would say!
I'll talk to you soon. In the meantime, Quentin (7) thinks you should check out Brick Arms . ??? It's a Lego thing.

Monday Monday--Actually it's TUESDAY!

2008-01-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

Oh good grief! You'd think I could come up with SOMETHING at least once a week wouldn't you???

Those clever people on the Etsy forums were talking about this site that you just put your URL into the "search" field and it'll show you wherever your site might be listed or linked. It's kind of like Googling yourself...but if you have a site or blog or know someone who does...it's kind of interesting. You can go here:
Technorati

It's also fun to see how "popular" your friends are--you can put their links in as well.
As if you didn't have anything better to do huh?
Well, I hear ya. I went to bed at 7 and was up at 1. It's now almost 3am and I've yet to make any beads so....off I go.

I'll leave you with an updated UPCOMING EVENT list. If you're in the area, would love to see you! Have a great Tuesday!

Uncle Jay

2008-01-05T02:58:00.000-08:00

WELL, now that the caucuses are over, you may be asking yourself--WHAT'S NEXT!?
Well, apparently--SUPER DUPER TUESDAY! All I could think of was "Fat Tuesday" (which we all know ISN'T a reference to primary voting) so I was trying to find some info online and I came up with a site where someone called it "SUPER DUPER TUESDAY"! I about died.
Yeah, well anyway....if you're not into politics (I'm really not) and you don't understand most of the news you hear (and sometimes I don't) you mind find that UNCLE JAY can help you understand things a little better. My husband turned me on to him yesterday (Uncle Jay videos I mean...) and I just love them. There are 50 of them so, plan your time accordingly-ha!

I just checked back here and for SOME reason, the You Tube link isn't working for me. Maybe it's just my computer though.
Either way, here's the link to Uncle Jay's actual site in case I've got your curiosity up!
Uncle Jay's Website! !!

That's all I have for now. I woke up to a REALLY bad dream at 4 this morning. It's almost 5:30 now and I've had some coffee and I think I'll go shower. Hell, I may even shave! :-) Have a great weekend!

Caucus Rukus

2008-01-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

Well, it's caucus day! There's not much more I can say about it....I plan to drive downtown and take some pictures of all of the satellite trucks later--THAT should be exciting!

You can go here for more information: (You know you want to!)

3 Days Till New the New Year

2007-12-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

Wow. How lagging am I in my blogging?
I hope everyone had a super-fantastic holiday season and will ring in the new year with wonderful (attainable) goals and a peaceful heart.
Deep huh?
:-)

Not a whole lot going on here that's NEW....
You know, I do about the same things all the time. Make beads, make dinner, do laundry...

I did run across something on the Etsy forums that I thought was worth noting. If you've not had the Etsy "experience" this might help you better understand a little what it's all about.

One of my goals for the new year is to BLOG more. If there's nothing exciting going on in my life well, I can try to MAKE something exciting. Right?
Take care till then and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Monday Monday....

2007-10-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

Oh HELLO!
It's been a long time yet again.
I've been busy with shows--just got back from the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar. It was great to meet the ISGB North Regional people and see some familiar faces there. Thanks to all the people who bought beads and had wonderful feedback for me. Those comments carry with me and keep me going! :-)

I've got to get to the torch, I just thought I would post this email that my friend Amy (Amy's Creative Bead) sent because it's pretty darn funny!
Have a great week and I hope to see some of you at the
Treasures/Des Moines Area Bead Expo this coming weekend! It's gonna be GREAT!

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment . He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they're about to leave for vacation). He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

Each father will be required to know all of the words to every silly song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons.

Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed. The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties. They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in the purse.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

He will need to read a book to the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better.

They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to, "You're not the boss of me".

The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

After you get done laughing, send this to as many females as you think will get a kick out of it and as many men as you think can handle it.

Monday Monday

2007-10-01T06:31:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, Quentin (6) and Owen (5) insisted that we watch "Yellow Submarine"

While they weren't too impressed with the movie itself...."What is this movie ABOUT, Mom??"...the MUSIC in the movie left it's mark! This morning before school we played the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" CD and Quentin says, "Mom, I think I'm going to be a big Beatles fan!"

