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
Friday, October 29, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
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
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
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
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
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
Monday, October 04, 2004
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
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
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
saksfifthavenue.com
saksfifthavenue.com
Wow....could this BE any cooler? Love, love, love this jewelry and as a newbie designer myself I am soooo totally jealous! And if you read the story of how he got famous...talk about LUCKY! Well, and of course, he's talented, too. LOL!
Wow....could this BE any cooler? Love, love, love this jewelry and as a newbie designer myself I am soooo totally jealous! And if you read the story of how he got famous...talk about LUCKY! Well, and of course, he's talented, too. LOL!
Thursday, September 23, 2004
I'm a bad, bad blogger...
Ooops...didn't realize quite so much time had passed since I posted. I've been busy working on my article idea for the bead magazines and that's been sucking up a lot of time. I haven't even been doing any beading so I could concentrate on writing! The article is going well - rough draft of the written part is almost done. It's the photos and diagrams that are time consuming! I'm looking forward to being done with that part for sure! I road tested a finished piece by wearing it to work and got a lot of compliments on it and people asking where they could buy one which was kind of neat because most of them know I make my own stuff, but they thought this piece was "store-bought." Cool...exactly what I was going for!
Ryan is sleeping SOOO much better! He's just awesome and is learning so many new words every day now. Gotta be REAAAAALLLLY careful what we say around him LOL! Still, he's just a precious joy to be around...we are really lucky! We're taking him to look for his Halloween costume this weekend (some friends have opened a Halloween store just for the season) so that should be fun and in a few weeks I'm hoping we'll get to take him to a pumpkin patch for the first time.
Meanwhile, in other news, I'm so sick of hearing about the upcoming election! As I've said before...I don't like EITHER guy and now I'm stuck having to listen to crap about both of them on a daily basis. Blech! Iraq is such a total mess and I think Bush has really screwed up by putting the focus over there instead of on our economy and on finishing the job in Afghanistan and getting Al-Qaeda (including Bin Laden) but I think Kerry will only make things worse so again, I'm stuck. Now that we're IN Iraq, seems like we'll have to stay until things are stabilized and we have an organized plan for pulling out and still maintaining the stabilization. Oh, and we need to get that Zarqawi a--hole before we go, too. He needs to not be taking up oxygen any more. If Bush wants me to feel "safer" as an American with him as president...why am I not hearing anything about what he's doing to get that guy...instead of how time and resources are being wasted pulling Cat Stevens off an airplane in Maine???? Stupid.
See what happens when I don't write for a while...all this crap piles up LOL!
All for now,
KJ
Ryan is sleeping SOOO much better! He's just awesome and is learning so many new words every day now. Gotta be REAAAAALLLLY careful what we say around him LOL! Still, he's just a precious joy to be around...we are really lucky! We're taking him to look for his Halloween costume this weekend (some friends have opened a Halloween store just for the season) so that should be fun and in a few weeks I'm hoping we'll get to take him to a pumpkin patch for the first time.
Meanwhile, in other news, I'm so sick of hearing about the upcoming election! As I've said before...I don't like EITHER guy and now I'm stuck having to listen to crap about both of them on a daily basis. Blech! Iraq is such a total mess and I think Bush has really screwed up by putting the focus over there instead of on our economy and on finishing the job in Afghanistan and getting Al-Qaeda (including Bin Laden) but I think Kerry will only make things worse so again, I'm stuck. Now that we're IN Iraq, seems like we'll have to stay until things are stabilized and we have an organized plan for pulling out and still maintaining the stabilization. Oh, and we need to get that Zarqawi a--hole before we go, too. He needs to not be taking up oxygen any more. If Bush wants me to feel "safer" as an American with him as president...why am I not hearing anything about what he's doing to get that guy...instead of how time and resources are being wasted pulling Cat Stevens off an airplane in Maine???? Stupid.
See what happens when I don't write for a while...all this crap piles up LOL!
All for now,
KJ
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Gee, my life is boring...
