Loose Ends

I'm tying them up.  Slowly.

Last batch of eggs?  Check.

Laundry. Um, half check?

Grocery shopping?  Ok, no check.

Packing.  No check for that either.

Where is the bike rack, I need to find that so we can bring the kids' bikes!

So, other than catching up with egg orders and all bead orders cept one because the glass wouldn't behave right, I still have everything to do to get ready to go after work tomorrow.

And because I am jumping right into that (not so much. I like a deadline to move me forward in a hurry!) I thought I'd share a couple pics from my backyard.  This is my lone day lily under my office windows.  I just love this red.

This is the view from my desk.  I don't like looking at the lack of grass (because our flood last fall washed so much of it away and replaced it with silt, Georgia red clay, rocks and weeds), but I LOVE looking at the sun through the shadows of the leaves.  It makes me inexplicably happy to see those little patches of sunlight around the outlines of the leaves.

Then I saw this butterfly on my way inside.  He was bigger than the palm of a man's hand.  HUGE!

I had a chest x-ray done today.  It was part of a video x-ray of my back and neck, but the doctor and I stopped to look at my lungs.  He noticed a white, horizontal line going across the bottom half of my right lung.  I noticed it wasn't identical to the left and asked him about it.  He explained it was an air bubble in my diaphragm which is not letting my lung fully expand.  He wanted to know if I had done any heavy lifting, which, um, well, I do on a weekly basis whenever I get a hair to move furniture.  He thought that (or extreme coughing, although I haven't had any coughing fits lately) was the cause and wanted to know how short of breath I am.  LOADS!  I have been for a couple of weeks and it's been driving me insane.  Along with the insinuations from my darling husband that I'm a wuss to the heat and just being a big baby about recovering from strep.  It felt good to get a little validation that I'm not crazy and there is a physical reason why I have been getting winded going up our stairs or walking Little Horse.  He said it will just take time for the air bubble to go away.  sigh.

This is my last post for awhile.  Tomorrow I am heading out with the kidlets after work.  We'll drive up through Georgia and through Tennessee.  Hoping to get into Kentucky, if not Illinois before I stop to find a hotel and pass out from exhaustion.  Friday is what I'm looking forward to the most.  I will get to see my Great Aunt and Uncle just past St. Louis.  I'll also get to see my favorite bridges (of course I will be taking pics to show you all!) and then up through Iowa and tons of windmill farms before we get into Rochester, Minnesota Friday night.

We have a baptism to go to on Sunday for one of the newest arrivals in Todd's family.  Then a retirement party for his Mom on Monday.  I'm hoping to take the kids over to Heather's one day to play with her cutie patooties (I originally befriended Heather through Twitter and met her in person for the first time last summer.  Yay for twitter intros of super cool people!).  And then we will drive Up North to this place where Todd's Dad and his wife have their own trailer within sight of the lake.  

It is basically the same thing as being in heaven.  On a lake.  Grandparents.  Endless fishing opportunities.  Relaxation galore.  I can't wait!

Have an excellent weekend my tulips.  I'll talk to you soon!

More Randomness While Beads are in the Kiln!

Looking forward to popping the kiln tomorrow morning and seeing how these babies turn out.  Trying to wrap up orders before I leave on Thursday.  Crossing fingers to get it all done!

Little Horse is a lazy boy.  He remains one with the floor to eat his dinner.

Here are a couple dozen eggs getting ready to ship out to Germany.  Thanks Nicki! 

Next up is Courtney and I'm really trying hard to knock out her eggs before we take off on Thursday.  Her name was added to the list on June 4th, so I know I would sleep better at night if I finished her eggs before leaving.  You all have been so incredibly patient, but it doesn't stop me from feeling badly about the wait time for so many of you!

I found this guy out in the garage and rescued him, re-locating him to a bush.  Even caterpillars are not safe from dog hair at our house.  Even in the garage.  I tried to get rid of some of these hairs, but he jumped around and twisted into a circle and made me concerned I might get stuck.  So I bid him a farewell with good luck on cleaning up his appearance.

A British fashion/shopping blog acknowledged my jewelry this afternoon in their Carnival of Shopping post.  Go check out the Shopaholic blog HERE.  Thanks Shopaholic!

I added buttons under my banner for pages this past week, did you notice?  Do you think this is helpful?  Is there something else I should include up there?  I'd like to add another page that will pull up all of my video posts, but I'm not sure how to make a new page update automatically from tags/labels.  Anyone have advice on this?

