Life Is A Roller Coaster

Well, my impatient little grandsons are here, 10 weeks early. They came Tuesday morning, just could not wait until Thanksgiving. They barely waited until Nonnie got out of the hospital! That's Max on top, he's older by six minutes. Then there is Marshall, who gave us all quite a scare but now he's just fine. And Natalie is fine, but tired. They weight around 3.5 pounds, but Marshall is now just over 4 pounds! They will both be off ventilators today, and breathing on their own with just the CPAP for help. And they can now both be held by their mommy and daddy. Max looks like Natalie, and Marshall looks like Bryan. We are just all so happy that there are not enough words. Bear with me for a while as my beady blog gets taken over by baby news.

The knee is fine, but I'm exhausted. This is the first day I've had to relax since I was discharged Sunday. I need to take stock of where I am in the beady scheme of things since life has been a big series of ups and downs this week. I cannot believe it's already Friday. I'll try to get back on track this weekend and intersperse some beady stuff with babies next week. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I know I will!

Busy Bee

That's me! I have so much to do. I really need a replicator. I realized it had been a week since my last blog, but I'm really trying to not spread myself too thin right now. I've been beading and knitting and knitting and beading. I'm trying to get a lot of beading done before the next surgery date and trying to get some things knitted in time for the grandbabies.

In the meantime, we are enjoying exceedingly mild weather. I actually heard someone on the radio this morning make the statement that since we didn't break the record of 69 days with temps over 100° that our brutal summer was all for nothing. Tell me, if we had broken said record what would we have received? I'm just curious.

I Love Central Texas!

I am a native Texan; I've lived in Texas all my life. I've lived in Central Texas for most of my life. It's a beautiful place to be. For instance, yesterday it hit 92 degrees. Yes, February is not finished, spring has not yet sprung, but we had 92 lovely, sunny, warm and breezy degrees yesterday. The kids wore shorts! Tonight, we have a freeze expected. Yup, you gotta love it!

Yesterday was a pretty productive day for me. I got a lot done on a new kit sample. There are days when I have seriously considered writing a book. How about The Dummies Guide to Wasting Time? I think I could do it justice! HAH! I am very talented at wasting away the hours, but I have been very productive these past two days, and am exceedingly pleased with myself.

This is pretty cool: It is a morph of Women in Film. The link will open a new page, so you might want to stop the music on my blog to catch the music playing during the slide show. I found it on Kate's site.

My friend Linda pointed out something interesting the other day. Did the women at the Oscars seem to be wearing a lot less jewelry this year? There were an awful lot of strapless gowns with bare necks. Where was all the glitz? The flash? The blinding light of 20 carats of diamonds?? I guess it's just one of those things that make you go "Hmmmm . . .”

Tweaking

No, no, not the illegal kind -- the obsessive compulsive perfectionist kind. I realize that the web site and the blog may appear to be finished, but no, they are not. There is still tweaking to be done, little things to be added. And then there are other places on which to place my brand (thanks, Margot!). But, alas and alack, today is Monday. Bleck, patooie, yuck. And it's foggy, damp and cold again after such a beautiful weekend. Yes, it's true -- rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

What should I be doing? Making a new page somewhere, adding new items somewhere. What do I want to be doing? Sleeping, reading, watching bad movies. What will I do? Hmmm . . . I hadn't really gotten that far. Last night was one of those nasty insomnia trips, so I'm a bit foggy today. I'm thinking I should get busy with some repurpose, revamp, renew, reuse earrings and necklaces that I want to remake and put up on Etsy. And that will occupy me for about an hour. *sigh* What am I avoiding with everything I've got? Organizing the studio and cleaning the house. Oh wait, I can't pull the wool over your eyes! Y'all know I don't clean house! *snort* Go back to yesterday's post about the end of the world! Hah! Me, clean house! It is to laugh!! Dust bunnies rule!

I need minions.

I Did Not Forget You . . . .

I haven't been home! This morning was spent getting lab work done. Then T-man asked me to go to lunch with him, which is something we rarely get to do. So, here I am, at 2:00, just getting around to today's blog. This is a short, short post. I need to get back to work on the web site (typing with the cat yesterday was not very productive) and make some more headway there. I've been looking for a script for a DHTML calendar, but so far I've not had much luck. I may have to design my own, because I have time for that (she said sarcastically). I'm off, and as soon as my hands get warm again, I'll get to work.

Busy Bee

Addendum three hours later: OMG, I've bitten off way more than I can chew in one little day, so updates may not coalesce until next week. Baby steps may be the key here. I'm really planning a lot of changes, but didn't realize how many until I started making a list. And I've found LOTS of new places for you to browse. Busy, busy, busy . . .

Good morning, beadlings! Well, since Clara called me on my neglect of both web site and Etsy store, that's what I'll be doing today. Plus I've found a couple of things to add to the blog and I start putting my gear together for this weekend's retreat, so I will be a busy, busy bee today. Eeek!! I looked away for two minutes, and suddenly realized how much I have to do! I really need a replicator, or copier, or cloning machine or something!!

My little bee was designed for me by my brother, the graphic artist. Teal and turquoise, my empowering colors! He also designed my new logo. You can see some of his graphic designs here and some of his illustrations here, and his Cafe Press store here. I'm trying to get him to design a beading or stitching bear. Maybe you can help with that.

I did go by Pam's yesterday to pick up several prototypes of her new petal ring. I received many nice compliments on the one I wore. As soon as we see how they hold up, she'll start making more. I'll have an update on that next week.

I hope you had a good weekend. I know we did. I hope Monday isn't too rough on you and I will be back tomorrow, hopefully with updated places for you to visit! Keep on keepin' on!

Ring In the New!