HA! Thata boy!! He's been dancing to the Dead for years, now we just gotta get him making beads! :-)
Incidentally, eventhough we turned "Yellow Submarine" off about 1/4 of the way through (Owen was already asleep anyway) I got a lot of new bead inspiration from the movie. Stay tuned for some of those!
In the meantime....
Eventhough
Peter Max didn't do the art for "Yellow Submarine" as some people might assume,( Heinz Edelmann did) Peter Max is a fabulous artist (one of my very favorites!) and his website has more than enough eye candy for ANY Monday!!
Have a great one, see you soon!

Heineken Dance

2007-09-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Kristi from LE turned us to the Heineken Dance.
Here's what we (Me, Matt, Quentin and Owen)look like when we're doing it.....
(Sorry...had to remove this, it was annoying after a while and there was no pause button. You had no choice but to hear it every time you logged onto my Blog! )

You can't even TELL I have those herniated discs!!! Must be the beer!
hahahahahaha

New Button on eBay

2007-09-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

Hey hey hey, I have a new button on eBay ! I just love it, I hope you do too!

That's all for now, I'm going to help Search & Destroy (AKA: Quentin and Owen) clean their room. I'll be in there the better part of the evening I'm sure. The question is wether I make it OUT of there!!! Tune in next time to find out! :)

Valley Junction Fall Art Market

2007-09-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

HellloOoOo~
Just wanted to post the vendor map for the Valley Junction fall Art Market. The weather should be PERFECT so come on down! Hope to see you there!

Monday Monday....

2007-09-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

August 6th, was the last time I posted here??? Holy frijoles bead people!! Time flies! The kids are in school and it feels like I have less time now than ever! What's the dang deal? Doctor's appointments have been keeping me busy for one thing. Do you do that? Wait until everyone is in school to do all your Dr. stuff? Top that with the EXTRA Dr. stuff for my stupid herniated discs and well, I'm sure my insurance people LOVE me! Pffft!
Anyway, I still don't have a whole lot to say....
I'll remind you of my upcoming show (for those in the area):

Valley Junction
Fall Art Market
Des Moines, Iowa

September 16th 2007
11-5pm

Pray for nice weather please. The first year I did this show it was HOT HOT HOT, the second year it started of COLD and stayed windy most of the day although the sun did come out....third time's a charm. Sunny and 75 please, that's my order for the day! :-)

If you're hungry for more BLOG stuff, check out these blogs:

Aarvark Art Glass Blog

And
Cindy Couling's Blog

More from me coming soon--I hope!
Have a great week!!

Today

2007-08-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

I know that I've been bad about posting, and I haven't even put up any pictures of the Gathering, but I will soon.
I ran across this auction from
JavaBead on eBay.
It's got some of my beads in it! They are older ones, but there's a "Hobnail Rainbow-Go-Round" in there. Funny. (P.S. I "stole Javabeads pic for this post--just so you know where the credit is due. I wish I could take pics like that!!!)

That's all I have for right now. I am lame I know, but it hurts to sit here. I've got two herniated discs in my neck or some dumb thing! I go to get an epidural on Friday that I hope will make the pain ALLLLL go away. Cross your fingers for me!
I'll talk to you after that!
xoxo

TGIF

2007-07-20T01:53:00.000-07:00

It's one day closer to the Gathering!! Only 6 more days for me! Some people are leaving earlier....but that's ok. I'm excited about my own time line. :-)

You only have until midnight tonight to get my Etsy "Beads Made To Order" at 1/2 price! There are still some left if you're interested!!

Here's some other new stuff that's going up on Etsy.

They will be sold seperately, so that's cool.

Have you ever had a REALLY important email that you were either trying to move to a "SAVE" folder or mark as "flag for follow-up" and instead marked it as SPAM--thereby deleting it forever AND blocking the address??? OMG I DID THAT!! I'm a little beside myself on that one. Any ideas? Share them with me PLEASE! Actually ANY time you'd like to share ideas with me, I love to hear them!

If you're near here, or willing to travel, you should check out our
Iowa Fringe Festival .

Cool stuff for us Theatre/Artist types! :-)

Ok, I'm off....hope everyone has a great weekend.

Monday Monday

2007-07-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

Wow it seems like just yesterday that I posted here. NOt the case I guess huh?
Nothing too new and exciting to report I guess....
I'm dealing with some SERIOUS neck/shoulder pain. cast your sympathy votes here please! :-)
Wanna see my Iowa State Fair entry?