Eggs Giveaway!

Go on over to Lorelei's blog to enter for your chance to win some of my fun blue eggs!  Also included is one of LeAnn's lovely little birdies (which I LOVE!).

Lorelei is looking for newer/better ways to storing/hoarding all her thousands of beads.  Go leave her a comment with what works for you so she can nurture her addiction to beads and continue making the lovely jewelry that she designs!

Counting Down the Days

Only four work days left and then I'll be on the road with my kids to the North.  I can't wait!  I LOVE roadtrips and I look forward to this vacation all year long when I see my in-laws, relax, roller blade, fish, bike, enjoy good cooking and ice cream in a neighboring town.  It is a week or more of downtime to de-stress, unwind and restore my soul and renew my motivation for many different aspects in my life.

The weekend was good.  Ran a ton of errands, got a new and functioning dremel bit, cleaned out eggs and then got them etched, photographed and listed.  Yesterday was a fun day with my Dad after he drove up and we took the kids to the big neighborhood pool with a twisty slide.  I'm sure we all slept good last night after two hours in the sun and water.

I am almost completely caught up on egg orders, which feels good to know that's all done before I leave.  If new names come in, then they will get worked when I return from the north country.  It has been a good two months of a solid wait list ranging from four to ten names.  I was stunned.  Wow.  You guys were so incredibly patient and awesome and appreciative and kind.  This was a fun run and I am thankful for all of your encouragement and kind words or feedback. 

Look closely below and you will see new colored speckles on the eggs.  I especially like the greenish speckles on that top, right ochre egg.  Must make more of these when I get back!

Here are more nuggets that just landed in my shop.  This is the same combination as on the ivory/brown/teal eggs you all seemed to like so much.  I may need to make one more set, but in a different shape before I get this combination out of my system.

Not sure if I will get many posts set up in advance for next week while I'm gone, but I'll try.  I will definitely post pics from the roadtrip once I arrive in Minnesota and have a reliable internet/wireless connection again.

I hope you had a great weekend!

TGIF Randomness!

Happy Friday!  This has been a good week.  I am almost back to 100% after having strep.  Yay, now you don't have to hear me whine any more about how debilitating this has been! :D

I have 21 eggs sitting in my kitchen sink, waiting to be cleaned out.  But you will need to wait a little while longer to see them.  I accidentally dropped my dremel and it landed nose first, bending the bit.  I need to run to the hardware store for a new bit before I can clean them all out, get them etched and then photographed.  Boo hiss for clumsy hands.

We will be celebrating Father's Day this weekend with my husband and my Dad.  It will feel a little empty not having my favorite father-in-law with us.  He is up in Northern Minnesota fishing and dodging tornadoes (they are having some majorly nasty storms up there!).  It will be another two weeks before I see him.  Sigh. 

Look!  My gladiolas are starting to bloom! :D  They make me happy

The kids and I will be leaving after work next Thursday to start our two day drive up to Minnesota.  I am so excited.  I can't wait to see my in-laws, relax, fish and soak up their company for a little over a week.  We will see aunts, uncles and cousins.  The time will fly as we laugh and eat delicious dishes that we only get when we're spoiled by the grandparents.  This vacation means two things:

1. I should be finished with egg orders before we leave (at least if no one signs up after Courtney!)

and

2. I'm getting that much closer to releasing my kids for three weeks. 

To not snuggling in bed with them in the mornings. 

To not kissing them good night.

To not listening to them laugh or seeing their eyes sparkle.

To not saying prayers with them every night and discussing the highlights of our day.

To not tickling them just because I can and love to listen to them laugh.

I love daisies.  They were the main flower at our wedding.  I love that they will grow nicely in my garden for me!

During the three weeks that follow my return home from Minnesota in my non-working hours, I will throw myself full force into being on the torch and watching Todd play in every tennis match that comes up.  I will sort through closets.  I will have a garage sale and do my best to empty out the house of everything we don't use or need.  I will count the days until I bring my chickadees back home.

Phlox!  I love phlox.  I love the sound of phlox.  And the spelling.  The spelling of phlox with all those consonants and one of them being an X is fun!

This morning I read Crystal's blog about copycatters and letting go of that frustration.  It reminded me of the message I almost daily ask my kids....Who do you worry about?  Yourself.  You can't control others, so why should you worry about what they are doing?

I've got gobs of echinacea/cone flowers growing in front of our house.  I just love their centers.  And the pinks of their petals.

