Silent Sunday

Thursday Ramblings

Hello again!

Well I had planned to blog daily the past two weeks since it's my big return to internet land.... but I've just been busy and really trying to do tons of things all at once.
Working on a schedule though to set time to plan for this blog and make my posts more regular. I really enjoy it and my mini army of minions dedicated followers :D

That being said, today's post will probably just be short and sweet unless I really do get rambling!

I've been running and working out lately. Trying to be fit and healthy again .. I would really love to wear an actual swimsuit to the beach this year instead of shorts and a t-shirt! Plus I just miss the energy I had when we were regular gym-goers! It still amazes me how you can do a strenous workout and be panting for breath at the end and then 30 minutes later you are BUZZING with energy and looking for things to do!!

 

If you are online and looking for ways to motivate yourself, here are a few I've tried lately that I simply LOVE!!  SlimKicker is a fun online and iPhone app program I've just joined through a friend's recommendations. It's fairly simple to use and provides me with a LOT of accountability. You basically log in your stats and it gives you a diet guideline.. not foods, but calories, carbs, sugars, etc... then each day you log in your food intake and it tracks it for you and even gives you tips on healthier choices! You can also log in any exercises you do. You get points for everything you log in and this helps you level up... you can set your own reward for the Levels. My Level 3 reward is a new pair of running shoes. :D  Try it out!! Look for me under the Friends tab: LittleBear 

I've also been using MapMyRun for iPhone (and Android too!) It tracks your workouts for you, you can just Record a workout, like a run or walk or bicycle ride... and it shows your map and tracks your distance and time via GPS. I LOVE this! The new update even has a voice every mile that reads out your distance, time and average.

AND I'm also still creating things with beads! Since that is what this IS all about after all! :D  Kate, my sister and I are looking into possibly having a booth in TWO WEEKS (!!) at MayFest ... we're hammering out details and I'll keep you posted on that! In the meantime we are working on making more inventory! Not only do we want to do this booth but I really NEED to get my Etsy store up and running!

Ok.. once again this short and sweet post turned into a ramble!! It's time to get ready for work and walk the pups one more time before they get crated :) 

Planning a special post for Friday so be sure to drop back in and say Hey!

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!!

Beading Babes Reveal!

I totally missed my Silent Sunday post... so here is Miss Cheyenne... the cause of that... she went through the fence on Saturday night around 10:30 pm... so I spent most of Sunday repairing a fence and treating wounds... nothing too major thank goodness!!!

Well we had two projects and extra time this month.... and I managed to get one project finished... I swear the Ravishing Rosettes pattern was hiding from me ... at least parts of it were!! Here is what I accomplished... I really like the pattern and the colors but I totally missed several steps!! I WILL be reworking this in the future though!

As you can see.. I'm missing one part altogether and it is curving in the complete wrong direction!! Ah well.. back to the beading board with it!
This is the Runway of Pearls bracelet that was our second project... I really liked the bracelet! But as I was adding the embellishment I noticed it was getting shorter.... and shorter... I ended up with it almost 2 inches too short!! So, I stared at it for a while.... and then came up with this idea... which my wonderful boss helped me wire up.. (wire and I don't get along too well right now)

This bracelet called for embellishing both sides but as it was shrinking as I went along, I ended up only embellishing the one side.. but it still turned out fairly well.. at least I think so!

I can't wait to see what the other Babes have worked up with this challenge!!!

Silent Sunday

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....

Quick Update!

Regarding my Tough Decisions post of last week... Today I turned in my Quasi-Two Week notice at Spinning Bean .... I say Quasi because I will still be working there on Mondays for the time being.  But I will now be full time at Obsessions!  I am so excited to be there on a more regular basis where I can get to really know the customers and the store even better! I have met some great ladies there and look forward to spending more time there learning and teaching!

On a more bloggy note..............  any ideas of doing a themed day? I've seen Music Mondays and a Wordless Wednesday... so now I'm thinking: what would be a fun idea to brighten up the weekly posts???

Any thoughts?? Leave me a comment with a suggestion!

Hello Monday..

Today I say that in the 'Hello, Neuman" voice of Jerry Seinfeld. 

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! We had sunny days in the mid 50s-60s! I worked Saturday at The Spinning Bean and then worked on some house cleaning and, of course, beading!

I did forget something last week: Our pups passed their CGC test!! They are now certified Canine Good Citizens!  Of course, we still have to work with them more in public places but they are greatly improved on that already. Yesterday we walked up the road to the golf course that is behind our property and then came back through our woods. It's a nice little romp that takes about an hour or so depending on how many lovely smells they find! About half way through the woods we saw a flock of turkeys making their way through the neighborhood. There must have been about 60 of them!! It really made me wish I had my camera with me.

 As far as beading goes, I'm still working on my Uffington Cuff. I just love the design and can't wait to get it finished and wear it already!

It's hard to believe that I have about 12 or more hours in this already.... but when you are stitching bead by bead by bead.. it takes some time!