Only one this year as I have just been too busy! It's in the Fine Arts too, not the Arts and Crafts. I was too late to get into Arts and Crafts. If you go to the Iowa State Fair though, be sure to check OUT the Arts and Crafts section because there will be many an entry from our fine Iowa Bead Society members! :-)
Speaking of the Iowa Bead Society, I'm off to get my supplies ready for tonight's meeting.
If you're interested, you can check out the Iowa Bead Society website here.
Hope you had a great weekend!
See you soon~

Happy after the 4th!

2007-07-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

the time has just FLOWN by! I don't know where the days go, but it's easy to use them up getting ready for a show. Then the in-laws came (from Boulder) yesterday took us to dinner and then took the kids and my van to Kalona. What a whirlwind. I stood in the middle of the room today staring at the TV thinking that maybe I should turn on some Sesame Street--just for the noise. I almost forget the days when I would have had some of MY music at the ready for "quiet times". I think I have the Robots soundtrack, Fisher Price sing-a-long songs and Veggie Tales in the CD player right now. Wow. So, what to do with this freedom? I don't know but I think it's really cool that my house has been clean for almost 24 hours. I'm amazed.
ANYWAY....so cousin Betsy is gettting married on the magical 7-7-07. We're meeting up with the kids/grandparents for the wedding and then we'll be back home.
Am I rambling or WHAT?
Yeah, ok, well, I'll send you

HERE

You'll get lost in the links if nothing else. What a comprehensive site. I could spend days!

I don't know what else to say for right now. Aren't you GLAD? :-)
Hope you had a safe and happy 4th. I think I was asleep by 10!

2007-06-21T23:10:00.001-07:00

This is some serious HAL kinda of technology! WOW!

Day Before Friday...

2007-06-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Moo cards and MySpace and Blog Tags OH MY! I tell you what, trying to keep up with the cyber Jones(es) can be a full-time job in and of itself! It all takes so much time that I don't know how people have any time to do the stuff that they blog about!
Just yesterday by some random wrong turn on my own blog management page I found out that dear, sweet, talented Angelina Beadalina (Angie Green) had "tagged" me. Pretty sneaky sis! I'm not totally hip to all of this new Blog stuffs, I just know how easy it is for me to get lost in the Blogs and sea of interesting bits of tid (aka: tidbits!).
So now that I've been tagged, I'm supposed to tag five other people. Wonder if they have to be bead people? Probably, Bead people are the best anyway! :-)

My first choice for a tag would have been cool Cathy Lybarger of Aardvark Artglass. No matter what kind of day I'm having, Cathy's blog makes it better-especially helpful on BAD days! That's a true story too! I'm not just saying that! Anyway, wouldn't you know, she's already been tagged (see, I told you she was cool!) so.... (and these are really in no order of favorites or anything like that, I love you all equally for different reasons!!)
I would give you Lori Ramotar of The Royal Bead but if she has a blog, I can't find it. SO....how about another Lori? Lori Peterson aka Loribeads. Lori is so cute and talented! Her blog is here. Be careful in those Crocs, Lori!! :-)
Whew....ok, well, there's ONE out of the way. I'll get back to you on the others.
There are also QUESTIONS that have to be answered in this whole tagging process. I don't even have time to answer all of the questions now! I'll answer this one though, since it's my favorite and the easiest.

“Five snacks you enjoy:"
Snacks. Something near and dear to my heart! You know, I think the question is posed in such a way to assume that you only eat snacks OCCASSIONALLY....that you ENJOY them as you would a fine wine after an anniversary meal. Maybe not.
Anyway, I do enjoy snacks. Daily. The more I think "snacks" in my head, the funnier it sounds. Like if someone were to come to my house and ask, "Do you have any SNACKS?" Uh, yeah...we have some. That's pretty much ALL we have.
ANYWAY.... (Hey, blame Angie for this...she's the one that tagged me!)
1.) Skittles
2.) Popcorn (a more traditional snack food)
3.) Chocolate (Brachs/Dove/Hershey's)
4.) Chips and dip (has to be Anderson Erickson French Onion dip. If you live way West or way East, you may never have had Anderson Erickson dairy products. If you haven't you should seriously consider a trip to the Heartland.)
5.) Cereal (Kix, Honey Nut Cherios, Fruit Loops) out of a cup--no milk.

