Sick Again

Normally I am pretty healthy and don't get sick easily.  But not this year.  This year, I seem to have hopped on the Effective Weight Loss Train.  In January, a stomach bug got me for a week and I dropped ten pounds.  This week, I caught a heavy dose of strep throat that hasn't let me sleep or swallow and I've dropped a couple more pounds.  

The strep has stolen my appetite.  Seriously.  There are brownies in the kitchen and they don't even sound good to me.  Now that is just plain sad.  We rarely have sweets in the house.  Especially brownies!

When I started feeling crummy on Monday (specifically at 2:30am when a sore throat woke me up), I figured I was just run down from doing waaaay too much over the weekend.  So I weathered through the day thinking grass/pollen allergies were part of the problem, so I wasn't going to make a dr's appointment.  But then I kissed Todd goodbye before he left to fly up to Washington DC for some work meetings and my fever started to climb.  It got up to 104.5 Monday night.  Nope,  probably not allergies.  

I got in to see the doctor at 9:30 yesterday morning and tested positive for strep throat.  I'm pretty sure I ran one very red light on the way to the doctor's office.  He asked if I wanted a shot in the butt with the promise that I'd feel almost back to normal by today, but I turned it down.  I was already crying for no good reasons yesterday morning (like driving away from the schools when I dropped my kids off.  or when the cars wouldn't let me out to turn left when they very obviously would not be moving forward anytime soon because they were paying attention to red lights.  or that the sun was out and the sky was blue and I didn't know what the heck was wrong with me, but not being able to swallow was torture).  

So now I have four doses of penicillin in my body and I'm feeling a little bit closer to human.  So far, the fever is laying low and my throat is feeling tons better.  I'll be going back to work tomorrow, which isn't thrilling.  At least I can stay in my pajamas and my customers will be none the wiser.

But the real reason I'm signed onto the computer is to blog and remind you to check back tomorrow.  I'm throwing a little giveaway for a pound and a half of loot!

Giving Back to Haiti

Check out the fabulous collaboration between Lorelei Eurto and Andrew Thornton!

  Hey! I think I took that picture of Andrew & Lorelei last August at BeadFest :D

They worked together to create this gorgeous necklace and are now auctioning it off HERE.  

All proceeds will be donated directly to the American Red Cross/Haiti Relief Fund to help victims of their horrible earthquake.

Just comment HERE to enter your bid to win this wonderful piece of jewelry and help folks in Haiti!

Beads Galore! - The Loot is Named

Big brass beads on some strange rope material that reminded me of corn husks.  I have never seen anything like these before, but I thought the design was so cool.  These are too big for any of the jewelry I make with my beads, but they will be good for an upcoming giveaway!

These were simply named 'stone' which was unusual.  Normally BG is so good at accurately naming all of their beads.  I think these look like some type of Jasper.  I loved the shapes these were cut into.

Golden Horn moons.  I liked the variation in color from light to dark.

Wooden beads that are very wobbly in shape.  Such a light blonde.  I would think these could be stained for a variation in color.

I love how this Horn was carved into bicones and with the stripes and dots.  So earthy!

More horn.  These are so smooth to the touch.

Terms of the GIVEAWAY with all these beads and more will be posted on April 1st.  But it will not be an April Fools Day joke.  It's gonna be BIG!

The Shelves - Finished!

I finished the second coat of white on the shelves yesterday morning and sponged on the purple last night before I went to bed.  Early early this morning, the boy child helped apply the yellow to the front.  

 

Todd helped me move the shelves out of the garage and upstairs.  We moved the bottom section into place and left the top section out in the hall.  Henry had to supervise.

 

Then Todd took the kids to a Bounce House to burn off some energy before taking them out for pizza.  I spent close to four hours getting Owen's shelves set up, bolted to the wall, arranged and then cleaning/organizing both his room and Chloe's.  Both rooms look so much better and I feel like I accomplished soooooo much between Friday and today!  

