Oscar thoughts...

Since my last post was so depressing, time for something a little bit lighter! I've missed the Oscars for the past few years for one reason or another but I managed to tune in tonight for a little while...at least long enough to see some of the fashions and jewelry, etc. Is it just me, or was it kind of blah? Lots of strapless, sweetheart necklines and lots of column dresses w/ mermaid tails or trains. Lots of black but the "in" color seemed to be that deep teal or midnight blue that first showed up at the Golden Globes on Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman (neither of whom did I see at the Oscars tonight). Good thing I recently bought that deep teal strand of apatite ovals ;-)

If I had to pick a best dressed...I'd say Cate Blanchett. I don't think a lot of people could pull off that pale yellow, but she looked radiant in it and I loved the unusual broach she was wearing and the unexpected pairing of the deep maroon sash and bag with the pale yellow. Never would have thought of putting those colors together, but I liked it.

Some almost rans:

Hilary Swank's dress was the most perfect fit I've ever seen on a dress and she has a truly stunning figure. I loved the back of the dress, but I wasn't as crazy about the front. I thought the neckline was up a little too high and also...hmmm, how to put this politely...I think she was a bit cold if you know what I mean. Hilary, honey, they make these nifty shield thingies nowadays that work wonders (or you can always go w/ my mother's secret weapon...bandaids...trust me...they work wonders!) Also thought she could've gone with slightly bigger earrings since the front of the dress was so covered up and severe.

Virginia Madsen's dress was just stunning and her hair and makeup looked great. Now, as much as I love the big earrings...I wish hers had been just a TAD smaller. I thought they kind of overpowered her face and got tangled in her hair.

Renee Zellwegger...beautiful ruby-colored dress and kudos for being able to walk in that Morticia Adams-like mermaid tail. I have NO idea how she managed to do that, not fall, and also not look totally ridiculous with those little mincing steps. I'm not crazy about the dark hair on her, though and Renee, seriously EAT SOMETHING occasionally okay? Sheesh! Your collarbones could slice bagels!

Beyonce...loved the neckline and fit of the dress and the earrings were to die for. If you have to go with basic black, this was the way to do it.

For jewelry, I loved the pearl lariat that Laura Linney was wearing (but I hated the color of her dress...looked like drab prison gray) and Annette Benning had on an interesting necklace also that from a distance looked like some netted beadweaving w/ peacock pearls, but I'm sure it was something more spectacular than that. And BTW...what is UP w/ Warren Beatty? The way he behaved while Annette was giving interviews was totally weird...he was either drunk or he's got some early dementia going on (and I don't mean that to be funny...I was seriously worried about him).

The worst things I saw...Scarlett Johanssens's hair looked like it was done by Courtney Love...blech! And WHY can't Gwyneth Paltrow EVER get a dress that fits her on top? Either they're way too big (like her pink dress from the year she won the Oscar) or see thru (like the disastrous Goth/chicken cutlet year) or they're way too tight and all smashed looking like this year. I don't get it. Oh and Star Jones REALLY REALLY needs to have her cameraman shoot from a different angle! They were shooting over her shoulder all night so every time she moved it was a straight shot down the front of her dress. Soooo not attractive. And someone just make Kathy Griffin go away. Not funny and didn't add ANYTHING to the broadcast. I've got to remember to always watch this stuff on mute so I can just see the fashion and ignore the inane blathering from the commentators.

On the medical front...we're all still stick and to make matters worse, Ryan came down with an ear infection yesterday and was up most of the night screaming. Dean ended up driving around in the car with him in the middle of the night trying to get him to fall asleep. They made it all the way up to Long Beach before he finally calmed down!!

We got him in to the urgent care today and they confirmed the ear infection (duh) so we got to go back to Sav-On again GRRR! Oh and just for the cherry on top of our weekend...we're stuck in some kind of insurance limbo hell since Dean left the company in January and we switched all the coverage over to my name but apparently the big insurance bureaucracy wheels haven't turned quickly enough so we're having to pay cash for all these visits and medication until it gets straightened out and we can get reimbursed.

Okay, time to go and crawl back into my maximum strength Sudafed nightime sinus pill haze. Wheeeee!

KJ

Hell...thy name is Sav-On Drugs

Well, it's been a fun (not) week at our house. I would say that Ryan is sick again but A. that's redundant and B. it's really that he's STILL sick.

We had about 5 good days after the last round of antibiotic and then the cough came back. This time it brought runny nose and fever and a severe case of "cranky, whining kid" along with it. Soooo...back to the doctor we went on Wednesday which of course caused me MORE missed time at work. They're really starting to love me there, sigh.

This time doctor said the pneumonia is gone (good news) but that now Ryan has something called "reactive airway" meaning that his airway is irritated and somewhat constricted from all the illness and coughing, etc. Well, duh...*I* could've diagnosed THAT (and not charged $100 an hour to do it, either). So, she prescribes an albuterol inhaler for him which means I've got to go to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled.

I had initially planned to go there right from the doctor's office, but Ryan was just absolutely losing it by then. He was mostly good during the examination, but towards the end he just had a meltdown. I suppose I can't really blame him - he was tired and feeling crappy and just wanted to go home and I know I felt the same way. I had no energy at all and was starting to suspect that his germs were about to take me out as well.

So I decided to head home and give Ryan a break and see if DH could get home a little early to watch him while I went out to the pharmacy. I think he heard the desperation in my voice when I called him at work so he agreed to skate out a bit early (his new job is 45 minutes away from home) to beat the traffic.

He finally gets home at 5:30 by which time Ryan and I are both just climbing the walls. I can't get him to rest but he feels too crappy to do anything else...even treats such as stickers, etc. are making him cry (and I was wanting to cry, too, by this point). So DH takes over and I head out to the pharmacy. Drop off the prescription and they tell me 20 minutes. Great. I'll go run by the bookstore and treat myself to something to help me feel better.

I do that and go back to the pharmacy...order still not ready...come back in another 20 minutes. Okayyyyyyyy.......fine. Call DH and ask if he wants me to pick up dinner since I'm out and have more time to kill. He agrees so I go grab some Chinese, put it in the car and head back to Sav-On.

I stand in line there for another 15 minutes (all the while surrounded by a crowd of coughing, sneezing, wheezing, germ-spreaders) only to get up to the counter and be told that they DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT SIZE INHALER MASK FOR RYAN'S PRESCRIPTION! They will have to order it and it won't be in until the next day. Okay now I just waited AN HOUR for you to tell me that??? I THINK I left the store without strangling anyone, but I'm not sure as it's all a big blur. I remember flashing lights and a buzzing sound and someone yelling (maybe me?) but that's all. I just know I suddenly found myself out in the parking lot with a strong desire to bang my head against a wall. ARRRGGHHH!

And what makes it all worse is that the doctor's office offered to sell me a mask for $20 while I was there, but I (stupidly as it turns out) declined because I wanted to get it at the pharmacy so it would be covered by the insurance. So really, I did this to myself...double ARRRGGGHHHH!

Meanwhile, DH is calling me on the cell wondering what's taking so long and I finally arrive home with cold Chinese food for dinner and no inhaler for our son.

We finally got the darn thing last night and started him on it but so far it just seems to make him cough more. I guess the results take a few more days. He has to get dosed 3 times a day so I have to remember every day to pack it up and send it to daycare with him. At least he seems to be pretty good about letting us dose him with it. Bribing with Thomas the Train stickers seems to help, too ;-)

To top it all off, by the time I got home last night, I had a sore throat and was shaking with fever. I had such a bad chill that I had to put a heating pad in the bed w/ me last night. But this explains why I've been feeling so rundown all week and like I just couldn't get going on anything. I've done no work at all getting ready for the show (and precious little else around the house, either). The only bright spots have been all the packages of supplies for the show arriving, but I've been feeling too crappy to properly enjoy opening them or doing anything with them. They're all sitting forlornly on my work area still in their packages.

I dragged myself to the office today, but I'm not sure how long I'm gonna last although I know it's not going to go over very well if I go home sick..again.

I've seriously got to look into bubble suits for Ryan and I. Obviously our immune systems are just NOT up to all the viruses out there. I really think this "constant illness" thing is really the toughest thing about being a mom.

Well, now that I've written such a happy, uplifting message for everyone to read...LOL! Sorry about that, but sometimes ya just gotta vent. I'm sure we'll all be better in 7-10 days but if not, I'm starting to consider more radical solutions like pulling Ryan out of daycare for 2-4 weeks until he's REALLY 100% well. No idea how I'll pull that off, but I'm sure over the next few days as I lay in bed wanting to die cuz I feel so cruddy, I'll have plenty of time to think about it.

Take care all and STAY WELL!

KJ
http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

Update on Jonathan

Here's the latest (as of late last week) on my cousin Jonathan:

"On the medical front Jon's transfer to rehab is delayed a few more days. They have had to put two new catheters into him to drain fluid that has accumulated around his heart and lungs. One is already out. The other one could come out tomorrow. Jon is eating well with a good appetite. He was able to hold a glass of water, bring it up to his mouth and drink on his own."