Well, there you have it, at least for the snack question.

In case you're wanting to know the other questions, they are:

What were you doing 10 years ago? (you know THIS is going to be the last question answered!)

What were you doing 1 year ago?

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire

Five bad habits

Five things you like doing

Five things you would never wear again (HA! This should be, "Five things the people in your life WISH you would never wear again!")

Five favorite toys

I'll be back for more later. I need to make beads!
ox
Tera

BUSY BUSY BUSY.....

2007-06-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

"Busy, busy dreadfully busy....you've no idea what I have to do...." (from Veggie Tales)
Ok....
So Owen turned FIVE on Monday. He's living proof (as are probably all five year-olds) that time does INDEED fly by. What's the dang hurry?

Anyway, I am trying my hand at video. I'm really only putting these here for my Mother-in-law's sake. You know how hard long distance relationships can be (she lives in Boulder, we're in Des Moines--that's IOWA for those of you who might not have heard!). It's especially hard for Owen with his Grandma Lorna. He figured out that she was "lucky" #7 on my cell phone speed dial....yeah well, I've since had to change that. In case my MIL wants to sleep in a tad later than 5:30am our time (which is 4:30 am HER time)--I thought it best for everyone.

So here are some videos I took with my camera on Owen's birthday. Remember, I'm not a professional. I don't even play one on TV!

This is basically just a test post. I may have to remove these later....
Hope your week is going well. Between Birthdays and Art Center classes and Art show preperations....I'm kinda wiped out. I need a nanny!
:-)

Friday

2007-06-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Where did the week go? No matter I guess--TGIF!

Ok, here's one for ya. Keep in mind that this is just a prototype, but Owen (he's 4 until Monday!) may have discovered a cure for brain freeze!

Its the world's first Anti-Brain Freeze helmet! Best when used in conjunction with a FORK and a friendly, cheering monster.
Works well with all frozen yogurts, sherbert and Ben & Jerry's.

That's all I have for now. If I don't get back, have a great weekend. Happy Father's Day.

Monday Monday

2007-06-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was pretty uneventful, but Saturday the weather was BEAUTIFUL! Not one lick of humidity...well, I AM in Iowa, so I suppose there was SOME... But I spent the whole day pretending I was in California! :-)

This is just a quick on the fly post, and here's what's on eBay"

All of my friends are back form Bead and Button, can't wait to see the stashes! I'll be back later. I've got some Etsymom stuff in the works I wanna post for you!
Peace~
Tera

Today

2007-06-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

WOW! How the time does fly! I've been busy planting, making beads, trying to keep all of my children together in places where I can find them....(Hmmm, what did she say?) and here's something:

Glass Spring into Summer SALE!

The Creative Glass Guild of Etsy (CGGE) is pleased to announce our

FIRST ANNUAL TEAM SALE!

DATES: June 1st through June 7th

TIMES: 3pm EDT (Noon PDT, 9pm GMT) on June 1st through Midnight EDT June 7th

FOR: Glass enthusiasts and buyers

I THINK the easiest way to find all of these great Etsy Glass people is to do a general search for "CGGE" on Etsy. Lots of great stuff at great prices with lots of free shipping! :-)

In other news, I have yet to show you Star Wars mailbox pictures, and I KNOW you've been waiting for them.....(haha) so without further ado:

There was a really cool "Make My Day" thing that happened right after the boys put their letter in the box....a lady in an automatic wheelchair rolled up to put HER letter in the mailbox and I said, "May the force be with you!" and she said, "Well, to you too!". I got it all on video. It was cool. Not too many times when it's really appropriate to say that. OR...actually maybe it's ALWAYS appropriate, and we should all just say it more often.
Maybe I'll make a bumper sticker that says:
MTFBWY
Weird? Ha! I bet a lot of people would think I was trying to say something about the days of the week.

What else? Don't know. Can't think of anything else right now.
Just remember, when in doubt, let the Wookie win!

I say it's my BIRTHDAY!

2007-05-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

It's my Birthday! Happy Birthday to me! It used to be that Memorial Day was the always the 30th, no matter what day it fell on. Then it was changed to make it a holiday for everyone. Ironically, ten years after I was born, my brother from another mother was born on Memorial Day as well! Neat!
Abyway, I've been meaning to update here for days--so many things to tell you, but for now (20 minutes before I have to leave to take the kids to school) I'll just say have a great day! I make be back later!