I am also trying to get re-inspired to work on my Beading Babes project for this month. The Runway of Pearls bracelet has shrinkage issues and I'm still not quite sure on my choice to fix that issue... And I basically have to re-start the Ravishing Rosettes necklace.. However, I think now that I have worked on it and found my error it should go quite quickly!

And now I must go get cleaned up and ready for work! Happy Monday everyone!

Greetings!!

Today starts a portion of my weekend! I'm off work tomorrow and then back at the cafe on Saturday. Then off again on Sunday!

Today was my Bead Store day! I love working at Obsessions!  I helped a lady that had never stitched with beads create a beautiful tennis bracelet today using seed beads and 6mm crystals. She was so pleased with it she bought more supplies to make another one at home. I really love being able to share knowledge with people and see their joy when they 'get it' with a pattern or technique.

I'm working on finalizing what I get to teach in February at the store.. one of the options is going to be a Start here, Finish at home project but it's one I LOVE and hope people won't be intimidated by it.

I have several projects on my table to finish up and few repairs to do and even a couple custom jobs I MUST get started on soon! But the other week I woke up around 3 am from a beading dream... yes, I dream about beads.... I sketched out my idea quickly and went back to sleep.. If I don't do that then it's gone by morning...
 So.. this is my inspiration:

I have always admired the Uffington Horse in Britain. I'd love to travel there and actually SEE it one day... Maybe if I sell enough jewelry... eventually...
Here is what I have sketched up and started beading on for making a cuff  :)   I don't think this one will be for sale though ;)

The horse is beaded in a matte bone seed bead and then I'm doing swirls of a matte green.. the celtic knots will be done in a brown iris charlotte for a little bit of pop and sparkle. I'm really geeked to FINALLY be doing a beaded cuff AND to make it using Uffy as inspiration! :D

Where do you find your inspiration to create?????

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!!!

Star Pupils? Who knows?!

Hello everyone! Been a few days since I've posted but I have been a little busy and didn't want to just toss up any old post just to fill space :)

We are pretty much done with inventory, just tying up loose ends.. THANK HEAVENS! I know Tammy is ready for this to be OVER! Looking forward to work tomorrow and also to teaching my class on Saturday! I'm teaching the Wheel of Time pendant I posted about earlier. It's such a fun pendant and can be made in so many different styles! I bet you could use it as a brooch as well. Hmmm, I also just had a rather interesting idea..... *makes a note*

 Our highlight for today was our obedience class this evening. We enrolled our two pups in the Community Pet Center sponsored class Paws-A-Tive Training. Cheri & Ann have been wonderful teachers and are very encouraging! Chito, our little lab cross, has a head start since I was able to spend more time with her at home last year since I was out of work for a while. She will be two in April! The first picture was taken this past weekend.. the second one was taken the week we found her. She was approximately 3-4 weeks old and my sister had found her sitting in the grass on the side of the road...

We also took Guiness, a Lab/Boxer cross. He is just an adorable little monster. I love his chocolatey-ness!!

 This is our third week of class.. well actually OUR second week, we missed last week's class. But we were able to catch up quickly this evening. It really is fun to watch everyone progress! And comforting to know that our dogs aren't the only ones with issues!!
Both of them were very good in class, and only got really distracted once when one of the other owners had some more family members show up. But the pups refocused on us quickly and that is a GREAT accomplishment!!

Has anyone ever done any Agility Training? I am thinking about looking into it and Cheri gave me a flyer for a local trainer! It would be really fun to have a solid GOAL besides the I-want-a-good-dog goal I currently have. This just looks SO FUN!!!

Sunny Sunday!

Hope everyone has a happy Sunday! I'm working with inventory again at Obessions so will have to do my regular post later this evening!

Go PACKERS!!!!!

Ugly Bead Challenge

Today was a nice day at work.. the rain held off for most of the day and we had SUN!  Mostly worked on getting ready for inventory this weekend. UGH. But it's gotta be done!

 So, Tammy has challenged me this week... We call it the Ugly Bead Challenge...  These poor beads! They don't KNOW they are ugly! They are just little lampwork beads going about their daily business of sitting in a glass waiting for someone to USE them... but ya know.. the more I stare at them... maybe they are not SO ugly?

I'll admit that it's NOT the best picture either.... but it's not far off. The seeds are actually somewhat prettier than the picture... they are a matte transparent topaz color... I could do something with them.... The lampwork ones will be a bit more difficult.. thinking something earthy yet girly.... hmmmmmmm

Here are two of the projects I finished up this week, the first is a project for the store. It's called Standing Ovation and is in the newest issue of Bead & Button... I really liked how it worked up but I think I'd like to make it again and work with my tension a bit more..

And this bracelet is one I've wanted to make for a while! Tammy held a class on it last Saturday while I was working on the Ovation bracelet so I listened in and came home and worked this up. I really LOVE it and plan to make a few in different colors... and I have an idea on a slightly wider one as well.....

I have tomorrow off so after making a hay run in the morning, I will be working on finishing up some projects and cleaning my house! Anybody wanna take over the cleaning portion of the day so I can keep working with the fun stuff!?!?! Anyone??? Hello?????