Silent Sunday

I'm BAAAAACK!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!
Just a quick hello and update!

I'm FINALLY back online again!!!! This time I think it will be easier to STAY online... I'm finally getting the feeling of not completely sinking into a deep pit.... both financially and mentally.... it's a nice feeling :D

I don't know where to start on an update.. so I'm just gonna run with this real quick as I have a million and one things to do OUTSIDE as well as inside today!

Let's see........... I have tons of great beading projects I've been working on.. some finished some still progressing... LOVING my embroidered piece but I'm gonna save the details on that for when it's finished :)

It involves Tiger Eye. My all time Favorite Stone.....

I have new peeps!!! Beautiful, tiny and adorable balls of fluff!!! So far only 4 but more are still in several nests around the farm!

I am still totally in love with my job!!! Seriously... I work in a BEAD SHOP. Can it BE any better than this? Yes it can... because I have the best boss ever and we have SO much fun every single day!! I keep thinking I'll wake up one day and be stuck in some horrible job I hate.....  I love the feeling that my opinions and thoughts actually matter and that people look to ME for advice and information.... REALLY!?!??! ME!??!?!?! wow. It's so uplifting and humbling at the same time.

And our totally fun beading group Beading Babes was featured in a small spot in Beadwork Magazine! How cool is that!??! Karyn is just AWESOME for putting this all together and keeping us motivated with fun new projects. All the ladies in the group have been great sharing info and advice on Facebook and on their own blogs. I am thrilled to be a part of it all!

The only other major life change recently is the purchase of a new mattress.. OH. EM. GEE. what the heck took us so long to do this!??!??! It's HEAVENLY! Last night I fell asleep and STAYED asleep.. without clutching the edge of the bed to keep from rolling into the middle! hahahaha! Ok.. so that was a bit exaggerated.... but not the pure joy of a decent night's sleep! YAY!!!

So now I have to go to farm chores... the grass isn't going to mow itself!! Although I am seriously considering fencing the entire yard and turning the horses out..........................................

so thank you all for still being here while my blog went silent..... I hope to keep you better entertained henceforth!!

Time Flies!!

So, I had a blog post ready to go on Monday but evidently I never finished it and posted it! It's been one of those weeks!
I don't know if I've mentioned it (hahaha! YES I HAVE)  but I seriously LOVE my job at Obsessions!  It's not even 'work'... well it IS.. especially when I'm having to pack up and account for a trunk show of GORGEOUS stones... see? Even the paperwork is fun!!
I am working on a few projects, mostly getting things ready to teach at the shop next month :) We are doing a 'Back to Basics' course over the next few months to teach some basic stitching and I have a few patterns to teach that go along with the initial stitching class. Should be great fun and introduce some new ideas to our students!!
The sun is shining a bit longer every day and I can't tell you how happy this makes me!!
LOVE this picture I found online:

I'm so excited to start working in the garden!! I layered cardboard scraps under my compost this winter and it honestly looks like I won't even be using the noisy, smelly, noisy, noisy, noisy tiller this year! Did I mention it's kind of noisy? The first few years I felt I HAD to use it, good old Carolina red clay takes some time to get to a workable stage... but I have really decent soil this year! Thank you to my chickens :D

They have really made such a difference in the garden plot! Great fertilizers and great job of keeping the soil nice and loose! I highly recommend them! :D  Although I do think they will not be quite so pleased when I have to keep them OUT of their favorite digging spots.

What are your garden plans this year? Going all out and doing a huge garden or just containers on the back porch? Trying any new veggies?

It's been a few days...

.. since I've posted here! I've just been outside as much as possible enjoying the lovely weather we have been having... and I've also been working! YAY ME!  I don't know if I've mentioned it yet... but I LOVE my job! I really do!! Just too much fun to call it work. :D

This will just be a quick post since it's getting late and I need some sleep!!   

We have had two days this week of gorgeous sun and 60* weather! I absolutely LOVE it!! I am so ready for Spring and to be done with Winter!! Even though we have had a mild winter this season, I'm tired of the dark and gloomy days and the cold. I don't like cold. 
I can't wait to start working in my garden again! I long for the sweet taste of fresh baby greens and watching the little sprouts poke through the dirt and be continually amazed how a tiny seed can make such delicious food!!!
This is an older picture, but I did see this little guy poking his head out of the roots of the maple tree by our driveway :) Daffodils always make me happy!

