My kid has all the best toys!

LOL I’m talking about my 18 year old son!! Today was his payday, so he asked if I would take him to best buy. Of course, I had to go to town anyway, so off we went. He bought a Wacom Bamboo tablet for his computer. I gotta get me one of these!!! It’s like a glorified mouse pad that has a little pen tool that you use instead of a mouse. It’s SUPER sensitive to touch so when you’re drawing, you can do all kinds of cool sketches, etc. It works like a mouse too. I’ve been playing with it tonight, and I SO want one! LOL Dh wants one to use to touch up his pictures for tattoos. It works fantastically with Paintshop Pro (our photo editor). Guess I’ll have to unplug this thing, box it back up and put it back in his room! LOL He’s off hanging out with his buddies playing video games (he also bought Rock Band 2), so I thought someone should try out the new toy!
Other than that, not much new going on around here. Still working on the bead show, still LOVING my new haircut, and on and on!! Hope you all have a great weekend. I’m finally off to bed – my back is sore tonight for some reason, so hopefully a good night’s sleep will help that!! Cheers!!

Plier Review!!

Well, I was perusing Etsy the other day (okay that was a couple of weeks ago, but time is a blur these days, so pretend it was the other day! LOL), and found these

They’re jump ring cutting pliers!! Make a coil of wire, fit it in between the jaws, then use your jewelry saw to cut individual rings slick as it gets! As soon as I got them in the mail, I had to try them out! I’ve tried tiny jump rings (20ga wrapped around a 14ga wire), then tired larger ones (16ga with about 1/4inch inside diameter – maybe a little bigger). The only drawback I could see is that you need to keep your coil about an inch and a half to two inches long, but if you’re looking to make a small number of jumprings then this is the tool for you! If you’re making chainmail, don’t bother!! You’re better off saving up and buying the jump ringer tool. But for me personally, I need a nice round jump ring (at least one or two) every day. I use them for bails for small earrings, or a couple of larger ones to join two pieces together, whatever the excuse, I use them often. And I refuse to buy ready made ones. And for me, it’s not a big deal to cut a few jump rings off a coil, but there are tons of people out there that struggle with holding that damn little coil and cutting rings. Then there are the rings that need to be wrapped in masking tape to hold it steady while you saw them. Don’t have to do that with these pliers!! I’m in love! I got mine from this seller on Etsy – JeanetteBlix. She’s out of stock right now, but says she’ll have more soon. Oh, and the really cool thing – they didn’t come with instructions, and the day Jeanette popped my pliers in the mail, she emailed me a fabulous video on how to use these babies! Woohoo!! I highly recommend them to everyone!!
Other exciting things happening – I got my hair cut today! And I LOVE it!! It’s honestly the first hair cut in years and years that I absolutely love! Not only did I get it cut, oh no! That would be too simple! I also had it colored (apparently it was ‘mud’ brown according to my new hair stylist LOL), and now it’s a rich reddish brown, kind of mahogany maybe? With (get this! LOL) purple peekaboo highlights!! Yes! Purple! And it’s the purpliest purple you’ve ever seen! And they’re called peekaboo highlights because they are tucked under my longer layers at the temples and show when I move my head or tuck my hair behind my ears. Cool huh?! I imagine someone is going to snap a pic of the new do soon, I’ll post it when there’s a decent one!!
Now off to watch ‘Fringe’ then head for bed – been a loooong day!!
Cheers!!

Brillante Weblog Award

Thank you for nominating me for this wonderful award, Tammy! Check out her blog! She makes some GORGEOUS jewelry!! I’m really loving her dragonfly pieces right now!

In the spirit of the award, I’d like to thank everyone that has made my adventures possible – my wonderfully supportive dh, Randy who not only stands beside and behind me all the time (and has learned to duck when I’m throwing a football!), but also provides me with endless hours of comic relief and great stories! I’d also like to thank my very best friends, Susan and Darlene! They think I’m wonderful even when I feel decidedly un-wonderful. Thanks to Joye who keeps my creative juices flowing – without her custom orders and her gallery I would have had to get a real job a long time ago! More thanks to Lise and Naaz who are making sure I don’t lose my marbles with this whole Bead Show thing – couldn’t do it without you! To my fabulous hoard of kids, their girlfriends and my grandkids who make getting up everyday a joy – especially now that most of them don’t live at home! (what’s that? Wrap it up? What is this, the Emmy’s?). Okay, thank you to absolutely everyone over the years that have supported me and my wacky ways, to all the students over the years, especially those that have continued on with their jewelry (Mikel, Bee, and so many more!) and finally to all you patient readers who slog through my long-winded babblings!! Couldn’t do it without you all!!

