It's all about business...

I made an executive decision to close my 1000 Markets Shop last week. I tried it out as a way to see if I would get more traffic by "spreading the wealth around" so to speak. I was wrong. It was a ton of work, and hard to keep track of what was where and I had no sales. Not 1. Not even any leads. Nothing. Kinda depressing isn't it?

So I moved all my beautiful jewels back to Etsy and they all have been viewed many times! No sales yet, but lots of lookers! That's a bonus, and it can't hurt. So I guess until I get my own website set up, Etsy it will be!

I've also been working on trying to get my books in order. There's got to be an easier way! I am very organized...so organized in fact that sometimes I sicken myself! LOL! I was trying out Quickbooks to see if I liked it. A friend lent me a disk so I could see how it works, but I only had a limited number of "tries" before it wouldn't work again. I think I like it, even though it's confusing at first. But like anything else you get used to it over time right? So I was getting down to the last couple of tries I had available and yesterday I got an email from Staples that Quickbooks was on sale...for ONE.DAY.ONLY. It must have been fate! So I purchased my own copy and now I have to take a little time to set it all up and get my stuff in order. I think it will make my life easier in the long run but man do I have a lot of work to do.

I'm gearing up for a craft show at the end of October as well so I hope to have some new things to show you shortly!

Hope you have a great day, as for me... I'm hittin' the "Books"! :) Wish me luck!

Now that's a whole lotta sugar right there...

Two of my kids birthday's will be celebrated tomorrow. Jack will be 5 on Sunday, and Meghan 11 on Tuesday. They wanted to have a "Halloween" themed party this year, and I never argue. So I've been cooking all day! I made a baked ziti to be "cooked" tomorrow, my parents are making this awesome chicken dish for me, that we have at this party every year. I also made 14 candy apples (melted chocolate with m&m's, walnuts, candy corn or chocolate chips) in addition to 48 cupcakes! Jack and Matthew decorated one each and then got bored leaving Meghan and I to do the rest ourselves... It smells so sweet in my kitchen right now! :) These photo's are only HALF of what we have!

How'd we do?

Sweater Weather...

It's turning cooler here, and I for one am so happy about it. Fall is my favorite season, and it's right around the corner! The air conditioners are coming out of the windows, and the fresh air is coming in. The short sleeve shirts are still being worn, but with a nice comfy sweater on top. I love sweater weather! I also love designing with fall colors and leaf accent pieces. A perfect example of that is this bracelet I made today called "A Walk in the Woods". It features a silver leaf focal piece, accented by an awesome set of beads that I picked up from Kimbeads a long time ago. She doesn't make glass that much anymore, so I've been holding onto it for a special piece. I think this is it! There are all kinds of Bali Silver Spacers, Swarovski Crystals, and it's finished with this very unusual Silver Leaf Toggle Clasp.

"Toasted Almond" is another Fall favorite. Don't these beads look like slivered almonds? I picked these up at the local bead store, I believe they are Czech glass, and so are the big rounds. There are also Cat's Eye donuts and heishi spacers. And of course earrings to match!

I feel completely lousy, I don't think my sinus infection is getting any better so I'm going to call it a night and get these (and the pieces from the other day) listed on Etsy tomorrow!

Hope you have a great night!

A little early Fall cleaning...

We moved into our house in July of 2001. We had very little in the way of furniture or "things" that we needed to store. Our china that we got as wedding gifts, my big papisan chair that I had in my college dorm room and a whole bunch of "hand me down" furniture from my mother in law. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful stuff and I appreciate it but you know how sometimes you just want to be a grown up all on your own and decorate your first house with the things that you like?

Nevertheless, over the past 8 years and 3 kids later, we have accumulated so much crap that my head is spinning! We have a little colonial style house, so you know the attic space has been finished and there are eves on each side of the room for storage. Jam.Packed. I decided today, since I am already nursing a sinus infection and the hubby thinks he's getting Bronchitis and the kids are all stuffy and sneezing and what not...but TODAY I wanted to clean the attic.

