Happy Independence Day And More

Photo from Wikimedia Commons
It is 7:30 on a Saturday morning and I'm awake. I've been up since 6:00 and no, there is no fever as far as I can tell. It's just one of those mornings. The heat here has been so bad, it's just difficult to cool off. While we were shopping yesterday, our air conditioner froze up again. We came home to a house that was 92°. Cooler than 106°, yes, but it was still hot. So I Google "why does my AC keep freezing" and found Energy Boomer. Lo and behold, our fan speed was set to med-low, T-man fixes that, and the house cooled off right away. It is so nice to be married to a handy DIY guy. Today, he's checking the drain. Hopefully our freeze-up situation is fixed.

I got the rest of my birthday present from T-man yesterday. Now I can make circles. And . . .

because he said I needed one. It should make punching holes easier. Also, I've got the perfect first project:

Barbe posted this a few weeks ago and I thought it was cute in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. I can't afford to use my cards so I should do SOMETHING with them, right? I'm glad, though, that I had "custom" designs and that my cards are a little more colorful. If nothing else, I'll have fun making the bracelet.

Have fun, stay safe, be cool! I'll be back AFTER my birthday.

Today . . .

. . . is for getting a little more organized. Calendar updates need to be made first. Then I need to clear away some things from my work space, a.k.a. the couch. I'm going to bag up a few things to go to Goodwill. After that, I'm going to try a few more photos. I've also got a post for you that will take a few days of research. Fortunately, I can save drafts to be published later! Finally, I'm putting the clasp on Atlantis.



I've been sitting here surfing this morning. I think while I surf. Call it multi-tasking. That way I don't seem like such a slouch. Anyway, while I surf I think, and when I think it usually results in a pattern, a palette or a project -- my three P's. In my world, they are just as important as the three R's. I have four more 2010 locations I would like to apply to, and I'm wondering if I should submit tried and true projects or come up with something completely new. I'm welcoming suggestions, beadlings, so throw 'em out.

I'm Not Typing

Okay, I am typing. I'm just not typing what I should be typing. This is what I did instead:This is my Laura McCabe Dahlia Locket. I bought the kit last summer and finally put it together a couple of weeks ago. All I had left to do was attached the loop and toggle today. Let me just say as a project designer, kit builder and beadwork technique teacher that I absolutely love Laura and her projects. I have never done so much with just one stitch. The instructions were clear and, oh my stars, if I could do hand rendered graphics like she does, I'd be in seventh heaven. I hate struggling with computer rendered graphics. The kit is generous in the amount of beads and thread, and she sent FIVE needles in two different sizes. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that a beginner could do this (knowledge of peyote stitch is definitely needed), but it was not a difficult project and I am just pleased as punch with it! And I happen to have a pink blouse that needed a spark. Yowza, this sucker sparkles! Swarovski crystals and cubic zirconium abound (you just can't quite see the spark with the scanner). I can't wait to do my other LM kit and, by golly, this summer I'm buying more of her kits!

So, what have I done today? Well, I've been corresponding with my gal pal Gaye. As her daughter gets older, Gaye gets busier. We just haven't been able to get together this year the way we have in the past. Of course, I don't have a bead shop down the street from TSU (where she works) like I used to! Hah! Do you think that has anything to do with it? She is now the proud mother of a new driver (snicker). They'll get through it okay. Their insurance rates may go up, but they'll get through it. My problem is that I remember this girl as a small child who used to come to my store with her mom, and she always got to pick out beads. I have a bracelet that I made based on a palette that Victoria picked out, and I never fail to get compliments on the color. Now she's a grown up, gorgeous young woman. She really needs to stop making me feel old!

I've also been in touch with Pam Way today. She is also putting things together for the San Antonio Bead & Ornament Society's bead bazaar. Hopefully we will have booths next to each other. I happen to know that she has a whole bunch of new sets ready. Maybe I can shop before the bazaar begins! Hee, hee, hee!

I also stayed in bed sleeping until 10:30 this morning. The insomnia has been hellish this week. I have another appointment next week regarding the sleep study, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll just deal with feeling like a lazy slug.

It's obvious to me that I'm not going to get any typing done today, so I'm off to finish beading another project and I will definitely take pictures when it's finished. You just might not see them until right before the bead bazaar (I want you to purchase a kit or pattern, you see). We're off to get our little chickies tomorrow, so I'll have lots of pictures of them for you, plus wildflowers in my back yard and T-man's little garden (our lettuce is an inch tall now). Ariel is at her weekly chess club meeting today. I hate to say it, but my little girl is going to be a nerd just like mom was. And Natalie has things to do for Relay for Life tonight. I am very proud of her for getting involved in this. Please go visit her team page and consider making a donation. Natalie will be putting her info up there sometime this week. "We Hate Cancer" is the number two team in the amount of donations so far. It is such a worthy cause, and such a personal cause to us, and it would mean so very much to everyone involved to receive donations from you. Okay, I'm off the soapbox for now. Remember, don't worry -- bead happy! (groan)

Yesterday . . . .

We went to my parents' for Easter dinner. Ariel (yes, I put her name in and no, not the Little Mermaid -- go read Shakespeare) hunted eggs. There was a small problem finding some of the eggs. The Easter bunny came out to help.We think Ariel may have it figured out, but she's pleading innocence.

I got called the "Ninja Photographer" yesterday by my darling Natalie.For the life of me, I cannot figure out why.

