Unproductively productive

Winners!

2010-02-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

OWOH has come to an end again. My magic carpet is crashed over in the corner taking a nice long rest. It was an amazing journey this year, 1088 active blogs in 40 countries participated this year and minus a few I made it to all of them. The talent and generosity of everyone participating is amazing! And of course I have a list of things I just have to try and tons of blogs bookmarked to go back and check out further.
So now on to the fun part, Announcing my winners!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

136
117
84
113

Timestamp: 2010-02-15 18:41:08 UTC

After careful count and recount (anybody know how to get numbers on your comments for next year? ) here they are

My heart earrings go to Rosanne.
The flower name badge holder to Mitz.
The dutch spiral bracelet to Triannas Treasures.
The wire cuff to Nanbon44.

Congrats to all 4 of my winners and thanks to all who stopped by and left a comment on my blog in the last few weeks!

Up and away!

2010-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to go? Here take my hand and climb on. We're off for adventure, soaring through the skies of Blogland near and far. I have been waiting a year for this trip! Off to see old friends, anxious to meet new ones. There are many great stops filled with treasure untold along the way. I do say I am so excited. All set now? Let's go!

Hello and welcome to my Blogland home! I am so glad you are here! This is my second year participating in One World One Heart and I have to say, it is the funnest thing I have ever done here in Blogland. For those of you that are new, here is the rundown.

~ From Lisa's (the creator) site
"WHAT IS ONE WORLD ONE HEART?

I created this event in 2007. The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. 2007 had roughly 85-90 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.
We had a strong showing the first year for sure, and then in 2008 we had just about tripled that number. In 2009 there were 911 participants, to say I was amazed is an understatement. 28 countries were represented in the 2009 event as well."
(click on the word site above to go to Lisa's actual post with way more info)

I will be giving away 4 items for this years event. All you need to do is post a comment on this post between now (1/25/10) and midnight PST on February 14th, 2010. BE SURE THAT I HAVE A WAY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU! If your name does not link back to your blog, then you need to leave me an e-mail address to contact you. I will announce my winners sometime on the 15th when I get home from work. I will be using a random number generator to pick my winners.
Thanks for taking a look around, and if you would like to see more of my jewelry, you can find me on facebook

Ok now for the goodies!

Heart earrings done with AB crystals.

Blue beads and silver flowers name badge holder.

White and purple Dutch spiral bracelet, 7 inches long with a lobster claw clasp.

Braided wire cuff made with teal and black coated wire. Adjustable in size.

Thanks for stopping by, good luck to all and safe travels to you through Blogland!

MIA

2009-11-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

Yep, again I have been MIA. Its a good thing I "blog without limits" or I would be in trouble!
So here are some quick updates to what I have been up to while I was MIA.
I got a new job!!!!!! I took a job offer as an LVN at the correctional facility in Soledad. I am totally nervous as this is my first LVN position since I got my license last October. I will be starting there on 11/30. Most of the time getting a state job takes a long time but due to budget restrictions, I have to start by 11/30 because they can no longer hire as of 12/1. We are cutting it a little close aren't we?
This will be a 1.5 hour drive each way for me so it looks like we are going to be moving soon. Mike and I decided not to rush the moving because I don't want to be stressed out about it right before Christmas. Our goal is to move by mid January. We have started packing up some things and cleaning so its not all bunched into the last few weeks we are here.

My oldest daughter turned 13, OMG I HAVE A TEENAGER SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!! Ok so it's not that bad but still, lol. We took her to the Ducks Stanford game the day after and we lost boo but we still had fun! For her party I am "gulp" taking her and her friends to see New Moon on Saturday. Yep, that's right. Me, my friend Tia and 8 giggly, screaming, crazy 13 year old girls going to see New Moon. I know, what was I thinking?!?!?!?

I did my first craft show. Didn't turn out so hot. But lessons learned, I will never ever sign up for another craft show that is not juried because I can't compete with B & S sellers (that would be buy and sell, stuff that is not handmade)
I still need to work on my PIF piece for Jewels, I have the pattern made, just need to pick up beads to start it. Maybe I will do that in the morning. I was going to stop at a bead store today on my way to my CPR class after my dr appt but it took longer than I thought so I didn't get to stop.

My hospice family took me to dinner last night at TGIF's to celebrate my new job. I have been so lucky to have worked with such a great group of people in Hospice and I love them all very much! And since I work in 2 departments, I have to go through the tears and goodbyes one more time but at least I will have some great pics of all of us!
I have been trying to organize my finished jewelry and get it listed in my ETSY shop. Wow that is a lot of work!
Just read on Lisa's blog that One World One Heart is coming soon! Can't wait for that. I have some cute pieces made that didn't sell and maybe one other thing in the works that I will be giving away on my blog so watch for that to come.
So that is what I have been doing for the last month. Wow, I think I need a nap just reading that!

Painted Pumpkin

2009-10-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

My wonderful boss Nancy brought us in mini pumpkins for Halloween. I am not talking about the flat squished ones, this is a nice round one like you would carve, only smaller. I brought it home to figure out what to do with it and it has been sitting at my desk mocking me for two weeks. I knew I wanted to try painting it, but what to paint? Last night while surfing the blog world I found this cool Terrorific Tuesday project from My Big Mouth.
I love the saying on the sign she did and new it was a perfect fit for my pumpkin!

Witch parking only, violators will be TOAD!

The side with loops and stars.

The back with more loops and stars.

Couldn't leave out the broom now could I?

I have to say, I am not by any means a painter and I did this all free hand and man it was not easy! I have a newfound respect for people who paint artistic works. I can also understand the love they have for it as even tho it wasn't easy to do, it was SO MUCH FUN! Maybe I will have to have another go at a bigger sign for home since this pumpkin is heading back to work!

Spiders, Bats and Ghosts Oh My! Free Halloween Craft Project

2009-10-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

So I got this great idea from one of my myspace buddies to make spiders from Styrofoam balls. I have had the stuff forever and have been meaning to do them but we finally had some free time tonight.

Our spiders turned into more then just spiders tho. We have ghosts and bats and pumpkins and ghouls and some special Jordan creations.

So seeing how it is Halloween and these are super easy, fun and kid friendly, I am doing my first ever free craft project!

Spiders, Bats and Ghosts Oh My!

Supplies,
Styrofoam balls, assorted sizes.
Acrylic paints in assorted colors.
Paint brushes
Foam brushes
Hot glue gun
Pipe cleaners
Stick on Crystals
Googly eyes
Glitter Pens
Puffy Paints
Tissue Paper
(Basically any fun things you have around the house for decoration)
Something to cover your workspace with, we used up some of our plastic grocery bag stash from when I forget my shopping bags.

1. Paint all of your Sytrofoam balls with a layer of your acrylic paint using your foam brushes.
2. Allow to completely dry (trust me or you will have painty fingers like we did :) )
Decorate with you random gathered supplies.

For Pumpkins, use 2-4 1 inch pieces of green pipe cleaner together pushed about halfway down into the top of an orange ball. You can pull them out after you make the hole and pipe in some hot glue to secure the pipe cleaners in.
Paint on your pumpkin face.

