Opinions Please....

Okay, we all know that I like things a bit different. I enjoy pushing the envelope and I am in my element when I am making something that isn't just like everyone elses. I happen to love embellished cuff bracelets. I am looking for way's to add some interest using materials I have. I love working with semi precious chips. All kinds of chips. I spent a good number of hours on this bracelet, creating first a thin peyote stitched cuff. Then started adding chips using fiber optics in orange, yellow and green. Some clear glass chips. Then just to fill in between all those chips I used some tiny glass pearls just meandering along the bracelet in no special order. This is stuff I truly enjoy. My daughter say's it's downright ugly. Okay so here is what I want to know and be truthful....Do you like this kind of work? Do you hate this kind of work? I truly want to know just to get an idea of what people are thinking if I list them in my shop. Just for fun, beleive me it's ok if you say you don't like it. Thanks for helping!

Saturday night thoughts

Happy Saturday night all! Just some thoughts going through my head and decided to post them here . I just loooove this picture. My granddaughter has formed a habit, when I am at work she sneaks up to my studio and changes my screen saver on a regular basis. When I come home and turn on the computer I never know what is going to pop up and usually it gives me a good laugh. I asked her to leave this one a while. We are a family of animal lovers, all kinds of animals and alway's have cats and dogs and mice and so on and so on. But this little guy has to be the cutest baby I have ever seen!

My week has ended well, I have actually worked at the Cafe the last three day's in a row and am working tomorrow. First week I will have more than 2 day's pay since a week before Christmas. Yeah! My custom order customer bought the two groups of lanyards I finished today, I had a small ebay sale today. Small groups of happiness all together. Tonight I posted another ornament in Heather's shop just to grow it a bit at a time. Excited too about some new original designs coming up for all the Holiday's in 2010. Getting my daughter into this makes me happy.

Something is really funky in Etsy tonight. Sloooooooow as all get out, it took me almost 20 minutes to get through the listing process on Heathers ornament, then I listed in my shop and that took another 20, things that are usually a 5 minute process.

Any way I listed a beaded bookmark back into my shop tonight, I decided I want to keep them in because I really do like them and don't mind making them so here we go again:)

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

13 down 12 to go!

I finally got another group of lanyards posted on Etsy for my custom order. Need 12 more than I have finished.

While doing these I have noticed something about myself. I don't like doing custom orders. Hmmmm. When I am creating something because I agreed to do it for some one, it all the sudden is not fun. It has become work. Does that make sense? Especially when it comes to my beadwork which I have never ever considered "work". Or maybe because I am trying to make 25 variations of the same thing. Do you know how hard it is to come up with 25 different colors of the same necklace? This requires some thought on my custom order policies. I hate to turn done any opportunity to get my work out to someone but I must must must enjoy what I am doing. Something to ponder later!

On a happier note I have to tell you a story that still has me grinning. A few years ago my daughter gave me a silver cladaugh ring set with a heart shaped garnet (my birthstone).

It is not costume jewelry, while it is not hughely expensive it was over $125.00. To me that's a lot of money to spend on a ring that I wear regularly. Any way, a few months ago, she asked if she could borrow the ring because it was just the right thing for an occasion she was attending.

The ring never came back to me and I kept forgetting to ask where it was because working in food now I don't wear any jewelry to work.

2 weeks ago my daughter had parent/teacher conference for my 7 year old grandson. During the conference the teacher asked my daughter about the ring that my grandson gave the little girl he fell in love with in kindergarten. Apparently the little girl was very proud of it and showed the teacher. Teacher described the ring to my daughter because she said she could tell it did not come out of bubble gum machine. From the description the teacher gave her my daughter could tell it was my ring. So the teacher tactfully asked for the little girl to give it back until Josh has his mommy look at it. Teacher gave it to Josh to bring home and he promptly gave it back to his girlfriend informing the teacher that mom said it was fine. So a week later the teacher got it again, put it in an envelope and stapled it into a comunication notebook that goes back and forth to school. When my daughter brought me my ring and told me the story I couldn't help but laugh not only thinking how cute that my 7 year old munchkin already wanted to give his girl a ring but Boy oh Boy does the kid have good taste in jewelry for his girl!

Just had to share because I got such a kick out of this, course it might have hit me differently if I found out what happened but didn't get my ring back. Have a wonderful evening.