Keirsten of Lune Designs awarded me the Kreativ Blogger award. Thanks Keirsten!

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Post the award on my blog

2. Thank the person who gave me the award

3. Link the person who gave me this award

4. Share 7 things that you probably don't know about me

5. Choose 7 great bloggers to give the award to

6. Share a link to their blogs

7. Leave a comment on their blog

Seven things you probably don't know about me:

1.  I have regularly flown on airplanes since I was a child because my Dad worked for Delta.  I LOVE flying.  I love airports.  I love the smell of diesel jet fuel.  Even though I have been on probably close to 500 flights, I still get butterflies of excitement in my stomach the night before all the way through take-off whenever I fly.

2.  I never wanted to have children until I met my husband.  I would still like to have one more, but he thinks he's too old (cause 45 is just so old...it's amazing he doesn't use a cane.  geesh.  men)

3.  I met my husband in 1998 and we got married two years exactly from our first date.  He keeps me balanced and grounded.  He makes me laugh.  Every day.

4.  I used to be a voracious reader.  I was routinely in the middle of 8-12 books simultaneously and had no issue keeping the storylines all separate in my head.  After I started dating my husband, I found that opening a book caused him to need to talk to me within 30 seconds.  Need.  I'm told his father does the same thing, so it must be genetic.  Now I only read when I travel.  By myself.

5.  I was raised on Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles, Meatloaf and the Bee Gees.  Their music is still at the top of my favorites to listen to when I get to choose the tunes.

6.  When I was little, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up.  That changed September 21st, 1991 when we had to put our golden retriever to sleep.  I knew I would not be able to deal with that level of grief.  That choice to not follow a veterinary path has been reinforced every time we have put one of our animals down.  That date is one of the few that is ingrained in my memory.  If you asked me for my children's complete birthdays, I would have to stop and do the math for their birth year from when I got married.

7.  I have been in telecom for over ten years now.  I am now one of the people I looked up to when I started working a decade ago.  I'm one of those people who has more years of experience than I could imagine at that time (how young I was at 22. I thought 10+ years in a company equated to the death of ones' soul).  I have been in this service manager position since 2002 and my youth is no longer an issue for causing immediate concern in others that I lack the work ethic, knowledge or experience to do my job.

8.  I don't like to follow directions.  I'm a rebel.  That's why I have 8 things about me, instead of 7.  And why I'm not naming anyone to follow through with this.  So it's up to you if you want to participate.  Give yourself your own Kreativ Blogger award and then come back to comment and let me know so I can go look.  I know you deserve it!

No go forth and have an excellent weekend!  Great weather, good food.  

May there be Happy Father's Day celebrations galore!

Another GIVEAWAY!

Head over to Lisa's  Lucid Moon Studio for a great giveaway.  You can get multiple entries by doing a few, simple steps.

Lisa is giving away this cool bracelet AND a $25 gift certificate that can be used in either of her Etsy shops!  She has one for her jewelry and one for supplies.  Click over and take a look!

Eggs Heading Out the Door

Just finished up a big order of eggs.  These will be headed out the door very soon.

I am back on the torch every day now, so I expect to get these last few orders all wrapped up before I snatch the kids and take off on a vacation next week.  Today is my last day of antibiotics.  Woot!

Happy Wednesday to you all :D

Sixty Dollah Shopping Spree from Thy Hand!

Go over to ThyHandHathProvided's blog for a $60 e-card giveaway to CSN stores (over 200 different online stores!).

Here are just a few of the different items from their stores that you could choose IF you win!

 

So go on over to Thy Hand's blog to read the rules and leave a comment for your chance to win.  Who doesn't want/need a free sixty bucks to spend?

Is it Monday so Soon?

I took it slow and easy on the torch yesterday.  Working for 30-45 minutes and then resting for an hour before firing it up again.  It paid off.  I pulled fifteen eggs out of the kiln.  :)  They still need to be cleaned.  And etched.  So maybe tomorrow I will have pics to show you of the eggs.

I have other pics to show you this morning.  My friend Lorelei created a new line of jewelry this weekend.  It is different than her previous jewelry designs and I absolutley LOVE it!  She named it the Harbinger collection.  You can see all of them and more in her Etsy shop HERE.

¹har·bin·ger

Pronunciation: \ˈhär-bən-jər\

Function: noun

a : one that pioneers in or initiates a major change : precursor b : one that presages or foreshadows what is to come

 

 Simple, but wonderful.