For Ghosts, use a white ball, paint on a ghostly face. Optional, glue tissue paper streamers about a foot long cut into strips to the bottom of the ball to give it a ghostly appearance.

For Spiders, cut 2 pipe cleaners in half. Fold all four pieces in half again. Piece two folded pipe cleaners together for each side. Bend into spider leg shape (think like a chair with the back, seat and front legs). Bend the tops down about 1/4 to 1/3 inch and stick into opposite sides of the ball. Secure with glue before adjusting legs.

For Bats, Bend 2 pipe cleaners at the same time for a uniform shape. Make your first bend about 3 inches down into a V. Bend the bottom half of the wing into this shape VVVVV. Cut off excess and place one wing on each side of Bat, securing with glue. Cut 2 1" pieces, fold into v shapes and place on top of head for ears. I used two tiny scraps stuffed in the face for fangs (this would be a good idea for spider fangs too.)

Use your imagination and be sure to send me pictures of what you make!

Tori's Ghoul

My eyeballs.
Oh and I almost forgot. Colby and I finally made our Pirate ship that I got as a kit last year on clearance from JoAnn Fabrics.

Fan Page

2009-08-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

Yeah fun things! I finally created a fan page for my stuff.

Jax's Beads on Facebook

I know I haven't been around here in a while but again busy life takes over. We went to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago for an end of the summer mini vacation. We had so much fun.
You just have to jump on the beds when you stay at a hotel.

Pool jumping fun.

Mini Double shot at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. $10 ride bracelet nights rock!

Me soaking wet after the log ride, of course right? lol.

We also went to Comedy Jam this year. It was our second time going, tho we missed last year because we were in Oregon. OMG it was so much fun.
We went with our friends Courtney and Robert and got to see Carlos Mencia, Kevin Hart, Cedric the Entertainer, Angelah Johnson and a few others. There were 10 comedians total but the best of the night was Gabriel Iglesias!

He is so freaking cool and does fan pics after his shows. We are going to see him again in Sept at The San Jose Improv. Totally can't wait!

I also decided that I am going to get a booth at the Berryessa flea market Holiday Fair Nov. 14th and 15th. I am so excited because it will be my first ever craft fair. Nervous too but more excited. I am working on ideas for setting up my table and getting stuff ready to sell. I will post some pics soon as I have them. I have a few ideas but need a trip to Goodwill to keep it budget friendly. I also need to come up with some cute packaging ideas so any suggestions are welcome.

Blog linky love giveaway

2009-08-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Time to pass out a little linky love for one of my favorite blogs, Carolee Clark from King Of Mice Studios is an absolutely amazingly talented artist. I look forward every day or so to see the new creations she makes. Of course being that she paints tons of Halloween items, you know that puts her right at the top of my favorite list!
This week she is hosting a giveaway for a hand painted Halloween black cat box. Be sure to stop by and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Playing with wire.

2009-08-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

I finally started playing with wire. I have been wanting to incorporate wire work in my jewelry for some time now and am so glad I took the plunge. Wire has a life of its own so it is taking some getting used to maneuvering it but in the few pieces I have done, I already feel like they are turning out better.

I bought a thing a majig today and some colored copper wire to practice. This is my first pieces and I think I went over board with the loops. I love how it turned out but I think they will be better next time after more practice.

This is the second design I did. I think it turned out much better. I also learned you need to press down on the wire after every loop you make to ensure that it stays together instead of pulling apart when you remove it from the pegs.
We are heading to Santa Cruz for the night tomorrow so I won't be able to spend more time with this until Thursday. Then baby sitting on Friday and a promise of GI Joe at the drive in Saturday so no beading for me for a few days.
The kids start school again on the 20th and I am really looking forward to having some free time to really get some things made up. I will hopefully be getting a table at the Holiday Craft Fair at Berryessa flea market in November and I want to be ready. It will be my first ever!

Pay it forward.

2009-08-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like most about having a blog is my list of people I follow. Someone always has a cool project or something fun going on. That being said, I found this great game on Julie's blog and totally love the idea. Here is the post from her blog.

I found this Pay It Forward Game on a fellow Blog. I have followed Julie for awhile now after stumbling upon her site from another blog. I love seeing the new things she does and it really inspires me to get my but in gear to try new things.

Okay - Here's how it works:

I am entering into the following contract with the first 5 people who comment on this post and then commit to do the same on their blog. I'm the world's worst when it comes to commitments via the BLOG - but this one really appeals to me!

Just read below and if you feel up to the task copy the following into your blog and leave me a comment.

I am willing to send a surprise worldwide (I live in the USA, BUT before any goodies are sent out - I must see a post on your blog - send me a link - that'd be perfect).

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber.
5. I reserve the right to do something strange or weird (though I don't really make strange or weird myself - but left the text in - just in case someone else may think so).
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.
7. Send your mailing address – after I contact you.

Welcome to everyone. I will however, make an effort to do something that you like based on what I see on your blog, BUT there are no guarantees.

Hoping I won't have to beg :)

Stuff for sale!

2009-07-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally got some more items posted on ETSY and the link is on the top of my blog. More to come in the next few days. I am so not hoarding stuff to post anymore, it will be up one or two at a time. I think it will save me so much time! Does anyone else have suggestions on how they post their stuff to sell? Any tips would be wonderfull!

Note to Self

2009-07-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

I finally sat down tonight to start photographing and measuring things that I have made lately so I can get them listed on my ETSY site. I have learned a few things while doing this so here are my notes to self for next time.
1. Measure the finished length right when you are done.
2. Take a picture or two of the finished piece right when you are done.
3. Make sure you charged your camera battery so you don't have to stop halfway and scramble for your back up battery.
4. Make sure your back up battery is charged too.

I normally make a few things and do photos and stuff together and that is fine for a few items. I have made about 40 pieces since I last took pictures so it was a little labor intensive tonight, not to mention more than half are only measured and not photographed. Plus I still have to photo shop my pictures and get them posted. I am going to be busy this Wednesday!
I also noticed that I have been on a necklace kick lately. I made my mommy in law a clear illusion necklace for her birthday and fell in love with how they turn out.

I need to add some more items to my stock and put the necklace making up for awhile, well at least till I find out if anybody else likes them too!

Slacker that I am

2009-07-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been ages since I have posted. I wasn't feeling up to much there for awhile but things are much better now. We made two trips up to Oregon this past spring, one for my brother who came home and one for my sister who graduated high school. It was nice seeing family but also hectic and exhausting. 1200 plus miles round trip and twice in 1.5 months.
Mike and I are doing really well. We decided to give things one more try before we give up for good and get a divorce. I guess we both realized what we would be losing and that we do love each other still. The good news is we are getting along really well.
I am also getting in a ton more beading time.
Best of all, I finally learned to do viking knit. Yay me! I had such a hard time finding a tutorial on this so I ending up piecing together info from lots of different sources.

The top piece is my first ever attempt at single viking knit. Then I tried again with I think much better results.
The bottom one is double viking knit and I am in love with this one. I will be working on piece tonight to make into a bracelet. These were just short pieces so I could see how my tension was working out. Now I just need to figure out how to finish the ends and add the clasp.

