Thursday, March 31, 2005

T-48 and counting...

Well, here I am with less than 48 hours to go til the show and I'm doing pretty well. Haven't majorly freaked out (yet). The credit card machine arrived yesterday and worked when we tested it. I confirmed with the credit-card acceptance service that my account is up and running and even got to do a test transaction that went just fine! Those were my two biggest worries so that's a huge relief.

Finished all the pricing last night and got the final display set up on the table. Tonight I plan to take some reference pictures and get some paperwork done and then tomorrow I'll be running last minute errands and packing and then Saturday is SHOWTIME!

Can't believe it's finally here and I'm trying REALLY hard not to think about the horror of being there all day and not selling anything after all this work LOL! Nope, not gonna think about it, not, not, not!

After all, I've managed (so far) not to get Ryan's latest cold so things have to be looking up, right?

If I get the pictures done, I'll try to post something tomorrow if time allows.

That's all for now. Wish me luck!

KJ

Monday, March 28, 2005

"Wonder Woman" Movie!

MSN Movies - Wonder Woman

So, I have to admit up front that I'm a comic-book-hero-movie junkie...sigh. I'm nuts about Spiderman and the X-Men and all the rest so I'm glad to see they're finally going to make a "Wonder Woman" movie. Remember the old TV show with Lynda Carter? I just loved that as a kid! My friends and I would repeatedly make ourselves dizzy enough to fall down trying to emulate her spin ;-)

And Joss Whedon is just the guy to bring this to the big screen in the way it deserves, but I have to SERIOUSLY disagree w/ the author of this article on his suggestion of J-Loser to play the part. Can you say "blech!" with a capital B?

Well, anyway, it'll be interesting to follow the development and see who gets the part.

In the meantime, can't wait to see "The Fantastic Four" and "X3" when they finally come out!

KJ
who has less than a week to go to her first show and should really, really not be wasting time on the computer right now...

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Spring and Easter Specials and Earring Pages Revised!

Silver Parrot Designs Spring Specials!

Okay a tad bit late (the show prep madness has taken full hold as I made my FIFTH trip to Kinko's last night...ARRRGH!), but the Spring/Easter specials are finally up on the site. Just follow Mr. Easter Bunny!

Also, I've revamped the earring pages so you may notice some changes there. All the items are still available (except one pair that sold this past week), but I've divided up the items into 4 pages so they're more organized and the pages will all (hopefully) load more quickly for everyone.

And yes, I know the Ear Threads page doesn't have anything on it yet - that's a bit of a tease for an upcoming addition. I've made quite a few of these for my show on April 2nd and anything that doesn't sell will be added to the website after the show. If they ALL sell...well, I'll just have to make more, won't I? What are Ear Threads you ask? I've put a description on the page at the site so you can go check it out if you want to. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait a couple more weeks..Bwahahahahah!

Oh, and Happy Easter everyone!

KJ

Wednesday, March 23, 2005


Another of the new pieces for the show. Cranberry pearls, smoky quartz and Bali vermeil. Did the partial booth set up on my dining room table last night and it's looking pretty good! I'll try to take some pictures and post them when I get everything set up. Posted by Hello

Tuesday, March 22, 2005


Found these cute little dichroic glass pendants in a shop in Monterey, CA, while on vacation there with DH last year. I've added sterling silver box chains for some simple necklaces with a bit of unusual flair. The top piece is actually a pretty aqua color and the bottom left is lime green and yellow but they didn't scan too well. Posted by Hello

Monday, March 21, 2005

Andre Norton

CNN.com - Sci-fi and fantasy author Norton dies - Mar 17, 2005

It's taken me a couple of days to post this because it made me so sad. Truly one of my all-time favorite authors and inspirations. She'll be sadly missed and I can't believe there won't be any more "Witch World" books. I still remember the very first one I picked up in the library of my junior high school. I used to hide in there at lunchtime so the kids who liked to pick on me couldn't find me (because heaven forbid they step foot into gasp! a library!) and I made some wonderful discoveries while hiding out in there. In addition to Norton's books, I picked up the very first volume of Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" series there, too. This was back when there was only 1 book and she wasn't a bestseller yet! I miss those days (well, the book discoveries...not the junior high tormenting LOL!)