I do try to write an entry a day, but sometimes there just isn't anything interesting going on at all. The last few days have been that way. Ryan's sleeping better at night, the giant spiders haven't gotten us yet (nor have I made it back to the park to take pictures) and I've been too busy with general life stuff to bead anything new. Oh, last night I did have the enjoyable experience of stepping on a piece of banana on the kitchen floor (thanks, Ryan) in my bare feet. Yeah, that was fun (not). Blech! Isn't my life just endlessly fascinating?? Don't answer that LOL! I also slept weird last night and now the left side of my neck is all screwed up - can't turn my head in that direction and the muscles are spasming and I've just taken my 3rd round of Advil...ouch!
There is one other tidbit of news, but I'm trying not to get too excited about it so I guess I'm not really counting it as "news" yet. I've had a nibble of interest from a new beading mag about publishing some of my finished work in their gallery section and possibly being interested in that article idea I mentioned a few posts ago. Nothing definite at all yet and in fact, I'm still in the very early, rough draft stage of writing the piece and trying to figure out which steps need photos and which need illustrations, etc.
Will keep you posted on what happens. In fact, you won't need this Blog because you'll hear me screaming from here if this works out ;-)
That's it for now. Maybe I'll get to go spider hunting tonight.
KJ
There is one other tidbit of news, but I'm trying not to get too excited about it so I guess I'm not really counting it as "news" yet. I've had a nibble of interest from a new beading mag about publishing some of my finished work in their gallery section and possibly being interested in that article idea I mentioned a few posts ago. Nothing definite at all yet and in fact, I'm still in the very early, rough draft stage of writing the piece and trying to figure out which steps need photos and which need illustrations, etc.
Will keep you posted on what happens. In fact, you won't need this Blog because you'll hear me screaming from here if this works out ;-)
That's it for now. Maybe I'll get to go spider hunting tonight.
KJ
Friday, September 10, 2004
What's That Bug: Spiders
What's That Bug: Spiders
See my previous post about my spider experience. In an attempt to identify the particular spiders involved, I found the above website that's lots of fun to look through (well, only if pictures of spiders and other bugs don't freak you out!) I'm okay with pictures, just not the real thing.
DH and the kidlet and I are going back to the park tonight with our camera to try to get pictures and submit them to the site to see what they say.
KJ
See my previous post about my spider experience. In an attempt to identify the particular spiders involved, I found the above website that's lots of fun to look through (well, only if pictures of spiders and other bugs don't freak you out!) I'm okay with pictures, just not the real thing.
DH and the kidlet and I are going back to the park tonight with our camera to try to get pictures and submit them to the site to see what they say.
KJ
EWWWW...Spiders!
Okay, I'll be the first to admit it...I have a SERIOUS case of arachnophobia. Spiders just freak me out big time. I know they're good at keeping the population of other creepy crawlies down, but still...ewwwwww!
Having said that, I'll relate a little story from last night...
In the area where we live, there's a large park right across the street from our house and we usually take Ryan there in the evenings to play on the jungle gym and swings. Part of the park is manicured and has equipment, etc. but it borders a wilderness area that runs all the way down the canyon to the beach and has trails for mt. bikers, etc. So, it is not unusual to see various wildlife (owls, rabbits, coyotes, possums, skunks and the occasional deer). The sun is setting and Ryan is playing on the jungle gym when I notice that hanging from one corner of the top of the gym is an absolutely ENORMOUS spider! I mean this sucker was HUGE! We're talking escapee from the jungles of deepest, darkest wherever type huge!
I get a little shiver down my spine but then I get a hold of myself and figure that as long as this thing stays up where it is and minds its own business I'll be fine. So the kidlet and I continue our running around and playing and eventually end up next to one of the corners of the tent/pavilion thingy that covers the entire play area when I look up and danged if there isn't ANOTHER of these gigantic spiders slowly spinning a web that slants down on an angle from the corner of the pavilion out to a nearby tree. Now of course, Ryan has seen this thing and is FASCINATED by it and wants to run up to it and I'm torn between my total panic at the size of this spider and trying to be a good mom and let him see and experience things. I manage to maintain control enough to walk up to within a couple of feet of it with him.
Now, as he's fascinated with looking at the web-spinning monstrosity, I'm looking around and realizing that there're more than just two of them! There's a giant spider at EVERY corner of the pavilion and dangling from several branches of the nearby trees! Okay now I'm REALLY freaking out! It's also getting quite dark and I'm slowly looking around and realizing we are the only people left in the park.