Owen was thrilled with how the shelves turned out once he came home :)

My Mom painted those O-W-E-N letters and gave them as a Christmas present to the boy.  I finally got them hung up today.  That is my old roll top desk and my Mom made the quilt hanging behind it for Owen.  I just love it.  It makes me smile every time I walk into his room.

I built those shelves to the right of the desk when we lived in our last house.  They held all of my craft supplies and fabrics, but I think they work better now in Owen's room.  I had to cut off a couple inches on the top so they would fit in his room.  What I'm loving the most right now is that I can see the carpet at the base of those shelves!

And here are pics of some of the beads that I made Friday night after the kids went to bed and the new tank of gas was hooked back up.  These are being made into a pair of earrings for an upcoming giveaway on a friend's blog.

This is a focal bead with a burst bubble.  I liked the texture inside it (which I really struggled to adequately photograph) and decided not to melt it closed before annealing.  

Day Off!

I am most of the way caught up with work from everything I missed being out in Arizona all of last week on vacation.  I didn't have any conference calls scheduled, so I decided to take the day off to get things done around the house.  

 

 After weeks of looking at all those whiteboards resting on the garage floor, I was ready to do something about them and finally make the shelves I had promised the boy child.  I wanted to clear my desk and clean out my studio cabinets, as well as spend some time on the torch catching up on orders.

The morning got off to a great start with cheerful, well behaved kids.  Then I pulled out the power tools and borrowed a measuring tape from a neighbor, since I learned this mornings ours had been broken.

I had drawn out plans with measurements of the shelves weeks ago and stuck to them pretty closely, with the exception I built them in two sections....a top and a bottom.  Since they are 6.5 feet wide and over 7 feet tall, I wouldn't be able to get them through doorways in our house.

No, I don't wear safety goggles or use real saw horses when operating power tools.  Please do not try this at home.  I still have all my fingers and toes, but I have cut a recycling bin in half. 

I used a brad nail gun (hooked up to my air compressor) to nail the shelves together and tightened it up a little with a couple of L-brackets that I'm screwing in here.

As I shut down after finishing the bottom section, I found this feather.  I wonder how it got in our garage?

I headed inside to eat lunch and spend an hour on the torch before returning to the garage to finish the top portion of the shelves.  I started off by cleaning my rods of clear with little alcohol swipes to mitigate any smurkiness from appearing on my beads.

I started working on orders, but had only made a few beads before my tank of gas ran out.

That threw a three hour monkey wrench into my plans.  My wrench didn't work for removing the hose and regulator from the tank of gas, so I ran out to Home Depot to buy a new wrench.  Came home, removed the hose and loaded the tank to drive to a welding supply company in the next town over to get it refilled.  

Yes, my shirt says PLAYS WITH FIRE.  I love it.  Was a great birthday present last year from a good friend.  I loved that I was warm enough to wear it today. :)

I finished building the shelves and got the first coat of paint on them.  I hope to finish painting the shelves tomorrow to get them moved into Owen's bedroom on Sunday.  After the kids went to bed, I fired up the torch again and spent an hour and a half melting glass before I felt too tired to safely continue.  

I hope to get more time on the torch this weekend, but we'll see.  Soccer games for both kids will take up Saturday morning.  And Sunday I'll be helping my good friend Tabitha on a photography shoot of the newborn of one of our other friends in our neighborhood.  Good weather is coming our way and I'm looking forward to playing with my camera to capture all the good things going on.  I had fun using my tripod and remote today.  Could you tell? :)

Pearl and Pebble --> GIVEAWAY!

Go check out Pearl and Pebble's blog and enter to win.  She is giving away this beautiful, floating necklace on Monday, March 29th to one lucky commenter!

Click here to leave a comment for your chance to win this lovely spring necklace!

New Beads in the Shop

I got my shop stocked up with more beads last night.  Go take a look to see more pics!

New nuggets with sparkly gold cores

Etched nuggets (with sparkly cores...easier to see that gold in person than in the photographs)

Some lovely merlot nuggets made with aventurine cores and encased in rubino oro.