Getting out of my funk

2009-05-08T20:00:00.001-07:00

It has been way to long since I have posted here so just wanted to give a little update. My husband and I have decided to separate and we will be getting divorced. It just seems we want different things out of life right now and it's the best solution to problems we can't seem to fix. I haven't been feeling very crafty lately or felt much like talking but I am going to pull myself out of this funk and start working on taking care of my kids and myself for a change so more to come because I think throwing myself into my beads is going to be the best therapy I can get right now.

Busy Busy and my first blog award

2009-04-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

So things have been hectic, when are they not in my life right? I am in great fear that CPS will soon be at my door as I just spent yesterday evening in the ER again and with the same doctor who we saw with Jordan's broken arm. Colby sat on a display (one with a big please do not sit on these sign) at the grocery store and tumbled it over, cracked his head open and now has staples in his head. Eventually the ER Doctor is going to get suspicious right? Lol.
On to better news, I am ready to post my stuff up for sale but I am still debating about what site I want to use. At least I am all photographed and ready to go.
Now the funnest news, I have gotten my first blog award from Marie S., one of my favorite blogs that I follow!

Here is a description as to what this award means: "This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers"
I have made some great friends through my blog and I have learned so much from others. I am thrilled to pass this award on to some of these people.
The criteria for accepting the award is that you must post the picture and the meaning of the award on your blog (see above).
The blogs I picked are ones that I follow and look forward to reading everyday, that I learn something from, that make me laugh and that inspire me.
So in no particular order
beading at the beach
good quill hunting
king of mice studios
the crochet cultist
the jewellry goddess
whiMsy love
this girl beads
bead line studios

Gizmo update

2009-03-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update, Gizmo is much better today. Other than one or two random ticks all day, he is back to his happy, jumpy, lovey self. I also want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has passed this message along and signed the petition to pull this from the shelf. I was number 105 to sign and its up to 154 today with many names of my friends added in! Yay! Now to concentrate on some beading time.

Poisionus flea and tick drops

2009-03-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

Friday night at Wal-mart, we picked up some Sergent's Gold flea and tick drops
for Gizmo, our two year old Pekingese. Saturday he was crying, lethargic,
drooling, shaking, biting at himself and not eating or drinking. Google
searches led me to tons of sites, including the ASPCA community
ASPCA COMMUNITY
that all agree that this medicine is poisonous.

I scrubbed him up like the suggested and had to use a baby medicine dropper to
get him to take chicken broth.

We took him into the vet and they scrubbed him up again and gave him subcutaneous
fluids.

Today he was still crying at us, not walking, eating or drinking on his own. The
vet said as the toxic effect wears off, he should start getting back to normal
but if not, we will have to bring him back in.

This evening I finally got him to eat some cooked chopped chicken breast that I poured stock over so he managed to get some liquids down too. He is still twitching and having a hard time walking but it is slowly getting better.

Numerous complaints have been filed by people who have gone through this
nightmare, some have even lost their pets. I will also be lodging a complaint
against Hertz for not pulling this product from the shelves and I will have a
lifelong ban on all Hertz products. Please pass this on to anyone you may know
who has pets. I also included the link to the petition I signed to have the
product removed from the shelf.
PETITION

Going away present and a new language.

2009-03-19T10:59:00.001-07:00

Ok not a new language but you know that saying "Use it or lose it"? Well I lost it. I took two years of Spanish in high school and I could hold a simple conversation. I still remember a few phrases but I have been wanting to relearn what I have forgotten. I looked at buying Rossetta Stone because I have heard great things about it but it is way way out of my price range. I found a free site online called Livemocha and I am two lessons into Spanish 101. You can pay for premium content and get a little more but this is working good for now. Cool thing is that your work you submit for grading is peer reviewed and you can review other peoples work in return. It's fun so far. I even learned how to make ñ! Yay! BTW you hold down the alt key and on your number pad to the right type 164 for lower case and 165 for upper.
Now for the going away. No it's not me. One of my coworker's took a job in Virgina and her last day was yesterday. I made her the coolest going away present. She is an amazing person and I am going to really miss her so I wanted to give her something special.

Ok so the picture is a little blurry. I had to take it on my phone because I forgot to take it before I gave it to her.
Can you guess the theme? Go ahead, take your time. I will wait.

Twilight you say??? Yay for you, that is exactly right!!!
Ok ok yes it is kinda cheesy but my entire office has read and loves the Twilight saga. She loved the bracelet and even better it was a blast to come up with all the extra charms to go with the Wolfe charm from Jacob and the heart from Edward.
It also looks like this is a big hit and I will be making a few more in the near future.

Now I am off for my busy busy afternoon. I have conferences for both Colby and Jordan today and Jordan gets X-rays this afternoon to make sure her bone set right. Cross your fingers cuz if it didn't, they are going to have to rebreak it and that would not make for a happy Jojo. It's going to be hard enough to convince her to get the new cast on today. She hates it and has been begging for it to come off. At least she hasn't figured to use it as a weapon. Yet anyways!

2 little monkeys jumping on the bed.

2009-03-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Ok so one was a little monkey and the other was a daddy monkey. But you can guess which one fell of and while she didn't bump her head, she did break an arm.

Here she is in her sparkly pink cast, and of course, no one can help her do anything!

We didn't get a cast yesterday when we went in because she broke the radius bone and it was bowed out a bit. We met with an Orthopedic surgeon this morning and thankfully, he gave the ok to cast it without having to put her under to reset the bone or to pin it.
We go back in two weeks for x-ray's to make sure it set correctly and for a new cast if it did.
She is upset that she can't ride her scooter or play on Colby's skateboard. And the sling is driving her nuts!

I need a vacation.......

2009-02-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

I know, I just got back last week but we were only gone two days. It has taken me a week to get everything caught back up. Plus I had to finish working on my instructions for the beaded Chinese Lantern which are now posted! It is my first pattern uploaded to the site by me! Totally exciting!
On to other news, our trip was hit and miss. We had to switch hotels. Mike called before I made reservations and asked about pets. They said no problem we are pet friendly. I booked online for a better deal, nothing about pets on the site except it says pet friendly. When we got there to check in, $20 extra a night for Gizmo to stay with us! Now since we called and they didn't say that when Mike was talking to them about it, we didn't stay. Went down to Motel 6 where it was cheaper to begin with and Gizmo stayed free. I really wouldn't have minded paying if they would have said so on the phone before we booked but hey, I guess I won't make that mistake again. The things you learn being first time pet owners.
It was rainy and stormy on our first night. We went down to the beach at sunset and got to see some lightning from the car over the ocean after dark. That was pretty.
Went back to the hotel room and ordered pizza and played games. I am the new Yahtzee queen in my house. 6 (yes 6, S-I-X) Yahtzee's in one game!
Tuesday morning Colby woke up sick but after throwing up only once, wouldn't stay home so we trekked through the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
My favorite part is seeing the jelly fish.

The sardines that made Cannery Row famous.

My little mermaids.

The penguino's that JoJo is crazy about.

My little trooper.

He made it 3/4's of the way before he started to feel sick again. He slept for a while and felt better so we headed back to the beach. This time we got some great sunset pictures.

