The every day life of Debsparkles

My job as Mom

2012-01-23T12:41:00.003-05:00

Something was said to me the other day and my gut reaction was "how does any person treat their child that way no matter how old they are". But then it got me thinking how I as the mom of adult children , view my role in their life. Here it is, When my kids became legally adults it was no longer my job to direct what they do or think, or decide how they will live. If I have done my job right while they were growing up, I have instilled values, morals and the common sense to make decisions about their life and now it is time for them to make those decisions on their own. It is not my place to voice my dislike or condemn them if I am not happy with those decision. I can have those thoughts but that is where it ends, biting my tongue if necessary. What is my job? My job is to love them, support them, cheer them on if they make a good decision, and be just as ready to help them pick up the pieces if they make a bad one. That's it , nothing more is up to me. Your thoughts?

Stress Relief

2012-01-20T19:56:00.003-05:00

Yes, my answer to stress. I think I have probably stated more than once that the more I stress the harder I bead and this picture is proof positive. My mom had minor surgery on December 14th and I made arrangements to stay at her house for a while to make sure she followed Dr.s orders. I started making some basic bags to embellish at home later. Of course, typical to my life there has been the usual ton of stressers going on at my own house, lot's of things happening so I just keep beading away and here is the results of this month of stress relief. All new items. Course that gets me thinking, I still need to work harder on other types of items for my shop because amulet bags are just a small niche but I soooo love making them I find it difficult to stop even knowing I need to do more of other things. So yes I will try very hard to make necklaces and bracelets and maybe throw in a earring or two but I cannot fight the urge to continue to do what I have done best for 30 years. Amulet bags, wish bags, treasure bags, call them what you want, they have my heart and passion forever.

Optimism

2012-01-06T12:00:00.002-05:00

I guess it's good to say Happy New Year even though we are a week into it. Hoping everyone's holiday's were good, I must admit mine were the most emotionally painful yet. Life has been more than just a bit rough these past month's but I am using the typical New Resolution to decide that no matter how tough things have been, I will choose to continue being Optimistic. Things will get better, I will continue to work towards my goals, one of them being restoring health for myself and my family, I will learn new beading techniques, or may be not, I am still having a great time with the beaded paintings , and lately I have been working hard on my amulet bag's and enjoying it. I hate the fact that I do not have my home internet and can't put up new pictures. Soon. Soon. I am optimistic I will find a way to get my tv and internet back soon.
So there you have it, my new years resolution is to continue to be completely 100% Optimistic about things to come. What's yours ;o)

Fun Stuff

2011-12-06T16:34:00.002-05:00

I have been playing with the keychain idea for a few weeks now and I am having a good time using up my orphans. Yet I still have many more......Maybe I will just keep making keychains and find a few places to put them so that I can just keep making them til I run out of orphans.
What do you think?

Could not stop myself

2011-11-27T22:42:00.004-05:00

Okay, I have a house full of animals, both 2 legged and 4 legged. The one that get's into the most trouble is my daughters cat Dunkin! My daughter want's the Christmas tree up so started hauling things from the attic on Thanksgiving night. Friday she got the tree together and what appears napping in the very middle branches? Yup there he is ....no wonder he answers to Dunkin no no no

2011-11-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

Brainstorming

2011-11-27T22:28:00.002-05:00

Each time I start a new piece of work I have a wonderful stash of the beads I want to use. Often , well alway's I have leftovers when I am done. Seedbeads go into my beaded paintings so they are never wasted. The problem lies with accent beads. There is never enough left for another project, often times I have just one or two or three of a particular bead. Over the course of years I have found I have box after box of these orphans. Sometimes I find a nice bead I can use as a focal point, some times I have 2 that can be turned into a pair of earrings but more often than not these orphans just sit in the box waiting. Yesterday I was brainstorming for some easy , quick items I could make up for my Etsy shop just so I can post something new frequently during the holiday's. I came up with this keyring and it's perfect for all the little odds and ends, as long as I can co-ordinate my colors, the accent beads do not have to be the same. Whether I have one or two or three different types, if the colors match, I can use them. Since last night I have made 5 keyrings on this little bit of experimentation and finding a way to make use of the orphans makes me so very happy!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T21:27:00.002-05:00

Just a short post to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving and wonderful Holiday time in general. Whether your holiday's are quite, at home with family or filled to the brim with parties and company, enjoy them all, stay happy , stay safe and keep your loved ones close.

Sleeping through it all

2011-11-13T14:06:00.003-05:00

I have not updated in several months again and I am ashamed! But I have good reasons. First I lost my Cable and internet due to all the medical issues. My daughter's phone is "our internet modem" and I try not to take advantage of that and just use it quickly to post items in my shop. No browsing time because I don't want to use up too much of her gigabites or whatever it is she pay's for when we are online.
Second I just plain old don't feel good and spent more hours in bed than out. I should have had my first surgery by now but of course.....there are school aged kids living with me. In September my grandson brought me home a cold. By the first week in October it turned into a sinus infection, by the third week of October it was bronchitis and by the first week in November I was borderline pneumonia. So I am still sitting here coughing and gagging, it takes a long time for me to get over it. At this point there will be no surgery until after the holidays. So between sleeping and creating I am just filling my Etsy shop as best I can with prayers for holiday sales. Just maybe a miracle will strike and I can get my Cable and internet back after the holiday season is done. I would love to watch a tv show. Although I have caught up on years of reading I haven't had time for. Hope everyone is well and getting ready to have great Holiday's!

A quick update

2011-09-17T15:01:00.003-04:00

This is a new picture of Alex. He is still very much missing his best friend. He spends most nights laying at the top of the stairs just watching and waiting, not realizing Morgan's not coming home. Just makes me want to bundle him in a blanket and carry him around.

I actually just stopped for a quick update. I saw the new surgeon on Thursday and while I do not know much yet I do know Henry has to be removed from my head. The increase in size has the tumor pressing on my brain. That is the cause of the daily headaches and dizziness and some problems with the left side of my body. I don't know when I will be having this surgery yet. This surgeon is very , very thorough. He wants copies of every MRI I have had on my brain and back since 2004. He want's new MRI's on my entire spine. Once he has all this testing and information gathered I will have another appointment with him to see where we are headed. Now back to my sequins.....

Am I really?

2011-09-12T15:49:00.003-04:00

Doing this in the middle of September????? Yes I am. The fact is I have several reasons one of which I told you last post. People will be holiday shopping soon. I do know not everyone is like me and waits until Christmas week. Second of all...I have been tracking my sales and when I really look, out of the last 10 sales, 7 of them were for ornaments. Not Christmas but still, ornaments.
Third, they make great party favors, different than the norm but in order to do a bulk order even for a small party, I need time.

So I am putting aside the amulet bags and pictures for a bit and working on ornaments so they are in the shop and ready to go!!

A great way to be spending a lovely , sunny September day!

Progress

2011-09-10T11:24:00.003-04:00

I listed my newest bag this morning, some ornaments over the last few days. Trying to stay focused as I watch the medical bills pile up on my desk. Yuck!!!
In the few day's since I posted last we have been making progress, I have my surgeon appointment this week. We got the all clear for Tori to start once again so she has several appointments set up over the next few weeks so we are at least once again striving forward.

Of course at the same time this is a moment where my stomach starts to knot. The pile of bills I am looking at are just from what I have had done this past two months, I will have another pile after the surgeon visit and 2 more piles when Tori starts her appointments so I am looking at being lost at a sea of medical debt on top of everything else.

That means keep my blinders on and work straight forward on my product and list it, advertise it, list it , shout it out, list it...yup that's the idea. If I could ask the world to do anything for me I would ask that you share my link. Yes I know that it's hard enough to keep your own shop out there but there is nothing else I would or could ask for other than a Jeanie in a Bottle that could crinkle her nose and blink her eyes and a pile of cash could appear on my desk!

Happy September! www.debsparkles.etsy.com

It's not too Early

2011-08-30T21:32:00.003-04:00

I have alway's been one of those people who fights working on Christmas before we even hit Halloween. This year I have decided I need a change of attitude and am beginning to work on projects for my shop now. Maybe I will see some Christmas sales this year. Typically I have nothing before Christmas but a number of sales in January. Maybe if I start now it will make a difference.

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I have been in a quandry over a number of things going on in my life. First I am still worried sick about my granddaughter. We still haven't gotten any farther with things because she just keeps getting sick with one infection after another. I am told this is very normal in a person who suffers such a severe case of mono and it could take even another year before she stabilizes to the point things can be done to help her get healthier.
She is such a tough kid and she has lived so long with so much pain it is now her normal and she deals with it very well on a daily basis. Maybe I also have something to do with that because she has watched me work so hard at controlling my own illness but someone who did not know her well would never , ever guess how sick she is. I get scared, I know it's an awful thought but I often wonder if help will come in time. I know that's not a thought I should have but it gets hard watching her try to be brave and not let the world see what a struggle every day is for her.

There are many things going on that are best left unsaid. I can tell you I just recently went through the hoops seeing my MD and my Neurologist. I had lot's of blood work, a stress test, and some MRI's. For the most part things are looking good, I have made slow but steady progress and next week I will have been back to work part time for a full year. I am very proud of that fact. Now here comes the but...........
Remember Henry? Henry the tumor that had to be left in my head. Henry who takes the blame every time I do something stupid or forget something important or fall down when I'm standing still. Yup that one.
All of the sudden Henry has decided to double in size after 6 years of doing nothing. So my neurologist say's I have to see a neurosurgeon. I asked if this was really a big deal and the answer was yes. The fact that it is growing presents the threat of it attaching to my brain. I won't know until I see the surgeon but neurologist thinks it needs to come out now before it has a chance to change.
The upside? This surgery is a piece of cake compared to what I went through with the Chiari Surgery. My mom had surgery for a brain aneurysm and say's that it was not at all painful.
Healing time is maybe 4 to 6 weeks after surgery, wonderful as compared to the 6 years it took after Chiari surgery.
The downside? As I just said above, I have been back to work for a full year. I have made decisions and plans on how to move forward with my life and this may through a monkey wrench into everything. I am afraid of losing everything once again just when I am trying to pull it altogether. I"m angry. I'm angry that once again when I have taken one step forward I am going to be pulled two steps back. But I will get over it. I am just getting a bit tired of spinning my wheels. But then again I will be sporting my 3rd crewcut so in about 6 months my hair will be soft and all my own color of grey once more ;o)

Gone Fishin'

2011-08-13T13:58:00.002-04:00

My newest painting finally finished. These last few weeks have been so crazy I have not been able to work consistently. I hate that because I am trying so hard to focus on getting my product amounts raised in my shop. I am getting there slow but sure, but can't seem to concentrate being constantly pulled in 10 different directions. The last few nights I have spent hours and hours just reading on Etsy about the changes with "relevency" I have read blog posts, forum posts, advice, comments and I don't get it and it is driving me crazy!!!!
Then I wonder if I should be making some changes. But what? Years ago I sold well on Ebay. That does not happen anymore. I just sink money I don't have into listing fees and get nothing out of it. I was on Zibbet for a year without a single sale. I have looked at Artfire a few times and I am just not comfortable with it. I have talked with my brother about starting to just list my items on my own website but that costs money and I really like the fact that my website not only gives me the opportunity to lead people to my Etsy shop with a small sampling of what I make , it costs me very little in fees per year since my brother built and hosts it.
Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Tough Decisions

2011-08-03T23:05:00.003-04:00

Today my son had to make one of the toughest decisions of his life and put his baby to sleep. Actually no baby, Morgan was 12. A Bull Mastif/pit bull mix she has been his companion since she was 8 weeks old and fit in one hand. Who knew she would grow to be a 110lb horse bigger than my oldest daughter. Her breeds have many health problems but she has been strong and happy and loving right up to about 2 months ago when she started to cough and her lungs started to sound like pnuemonia. She seemed to get over it quickly but this last few weeks she has declined rapidly. She has had a problem with hip dysplasia, common to both breeds, and tumors, cancer is also common to her breeds. Any way she got to the point she could not walk, would not eat, just slept, we would have to carry her out side to do her business a few times each day. Last Friday, she needed a bath so she could go to the vet Saturday morning but the tub hurt her so bad. My daughter ended up climbing in the tub so Morgan could lay across her for some comfort and this is how she got bathed. Saturday the Vet layed out the options and let TJ know he alone had to decide. Gave the dog a shot and some pills for pain. For several day's she seemed to rally, was eating, walking enough to get outside under her own power and was happy just to hang with TJ. Until today when he got home and found her in really bad shape, scooped her up and took her back to the vet. Between the hips and legs, the respiratory problems and the cancer she was bleeding internally and he realized he had to do the right thing for her.
He say's to me, Mom how do I make this decision, she is going to be mad at me.
I said, No TJ she will love you forever for ending her pain,. her job here is done.
End of story.
I am sharing this with you because in truth, I am as heartbroken as my son, I loved this dog and even though I knew this was how it had to be it still hurts and I needed to tell someone that.
Thank you for listening

Wow...It's Done!