Some shiny, metallic beads that turn from blue to gold mirrors, depending on the viewing angle

Turquoise beads drizzled in silvered ivory wisps

More silvered ivory on deep, transparent blue and etched for that great matte finish

Viola's Charms are a wonderful lavender and are decorated in scrolls of gold aventurine.

These raku eggs aren't new, but they are lonely.  Sniff.

Beads Galore - the Loot!

Here are some of the beads I bought.  I'm not showing all of them because I want to keep some surprises to myself for awhile.  :)

Aren't these cool?  They are Ivory Magnesite.  I'm still questioning the name....how come something so brightly turquoise be called ivory?

These Actinolite stone beads came from Afghanistan!

And who has seen agate look like this??  This is called Etched Agate.

Gratuitous Little Horse post

Mellisa at Chinook Designs asked for it, although I've gotten plenty of interest about Dylan from many others.  He is a Great Pyrenees, but might as well be a little horse because he is so big.  Or at night, we gnash our teeth lovingly call him Weeping Pony as he cries, whines and barks.  All night long.  The first two months found us working through major anxiety issues with Dylan.  And we pretty much conquered all of them, with the exception of lying quietly in his crate at night and sleeping.  I could cry and whine to you for an inordinate amount of time about this, but I will refrain.  I will share the fun stories and cool pics of my big, sweet boy.

This boy only weighs 76 lbs (he has gained almost ten pounds in the two months we have had him with us), although he is so furry that most people guess he is a solid 115 lbs.  If Dylan stands up on his hind feet, he is eye level with me or a little taller and I am 5'3.

I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard this boy bark during the day, which is surprising because Great Pyrenees are known for their barking.  We are thankful he is not a barker (our boxer Maggie is a loud and frequent barker).  When he has barked during the day, it is a very low, loud bark (as opposed to night in his crate, when it is a high-pitched, non-stop barking that would make you think his skin is being peeled off slowly by his volume and pitch).  If Dylan is out in the backyard (90% of the day) and he hears Maggie barking, he will quickly come inside as her wingman to see what is going on and if she needs back-up.

This boy LOVES the cold.  He can't get enough of it.  Dylan likes to sleep out on the back porch on the cement patio or under our cypress trees in the shade.  He will bump noses with our cat Henry, but never tries to chase him (or our other cat, who still isn't used to dogs after living with Maggie for seven years.  Abbie is slow to embrace change).

When it snowed this winter, Dylan loved going for walks in it.

And tearing around the backyard like a wild thing!

Little Horse enjoys going to one of our local dog parks to sniff the other dogs and run like the wind between all the trees with either my seven year old boy child or me.

But what he LOVES the most is to go on walks.  Every night.  I will kick open the flap of the pet door and call his name.  By the time I get my coat on and scarf wrapped around my neck, he is inside and sitting patiently for me to put on his leash.  Sometimes he is so overcome with excitement, he will raise up on his hind legs and do a half turn while looking me in the eye.  I swear he is grinning!  Dylan doesn't jump on me.  Ever.  (Or anyone else, for that matter.)  And then he sits back down and patiently waits.  He is funny on walks.  Because as much as he loves them, he can never seem to wake up.

Dylan is constantly yawning while we walk!

Dylan is one of the most laid back boys (ahem. aside from his nocturnal antics) and is wonderful with our kids.  He ignores the cats.  Doesn't bark at the mail lady or UPS truck.  He walks nicely by my side on our nightly 2-3 mile walks.  He sits when I ask him to do so.  

However, he does have a sense of mischief in him, which is probably a combination of boredom and his age (he's a teenager at a year and a couple months).  

Dylan.

Is.

A.

Thief.

He steals the kids toys when their bedroom doors are left open.  Or if they didn't put all of their possessions away in the family room, he will grab one (or all) of those to take to the backyard.  Dylan has been known to pull books off their bookshelves and either read them or eat them, depending upon the topic (he liked reading the story of Nubs, who was a German Shepherd rescued by one of our Marines overseas in the Middle East, but thought Chloe's book on letters was too tasty to just read).  He has also pulled the kids' artwork off the refrigerator or counters to decorate the backyard to his liking.