We hope he will be able to transfer to rehab soon. Keep up those thoughts and prayers!

KJ

Wire wrapped heart pendants - 2 practice versions in copper wire and 3 final versions in sterling silver. 

Hearts away...

I promised pics of the new things I'm working on so will post a pic shortly. I taught myself some new wirework and these wrapped hearts are my first attempt. I plan to hang them from brightly colored silk cord and embellish the pendants themselves with a single crystal dangle at the bottom.

Enjoy and hope everyone is staying dry out there...we're about to build ourselves an ark!

KJ

A bit of business...

Just wanted to let you all know that in addition to credit cards, Silver Parrot now accepts Paypal via the website shopping cart! Just shop the site as usual and as you proceed through the checkout process, you'll be offered the Paypal option alongside all the credit card options and you can select your preferred method at that time!

I'm glad my shopping cart company has made this option available because I think having more flexibility built in to the process for customers can only be a good thing.

Oh, and I have a vacation day tomorrow (whoopeeeeee!!!) so expect some new goodies to show up over the weekend. Most of it'll be inventory for the upcoming show, but I'll at least share pictures and MAYBE, if you're all good, you'll get chocolate milk. Oh wait, I'm channeling "mommy mode" again. What I meant to say was maybe if you're all good, I'll get around to putting some stuff for sale on the site.

And yes, I know, I'm a tease...LOL!

Take care everyone.

KJ
Silver Parrot Designs
http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

More internet fun...

Got this from one of my lists and thought it was a really fun, neat idea:

http://www.nationstates.net

And if you want to see the nation I built, "The Commonwealth of Delphinidae" then here's the link to that:

http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=delphinidae

I haven't checked out the guy's book yet, but I'm definitely intrigued. Heck, he gets kudos just for developing this cool, unique game (for those of us with too much time on our hands anyway...)

Enjoy!

KJ

MSNBC - Mommy Madness

MSNBC - Mommy Madness

Wow! I was really impressed with this article and thought I should share it both for all the moms out there and for all women, really. Even if a woman doesn't have children, I still think all of us are responsible (or should be) for how the next generation turns out. After all, when we're older, they'll be the ones running the country and deciding how much (if any) Social Security, Medicare, etc. we get ;-). Although I've somewhat avoided falling into the severe scheduling trap (so far, Ryan is too young for many activities and my job doesn't require much in the way of OT) I can see the pitfalls coming in the next few years. Plus, I always tend to be on the perfectionist side anyway so this really hit home.

I especially liked this quote: "...the harsh realities of family life in a culture that has no structures in place to allow women—and men—to balance work and child-rearing." Boy, ain't THAT the truth! I found out about this firsthand during my own maternity leave (a chintzy 6 weeks paid which is TOTALLY inadequate). While the FMLA act does add some additional time, it's unpaid, which for a household like mine where both salaries are required to keep things running, isn't a whole lot of help. And what happens when, like in my situation, there are post-delivery complications (in my case requiring a total of 3 weeks in the hospital, plus surgery and recovery time)? There's no additional time for that or additional paid leave and it doesn't fall under disability because it's considered related to the pregnancy which has ALREADY used up your disability allowance for the year. So I missed out on spending a big chunk of my maternity leave with my son and that made it all the more difficult for me when I had to go back to work. Thank goodness I am lucky enough that my parents live nearby and were able to provide some care for him before it was time to take him to daycare. He was already eating some solid food (okay, baby cereal) by then so the feeding schedule wasn't as rigorous...I can't imagine having to go back to work when your child is still on a full breastfeeding schedule! I found it difficult to pump at work and I only had to do it twice a day! And don't even get me started on the (lack of) "facilities" that my company provided...what a joke!

At least I've been lucky in the daycare department. Ryan goes to a wonderful place and I have complete trust in them, but soon it will be time for pre-school and I'm dreading trying to find a place that I trust as much as I trust his daycare! So for all the women out there, whether they are moms or not, give yourself a pat on the back and try not to be so hard on yourselves!

KJ

P.S. After reading a bit further, I found a couple of related articles that I thought were also good. Here are the URL's:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6960127/site/newsweek/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6960732/site/newsweek/

Personally, I think I'm going for "slacker mom" myself ;-)

More miracles...

Here's the latest information I have about Jonathan:

Jon will be moving to an in-patient rehab center soon. He's got lots of work ahead. His memory is very sketchy. He can remember a few names but that's about it. His parents spend most of their time calming him down. He wakes up in a state of terror. He's totally disoriented and can't see anything but shadows. His location is being kept as confidential as possible as he is considered a witness in the criminal case that will (hopefully) extend from the incident that caused his injuries. We continue to find out more about the miracles in this case. Not only was the paramedic who saved his life a friend of his, but he was not officially called on the case. He just happened to be walking by the house where the stabbing happened at the right time! Instead of being taken to the closest hospital trauma center, there was some type of traffic re-routing going on and Jonathan was flown to one of the top trauma centers in the country (I can't disclose the name). At the time he arrived, one of the nation's best cardiac surgeons was just finishing up there and leaving for the day (he doesn't normally practice there, but had come in to work on a special case) and when he heard of Jonathan's situation, he agreed to stay and perform the repair surgery on Jonathan's heart. He told the family that Jonathan is the first patient he's aware of who has survived this type of ventricular injury! Our family is so grateful for all the prayers, good wishes and support that we've received...as you can tell from the story...they are obviously making a difference!

In other news...

We celebrated my dad's birthday over the weekend. Had dinner at a GREAT restaurant in San Juan Capistrano called The Sun Dried Tomato Cafe. Now, normally, I'm not a big tomato fan, but the cream of sun-dried tomato soup was to DIE for! Can't recommend it highly enough. As an entree, I had a filet of beef on a portabello mushroom w/ caremalized onions and a cabernet balsamic reduction sauce. Wow, was it fantastic. And don't even get me started on the incredible chocolate cake we had for dessert. In fact, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it :-) Apparently, the place has been featured on The Food Network, too. Anyway, it was awesome and you might want to check it out if you're in the area. It's right by the train station in the same building as the Ruby's

Spent most of the weekend working on stuff for the upcoming show. Oh, yeah, and I did tons of laundry, too, but no one wants to hear about that LOL! I haven't had a chance to scan anything yet, but I did a lot of turquoise and coral combos and also some coral w/ freshwater pearls and vermeil. In fact, I used up ALL my vermeil spacers and I've got to run get more. Also did some pretty faceted ocean quartz "pillows" w/ garnet and sterling silver. I wasn't sure how that color combo would work out, but I love it! Pics soon, I hope!

Take care all!

KJ

"It never rains in Southern California...

...but girl, let me warn you. It pours, oh man, it pours."

Sing along everyone! Okay, cheesy 70's pop tune time. See, when I was growing up, my dad would always sing certain songs for weeks (sometimes years) on end (and never the whole song but just 1-2 lines) and this was one of 'em so whenever it rains, I get this darned song stuck in my head. Don't even ask me about the YEARS that he was stuck on "Hey, Jude" by the Beatles.

Not that this is related to anything of substance...just that it's been pouring rain here all day. Have you ever tried to keep from getting wet all while managing a purse, an umbrella, a diaper bag and a recalcitrant two-year-old (complete with toys and giant parka his grandmother bought him for Christmas so he wouldn't ever catch a chill despite the fact that we live in Southern California) all while trying to get out of a car with only 8" clearance to the next car because one of the daycare dads is a jerk who hogs all the parking space at the house? Well, I'm here to tell you that it's totally impossible to do. I arrived at work looking like a drowned rat thanks to dropping the umbrella because I had to grab for Ryan who had dashed off to jump in the nearest puddle with the result that he got delivered to daycare with soaking wet shoes, socks and pants. And of course, today would be the day that I forgot to put extra socks in his diaper bag (duh, mommy). Not that the extra clothes in the diaper bag are all that much dryer since I dropped it into the standing water on the ground at the same time I dropped the umbrella.

Fortunately I had a package of new merchandise arrive in the mail last night that I didn't have time to open so I just shoved it in my purse and forgot about it until lunchtime today. So, I got the nice surprise of opening new beads while at work in the lunchroom which cheered me up considerably. I have to say this stuff exceeded my expectations in every way: gorgeous jumbo ovals of Apatite (a peacock-blue stone w/ veins of dark brown running through it). Think Nicole Kidman's dress from the Golden Globes. Also got some 10mm rondelles of Kyanite (silvery-blue w/ brown and darker blue flashes). I can't WAIT to start playing with both of these as I already can seem them with smoky quartz and freshwater pearls...and that's just for starters. These are some of the best quality, prettiest stones I've been able to afford so far and I'm really excited about being able to incorporate higher quality materials in my work!

Oh, and I saved the best news for last. I bit the bullet and signed up to do my first ever arts and crafts show so Silver Parrot Designs will be a vendor at the Ladera Ranch Spring Festival on April 2, 2005! So far I'm pretty excited about it, but I expect the panic to kick in at any moment! This probably means there won't be much new stuff posted to the website for a while as I'll need inventory for the show, but everything that's left will get posted as soon as the show's over. I will try to post a few pictures here along the way, though, so if you see anything you just *have* to have that's not on the website, e-mail me at stamparrot@hotmail.com and we'll work something out :-)

Have a great weekend everyone and stay dry!