I have decided to wait on the photos of the new items. They are starting to add up. I've got just a few days to finish up, then I must start typing instructions. I'm teaching a class next Monday night for the Georgetown Satellite group of the Austin Stitchers. The Georgetown group is so hospitable, I love visiting with them. And since I have just a few days, I must be off. I leave you with this photo of the wisteria that grows behind my mom's house. Just let me say that this year it's not nearly as full as it usually is! The tree it's growing in (mom's blooming cedar) is about 20 feet tall, just to give you an idea. The wisteria grows down the hill in the back and across a little fence off to the right. The main body of the plant is about the size of a car, and the trunk is a good five inches in diameter. I've managed to kill every cutting she has given me. Keep on stitchin' on, beadlings!

There's No Place Like Home

How true is that statement? I so enjoyed my four days away, but I am so glad to be home. My family missed me, the cats missed me (Baby refuses to leave my lap, and typing around feline is no small feat), even the dog missed me. Here I am, back in my hovel. My hovel is fairly quiet, even with A home for Martin Luther King day.

I realized just how much of a hermit I have become. I was sitting in a room with roughly 80 other people, and at times it was just overwhelming. I was not only assaulted by the noise, but there was all the movement, good natured jostling, accidental bumping -- all things that are unknown to me here in the quiet of my solitude. And four days is not enough time to acclimate to such a change. And with three of us sharing a room, it was totally correct when GG commented that it had become a dorm room (something about all three hair dryers running at the same time!). But the best part was getting to spend four days with the other three High Priestesses of the Goddess of the Temple of Beading.

Anyway, I'm back. I'm catching up with my fellow bloggers, I've read through 200 emails, and now I've got to unpack and get cracking on four or five different projects! I've had very little sleep over the past few days (go figure), but last night I got a FULL 12 hours. T-man spiked my hot cocoa with a bit of rum and I slept fairly well. So, I'm energized and ready to push forward through my maze of projects. I came home with a bucket full of ideas. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I will have the pictures that Juls took so you can see what fun we had. I have missed you all, I hope you missed me just a little bit, but now it's time to bid you farewell until tomorrow morning! Have a beadiful day!

Making Important Stuff

The other day Carol left a comment that she gets bogged down making things for others which leaves her no time to explore her creativity. While she is kind and generous in doling out her beady things, her muse is starving for attention. Oddly enough, I am familiar with this concept. It's not that I make things for others, rather I make things that I know will sell in quantity, like patterns and kits. That leaves little time for the creative artsy items I take to art shows. The problem there being that I need to have a booth full of creative artsy items for every art show I do. It is a quandary, is it not?

So, how do we fulfill the one without neglecting the other? I would bet that some of you have family/friends who are always asking you to make something for them, right? But in order to do that, you put that fabulous necklace for yourself on hold, so much so that when the big event you wanted it for came along, you didn't get to wear it because it wasn't finished. Anyone? Show of hands please. Ah, I thought as much. The bracelet did not get worn because so many others needed jewelry for that event. Granted, I got paid well, but still . . .

So, what must we do to overcome the necessary obstacles in order to make ourselves happy. It is human nature for women to put themselves second because of the gene that makes nurturing creatures. It's not easy to be selfish and do something just for us, and even when we do, chances are we will feel guilty about it. So, I propose a project to you all. Make a piece, just for you and your muse. You have six months (because I know a lot of you have 8-5 commitments). That makes July 10 you deadline. Send me pictures. I'll post them. Send me progress pictures I'll post them. But also send me a story to go with the pictures -- a journal even, of how doing this makes you feel. I will do the same, but I don't want to do it all by myself. I would really, really like for this to be a collaborative effort. Deal? Deal!

Oh crap, I almost forgot! Pam updated her page. I'm not the bully she writes of, really I'm not. I'm just looking out for her best interests, really. Oh, and I'm getting one of those rings!

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

It's cold as all get-out, but it's gorgeous outside. Oh, I know you folks that live up in the frozen north laugh when I talk about the cold. But you should realize that before the blizzard at Thanksgiving, the last time we saw snow was Christmas of 2002 when we visited T-man's grandmother in the mountains of Pennsylvania! It just doesn't snow here. It does get cold, but usually with rain. However, the past two nights have been crystal clear and in the mid-20s, with crystal clear days that warm up to the low 50s. Brrrrrr. And yes, I do want to make it to Alpine some day, where it snows every winter and the mid 80s makes for a heat wave. But there are so many things I love about that area that make up for the temperature.

I finished part of the special project, and today hope to finish it. Then I will send the designer pictures, mail the project and right after Christmas I'll post the pictures. I don't want to unveil it before the proper authorities (lol) get to see it. That just would not be good manners.

Now, are you sitting down? No coffee in your mouth? Swallow, sit. I cleaned house yesterday. No, no, no -- nothing big, but I did clear out the corner where I was doing my photography. We also moved some things around, which made the room look a bit bigger. Today I need to clear my beady stuff from the living room. Then I should have the space for the Christmas tree, which please A immensely.

I'm also doing something else I don't usually do. I'm making changes (not resolutions) for 2008. 2007 has not been the best year. T-man believes it is because I swerved slightly from what the universe directed. He keeps pointing out that when I do what makes me happy (rather than what I think people want me to do) my work is better and more profitable. It's not that I do this to make money, but those darned kids have to be fed on a regular basis! Anyway, more along this line throughout the week. I just got a call from T-man and must rush something to him at the office. Stay warm wherever you are and have a peachy-keen day!