You can see from this collage, he liked my winter hat crocheted by my good friend Wendy (she occasionally joins me in my studio on my second torch).  Dylan dreams of becoming a Firefighter.  He likes pulling things from our recycling bucket, like the cheese container or empty bag of chips.  He likes stuffed animals and markers.  And little girls' Valentine's cups.  

Dylan is still at the trainer's facility to help work through his anxiety and crate issues (which I think is going to be a major FAIL and sadly, a big waste of money). I know that in time, he will become calm at night and lose his anxieties as he learns we are a constant home and family for him.

I miss him.  I miss his presence and knowing that if I walk into the kitchen during the day I will see him on the back porch or under the trees.  I'm looking forward to bringing my Little Horse back home.  I have missed our nightly walks. 

I can't wait to bring him home tomorrow.

Updated at 9:20pm - 3.23.10 Dylan just turned a major corner and is now taking treats and food from the trainer.  Massive progress going forward.  The trainer asked to keep him another week to continue working with Dylan and make the progress we had expected within the original two week time frame.  As much as I miss him and can't wait to see him, we decided to continue the training.  Yay and sigh.

Beads Galore!

While I was on vacation last week in Arizona, I visited Beads Galore in Tempe.  It is an incredible bead store chock full of just about every type of bead.  In the past, I have been known to go a little bit nuts and blow my Rainy Day savings account (ok, more than that) on multiple visits in less than a week.  But this time, I had promised myself I wouldn't be buying beads.  

I just wanted to go to get some hook & eye clasps for leather cord.  When I found them, I was blown away by the price of silver since the last time I purchased any.  CRAZY PRICES!  I turned on my heel and was headed for the door, bound and determined to stick to my promise that I wouldn't buy any beads.  I still have beads from LAST year that I bought at Beads Galore that I haven't even pulled out of their baggies.  Sniff.  Those poor, unloved beads.  But my mom-in-law was still looking at chains and clasps, so I lingered.  

While I lingered, I found some really cool beads.  I know my friend Keirsten has been wanting to get some new bone beads and I looked with the intention of finding a cool strand for her.  But I just couldn't do it.  They creeped me out.  Sigh.  They looked like miniature vertebrae to me and then I started thinking about what kind of creatures the bones came from.  Squirrels?  Raccoons?  Yaks?  I don't know, but whatever they came from they creeped me out.  I'm sorry I failed you, Keirsten.

I did end up buying several strands of new beads, but don't shake your finger at me just yet.  I didn't spend a fortune.  At least not a large fortune.  And.  They're not for me.  Some will be gifts and some will make for a giveaway on my blog later this week or next (depending on the weather. rain doesn't help me get outside to take bead pics!).

They had a long row of copper bead strands that caught my attention.  Ooooh, shiny.  But I passed on by after I snapped this picture.  I already have a bunch of copper.  I really need to use up more of my bead supplies before I start thinking about buying more beads.  Snort.  Kinda like what I tell myself about glass supplies, but then a wonderful sale came along last week and I ordered 10+ pounds of glass.  So much for holding off for another two months on buying glass!  Where were we?  Copper!  Beads Galore has everything so well organized, hanging nicely in strands with prices and beads all clearly marked.  And so much of it is shiny!  So easy to get lost in there.

Besides a wall of Czech glass beads organized by color, they had aisles and aisles of beads organized by type of stone.  This store appeals to my obsessive compulsive need for organization by color and type.  My closet is organized by color, as is my glass cabinet and all of my boxes of beads.  For awhile my books were organized by color, but then I couldn't sleep at night and had to change it back to alphabetical.

They had lots of hematite.

And of course a long table filled with cheap lampwork made overseas in sweatshop factories with crummy ventilation and no OSHA requirements for eye protection or age restrictions.  Large dichro focals for two bucks or less.  Disgraceful.  I won't start in on a rant, as much as I would like to right now.  Can you tell that's a hot button for me?

So those are the luscious shots of beads I got from Beads Galore.  Soon enough you will see pics of some of the beads I scored.

Coming up tomorrow is a post about Little Horse with lots of pics.