KJ
http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

P.S. Okay how many of you have that song stuck in your heads now? Bwaaahahahahah! ;-)

For my new friend, Jenie! 

New set of lampwork & Bali silver. The lime beads look funky in the scan, but they are actually a true lime color in real life and not this funny yellowish-green and the teal is a lot brighter. You'll have to take my word that the colors match LOL! Actually, I'm a little unsure about this set so I haven't put it up on the website yet. Comments anyone? 

MSN Women - SlideShow

I already posted today but couldn't resist adding this link in: MSN Women - SlideShow

I admit I'm a fashion junkie...even if I don't have the figure to wear most of the clothes, I still love to look! The first two dresses with the beaded accents by Monique Lhuiller I think are particularly yummy. Oh, and they say 80's trends are back in! Yay, my teen years are coming back to haunt me LOL! But at least that should mean big earrings are still good and you know how I feel about those!

Miracles DO happen!

First, thank you so much to everyone who sent the wonderful messages of support for my cousin, Jonathan. I've really appreciated hearing from all of you! Here's the latest update from my uncle as of this morning:

>Jon is totally off life support. He has one IV for morphine and >antibiotics but that should come off tomorrow. We have all been >secretly worried sick that Jon would be blind from the loss of >blood to his brain. We talked to the neurologist today and he >said the he could see in one eye. He can't describe what he sees >yet because his speech center needs to recover from his time >under medications. His brain damage is general and not area >specific (except for the vision). He can not walk today or >control the movement of his arms. With extensive therapy these >functions can be restored. His memory is beginning to come >back. Tonight he could remember the names of his mom dad and >half of his siblings. He could also remember his phone number. >His speech is garbled at times but getting better. He will be out >of ICU soon if all goes well. Also, next Monday there will be a >blood drive for Jon. He required more than 30 pints of blood. >The bloodmobile will be in the Von's parking lot in Solana >Beach.

If anyone is in the San Diego or Solana Beach area and wants to go give blood, I'll post the blood drive information when I have it. If you're not in that area, please take this as a reminder of how important it is to give blood so that our supply is maintained. You never know when you or someone you love might need it!

In other news, Ryan is doing MUCH better! Although I kind of panicked after seeing how rotten he looked last Thursday when I picked him up from daycare, I'm happy to report that his doctor said his lungs were clear when he had his checkup on Friday. He's been sleeping a lot better (hooray!) and his cough isn't nearly as nasty sounding or frequent as it was. Last night we sat and watched an old, animated Disney version of "Johnny Appleseed" that I hadn't seen since I was a little child. He loved it and I was reminded of a childhood favorite! Oh, he also wiped tapioca pudding in my hair that I didn't find til it was nearly bedtime and I tried to brush my hair and couldn't figure out why the brush got stuck. Ah, the joys of mommydom ;-)

Oh, yes, how about some jewelry news? I've been invited to do my first ever arts and crafts show with my jewelry! It's thrilling and horrifying all at the same time LOL! With a full-time job, a husband, a household and a 2 year old child...well, let's just say that my free time is pretty limited so getting ready for a show in April will be a major undertaking. I haven't 100% decided to do it yet as I'm really not sure I've got the time, but I have to make a decision by the application deadline next week so I'll keep you posted. A lot depends on whether I can cajole/bribe/drag my friend Laura into being my helper. Not only does she have a lot of craft show experience from her days on the rubberstamping show circuit, but she brings the added benefit of being able to do math in her head (unlike some of us..okay, me...who are totally PATHETIC at anything to do with numbers). Plus we just generally make each other laugh and we don't get to see each other very often since she moved to that godforsaken wilderness (aka Riverside) with all those wild animals (aka 11-something Huskies...and no, I'm not kidding).

Today's teaser: I got one new bracelet/earrings set done over the weekend but haven't had a chance to get it up on the website or post a preview here, but I'll try to get that done later today. Just to whet your appetite...it's got gorgeous lampwork beads in juicy shades of teal and lime mixed w/ Czech crystal and some BIG Bali silver beads. VERY beach-y and ready for summer.

Take care all!

KJ

In an instant...

Today I am (sadly) reminded how it only takes a single instant to completely change a life. A cousin of mine was stabbed at a party over the weekend and is now in extremely critical condition and fighting for his life. He's already "died" twice and been brought back. His name is Jonathan and he's only 23. If you're so inclined, he and his family can use all the prayers, good thoughts, etc. that they can get.

I had planned to write today about how Ryan is still dealing with pneumonia (headed back to the doctor this afternoon) and the darned Santa Ana winds are just KILLING my sinuses and a few other equally inconsequential things, but it just seems rather pointless. So I'll save that stuff and some new pictures for another day.

To those who've been reading and commenting...thanks for taking the time and please know I appreciate all your input!

Have a great weekend everyone...and don't forget to take the time to tell those you love how you feel about them. Life is unpredictable!

Take care,

KJ

Artist's Statement

I've been posting a lot of pictures lately so you can see I've been busy churning out new inventory and adding it to the Website, but I thought it might be time for an actual blog entry ;-)

There's been a lot of discussion lately on jewelry artist message board community that I belong to about "artist's statements." What are they? Should everyone have one or are they pretentious and to be avoided like the plague?

General definition is that an "artist statement" is sort of like a "mission statement" for a company or an overall guiding philosophy. Although some people look at it more as a place to post their artistic resume or more specific descriptions of what inspired particular pieces.

I haven't put one up on my site at this time because I'm not sure I have an overall guiding philosophy that I work under as I create my jewelry. I'm more of a "this appeals to me TODAY so I'll do it" person. Plus, I do think it can have the tendency to slip over into pretentiousness.

Honestly, how do you KNOW the public is interested in what's in your head, your pet causes and peeves, etc. Maybe they just liked one thing you did, thought it was cool, bought it and that's the end of it? That's one reason I like using the Blog to communicate with my clientele. Anyone who's interested can click the "Blog" link on my site and come here to read. If they're not interested, then they don't have to click.

On the other hand (can you tell yet that I'm a Gemini and therefore have to always argue both sides of any issue? LOL) I personally like it when I have some type of clue what went into a particular piece by an artist. I think it's interesting how real life events and issues can get translated through an artist's brain into their work. The way I handle that for my own customers is in the written description of each item on my site...I try to give some little tidbit of information of what I was thinking of at the time, or what the bead colors remind me of, or why I gave it the strange name, etc. Sometimes knowing a bit more about a piece can help a customer make more of an emotional connection with it.

So for now, I'll keep up with my little item descriptions (which I hope people enjoy) and save my bio for my real-life resume. And as for an "artist's statement"...I guess the closest I can come to describing my style is "Whatever floats your boat!"

Take care all!

KJ

P.S. New items up on the site today - earrings accented w/ amethyst tear drops and an unusual Thai silver pendant accented with chrysoprase and citrine...yummmy! Is summer here yet? See it all at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

One of the new items uploaded to the website today is this necklace featuring slabs of faceted aqua chalcedony, freshwater pearls and sterling silver chain. 

This one is so new that it's not even on the website yet! Pale blue lampwork beads with darker blue roses for accents are paired with sterling silver and Swarovski crystals. 

Rant 'n Rave!

I'm up in arms over a couple of things so thought I'd spew about them here before my head explodes!

Last weekend, we had a birthday party for our 2-year-old son. It went well (no food disasters or kids whining/crying/fighting, etc.) except for one incident. For the "entertainment" portion of the party, we took all the kids over to the large neighborhood park to play on the playground equipment and we also had a
pinata filled with candy and stickers and little toys.

All is going well and the kids are politely (considering they are all age 2 - 4) waiting their turns to take a whack at the pinata when these two dogs WHO ARE NOT ON LEASHES come racing through our group and jump all over one little boy.

Now, the dogs were only playing, but they were completely wild and romping around and in the process knocked the boy down and jumped all over him before any of the adults could react to pull them off. I look up to see the idiot owner halfway across the park WATCHING THIS HAPPEN AND NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT!! Finally as he realizes that we have grabbed his dogs by their collars and are dragging them back over to him he finally stops conversing with whoever he was talking to and comes ambling over meet us and
demands to know what the hell we are doing with his dogs.

DH says he always thought the whole "Exorcist head spinning thing" was a movie trick but he swears up and down that I accomplished it for real at that moment. Now, I am a serious dog lover and will go to a lot of lengths to keep dogs out of the clutches of the dog catcher, but I told this moron that if he didn't leash his dogs right that minute that I was going to be on the cell phone to
animal control faster than he could say "lawsuit." He has no idea how lucky he is that the child was only frightened and not injured in any way...although I would count it as an injury if the poor kid ends up being phobic of dogs for the rest of his life. He also tried to argue that the leash law didn't apply to the park...dumbass apparently can't READ as there's a giant sign right at the park entrance explaining that dogs must be on leashes or owners are subject to tickets and fines.