Then back home the next day.
I also made a decision to start selling my jewelry online. I decided to go with freewebs because they have the best options for the online store for the free sites that I looked at. Really thought about using ETSY but I am still a little anxious about posting there. I will make my official announcement of my "store" being open once I get a chance to photograph my merchandise.

Packing to ship... and a bald dog.

2009-02-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

I am so excited that all of my winners have gotten back to me for OWOH. This was such a great experience. I am already looking forward to next year!
3 of my 4 winners are overseas so I wanted to make sure I found something I could send their prizes in that would keep it nice and safe for the long journey. I went to Target with the goal to find some cute little Valentine's heart tins.

I found these cute little padded jewelry boxes instead and had to get them! So now everything is packaged and addressed and will be sent Tuesday since Monday is a holiday here and post offices are closed.

I also finally got my Bead a Day Calendar from Tower.com. Not impressed. Their 5-15 days shipping took over 30. (I ordered a cell phone battery from E-bay the same day and the guy shipped from China, I had it in a week!) Couldn't get a live person to talk to and my e-mail response said they needed me to verify shipping address before they would look into anything. Considering I copied and pasted the shipping info into the e-mail I sent them, don't you think I would have noticed if the address was wrong?

On to another note. We have been having a problem with fleas. Gizmo's hair was so thick we couldn't get the stupid little bugs to die with flea shampoo. Flea collar was no help and the drops on his back were just not getting through his hair. After a few flea baths, we ended up with mats in his hair. Deciding to get 2 birds with 1 stone, we took him in and told them to shave him down. He hardly looks like himself!

This is him saying "Mama, how could you do this to me?"

Now what are the consequences of shaving a long haired dog? He shivers, constantly. Not good when we are planning a trip to Monterey Bay on Monday for a few nights. Off to Petsmart we went. Second time he has been in there, the first was the day after we got him when he was still a scardy dog and he coward in the cart. OMG he went nuts with all the smells in that place! We even managed to find him a jacket on clearance that is adorable!

I even found a flea bomb to set off for when we are gone. Die you stupid, biting little buggies! Ha Ha Ha Ha!

OWOH Winners!

2009-02-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

Ugh sorry for the delay, our internet provider had an outage, at 11 pm on 2/11. My internet is finally back up this morning and I am racing to post before I go to work so here are my winners.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

101
171
86
91

Timestamp: 2009-02-13 15:53:13 UTC

First prize, pink flat spiral bracelet.
#101
Blogger Pike said...

So cute! Please enter me in the drawing!

Pirjo from Finland
pirjo.kallioniemi @ yahoo.com

#171 2nd prize, name badge holder.
Blogger Ellen said...

I love your earrings and the name badge very unusual. ( I'm not a pink girl)

thanks for your visit to my give away

February 11, 2009 2:13 AM

#86 3rd prize chain earrings.
Blogger Cheryl said...

Great giveaways! Please enter me and thank you for visiting my blog.

January 28, 2009 5:00 AM

#91 4th prize, purple earrings.
Blogger Sarah said...

These are very pretty!
Thanks for visiting me too.
Sarah :)

January 28, 2009 2:52 PM

Thanks to all who have participated! I had so much fun with this and can't wait to spend more time checking out all the great blogs!

Life getting in the way

2009-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

It seems like I have had a lot going on in the last week or so. This has really shown here, where I haven't been in a while. Part of that is I have nothing new done so nothing new to post.
We are having some issues with my oldest daughters real father. He doesn't even deserve to be called that. He was out of the picture for 10 years, I never once said anything bad to Tori about him. For the last two years he has been in her life, all I have heard is how awful I am and how I ruined his and his wife's life.
Everything I did, I did with my daughters best interests at heart. I never did anything to be vengeful of him. She has been angry at me for years for him not being there. She held him on a pedestal, thrilled that he was back in her life.
He disappointed her on her birthday and Christmas this year, she didn't call him till Mike forced her to the other day. He made her feel guilty and I called him on it.
All the lies he told her and the blame he lays on me came out again, thrown in my face but this time in front of Tori. Up until now and even through all of this, I let her make her own decision of how to feel towards him. But what I won't do is stand idly by while he makes her feel bad.
His last words to her were you can look me up when you turn 18, he took her off his friends list and won't return her calls. His and his wife's inability to get over the past means he can't move forward to have a relationship with Tori. It disgusts me that someone can make the conscious choice to walk away from their own flesh and blood because he didn't like what I had to say when I stood up to him for my daughter.
It breaks my heart, not that he is out of the picture, but that he hurt her in a way she will carry with her for the rest of her life. She is hurt beyond measure and I can't fix this. I can't make him see that part of being a parent is sacrificing what we want for what is best for our children.
He has made it clear to me that he is also blaming me for this, I told Tori lies to make her hate him. Too bad he won't even hear Tori out to find out the real reason she is angry. No matter where he places the blame, he did this to himself. Tori is broken hearted and it will be Mike and I picking up the pieces. I hope she chooses to take this as a learning experience and that she will be a stronger person for it instead of being bitter and blaming everyone else for what bad things happened to her.

Feeling springy

2009-01-24T20:21:00.000-08:00

I have total cabin fever. I know that i should not complain because we had a full week+ of 70 degree days here just last week. The clouds have only been here for a few days. I mean come on, the kids were playing in the ocean on Monday. I guess after so many dreary Oregon winters, I crave sunshine 24/7.
I went bead shopping today and got some killer deals, like 45% off my entire purchase, woohooo. This was my birthday present for this year. A week early but I had coupons to use, a special Chinese New year's discount and a limited supply of semi precious stones and I have been everywhere looking for the right Jade to make a flat spiral bracelet for my mom's co-worker. (Yes I found it!)
I also got some new seeds and this is how I know I am feeling springy! I am a black kinda gal. All my jewelry is black with white or blue or silver. Maybe some dark emerald green here and there. These are the seeds I bought today.

Other than replacing my red 8/0 that I used, the rest are screaming spring flowers to me and I didn't even realize it until I got home! So now what to do with these colors? I also bought some stuff to try bead crochet. I will have to stop and get a smaller hook at Jo-ann's tomorrow on my lunch. I tried with my grandma's hook I have and it's just too big. But even the mixes I picked for those look springy.

And of course when I took out my camera, JoJo had to have a mini photo shoot.

Here is JoJo and Gizmo.

Gizmo thinking why are you letting this crazy child hold me!

Jordan showing us her crazy face!

And yes, Gizmo is now hiding from her in his safe place. Under my feet at the desk. At least he keeps my tootsies warm!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I am having a total blast blog surfing the OWOH participants. If you haven't checked it out yet, see my blog post here

OWOH GIVEAWAY

2009-01-20T23:31:00.000-08:00

I am on the Gypsy Caravan!!!!! I found a link the other day on another blog about One World One Heart. A world wide blog giveaway to connect bloggers from around the world who would otherwise never get a chance to meet. You can find out more by clicking the OWOH button, both on the top of this blog and on my page. Make sure to check out the blog link list as there are already over 300 participants all giving away great goodies. If you are not an active blogger, be sure to read the posts as some people require you to have an active blog to participate in their giveaway.