KJ

I needed a few simple and less expensive necklaces to round out my stock for the show and here's one of the designs I came up with. Lavender jade that looks just like yummy candy paired w/ Bali silver and Czech crystal. Posted by Hello

Amazon.com: Books: Mystic and Rider

Amazon.com: Books: Mystic and Rider

I had to share this...am reading this book right now and LOVE it! I've read some other works by Sharon Shinn and liked them but none of 'em have knocked me out until now. If I didn't have a job and a kid to get up for in the morning, I'd've stayed up all night reading this! THAT's how good it is. Anyway, just thought I'd share. I have more pictures to post, too...maybe later today!

KJ

Friday, March 18, 2005


Another of the new pieces for the show. This one features a gorgeous lampwork set by Sandi Misenar in shades of moss and teal w/ accents of copper and gold. I've added Bali vermeil spacers and some genuine garnet rondelles and finished it off with gold filled chain and a vermeil clasp with a genuine garnet set in it. The picture doesn't do this lampwork justice - it's truly one of the most outstanding sets I've ever seen and I paid WAAYYYYY more than I could really afford for it on e-Bay because I just HAD to have it so I could offer it to my customers. Enjoy! KJ Posted by Hello

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Contest Winners Announced, St. Patrick's Day Special and a li'l bit o' gossip!

Naming Contest Page - Free Earrings!

That's right - the contest winners have been announced on the website so head on over via the link above if you want to read the details.

There's also a 1 day special going on today in honor of St. Patrick's Day so be sure to check that out as well (you can get to it from a link on either the page above or the home page).

And last but not least, I found this little tidbit of gossip on MSN and (being a mom) just had to share it:

"And finally, just so we end on the same dirty diaper note on which we began, Liz Smith reports that Brooke Shields committed a parental faux pas recently at an L.A. eatery when she changed baby Rowan on the same table where she and husband Chris Henchy had been enjoying their meal. The worst part: Once the baby's bottom was spic and span, the couple ordered dessert. Say it with us: Ewwww."

Okay, darn right "EWWWW!" That's just SO wrong, people. Get a babysitter (and heck, these are rich stars we're talking about - don't they have a nanny or an au pair on speed dial?)and don't take the kid to the nice restaurant to begin with or at the very least, excuse yourself to the restroom and use the changing table there. Sheesh!

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Okay, I'm done ;-)

Take care all and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

KJ

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Irish Baby Names

MSN Family/Baby & Pregnancy

Some more Irish-related fun just in time for St. Patrick's Day! Don't be forgettin' to wear a bit 'o the green tomorrow lest the leprechauns fair pinch ye to death ;-)

Erin go bragh!

KJ

Monday, March 14, 2005


Another piece for the upcoming show. It's also part of the naming contest so if you'd like to participate and win a free pair of earrings, go to: Silver Parrot DesignsPosted by Hello

Friday, March 11, 2005


I promised some sneak peeks at the new show inventory and here's the first one. Faceted ocean quartz rectangles w/ Bali silver and garnets. I hate the name, tho, so I'm running a contest on the website to re-name these. Prize is a free pair of Silver Parrot earrings! Go to http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net Posted by Hello

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Chinese curses.

Well, I had an interesting weekend. Interesting as used in the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times."

I woke up Saturday morning to discover that my jaw was locked shot. Completely. Couldn't open it at all for about 20 minutes then got it to open a bit after putting hot compresses on it and taking some Advil. It didn't hurt as long as I wasn't trying to open it, so I tried to convince myself that it was just that I slept wrong or something and that it'd go away soon. Yeah, right.