OK..that's one, now here's the other...

We have a 2002 Saturn VUE (our other car is also a Saturn) and we've been loyal customers since 1997. Now, our VUE started behaving a bit strangely in November in that it would just not start or else would lose power while being driven. So, we took it in to the dealership (still under warranty at this point) to have it fixed. They (supposedly) looked at it and said they couldn't find anything wrong with it but that they had been having similar
problems due to the "winter additives" that are put in fuel to keep it from freezing during this time of year. Uh, okay, yeah, whatever.

Take the car home and drive it a few more days and problem happens again. Take the car back, pitch a fit and demand that it be fixed. So they keep it for 3 DAYS, replace 1 damn sensor and tell us it's fixed.

Okay, fine. Drive car for another 3-4 weeks which brings me to last Friday night where I'm in rush hour traffic w/ my little one in the back seat and the car TOTALLY dies in the middle of an intersection. Not only does this put us in danger of being smashed by all the traffic around us, but now I have to worry that some pissed-off wacko is going to do more than honk and scream obscenities at us for being stuck in the intersection.

DH is an hour away stuck on the freeway coming home from his new job and my parents (who live nearby) have ONCE AGAIN forgotten to turn on their cell phone so I can't contact them either.

Miraculously, after 20 minutes of sitting there while I'm frantically calling tow trucks and friends to try to get help, the
car finally starts (thank you, God!) and I make it home.

Now DH has to take time Saturday morning while we are in the midst of party preparations to take the car down to the dealership again. He calls them to find out what time they open and gets their normal greeting with their hours listed. So, he heads down to the dealership and what does he find when he gets there? Our dealership is GONE...as in skedaddled, vamoosed, slunk away
like a thief in the night.

There's no sign saying they've moved or providing info on another dealership to contact, etc. DH is now incredibly pissed off...which is the mood I want him in as a horde of toddlers are
about to descend on us for a birthday party...uh, NOT!

So, we decide we can't do anything about the car today, come on home and we'll handle it on Monday as car does now seem to be drivable. Sunday he takes it to put gas in it and the damn thing dies at the gas station. We call Saturn headquarters to find out THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW ONE OF THEIR DEALERSHIPS IS GONE! They refer us to the next closest location which is 40 minutes away (oh joy) so he calls them and they say it will be an hour to get a tow truck to him. I can't go pick him up because I've got the kidlet
and the car seat is...you guessed it...in the VUE.

He finally gets the tow up to the new dealership and asks them for a loaner car (which our old dealership always provided as part of the warranty) only to be told "nope, sorry, we don't do loaners, but you can go to Enterprise tomorrow and rent a car and we'll reimburse you for it). Now how the hell is he supposed to get home?

I end up having to call my poor dad and send him up there to pick up Dean and bring him back. Great - everyone's day has now been totally ruined as this pretty much took the entire day to get worked out. Plus, now dad has to come over at 7 am on Monday
to pick up the kidlet and I and take him to daycare and me to work. Dad is thrilled about that.

Get a call from the dealership around noon today that car is fixed and I should come pick it up. Dad drives me up there where they tell me that our full warranty expired 11 days ago and that we are now on the extended warranty that we bought and therefore we have $100 deductible and can I please whip out my credit card and pay them the $100.

I flip out. I'm normally pretty meek and mild-mannered and in a lot of situations I probably would've just said okay and paid the damn $100 but after the dog incident and all this other crap, I've reached the end of my fuse. It's a long fuse, but trust me, you don't want to get to the end of it. Dad actually had to take me out into the service bay to calm me down and tell me he's never seen me behave like this before and do I need to get a drink or something.

I calm down enough to go back inside and explain through gritted teeth that no, I'm not paying $100 for something that is a recurring problem and that it's not my fault the other dealership never fixed it properly and that at this point I'm a very unhappy customer and what can they do to make me a happy customer. The service manager actually has the guts to look me in the eye and tell me that he can offer me a free oil change next time we come in.

WHAAAAAATTTTT?????!!!

Yes, that's right, this dimwit actually thought that the privilege of driving 40 minutes for a free oil change (which my DH does for free in our garage at home anyway) would make up for all the crap we've been through for the last couple of months. Uhh...don't think so, Sparky! He had NO IDEA how close to total death and destruction he was at that moment but fortunately for him, my dad intervened and said "I don't think that's going to do it for us. You've got 5 minutes to think of something else."

I have no idea what was going to happen in 5 more minutes besides me going even more insane, but I guess it worked because Vince skedaddled his big, fat hiney back to his boss's office while my dad continued to try to talk me down off the ledge of insanity I was on. They finally agreed to call Saturn corporate to see if
they could waive the $100 which Saturn agreed to do but "not because the problem was re-occurring...only because you're just a few days past your warranty." Yeah, whatever, just give me my car keys, asswipe. Oh, they also tried to charge me $30 for the rental car that I never even had time to go get...got that taken off, too.

Needless to say I am no longer a Saturn proponent, but one thing I can say about them (at least for this week anyway)...Saturn's ma bitch :-)

Normally I wouldn't make a big deal out of this, but since I'm usually not someone who stands up for herself too much, I'm kinda proud of this (maybe you could tell?) Anyway, more jewelry news to come, shortly!


KJ - don't mess with me!

New Pics

I promised a few new pics and just uploaded them. One of my goals for this year was to stop hoarding all of my gorgeous lampwork beads that I've spent the last few years collecting and actually USE some of them! I'm so glad I did because I think the results are pretty spectacular (even if I do say so myself). There really are some fantastic lampwork artists out there and I just love having the opportunity to create with some of their work. I've taken a few lampworking classes myself and would love to do my own beads some day...but since it requires quite a workshop set up for safety as well as a kiln...well...a girl can dream! LOL!

Enjoy the new pretties and of course, everything is for sale at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

I'm sure everyone wants to come buy and make some purchases to support my kiln dream, right? LOL...yeah, that's what I thought!

Take care all!

KJ

Fire Roses bracelet - lampwork glass beads mixed w/ 14kt Bali vermeil beads and Swarovski crystals. 

Hawaiian Breeze Bracelet & Earrings - lampwork glass beads in island shades of turquoise, teal, peridot and jonquil mixed w/ crystals and Bali silver. 

Much ado about nothing...

...'cause that's what's happening around here...a whole lot of NADA! Which is why I haven't written in *gasp!* 8 whole days! Nothing to write about :-) I was going to continue ranting about the Minnesota Vikings, but since they lost this weekend (and good riddance) I suppose it's rather pointless. I did read something today that says perhaps there's a chance they might trade Moss for some decent defensive players (which heaven knows they REALLY need) but I'm still not sure I see them giving him up because of his talent. Even if they're sick of him there...not sure they'd want anyone else to have him LOL!

Lessee...what else? Ryan turned the big 2 years old last Friday! Can't believe the time has gone so fast, but he's really a big boy now! We're having a party for him this Saturday...should be fun. I'm going to try to get a "Thomas the Tank Engine" cake design for him as that is his favorite.

Made a sale on the website yesterday...goody for me :-) Also got a few more new designs up and will post a picture here shortly.

That's it...oh, except Ruth Warrick who played Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on "All My Children" died over the weekend...very sad!

Take care all!

KJ

Another week, another website!

The website is all up to date for 2005 as promised. I've gort an entire new section devoted to all the holidays/seasons of the year starting with Valentine's Day. I did a lot of work with pink, white and red getting ready for the upcoming "day of romance" and now I'm working on a whole "green" series for St. Patrick's day. Here's the link to the site: http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

It's soooo nice (and amazing) to be ahead of schedule for a change. It helps that kidlet has managed to stay well for a while now (knock on wood!)

And....we haven't washed away yet, either, despite essentially a week of relentless rain. I don't think I ever remember so many days in a row of rain with no breaks the entire time I've lived here. Thanks, El Nino!

Despite all that, I took kidlet to the Aquarium of the Pacific on Saturday and we had a great time. He really enjoyed looking at all the "big fish." And he was such a good boy, too. Slept in the car on the way there and back and never whined or cried or caused any problems at all...even when I accidentally bonked his head on an exhibit window as I was trying to lift him up to give him a better view. Poor guy. Here he's such an amazing kid and yet mom is such a lame-o LOL!

On a sad note...I'll have more time to put in on jewelry-making as my two post-season teams in the NFL BOTH lost their Wild Card games this weekend. ARRRGGHH! San Diego and Green Bay are both out :-( Minnesota is still in and normally I would root for them (except when they are playing the Packers, I root for the Vikings to support my DH who is from Minnesota) but after seeing Randy Moss's idiotic behavior the last couple of weeks, I think I'll be rooting for whoever is playing AGAINST Minnesota. Take the 'fro and go, Randy! You are an immature, classless brat and I have NO IDEA why your stunt yesterday didn't earn you a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. Brett Favre has more class in his pinky toe than you have in your entire body! Such a nice example you set for your younger fans...NOT!

Okay, rant over.

Don't forget to go check out updated website at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

Take care all!