2011-07-27T13:39:00.003-04:00

Wow is what I have to say. No I have more but this experiment has been quite the learning process. Start with the background. I alway's do the background color's in acrylic paint. I wanted to give an underwater effect but I am not a painter so experimented with watercolor's. Everyone that has kids in the house has some kind of watercolor's laying around. I did not know whether or not the canvas would absorb it but it did with enough water which also managed to create that streaky light and dark underwater look to it. As you know I started the picture with just a basic couple of lines drawn for the sand castle and added the different features of the castle as I went along. The ton's of light brown seedbeads and bugles I used on the castle were taken from a destroyed vintage gown and let me tell you they are tiny. For every two beads I strung I threw one away because it would not fit over my thinnest beading needles. This was a very long, time consuming process. Everything on the ground and around the castle I added as I thought of it, you can tell by the cartoon quality of the fish, I can't draw. I haven't been near the ocean or a see since I was a very little girl but I often dream about the day I get to visit Hawaii and what I would find on the floor under the water. Of course the gorgeous colored water polished rocks will be an instant draw so I pulled out bunches of semi precious gemstone chips in earthy colors to add to the castle wall. There has to be broken shells laying about so we needed some mother of pearl chips on the castle. I needed greenery but did not want to overwhelm what space I had so just used my seedbeads to put some vines here and there then pulled out a baggie full of acrylic flower odds and ends I have never found a use for. There has to be snail and other life living down there so I used a bag of tiny shells that I have been hoarding for a long time. And of course we need pearls. Couldn't seem to draw a good enough clam or oyster but why can't we just have some pearls? So I added a bunch of the dyed freshwater pearls that I accumulate because I looooove freshwater pearls.

After all of this work had been done I realize I had forgotten the 2 inch rule. In order to have a canvas stretched properly, you must have 2 inches of bare canvas all the way around. My daughter came up with binding the sides with row's of seedbeads and turn it into a wall hanging. I thought it was worth trying so used a blue blanket binding stitched into place with rows of seedbeads, added tabs to the top to put a dowel through and it worked! It measures 11" by 14", the back is not perfect. While I work wonders with a needle and thread and pile of beads I haven't done so well mastering needle and thread and material. But it's okay. I used a layer of felt on the back. Of course I needed sparkle, we are under the sea, so a little bit of fabric glitter paint, several layers of acrylic varnish and everything is securely in place and I am ready to list this!

Happiness

2011-07-24T21:57:00.002-04:00

I have been on a crazy schedule these last few day's and expect I will be for the summer so I am thinking of small, quickly done items to work on. Also looking for way's to keep a good attitude so what could be more perfect than a 6"x6" beaded painting of the Chinese Symbol for Happiness!

New work

2011-07-21T23:41:00.002-04:00

Hi there! I have an awful lot of stuff going on and most of it, not good. Not going to go into it but I will say that I am once again trying to keep my mind on my work. I have an awful lot to think about and one of those things is trying to find the right direction to keep my mind in to produce and list for sale as much work as I can. I need a few miracles which will only happen when I start to sell faster than I produce but in the mean time......I'm trying to keep producing.
I have once again started putting work in both my Etsy shop and my Ebay Auction. I know, I know, I get very discouraged with Ebay but I have to keep trying. Any way, I have not finished putting my Underwater painting together, just don't seem to find the room to work but I will get it done. This picture above is an Amulet bag I just finished tonight. Can't seem to get a good pictures but it's gorgeous. So I listed it on Ebay, I took alot of extra pictures so if it doesn't sell it will be easy enough to slide over to my Etsy store. I just last week started working 6 day weeks for the busy summer season, cross your fingers for me, it is too much for me but I want to hang in there, at the same time I am once again going through alot of junk with my Dr.s.
I know I haven't done a Tori update in a while, that's simply because there isn't much to update, she keeps getting sick, we did find out when she was supposed to have surgery she got that ear/sinus/throat infection because she seems to have had a relapse on the mono so she is still as alway's very infection prone. Add that to , we still have no answers on the thryroid. I keep saying I want an answer and none is forthcoming. All her new testing has been held up with more insurance problems so it's looking like it will be the end of summer before we start getting help again to get this poor kid straightened out. Maybe we can be hospital roommates because between the two of us this is going to be a rough end of year.
Any way, I probably don't make alot of sense right now but as I said, I have got a ton of crap going on that I am trying to deal with and I'm not doing a real good job at the moment. Just going to stop thinking and go play with my beads some more. Hope everyone is enjoying summer so far!

Just a little more

2011-07-11T23:14:00.003-04:00

Just a little more work and this will be done. I am having such a good time adding odds and ends from my stash. We ton's of seedbeads, gemstone chips, mother of pearl chips, freshwater pearls, some tiny seashells, acrylic flowers, lustered acrylic beads, now painting and finishing off edges! This is a really heavy piece and I am trying to decide how to finish it. I did not leave enough raw canvas on the edges to stretch it properly. My daughter say's I should sew it to a backing and use dowels turning it into a wall hanging. That might be a good idea if it's not too heavy for the dowel. hmmmmmm

A little more progress

2011-07-09T10:34:00.002-04:00

I have to work tonight. During the summer months the store stays open late on Friday and Saturday because our town is full of tourists right up until the 1st week of September when the horse racing is done. That means I will set this aside and not get back to it for a few days. So, yesterday I started some Dr. appointments and so far I don't have good news and got a bit stressed . Well we all know when I get stressed I lock myself in the studio and Bead. So here is what we have tonight. Some fish to call the castle home, a little bit of greenery started for underwater plants and just starting on the ocean floor. There has been no part of this picture preplanned so I am adding as idea's come to me. I have a feeling I will be working on it a while because I have alot to think about. It's not so much that I don't expect to run into different health problems, I know I will for the rest of my life since my diseases of Chiari and Syringomylia will never go away but....we are still fighting to get my granddaughter healthy, still hitting one brick wall after another. I need to know she is fixed before I let Dr.s start playing on me again. .....
AlyGator........This is going to be a beaded painting, just haven't had the canvas stretched yet, I love it when you comment, sadly I still can't get blogger to let me respond to comments on my own blog posts....sigh.....

A progress shot

2011-07-07T22:09:00.002-04:00

I thought tonight was a good time to show you the progress I have made on this. My castle is pretty much complete. I am adding fish, some underwater plants and some more variety of colored gemstone chips to the ground. That's all I have planned out so far. I think this one is going to take me a while but I am truly having fun with it.

To live like an 8 year old

2011-07-05T22:30:00.003-04:00

Oh to be an 8 year old with the biggest worry on your mind is whether the water is going to be to cold!

Happy 4th to all

2011-07-04T22:59:00.003-04:00

Hope you had a great holiday!! I had to work during the day and of course once I got home the pain in my legs and feet was so bad I could not totter off to the park to watch fireworks. That was a bit disapointing because I love them but that's life and I will pay for my decision to work in way's that I never thought of. That's okay , I got to see pictures Liz took and she is a good photographer so hoping to steal some pictures once she gets them up.

I'm sure your wondering why this picture up here. This is my son TJ and his girl Liz. Yesterday was TJ's 27th birthday. He is my baby so I am feeling a bit melancholy not to mention a little old ;o) Any way, it's hard to get a good picture of these two and I just really liked this one.

Help is no Help at all

2011-06-28T23:10:00.002-04:00

I have grumbled several times over the last month because something isn't right with blogspot. Now, when I sign in I can go to my dashboard, I can read other peoples post and now comment on them. Then I go to view my blog. It say's at the top I need to sign in. ?? I am signed in, that's how I got here. I see people have commented on my post but I cannot respond to the comment. If I try it asks me what account I want to sign in with. If I click google account and sign in again....it brings me back to my dashboard. over and over.
Well I got tired of trying to find a solution and went to the help section. A number of people are having these problems and the few who commented with suggestions and possible solutions did not work for me. So I guess at this time there is no fix.

I feel really bad, if you have left a comment on my post, I did take the time to read it. I did try to respond but its just not working..........

My quite time

2011-06-26T21:47:00.003-04:00

Saturday morning found me not feeling well at all. Sometimes when I know I'm in for a bad day I use my head and just spend my time alone in my studio with my critters, my tv and my beads. I knew I could not concentrate on much so decided to continue on making my simple summer chokers and here is what I accomplished. Doesn't seem like much for a full day of solitude but when you know how much time is involved in the simplest of necklaces then you realize it is actually a good amount of work. May be I should do it more often. Sure would fill up my shop faster.

Friday Nights

2011-06-24T21:20:00.002-04:00

I love Friday Nights. I have had the day off and spent the day doing my laundry for the next work week. My evening is mine because I have Saturday off too. That means I can stay up as late as I want, start new creations, watch silly tv shows. So I am starting a new picture, I actually have done a few necklaces over the last few day's and NEED to start a new painting.
I am making a sand castle. This one on raw canvas. I have a ton of it having collected it over the years for different projects but could not use it for my pictures because I can't use a regular embroider hoop with it. My mom gave me a square scrolling embroidery frame the other day and it is perfect. The slits for my canvas are the perfect size. When the frame is all together I have just the right amount of work area and I can roll a good amount of canvas so that when I need to I just scroll it up or down . I am tickled about this. Now I don't have to wait until I have money to buy stretchers and have them done for me, I can make pictures and have them stretched as I can.
I have not yet decided on the background for this, either it will be setting on the beach or underwater with a few beaded fishes coming home, I will decide as I go along.

Summer Jewelry

2011-06-21T22:18:00.003-04:00

It's officially summer now. Sadly I am not excited. I have alway's loved summer, the warmer the better. Since I got sick, I don't do so well, seem to feel lousy alot in the summer and that makes me sad. Ironically, I just spent two day's cooped up in my house because I seem to have given myself a little case of food poisoning. Feeling better today though and decided it's is time to spend a few day's whipping up quick and easy summer chokers. I am working on a goal of getting my shop back up to 100 items and more would be great. Hard to do when I'm working on my amulet bags and pictures but a handful of simple summer stuff will help alot.