If you are not familiar, here is how it works. Leave me a comment on this post and THIS POST ONLY BY 11:59 PM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME ON FEBRUARY 11TH, 2009! I will close comments at midnight. Make sure you leave me a way to contact you. If you have a blog, please link to that and if you do not, leave me your e-mail address in your comment. If I can't contact you, you can't win. I will use a random number genorator to select the winning comment number, post the winning comment and contact the winner sometime during the day of Feb 12.
The lucky winner will receive my "cotton candy" flat spiral bracelet done in 2 different sizes of white czech glass beads, the base white bead has a beautiful finish (you can see it in the second photo) that is brought to life by the size 15/0 pink seed beads.

I want to say a special thanks to Lisa "oceandreamer" Swifka for creating and organizing this event. You can find her blog and giveaway here
I hope many of you will come back and visit me in the near future, and be sure to visit my visitor's map on the side bar while you are here. I would love to see where everyone is from!

UPDATE: I am having so much fun and found some really cool blogs while I have been out surfing! I have even decided to add a second item to my giveaway so I will now be drawing two names!

This is a beaded name tag badge, made with seed beads, Czech fire polished white beads, polymer clay flower beads and moonstone for magic!

Edit to add third item!

I hit over 100 comments so this is the third item I will be offering in my drawing!

Ok so time got away from me and I hit 150 awhile ago but here it is, my fourth item!

These are purple glass woven earrings, the pattern can be found at Deborah Roberti's website, around the beading table. She is an amazing designer and very generous. This is one of my favorite free patterns of hers.

My goal is to add one item for every 50 comments and I will update with pictures as I get them made!

And if you haven't yet hopped on the gypsy caravan yet, there is still about a day to join the giveaway before Lisa stops adding names to the link. You will still have until Feb 11th to get your name in on some of these great giveaways! Just click the link at the top of this post! Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon! Happy surfing!

Just another little edit note, thanks so much for everyone who has stopped by and left wonderful comments. I am looking forward to swinging by and spending more time at tons of the blogs that participated this year, especially those who visited me.
Good luck to all of you tonight! I will be posting my winner after I return from a job interview tomorrow.

The winds of change

2009-01-20T19:41:00.001-08:00

While I am thrilled about Obama being sworn into office today, I wasn't going to post on the inauguration but just a minute ago I logged on to yahoo and saw this.

Photo courtesy of Yahoo
I saw this photo on yahoo when I turned on my computer tonight and I was moved to tears. I see so much in this picture. The love these two share for each other, determination, inspiration, courage but most of all I see hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for change. Hope for all Americans to again be proud of our great nation for its diversity and opportunity. I have always been proud to be an American, but it has been a long time since I have felt pride for my nation. Today I feel that pride again.

Getting back to normal

2009-01-08T14:38:00.001-08:00

The excitement of the holidays is finally over. We end up with a busy few weeks. Not only is there Christmas and New Year's, Jordan's birthday falls on the 3rd. Then it takes a few days to get the house back in order and the kids back on schedule. They did not want to go back this year and I can't say I blame them! After two 3 day weekends, I was dreading working five full days in a row!
We did get a really rare day last week with all of us home together on New Year's day. We decided to head down to Monterey Bay and I am so glad we did. It was a gorgeous day there while there was fog and rain back here at home.
We stopped first at the Butterfly Gardens in Pacific Grove.

You can see the clumps of butterfly's here.

This is Mike and the kids on the Butterfly bench, last time we were here was Feb. 3 years ago. I can't believe the kids have gotten so big!

Just before sunset at Asilomar State beach. I love the beaches here, we always find great shell treasures so I will be working on making some pieces as soon as I get a bead reamer to put holes in my shells.

Dinner at Bubba Gump's. This is how you get the waiters attention. We had them sing Happy Birthday to Jordan, she got so embarrassed she hid her head under the table.

And the birthday girl at her party with her chocolate chocolate cake.
I did get one beaded item done.

I didn't have the colors I wanted but wanting to make him out weighed going to the store yesterday so here he is in multiple shades of blue and green. You can find the pattern here. 3d beading
Now is the countdown to MLK Jr day. We are all off that day too so I am looking forward to another trip to Monterey. And I have a week off in Feb. for President's day week. The kids are off all week so I am going take my Birthday holiday that week so we can go spend a few days in Monterey.
We are barely over an hour away and we never go. It's a shame because it is my favorite place to be. I may do some job hunting while we are there. I would love to move. But until then, we plan to go way more often.

My productive day and Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my 3d spider tutorial today. He is not posted yet but will be over at 3d beading soon. This has been a long time in the making and I am glad to start my new year off without this "monkey" on my back.
The next thing I managed to do is to get a couple items up for sale on my website
This has also been a long time in the making. I thought designing the site would kick me into high gear to start selling things but I forgot about Christmas so that pushed everything back on my site.
The last thing I did was make my new year's resolution, well I am doing that now so here goes.
1. No more starting something unless I plan on finishing it. I have enough unfinished things to keep me busy for 3 lifetimes.
2. I am going to stop saying yes to everything that is asked of me and start only saying yes to the things I want to do and that make me happy.
3. I am gonna remember that it is ok for me to put my needs first and that is something I haven't done in a long time.
4. I am gonna relax a little and have more fun.

Ok I think that does it for me. Simple, easy and things I should be doing anyway right? I have a feeling this is going to be a much better year and I can't wait!
Happy New Year's to everyone!

The tin lady

2008-12-31T11:32:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have gotten a little crazy with my bead storage lately and had to share the neat finds I found the other day. I normally use snap and seal plastic boxes because I don't have a set area for storing my stuff and it ends up being packed into a backpack to stay safe from my kids knocking things over and such but lately I have moved to a new stoarage system.
Mike got some peppermint bark last year for Christmas, I thought the tin was way to cute so I kept it. About a month ago, I needed another storage box for some new beads I bought so I grabbed the tin and the rest is history.

And then my coworker was cleaning out her desk and was going to throw away her altoids tins, nope they came home with me along with another tin of cheese straws someone else brought in.

But the neatest ones I found are the smackers coke container, it came with 5 lip glosses so I talked my daughter into buying it with me, she got lip gloss, I got the cool tin. Then I found the Willy Wonka suitcase tins at the dollar store and heaven, bought one of each!

So I will be on the lookout in the new year for cool new tins to add to my bead storage collection!

Link issues

2008-12-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

I am trying to see if I can fix my link issues, so I thought I would try and see if using tiny url would help.
http://tiny.cc/vYZ2d Here goes nothing.

I am trying it the normal way too.
Ok I am editing this post to try again.
here

Yay it worked when I typed it in manually!