KJ

One of my new designs - just in time for Valentine's Day! This and much more to be up on the website at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net soon! 

Happy New Year!

Hmmm...got kind of behind in posting over the holidays, didn't I? Oopsie. Between vacation and company holidays, I was lucky enough to have a nice, long Christmas break, but I spent most of it in a flurry of preparations (cooking, cleaning, gift wrapping, etc.) We hosted Christmas Eve at our house and then went to my parents' house on Christmas Day.

I got to hit the 50% off sale at the local bead store on 12/26 and that was lots of fun. Super crowded and long lines, but the deals were worth it. I stocked up on lots of the "essentials" such as wire, chain and findings. Then I came home and placed a few on-line orders with my favorite vendors to get me set up for the coming year. This included some more of the great bead storage boxes from http://www.beyondbeadery.com I just love them, but am starting to bust out of the ones I already have and need more storage. Or, I could stop shopping...naaaaahhhh....no fun in that LOL!

DH and I made it out to the movies once to see "Ocean's Twelve." Not as good as the first movie, but still had some funny moments so worth seeing, I guess. Some of Ryan's friends came over and had a play date with him and we all went to a New Year's Eve party at my brother's house. One of his friends is a gourment cook so we had excellent munchies! Ryan kinda ran out of steam around 8:30 PM, though, so we headed home. DH had an early tee time for the next morning so he was in bed by 10:00 and I crashed before midnight as well. We continue in our efforts to be the dullest family on the planet LOL!

We all managed to stay fairly healthy through most of the holidays, but Ryan finally came down with some type of stomach thing on Saturday night and was quite sick all day Sunday but seemed to rally and be a lot better by Monday. Unfortunately, by then he'd give the bug to me and I've been struggling with it since yesterday.

But, in amongst all that, I did find quite a bit of time for beading and will have new items up on the site as soon as I can get them scanned and get the webpages updated. I lost some time as DH used the holidays to completely wipe our computer and re-build it and this put the scanner out of commission until late last night when he finally got it running again. I did a lot of pink and red stuff for Valentine's and some pastel stuff for Spring.

I also tried to have more of a range of prices so there are definitely some bargains for those who are looking for them. In general, I prefer to work with higher quality materials (14kt gold and sterling silver, etc.) but quality costs $ and I know that I need to have something to appeal to the "bargain hunter" as well. Pewter is an excellent alternative as it is cost-effective and wears MUCH better than "plated" items. I use very few "plated" beads, findings, etc. because they don't wear well over time. The plating wears off and you're left with whatever base metal color was underneath. Even bargain hunters shouldn't have to put up with that! So, I made some items with pewter beads and findings - watch for them in the "Bargain Basement" section of the website. Just follow the "Mr. Piggy Bank" icon at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net !

I'll post an alert here when the new items are up. Going off to work on the updates right now.

Happy 2005 everyone!

KJ

And then there were meatballs...

...or at least there will be if I can ever find the recipe I'm looking for. Each year at Christmas I seem to be mostly on top of everything that needs to get done (except for last year...but that's another story) but I always end up on a last minute hunt for ONE elusive thing. Usually it's a gift item but this year it's a recipe...for sweet and sour meatballs made in a crockpot.

I'm hosting the Christmas Eve festivities for the whole family and thought I'd add something different to the menu. We usually go to church services and then head back to our house for some punch, heavy hors d'oeuvres and dessert and I always seem to make the same exact things each year because that's what people ask for but I'm getting bored. So, I had these meatballs at a party several months ago and thought they were really awesome and I've been trying to get the recipe for them ever since (don't know the person that brought them that well). There seem to be quite a few versions of this particular dish - apparently I'm the only one on the planet who's never made it before LOL! Yeah, okay, I know...LOSER. But I'm not going to let that stop me :-)

Now my only problem is choosing between all the versions I've found as to which is the best (and I don't have time for a lot of taste-testing between now and Xmas Eve). I think the grape jelly/ketchup version sounds the best. The others use chili sauce and I'm afraid that might be too spicy for a few of my guests who have acid reflux problems...but we'll see. Maybe I'll make two versions.

The other new thing I'm trying is a cranberry chutney recipe that's to be service with cream cheese as a spread for crackers. I thought it sounded fun and pretty easy to whip up. In addition to cranberries it's got apples, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and brown sugar...mmmmmm! I thought I might try adding some orange zest, too, but not sure if I'm brave enough to do it or not.

Tomorrow's my last day of work for the year - WOO HOO! I'm taking Wednesday just to relax and get ready for the "holiday storm" and then Thursday will be last minute gift and grocery shopping and probably baking day as well. And then Friday morning I'll make up the last couple of things and get the table set. Fortunately the daycare is open this week so I'll be able to have Ryan occupied and cared for while I whip around to get all this stuff done and then we have him home with us for the entire next week.

Next I've got to start planning his birthday party and getting the invitations out. He turns two on 1/14/05. Can't BELIEVE he's getting so BIG!

Wish me luck on the meatballs and Happy Holidays everyone!

KJ

Mmmm...candy!

Or as my toddler would say "CANDY! It GOOD!" Thanks, by the way, to his daycare for teaching him that...sigh. Just posted a picture of the first piece I created after coming home from the bead show this weekend. I've called it "Cinnamon Candy" because of the colors used and the way the main pendant reminded me of cotton candy.

It was a better show than usual and (unlike last time) had moved back into the main building so that was really nice. Last time it was partially outside and partially in a building with no A/C! I kept having to run back outside in between booths just to cool off. One poor vendor had sent her husband to Home Depot to get a fan to set up in their booth because she couldn't take it any more. But, like I said, this show was better.

I found all the "must haves" I was looking for like more of the glass leaves and re-stock on the silver and vermeil Bali caps and spacers that I need to finish off any of my peyote tube creations. That was a huge relief because I'd been looking for that stuff (especially the 8mm silver spacers) EVERYWHERE and couldn't find them. Everyone had 6, 7 or 9mm but no 8's and the peyote tubes just really have to have the exact right size or they don't come out right.

Just to show how much of a frenzy I was in...I found this great vendor selling really nice stone pendants for CHEAP! and bought a bunch of stuff from him and then completely forgot to pay attention to the vendor NAME. So, for future shows, I have NO IDEA who he is...will just have to wander around, I guess.

I got two really nice faceted "chunks" of pink Peruvian opal (the first I used as a pendant in the picture that was just uploaded). Haven't decided what to do with the other yet - maybe a bracelet, double-stranded with some pearls? Hmm...have to think on it. Also picked up some really stunning ocean jasper pendants in various shapes and colors, a nice piece of sodalite and a magnificent botswana agate.

Other purchases include some faceted rectangular jade dyed a deep cherry color, lots of small, faceted briolettes in various colors (mostly quartz or dyed jade), some large, irregular pastel chalcedony slabs and some really gorgeous Thai hill tribe silver flowers and butterflies. These flower pendants are going to be just outstanding with some of the bigger, chunkier chalcedony I've been buying lately.

And, when I got home, what was waiting for me in the mail? Last week's e-bay purchases! I got a great deal on some large, circular fluorite pendants and countered that by spending WAAAYYY too much on a truly stunning set of lampwork beads featuring a large pansy flower. But, hey, the pansy is my sorority's official flower so whenever I see one I just HAVE to have it! On top of which, this one is particularly outstanding in shades of blue and the lampwork artistry on it is just top-notch. Don't believe me? Just wait til I get it made up into something and post a picture! But don't hold your breath - it's so incredible I might have to hoard it for a while. I'm sure my fellow Tri Deltas will understand the bond I feel with this particular set of beads, LOL!

But don't despair - I'm moving forward on having a section of "greek"-related jewelry on my site. I found a supplier for sterling silver alphabet beads (like those I use in my regular "brag" bracelets) but this is the greek alphabet! I've already made up and sold an Alpha Gamma Delta (AGD) bracelet to a friend and she loved it so I'm definitely moving forward on this. It's one of my goals for 2005 to get this section up and I've already got the beads for Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma and Delta Delta Delta so those will probably be the first up. But feel free to e-mail me at stamparrot@hotmail.com if you're interested in any type of Greek bracelet. I'll definitely take custom orders until I get that section of the site up and running!

Let's see...oh yeah...we're going to try to take kidlet to see Santa tonight and hopefully sneak in before the crowd (yeah, right). Oh, and last but absolutely not least: HUGE CONGRATS TO MY DH WHO JUST GOT A NEW JOB!!! Way to go, honey!

Lastly, today's the last day of my "free shipping" holiday sale. It runs til midnight so if you need last minute gift ideas be sure to head over to http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net I've got more new designs up there than what is posted here in the blog!

Happy Holidays to all!

KJ

Cinnamon Candy

First piece using purchases from this weekend's beadshow - the center stone is pink Peruvian opal and it's paired with rhodonite and rose quartz. 

Bead Show Tomorrow!

I'm an addict. I admit it - I need a 12-step program for beads. "Hi, I'm Kelly and I'm a bead slut." Sigh.