Finished and Listed

2011-06-17T19:46:00.003-04:00

I guess I have found the key to getting alot of product done for me. I am still going through a ton of bad stuff at home between problems with my daughter, worries because we are still in limbo with Tori, not feeling good, on and on and on.....Seems the more stressed out I get the more I try to focus on my beadwork and block out the rest of my life. I've only spent a few day's on this Carousel Horse, finished, varnished and listed it in my Etsy shop today. Now I am sitting here going through my pile of pictures deciding what I want to do next. Hmmmmm. I guess there are a few good things about being stressed alot ;o)

Bugs?

2011-06-16T10:19:00.002-04:00

Something is still really wrong with blogspot. When I sign in I get my dashboard, I can read other blogposts. I can post my own new post. I am signed in. But.....when I click to view my blog....it say's "sign in". I can read my post but if I try to reply to a comment...it asks me to sign in, so I sign in again, type my reply and click. It show's my post as "anonymous" and when I click again......it disappears. So long story short, this has been going on for a number of weeks and I can't seem to get it too change. If you commented, I have replied but it just won't stick!!!
Is any one else having this issue??

Summer memories

2011-06-14T19:32:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I will never understand why my pictures end up sideway's or upside down when they are perfectly upright in my documents. Any way, my next beaded painting will be a carousel horse. At some point this summer, some of my work will be displayed in the Art Gallery in Soave Faire. So to that end I think it would be only fitting to do some pictures that connect with the area. Growing up we had an old fashioned park with rides and swimming and food carts. One of the most memorable things for me was the Carousel. Many years later the park closed and the city of Saratoga Springs bought the carousel, restored every piece and then set it up in one of our local parks. It is still operating there and I love to watch the little ones ride it. So now to work on my Carousel Horse.

Saratoga Artfest

2011-06-11T20:06:00.003-04:00

Today was our Town's Artfest. All over town, artists working, singer's singing, musicians playing. All week long it's been hot, the sun has been as bright as could be. This morning I woke up to rain. And more rain. I was set up in front of the store I work in , Soave Faire. The point was to bring attention to our full art department, a lot of people are unaware how extensive our art supply is and many don't know we carry some nice jewelry making supplies. So rain or no rain I set up my little card table, put lot's of samples of the different types of beading I do and spent a few hours beading and chatting with the few people who wandered by between the rain drops. The weather was a downer and truly cut down on the amount of foot traffic we should have seen but I enjoyed myself any way. I find the older I get the easier it is to talk to people and I love any opportunity to show off my beading skills!

Summer Bouquet

2011-06-06T19:55:00.003-04:00

My new picture is done and I have to tell you I am so very happy with it! I get teased alot because I like alot of sparkle so I did not use one tiny bit of glitter in this picture. Oh I was so very tempted but I made myself stay away from the glitter paint and instead did some dry brushing with some antique white. Not perfect, I haven't done any drybrushing in a while and I find the brushes I have are less than perfect for the job but I still ended up with the effect I wanted so it's done and listed to my total satisfaction.

Loving my work

2011-06-01T22:26:00.003-04:00

I'm feeling productive tonight, even though I worked today I managed to list a new wish bag in my Etsy shop tonight, and have spent the evening working on my newest beaded painting. This one is progressing really, really slowly but I am okay with that because I am loving the way it's coming out. As I sit here stitching my beads into place I am imagining what I want to add to the purple background to soften it up a bit. I used purple because of the colors that will be in all the flowers by the time I'm done but I am thinking if I do some dry brushing with white paint, very softly, it's going to subdue it to just the right shade. I have so many pictures in my head that I want to do these beaded painting's of, I will never find the time to get at half of them so I'll keep stitching.

Giveaway Winner

2011-06-01T19:44:00.002-04:00

Today is June 1st, the day we pick the winner of my amulet bag giveaway. Sadly, even though I advertised as best I could I only got comments from a few people and only one commented on my shop. Donna from DZ Fantasy did comment ( a bit too nicely) but she is a great person, an amazing fiber artist and I am happy she will own this bag. If your ever in the market for a gorgeous little fairy, check out www.dzfantasy.etsy.com. Her work is gorgeous. I am the proud owner of 2 of her pieces and plan on having more when I can.

Imaginative Creating

2011-05-31T09:38:00.003-04:00

I'be been working on this for a few day's, have no clue from moment to moment what I am going to do. I'm just having some fun. I have an idea for a few embellishements and a good idea how to elongate the bottom. Unfortuneatly I am stuck until I can get a piece of ultrasuede for the back to continue turning it into a necklace. I will finish what I can and then put it aside until I get some ultrasuede. I love playtime.

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T10:26:00.002-04:00

No pictures today just a wish for a wonderful day to everyone, make sure and take a minute or two to say thank you to the soldiers who gave their lives for this country. I am very lucky. I have many service people in my family still with us. I want to say thank you to each of them:
My dad, retired Navy
My brother Scott, retired Marines
My brother in law James, retired Army
My nephew Corey, currently Army, Afghanistan
My cousins, Amy and Todd, Army , currently Iraq.
My prayers for their safety and hoping they are all home again soon.

Creating

2011-05-28T10:42:00.003-04:00

Something weird is going on here at Blogspot. Yesterday I came on and tried to post this and it cut me off. I tried reading other people's updates and a few I wanted to leave a comment on, kept bringing me back to the sign in page, over and over, never was able to leave comments. When I tried to sign out, I couldn't. I would sign out and come back and I was still signed in, over and over and still happening.

Any way, you know I love to push the envelope and I love to play with things that are kind of out of the box. I love polymer clay and I love big necklaces. The color's on my newest batch of clay cabs I just had to try a big piece and this is where I am at right now. Once I'm done with the seedbead embroidery I want to add a few more embellishing beads. Not quite sure yet. But once it is done to my satisfaction I will be at a standstill for a while until I can purchase some ultrasuede for the back. I found 2 shops on Etsy that sell bags of scrap which would be perfect for me since anything I need ultrasuede for is usually fairly small but finances demand I wait on it.

Playing

2011-05-28T01:02:00.000-04:00

A Love Story

2011-05-24T22:28:00.003-04:00

Please meet Amy and Todd. Actually I have told you about them before. Amy is my cousin. She is also in the Army. A number of years ago, Amy was sent to Iraq. While she was there she met Todd. After their tour was done and they were given leave, we had a wedding. A wonderful fun wedding. Shortly after, Amy was sent back to Iraq for her 2nd tour and Todd was sent elsewhere. Amy was back in the states a bit under a year. Her tour was done but since it ended early she was told there may be a possible chance she would be sent back again. In fact that is exactly what happened, Amy who I am in awe of is now serving her third Tour of duty in Iraq, this time though, Todd was assigned to go again too and they are working together and able to see each other on a regular basis. I think if you have the gut's and self-less loyalty to your country to do this job than being able to do it with your spouse is a very small but wonderful blessing. This picture they are reading a newspaper from home while taking a bit of a break together.

Tori Update

2011-05-21T14:11:00.002-04:00

Taking a few moments because I know the whole family want's to know WTF is going on. Well I am asking myself the exact thing. My nervous breakdown aside here is how our last few day's have gone. Obviously we have spent the last 3 weeks stressing. We have an MD, a neurosurgeon, and a Dr. of Internal Medicine and Oncology that tell us without a doubt, Tori has Papillary Thyroid Cancer. We end up choosing to have surgery now at Albany Med just because we need to get the ball rolling on all these different illnesses. Tuesday and Wednesday she is scheduled for pre op testing. The Oncologist wants one more scan to see if there are changes re: any growth, since the last one. Thursday we get a call from the Oncologist, the scan they does not show anything ??????? Why??? She does not know. We call her MD because he gets copies of everything...He does not know what is happening. So after a few hours of debate it is decided not to have surgery Friday morning. Before the surgery was scheduled she already had an appointment Saturday at Albany Med for a visit with the Neurosurgeon and it is decided that she should have all new testing done at Albany med. Friday afternoon, Tori spikes a fever, her ears and throat start hurting and by bedtime she is really sick. So Albany Med say's no testing until we find out what's wrong. We end up instead going to Saratoga ER to find out she has an ear infection, an upper respiratory infection and a sinus infection. The sinus infection alone will hold things up due to the Sinus disease she has had for so many years makes it really tough to clear up. Bottom line is no testing till she has had another course of antibiotics.
So we go back to hanging in limbo again and waiting some more. Heather told me last night she really thinks we need to go back to our original decision and take her to Boston because we just don't know which way to turn and don't feel like any progress is being made. In the mean time Tori gets sicker and sicker. Her weight loss is now up to about 42 pounds and I hate what I am thinking but I am so horribly exhausted from this whole past 9 months of all this that I am having a real problem being the positive person I try to be and can't stop from wondering if she is going to get through this or not at the rate we are going.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so negative but truly enough is enough.
I will post when she is better enough to start over and let you know what we are going to do. I think I am inclined to agree with Heather, let's revert back to the original plan, get her to Boston and pray we get better help because I am feeling truly negative about what is going on here .

Getting through the week

2011-05-17T21:26:00.002-04:00

My new painting is done, this one is tiny, only 6" by 6". I wanted to see if I enjoyed doing a small one and of course I chose to do a butterfly. Next I would like to do a really, really large one but that could be a problem. Once I start, I don't want to put it down until it's done and to do a really large one would make me very, very impatient to see it finished. I listed this in my Etsy shop tonight. I think I'm just reaching for things to keep myself busy both physically and mentally. Tori started pre op testing today, tomorrow she has to have bloodwork and a chest xray then we just get through to Friday morning. I know I will feel better once this first surgery is done! I will post Friday afternoon when I have news of how the surgery went.

Mean time, I don't seem to be getting much of a response to my give away so please share my link with any one who might like a chance to win the Amulet bag.

My First Giveaway

2011-05-14T16:53:00.003-04:00

Well my first give away on my own blog that is. But it is time and of course I have an ulterior motive. It's time to get real, reorganize, freshen up and start getting consistent sales in my Etsy Shop. I like most people struggle paycheck to paycheck for the bare minimum. I have even been able to keep up with that. I would work all day, pay the rent and then choose , do I have lights or do we eat? Do I pay the cable bill or do we eat? Who needs shampoo?

Of course since I got sick it has been harder than ever. Now with all the health issues we need to deal with for my grand daughter I need to know I can make sure the basic bills are paid. We need a roof over our head, we need electricity. I can not have a sick kid in the house and not know if it is going to be to hot/cold for her to be here. I have to pay cable. Wish I could say otherwise but not only do I need internet access for the Etsy shop, I can't have a kid being down for weeks at a time without tv and where I live if you don't have cable, you don't have tv. Tried those boxes when they came out but the wiring in my neighborhood is so bad the boxes don't work at all. I need to make sure she eats well and I do not qualify for any help since I returned to work part time. All that being said, my parents taught me early on to never look for a handout. If you want or need something work for it. I have alway's been ready, willing, sometimes if not alway's..able.

This is where you come in ;o)

I am giving away this black amulet bag necklace. The bag measures 1 1/2" by 1 3/4". It is open topped and on the front is a blue marbled polymer clay cab. The fringing is branched. Each part of the branch in a clear and blue glass teardrop. The fringe falls just under 4" at the middle point. The neckchain is just over 20" with seedbeads and the same glass teardrops used in the fringe and closes with a silver colored basemetal toggle clasp.

Here is what I need. Visit my Etsy Shop : http://www.debsparkles.etsy.com/

Take a look around and then come back and in the comments section give me a "mini" critique.