I'm SO excited to report that I took out all of the stuff that we sort of "moved in" with. Made a pile of stuffed animals (with Meghan's help, of course) that filled three contractor bags. There are books, purses and clothes, Halloween costumes, and all sorts of baby furniture (cribs, pack and plays strollers, toddler beds, etc.). Plus all the baby clothes that I have left are now in front of my washing machine so that I can get them all fluffed up and ready to display at our TAG SALE!! Yay! We've never had one, in all the years we've been here but now we've finally got enough stuff to get rid of and pass along to another good home. I think we're shooting for an October date, and whatever doesn't sell will be donated either to the homeless or goodwill or maybe both. My Dad works with the homeless outreach program and I know that we can definitely pass along some quilts and blankets, and some winter coats that we've outgrown.

It's been a crazy day, we did so much and now I'm absolutely exhausted. I did way more than I was supposed to do, with regard to lifting and now my back is killing me. A hot shower is in order and then I'm hitting the old bed!

I'm making a custom order tomorrow, so I'll try to get a few new things made as well to share! Hope you're having a great Saturday!

Doing a Happy Dance!!

This is it... THE necklace that I've been working on for the past two weeks. I actually redesigned it again today, and I'm so thrilled with the result. "Dreaming of Dublin" is the closest I can get for now to traveling to Ireland. I will get there someday, but for now, I am just adding to my Irish line of jewelry with this gorgeous necklace and earring set. Glass beads made by Melissa Rediger and Jenelle of Beads and Botanicals. Seed beads and clover links and finished with this awesome pewter button. I love this top photo, I think I will have to use this again somewhere, maybe in some marketing materials. The rest of the pictures are sort of gray, as it was 6:45pm when I started photographing everything.

(I fixed the pictures, they are a little "brighter" now!)
It's a Melissa and Jenelle bead day. I also managed to get this bracelet and earring set done as well. "Woodland" is a beautiful charm bracelet with greens, browns and creams. Cat's eye donuts, Swarovski Crystal, fresh water pearls and a Sterling Silver Leaf Toggle clasp.

"Vineyard II" features more glass seeds from Jenelle that I had left over from another project. I alternated Swarovski Crystals and Meadow bead spacers and finished it with a beaded toggle clasp.

Going to try to get these up on Etsy tomorrow but I feel such a sense of accomplishment getting these pieces completed today. Along with Volleyball practice with Meghan and a bit of housecleaning. I can rest easy tonight. I did what I promised myself I would do. :) More to come, I got some more beautiful beads in from Melissa! LOL! I'm such an addict!

I keep looking for that Silver Lining...

Still nothing to report on the bead front. I'm struggling to find the time these past couple of weeks to get up to my office to create anything. I'm absolutely sick over it. I just want to get moving and it seems like there is always something holding me back. I know that time will get less restricted soon, and things will get back on track and I can't wait for that time to come!

Sunday, for SURE, I'm going to finish that necklace I started over a week ago. I'm desperate to get it done. I'm giving myself a goal of Sunday.

What's been consuming my time you ask? It's the kids. And they come first...always. School started back at the end of August. Getting into a routine has been difficult. Meghan is now in middle school and for whatever reason, I think she has lost her mind. She is becoming extremely forgetful! She's left important papers in the locker, forgotten to tell us about the open house and has had me running all over town getting physical forms filled out so that she can try out for Volleyball. Plus then I have to help her practice, which I don't mind at all - it's good exercise!

The week before school, she got sick, remember? Then Jack got it, and last week Matt got pink eye. I've been driving to the doctor's office 1-2 times each week and I'm so sick of it. I want them to just be well! On top of doctor's appointments for myself, and Meghan's braces are going on next week...It's never ending. October is looking really good! Nice CLEAN calendar! Love that!

Last night at 2am, Jack woke up and was having trouble breathing. I mean really struggling. So I called 9-1-1 and off we went in an ambulance to the ER. He's got Croup, and his muscles were spasming which freaked him out. He's much better today! I'm so glad. But I'm exhausted. So I'm going to try to take a quick rest (yeah that means, I'm curling up with Bruce - the Cat on my recliner and closing my eyes.). All other senses will be functioning, but the eyes will be resting. Just for a little while. I'm so tired. Then tonight I am going to try to get to the office and work a little on that necklace. :)

WISH ME LUCK!

Catching up!

There she is again, my Niki... my baby! She's such a good cat, and like I've said before she loves to hang around me when I'm photographing the jewels. I don't mind at all, she's the best cat! Just love her!