Okay, enough wallowing, back to being excited about the show tomorrow. I just LOOOOOVE shopping for beads. All the sparkly gemstones and gorgeous, classy pearls and stunning artist glass - and it's all clamoring to come home with ME! One of these days when my business picks up, I'll go to a show with enough money to make that happen, but for now I have to be satisfied with just bringing home a few exciting things here and there.

Usually when I shop the shows I just go by "want." Whatever looks good, different, interesting is what I go for.

But this time I've got some specific "needs" that I have to take care of first so that'll probably blow a good chunk outta my budget but I've got to do it as I have half-finished pieces waiting for me to re-stock things I've run out of so I can finish them. I've been searching all over the place for 8mm Bali silver daisy spacers to finish my next set of peyote tube jewelry. Used to get them at my local bead store (LBS) but they've been out of 'em for months now and can't seem to get them back in stock. I've tried ordering on-line only to get the order in the mail and it's not exactly 8mm and so won't work. I'm taking my half-finished peyote tubes that have spacers on them already to the show tomorrow to try to match. I'm also totally out of the spacers and caps in vermeil that I need to START the next peyote tube project which definitely calls for gold vs. silver. And I've used up all my vermeil clasps, too, so will have to buy some of those.

THEN I can go play after I take care of all that stuff. Maybe some coin pearls and some new artist glass and I've got a coupon to use at Via Murano for some Venetian glass beads...yummm. That ought to about clean me out.

In other news...kidlet and I are still well! Wahooooooooo! His grandparents are going to babysit for us tonight so DH and I can go out to dinner. We've had a gift certificate to a local restaurant that we've been hanging onto for ages waiting for a chance to use it so tonight's the night. Tomorrow I'm taking Ryan for a haircut before I head off to the beadshow and I've also got to get some Christmas presents wrapped so they can get mailed out this weekend to some of DH's relatives in Texas and Minnesota. Then it will be time to get going on Christmas cards. Get me being all on top of stuff...I'm so proud! LOL!

And yeah, I know, I live the most boring life ever and yet still I dare to write about it here for all and sundry to see. I've exposed my extreme boringness to the entire world wide web. I'm so brave LOL!

That's all for now - take care!

KJ

P.S. Does anyone else out there watch "All My Children?" If so, I'd just like to add a little note about yesterday's episode: "AAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" I cannot BELIEVE Bianca finally found out about her baby only to get pushed over a balcony (oh and nice job on the "fight" with her and JR...man was that ever badly choreographed!) I hate AMC for doing this to me! Why do I keep watching this stupid piece of crap that I've been addicted to since 1983? Well, okay, I love Tad and Ryan...but still...wit and rippling abs can only make up for so much frustration with incredibly stupid storylines and bad acting (not on Tad's part...he rocks!). AMC...give a poor girl a break!

Still playing with the dreamcatcher hoops! This time I added a cascade of genuine tanzanite rondelles chained together with sterling silver wire. 

More earrings - this time with amethyst and the synthetic blue topaz that I've just been adding to everything because I love its icy coolness. No hoop this time - a pretty sterling earring component instead. 

So many beads, so little time...

Ah...the lament of beaders everywhere. As you can see, I've been pretty busy. Posted a couple of new earring designs today and I've got more to show, too.

Plus, there's a bead show in town this weekend. Woo hoo! Time to stock up! I know I need more vermeil bead caps and clasps...for some reason I tend to always go for silver and forget to get any gold. Plus I've got to get more of those beautiful glass leaves and the vendor that sells them will be at the show. I've got another version of the leaf necklace I posted just about done, but ran out of leaves :-( Plus, they're so pretty, I just want to have a bunch more because I've got lots more design ideas.

Then (if I have any $ left) it'll be time to hit the gemstone vendors. I've really gotten a lot of use out of the stones I got at the last two shows so I'll be looking for more of that type. You can see the synthetic blue topaz briolettes in some of my newest earring designs. Hoping to find some good deals on wire and chain, too, as I'm going through those at a frightening rate

Let's see, what else? Kidlet has been healthy for about 2 weeks now....yippeeeeeee!! Of course, that means I've been healthy, too! Double yippppeeeee!!! I'm ahead of the curve (so far) on Christmas stuff - got a big chunk of our shopping done this past weekend so now I just have a few work gifts and stocking stuffers to finish up with. One thing I'm bummed about is that I got some really cute Xmas shirts for Ryan at Old Navy last year...for him to wear to some of the more casual social events of the season...and this year, they didn't have any :-( So I've got to come up with something for him to wear (including a nicer outfit for Christmas Eve church services, etc.)

Next I've got to figure out the menu for Christmas Eve. DH and I host a little hors d'oeuvres and hot, spiced cider gathering at our house after church each year. This year, DH's brother & sister-in-law and some of their kids will be joining us so we should have a nice grouping. Then on Christmas day it's over to my parents' house (or "grumagrum" as Ryan refers to "grandma & grandpa) for presents and feasting. I just love the holidays and it's even more fun now that Ryan knows a little more about what's going on. He's learning about Santa and can even sing along to a few Christmas carols. Such a doll!

Now I've just got to wrap and ship the out-of-state gifts and get the Christmas cards done and mailed and all should be well. So much better than last year where I was WAAAYYYY behind schedule and had to scramble like crazy to pull everything off.

At this rate maybe I'll even be able to go to the amazing day-after-Xmas sale that my local bead store (LBS) puts on every year. 50% off the entire store!! And hopefully I'll have some Xmas cash from Santa to spend, too!

And with that happy thought...I'm signing off!

KJ

See...told you I can't get enough of these. I've been playing and playing with these fun silver "dreamcatcher" hoops. SOOO many possibilities! 

I just can't get enough of long, dangly earrings. I guess I'm permanently scarred by growing up in the 80's :-) These are peridot, amethyst and sterling silver. 

Woo hooooooo!

Hey, I’m famous…seriously…my full name is Kelly Osborne. Okay, so I’m not THAT Kelly Osbourne (see, it’s spelled differently anyway) but I’m still famous. Check it out:

http://www.bearfootart.com/customer_work.htm

Bearfoot Art has been nice enough to feature some of my work that uses their beads in their on-line gallery. Scott is really a true artist with glass so I’m thrilled that my work made the “cut.” If you aren’t familiar with the artistry of lampwork glass beads, take a stroll around their site – lots of beautiful work!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty low key…just me, DH, kidlet and my parents. We decided a full holiday meal for such a small group was kind of silly and since mom and I were both sick during the week prior anyway (of course) it just wasn’t in the cards this year. So, my parents ordered most of the meal from the local Honeyglazed Ham store and got the pies from Marie Callendar’s and I made a special salad that we have every year. It all worked out to a reasonably decent Thanksgiving dinner without the mess and stress except for my dad who had to deal with picking up the food which apparently didn’t go very well. He was at the store for over 30 minutes and said that the staff was not very bright and also had difficulty speaking English. We never did get our sweet potatoes and mom had to make some up at the last minute from a can. Didn’t bother me because I don’t like them anyway, but dad was pretty annoyed. I guess I can’t blame him. I know in this PC day and age we’re not supposed to say things like this, but it really is frustrating to have people serving in positions that require communication skills who can’t speak the language proficiently enough to do their job. It’s not fair to customers OR to the employee who is now in the situation of having to deal with irate customers that he/she is not prepared to handle.

Okay, that’s my “issue” for the day ;-) Let’s move on to more fun and frivolous things. Remember the pictures of bead show purchases I posted a while back? Well, I’m finally digging into that stash to get some stuff made. Up next is a picture of my latest creation made with the glass leaves I bought at the bead show. I still have half a strand left so there’ll be more pieces like this as I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

Stay tuned!

KJ

Shimmering Leaves Set - gold-filled chain, Czech crystals and dichroic glass leaves. 

Have a holly, jolly Christmas...

Oh stop groaning people...Old Navy is already advertising on TV about their holiday stuff so I figure I can do it, too! I got the website all up to date for the holidays with all the new items and some fun holiday-themed graphics. I'm also running a special holiday sale from Nov. 18 - 23: 15% off all orders of $20.00 or more. In order to get the discount, customers need to enter a special code at checkout so if you see something you'd like...e-mail me at stamparrot@hotmail.com and I'll provide you with the code. Everything is pretty much one of a kind so it's first come, first served :-) You can see it all at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

In other news...well, there isn't much other news LOL! We're heading into the annual family battle of "who is hosting which holiday event at which house" which is always fun and also trying to pry Xmas lists out of people so I can get started on shopping. I was WAAAYYY behind last year and it sucked. We spent a fortune on overnight shipping trying to get presents to people on time. DH and I also had a big argument over (of all things) Christmas cards. I wanted to skip them for a changed (since I was already so far behind) and he was adamant about sending them out...and I never knew he cared! So I ended up frantically scrambling to get them in the mail the week before Christmas and it was awful. SOOOO not doing that this year!