What do you like in the shop? What do you not like in the shop? What should I be concentrating more on that I can actually get sales on. Don't just be nice. Be honest. I can't grow and get better at this without true feedback. (Except for pictures. I suck at pictures no matter how I try)

Make sure to leave your email address in your comment. I will be putting everyone's address in a jar and on June 1, 2011 I will have Tori draw a winner.

Late night fun

2011-05-14T01:03:00.002-04:00

I can't sleep so I have been reading blogs, my favorite pastime besides beading, and found a few more to follow. Wouldn't it be great if I could create a career out of reading blogs?
Any way, I have been doing alot of thinking today, yes again, with everything coming up with Tori, I need to really start promoting my shop better and if you know me, well, you know it's a really weak spot. I am not good with self promotion. That being said, all my thinking gave me an idea. I am going to do my very first give-away. Tomorrow night, I will post a picture of what I will be giving away and how I want to do it so watch for a post tomorrow evening.
I'm excited about doing this, have wanted to for a while but just needed the right time and motivation. Meanwhile, I'm going to go think some more and just maybe fall asleep. Good night my friends.

Tori Update

2011-05-13T20:11:00.003-04:00

Some good news in a weird way. Tori will be having surgery for Thyroid removal on Friday , May 20. I know that's the weird part, how is this good news? It is because it is really hard for all of us to sit here doing nothing but waiting while this cancer is growing no matter how slowly inside her.
Our plans have changed though. While we really wanted to take her to Shriners, that's not working out really well, too long of a wait time for us. Too far away from home for family, no transportation for taking turns between who is with Tori and who is home with Josh. We have no car and we just can't see leaving the hospital after surgery to make her ride home on a bus or train.
So, she will be having surgery at Albany Medical Center which is okay. The oncologist, Dr. Valentine has privileges there and will be doing her surgery. Her neurosurgeon, Dr. Amato is at Albany Medical so he will be there, funny part is the day she was to have her next appointment with him was Saturday, the 21st so that makes things really conveniant for everything right now. Barring any unforeseen problems she will have surgery Friday morning and be released on Sunday morning. So this week is preop testing and the waiting will be over before we know it. I know we have alot ahead of us but I will be so relieved when this is out of her. Maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense considering she will stay have the radioactive iodine treatment ahead of her then the surgery on her back and head but at least some action is finally being started. That helps me breath a bit easier.

Out of Fear

2011-05-07T19:42:00.004-04:00

It sometimes truly amazes me that even the worst things in life bring us something good. Obviously with everything going on in my life my beadwork has once again suffered. I was sitting in my studio the other night thinking about my Tori and was looking for a way to bring something good forward. I took a little square of paper and wrote down a little prayer and rolled the paper up in a tiny scroll. We are alway's told to write down our dreams , our wishes, our affirmations and keep them close by. Then I got to thinking, when I am making my amulet bags, I alway's determine the size by asking myself, What could I keep in this bag and it hit me. I should make myself a mini amulet bag just big enough to put my little scroll of paper in. And that's just what I did, I made a bag just about 1" by 1" and put my prayer in it and a new idea was born. I am going to make a bunch of these. I am naming them, " My wish bag for the love of Tori" I can do two or three a week and put them up in my shops, maybe get some new sales flowing. I recently got a large lot of seedbeads from someone I buy from on Ebay, every once in a while he does a close out on colors that are not so popular at the moment, so I have alot of beads to use at the moment.

Just thought it would be good to show a bit of the normal Debsparkles tonight.

Before I close this post though I wanted to say, a number of people have contacted me through here and twitter and my Etsy team who have some experiance with what Tori is going through and have given me some very positive feedback , you know who you are and I thank you so very much. The positive info makes things a bit easier for us right now and it is truly the stuff Tori needs to hear.

Tori Update

2011-05-05T17:39:00.002-04:00

I am not sure if this is so much as an update as a chance to define the information I have already given you. After a visit with Dr. Elizabeth Valentine , Dr. of Internal Medicine and Oncology, we have the following definates.
Tori has Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. This is the most common form of thyroid cancer, tends to hit woman more than men with no real reason or cause known. It is a slow growing cancer, and the most treatable. Next week Heather and Tori are taking a trip to Boston, Mass to the Shriners Hospital. At this time they will meet with case workers, the physician team that will be working on her and just get shown around the hospital in general. They will come home from this visit with a surgery date. She will have the thryoid removed and to be honest they can not tell until they are doing the surgery whether they must remove the entire thyroid or can just take the side infected by the cancer. Most surgeries end up with the entire thyroid being taken. After this surgery she should be home quickly, within a day or 2. Then for at least a week my house will basically be under quarentine. No friends, no people in and out, her mom and brother can not be here, this is due to risk of germs, as she will have a very, very , low immunity to the everyday germs we carry. I will be the only one she is exposed to at that time, better get my clorox bottles stocked up!
After a approx. 5 to 6 weeks healing time she will go back to the hospital. She will be administered radioactive iodine. Just a very small dose at first then a scan is done that will show any thryoid residue, active cancer cell, anything missed in the surgery. Then she gets the full dose and comes home again. This time my house will be under quarentine again even more so. Not because of germs, but because she herself will be radioactive and can share that with others. I cannot get any closer than 6 feet from her. She has to be in her room alone, the front bathroom must be for her use only. I will be stocking up on paper plates, cups and plastic forks , etc. I must wash her laundry seperate from anything else in the house. This should really get interesting. But the good news is doing it this way, she avoids things like coming home vomiting, or losing her hair and all that stuff we associate with chemo and radiation. She should heal pretty quickly, the real downfall is she will spend the rest of her life taking medicine to replace the hormones her thyroid provides naturally.
One week from Saturday she has an appointment with her neurosurgeon, this will be on hold until the thryoid cancer is taken care of but they will formulate the plan for the neurosurgery.
This is going to be a crazy time for all of us, Joshua will be with me while Heather is with Tori, when she is home I will have to take time off work here and there but we can only get through this one step at a time.

We did finally sit down this morning and tell Tori everything. She had a great birthday and to tell you the truth she took the news better than myself, Heather and TJ did. I guess because she in her own way knew. She has told more than one Dr., nurse, family member that she knew that something was really wrong with her. People need to learn to listen when a smart , self sufficient, tough kid cries for help.

I probably won't need to update again until next week at which time I should have surgery dates and more info from the Neurosurgeon. Until then I had better get busy beading like crazy and finding more way's to sell my jewelry because no matter how much help we get , this is going to be costly in many other way's So just keep those prayers coming. Love you all very much and we so appreciate all the support we have been getting from you right now.

Tori Update

2011-04-29T20:51:00.002-04:00

I have delayed doing this update for several reasons. My heart is breaking right now and I am so full of anger I am having a problem keeping myself pulled together and Sunday is Tori's 15th birthday and we want it to be a good one so we are trying to keep some secrets til next week.
This week we got results from blood tests and the scan's Tori had on her throat. I'm sorry, I do not have the correct medical terms to put here right now, Heather hasn't given me the paper reports yet but Tori has a certain type of thyroid cancer. Before I give you details let me say that her M.D. tells us that this is a very treatable form with a high success rate. That's the good news. Now it goes down hill, and I can't tell you what will happen when or how all the Dr.s are going to co-ordinate what is the priority here . She will be seeing an Oncologist this coming week. Her M.D. says probably she will have the thyroid and Lymph nodes removed. After 5 or 6 weeks recovery time from the surgery she will have injections (I am sorry I can't remember what the name of this injection is) but supposedly it should kill any cancer or precancer cells that remain after the removal of the thyroid and lymph nodes. This avoids the need for any type of Chemo or Radiation therapy.
I worry how all this will be co-ordinated with the Neurological surgeries. We will have to try to be a bit patient a bit longer while this is all tackled by the involved Dr.s.

This is so very unfair , my anger is so over the edge. I cannot tell you how many times in the er this past winter Tori tried to tell these Dr.s what she felt in her throat. Even her own M.D. as much as we like him, when I took her for a visit with him in January we both tried to explain the pain in her throat and collarbone, I pointed out the fact that she was living on liquids because aside from the fact that she had no appetite she could not swallow. Every last one of them cut her off and would not listen. Her MD gave her Zoloft that day. My insides are shaking right now and my mind won't stop between figuring out to keep her happy and comfortable, wondering how we tell her this, as it is she is scared to death over the surgery on her back and head. She is going to need alot of care for a while and yes I am rambling so I will stop and I will update this post when I have the terminology to share with you and some kind of plan has been started.

Tori Update

2011-04-22T14:58:00.003-04:00

Tori met with a neurosurgeon at Albany Medical Center today. First let me say, Heather and Tori both liked him very , very much. It was a very long visit. First he sat and listened to Tori tell him in her own words everything that has gone on for the last 7 months. He listened carefully, listened to the smallest detail. He had looked at all the films and reports before seeing her and was very unhappy with them. Tori's body spasm's involuntarily and did so often during all the CT's, MRI's and ultrasounds. But he was able to see them well enough to glean some basic information and after seeing Tori , took Heather into look at the films with him. Starting at the top, there is minimul extension of the cerebellar tonsils (her brain) but enough of an indication for him to believe if the spinal problems are not addressed properly now, she will be going through brain surgery for Chiari Malformation in 10 years.
She has a leak. The pressure from the bulging disk and syrinx in her back has caused so much pressure the in her neck area she is leaking cerespinal fluid. This fluid is accumulating in her skull and putting alot of pressure on her brain. The space below the bulging disk, is also causing an accumulation of fluid in that area. The "cyst" in her throat is actually a small tumor possibly "residual thyroid" tissue.
He will be operating on her back, doing what ever they do to relieve the bulging disc, draining the syrinx and putting a shunt in her head to drain the fluid accumulation on her brain. BUT,
before they make a positive game plan he wants proper pictures with dye. Not a full body MRI.
He wants one just of her brain. Then he wants one just of her Throat, He wants on just of the TSpine and last he wants one Just of the LSpine.
Heather also has to go get a referral from Tori's MD for a Thyroid Specialist because of course this is not the Neurosurgeons area.
Any way that is what we know today and after all these new tests are done Tori will see him again and and they will create an absolute game plan. In the mean time she has new prescriptions, pain meds, sleep meds, and I will update when we know more. Thanks guy's
If any one has any ideas how to keep a bedridden 14 year old entertained let me know.