Here's where things get even creepier. I'm starting to think about how I'm going to get Ryan back to his little "car" that he rides in so we can start to get out of "giant spider heaven" without him having a tantrum (have you ever tried to interrupt a 20 month old at what he really wants to be doing and get him to do something else? doesn't go well too often) because I've interrupted his hypnotized gazing at the web-building creepy-crawly when I suddenly become aware that I've been hearing this weird clicking noise for a while and hadn't really noticed it amidst the background of evening birdsong and frogs peeping. As I pay more attention, I realize that the clicking is coming from multiple sources all around us.
I look up at the spider that Ryan is watching and realize THAT IT'S THE SOUND OF THE DAMN THING BUILDING ITS WEB! There's a little "snick" sound as it is starting and ending web threads and the reason the noise is all around is is because the spiders are all around us.
I have no memory of how I got Ryan into his little car and got us out of there...all I know is we were home about 30 seconds later! It'll be a LONG time before I go back to that park w/o at least taking DH (aka heap big spider killer) with me.
Blech!
Oh, and Ryan's new word for the week? "'pider!" Greaaaaaat!
KJ
Having said that, I'll relate a little story from last night...
In the area where we live, there's a large park right across the street from our house and we usually take Ryan there in the evenings to play on the jungle gym and swings. Part of the park is manicured and has equipment, etc. but it borders a wilderness area that runs all the way down the canyon to the beach and has trails for mt. bikers, etc. So, it is not unusual to see various wildlife (owls, rabbits, coyotes, possums, skunks and the occasional deer). The sun is setting and Ryan is playing on the jungle gym when I notice that hanging from one corner of the top of the gym is an absolutely ENORMOUS spider! I mean this sucker was HUGE! We're talking escapee from the jungles of deepest, darkest wherever type huge!
I get a little shiver down my spine but then I get a hold of myself and figure that as long as this thing stays up where it is and minds its own business I'll be fine. So the kidlet and I continue our running around and playing and eventually end up next to one of the corners of the tent/pavilion thingy that covers the entire play area when I look up and danged if there isn't ANOTHER of these gigantic spiders slowly spinning a web that slants down on an angle from the corner of the pavilion out to a nearby tree. Now of course, Ryan has seen this thing and is FASCINATED by it and wants to run up to it and I'm torn between my total panic at the size of this spider and trying to be a good mom and let him see and experience things. I manage to maintain control enough to walk up to within a couple of feet of it with him.
Now, as he's fascinated with looking at the web-spinning monstrosity, I'm looking around and realizing that there're more than just two of them! There's a giant spider at EVERY corner of the pavilion and dangling from several branches of the nearby trees! Okay now I'm REALLY freaking out! It's also getting quite dark and I'm slowly looking around and realizing we are the only people left in the park.
Here's where things get even creepier. I'm starting to think about how I'm going to get Ryan back to his little "car" that he rides in so we can start to get out of "giant spider heaven" without him having a tantrum (have you ever tried to interrupt a 20 month old at what he really wants to be doing and get him to do something else? doesn't go well too often) because I've interrupted his hypnotized gazing at the web-building creepy-crawly when I suddenly become aware that I've been hearing this weird clicking noise for a while and hadn't really noticed it amidst the background of evening birdsong and frogs peeping. As I pay more attention, I realize that the clicking is coming from multiple sources all around us.
I look up at the spider that Ryan is watching and realize THAT IT'S THE SOUND OF THE DAMN THING BUILDING ITS WEB! There's a little "snick" sound as it is starting and ending web threads and the reason the noise is all around is is because the spiders are all around us.
I have no memory of how I got Ryan into his little car and got us out of there...all I know is we were home about 30 seconds later! It'll be a LONG time before I go back to that park w/o at least taking DH (aka heap big spider killer) with me.
Blech!
Oh, and Ryan's new word for the week? "'pider!" Greaaaaaat!
KJ
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Comments, anyone?
So I've been going along wondering why there haven't been any comments on this blog (maybe I'm seriously dullsville, etc.) only to discover that I didn't have the right setting completed to allow comments. DUH! I think it's fixed now so feel free to fire away!