Ryan seems to be okay healthwise for the moment. He's finishing up a second round of antibiotics still trying to get rid of that sinus infection. The first round seemed to work, but his symptoms came back about 3 days after the last dose so we're doing another dose. His aunt and uncle have very kindly agreed to babysit for us this weekend so DH and I can go have dinner at our favorite special restaurant in Laguna Beach. Haven't been in ages so it will be fun to go back. Yummm...can't wait.

Speaking of which...I have no idea what we're having for dinner at home tonight LOL! Better go figure that out...

KJ

Fun holiday designs I finished on my recent vacation. 

Ahhhhhh....

...relaxation is sooo wonderful. After all the illness and craziness of the past few months, DH agreed to send me on a mini-vacation over the weekend. I stayed in a hotel for a couple of days, shopped, ordered room service, worked on jewelry, watched football and just generally vegged out. It was AWESOME! I even got a room with a gorgeous ocean view and even though it's November, our weather cooperated and it was sunny and beautiful over the weekend so the view was truly spectacular.

I came back refreshed and relaxed and ready to take up all my responsibilities again. Woo hoo! Let's hear it for vacations!!

It was especially nice to have a nice long stretch of uninterrupted beading time. I was able to pump out a BUNCH of the projects that have been piling up which really helped with my stress level. After a while, I've got all these ideas in my head clamoring to get out and I can't ever get to them and it just starts to make me get kinda buggy.

Stay tuned for a picture of all the stuff I got done and I hope to have a pre-holiday sale section up on the website soon at http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

That's all for now...take care!

KJ

More fun with these stone briolettes. Oh and they are amazonit - not blue topaz as previously thought - mixed with amethyst. Having so much fun making these that I don't have time to post! 

No time for a major update today, but here's a li'l goodie to look at. Garnets, freshwater pearls and blue topaz teardrops. 

Latest design featuring an agate pendant with freshwater pearls and smoky quartz. 

Productive Weekend!

I finally got some stuff done! Massive amounts of laundry....woo hoo! I did all my laundry and all of Ryan's laundry which essentially took the entire weekend (did I mention it's been a while since I've been able to get around to doing laundry?) DH had to fend for himself LOL!

Okay, okay, I made some new jewelry pieces, too, LOL! I used one of the large, rectangular pendants I bought at a recent bead show. It's a beautiful piece of agate (not sure what type - possibly Crazy Lace Agate) that has really gorgeous shades of gray, cream, brown and rust running through it. I mixed it with some silvery-gray freshwater pearls and some faceted smoky quartz rondelles and used accent pieces of Bali vermeil. I had enough beads to make matching earrings and bracelet to go with the main necklace. I think it came out pretty well and will post a picture of it here.

Now, I'm off to upload it to the website where it will be availble for purchase. Check out http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net under the "New Items" section sometime between now and tomorrow.

We had some bad news this last week - my elderly grandmother fell in her nursing home and broke her hip. She had to have hip replacement surgery last week. She's recuperating, but not doing all that well. I think it's very difficult for elderly people to handle surgery and anesthesia - they have a tough time bouncing back. Mom and I sent some flowers on Friday (grandma is out of state) and I plan to follow up with a card and some pictures of Ryan from Halloween as soon as I get a chance.

DH and I got a chance to go to the movies Saturday night (thanks mucho to my parents for babysitting Ryan!) We saw "Friday Night Lights." I really enjoyed it, but I think DH was bored. I'm a big football fan so it was just perfect for me, but DH just has no patience for movies where there aren't explosions and/or gunfire in the first few minutes and continuing throughout. In fact, the more explosions and gunfire and appearances by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the better as far as he's concerned. Ever since seeing "Saving Private Ryan," I've just given up on that type of movie...can't stand it any more. Okay, so I'm a big wuss, but the effects have just gotten too realistic for me and I'm tired of having nightmares for weeks after seeing certain films - it makes me feel like my brain needs a good scrubbing so I can "unsee" the disturbing images.

That's all for now.

KJ
http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net

Election Day, 2004

Well, this is it...finally election day is here. I think it's fair to say that this is probably the most important election that's been held during my adult lifetime so I hope everyone registered and went to vote. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone wouldn't exercise their rights...especially when you think of how many people fought and died so you can have that right (and that's even more true if you are a woman or a minority!)

I won't reveal how I voted because I think that's personal, but it was a very painful, drawn-out decision because I have serious problems with both sides. In fact, I didn't make my final decision until late last night...nothing like waiting til nearly the last minute LOL! I suppose only history will show who will win and whether that will be good for the country or not. It will be interesting to find out the results - I wonder how soon or late the networks will begin "calling" the results or if there will be legal challenges lasting weeks again.

On a side note...our company had a fire drill today which I thought was really stupid in light of everyone kinda being on edge about there maybe being some kind of attack to disrupt our elections. Really, really cruel and stupid IMO.

I guess that's it except I've had a couple of "bites" on my beading article - will let you know if turns into anything. In the meantime I'm working on a new necklace with a beautiful agate pendant as a centerpiece and some pretty silver pearls and faceted smoky quartz as accents. Will post when finished.

KJ

Emerald Tubes Necklace is finally done! 

Spiderman, spiderman....

We had a great Halloween! Kidlet dressed up as Spiderman and was a big hit in the neighborhood. Came home with TONS of candy! DH and I had so much fun taking him around for trick-or-treating...it was awesome! My parents were kind enough to man our door to hand out candy so we could both go with Ryan.

He's definitely feeling a lot better due to the antibiotic. His appetite is coming back and the cough is a lot less frequent and MUCH less phlegmy-sounding. It's great to see my happy kiddo again.

I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got some beading time in this weekend. Got the repair job done AND finished the last piece of the emerald tubes set. Will post pic shortly. I even had a chance to get a second piece started...plain stringing...no peyote tubes involved woo hoo! This one has a beautiful, rectangular stone pendant as a centerpiece and I'm playing with some matching pearls and faceted stones for the necklace part. I've got to do some research and find out what kind of stone this is...very pretty earth tones on a creamy background...I think it's some kind of jasper...will post pic and name if I am able to find out what it is :-)

Happy November and hope you all remembered to change your clocks!

KJ

Shopping Rules!

I've been a very, very, very bad girl LOL! Every once in a while I make the mistake of trolling through the bead listings on e-bay and since I have NO WILLPOWER WHATSOEVER...a lot of stuff ends up coming to live at my house as a result. Only this time it's worse because I looked at gemstones, too. But seriously, how can ANYONE resist something called "flamingo pink chalcedony?" And if you saw the picture as well...you'd be hooked, too. Of course, it'd be nice if I ever got to make any of this stuff up into finished pieces but beading time has been super scarce lately (thank you, Typhoid Maurice aka Ryan).

Took the kidlet to the doctor on Wednesday and he's got a sinus infection so now he's on an antibiotic. So far, if anything, I think he sounds worse than the day he started it, but he does seem to have more energy so maybe it's just his body finally getting all the crap out of his nose and throat.

The jewelry article is done and ready to be printed and submitted and that's been the status for quite some time now, but I had to wait for DH to get back and then our color printer broke down (fixed now) and now I'm just waiting to get a copy of the latest mag to hit the market to see if that's where I want to submit it first.

The only jewelry piece I've put any time on is the necklace to match the teal peyote tube beads bracelet and earrings set. It's taking a LOOOOONNNG time to get enough tubes done and I had to go buy more crystal, too. I've had it strung a couple of different ways and am not satisfied yet so I'm still playing around with the design, but I seriously hope to have it finished this weekend so I can start playing with all the new goodies I've bought at the last couple of shows and this week on e-bay.

I took in a repair job, too, and still have to get that done as well. My poor customer...usually I'm much quicker than this, but life just intervened over the last few weeks and said "uh uh" every time I tried to get anything done.

Totally unrelated to anything else...I'm a full-on "All My Children" addict (been watching since 1983!) and the big reveal in a long-term storyline is about to happen in the next couple of weeks (I'm guessing - since November is sweeps month) and I'd just like to say "get ON with it already!" Geez! I mean I know it's a soap and everything but this has been going on for over a YEAR! ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! And as long as I'm bitching anyway...what is with the CLOTHES on this show? Erica is like 80 something and yet is always wearing leather. Greenlee, besides winning the stupidest name of all time competition, is always wearing either strapless sundresses or halter tops and low cut jeans with her ass basically hanging out...and yet she's supposed to be a hi-level corporate executive in the cosmetics industry???? And please, can Maria NOT wear mini-dresses any more? It just looks stupid on her - especially when she's at the hospital in her capacity as a (insert guffaw) "neurosurgeon." On the other hand, Ryan and Ian can wander around in as little as they want...forever :-)

Oh, and it's a great place to check out jewelry styles!

That's it for now.

KJ

The Black Hole

Sometimes I feel like my life turns into a big black hole that just sucks me down for several weeks while the rest of the world passes me by. Then, eventually, I re-emerge and wonder where the hell the time went!

It's been a seriously un-fun couple of weeks around here. Ryan came down with stomach flu on 10/14. This was full-on flu with stuff coming out of both ends...repeatedly. In between changing him and cleaning him up, I had to run multiple loads of laundry, disassemble and wash a piece of furniture and steam clean the carpet in our family room. While all this was going on, DH was preparing to leave for 10 days to Minnesota. He left early on 10/16 - although not as early as he would've liked considering that his shuttle to the airport never showed up! I had to call my poor dad at 5:30 AM to come get him and drive him to the airport. I couldn't take him myself because by this time, I was coming down with the stomach flu, too.