STAR WARS STAMPS

2007-05-24T06:58:00.001-07:00

OooH whoo tomorrow's the day. The postal ladies said to be there when the doors OPEN.
Later on today I'll take pics of the boys by the R2-D2 mailbox....
Or, maybe I should wait until after we BUY the stamps.
Either way, I hope the Leia stamp wins as the most popular....it will be reproduced for single sale later on in the summer.
I have more to say, but no time to say it.
I'll be back later (what a relief huh? HA!)

IN the meantime, you can check out the Star Wars stamps
HERE

Oh! And these are new on eBay:

New Stuff On Etsy!

2007-05-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Lots of new stuff going on Etsy from me this weekend. Many "Bargain Bowl" beads! Check them out.

Other than that, I haven't done much today. Some laundry and cleaning--who needs to read about THAT?
Tomorrow we'll see "Shrek the Third" (I'll let you know how THAT goes) and then to the Valley Junction Spring Art Market. I do the one in the fall and I love to go to the spring show to actualkly SHOP and check out the other competition--er, I mean VENDORS! :-)

Should be great weather for them so that's good.
Blah Blah blah....I'm blabbing. I'm gonna go take a shower.

WHAT MADE MY DAY:
OH WAIT! I almost forgot! I painted the mailbox post PURPLE! My husband had NO say in it what-so-ever. I made an executive decision! I know some people have more creative mailboxes/posts than just plain purple, but it was at least a step in the right direction! I ended up at the end of our long driveway with my kids and a bunch of neighbor kids gathered around me. They all wanted to help paint, so instead of letting them do the post, I gave them rocks! Pretty cool. Now I have some art rocks for my garden AND a painted mailbox post. My poor husband is worried about what I'm going to paint next with the leftover paint! Mwahahaha! I have some ideas...don't worry!

Make My Day!

2007-05-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of focusing on the positive things that happen in my life, I'm thinking of starting a little section called, "Make My Day". Actually....the thing that REALLY gave me this idea was an email from a customer that I got yesterday after receiving her recent order. I don't have a picture of the necklace she bought, but it matched the "Abacus" bracelet she bought a while back.
Anyway, what she said in her email was this (I hope she won't mind my posting this!): "I got the necklace and earrings and I love them. I could wear them with a cow turd and I'd look great because no one would notice what else I had on!"
That is just about the funniest thing I've ever heard! I told her I should incorporate that into my logo! haha.
Anyway, that made my day. Thought I would share that with you.
Since that was actually YESTERDAY'S "make of the day", I should think of something for today....
Well, my little boys and I went to the park after school today and right when we got there I found a little Lego guy. That was pretty exciting for Quentin (6) because he's WAY into Legos. It was even a guy he didn't have, so that was cool. Don't worry, there were no other kids there that it could have belonged to. I could have left it in case someone came back for it but...I think my karma is safe for taking it. Ground scores are good.
Here's what's new tonight on eBay:

Ok, that's all for now, I've gotta go make some beads!

New Wheels

2007-05-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day. Wether you are a mother, or have a mother, I think Mother's Day is nice. FATHER'S day is overrated. haha
ANYWAY...
Thought I would show you my new ride! I've been in desparate need for quite some time now, but I hate buying new cars. When the air went out on the old blue Bonneville, that was the last straw. If I can't have a Volkswagon Bus....this is probably the next best thing.

Someday I WILL have a Volkswagon Bus--and hopefully I'll be able to get Peter Max to paint it-- but for now, I have to say that I'm rather fond of the keyless entry and air conditioning! I'm saving up my money now for the purple neoprene seat covers and the DVD player for the Caravan. Yeah I know....

I guess there's no other new news from me. Gearing up for Idol tonight. Vote for Melinda please-she's my poll pick! I win a whole bead stash if she wins!!!

That's all for now, talk soon~

Goo Shoes

2007-05-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

you know...you turn your back on the four year-old for two seconds and he winds up in GOO SHOES!

For those of you who may want to make your own goo...for shoes or stress relief or whatever :

1C room temp. water

1C Glue ( regular school glue- 1C=two bottles)

Food coloring

1 1/3 C warm water

4T Borax (powdered-found with the laundry soap)

____________________________________________

Mix the first three ingredients in a bowl, then the second ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly pour glue mix into 2nd bowl but do not mix together. Roll glue mix around in Borax solution 4 or 5 times then life glue mix out of Borax solution and knead for 2-3 minutes. There will be Borax solution left over--you do not need to try to soak it all up with the glue mix.