Busy busy busy and a happy announcement

2008-12-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

Ok I have not gotten much beading done over the weekend. I did have some computer issues, my cd/dvd drive is no longer working and since my warranty is up in like two weeks, the computer went in to get fixed. They sent me home with a loaner so Yay I am still online. I just finished installing the software I can't live without. AVG antivirus, open office suite, inkscape and first and foremost, firefox cuz IE is yuck yuck yuck, lol. I know its all in my perception. Now that I am back up and running, I have a happy announcement to make.
My wonderful dear friend Allegra has asked me to be a moderator for her site, www.3dbeading.com I am totally stoked to be able to be a part of her site (and I know my links aren't working here but the link is 2nd on my favorite sites to your right). I found her site earlier this year and have been glued to it ever since. Even better, she has become a great friend! I also created my own 3d spider which I will be writing a tutorial for to post there.
The second neat thing is that I got my yes we did Obama bumper sticker in the mail today so I can finally make the Obama ornament featured here ( http://margotpottertheimpatientcrafter.blogspot.com/2008/12/impatient-crafter-free-holiday-craft.html ) I know bad links but cut and paste people! Plus you can get your own vinyl sicker at MoveOn.org.
I will keep you updated to when my spider tutorial is up but in the mean time, here is a sneak peek at what he looks like.

rainbows

2008-12-24T14:39:00.000-08:00

I just found this neat Rainbow at The Jewellery Goddess's blog. I think it's really accurate for me too.

Your rainbow is strongly shaded green and white.

What is says about you: You are an intelligent person. You appreciate quiet moments. Those around you admire your fresh outlook and vitality. People depend on you to make them feel secure.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Nothing to do......

2008-12-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

That is a weird thought for me, I have nothing to do today. Oh sure the usual things, light house work, making dinner etc. Thanks to my odd work schedule, Friday thru Tuesday, I get to have an extra day off to make up for Christmas day. I really wanted Friday off but seniority rules in my office so here I am, home today with nothing to do. I have been so overwhelmed getting ready for Christmas that my to do list has been pages long. I can't believe I have finished! All my ornaments are made, Christmas presents are bought, wrapped and hidden till Christmas eve. Its just us this year so I will be doing just a simple dinner, ham and homemade scalloped potatoes and a fruit tray from Costco.
We have missed Santa twice this year at Christmas in the park. The first time was a day before he got there. The second time we went, we had dinner first and got to the line at 9:05, they closed it at 9:00. We will be trying again Christmas Eve as my dh works tonight and tomorrow during the day. This time we are going straight to Santa then out for Pizza at our favorite pizza place, Pizza Chicago! YUM-O. We will be making cookies tomorrow morning too.
But today is nothingness! This will give me a chance to finish up some UFO's (unfished objects), play with my goodies I got from Margot Potter, the impatient crafter, and maybe even get some items made to post on my site for sale finally. I will even be able to let the munchkins outside since it is not raining and not to cold which means uninterrupted work time!

FINISHED!

2008-12-18T01:29:00.000-08:00

Yes that's right, my ornaments are FINISHED! And what, pray tell, do 53 hand made beaded ornaments look like you ask? Well they look like this.

Ok so they are in the tin because I really can't stand looking at them at this moment (and because I have become a collector of tins lately and love stashing my beadwork in them.) I needed something to keep them out of my sight! It seems like all I have done for the last few weeks is make ornaments. I did pull out a few so you can see them better.

I also finished my mother in law and sister's amethyst necklace/ bracelet sets today. They are the same so I only took pictures of one. (ok ok I forgot to take pictures and wrapped one set before I realized it lol it is 1:34 am right now!)

So all that is left now is to pick up two gift cards and ship tomorrow morning. Mike will be doing that before he goes to work at noon.
Oh and we still have to wrap presents for our kids. That will be fun this year. I scored big time today when we finished shopping. Mervyn's has about 8 days left before they shut their doors forever. I have already experienced this sadness once as they closed in Oregon a long time ago. I love Mervyn's sales. Something is always 60 or 70% off and the clothes are a lot better quality then shopping cheap. I am not one who buys name brand but Dickies jeans last a lot longer on my 8 year old son than the cheap jeans from Wal-mart and Target and if I can get them for the same price, I am going for the Dickies!
While I am sad and praying for all the employees who will be left without jobs, this came at a good time for us this year.
We were still wearing shorts to school a few weeks ago. I love the weather here. But we had to pull out the pants and long sleeve tops and low and behold, everything from last year is a few inches too short! The girls can manage but my poor son just won't wear capris! LOL The kids are loaded with new clothes now, I even got my husband some south pole jeans for $14! I think it is going to be a good Christmas and the first one I can proudly say I am ready for! No wrapping presents all night Christmas eve, WOOOHOOO!

Halfway there

2008-12-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

Ok I am about halfway done with making Christmas ornaments for my coworkers. Wow this was a big undertaking. I don't know if I mentioned this or not but I work in two departments so that means I am making 50 ornaments. Yep, you read it right 50. I have right around 25 done. I cheated a little bit and bought three kits of snowflake ornaments. Each one is supposed to make 14. It came with plastic beads, just not my style so I am having fun making each one unique from my stash of beads. It has really helped with my time being able to get them worked up so quick. And it came with these cool little stoppers to put on the end so I don't have to wrap each one. They are short so it would have really been a challenge but they were the only forms I could find on such short notice. Ordering online would not have gotten them here on time.
I also still need to make my sisters and mother in laws necklaces tomorrow night in order to get them shipped by Thursday morning. Tomorrow morning I am set to finish my shopping while the kids are in school. Then of course we get to work in wrapping time too!
Ugh this list is daunting! I need a nap just reading it. Ok back to work on more ornaments. I will post some pics if/when I ever get them finished!
Oh some good news too and I have to give some link love to Margot Potter, the impatient crafter. I am the lucky winner of a wonderful set of beads from her blog. YAY, getting beads in any way is always a great way to make my day! Check her out at http://margotpottertheimpatientcrafter.blogspot.com/ (sorry my links aren't working for some reason so you will have to cut and paste but trust me, well worth checking out!) She also has some great crafty quickies on her site. I have learned everything on my own so its a great resource to learn proper techniques.

Beady Blast from the past

2008-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

My co worker mentioned a few weeks ago she had been given some old beads from someone cleaning out their house a few years back. She knows I am bead crazy so when she came across them, she asked me if I liked them and said she would bring them to me.
I was absolutely thrilled when I opened the bag she brought me today and found this inside.

I have always wanted to buy some older beads just to have. The packaging is neat, the prices crazy and it's just cool to have a piece of bead history. These packages have been sitting in someone's attic for years. The dates on the packages that have writing are all in the 60's. I have only known beads to come in plastic tubes, all of these are glass with corks. They have been untouched for so long that the cork actual broke off of the tops of a few as I was trying to open them.

Here are a few pics of the packaging that I think is just grand to have!

The 19 cent bulges.

29 cents for these pearly pink beads (only in my dreams! How I wish beads where still this cheap, I would be in heaven!)

The back of the package with the copyright date.

This one is my favorite packaging so I had to include a picture.

I will be making my co-worker a badge holder for bringing these to me, I want to include some of the beads from this stash so I will post a picture of her thank you gift when I get it complete!
Now I am off to finish dinner and tomorrow is set aside for finishing presents and getting Christmas cards finished. I have my scarves complete but I need to make ornaments for my co-workers (like fifty so nothing impressive but at least thoughtful!) I also have two bracelet/necklace combos that need to be done but I don't have the gemstones for those. I plan on shipping next Wednesday the 17th so I have a little bit of time. Wish I would have had them all done last week when I had to drive to Oregon. Oh well.

Great day, photos are up and I have new earrings on the way!