Now, in return, here is my list of nominees for this award:
1. Rita’s R-tistic Ramblez
2. Maggie’s Bead Towne
3. The Blue Between
4. Silver Bee
5. Ghost Town Glass
6. Color Addiction
7. Andee’s Photo Blog

Here are the rules if you’re nominated:
1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking every body’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!

Whew, that was fun!! Stay tuned tomorrow – I’ll give you my review of a spectacular new pair of pliers I bought off Etsy – never fight with cutting tiny jump rings again!! Without buying a super expensive jump ringer!!

Back in the day …….

Yup, back in the day, I didn’t have to write lists for myself so I wouldn’t forget things!! But alas, times have changed and now, if I don’t write it down (or put it in my cell phone!), there’s no hope of me remembering it – no matter what ‘it’ is!! And as I’m writing this, I realize there’s something else I forgot to do! JEEZE!!! I have to go to the community center and sign up for a drawing class with hubby. Must remember to do that! LOL He wants to take the class and I know he won’t do it without me, so I will give it a go (and try not to be better than he is! ) Where was I? Oh, yeah! Back in the day, of course I didn’t have nearly as much stuff to remember! With the Bead Show racing towards me in a few short weeks, I’m mentally going over lists in my head all day long! Which can be good and bad. Try sleeping with all that stuff in your head! Not an easy task!! But my to-do list for the show is getting shorter, and the ‘done’ list is getting longer. Whew!!

Speaking of the bead show, the posters should be ready tonight, I will have to phone later today and find out. Ultradigital Printing in Langley, they’ve been AWESOME!! I’m dropping off the flyers for them to copy for me too – might as well, I’ll be there anyway! I have to get a sign made for the silent auction display case, a banner for the class registration table, and we’re good to go! Ah, if it were that easy! LOL Sigh! But on a plus note, we are pretty close to full for vendors, the classes are filling okay, and we’re hoping for the tv crew to come again this year – we shall see!!

But if I don’t get off this computer, nothing will get done, so hope you all have a fantastic day, I’m outta here! Cheers!

Sunny Sunday in September!

It’s a beautiful day today! The sun is shining, everyone is in a good mood, and my granddaughter, Freya (who will be six in a few weeks!) slept over so we’re having a great time! I made a few custome jewelry pieces this past week (none of which were worth photographing – sorry!), spent TONS of time working on the bead show, and finally am taking today off from all that ’stuff’. I might make beads later, but then again, I might not. LOL I love days like this!! Freya and I have to head to the dollar store (I did promise her a trip there last time I saw her – she wants a new pack of Pokemon cards). Hubby is going to mow the lawn in a bit (it desperately needs it!). Here’s a pic of Freya with her newly missing tooth! I can’t believe she’s going to be six in a few weeks!

And a pciture of a VERY happy cat – he LOVES this kid to pieces and won’t leave her alone when she visits. HEre he is helping her play with her Pokemon cards.

And of course, never to be left out, here’s my helpful assistant, Marv the Wonder Cat. I was working on Bead Show stuff, and the cat was trying to eat the pen while laying in the middle of the binder – oh yes, ever so helpful! LOL

Well, best get going. I have to get dressed so we can go to the dollar store – wouldn’t want to keep Freya waiting! LOL! Hope you all have a fantastic Sunday!! The sun is shining here, and I hope it is in your world too!

Happy Days!!

Hello again!! Sorry to leave you all hanging after that cryptic depressing post!! Not my intention, I was just getting it off my chest. I’m not even remotely depressed, unhappy or sad – quite the opposite actually. Life is fabulous! There are just some people that don’t seem to understand their effect on others, but  I suppose that’s what makes us all different.

It’s getting close to crunch time for the bead show, so I am extremely busy at all times (day and night usually!), but I do sneak off to my computer to surf occasionally! Just wish I had a bit more time to play, but at this time of year, I know better! Maybe I need to plan a small holiday for Randy and I after the bead show – I wonder if he’d go for it?! But for today, I’m headed to the gallery to drop some custom pieces off. I’m not even bothering to take pictures – to me, they’re boring. Not my typical work, and not something I even really enjoy doing. But on a plus note, they’re done! I am picking up a couple of custom pieces to work on when I get there and I hear at least one of them will be fun and a challenge. So we shall see!!! I should get going though as the traffic lately has been awful. I’ll leave you with a fun puppy picture – Bailey wearing Randy’s sunglasses. That’s Cody (my 18yr old) behind her, she sat there, waiting for me to take a million pictures. Crazy pup! Have a great day! I’ll post again soon!!