I promised photo's yesterday and was not able to get to taking them. But I did it today! Here's "Forest"

I love this bracelet. I used a beautiful bent bead made by Melissa that has some really pretty green colors in it. The bead is sort of see through and I love the feel of it. I accented it with Sand Opal, and Canteloupe Swarovski Crystals, Bali Silver, Antique Silver coil spacers and some glass seeds made by Jenelle of Beads and Botanicals (SFD). It's finished with a pretty silver toggle.

"Simple Harvest"

Had some extra glass donut beads from Unicorne Beads and I had made a couple of these last year. I still love it and think it's perfect for fall. Simple, elegant, colorful.

"Candy Shoppe"

I have no idea what these beads are. I think they might be Czech glass, but can't be certain. I picked them up at the local bead shop, and they were hanging on the wall with the rest of the Czech glass so I'm going with that but please don't hold me to it. The colors are fun. They do remind me of little candies, although I'm sure that they would not taste very good!! The feel of these is smooth and it's very comfortable to wear.

More to come!! I'm getting my groove back!!

These will be up on Etsy tonight.

My bad...

I haven't posted in a few days. That's terrible. It's been a heck of a week/weekend! School officially started last Thursday, and this has been one of the busiest, yet productive few days I have spent in a long while. Here's the rundown, if you are interested... (well of course you are interested, that's why you're here, right?) :)

Let's take it back to last Monday. Meghan decided that she didn't feel well at around 4pm. Headache, sore throat, no appetite, fever. Ugh, my heart went into my feet. If you're a mom, you know those signs, right? Strep throat. So I waited until Tuesday to call the doctor, because they make you wait 24 hours anyway to do a culture. So in we went late afternoon, and sure enough it was nothing but a summer virus. She was advised to drink plenty of fluids and get lots of rest. *sigh*

You'd think I spoke a foreign language here... I told her that too, but I guess she needed me to pay for the advice because she listened to the doctor!! Slept all day on Wednesday, and felt much better come Thursday morning. She was all bright eyed and bushy tailed for her first day of school! Great! I thought, that ended well.

Thursday and Friday at school went awesome. No tears, no problems. Got two kids off to their respective schools and back home no worse for the wear. It was a nice end to the week.

Clay and I had big plans for the weekend, so despite me only getting two hours of sleep Friday night, we got up bright and early Saturday morning and started the "move". Last year Clay made Meghan a bed that was suspended from her ceiling, so that she would have more room in her tiny bedroom (she gave up the bigger bedroom for the boys to share, willingly... so I wanted to do something cool for her new smaller room). Needless to say, she outgrew the bed. Started hitting her head on the ceiling when she sat up (how, I ask you? No idea, she's not a giant! But whatever!) So we took the bed down and gave her back her beautiful wood Pineapple bed and moved the hanging bed into the boys room. It now belongs to Jack and he is THRILLED beyond belief!

So getting back to the two hours of sleep...my youngest son decided to come to bed with us at around 2am. He's a sprawler. By 4am I had completely lost my side of the bed, and was so uncomfortable that I came down for a cold drink and to sleep in the recliner. Well, the cold drink didn't happen. The refrigerator (yes the new one), was warm. Uh-oh. I turned up the coldness on it and went to sleep. When I woke up at 6am, I checked on it and it was warmer than it was two hours earlier. I thought, you have GOT to be freakin' kidding me with this! So in the midst of all the moving things around on Saturday, we also had to defrost the refrigerator for the second time in 10 days, and I lost a whole bunch of stuff again. BIG FAT BUMMER! I still have not gone grocery shopping, and we have a technician coming out Thursday to look at it. Clay got it running again...so far, so good!

Anyway, the beds were moved, the desks moved, the rooms cleaned the house cleaned, the laundry done...ALL OF IT. That never happens. We were leaving for haircuts at 4:30pm and Jack says "I don't feel good, I have a headache and a sore throat". Oh NO! He caught the virus too. Thank goodness he had all of Saturday night and Sunday to recover, and he went to school today no problems. I'm just waiting...for my turn...and I'll get it probably Friday night because I have a wedding to do on Saturday. Think positive, think positive.

Today was a good day, I even washed my whole bed...all the bedding, everything! I went upstairs to remake the bed and found that my youngest blessing had been laying on the bed playing a video game and had left me a lovely present...yep, that's right. He peed on my bed. ARGH! I can't win. So thank goodness that I had already washed everything but the mattress pad cover (it's in the dryer as we speak) and while I waited I made some pretty jewels!! YAY!