Well, I gotta crash for the night, so I'll leave you with a few pictures of my late, lamented bulb garden which the chickens decided would make a nicer dust bath....

Decisions and the Great Egg Hunt

Hello Everyone!
It's been a few days I know.. I was just really enjoying those beach pictures!! And I've been a little busy keeping the assorted farm critters dry this past weekend. UGH. Rain is all well and good but we really don't need quite so much every day!
However, today was quite lovely and reached 66* F. Yay! Too bad I spent most of it at work indoors... there are some things I miss about working at barns.
Thanks to the rain, I feel I'm missing something ... ah yes, the eggs. I have 3 flocks of chickens, one stays in a smallish dog lot, one is free ranging but stays very close to their coop next to the barn, and the third and largest flock has a coop near my garden area and they free range the property. Which has been fine. Until last week. They decided that the old abandoned house next door looked like a lovely place to find some winter bugs and oddities... so yeah. Thanks for that! Now I get to spend what little daylight hours I have snooping around an abandoned house (that is rather creepy) on someone else's property, looking for hidden eggs. YAY ME.
It looks like I'll be spending some hard earned cash on fencing in the Spring. I would like to do it NOW but I am also on a vehicle hunt... but that's a story for another blog day....

So in the past week I've had a few choices come up jobwise and I'm trying to reach a few decisions... so I'm considering and planning and should have something finalized this week.... I'll keep you posted! Lots of thinking going on over here... can you smell the smoke??

Bead-wise... Lots going on there as well! I've been working on my Beading Babes projects.. I LOVE both projects..... but this month I've seriously had some mental issues with both of them! The necklace I just love and was SO looking forward to finishing it... just couldn't figure out what my issue was, took the instructions to the bead shop, sat down and looked at them and noticed for the FIRST TIME that I totally missed a Step! Really?!? So... I really WANT to finish this one but since I've already taken it apart twice I think I'm going to set it aside for a few days and let my brain rest with this pattern....

I did finish the second project for the Babes.... and was also disappointed!! But this time I DID read the pattern correctly.. LOVE the beads I chose... just somehow it's about 1.5 inches TOO SMALL! Not really sure what happened except that I probably used too much tension.. it's just what I do!

So, after that small disappointment I bent my mind to something totally different and did my first official chain maille piece! I simply LOVE it!!!

Tomorrow promises to be a looooooooooooong day: work at the cafe at 9:30 - 2:00 then off to the bead shop until 6:00 and then our final obedience class with the pups! We are going to do a test of some sort tomorrow.. I'm sorry to say that I am totally blanking on the name of it! It involves your pup obeying some basic commands and then there is a portion where you get to leave the room for a set time and your dog stays with the handler and has to behave. Ok.. so I THINK both of ours will do fine with that... but still.. it's a test... like in school... and even though we have been studying hard I still stress out over tests!!   

but hey.... I'm just happy that they are SO much better behaved and I actually enjoy walking them again!

So, until next time.. everyone have a happy Wednesday and I'll catch up with you again soon!!!

Busy Saturday ahead!

Good morning everyone!
 I had yesterday off from work, so I spent time around here trying to finish up a few projects on the table. I've had this idea for a bracelet in mind and tried to work it out .. but it would NOT cooperate! So after spending most of the afternoon fiddling, I ended up just taking it apart and setting it aside. I hate doing that but I'm learning a bit about wire, and I've learned you can't FORCE it to do something it doesn't WANT to do! So, I'm gonna tuck my idea in the back of my head and let my sub-conscience figure it out for me.

I spent some time outside, cleaning stalls and cleaning out the chicken's night pens. I'm glad it wasn't raining! The pens are hard enough to do on sunny days! I'm hoping that this year, what with having work again, I can finally manage to get my bigger coop built! Then everyone can be inside all snug and safe AND I'll have an easier time with cleaning!

After I put the wire disaster away.. I was kind of at a loss where to go... I knew I had to create something last night!! So, to make things easy I worked up a Wheel Pendant as practice for a class I'll be teaching next week at Obsessions ! If you're in the area you should stop in! This is the third time I've worked this up and I was glad to be able to do it with only one quick look at my instructions! Which reminds me that I need to write these into a more readable form...