So what's new? Made lots of changes to the website this week. Put new stuff in the "New Designs" section and took all the older stuff out of that area and divvied it up to the various categories it belongs in. Now the "New Designs" section is a lot smaller, but will hopefully be easier to maintain on a more frequent basis. I like to make sure the site is kept as current as possible as one of my own pet peeves is going to websites and seeing that they haven't been changed in a long time.
I'm still fiddling around with my idea for a magazine article. The first attempt made me re-think some of the supplies so I had to place a new order and that stuff just came in last night...looking forward to playing with it. I'm really excited about this opportunity and hope I can make it pay off.
Ryan is doing MUCH better at night. Hip hip hooray! His eye teeth are in and I guess that was what was bugging him so much. We took him swimming at my parents' neighborhood pool this weekend and he loved it. Ever since then he keeps asking me "water? water?" whenever we drive near the clubhouse. Hope the weather stays nice so we can take him again this weekend.
Here's the link to the newest stuff:
http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net
That's it for now.
KJ
So what's new? Made lots of changes to the website this week. Put new stuff in the "New Designs" section and took all the older stuff out of that area and divvied it up to the various categories it belongs in. Now the "New Designs" section is a lot smaller, but will hopefully be easier to maintain on a more frequent basis. I like to make sure the site is kept as current as possible as one of my own pet peeves is going to websites and seeing that they haven't been changed in a long time.
I'm still fiddling around with my idea for a magazine article. The first attempt made me re-think some of the supplies so I had to place a new order and that stuff just came in last night...looking forward to playing with it. I'm really excited about this opportunity and hope I can make it pay off.
Ryan is doing MUCH better at night. Hip hip hooray! His eye teeth are in and I guess that was what was bugging him so much. We took him swimming at my parents' neighborhood pool this weekend and he loved it. Ever since then he keeps asking me "water? water?" whenever we drive near the clubhouse. Hope the weather stays nice so we can take him again this weekend.
Here's the link to the newest stuff:
http://www.silverparrotdesigns.net
That's it for now.
KJ
Friday, September 03, 2004
More playing with pendants...
Now I'm so addicted to this pendant design that I can't stop trying different variations. I just uploaded a version made with Swarovski crystals in a bicone shape (instead of round beads) and I think it came out really well even if I do say so myself ;-) This one I had time to finish off by stringing it...the others are still waiting to be strung from something. I might do chains on those as the seed bead necklace I did for this one was kind of tedious to string. Looks like another new section for the website has been born. This weekend should be fun as all the supplies for my "idea" have arrived so I'll be playing with those and if they come out well enough, I'm going to try to write up an article and submit it to one of the bead mags for publication.
I've been fighting a cold all week and cannot wait for it to go away. What is it about holiday weekends...I was sick for Memorial Day weekend, too! SOOOO not fair! I wanted to take Ryan swimming again this weekend and now I don't know if I'll be up to it.
Have a great weekend!
KJ
I've been fighting a cold all week and cannot wait for it to go away. What is it about holiday weekends...I was sick for Memorial Day weekend, too! SOOOO not fair! I wanted to take Ryan swimming again this weekend and now I don't know if I'll be up to it.
Have a great weekend!
KJ
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Monday, August 30, 2004
Okay, so I can't do embellished Russian Net stitch...
Tres depressing, but I fiddled and futzed around for over a week on this piece and finally ended up cutting it up in sheer frustration. I think the directions were flawed (because of course it couldn't POSSIBLY have been ME, right? LOL!) Between this and my bead crochet failure, I was feeling a little less than confident about my current skill level.
Anywho...moved on to a different technique of making these cool little mandala pendants that I learned on a Japanese beading site and yes I AM very proud of myself for being able to follow a diagram only since the instructions were all in Japanese (see, I'm not TOTALLY lame!) Then, I had 3 of the little pendants all lined up on my beading board because I was going to do a pendant and earrings when I realized I might be able to link them all into a bracelet. Neato. I'll upload a pic when I get a chance. This version uses pale pink glass pearls and faceted Czech glass rondelles in a pretty gray-green shade. I'm pretty impresses even if I do say so myself.