LOVE THIS!

How fun are these?!

And these!

Eggs in the Kiln!

Ok, so there's only one egg in the kiln right now.  Whatever.  Soon there will be plenty more.  Todd is taking care of the kids and giving me time alone on the torch.  Church was out this morning because our house is filled with sore throats and fevers.  Sigh.  I don't have either, for which I am thankful.  But still waiting on my energy to return.  Glad I feel clear-headed enough to be on the torch right now!  And I am loving working with my window open so I can hear the birds singing!!!

I am hoping to get through Colleen's eggs today and perhaps start in on Teri's, but we'll see how long I last.  I'll let you guys know tomorrow.  Or maybe tonight. :)

New Items in the Waterstone Shop!

I have introduced you to Lori of Waterstone Jewelry before.  She was gracious enough to allow me to make a video of her melting glass for the first time.  I drove over to her house a week or so ago (before I got strep) to deliver the bead she made and I got to meet her lovely Sophie dog.  Talk about a sweetheart!

Ok, I'm thinking it was definitely more than a week ago, because it was the first time I met her model.

Her model is also our new babysitter.  Did I tell you that we love our new babysitter? :D

When I delivered Lori's bead to her, she was kind enough to show me her studio.  It was so inspiring!  She had a workcenter for jewelry (with corkboards on the wall that openly displayed and simultaneously stored beads she uses the most --> GENIUS!), hammering/drilling, sewing, and displaying jewelry, as well as hanging all the finished wristlets and totes and storing leather/fabric for the totes and handbags.  There was also a great window overlooking a nearby pond.  Can you say Gorgeous?!

Lori made some new handbags and just got them listed in her shop.  Go check them out!

Eco friendly Embroidered Clutch

Colorful Floral Eco Reclaimed Leather Handbag

Unique Eco Reclaimed Leather Floral Handbag

Hooray for the Weekend!

This week has flown by, but seemed to crawl slowly in the moment.  I had thought I would be back on the torch by now, but I haven't.  I haven't trusted myself to play with fire.  For the most part, I am much, much better.  The sore throat is gone.  The body aches are gone.  The fever is gone.  But Geez Louise, I get winded just walking around the house.  I don't need to be playing with fire when I'm getting worn out so easily.  And I still feel like my head is in a bit of a fog.  Go away, strep.  All the way!

The boy child came down with a bad sore throat yesterday morning.  He was friends with a 101 fever most of the day.  The fever returned today, although a little lower.  Along with the sore throat, but that disappeared around 10am.  School/summer camp called this afternoon about the girl child...she wasn't feeling well and spent the morning on her mat and not participating in any activities.  She told the teacher she kissed her brother this morning and then got sick.  Hmmm.  No fever and she said her throat felt fine.  Maybe she just needs more sleep?  Whatever is going on with my family needs to clear up fast.  We would really like to go swimming this weekend.  And bike riding.  So we shall see.  We may all end up staying inside and resting, reading books and watching a movie.

These nuggets are still in my shop.  I'm surprised no one has snatched them up yet.  Lorelei included them in her treasury and then posted about them on the Art Bead Scene this morning.  Thank you, Lorelei!  Click on the treasury and you can see many other talented lampworkers' beads!

Todd promised to give me torch time tomorrow after he gets home from his tennis match.  So back to the eggs for me.  And other orders, too.  Yay for custom orders!  You guys totally ROCK!!!!

I hope your household is healthier than mine!  Have an excellent weekend!!!

Sick - boo hiss

Egg and beading activity will resume later this week.  Had an awesome weekend but was tired out and went to bed before 9pm last night (so unlike me!).  This morning I woke with a 102+ fever and couldn't swallow, so I went to the doctor and tested positive for strep throat.  Again.  Didn't I just do this a coupla months ago?  Sigh.

On another personal note, we used a new babysitter Saturday night and could NOT have been happier.  Yay for smart, kind, respectful and responsible 17 year olds!  This one will most definitely be invited back :D

Hoping your weekend is off to a better start than mine!

Look What Lune Designs Made!

Keirsten Giles of Lune Designs creates such elegant jewelry.  I'm not much of one for wearing jewelry, but what she designs always yells at me to buy it back after she has used my beads.

You can see more pictures here.

Have a great weekend!

TGIF!

This has been a short work week and it has thankfully flown by for me.  It has been good.  I have knocked out more egg orders while continuing to make 6-12 egg beads every night to help move through my wait list more quickly.  I have 38 ready and out for viewing with pics/pricing.