I spent the next few days crawling between my bed and the bathroom floor (spent a lot of time just laying on that floor, too). Thank God for my parents who came over and helped with Ryan (who was still sick, too) or we never would've made it.

I finally made it back to work on Tuesday, 10/19, but started feeling a sore throat coming on that afternoon. Greeeeaaaaattt! I made it to work Weds and part of Thursday at which point I threw in the towel and went home sick. Fortunately, Ryan was well enough to go to daycare all those days so I only had myself to worry about until 5 PM when I had to go pick him up.

DH got home Saturday night and I was so glad to see him, but I still felt so crappy that I'm afraid I didn't muster up much of a "welcome home" for him. Managed to make it out briefly yesterday long enough to get Ryan's Halloween costume - he's going as Spiderman - but spent the rest of the day in bed. I made it to work today, but still feel pretty lousy. Had to take cold medicine to keep me from dripping all over the keyboard. Plus, it's cold and gray and rainy out which just reinforces that "I wanna go home and curl up in bed" feeling.

Throughout all of this, I got NOTHING done on my jewelry. I kept thinking I should drag out a couple of orders and work on them while I was home sick, but I just couldn't make myself do it. It's awfully hard to focus when you feel so rotten (and the cold medicine doesn't help, either).

Plus, I lost all the time I needed to work on Halloween stuff! We play a game in our neighborhood where you leave anonymous treats on the doorstep of several neighbors and I'm late in getting mine done. I wanted to wait until I was as healthy as possible since I'm baking from scratch and figured the neighbors wouldn't want a dose of "virus du jour" along with their treats! I hope to get it done tonight, but it'll be tough. I HATE cooking on weeknights after a full day at work. Then there's Ryan's Halloween party at daycare on Friday that I have to make something for as well. And I can't do it Thursday night because DH has a board meeting and won't be able to watch Ryan while I'm baking.

At least he seems mostly recovered from all the illness although he still has that same nasty-sounding cough that he's had all along. I'm going to try to get him in to see the doctor again this week, but am sure that once again, they'll tell me it's nothing. I just don't understand how a kid can have a nasty, phlegmy cough for a MONTH and it not need an antibiotic to clear it up. GRRR!

Lastly, to the person who sent me a very nice comment on this Blog - it was great to hear from you! I agree that it's amazing how similar our lives are (jewelry, small children, etc.) I tried to reply to your e-mail, but couldn't get it to go through :-( Loved the comment, tho, so please keep in touch!

Cheers to all of us "super-moms" out there who somehow manage to hold all this stuff together and get everything done each day!

KJ

More bead show stuff. Pastel glass pearls, chalcedony briolettes, chinese glass cones, and teeny briolettes in amethyst, rose quartz and amazonite. 

Some of what I bought at the bead show this weekend. Chalcedony nuggets, faceted pearls, dichroic glass leaves, square freshwater pearls, artist glass, and Chinese jade. 

Life is a roller coaster...

Boy, ain't that the truth. I was all set to come in today and post about how much fun I had at the bead show this weekend and some pics of the goodies I bought (well, I'm going to do that anyway), but then last night and this morning turned out to be kind of a nightmare.

Let's start with last night. Don't know if you've heard about a drug called Vioxx that was recently removed from the market by the manufacturer because it turns out that it can cause strokes and heart attacks, but this has really affected me as this was the one drug I could count on to knock out my migraines and still leave me capable of functioning. But, not wanting to have a heart attack or a stroke, I had my Doctor prescribe a replacement medicine for the Vioxx. Last night I went home with that familiar "migraine onset" feeling so I took the new medicine and....all it did was make me dizzy and didn't do ANYTHING for the pain! Not only was it ineffective against the pain, but the dizziness means this is something that I can't take at work or while I'm watching Ryan w/o DH around (like last night). I was in severe pain until about 1:30 AM this morning and was on the edge of asking DH to take me to the ER. I even considered taking a Vioxx after all but was afraid to mix it with the new medication! Luckily the migraine FINALLY abated on its own - but that is VERY unusual.

This was my second night in a row with very little sleep so I'm really dragging today. So I finally get up this morning and am going to wake up Ryan when DH comes running up the stairs swearing and I'm wondering what on earth is going on when he tells me that we've been ROBBED! Yep. Some asshole(s) apparently broke into our car that was parked in our driveway last night! Stole the stereo and DH's golf clubs (including his new driver!) and some other miscellaneous items out of the car. Just swell. I'm glad no one got hurt and insurance is going to cover the losses, but still...it just PISSES me off! And I felt so bad for DH...there aren't too many things in life that he loves more than golf (and his clubs) so I even refrained from pointing out that maybe now he could stop making fun of me for insisting that we LOCK everything up all the time and that it isn't a good idea to leave valuables in your car ;-) I earned major good karma points for keeping my mouth shut on that one!

In other news, Ryan is sick (still) and I'm trying to get him in to the doctor before DH leaves for 10 days in Minnesota. I get to be a single parent to a sick kid...right after we were robbed and I'm feeling oh-so-not-safe. Lucky me.

Anyway, I'll post the pics shortly of the fun things I bought at the bead show this weekend that I can't use until next month because I won't have any beading time since DH will be gone.

Sigh.

KJ

A Comment...Woo Hoo!

Someone actually READ my blog and POSTED a comment! YAY!!! I don't know who this person is, but he or she OBVIOUSLy has fabulous taste LOL!

So now I've got some catching up to do.

I've been working like crazy on my article that I want to submit to a bead magazine for publication and rough draft is done including all the photos and illustrations except one. I'm trying to finish up two more complete pieces to photograph for the very end of the article and then I'll be ready to put everything on disk and submit it. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much as I'm pretty sure the odds on this are kinda long, but then again, you never know so what the heck? Why not take a chance? The pendant on one piece is done. I just have to do the necklace part. The other piece hasn't even been started :-( And I've got so many other things in my "mental pipeline" that it's driving me nuts that I can't get to them due to lack of time. I didn't do ANY beadwork the whole weekend...sigh. It's so tough to find the balance between my day job, being a mom, being a wife, housework/chores/errands, and my hobbies. Oh and sleep, too, LOL! Gotta fit that in somewhere or I can't do any of the rest of it. There just aren't enough hours in the day! Anyway, I've got to get back on track this week so I can get some of this stuff finished up!

After the article pieces are done, I've got a gal who wants to buy some of my finished peyote beads so I need to get going on making those up as soon as possible. DH is taking off for his homeland on the frozen tundra (aka Minnesota) the latter part of this month which is pretty much gonna put the kaibosh on ANY beading time while he's gone. I told him when he gets back that I get to go to a spa for a weekend or something to recover LOL! I was mostly kidding, but it would be so great to get in 8 uninterrupted hours of beading time! But who am I kidding? I'd miss my li'l guy Ryan sooooo much. He's such a total doll and I'm so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. What a great kid!

Next after the peyote beads are all the projects I have in mind to go with the current fashions (remember all those cool beads I bought at the bead show in August??). I got even more inspired after doing my own fall clothes shopping this weekend and I definitely need jewelry to go with my new stuff! I just love being able to custom-make anything I want to match a particular outfit. Especially after you see the jewelry that's being sold in the stores and how crappy, cheapo and lightweight it is and yet how much they are charging for it! It's pretty insane!

And finally, news on the "great spider expedition of 2004." I finally got the chance to take my camera out last night and try to get pictures of the spiders I was talking about a few posts ago. Unfortunately, the two I saw last night were spinning their webs higher up between two trees and my digital camera SUCKS at taking close-ups of small things. You have to be practically on top of something to get a shot and I just couldn't get close enough so I'll have to try again.

I'm thinking I need one of those cheapy 34mm disposable cameras to get the shot! It's a shame, though, because the spiders and their webs are pretty impressive. The webs themselves are 3' - 4' feet across and are usually stretched between two trees or a tree and the side of house, etc. I'm pretty sure they are either Golden Orb Weaver spiders or Jeweled Araneus spiders which means they are trying to capture flying nightime insects and the web placement and the fact that they spin each evening at dusk would support this. Anyway, I've got to keep trying to get a good picture as I still plan to submit a photo to the http://www.whatsthatbug.com site to get a formal identification.

Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm off to another bead show this weekend! I know, probably shouldn't be buying more stock when I haven't made up the stuff from last time, but I just can't resist. Besides, last show I was pretty cash poor and had to leave some things behind that I really wanted so hopefully I can pick them up this time ;-) There was that strand of large Kyanite pebbles and that strand of funky dotted glass cones and that fun-looking candy jade and some small briolettes perfect for earrings and the Peruvian opal and all the gorgeous Italian glass at Via Murano and, and, and....okay now I need a cold shower LOL!

C'est tout pour maintenant, mes amis. Au revoir!

KJ