I've got two new blog links for you. I've been a fan of both of these artists for many, many years. Get a cup of whatever and go visit for a while. Megan does it all and Rice is a fellow Texan. Both are extremely talented.

Here Chez Bead-Mused we are doing our traditional junk food, movie watching, game playing, puzzle working New Year's Eve. Then we stand under the shelter of the front porch (shelter from the bullets shot into the night sky) and listen to all of our neighbors bring in the New Year. By the way, it is a balmy 70 degrees under a crystal blue sky, but it will drop down to about 32 tonight just as the New Year literally blows in. Sounds like a good night for cuddling. Later, beadlings et al!

Monday, Monday

Ya'll are so cool! Thank you so much. You have no idea how much it means to me to know that you actually come read my blog!

There was a time, not so long ago, when the days of the week just kind of melded together into one big blob and I never knew what day it was without asking. It wasn't drudgery that caused this. It was constant bead work (not to be confused with beadwork) without breaks. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. But I have never, ever liked Mondays. I have always thought three day weekends would be wonderful. I could easily start my week with Tuesday. But then would the Mamas & Papas actually have written "Tuesday, Tuesday"?


Today, I'm shipping off patterns and hedgehogs. Then I am finally putting projects together for the angels. Sorry ladies, last week was pretty much a wash. I have not forgotten you. AND I must take more photos for the Etsy shop and the website. I will also take a photo of the earrings I made for myself (yes, moi). Who knows what other mischief I'll get into. Maybe yoga, maybe yogurt (I haven't had breakfast yet).

And it's supposed to rain most of the day. After all, today is Monday, right?

Art Bead Scene Compliments

Oh my stars, if you scream in cyberspace, someone will hear you. I've been paid a cyber compliment by the lovely beaders at Art Bead Scene . If you haven't visited via my link over there on the right, take a little time today to inspect the eye candy made by some very talented art bead, well, artists! I found them via Heather Powers, with whom I first chatted years ago simply because people would get the names of our business confused: Bumble Beads and Humblebeads. I would get calls for her, she would get calls for me, and so on. So click on over there for a bit and then hop back over here. And many thanks to Elaine Ray for the compliment! I've added a link for blog over there on the right, also.

Today is T-man's birthday, and his third day on the new job, which he is just loving. I'll just be glad when our status quo returns and he can relax a bit. I think we need to plan a motorcycle ride here pretty soon. The weather has been just right and looks to stay that way for a while. This is a picture of us on our last ride in August. And no, the jacket is not hot, but it is armored in case of a fall.

N and I are off to the store to buy cake mix, ice cream and a card. So, dear readers, fellow beaders and assorted other beings, I'm signing off until tomorrow.

Bead Musings

Bead musings are what this blog is supposed to be about, right? I suppose that every once in a while I should stick to the topic. Last night I found a really cool quote that I wanted to post today. Then T-man needed to work on the computer. Did I bookmark it? No. Did I write it down? No. Does my med-fuzzed brain remember it? Oh, hell no. And the short term memory lapse is really irritating, so I'll step back and punt.

While making my morning rounds yesterday, I stopped at Yellow Dog Beads where Pam had posted "I admire all those people who can officially 'blog' - just can't imagine the commitment it must take." For me, it has become fairly easy, especially with the kids gone during the day. I am here, by myself, with only the cats for company, and they don't care what I think or say. So, this is my outlet for conversation. It's great to have a one-sided conversation with no one arguing. I have discovered that I have gotten more visitors to my web site and my Etsy shop since I've started blogging, and that was the main purpose. It's become a very creative outlet. It's like bouncing ideas off of a big group, only no one ever disagrees with me! Oh, and never mind the fact that I am a frustrated novelist at heart. More on that later. I will admit that I had to force myself to sit down and type something the first week, but now it's a little easier. I'm still paranoid that no one reads this. If you scream in cyberspace can anyone hear you?

Then I surfed over to Kate's journal where she posted "Most people choose a life of art from a perspective of freedom, and the desire to have a life structure that isn't fraught with the playground politics of most offices. But get a Guild together, or some kind of power structure, and before you know it you have people who are meticulously recreating the very environment that most of us chose not to participate in in the first place." Okay, office politics were not the reason I did not reenter the workforce after A was born, but I certainly don't miss them. Later, I held offices in two different organizations, at the same time, and I wholeheartedly agree with what she says. T-man once told me if I ever ran for office in any club/society/guild again, he would divorce me! But I'm not sure I agree with her statement that a life of art entails freedom. There is still "WORK" to be done. It's not all fun and games, kids. In fact, very little of it is. Being a self-employed anything takes drive, commitment, organization, self-discipline and enormous motivation. It also entails being able to say "NO" firmly. I've been self-employed for ten years now, and I'm still working on all of those. I'm also still struggling with the frustration of dealing with people who believe that since you are at home, you're not doing anything important. By the way, I don't think that will ever go away.

But neither of these is the quote I seek. So let's talk about my muses, The Beads. As I told you yesterday, I am on an earring kick. I don't know why, it just seems to be the thing to do. I should be sending instructions, patterns and beads out to the angels, and I should be designing more projects for them to stitch. After all, February is just around the corner (I have a big to-do in February). And June is right behind February (I have the EGA Regional Seminar), and I need lots and lots of fabu kits, bead packs, instructions, etc.

But no, I have this need to churn out a bunch of dangly things right now. The first pair has already been grabbed up by N, although she will tell you differently -- her story is that I "offered" them to her. My story? I was holding them up for an opinion, only to be met with an open hand, beseeching me to bestow the pretties in it. I bought these beads specifically to put them on these oxidized head pins and ear wires. Then A wants to know if I can make her a smaller pair of dangly earrings. And she also wants the oxidized wires so they will look almost like the ones her big sister has. So, today is an earring day. More pictures tomorrow!

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??