Betcha Can't Make Just One!

Possibilities

Sunday! Details? Look here.

In the meantime, I am furiously beading a new sample for one of my beloved pieces. My biggest obstacle is a hand injury sustained last week. It's bothersome but it will heal eventually. Oddly enough my doctor told me that beading and typing (not a lot of either, mind you) will actually be good for the hand. So, I have been beading this morning and now I have typed and now I must rest the hand. I would love to you see Austin-area beadlings in the local bead store this weekend.We have been having a lot of fun during class and I have seen some wonderful results from my students (you know who you are!). If not, then bead on!

Possibilities

Event On The Horizon

Carol and I leave for Milwaukee on Monday! I cannot believe it's that close. I better make a list of things that need to get done so I don't forget anything. I'll try to take the computer and hopefully I'll be able to type a little each evening. Actually, I'm hoping we are so busy that we barely have the energy to fall into bed each night and drag ourselves out again the next day. I really, really want Carol to go home with a MUCH lighter load (and not just because it's less to pack up).

As for the jewelry, I'm going to attempt to finish a necklace I've started, but I'm not sure there will be anything else I can get finished before we start selling. The earrings have garnered lots of compliments when I have worn them. I absolutely love the ones made with the vintage Chanel chain (tease, tease, tease). By the way, we will be in booths 746,748. Look for Jeweled Treasures on your program.

Thunderstorms are getting closer. Of course it is raining in Austin, which is where I'm headed this afternoon. Bah! It figures. Oh well, I don't melt -- I must be a good witch, huh? Later, beadlings!

Off To See The Wizard

And since he is in North Austin and I am not, it will take most of the day. I'll be back tomorrow. Cross your fingers. I need something definitive from this wizard and not more tests, damned doctors and their tests. If you prick us, do we not bleed? Methinks they do forget!

Where are the beading challenge updates? Carol? Clara?? Hellooo! Is anyone out there???? Just a sentence will make me happy!

I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Until then, remember these immortal words from (of all people) Napoleon Bonaparte: Imagination rules the world.

Creative Energy Abounds

Maybe it's the sun shining brightly, maybe it's cruising the Internet, maybe it's "chatting" on the creative life group, who knows? I'm going to run with it. By the way, it was 70 degrees yesterday when Miss A got home from school. It was 27 degrees when I took her back this morning. Sometimes I think that there is nothing on earth that changes as fast as the weather in Central Texas. But the sun is shining, and when it gets a little warmer, I'll open the windows and let some fresh air in. There are no blustery winds today! I added this picture I took of the girls a couple of years ago. They were so still and quiet for just a couple of moments, it was breathtaking. They were sitting by one of the ponds in Lost Maples State Natural Area. I love this picture of my babies.

I worked on designing my new business cards yesterday. Pretty snazzy, huh? And today, I'll be working on some new Etsy pieces, and I have preview for you.


Our question for the day on the creative life was:

Do you see your creativity as being a part of yourself that is separate from the rest of you, the part of you that everyone knows and sees? Do you keep it secret or hidden from most people? If so, why do you do that? If not, tell us about that. If you could fully integrate The Public You and The Creative You, how would you do that and what would it look like?

Hmm, it was actually four questions. But I digress. Okay, so what would your answers to these questions be?

How is the challenge coming? (Making Important Stuff) Give me updates please, and yes, I have started working on mine. I started it at the retreat and have about six inches of the neck piece beaded. I will take it with me on Friday when I go bead with the ladies in South Austin. Until then, may the farce be with you.

So This is Christmas

Okay, I've finally got a bit of Christmas spirit. Pam wanted to know if I had gotten it from a bottle. *snicker* Not yet, but I am spending Christmas Eve where I am not very wanted and don't really want to be, so it may well come from a bottle that afternoon and into that night. I'll try to be good, but I'm not promising anything. Oh, the things we do for love. Pass the spiked nog, please. My recipe for egg nog calls for egg nog (duh), cinnamon, Cool Whip (or comparable whipped topping) and Bicardi black or gold label rum. Put everything in the glass/punch bowl to taste. Yum!!! But not yet -- we'll have the first cups Sunday night, then Monday night, then Tuesday night. And then we'll have it again New Year's morning, but probably without the rum.

Hey, guess what? I slept last night. I realize it was from sheer exhaustion, but I did sleep. T-man had to leave at 2:30 this morning to be in Plano by 7:00. For you non-Texans, that's driving from just south of Austin up to just north of Dallas. And he got there just before 7:00 as planned. I vaguely remember him leaving. He should be home about the same time as A. I would have gone with him, but I had already promised to eat lunch with A at school. She was honored for her scholastic performance this past six weeks. She was very happy that I was there. She's going to be in junior high next year. Hard to believe, isn't it? (That was directed to all the adopted aunties in her life!)

We're putting the tree up tonight, but no one knows that yet. Tomorrow night, we want to take A to look at lights she hasn't seen since she was just a year old --- 37^th Street in Austin and the Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. We used to walk to the Trail of Lights from our old house in Austin when N was in grade school and A was just a sprout. It should be fun.

I have my first big beady income to-do for 2008 already planned. See? Making plans for changes is already working. So, first there was getting up earlier. The next change on the list is to become more active and work with my army of doctors to get all this excess weight off me one way or another. I'm stopping short of liposuction, but if I thought it would work without being in horrendous pain and the insurance company would pay for it, I'd do it. My third 2008 lifestyle change will be listed tomorrow morning (and maybe a couple more). Remember -- changes, not resolutions! There's a rumor that if you do something for 90 days it becomes part of your lifestyle. Three months doesn't seem that long in the great scheme of things, and that's how I have to look at it -- it's not that long in the great scheme of things and I'll be a better, healthier, happier person for it.