It has also been the first week in three or four where I did not make different beads in between the eggs to break up the monotony.  I suppose I have just been having so much fun trying out new colors for the eggs and the speckles. :)  Last night I only worked on light blue eggs for the next in line and then I made these nuggets.  I think I need to make more and then etch them.

And I also made this bumpy rainbow egg that Owen requested.

Outside my studio/office windows are some gorgeous red day lilies.  I LOVE the red!  And I love how my macro lens allows me to see the particles of pollen on each stamen.

We have blueberries ripening each day.  Probably not any today, since my kids went crazy picking them last night while I was cooking dinner.

This weekend will be filled with birthday and tennis celebrations, as well as an attempt to drive up to North Georgia with Tabitha and our kids.  Crossing our fingers the forecast of rain goes away and we make it this time.  

What are you doing?  Taking any road trips?  Enjoying the pool?  Staying home and reading?  Canning/blanching/freezing the fruits of your garden?

Whatever you are doing, I hope that you find contentment and enjoyment in it!

Brights

What do you think?

Too bright?

I'm digging the teal speckles on these khaki eggs!

Good Friends

My friend Tabitha made my day yesterday.  She sent me a text that said:

You're famous!  I'm reading over the summer events at the library and I see Kelley's Beads is doing a demo :D

I hadn't really talked to anyone about this besides Todd, so it was a surprise that she knew.  I'm not good at self promotion and feel weird talking about lampworking to others.  Similar to my faith, I keep lampworking to myself unless asked about it.  Because who wants to be known as the girl who can talk about nothing but glass?  Or Jesus?  Both are important to me (however, in the opposite order), but that's the introverted side of me that prefers to stay quiet.  And private.  I don't like others who try to force feed me their beliefs, food or hobby.  I won't do it to others.

Funny, considering I have a blog that is about pretty much nothing but glass and my beads.    Blogs are safer.  I will assume any unlike-minded and uninterested individuals won't come back.  So if you're here, you must like my beads a little, right? :)  You'd think it wouldn't be difficult for me to say "Come out and see me!"  But it is.  I have issues.

Anyway, I am rambling.  I'm short on sleep and long on work hours (yes, and it's barely even Wednesday on a four day work week).  I will be at the Woodstock public library on July 14th at 10am EDT.  Which reminds me, I need to work that out with my back-up at the real job!  I will be set up with a little portable torch to show how I melt glass and make beads.  

Here are more ivory/brown/teal eggs that I made on Monday.  They all got scooped up, so I'll have to make more if you're getting closer to the top of the wait list.  I just love that teal in the midst of the whites and browns on the ivory.

Feels Like a Monday

But I'm so glad it is Tuesday already!  It was so wonderful having a loooooong weekend.  I got so much done and feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the week.

I was supposed to drive up to North Georgia on Saturday for a kids photoshoot, but the 50% chance of rain scared us into rescheduling.  So we ended up driving to another part of North Georgia and went to the outlets.  I got a new backpack from Pottery Barn that was on sale.  It will replace my old green one that I bought ten years ago right before we went on our honeymoon.  Hopefully this one will last just as long or longer.  I also got some great deals on t-shirts and jeans at the Eddie Bauer outlet.  Nice to have jeans again that don't have holes in the knees or back pockets.

Sunday we drove the kids down to my Dad's and he kept them until Monday afternoon.   He spoiled them rotten with lunch at McDonald's, Lord knows what for dinner/dessert, pancakes and whip cream for breakfast, a horse-drawn carriage ride, a Memorial Day parade, candy and dozens of Silly Bandz.  Todd and I enjoyed a peaceful house, a Japanese dinner out with friends (I got to hold their newborn!), a night on the couch watching Lonesome Dove (I never saw the movie before, but I loved the book).  I sheared Abbie and Little Horse.  I could NOT believe the amount of hair that came off of him both with the clippers and continued brushing afterwards.  It was insane!  Abbie wasn't very patient with me, so I will finish her sides and belly another day.

Think she looks very happy with me?

And I went through the girl child's dresser drawers and pulled out all of the 4T clothes that no longer fit her.  Amazing the space that was cleared out!

I also got many hours on the torch yesterday and made 19 new eggs.  There was one casualty that had to be thrown out.  Boo Hiss!

I really like these dark seagrass green eggs.  I have never etched this glass before and am pleased with how it turned out.

How was your weekend?  Did you relax or get a lot done?