Tori's Story

2011-04-16T20:13:00.002-04:00

It is time to settle down and start our post's on my grand daughter. I have to start from the beginning for family that has been out of the loop. My Grand daughter Victoria is 14. Last September she was ill, it was bronchitis. For two weeks she got sicker and sicker and we ended up taking her to the Hospital Emergency room to find out she also had mononucleosis. That wasn't enough she was also having a CMV attack. CMV stands for Cytomegalovirus. The symptoms are severe , my daughter spent a month in the hospital with it while she was pregnant for Tori and obviously passed it on during birth. The funny thing is, someone can carry this illness their whole life and you only have one flare up where it makes you deathly ill. After this flare up, it never happens again. Go figure, Tori had her flare up in the middle of mono and bronchitis. During the winter months she was so very severely sick that it was frightening and required a number of trips to the emergency room. During one of these trips it was also discovered she had a large ovarian cyst on her right ovary. Under normal circumstances it was bad enough for surgery but with everything else going on in her body it was not possible so she just lived in constant illness and pain and then lost her insurance. My daughter fought to get it back to no avail and over the next few months we had more trips to the er. At this point she is a uninsured teenager and we got blown off 4 times. They gave me a diagnosis each time of "Generalized anxiety disorder" she got told she was having panic attacks, she was called a hypochondria, she was teased and put on Zoloft , an anti depressant. Zoom forward a few months, Tori is still very sick, she finally got over the bronchitis, and CMV attack, the mono subdued after 5 horrible months and then she got her insurance back. Now having insurance we get on the phone to all her Drs. this leads to visit's. Her gynecologist orders a new ultrasound. We have the results. During the time she was being called a hypochondriac, the large cyst on the right blew up on it's own leaving a mess of scar tissue and there is nothing to be done but guess what? She has a new cyst on the left ovary now. But it is very small so they are going to leave it alone and just watch it. Her MD decided that due to the fact that she had so much pain in so many places that she should have first of all some blood work. There was some suspicion of liver damage from the mono and some tests for thryoid because she has alot of trouble with swelling in her neck and pain in her collarbone area and trouble swallowing. We are still waiting for results of the blood testing. He also decided even though she has had an awful lot of testing she needed a full body MRI. We have the results from that. First, they found a large cyst at the base of her tongue kind of going down her throat, so the Dr. sent her for a CatScan on her throat and thyroid. We are waiting for those results, should have them on Monday. The next thing they found in the MRI is actually 2 problems. First she has a bulging disc and a large gap below the 2nd vertebrae between her shoulder blades. and she also has Syringomyelia. Syringomyelia is a condition of fluid filled tumors in the middle of the spinal cord. The symptoms are severe and disabling. There are several causes for it but the top one is Chiari Malformation. Those of you who know me or have followed my blog from the start know that I am disabled to the diseases of Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia. There is no cure. Surgery on the Chiari stops the disease from killing us by squeezing our brain but the symptoms are life long and very much like those suffering from M.S. Any way, Tori has an appointment on April 22 with a neurosurgeon at Albany Medical Center. They will look at this MRI and do one on her brain. Mean while we wait. We know surgeries are coming but nothing changes the fact that my grand daughter at 14 may spend the rest of her life disabled by diseases that may have been caught much earlier if she wasn't being blown off as having Anxiety Disorder or being a hypochondriac. Not that it is any one's fault that she has these illnesses (except maybe me since I started this one) but maybe if caught a bit earlier it would have been good since it is known that the earlier in childhood the diagnosis, the better the prognosis. So as I said , we wait till the next test results and Dr. visits before we know more. I will update each time we get new info. In the meantime, I know I don't explain things really well so if you would like to get better info on Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia please check this website: http://www.asap.org

Just one more I promise

2011-04-16T17:12:00.003-04:00

This foolish cat was so intrigued playing with the bubbles in the bath he ended up falling in so he got a bath along with the grandson. Dunkie is no kitten but he has been full of mischief all week long.

Spring Fever?

2011-04-15T20:55:00.004-04:00

Couldn't help myself, this cat is full of it this week!

DragonMaster

2011-04-15T12:53:00.003-04:00

My newest beaded painting was not done for sale. My son has alway's loved dragons. He is 27 now and still collecting all things dragon so I had to make him a beaded painting. I have to tell you this was my most difficult peice yet and I am not completely happy with it. It was hard with all the little twists and turns in each color. I had to follow through each shape in it's color and try to make the lines "flow". I have decided I do not like using dark background paint, even though I love the color it does not let the beadwork itself pop the way it should. The background should be just that, a background, and the beading is to be the star of the show. So I can say I truly am happy I attempted this because I learned just a few more lesson's to put on my "don't" list.

I can't catch up

2011-04-14T19:50:00.003-04:00

Sorry, my picture came out to small. A great deal of stuff going on right now and the cat is in rare form. He has decided he wants bird for lunch. This past week has been so hectic and heartbreaking. My father in law passed away last week and was buried with full military honor's on Monday. If you have never attended a Military funeral I have to tell you, if you arent' sobbing hard enough over the loss of a loved one, the soldiers at attention and the playing of taps topped off with folding the flag and passing it to a family member will turn you into a large puddle of tears. About the same time as all this was going on my sister in law got sick at work. Had to be driven home, my brother called her Dr. who sent her for a catscan and then she was taken by ambulance from the medical center to our biggest hospital. She has bleeding in her brain, the neurosurgeons are having a hard time finding out why and she has been laying in the hospital horribly sick for 8 day's now. And now, the reason for tonights post. My granddaughter has been ill since last September. We have gone round and round with tests, er visits, Dr's and we are doing it all again. So, trying to keep everyone who needs to know up to date on each new test and result we are going to "borrow my blog" for a bit and send everyone here for updates. So please bear with me if you see a number of posts talking about my grand daughter, it is for the benefit of family and friends who need to know what's going on. Every once in a while I will try to post something normal so you don't get tired of lousy news. ;o)

A lighter moment

2011-03-25T20:16:00.003-04:00

I haven't had a good laugh for a while. I really needed one and today I got a really good one.
A few day's ago, my daughter broke her ankle. She is absolutely miserable, she is in the middle of job hunting and has a lot of stuff going on in general and this just suspended everything. It is a bad break, going to take alot of healing, may need some surgery after and of course she is hurting. A friend brought her to my house so she could visit and whine and I could see what I could do to help.
Well sometimes I can't help but be a smartass so I went to the craft stash, got out one of my sequined butterfly's and a bottle of glue and went to work. Then to add insult to injury I took a picture , posted it on my facebook with the tag line :"even a broken bone needs a little bling"

I while later she gets on facebook and see's it and after cussing me out a minute she types....
That's it , you got it.....Cast Dazzles by Debsparkles, a bit of bling for broken bones.

Any way this little bit of silliness gave us a much needed moment to forget about all the problems we are dealing with and just chuckle. If only for a few moments.

Finished in Bed

2011-03-22T16:21:00.003-04:00

I have been in bed since this past Sunday, nothing major just a huge whack from my Chiari symptoms which happens when I am really overtired and stressed. It drove me crazy , not so much that I could not get up and go to work but I was worried about this custom order taking so much time so I grabbed extra pillows and a food tray and worked as best I could between the constant 2 hour naps. It is done!!! It's very pretty, very big, very time consuming but I do alway's love a challenge when it comes along and can't not try. I did make a seperate neck chain and a 7" wristlet chain so it is way to big to wear, she can carry it. I posted it and sent a convo for her to check it out so we shall see it's what she is happy with or not.

Progress

2011-03-19T20:11:00.005-04:00

I know, I know, I go from one extreme to the other. I'm gone for weeks then I'm here two nights in a row. But, I made so much progress on this bag since yesterday I wanted to show you before I got to much farther. The flowers on the bag are pretty easy, just glass leaves and a bunch of different colored glass teardrops stitched randomly around the front of the bag. The fringing is taking a lot longer. Instead of just a straight up and down fringe, I am using branch fringing to stay with the flower garden theme. So that means I have to string through a few times, counting and branching off into little shoots along the way. I know I won't finish tonight but I am going to get as far as I can. Then just fancy up the top of the bag and make a neckchain. I decided because this is going to be a heavy bag, heavy just with beads then add the Iphone, rather than a clasp at the back of the neck I am going to make it so the chain is completely seperate and hooks to the bag on each side. Might even make a second small one so she can carry it as a wristlet intead of around her neck. Hmmmm...

Working again

2011-03-18T19:35:00.003-04:00

I do seem to be pulling myself together bit by bit. I am becoming more focused on my Etsy shop and researching some others. I admit, my day job takes a great deal out of me, even though I work only about 20 hours a week so I don't get much done on nights I have worked. On my day's off I tend to ignore things like housework and laundry so I can concentrate on getting items started. I don't normally like the fact that I will have 3 or 4 projects started at a time but do find, if they are started, when I get home and have rested a bit after working I will pick one up and spend a little bit of time on it. A slow way to get stock built up but it is working for me.
That is until last week. I got a message from a sweet lady who liked the bag I made that's in my avatar but she wanted one big enough to carry an Iphone. I have never seen an actual Iphone but I knew it was bigger than the largest bag that I have ever made and it was going to take alot of work. Any way, it has taken a full week of my free time (over 22 hours) just to weave the basic bag. Tonight I shall start weaving the little glass teardrops in to create the flowers. I have to stay focused on it so I can get it done in the time range I estimated to her which is 3 weeks. So this is what I will do until it's done and I will show you progress shots every few day's. Let's see if I finish in the alloted time ;o)

Something to share

2011-03-04T19:14:00.002-05:00

No work progress today, no pictures to show but something I want to share. I have said I have been going through a tough time but not shared details. I won't now either but I have shed a lot of tears lately. Tears of pain. But today, my aunt sent me an email that helped me so much and let me shed a few good tears and I wanted to share it with you. I cannot give the author credit because I don't know who it is but I think if your a mom this will touch your heart.

The Invisible Mom

It all began to make sense--the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids would walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not, no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking. or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible mom.
Some day's I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Someday's I'm not a pair of hands, I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it? I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel? I'm a taxi for order, Right around 5:30 please.
Some day's I'm a crystal ball, "Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? What's for dinner?
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music, and literature- but now, they has disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just returned from a fabulous trip and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said, "I brought you this". It was a book on the great Cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one see's"
In the day's ahead I would read-no-devour the book. And I would discover what would become for me four life changing truths, after which I could pattern my work.

1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals, we have no record of their names.

2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof ? No one will ever see it. The workman replied "because God sees.

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
"No act of kindness you'be done, no sequin you'be sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great Cathdral, but you can't see right now what it will become.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friends he's bringing home for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, then she hand bastes the turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then , if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say "Your gonna love it there..."

As mothers, we are building great cathedral's. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at whate we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

My Exotic Parrot

2011-03-02T22:32:00.003-05:00

This bold , bright, beautiful bird is finished and I am so pleased with him! I have as usual an large amount of stuff going on in my life. I noticed that the rougher things get the harder I work on something if I am able to work and I have used this picture to think, let off steam and get rid of tension so it got finished quickly! Ready to post him in my Etsy shop and I am really super excited because last night I SOLD the Peacock. What a great lift that was. Ready to go sketch the next one.....

Starting to look like something

2011-02-26T21:41:00.002-05:00

I am having a great time with the bright bold colors on this bird that I would never ordinarily have a reason to touch. The funny part is everyone want this one. My granddaughter want's it. My daughter in law want's it. My grandson say's Grandma can I have this? I explained to him I was making it to try to sell in my Etsy shop and he say's, oh don't worry, I have $25.00 in my piggy bank and I will borrow more from mommy! (He is 8) I said well Josh, how about I make another one for you? He say's no Grandma I want an original.
Where did he ever learn that? ;o)

10 hours In

2011-02-21T19:49:00.003-05:00

We have just about 10 hours of embroidery time into this so far, Not much done considering how much to do but enough to let me know that I like him. Bright and bold, my exotic parrot is definately not going to be able to camoflouge himself in the trees. Undecided about my background. I know I will bead the tree limb and branches but thinking I want to paint the blank area. I don't seem to like a fully beaded picture as much as one with parts of it painted,but I have some time to make a decision on that. I won't get too much more done until the end of the week, I am just to tired after work to accomplish must and need to take turns with some other work.

Celebrating my Weekend

2011-02-18T19:13:00.003-05:00

Friday and Saturday are my weekend. I don't have to go to my part time job and if I think ahead on Thursday night and stop at the store, I can choose to stay home or choose to go do something. Most often I choose to stay home and bead, maybe do a little housework, maybe not, today though, we had decent weather , it was 30 degrees warmer than it has been in a long time and my mom and I spent some time together sorta window shopping. Just getting away from the house and spending some time with each other. That does not happen often in the winter due to mom's health so it is a treasure when we can.
To date I have done 5 Beaded Paintings. This last week I have worked hard at not starting another and getting some jewelry done for the Etsy shop but for some reason, this has such a hold on me ......I Have to start another!!!!
So when I got home, I sat down with a peice of canvas and sketched out my next one. I know I will have to start beading it tonight. I have no choice, my willpower is just not there. Any way I thought it would be fun to do a progress show so here is our start, a sketch on a peice of canvas.