That's what you were waiting to hear right! That I made jewelry!!

Photo's to come tomorrow. It's supposed to be a beautiful day!

I wonder what trouble will present itself tomorrow. *AHEM* Think positive, think positive!

:)

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I seriously laugh my butt off every time I see that Staples commercial with the guy sliding through the aisles, with his leg in the air putting school supplies in the cart! Love the pouty faces on the kiddo's as they watch their dad act like a crazy person!

There were no pouty faces on my first day of school kids today! There were only smiles.

It's been a long day, driving to two schools in the am, and back again in the afternoon but the first day is officially under our belts!

I've been slacking on the jewelry. Getting back into a routine is proving to be harder than I thought. I'm definitely shooting for tonight or tomorrow to get something made. Even a pair of earrings. I have to make SOMETHING! That's my goal...let's see if I can attain it!

Meg's off to Middle School!

Jack's happy for Kindergarten!

Matt is not going to school yet (he's only three) but next year he'll be in Pre-K! We didn't want him to feel left out so here he is sportin' his Red Sox backpack and of course, his juice box!

My photoless posts are boring!

I went three posts without a picture...BORING!

So in an effort to entertain you, here is one of my favorite pictures that my parents took from the beach. I actually think this is quite funny! My boys are very active. I guess this is one way to get them to sit still!

Going to a birthday party in a little bit and then my plan for later on is to come home, pick up a bit and start designing. I thought up this AWESOME necklace last night in my mind as I was laying in bed for hours, just tossing and turning. The humidity is terrible, even with the air conditioning on. Everything just feels wet. Yuck. I was up watching a movie until 2am...even considered purchasing hair extensions off of QVC! LOL! Oh my gosh, I must be crazy!

Needless to say, I did not make any purchases, I just watched, played on my laptop and tossed and turned.

But the necklace in my mind was really killer! I hope I can transfer the design to my hands!! We'll see how it comes out, check back later on!

A Hurricane, a birthday party and baby pictures...

Hurricane Bill is working it's way closer to CT, and we are in for a bumpy ride this weekend! The thunderstorms have just begun so I'm posting now and then shutting the computer down for a while. The weekend weather holds lots of rain and wind. I think it's going to miss us but we are up for some wild weather regardless! My daughter was supposed to go to the beach this weekend with a friend, but that's been cancelled due to the rain. The waves I'm sure will prove to be unswimmable. Is that a word?

Tomorrow is my nieces 3rd Birthday party. That is, if my sister decides to keep it scheduled for tomorrow. If Sunday's weather looks better, she'll move it to later in the weekend. I don't blame her a bit. With a bunch of kids and adults in attendance, things can get kinda hairy when you're all cooped up inside the house! Perhaps Sunday will be better.

And finally, on Sunday morning I'll be helping out a friend who broke her wrist to take some infant portraits. I love babies!! Can't wait to see this little smoocher! I've got to pull out some of my props from the closet and see what I can pull together in my mind. I'm sure she'll have some great ideas as well so I'll just carry forth her plan for the session and maybe throw in a picture or two of my own ideas.

So that's my weekend in a nutshell! Had to interrupt this post due to a power outage! DARN!! I hate that! So I'm wrapping it up and shutting her down for while.

Stay tuned for new pieces. With nothing but rain on the horizon, I'm sure there will be lots of time to design!!

:)

New Fridge!

Well we found a fridge! We went to the Scratch and Dent place like we always do, and found one that was exactly the same as the one that we have!! I was so happy! But that's not the one we got. LOL! I was torn between that and a side by side that had an Ice and Water machine in the door. I've never had one of those and it might encourage me to drink more water. We had the hookup here when we bought the house so that was not an issue. And I'm just so happy to have found something that we got for 50% off the original price. It's black (just what I wanted - NO FINGERPRINTS!) and has plenty of room and when I went there early this afternoon it was marked down 35%. When we went back with the truck and the hubby for consultation, they were marking things down more. So I asked about this one and she just smiled and said, how's 50% work for you? UM, heck yeah! I'll TAKE IT! Good deal, got it home in under an hour and managed to salvage everything but the Popsicles and the milk/dairy products. I will replace those tomorrow. So all's well that ends well. I'm off to bed and I'll be in a much better frame of mind to create tomorrow! :) Thanks to all for the kind words!

