Love Your Legos!

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

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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

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!

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!