Happy Sunday

2011-02-13T20:42:00.002-05:00

Greetings everyone. I must say, I am feeling encouraged. I have been taking things one step at a time and feel like we are getting settled. I have been getting more regular posting new items in my shop, I am working my "day job" 18 to 20 hours a week and it's okay. I am keeping up. I hurt by the end of the week but I am hanging in there and that's a big deal. Thought I would show you the best of a bunch of really crappy pictures of my newest beaded painting. This is the 5th one I have done and I have gotten better and bolder with each one. Each one has enabled me to make a lists of do's and dont's and have learned alot with this method of list keeping. I am afraid though I am enjoying it a bit too much. It is all I want to do. I don't know if it's just a new way to use my beads that has me intrigued or truly a new possibility of earning an income. But it is too early to tell. My first two had to many mistakes that I have learned not to make so the 3 after that have been listed in my shop. I will keep an eye on views and try to get a feel for whether or not it is something people would shop for. I think I am hoping for shoppers ;o)
Have a wonderful evening and a great Valentine's day tomorrow.

Getting back to Normal

2011-02-07T22:14:00.002-05:00

That's what I have been working on. Getting back to normal. I have calmed my "day Job" work schedule to a managable amount of hours. My kids are pulling themselves together and I am sitting back and letting them. Finally started posting new listing's in my Etsy shop on a bit more regular basis and I am creating again. Thank Goodness. Debbie is back, almost herself again. Now if the snow will stop so my body would stop hurting so much I may even get more involved with my computer time again and start being here more often. I would never be someone who posts on a daily basis, I just don't have much to say but I do love showing you what I am doing so this is my new starting point. Hope everyone is well!

It's been a long, long time.

2011-01-06T20:40:00.003-05:00

I am guilty of not posting here in many months. I won't bore you but the last 4 months have brought drama, trauma, and problem after problem to my life. My health has suffered and I have been working on pulling it back together and getting back to normal. I do apologize for my absence but it was easier than ranting about things.

Any way, I am going to work on getting back to normal and for those of you who haven't abandoned me, thank you.

I haven't been able to work on my jewelry, my heart wasn't in it and my Etsy shop has been sadly neglected but doing something just for fun while I worked through all the other ####
has given me a new obsession. I have alway's enjoyed bead embroidery but never did much with it but after playing with this picture you see above I have a new passion. I am thorougly hooked and have already started another.

by the way .....Happy belated New Year to everyone.

Life in your face

2010-09-15T19:34:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in a while, haven't had 5 minutes to do anything so I thought I would catch up just a bit. A bit over a month ago I decided I had to make one more attempt at a part time job and took a position as a cashier at my local market. Just a few hours, a few day's a week running groceries through a scanner. Then my old boss who also happens to be my landlord called out of the blue and asked if I was free for the weekend to help with sidewalk sales during our last weekend celebration of the summer. By the end of the weekend she has asked me if I wanted some part time hours and I said yes because I want to stay in my house. My daughter has finished moving out so I am alone and just not ready to leave here. The same weekend that my boss asked me to work the outside sales, my ex-husband had a very serious ATV accident and suffered some very major brain injuries. Since we are divorced and he never married his girlfriend my son was the only one with the authority to make life and death decisions. At 26 years old that is not something any kid is ready for and it has been a tough haul. 3 weeks later the ex is stable but mentally in some serious trouble. So between trying to keep up with 2 jobs, finish packing odds and ends for my daughter, take care of all the animals in the house , help support my son while he takes care of dad and still babysit my grandkids...........I have not had 2 minutes to rest, to pick up my beadwork, play on the computer. But I am working on it and hope to be more scheduled to find some me time soon!

That's what I call Housecleaning!

2010-08-22T12:47:00.002-04:00

I have lived in my house for 10 years. During this time my grown kids have kind of taken turns moving in and out depending on their life circumstances. The result of this is my little blue cottage has been bursting at the seams for most of this 10 years. Broken furniture, worn out or grown out clothes. Broken toy's , abandoned collections. You name it , you could find it in my cellar or my attic, or my backroom or my back yard. Overflowing bedrooms. Yeah you get the idea. Last month my daughter, who has been back home since 2008 told me she and my grandson had found a place and were moving. What better time to clean out and pack. The problem was how. I struggled with this realizing alot of what was in the house was not useful to us. Either my home or hers. My son had stuff in the attic that he probably doesn't even remember. Anything recyclable we could take around the corner. We have a center there that gives these items to those in need. The problem was so much of it was just plain garbage and we still had it because we couldn't just put it out to the trash and borrowing someone's truck for a dump run would mean 40 dump runs and a lot of money. So in the end I decided the only course of action would be to rent a dumpster. The idea was a bit scary but I would spend the money any way. So here it is. My dumpster for 10 day's. I almost single handedly have filled this dumpster to the brim in this 10 day's. The money aside. I am feeling very happy with myself. Garbage gone, spot's empty. Yard cleaned up and once my daughter gets her self moved into her new apartment.......room to move in this tiny house!

Morning Glory

2010-08-17T11:23:00.004-04:00

Yes they are growing! This is the first we have had a good strong sun in a few day's and not alot of the flowers opened but there are lot's on the vines. I love the way it is growing up the side of the house. When they all bloom I have a great group of flowers right at the roof level!

These are growing a bit unevenly but they are filling in. I think I may have to get some twine out there because there is lot of vines that are just really heavy. I think If I tied them up to the porch rail and spread them out a bit it would encourage them to fill in across the front of the railing better.

New Baby in the House!

2010-08-11T17:23:00.002-04:00

Our new 9 week old baby boy is here. I shouldn't say our's because he was my grandson's birthday gift and he and his mom will be moving into their own apartment in 10 day's. So "Tex" will only be here for 10 day's while I try not to get too attached. We have had a house full of animals for as long as I can remember. My daughter was alway's rescuing and now my granddaughter is doing it. She found this little guy on the side of a road and several of it's sibling were dead in the road obviously having been hit by cars. She brought him home without a thought and fast thinking girl that she is, she walked in the door , stuck her hands out with the kitten in them and said "Happy Birthday Josh!" What could I or Tori's mom say at that point?
Oh well, he's tiny, he's beautiful, doesn't eat much yet and won't be here long sadly, not only is he already very comfy on my couch,.......I'm already in love.

Excitement for me today!

2010-08-05T18:42:00.002-04:00

I am not very normal when it comes to shopping. I know shoe shopping excites many people, new clothes for others, Not me. I hate shopping, I hate wandering through stores, I hate dealing with crowds of people. My mom is a shopper. My sister and my daughter are shoppers. But not me. The only time I get excited is when one of them say "Let's go bead shopping". Now that's a whole different ball game and I am so there!.
I bulk order most of my seedbeads,needles and threads from Fire Mountain. Getting that package in the mail excites me. Those other things like accent beads, crystal's, pearls, the things I buy in smaller quantities, I have been making a point of exploring supply shop's on Etsy. I don't get to buy often and don't spend alot of money at one time but oh it is such fun. Any way, I happened to be going through some forum threads and found a shop that I just had to browse through and I am so glad I did. This is a newer seller but her shop is just full of great supplies and her prices are wonderfully reasonable. That's important because you know yourself, it's hard to charge a reasonable price for your own work if you spending big dollars and supplies but at the same time you want to use good materials. Any way, I decided to do a small purchase to check her out and it came in today's mail. I was excited to find the package in my mail box and when I opened it up and examined everything I was so excited and happy I had to take a picture and share it with you. If your looking for this type of jewelry supply, you should take a peek at:
www.stonesforcozumel.etsy.com
Myself, I will be going back to visit her as soon as I can spend a few more dollars.

Feeling a bit bad.

2010-08-04T19:48:00.002-04:00

Today I wanted to follow a blog that I fell in love with. I have very honestly said I follow alot of blogs. I enjoy spending hours reading what everyone has to say. To my surprise I got a message that said I was at my limit of blogs I could follow. For real? I guess it should not surprise me, I don't keep track, I just sign in and read whatever catches my eye of new post's on the reading list. I spent a bit of time thinking about what I could do because as I said, I really, really like the blog I just discovered. Then I decided I could weed out some that are really not about what interests me. But how do I do that. Of course I follow alot of beading blogs because there in lies my passion, But the others I follow , I do because they have posted something I enjoyed reading or I have had some type of communication with them, oh a multitude of excuses. Then I thought maybe there was a way I could see if any blogs I follow are no longer active but not closed accounts. Well I found no easy way so started just going through my list, clicking on them one at a time and I did find there are many, many blogs that the owner has not posted in in months. There is my answer! It will be very time consuming but I am going through the whole list and any one that hasn't posted for months I will unfollow. Great thinking, I will free up space and be more selective in the future. What I didn't count on is how bad I would feel every time I clicked the unfollow button. Will they notice? Do they stop in to check?
Can they see that debsparkles left? LOL, yeah, that's pretty sad but I felt terrible and guilty for doing this like I was actually going to hurt someone's feelings. Whats really sad , I have only made it through a few alphabets in my list. Ouch!

I'm found

2010-07-30T00:37:00.003-04:00

I know I have been missing a bit, was dealing with some issues, had to shut down a bunch of stuff I was doing and lost some things. I decided I really didn't want to lose my blog even though I seldom have anything earthshaking to share so I have spent this evening clicking things to find it and restore it. So here I am and up top is a picture of the cuff I just posted in my Etsy shop tonight. I really love making these darn things!
Alot of things going on right now, for starter's I am getting ready to attempt a job once more. I know, I tried, I failed, I gave up. Sorry that's just not who I am so I am going to try again and see what happens. Mean time, I have shut down my zibbet shop. Concentrating on building my Etsy shop takes alot of my time and lets face it, when your on a site for 1 year and 3 weeks without a single sale what's the point? I have struggled for years trying to get 100 items listed in Etsy and haven't made it , of course each time I reach 50 something I have a few sales and that number drops again but maybe if I reallly concentrate and work on it I can get 100 items before Christmas shopping season. See you later ;o)

Day dreaming with beads

2010-07-24T22:31:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things to do! Grab some piles of beads and thread a needle and just let them dictate where to go from there. My mom got several of these great Cherry Quartz Donuts on a special sale, gave me one to see what I would do with it. It's really large so I knew I didn't want fringe but needed a good focal point in the front. So I pulled out the glass and the freshwater pearls and here's what we have! Can't wait to see what mom does with hers.

My Green Thumb

2010-07-24T17:22:00.003-04:00

I admit it. I don't have one. Give me a plant and I promise I can kill it in one week. But I am so very excited about what's happening in front of my house. I live in the city and have no front yard. Just the few inches before the side walk and a little 3 ft by 3 ft square next to the porch.
I used to spend a fortune buying flowers everyspring and planting them in this spot. A few years ago I noticed in my backyard (small jungle) I had a lot of wild morning glories growing. Little by little I started digging up the little sprouts and transplanting them in the front. They were very small and straggly and for a while they looked like they were going to die. But then they took hold. What you see here has happened just over the last few weeks and even though they are not out today because it's a truly gloomy , rainy day, I have lot's of buds ready to flower when the sun peeps out. I can't wait to show you how much they grow in the next few weeks.