That's it. You have goo! I woudln't say that it's non-toxic--doesn't SMELL non-toxic anyway. Don't eat it. This goo is akin to those containers of stuff you get out of the 50 cent "gumball" machines at Chuckie Cheese etc. Hours of fun. Don't let it get on the carpet! :-)

New Blogger Blog!

2007-05-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

Well hey--so I think I may get on THIS blog bandwagon for a while! It just might be easier than doing my own blog "by hand" on my website. Hey....I still pull weeds in the garden and sew buttons back on and recycle, I just need as much computer help as I can get!
ANYWAY....so hello! It's MAY already!! (My birthday is the 30th for those of you keeping track! ha!) For now I'll just take up where I left off on my web blog, I won't make too many formal introductions, that may come later though.

What's the new around here? Well.....let me show you!

Can you BELIEVE what some people give away to the Salvation Army? Made IN the USA circa 1978! Yeah baby!! We really needed a new kitchen table and when I went in the other day and found this.....I knew it was mine. I was even fully prepared to pay $80 for this set--- I think that would have been my largest one-time SA purchase to date, but when I went back to buy it, it was on sale for 50% off!!! Wow huh? Notice the chairs all have wheels....they swivel too! Great times!

In other news, Quentin (6) can SNAP! Yeah, it was a pretty momentous accomplishment! Now we just need to get him to tie his shoes!

I've been having a lot of fun on Etsy http://www.etsy.com . If you have never been there--please go! It's awesome! There are a few artists in particular that I've grown QUITE fond of (to put it mildly):

LunaGraphica- Cindy Couling (web)

ArtOfAndrewDaniel-- Andrew Daniel (web)

malien00-Sweet Bonny

serpentmandalas --Lindy Longhurst (web)

garnetgoldmandesigns -- Garnet Goldman(web)

dreamalittle7 -- Dana Dunn(web)

I don't think I know anything else for now. We'll see how I feel about this new blog thing....I may have to go back to the old fashioned way of doing things.

Beadygirl Blog

Take A Seat--A Week in Color--Vintage Chairs!

A Week In Color--GLASS

A Week in Color--Yellow Bellied, Baubled and Beaded!--Glass

A Week in Color--Orange ya glad!?--Glass Treasury

A Week in Color--RED (A Treasury)

Crazy for Cream

In Need of Blog Material

*clap clap clap* Bead Show!

Happy Holidays!

Twin Cities Bead Bazaar!!

Lincoln Bead Bazaar

Iowa Bead Bash

Fire Divas New Jewelry Challenge!

Open House With Bokamo!

Bokamo Designs Open House!

Fire Divas Summer Jewelry Challenge

Happy Birthday To Me!

Get Your Green On!

Bead Show!

The New Year and Then Some

Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge

I love My Customers!

Birthday Sale

It's Almost the End of July!

Bead Blast 2009

Grandma's Coming!

To You

Second Sunday

Hello for the Holidays

Customer Appreciation

Cyber Monday

OK, I Figured It Out....

eBay Blues

11-11

Beware

Minnesota On My Mind

Treasury Tuesday?

Treasury Tuesday

Friday

New Things on eBay

Tera's Treasury

ArtFest Midwest

Hooters

Tomorrow

Grandma Lorna Wants to Save Second Base!

Earth Day

Sunday Special

What's Your Sign?

Day After Leap Day

Monday Morning

Love Your Legos!

TGIF

Brrrrrrrsday

Wednesday

Saturday

Saturday

Monday Monday--Actually it's TUESDAY!

Uncle Jay

Caucus Rukus

3 Days Till New the New Year

Monday Monday....

Monday Monday

Heineken Dance

New Button on eBay

Valley Junction Fall Art Market

Monday Monday....

September 16th 200711-5pm

Today

TGIF

Monday Monday

Happy after the 4th!

Day Before Friday...

BUSY BUSY BUSY.....

Friday

Monday Monday

Today

I say it's my BIRTHDAY!

STAR WARS STAMPS

New Stuff On Etsy!

clap clap clap Bead Show!

September 16th 2007
11-5pm