2008-12-05T23:28:00.001-08:00

LOL I just got so carried away I posted this blog blank the first time! I was working on getting my photos up tonight on this blog and I realized that I am much better at making jewelry then photographing it. I would have to say that it is a little harder to do where I am because I hardly ever get overcast days. I am in San Jose so the sun is always out. Great for me, bad for my photos. I did manage to get a few ok ones, a better camera definitely helps. I hope you get a chance to check them out. The link is on the right under my photos.
My website will be up and running by after Christmas I have decided. If you see something you like and or want in my photos or something you would like to have made, e-mail me about it and I may be able to squeeze it in. There are a few more presents I need to work on and also I am making ornaments for my co-workers this year. Not fancy ones but snowflakes in different styles and maybe some simple but pretty ornament covers.
Plus I need to help my loving daughter finish her Egypt project this week. I am off to Wal-mart tomorrow for plain white fabric, puff paint, cardstock and gold spray paint. I wanted to do some beading with her but with my unexpected drive to Oregon and back this last week, that is not going to happen.
Speaking of Oregon I am including some random shots from our trip home. My five year old rode with me and she took over 150 photos on our way home! Don't ask where exactly other than I-5 between Lebanon and where I got onto I-505! Except for the bird chasing shots and the snowy mountain as she calls it. That is a Weed airport and the snowy mountain is Mt. Shasta.
New earrings. I have to talk about this because I am so excited! I won a pair of earrings in the 12 days of BAO holiday giveaway. http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/
They are giving away a different item for twelve days made by different artists. There are a few days left so go check them out and leave a comment. I will be getting Snowball Earrings created by juiceglass from day five! My husband thought I was going nuts when I got the e-mail, I was making so much noise.
Now for pictures, and there are two more I know where they were taken, one of my dad and Jordan and one of my sister and Jordan at my moms house.

Home again

2008-12-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

We made the drive to Oregon on Wednesday and back on Thursday. I am a little miffed because I tried really hard to do as much as I could for my Bro in law and his family and it appears that we got taken advantage of. They weren't honest with us about a few things and that really makes me mad. Anyways not going to vent here.
I wanted to let you know I will be working really hard in the next week to get my website up and stuff for sale. Also more pics of stuff I made. My DH has been promoting me but I am falling behind! I will be posting an album link here sometime this weekend and hopefully my website will be ready by then.
I hope he knows that by promoting me and pushing me to get this done, he will be doing a few extra chores! Good thing he is a good sport!

Road Trip

2008-12-02T13:12:00.001-08:00

So my stranded family is still stranded. We have figured the best and cheapest solution for them will be for me to drive them back to Oregon tomorrow, my days off are Wednesday and Thursday so I have two days to make it from San Jose, CA to Lebanon, OR. That is a little over six hundred miles, each way. I will be driving there with my bro in law, sis in law, their two year old and my five year old Jordan. She is coming because I couldn't find someone to watch her after school on such short notice. My other two have after school stuff till Mike gets home so they will be ok. I am crossing my fingers for a safe and fast trip! The pass is clear and no snow is predicted for the next few days so pray it stays that way!

Turkey Coma

2008-11-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Most of our day has gone off without a hitch but the Turkey was a little dry. It was bigger than I normally get (20 pounder this year!) cuz I wanted lots of leftovers and it dried out cooking but at least it was still tasty. Also my bro in law and his family is broke down on their way from southern Cal. They are moving back to Oregon so they were going to stop in today. At least we are close so my hubby is on his way to pick them up and hopefully he can get the car started for them. He drove a tow truck for a while and did service calls so cross your fingers that he can get them going so they can make it back here to our house at least.
My kids are in my bed watching a movie, I am hoping they will crash soon. I need to get to bed early. 3:30 meeting time to hit Kohl's and then Target with a friend. I sat down a minute ago to check my email and when I turned around a few minutes later, I saw my dear Gizmo kicked back in a turkey coma! He didn't even flinch when I took his picture.

He got some turkey munchies while I was cleaning the bones off tonight to make stock. Best part of Thanksgiving is turkey noodle soup tomorrow night. YUM-O

Progress

2008-11-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

I am happy to say that I have actually completed a couple more Christmas presents done yesterday and today.

I made this ornament from the free directions at Bead and button . I couldn't find the 60mm bugle beads so I had to use the 24mm that my LBS had. I think it turned out really neat looking and I am going to dip it in floor wax to harden it as soon as I get out and pick some up.

I made this flat spiral bracelet for my oldest daughter. Gotta love trickery, it fits her perfectly because I told her I was making it for my sister and wanted to check on her wrist to see if it fits cuz I think their wrists are close in size!

This set is for one of my dearest friends that I have made since I moved to San Jose. She is a huge Colts fan but I forgive her for that but at least I know she will love the colors!
Now on to start my sisters scarf while I finish up this weeks Life on Mars.

My spoils (and a little bit of motherly pride!)

2008-11-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

It's parent teacher conference this week for all three of my kids. We started early this morning (7:30 on my day off ugh!) but it was well worth it. We had such an early time because my son is in speech therapy and we have to be able to meet with teacher, therapist and principal. I was thrilled to hear such a good report on him. He has struggled immensely with school partly due to his speech and partly due to being ADHD. We changed the medication he was on over the summer and it has been a 180 turn around. I hate the fact that he has to be on meds but I know that his ADHD disrupts his life to the point where he can't function at school, in a group of people or at home. I remember back to Kindergarten before he was diagnosed, we were at the school every day to pick him up because he would cry, run from the room, hide under a table, etc.
This conference, we were told how courteous Colby has become, how helpful he is to other students and what a pleasure he is to have in class. I was most proud when they told me they have watched him multiple times initiate problem solving on the playground instead of the typical no it has to be my way fighting that you typically see. A little more work on his speech, reading and penmanship and we will be all set. I am so proud of him! I hope both my daughter's go as well tomorrow.
Now on to my spoils.

My local Dollar tree has gotten a huge shipment of lion brand fur yarns. These are about $5-8 at my local craft stores so I am thrilled to get such a good deal! I had to pull up some videos on you tube to remember how to knit, it's been a while, but I have managed to make two scarfs this past week for gifts so I should be good to get the rest done and shipped in time for Christmas. YAY!

My next stop was to my LBS. We got there at 10 but they didn't open till 11 so it was off to make a payment at the dentist, then a quick stop at Michaels to pick up the Dec. Bead and Button. I know, I just need to order it but we don't have an outgoing mail slot at our apartment and I always forget. It is on my Christmas list now so I will be good for the next issue. Then it was back to the LBS. I am dying to make some flat spiral bracelets as gifts too so I had to get some bigger beads.

Most of my stash is 11/0s.
My DH came in and even got a couple things himself.

He occasionally beads with me but it is few and far between. I of course love it cuz I get all the stuff he buys and never uses all off! I really like the maroonish color he picked, not something I would have bought myself but I am sure I will be snagging some for something eventually!

Dumping gournd yeilds treasures untold!

2008-11-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

Or we could call this post, I cleaned my desk yet again! My family strongly believes that during the week while I am at work, the best place to put anything they don't want lost is my desk. Of course this generally means we lose most of it. I have tried very hard to break them of this habit but it has become a test of wills! I just found my desk trays that I used when I was in school to keep old papers close but organized so I am going to give them each a slot and hopefully that will help with staying organized.