Darn!!

There's been an official "Heat Wave" in CT the past few days! Lordy, I never thought with the way the summer was going that I'd ever say that! But man, it's hot out there! And to top it all off I have to go refrigerator shopping today! Ours has been making this humming noise for about a month now. I keep asking the hubby, don't you think we should do something about that? He says..no...we'll worry about it when it breaks. Hmph, that day has come! The darn thing is broken, and on one of the hottest days of the year yet!

So, I'm taking the kiddo's off to the doctor for their school physicals, and then going shopping for a new fridge. I'm mad too because although most people would be excited about the prospect of a nice new shiny clean fridge, I am not. Ours is only 5 years old (if that) and I really REALLY liked it! Had the freezer on the bottom that swung open, not pulled open like a drawer. Had really GOOD vegetable bins, you know with the settings for each drawer to keep everything very fresh. Ugh, not happy.

I'll let you all know what I find. I told my husband that we should just get something inexpensive and make due... and HE said "You are here all day long, don't you want something that you like... get what you want"! Um, I had to check him for a fever... Good gravy, he never says that!! The heat must be getting to him! LOL!

I'll try to be practical but I want one just like I have. My poor broken fridge. :(

Stay tuned!

These were calling to me from the bead box...

"OOOOH, Pick me, Pick Me!!" These beads stood up tall this afternoon just begging to be played with! I'm so glad I listened to them! This is a super fun bracelet, and the colors are TO DIE FOR!

"Fields of Moss"

Made with beautiful mossy colored etched glass rounds and a heart focal made by Jenelle of SFD. There are also some "Margarita Wheels" from Catherine Ondrey, accented by Olivine and Light Olivine Swarovski's, Leaf beads and leaf charms. Silver toggle! Love, love love~!

Love this one.

The earrings match and hang from Sterling Silver ear wires with Peridot stones in them.

"Early Fall"

Even though these have dangling leaves, the color in the beads is almost what you see at the beginning of the Fall Season. There's green with hues of brown's coming through. Cones made by Carey, and yes... I'm asking for more because I love these! You hear that Carey?? :)

"Oil Slicks"

Beautiful square beads made by Melissa Rediger, in a charcoal color with swirls of blue on top. The way the color sits on these reminds me of spilled oil, which may sound weird but have you ever looked at the pretty colors in there?

Well, the family is coming home tonight! My clean house will no longer be clean. But it's ok, I do miss them! The weekend will be beautiful weather wise, which is good because the kids can go outside and I can play with my beads! Look for more to come!

Cloudy skies...not pretty!

Just quoted the weather man, he said that today had "Cloudy skies...not pretty". I'll say. But I managed to get outside around 5pm when the drizzles stopped to snap some shots of last nights beading session.

"Bewitched"

Made with some awesome glass beads from Jenelle (and Daniel) of SFD, Beads and Botanicals.

Accented by Fire Opal Swarovski Crystals and twisted Heishi spacers. I love the toggle on this one. The pattern looked haunting and I even made a little witches hat of sorts out of a Bali cone and some crystals dangling out of it.

"Blue Lagoon"

I loved these beads the second I saw them. They are made by Lea of LA Jewelry Design. The colors are so pretty and I love the depth in them. I accented them with Caribbean Blue Opal and Olivine Swarovski Crystals and Bali Spacers.

"Nefertiti's Muse"

Oh man, this one is killer. To start off, there is an AWESOME focal bead made by my dear friend Carey. Then, there are black organic seeds made by Jenelle of SFD. Along with those are some golden amber discs made by Polychrome Beads. Accented by Jet and Light Colorado Topaz Swarovski Crystals, Spiral beads and twisted spacers. The silver toggle tops it off and below are the matching earrings.

Fit for a queen!

Still thinking of a name for these, but I just love them! Bali bead caps and spacers, Olivine and Jet Crystals, and really fun glass beads!

UPDATE: These have been named "Wicked" at the suggestion of Erin at Tesori Trovati! Thanks Erin!! Love it!

"Cotton Candy"

I had to have these beads that Melissa made. I saw them and loved the shape and color. Accented by silver spacers and Violet crystals, they look good enough to eat.

Going to see what I can get done tonight, so stay tuned for more to come!