And now I've looked at the time and realized I need to get ready for work! I'm at the cafe today so if you're in the area stop in and say Hi! The Spinning Bean is located on Main Street in Spindale, NC.
After that I'm headed to Obsessions again to help with inventory.
Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Wet & Dreary Wednesday

Good morning everyone!

Well it's a wet and dreary Wednesday here... I think I will work on a few projects I have laying around that NEED finished.. although I REALLY want to start something new!  I have supplies for the other Beading Babes project, a lovely reversible bracelet. BUT.. I started the necklace first so I am going to make myself finish that one!

So one of the other blogs I follow, Amybeads , posted this fun Word Cloud link... it generates a word cloud of the most used words on your blog!

My oh my! I use MY a lot apparently!

I'm working at Obsessions today! And I hear that Tammy has been shopping for the store! I can't WAIT to see what she found!

So now I'm going to sign off and get some beading done! I'll leave you with my precious pup, Spanky. 

 

EEK!!! I totally forgotted something!!!

Yes.. two posts on the first day!! But I totally had a mind squat and didn't mention one or two little tidbits...

First: I HAVE to talk about my BESTIE! Kate and I have know each other for a little over 5 years and literally read each others minds on a daily basis.. really. It's quite scary. She is my partner in crime, business... together we ARE There and Back Again Studios! Kate has a great knack for pulling together some lovely color combinations and also challenging me to think beyond a pattern.... we will end up trying out some new version of a pattern even before we finish the original!
Also, I MUST mention my sister!! Elizabeth and I have known each other for .... a long time :D  She has shown quite a talent with wire working and has developed her own line of Memory Shoes. Custom wrapped and personalized horse shoes for hanging or as a desk top display.

Welcome to my little corner of the world.....

So I have been encouraged lately to start my own blog... I really have no clue on how to go about this! But here goes!

Let's see, a bit about myself to kick things off.. My name is Christina, but I usually go by Christine or Chris... or whatever happens to be shouted at me at any given time.. I've been married to my husband, David, for almost 18 years. No children, but I have a small farm with 3 horses, 4 barn cats, 24-28 chickens (I have recently had some strays arrive.. more on that later) and 4 dogs.  I currently work at the Spinning Bean Cafe and also at Obessions Beads... I love both my jobs! They are so vastly different from each other and that keeps me from getting bored.

I try to live a healthy, green lifestyle and have grand dreams of living off the grid and almost totally self-sufficient.. but those are grand dreams and little more at this point. I have the chickens for their eggs.. and the joy and hilarity that ensues watching them run around the yard.. and I garden to some extent for our produce. I hope to start preserving more and more and eventually having only MY canned goods in the pantry.

One of my true passions is jewelry making. Although I really only got started in the last year, I find that it is just the place to let my creativity flow. I started just making simple pendant necklaces and have recently became quite addicted to bead stitching. I just love watching a pile of beads (or multiple piles!) turn into a beautiful piece of jewelry!
I joined the Beading Babes a few months ago, which is a WONDERFUL group that was started by Karyn over at Releases by Rufydoof . This group has really helped me expand outside my comfort zone! We pick a new project, (or two!) each month and then have a reveal date. There is no pressure to complete by the deadline and we all encourage one another along the way. The reveal dates are SO fun to look forward to! It's always a great treat to see the different interpretations of each piece!

This is Sleek In Silver, one of our latest Babes projects. I LOVE how this looks! I have plans for a few more in different colors as well :)

 This is Camelot Cross, also a Babes project. Again, I've done about 6 of these already and LOVE them! I keep thinking up new color combinations to work with...

 This is called Egyptian Cuff and is totally worth all the work I put into it! Right angle weave was one of the first techniques I learned but I  Could. Not. Make. It. Work! FINALLY something clicked in my brain, it all made sense and I quickly worked up the rest of the bracelet. I love it! Again, I already have some color combinations in mind for more....

And this little beauty is a pendant I made from a 'glass window' made by Susan Waters, a local glass artist in our area. She makes BEAUTIFUL pendants and ornaments and bud vases and more and more! These little windows she wraps in polymer clay with a photo behind them.. the minute I saw those I KNEW they had to be beaded!! So I bought a few from her and this is my first attempt. I really LOVE it! I plan to stitch a herringbone necklace to suspend it on.

Ok.. so IF I haven't bored you to tears yet... please Follow me on my journey through life, gardening, horsing around and Beading!