In other news, one of my beading IDOLS, Sherry Serafini, e-mailed me out of the blue to compliment me on my version of her embroidered earrings! Wahooooo! I'm totally stoked! And she was so nice and even answered a couple of dumb questions for me. Here's a link to her website if you want to check out her AMAZING stuff:
http://www.serafinibeadedjewelry.com
On the home front, Ryan fell pretty badly Friday night and cut his poor little lip up. I just HATE it when he gets hurt and cries because he's such a good little guy most of the time that it just seems extra unfair that he should ever get hurt, but he IS a boy and I'm sure this is only the first of many injuries I'll have to get through over the years. At least it didn't involve the emergency room (shudder). He goes for his 18 month check up today and we're hoping maybe his doctor can give us some advice on the night wakings. He does seem to be doing a BIT better (only waking once and then going back to sleep instead of being up all night) but I could still do with a few more nights where he sleeps through. It's weird because he has NO problems at bedtime at ALL...he's almost spookily good about "going night-night."
That's all for now. I'll post a pic of the mandala bracelet.
KJ
Anywho...moved on to a different technique of making these cool little mandala pendants that I learned on a Japanese beading site and yes I AM very proud of myself for being able to follow a diagram only since the instructions were all in Japanese (see, I'm not TOTALLY lame!) Then, I had 3 of the little pendants all lined up on my beading board because I was going to do a pendant and earrings when I realized I might be able to link them all into a bracelet. Neato. I'll upload a pic when I get a chance. This version uses pale pink glass pearls and faceted Czech glass rondelles in a pretty gray-green shade. I'm pretty impresses even if I do say so myself.
In other news, one of my beading IDOLS, Sherry Serafini, e-mailed me out of the blue to compliment me on my version of her embroidered earrings! Wahooooo! I'm totally stoked! And she was so nice and even answered a couple of dumb questions for me. Here's a link to her website if you want to check out her AMAZING stuff:
http://www.serafinibeadedjewelry.com
On the home front, Ryan fell pretty badly Friday night and cut his poor little lip up. I just HATE it when he gets hurt and cries because he's such a good little guy most of the time that it just seems extra unfair that he should ever get hurt, but he IS a boy and I'm sure this is only the first of many injuries I'll have to get through over the years. At least it didn't involve the emergency room (shudder). He goes for his 18 month check up today and we're hoping maybe his doctor can give us some advice on the night wakings. He does seem to be doing a BIT better (only waking once and then going back to sleep instead of being up all night) but I could still do with a few more nights where he sleeps through. It's weird because he has NO problems at bedtime at ALL...he's almost spookily good about "going night-night."
That's all for now. I'll post a pic of the mandala bracelet.
KJ
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Power Pro Rocks!
Okay so in the beading world I am SEVERELY late to the whole Power Pro (it's a specific type of fishing line that has been adapted by beaders because it is thin, strong and will stand up to the sharp holes of crystals, stones, etc.) party, but I finally got some and finally used it today and it is AWESOME! I made a cute little pendant out of pink Czech glass and garnet stone rounds and rondelles and it came out so darling! I'm going to make a bunch and link them together in a bracelet. And of course, I'm going to need some more faceted rondelle beads to make these in LOTS of colors ;-) It's great that they don't take a lot of beads to make so I can use up some "leftovers." Watch for these coming soon on the website :-)
Now chant with me "Power Pro! Power Pro! Power Pro!" :-))
See ya!
KJ
Now chant with me "Power Pro! Power Pro! Power Pro!" :-))
See ya!
KJ
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Oops...
I'm trying to post every day, but, well, sometimes life just gets in the way. I'm not even sure what exactly it is I've been so busy doing, but whatever it was, it kept me away from blogging. Let's see...
I finished the emerald peyote tubes set - bracelet and earrings and got them added to the right page on the website although I haven't had a chance to do the upload yet. Also added a couple of pairs of simple earrings and another necklace that I found in "lost inventory." Hope to get that stuff uploaded tonight although it's my night for "baby duty" so we'll see what happens.