Burning Bridges

No panic, I don’t mean that there are literally bridges burning!! I’m talking about relationships and acquaintances and how ‘things’ come up and if they’re not dealt with/discussed/handled/whatever then that relationship is forever changed/destroyed and many times cannot be salvaged. Now, don’t all you blog readers panic and think I’m talking about you! LOL! Not at all!! (Bee, this is SO not about you – the timing is just a little weird!).  I’m being cryptic and I don’t mean to be, but as ones words can get oneself into all kinds of trouble, I am very careful what I ‘put out there’. (bear with me, I’m sending a message to someone – and I highly doubt they even read my blog so it will never be read, but I will feel better!! LOL!)

As many people know, I am a very forgiving person (though there are times when I swear I’m not!), but really, I am. I am also not terribly ‘reactionary’ in that when a situation occurs, I ponder it (sometimes vent about it with a personal friend or my hubby), I word things as carefully as I can, re-read what I write (or double think about what I’m going to say), and don’t respond until I’m sure what I’m going to say is going to be ‘okay’ for me forever. I don’t want to say anything that will come back to bite me in the butt some time down the road.

But no matter how careful I am there are times when my actions or words are not quite what I thought they were or the other party is not willing or able to get past it. Sometimes there will be things going on in my life that overshadow my good senses and my actions are misconstrued. And when that happens, I feel bad that the relationship is forever changed. I have mourned the loss of some I had considered good friends when this has happened. But for me, I do not like to burn bridges. I like to think that some day, some time down the road, something will happen and the doors to communication with these lost relationships might open up again. But you know, I can only open those doors if the communicator is friendly – even if we’ve had bad feelings in the past. Come to me with brusk, distant, turse or apathetic words, and I’m not going to feel overly inclined to say ‘come on by and let’s make peace’. Try signing your email with ‘hope to hear from you soon’ or throw something like ‘hope you’re doing well’ or some other sign that the drama is over and that we are moving past it. Otherwise, I’m not opening the door to more hurt. Do I look like I have ‘STUPID’ tattooed across my forehead? (shut up you guys, Randy is NOT tattooing that on my head!!)

No, I am not going to contact the person I am talking about directly – I already know that that would be a futile move (yes, I already tried that!). So, although I am not ready to open up myself to more drama and hurt, I am not burning that bridge. I’m going to sit back and enjoy my life – and all the wonderful friends I do have. Oh, and if you do think it’s you that I’m talking about – EMAIL me!! Because it probably isn’t!!! But if it is, I’ll let you know!

On a much lighter note – the poster is DONE!!!! No picture until tomorrow though. I just have the copy from the graphic artist (thank you Erin of Airwynn Glass Designs!!) and it has her watermark on it. I want to show you the unmarked version! It’s pretty!!

Okay, off to get on with my day. This post has been on my mind for a long time, and now that it’s done, I’m moving on. Hope you all have a fabulous Friday and I apologize if my cryptic post makes you crazy!! Welcome to my world! LOL! Cheers!

Oh my – how time flies!!!

I woke up this morning and realized it’s the first of September!!! There are about 6 weeks left until the bead show. At 5 am this morning, I was mentally going through my list of things to do, stuff to remember, things that need to be made (cash box, display cases, new banner, class posters, etc etc) not to mention the things that need to get done! Posters finished and mailed (just waiting on the graphic artist now!), meeting with the convention center to confirm rooms and whatnot, the list seems endless!!!). So I dragged my weary self out of bed and tried to relax a bit. Wasn’t very successful! Sigh!! It will be fine, I know it will go well and things will be even better than last year. I’m hoping anyway! LOL! But it sure was disconcerting to wake up and realize there’s only 6 weeks left! Where did this year go?!

On a totally different note, I made beads the other day. They weren’t fantastic or amazing, but they were okay. I had some fun trying some off mandrel hearts, and went back to the basics – well basics for me anyway! Dots, stripes, more dots, etc. I LOVE dot beads. They’re some of my favorites. I had a heck of a time getting the poked dot beads to turn out okay. Practice makes perfect I guess. If you want to see some, click on my Flickr link to the right there —> (don’t laugh, they’re my first hearts!)

Well, other than mad bead show panic, I guess there isn’t much new to tell. I am having a very relaxing holdiay Monday night. Randy and I are going to go out for dinner though – we need to get out for a bit. We did go shopping this afternoon, but he had an anxiety attack (never done that before!), so we cut the day short. So dinner out is in order, nothing fancy, but it means we won’t have to cook, wash dishes or clean. Can’t argue with that!!

Oh!! Tomorrow is Freya’s first day of Grade one!!! See? Time flies!! She’s not a baby anymore! Hope those of you sending kids back to school are ready and the kids don’t give you too much grief this week!!! I remember how much I LOVED the first day of school – sending my wonderful kids off every day! It was the BEST! Peace and quiet – can’t put a price on that! LOL!!

Now, I’m off to find something not too shabby to wear out the door!! Have a great evening all!! Cheers!