Playing

Yes I am! I worked all day today and when I came home my house was still empty and quiet except for the dogs. So after some coffee I put in a DVD and settled down to finish this bag. It is dark out but even during the day I can't seem to get much sunlight so tried to get some lighting in the kitchen good enough to get some clear pictures. Not the best but not bad. This silly bag is very busy. I appliqued a bead embroidered fish to the front of the bag and then set about decorating. Needed bubbles so used some fire polished glass all around the fish, a really pretty light , light lilac that just won't show up in the pic. A handful of different colored gemstone chips underneath the fish and I used some amethyst chips on the fishes fin and tail. After all this I still felt like it needed more! So I had a good amount of the amethyst chips and found these glass pearl tablets that I have had for a quite a while and couldn't really work them into any project and with the two items I went to town. I accented my fringing, My neckchain , I even added a couple fringes down each side of the bag right under where the neckchain starts on each side. I love it when I am just having fun. Even if no one else likes what comes out of it , it allows me to let the creative , artistic side of me just take control for a while.
Hope you all have had a great Sunday.

Laughing

Sometimes we forget just how good we can feel just because we laughed. I have been babysitting and today I watched Shrek 3 with my munchkin. I love the Shrek movies and I laughed and laughed and that made my grandson laugh even harder . By the time we got done watching this move I felt really good and caught myself walking around the house smiling just because!

I finished another lip balm bag today. I don't know how this happens but I go weeks and weeks just working along on projects just to keep listing in my Etsy shop. Then all of the sudden, a million things hit me at once. This week, I received the custom order for the 25 beaded lanyards, at the same time, an Ebay customer who has bought from me a number of times over the last few years inquired about some lip balm bags, I also have to work on Heather's shop, need to help get pictures taken and listings done on the ornaments! Okay whew! My lanyard customer approved the sample pictures I sent. I finished the bag you see below, we have ornaments ready for pictures but need some sunshine. Need another Shrek movie!

Time fly's

I am not neglecting this blog on purpose, I have been using my time to work, make items, make changes in my shops, make some decisions on how to get my life under control. Alot of things to get under control. I was contacted by an Etsy buyer about a custom order of beaded lanyards. These are some samples I made up for her to look at. I have also taken alot of little odds and ends out of my shop, once again trying to be more concentrated on what I do best. I wish I could make a decision about something then stick to it but I do seem to go back and forth. I do think the decision to have Heather take over the ornaments with her own shop was a really good decision, they just don't blend well and while I haven't been able to devote as much time to helping her build her shop, we shall get it done.
Also in the middle of a huge decision on my Cable/internet/phone.
I have been turned off for almost a month again now. I am able to get online because my neighbors (friends who gave me permission) have wireless and I am close enough to use their signal. Any way , when I can get on top of the bills again, I need the cable. Only way I am going to have decent tv and one thing I have learned about myself is I need tv. I have watched so many borrowed dvd's that the player is ready to blow up. I need the internet. Without it I cannot keep my shops online and work from my studio. I am determined that someday my online presence will begin to earn me a paycheck. Now the question is....do I need the phone?
We have cell phones. Me personally , I don't use the phone very often at all. I need it in case work needs to get ahold of me or me them. My mom needs to call. I am beginning to think the cell phone is enough. My daughter and grandaughter text all the time, they have their own that they can text constantly for almost no money. So if I decide to cut the phone that comes in the online package, I right away save myself almost $45.00 a month. That is a start. If I can find a way to cut a lot of little corners, I could find little by little I can pull out of this money mess.
I am tired just thinking about all this stuff but it is a great way to start the new year so we have a better year than last. So I will continue to think and smile and keep thinking and beading, see you all next time around. Happy day to you.

Time to catch up!

I just realized I haven't posted since New Years Eve. I for some reason have been super busy!
Not exactly sure doing what but the day's have been flying. I have only had a few day's work at the cafe but I have been working at my Etsy shop, trying to spend alot of time beading. Just sold the bag above on Ebay and I had the best surprise last weekend! All of the sudden out of the blue I sold 6 amulet bags in my Etsy shop. Wow, that one really knocked me for a loop. Would be great if that little good luck streak would last.
I now have my Ebay link listed on my website page. Also got together with my daughter on some things, I have been teaching her how to make my sequin ornaments, I have wanted for a while to seperate them from the Jewelry on my Etsy shop but did not know if I had the energy to start a second shop. So now the only thing in debsparkles etsy shop is beadweaving. We have opened a second shop in my daughters name, She....is...going .....to.....hate.... me! I opened the account and set everything up. I named her heathersparkles since she is the off spring of me.
I find it very amusing but I am sure she won't, haven't told her yet. Now all the old fashioned sequined ornaments will be found: www.heathersparkles.etsy.com

I just started everything last night so we have alot of work to do but it will all get settled into place quickly.
I am still working on my idea of offering sample sales here, that 's coming together too.

As you can see, I have truly kept myself busy in the first week of the new year. Off to post a new ornament in the shop and do some reading to try to figure out how to make her a banner. My brother did mine so I am clueless!