Ryan was up most of last night (from 12-4 pretty much continuously...sigh). He had been pretty good for a few nights there so I thought maybe we were going to turn the corner but we just don't seem to be making any progress. Keep trying to wear him out during the day hoping it well help him sleep better and bought him his first "scooter" over the weekend to try to help with that. It works as both a sit-down and stand-up model and he's doing really well with the sit-down version and doesn't fuss about wearing his helmet either! He can do the stand up part, but doesn't want to push with his foot...wants mommy and daddy to provide the "go" power for that mode LOL! Kinda counter-productive (not to mention that mommy and daddy are POOPED!)
What else...am finishing the edging on a pair of embroidered cab earrings in shades of turquoise and emerald green and am also working on a swap item for a beader's e-mail list I belong to. I'm trying a new technique (for me) called embellished Russian net stitch. It's very lacy and pretty, but so far feels a bit "floppy" to me for use as a bracelet, but I'm not done yet so hopefully it will stiffen up a bit as I continue to work the next row. I'm using shades of pink and amethyst on it and hope my swap buddy will like it.
I bought a new earring display/organizer at the bead show I went to last weekend and finished transferring all my earrings into it. They look so much nicer and more professional this way (plus they were totally overflowing the other container I had them in) AND this thing rolls up neatly and fastens shut so everything stays protected. Very cool. While I was doing that I realized that the bead stash was starting to get a bit messy due to all the recent projects (leftovers not getting put away at all or getting tossed in their drawers, but not actually put into their tubes/boxes so I took a stab at straightening that up. During that process realized I need yet another iris cart and some more of the fabulous organizing tubes/boxes from Betcey at Beyond Beadery.
Lastly, I think I've come up with an idea for an original technique and am hoping if it works out that I might submit it to one or more of the bead mags and/or create some kits for sale. I've been web surfing/shopping today seeing if I can purchase the components I'll need to try this out and if it comes out well enough, I'll move on to writing the instructions and screwing up my courage to submit an article. Will keep you posted.
C'est tout pour maintenant (that's all for now).
KJ
I finished the emerald peyote tubes set - bracelet and earrings and got them added to the right page on the website although I haven't had a chance to do the upload yet. Also added a couple of pairs of simple earrings and another necklace that I found in "lost inventory." Hope to get that stuff uploaded tonight although it's my night for "baby duty" so we'll see what happens.
Ryan was up most of last night (from 12-4 pretty much continuously...sigh). He had been pretty good for a few nights there so I thought maybe we were going to turn the corner but we just don't seem to be making any progress. Keep trying to wear him out during the day hoping it well help him sleep better and bought him his first "scooter" over the weekend to try to help with that. It works as both a sit-down and stand-up model and he's doing really well with the sit-down version and doesn't fuss about wearing his helmet either! He can do the stand up part, but doesn't want to push with his foot...wants mommy and daddy to provide the "go" power for that mode LOL! Kinda counter-productive (not to mention that mommy and daddy are POOPED!)
What else...am finishing the edging on a pair of embroidered cab earrings in shades of turquoise and emerald green and am also working on a swap item for a beader's e-mail list I belong to. I'm trying a new technique (for me) called embellished Russian net stitch. It's very lacy and pretty, but so far feels a bit "floppy" to me for use as a bracelet, but I'm not done yet so hopefully it will stiffen up a bit as I continue to work the next row. I'm using shades of pink and amethyst on it and hope my swap buddy will like it.
I bought a new earring display/organizer at the bead show I went to last weekend and finished transferring all my earrings into it. They look so much nicer and more professional this way (plus they were totally overflowing the other container I had them in) AND this thing rolls up neatly and fastens shut so everything stays protected. Very cool. While I was doing that I realized that the bead stash was starting to get a bit messy due to all the recent projects (leftovers not getting put away at all or getting tossed in their drawers, but not actually put into their tubes/boxes so I took a stab at straightening that up. During that process realized I need yet another iris cart and some more of the fabulous organizing tubes/boxes from Betcey at Beyond Beadery.
Lastly, I think I've come up with an idea for an original technique and am hoping if it works out that I might submit it to one or more of the bead mags and/or create some kits for sale. I've been web surfing/shopping today seeing if I can purchase the components I'll need to try this out and if it comes out well enough, I'll move on to writing the instructions and screwing up my courage to submit an article. Will keep you posted.
C'est tout pour maintenant (that's all for now).
KJ
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