Catching my breath

2010-07-23T20:07:00.002-04:00

The day's are just flying by, I feel like I have been crazy busy ad I don't really know why!

So first off, let me ask...anyone having any success with Christmas in July? I sure haven't. I have put almost all my items at about 1/2 price. I have renewed something at least twice a day.......nothinggggggg! Oh well it was worth a shot. Hope someone out there has had better luck.

This brings me to something else. July 18th was my one year anniversary on Zibbet. Have never had a sale in that shop. I will admit I don't put anywhere near the same amount of work into it but is it worth hanging on or just stay concentrated on my Etsy shop?

I am truly thinking I will be wiser to close it and just chanel that time and work into Etsy. Course there is so much controversial stuff going on in the Etsy forums that has me a bit concerned but I don't get involved in that so maybe it's best to ignore and continue to cultivate my little corner ;o)

Well I have some really good new's to share, I have talked to you about my cousin Amy. Her time in Iraq has ended for now and she returned to American soil 2 day's ago. This of course is truly wonderful for my family.

The downfall being, she was to be there 12 months and they for whatever reason finished early so the possibility that she could yet be attached to another unit and go back to Iraq for a third

tour is very possible. We can only wait and see.

My sister got home yesterday for a visit yesterday. She and her husband live in Dubai, UAE, or as she calls it "the land of sand" Can't wait to see her, she's only here for a week and it will still be a few years before she can move home.

Just about the time she leaves, my brother who lives in California will be home for the yearly visit. Hmmmmm I guess I do have a few reason's to be busy right now, so I am going to leave you with this "Happy,happy weekend everyone!

Just a quick catch up

2010-07-15T23:52:00.003-04:00

Just thought I would stop in very quickly to see how everyone is doing! I posted a picture of Prince Alex on top just because I think he is the cutest thing , I may a bit partial though.
I have spent this past week, any time I can get on line just editing Etsy listings with my sale prices for the Christmas in July sale. I have my fingers crossed that this sale brings me some visits ;o) The high heat and humidity has not let up. I don't think I have ever used my air conditioning as much as I have the last few weeks but I am trying not to complain, before you know it Fall will be here and our winter is soooo very long. I am hoping to post some pictures of new work here very soon. In the mean time, happy Friday, hope your looking forward to a great weekend.

Almost Back!

2010-07-09T12:05:00.002-04:00

I am happy, I just got the computer my brother offered me and as soon as my daughter has some time off she will get me hooked up! Then maybe things can get back to normal here ;o)

In the meantime, how many of you are participating in the Christmas in July sale on Etsy? I have had an Etsy shop since October 2007 but so far have not done the CIJ sale. As an added way of working on my new mission I decided that I will try it this year. Add that to the fact that there are alot of peices that I would like to move out of the shop so over the next few day's I will be editing and pricing just about everything in the shop. Most items will be up to 50% off.
I don't know if most people feel this way but when I list an item and it sit's and sit's through several renewal's I am happy to put it on sale and give it a home. I guess I just don't like work to "sit" for a long time even though it is never been used, worn, played with since I made it.
I used to be the same way when I did craft show's, if I took the same necklace to every show for a year I felt like it was old and either sale priced it, gave it a way or took it apart to reuse the beads for something else.

Hope everyone is enjoying life , I am staying in the house with the AC on because the heat has been killer for the last week. Have a great day and I will see you on a more regular basis soon.
D

Got Bugs?

2010-06-29T23:34:00.002-04:00

Yes I do! More accurately, my computer has a baad virus which is why I haven't posted anything in several weeks. I do apologize and I hope not to be missing too much longer but whatever I got into my computer is a tough little bug and is giving us quite a time. My brother just offered me a computer, say's it's old and slow as heck but if it let's me keep an eye on things while mine is hospitalized I'll take it. Bear with me and I will be back soon.
Deb

Educate me Please

2010-06-19T21:24:00.003-04:00

I am on a mission and I have spent my entire day thinking how to approach things and plan it out and all that good stuff. Then I decided to tell you about it here and maybe get some feedback that will help . My sister and I want to move my parents. My dad is an amputee, very poor health with very little motivation to do much for himself. This leaves it up to my mom to wait on him hand and foot. My mom who is an amazing person is having a large amount of problems with her own health and it is getting harder and harder for her to do everything she needs to do on her own. I am the only child living right here in the same city as my parents. My siblings are spread far and wide. The problem is, even though we are in the same city, I am not allowed to drive, don't have any one I can count on for a ride and I just get really frustrated knowing that my mom needs help, even if it to help her clean house once a week and I have a problem getting to her.
Okay, now that we have the idea, get them into town near me so that I can be available when needed but this costs money. I have to figure out a way to help and you all know the situation I live with , coming up with money for something like this is just a bit funny. But I am determined to do my best. I have decided all sales from my online stores, and my daughter is throwing in all the profit's from her Etsy shop, will go towards my mission.

Here is the problem, it has alway's been the thing that held me back from doing well in sales. I cannot market myself. I do not know how to use the words that draw customers. I do facebook and twitter but well, facebook is mostly staying in touch with family and friends, I do have many "friends" and regularly post my new listings but I feel like 95% of my friends list are other Etsy shops and we are in non stop competition. I guess I feel the same way about twitter, we are all there for the same reason. I only post listing's a few times a week and don't really push myself onto people. If I come up with a good advertising statement I look at it and think, OMG aren't I a bit full of myself, or I feel like I'm begging for people to come see me.

I have a feeling alot of other online sellers have this same problem. So tell me, how do you advertise yourself? How do you find the right words that work up interest without seeming to brag about yourself? I am needing some ideas.

What I am going to do......I am going to post something in promotions. I am going to be diligent in having a different "Tonights Special" that changes every night and I will keep posting the sale in the promotion thread to keep having it appear, at least once every night ;o)
I will stay on top of it.

If you know people who like beadweaving or hand sewn sequined ornaments will you share out addresses? http://www.debsparkles.etsy.com
http://www.heathersparkles.etsy.com

Okay, let me have it...I need your thoughts, advice,ideas and know how!
Thanks, Debbie

http://www.heathersparkles.etsy.com

Something Strange is Going on!

2010-06-12T22:26:00.003-04:00

I don't know how long I can stay on so let me explain and then we will see how long this works. I don't post alot of new blogs because I am basically a very quite person and really don't have a whole lot to say. But I do log into blogger everyday because I truly enjoy reading everyone else's blog. That said this past week I am having a real problem. I log in, go to the list of new blog posts and just as I begin reading I get kicked off. I am curious if it happens while writing my own post. It is truly annoying because I have missed out on alot of stuff I want to read. GRRRRR. That said, I am still here. Why? I just want to read your new posts!!!

I have been trying to get work done this week. I am on a mission to start filling both my shops and have at least 3 Ebay auctions a month up. My daughter made it through her oral surgery and is putting everything else on hold til summer is over. She went back to bartending (which she is great at) and this is the time of year (June through Labor day) when she brings home big money in tips. After she made the decision to do that , it was a natural next decision that my summer will be revolving around babysitting my grandkids. It is the only way to do this, she works all night so must be able to sleep during the day so hiring a babysitter would get us no where. So I really have to find the way to get my sales up so I can start having the money to take care of my own stuff. I did list this bag in Ebay yesterday, yes I am still on the white and grey kick but this was the last one ;o)

So now blogger has let me stay on to post this so I am going back to my dashboard to see if it will let me read anything.

Staying focused

2010-06-05T17:40:00.003-04:00

That's what I have been doing this week. Staying focused on producing work. I find that often, when I am working with a certain color bead I like to make up several items before I put that color away and switch over. This necklace and bracelet are not a set. But I had out my favorite pearly white seedbeads and I had made several of the polymer clay cabs. That's the extent of the similarity in the items but they are two majorly time consuming items.

Have also been working on alot of little items. I am going to take part in the Christmas in July sale on Etsy. The weather has been wonderful so I have spent many hours a day on the front porch enjoying the air, watching the world go by and making keyrings, bracelets, bookmarks and keyring lariets for the summer sale.

Hope you are doing well today, have a happy weekend.

R & R Even in Iraq

2010-05-27T10:57:00.004-04:00

I was happy to learn that my cousin does get some time to kick back and relax with her fellow soldiers. She posted some pictures on her facebook and I thought it would be fun to share. Please keep all our soldiers in your everyday thoughts.

Time is getting away

2010-05-22T21:11:00.002-04:00

It's seems like the day's are passing quickly, I alway's am in the middle of something but at the same time feel like I'm spinning my wheels. There is so much drama going on in my house with my grown kids and as hard as I try, I can't get away from it. I also can't seem to stay online more than a few minutes at a time so getting very little accomplished. I did get to post this cuff today though. Put it in my Zibbet shop. Went out with some friends last week, haven't done that in such a long, long time. It was great fun! I love catching up with friends when I can so seldom see them. I can tell this machine is getting ready to kick me offline so everyone have a great weekend!

It's done !!!

2010-05-12T19:01:00.004-04:00

I just a few day's ago noticed I had 5 different projects in the works sitting all over my desk. I hate when I start doing that because I feel like someone with ADD, which my kids and grandkids have but didn't think I did. Any way I made up my mind these all had to be finished up before I started anything else. The business card holder has taken forever. I lined the inside with black suede and when the case is closed all you see either on the front or the back is one rose. I have tried 2x to upload some pictures. I am going to try again before I post this but if it does not work again, I will just add them in later.

Here we go again!

2010-05-10T16:33:00.003-04:00

I am very conciencous ? about recycling. I empty my food containers, through them in the sink, wash them, sort them into the right bins. A few years ago I found out that after all that work I have done to recycle my empty's, the garbage truck was throwing them into the same bucket as the trash, when they got to the landfill most of the recycling got dumped into the same hole as the trash. It made me wonder why I was doing all this work to keep them out of the landfill when the trash people I paid good money to was not!
So I started thinking about what I could do to change that. Since I have raised my family with a regular craft nights their whole lives any way, we started coming up with ideas. We made cookie containers out of plastic coffee cans, painted Santa and Elf faces on them with little felt hats to cover the lid and used them for Christmas one year. This was a hit until the glitter started falling off them!

When I am not beading, I love to play with polymer clay, I also love to paint. I used to teach ceramics and miss it. Any way I started playing with the clay and started turning glass jelly jars, tin soup cans, etc. into pencil /paintbrush holders, little coin banks, odds and ends jar's.
At this point I am overloaded. One can only need just so many clay covered soup can's!

Then I got to thinking, My jewelry is selling really slowly, I need more money coming in and just know I can't go out and find a job. Tried that, broke my heart when I had to leave.
Then I thought, maybe I should try making some of these to post in my Etsy shop. I have seen some very strange things being sold on Etsy. I know, I know. I gave the sequined ornaments over to my daughter because I wanted my Etsy store to stay on track with my beadwork. But it's not going any where so what can it hurt if I diversify. Maybe start adding more of my jewelry on my Zibbett site and start putting my claywork on my Etsy site for a bit just to see what happens. Yup..........here we go again!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T12:25:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to take a moment and say Happy Mothers Day to all the mom's and mom's to be today. Find something to make your day special. Even if it just something little like a half an hour to do something you love that's not about your craft. I know I will.
Enjoy!