Have I mentioned that I have some of the best friends a person could ask for? The other High Priestesses of the Temple of the Goddess of Beading have arranged for me to attend the 2008 Texas Bead Retreat. This will be the very first time I've been able to go. This is a picture of us taken this past April. By the way, those tumblers are full of Cosmos. Never again, never again, never again. My Bead Angels are flexing their fingers, ready for more work regarding that first beady income to-do. I'll get a picture of them next time we are all together. I'm already planning our first pot-luck bead class for 2008, which T-man will be teaching. And Pam and I have some things we'll be working on very soon.

Go check out Art Bead Scene's 12 Days of Beading. It's great, with quite a few links for wonderfully beady things. Don't forget Suzanne Cooper's Countdown to Christmas. And tomorrow will be Margot Potter's last installment of Ornament Thursday, with lots of eye candy.

Tomorrow is cookie baking day. Just imagine my children when they get home, greeted by the smell of freshly baked cookies (mmmmmm) and the sight of mom covered in flour and drinking wine straight from the bottle (Oh MOM!). Did you know that Costco sells this giant box of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix? It makes 18 dozen cookies, I kid you not. Sorry, no homemade cookies here, except for the Tollhouse cookies. I leave all that to my youngest sister who proudly shows off her baking skills every Christmas. I will take my homemade lemon curd pie to Mom's, though. So tune in tomorrow beadlings (and others) for more items for change, maybe a picture of the tree, and other various and sundry STUFF that makes my world go round!

Wasted Day

Okay, maybe not an entirely wasted day. I had an appointment with the rheumatologist this morning. Keep in mind that we live smack dab in the middle of Nowhere, so any specialist is pretty much in Austin. Except for this one who is in New Braunfels. She was the only doctor treating fibromyalgia that I could find without having to drive all the way to San Antonio. My eyes have suddenly begun to blur and I cannot even look at the TV without my glasses on. This has been very troubling to T-man, especially since the wonderful medication she put me on specifically for the fibro has a tendency to affect your eyes in a very bad way but, I found out today, only in very high dosage. Long story short, that medication is not the culprit (thank the stars above). But T, you might ask, what is causing the blurry vision?? Well, I'll tell you ---- it's the wonderful INEXPENSIVE medication she put me on to help me sleep. *sigh* The upside is that I'll be able to see again in a few days and perhaps get back to what I love to do, which was rather difficult lately. And she did give me samples of something new and we'll see how it goes.

I was hoping to put some more earrings in the Etsy shop, but it may have to wait until Friday. I am taking A to the doctor tomorrow. She has a very bad cough and it's keeping her up at night, poor baby. And she's miserable. Fortunately, this doctor is in Buda, which is much closer, but I will still feel like I've wasted an entire day doing things other than beading.

Don't you hate it when real life interferes with your fun??

Something Beaded This Way Comes . . . .

I cannot believe you guys are letting me get away with these bad word plays!

I spent the morning driving all over South Austin with N, trying to find the correct ACC bookstore for her books. The prices of tuition and books would astound you, especially once you know that all of her classes are online. Let's just say the $50 book was a bargain.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll post it tomorrow (see? letting me do it again!). Here is a sneak peek at the challenge I've been promising. Tomorrow afternoon, after I get home from beading with the Beadalicious Beading Babes in South Austin, I will post the full picture and details. Until then, I'll be back on the sofa, beading my fingers to the bone.

Day By Day . . . .

I woke up early today. Then I did some research. I wanted to find out why artists blog. Oddly enough, I didn't find much in the way of viable information. I did read an excerpt from We've Got Blog, which is a compilation of different articles discussing the phenomenon known as blogging. I found this gem thanks to Pam . I go to her a lot for advice because she doesn't pull any punches. She puts it out there, and if you like, good. And if you don't like it, good. But she does open my eyes to a lot of things. She sent me to several psychological and psychiatric studies on blogging and society. Dry, but interesting reading.

Today I was trying to find out why artists blog. Maybe I'm just trying to justify doing so myself. One sentence from the book excerpt did ring home: if you're not having a good time, why bother? That one I will take to heart. I did find some advice on why to blog as an artist (notice that this does not address why artists blog). Artists should blog to display their art, to discuss their process and to make announcements. Hmm, kind of sounds like me, me, ME. That doesn't sound like a good time for you or me. But I do like the idea that it gives someone an idea of who I am, what I do, and maybe why I do it. Of course, it might do the same for me! Is that existential?

When I first started discussing blogging with Pam, she mentioned the commitment involved in blogging. If you are going to blog, it needs to be regular and it needs to be fairly often, or you lose your audience, who quite honestly, are potential customers. Am I right? Don't you just hate checking Jane Doe's blog, only to find that she hasn't posted anything for two months? Or how about no postings in over a YEAR? Not even a little web site update!! Now, before you get all hot and bothered, relax. I'm not talking about you, I'm not talking about Pam (she's a busy, busy woman!), I'm not talking about anyone anybody knows. Just obscure little sites here and there that started out with potential only to drift away and die of neglect.

I've always had difficulty with self-promotion. I was brought up to believe that it was conceited and self-serving, something a nice, well-bred southern lady would not do. So it's very difficult for me to fill the blog with pics of my work, links of what I'm doing, where I'll be, etc. I will give it go, though. In that vein . . .

As a good artist who blogs, on my honor, I will try to blog something every day, to have fun blogging, to discuss things other than me, myself and I, and entertain you once in a while.



Oh yeah, I'm teaching Thursday. This is a zinnia, which is going to the Austin Chapter of the Embroiders' Guild of America. How's that for a shameless plug of me??