However, there was a bead show that day and never let it be said that I let ANYTHING stand between me and getting new beads LOL! So, I went to the show and stocked up on some "needed" items (Bali silver and vermeil spacers and sterling silver headpins...all of which I seem to go through at an incredible rate) and then wandered around looking for anything new and interesting to jump out at me. I found a great deal on some coin pearls so I should have some fun earrings w/ those and maybe a necklace coming soon. Also found a great deal on some big tumbled nuggets of really gorgeous labradorite with lots of blue flash to them! I have no idea what I'm going to do with these yet, but they were so gorgeous and the price was so perfect, I had to get them ;-) I found some cute Japanese lampwork beads, too. I'd been kinda turning my nose up at this stuff for a while, but they are really getting good with their beads and the price is definitely nice so I bought a few strands...some Easter bunnies and a couple different styles of cats (already used some to make a pair of earrings for my sister-in-law whose name is...Cat. Perfect, eh?) Lastly I went by the Via Murano booth and drooled all over their gorgeous glass. I love that stuff but usually don't have the money to afford much of it. I bought a few pieces of cane glass from them - really beautiful David Christensen beads! Can't wait to get those made up into earrings.

So the whole time I'm walking the show I'm trying more and more to work my jaw farther open and it's not cooperating so when I finally got home, I decided to call my doctor who sent me straight to the ER :-( I spent 3 hours Saturday night sitting alone in the ER and getting my jaw X-rayed. Just how I dreamed of spending my Saturday night...NOT! Anyway, turns out I have TMJ syndrome (X-rays showed inflammation in the jaw joint on the left side) and there's not much to be done about it other than taking ibuprofen to keep the inflammation down and trying to de-stress my life. Yeahhhhhh...right..that's gonna happen. If I'm still having problems in another week or two, I'm supposed to go see an ENT. Whoopeee! More fun with doctors (as if I haven't had enough of that in the last few months) Ugh.

Sunday we took Ryan to a b-day party for one of his daycare buddies. He did pretty well although there were a few disagreements over toys and Ryan REALLY wanted to help the b-day girl unwrap her presents LOL! Then Sunday night we had a b-day dinner for Dean which mostly went okay except there was a fountain outside of the restaurant and Ryan kept wanting to go out to see it and at one point he fell partially in it and got his jacket all wet. I ended up leaving the party early to take him home and get him changed and put to bed. I didn't mind that part so much as it was kind of a bummer not to get to talk to anyone...oh and I missed out on dessert :-( I've decided we've got to start looking into babysitters for some of these family events. Ryan is very well behaved for a 2 year old, but still, he only has a limited attention span and we can't expect him to be good all the way through a 3 hour dinner and it really makes it impossible for whoever is watching him to enjoy their meal or partake in the conversation.

Finally, the show is growing ever closer and I'm starting to feel like I'm in pretty good shape as far as inventory and displays are concerned. The tent arrived and DH practiced putting it up over the weekend. It seems like it'll do the job and since it cost less than $50, I'm pretty happy. If this show goes well and I decide to do more of them, I'll invest in a better quality tent. I've just got to take care of a table and signage and I've got to sit down and put price tags on everything. That'll probably take a while. Then I just have to hope people will show up and spend $ LOL! That's really my only nightmare is that I do all this and then don't make a single sale out of it, but I'm trying to think positively!

Oh, and if you haven't gone to play the contest, be sure to go to:

Silver Parrot Designs

Free earrings, people!

Take care all!

KJ

Friday, March 04, 2005

Time for some fun and games!

Silver Parrot Designs

Head on over to the site and follow the contest rules to enter!

KJ

Watch out for leprechauns!

The History Channel - The History of St. Patrick's Day

Faith 'n begorrah! 'Twill soon be time for St. Paddy's Day and the wearin' o' the green and in honor of the blessed saint (and to keep the leprechauns from doin' their mischief) Silver Parrot is proud to share a few things Irish this month.

With a name like Kelly...I just have to do something special for St. Patrick's Day! Which reminds me...keep your eyes and ears peeled for some website deals between now and March 17th!!

Think green!

KJ (hey, what did you think the K stood for, anyway? LOL)