I do my bead work at my desk so most nights lately I have been not doing any because I have no room to work. With Christmas coming up so quickly, I really need to get on the ball to make a few gifts in time to send back to family in Oregon.
Here is an interesting list of things I found at my desk while cleaning today.
Bubbles, a missing package of ear wires, a few pieces of jewelry my daughter has broke and of course knows I can fix, both my missing camera batteries (wooohooo!), a missing earring I made and thought I lost in the car and five pairs of scissors. I also found my husbands missing SF Giants bracelet that I made him.

Neater than that, I found my very first piece of loomwork that I made, on a loom that is. The first piece I did was done with the warp threads taped to my mothers coffee table. That piece is long gone but I thought it was pretty cool to find this one again, I haven't seen it in ages.

I would say this piece was made at least 13 years ago, I used a thick string for the warp threads, sewing thread to string on the beads and the beads came from the cheap mix that walmart sold way back then. I wore it for a really long time, I am surprised that it never broke but it definitely great to have to be able to look back and see how far I have come. I am so glad that I got back into beading.

12......GULP

2008-11-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

That's right, 12. My oldest daughter turned twelve on the 6th. Pre-teen and yes the attitude has already started! But like all things, we will live through it.

Here's the birthday girl talking to family back in Oregon.

She is constantly eyeing my stash of finished jewelry and hinting about which items she likes so she got some of her favorite pieces. It was nice to see her light up when she realized they were for her since she watched me make them!

And her blowing out her candles, I thought she was gonna set off the fire alarm, there was a ton of smoke!
So here is to a year of emotional ups and downs of a pre-teen. Pray for our survival!

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

We had a wet and windy trick or treating session last night. The kids had a ton of fun and got way more candy then they need but it's only once a year right?

Jordan was so excited with her haul she couldn't help but show it off, Tori had to make her peace sign in the background, I remember going thru that phase! She went as Cleopatra this year.

My son Colby made a great cop and Mike went as "Grandpa", he was in his referee uniform at the beginning of the night and looked really cool but he wears it all the time so didn't think it was fun to walk around in.

The best pic of the night award goes to Colby, he didn't realize I was watching him!

Pumpkin Carving.

2008-10-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

We got our pumpkins carved today! One of my favorite parts of Halloween is getting to carve the pumpkins. I have so many books and patterns printed I can't ever decide which ones to do. We never managed to find the patterns in the garage so we bought a new book today. I know it's cheating but have you seen my garage lately? Yeah its that bad.
Jordan and I tackled the gutting of the pumpkins while Tori and Colby were still at school today. She of course did her one tiny little pumpkin and then promptly ditched me for afternoon cartoons.

And no that is not the one she gutted, hers was softball size.
She did come back for a few minutes and help me poke on some of the pattern.

Tori and Colby made it home and they were much more willing to help.

Here are our finished results. I did the haunted house, Jordan picked the cat which I ended up finishing, Colby did the skull and Tori did the face that kind of looks like the clown from it. I am so excited to set them out tomorrow!

Agenda update

2008-10-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

So I managed a few things today. The house is mostly clean. Laundry needs to be folded still but what can I say, a house of five, there is always laundry to be folded. My desk was clean. My oldest daughter is doing a diorama book report and she has left her cast off's all over my desk. Thankfully that will be taken care of after she does her one chore, dishes.
The homework is still missing. I am hopeful it is in the back of my car currently at work with my husband. It is the only place we haven't checked. Cross your fingers.
Thanks for the input on how to get my pictures in my posts, I was wondering if it is possible to do an album on here if any one knows?
Now for the funnest part of my day, Ornaments. I have completed four out of five. Here is a sneak peak.

I only have silver ornaments in the house right now and wow are they reflective! The silver chain with the blue beads is my favorite combination so I am glad I was able to get it to work. One more ornament to do tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening will be pumpkin carving. Of course that means my husband gets to crawl through the garage sale in waiting in my garage to get my pumpkin carving patterns. They are at the very back of the garage. Of course maybe it would be cleaner down there if he had done the garage sale (I organized it all but I work every weekend, so a little hard for me to do) instead of taking a nap!

Today's Agenda

2008-10-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that by listing my to do list, I will get more done today. First things first, I am working on personalizing this blog. If any one has any suggestions, please feel free to help me out here! I am lost! I tried adding pictures to the header but photobucket kept insisting that my photo had been moved and it wouldn't up load. Maybe I will try putting it somewhere else and uploading from there.
Number two on my list. Ornament swap. I signed up for my first ever swap and thought I would have plenty of time to get them out. I just realized it is Oct 29th and I haven't even started. I looked at tons of ornaments to get some ideas but haven't gotten on to actually getting them made.
Third on my list, Cleaning house. Ok well it's not actually third on my list. My desk must be cleaned before I bead. I somehow misplaced my daughters homework and I can't let her miss out on turning in her first ever Kindergarten homework! I know its here somewhere. I put it up in a spot and thought wow, I know I can't lose it here. Well now I can't remember where that spot is.
Now off to see how much I can get done from my list!

Hello

2008-10-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hi and Welcome to my blog. This is something I have been meaning to do for a while and have just never gotten around too. I have been greatly inspired over the last few weeks reading all the wonderful beading blogs out there.
First a little about me. My name is Jackie, all my friends call me Jax. I am married (ten years this coming May) and I have three children, Tori, Colby and Jordan. I just gradutated this past spring from an LVN program and got my license just a few weeks ago, FINALLY! I spent two years doing pre-reqs and am one credit shy of my AA and I did 18 months for my LVN certificate. Then of course there is months of studying for N-CLEX, taking N-CLEX, waiting for N-CLEX results, waiting for license. All I can say is its the prettiest shade of blue I have ever seen!
On to beading history. I made my first loom without a loom piece when I was thriteen. Without a loom means I taped my warp threads to the table and moved them closer as I went ultimitaly creating an anklet with my nickname- Jax. I moved on to working on a real loom but got busy with life as all teenagers do. I worked, went to school and was a teen mom (OMG I know I am a statistic how weird huh? lol).
I grew up in Oregon in a small town in the Willamette Valley all my life. In 2004, my husband, three kids and I picked up and moved to the Bay Area. I was frustrated with school and life, and he wanted to try something new plus his closest friend was here. I was hoping that with more nursing programs in the area, I would have a better shot of getting in a nursing program.
The first place we lived was awful, the landlord was a jerk. The only good part was I met Mary. She brought me back to the beading world. She sells her work at Yosemite National park to help pay the bills, she is retired. Her sister does basking weaving up there if you ever get to visit. I had to learn and so being wonderful that she is she taught me. The rest is bead history.
So now on to my blog name. I was sick from the flu shot last week and sick of being in bed by day two. I spent a few hours on you tube watiching how to beading videos. I learn so many cool things- Auntie's beads has the best ever videos. So I ended up making a wire wrapped bracelet from some beads I got in a grab bag like four years ago and have been saving since, not sure how to get them together.
I am thrilled with the results. All in all, my day, like my life sometimes, felt unproductively productive!