I'm slacking

2010-05-05T22:06:00.002-04:00

I just realized I hadn't posted in a week. I do try to do it each weekend but it seems like I have had a great deal of stuff going on this week. Not sure exactly what but just constantly doing something! I did spend some time going through my "stock tub" and decided to relist this wall hanging on Etsy again. Sometimes when I think stuff has been on there too long I retire it for a bit when the listing expires.
My "stock tub" is a plastic storage tote that I try to add finished peices too so that if a craft show comes up or any chance to show my work, I have a handful of finished work. I have a goal of someday having the tote completely full but that's not easy. Between listing in my shops and daily life it just doesn't happen.

My Jewelry group is still waiting for an answer from City hall on whether or not we will get out sidewalk vender permit. Waiting makes me crazy!!

I finished lining the bead embroidered case and I am in the process of sewing it together so hopefully will be able to show you a picture of the completed peice in a few day's.
Also working on a handful of the Butterfly necklaces.
That's about all that is going on right now so I hope your enjoying beautiful weather this week. I am loving being able to be outside.

Bead embroidery done

2010-04-29T23:18:00.004-04:00

Please excuse my Butterfly, I uploaded it by accident and can't figure out how to take it off. That's okay though, she's a pretty one. The Butterfly has been my business logo since 1989 and I am alway's looking for pretty ones to use.

I finished the bead embroidery on my experiment today. Since then I have been giggling my butt off. The embroidery work has taken me 37 hours. So if I charged minimum wage for my labor alone I already have the price up to $271.00. MMMMMM I don't think that would work out well for sales but you never know. Any way at this point , I have changed my mind about the end product. This piece has some weight to it. If I add lining, fringing, and a neckchain it would not be easy to wear. So this piece will be just a Credit Card/Business Card holder to tuck in my purse. The size is perfect! So now I am getting ready to line it and stitch it together so the next picture I post will be the finished product. Hope your having a great week.

A New Project

2010-04-26T19:03:00.003-04:00

I love beaded embroidery. I seldom do much with it because it is very time consuming and uses ton's of beads. I was curious though, never really did enough to know how long a peice would take, exactly how much materials it would take, would there be any real interest in finished peices. So I am conducting a study. When finished this will be an Amulet necklace, about 2" wide by 3" tall. It will have to be fully lined so the stitching is all hidden, I am recording the amounts of seedbeads and the amount of work hours, start to finish. Then I will figure out what something of this nature would retail for. This summer, I might, be selling my work as a sidewalk vender and it will be fun to have some peices like this just to gauge peoples reaction. Not only to the work but to the price. LOL. I will show you a picture from time to time as this progresses.

Your thoughts please

2010-04-21T14:19:00.002-04:00

As you know a few months back, I handed over the sequined ornament department to my daughter so she could open an Etsy shop. This weekend I realized I was suffering from withdrawel. I love sewing sequins onto shapes and making things glitter. So I took a break from my work and spent some time playing in the sequins. After I finished a Butterfly for the project that's still being worked on , I was curious about what it would look like in a necklace so played a bit longer. When I was finished my granddaughter who will be 14 next week and a bit more mature than I would like said that teenagers would love wearing these , it was truly awesome.
So I am pondering this. Personally, I love it, I love sequins, I love the sparkle and the sort of fantasy effect. But the question is, would normal people be interested in buying sequin jewelry? I know there alot of new fads out there so I don't truly trust my own opinion.

So I am asking you. Please give me your thoughts.....if you have a teenaged daughter would you purchase this item? What would be an agreeable price? Any and all thoughts welcome here while I decide whether or not to try it.

Milo

2010-04-15T12:33:00.003-04:00

Good morning everyone, I would like you to meet Milo, our cat. Milo said he was tired of the dogs getting all the glory and he want's his moment in the limelight. Truth be know, the only time he is around is for meals and naps so we seldom get to take pictures and right now he has a cold so we are constantly wiping his eyes and my granddaughter has actually figured out how to blow his nose. Since when does a cat catch a cold in April?

Sunday catch up

2010-04-11T18:20:00.003-04:00

I just looooove this amulet necklace. Love the color's love the branch fringing , heheh love the fact that I made it and listed in my Etsy shop Today!

This week has gone by very , very quickly. The weather has been awesome. A few day's of gloomy rain but for the most part that gorgeous sunshine was out there. 2 day's midweek it was actually warm enough to sit out side and I literally spent 2 full day's sitting on the front porch, doing my beading and watching the world go by. I love it, my time of year. outside , still accomplishing my work, staying away from the computer until almost bedtime. Heaven. That made me feel very good, now I look forward to feeling better because sitting on my porch working is what I will do until next September when the warm day's start to fade away.

Lot's of drama and tears going on in my house, daughter and her boyfriend having some serious issues, I am ignoring all of it. I actually have gotten alot of work done, put up several listing's in my Etsy and Zibbett shops and did some listing's for my daughter in her Etsy shop. We haven't really had time to sit down together so I can teach her how to run her shop as in the posting and listing, etc.
Any way, I have a maybe an hour before we lose the sunshine so I am going to take a very slow walk, Just wanted to see if your all having a great weekend. I truly hope so!

Greetings

2010-04-05T23:01:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a lovely Easter. Mine was rather quiet. It was good though, we had a nice dinner, My son and his girlfriend were with us and my daughters boyfriend. I missed coloring Easter Eggs. Alway's a big tradition, my grandson was with his father and my granddaughter was with a friend on a week end sleep over so, we passed this year. I did not realize how just not right it would feel to me to not have everybody making a huge mess in my kitchen!
I have gotten caught up on some work, I love working with pastel seedbeads so I am definately feeling like "spring" is here and using the colors. I listed these today, one on Ebay, one on Zibbett and one on Etsy.

I realized today, you have probably noticed at the very bottom of this page is a paypal badge and blogger special note but I never explained it to you. Here it is. You know I make sequined ornaments and have taught my daughter to make them. She recently opened an Etsy shop and now has taken over making the ornaments and we pulled them out of my shop.
An anytime offer for my blog readers: If you would like a sample of her ornaments you can purchase for a special price of $1.50. That just covers the padded envelope and first class postage. You won't get a choice, what ever we have enough of done we will pick one. Any way just make a paypal payment to me at : deb913@gmail.com
In the message to seller area write blogger special. We will send you out an ornament. That simple, a way for me to say thank you for reading my blog. Every once in a while I will put up a reminder notice but this will always be here.

Time for bed, have a wonderful week.

Spring Colors

2010-04-05T22:58:00.003-04:00

Another attempt

2010-03-29T18:53:00.003-04:00

Looks like this is going to work this time. I got to thinking today while I was cleaning some old stuff out of the computer. When things get really bad and I get to the point that I am blatantly stressing and telling why I'm stressing, it's time to refocus. That's what I am doing today, just refocusing myself. I have spent years battling to keep things together and with as many problems and tough spot's I have been through, I am still here and when I look around I have so many, many things good in my life. I am so lucky to have a large family. We are all very different, we are spread to all corners of the world but the love is there and we all find a way to connect, even if one of us is having a difficult time the rest are there to pat on the back and reassure that all will be well. I have great kids and I am a very lucky person to have my grandchildren right here in my house where I can see, love, and interact with them everyday. And my two best friends who are by my side day and night with the greatest unconditional love any one could ask for. Yeah those two critters at the top of this post. That's what got me thinking this morning as I sat having my coffee my little guy alex was up on my shoulder kissing my cheek and my big girl morgan sitting right at my feet with her face on my lap , her eyes just asking for a little stroking. That's it, that's enough to make me wake up and realize what ever I do without materially, I have sooo much love in my life I can get through anything. Have a wonderful evening.

Remembering what's important

2010-03-29T14:52:00.001-04:00

A Special

2010-03-28T09:50:00.003-04:00

I am not exactly sure how to start this post without leaving the wrong impression. I need some serious help and need to tell you what I am doing without seeming to be a whiner or want to give a "poor poor me" impression so I am going to first of all just give you the facts. I have alway's sold my work basically to replace supplies. When my illness hit the worst I started on Ebay and then on to Etsy to sell but I think I do it more for the social aspect and involvement in something besides myself more than making money. Sales have never been wonderful but enough to keep me moving forward. Now a big issue.........
If you have been following my blog for a while you know I struggle financially on an everday basis. My self, my daughter and her 2 children have been trying to live on my disability check and it truly has not been easy but we have been doing what we needed to do to get by.
2 weeks ago , my daughter was finally diagnosed after over a year of being unable to work but none of the Dr.s being able to find out what was wrong with her. A new neurologist has read all her films and bloodwork etc. She has my disease (chiari malformation) plus a few added complications . She has hydrocephilitis so badly it is crushing the nerves which is why her hands and feet are not working. So we have a long uphill battle of surgeries and therapy ahead and will not know until it's all done if they were able to help her enough for her to return to a job or will she be like me and so disabled as to be unable to work. That all remains to be seen while this play's out.
Now the facts. We have been losing things for a while. We lost tv last December, not the end of the world but tought to be without. I because I have such a small disability check was receiving food stamps for my grandkids, because I attempted to work a few hours a day for a few months, they took most of them away from me. I am struggling to keep my grandkids fed. I lost my health insurance because I made $12.00 a month too much at my 2 hour a day job, the sad part about that is I had to leave the job after a few months because my physical disabilites impaired my ability to do the work.
Now here I sit, not enough food in the house ever, no tv for the grandkids, no way to pay for my prescriptions, and the latest, they are turning my electricity off in 2 day's. There are no options, no where to go, no money to move, no one to help us so It is on my head to figure it out.

Now why am I telling you all this if I am not just whining about poor me? Because I am going to ask for your help. I am going to ask you to help me spread the word about a sale I am going to have in my Etsy shop. Not quite sure how to advertise other than starting a promo thread and putting something in my announcement but here it is:

Starting now.....I am having a make me an offer sale. See something you like but not the price... send me a convo....make me an offer.....any reasonable offer accepted. I will go in and make a special reserved listing of that item with your price.

So there it is. I am plain and simple asking you to help spread the work about my sale. Obviously people who make their own jewelry aren't going to be interested but I know there
are alot of people out there who don't and these are the people I want to reach, by blog, by twitter, by any means, a handful of sales will help me fight to keep the power on so I will feel I am making my best attempt to rise above this. And then pray I never have to post something like this again! Thank you for helping me spread the word.
www.debsparkles.etsy.com

Spring Baby!

2010-03-19T18:15:00.004-04:00

For the last few years we have had a huge red-headed woodpecker hanging around my house. This has excited me each time I saw it because first of all, it is not a creature that you usually find right in my area and second of all he/she was huge. Even without a way to actually measure it I can tell you without hesitation that it was a good 14" tip to tail. Today has been a beautiful day and we have been in and out of the house and look what we spied in the tree across the street. No , that is not the big one, this is a baby. Has to be from the one that has been coming to visit because it looks exactly like it only much smaller. Just one of those little things that excite me.

My 2nd one done with improvements

2010-03-16T14:25:00.003-04:00

Greetings to you, I have had so much going on, by the time I think to stop in here and post it's either the wee hours of the morning or I have to run an errand. I just finished the second "Flag Bag". The first one that I made for Amy made it to Iraq this past week and is gracing her wall. My sister Donna chimed in she needed some. That makes me a little worried, that means my sister is going to take orders from her friends. Donna's husband is lifetime military and they have been in the United Arabic Emerit since 2008, hard to picture my sister living in the land of sand and camels after growing up in NorthEast , NY. I have been sending her care packages of beading supplies, she is also very crafty and the funny thing is, where she is living there are huge amounts of goods being sold that are beaded, wall hangings to scarves. Yet....she can't buy beading supplies! Any way this is her bag, made some changes so it is better than the first, but still have some more changes for the next one. In the mean time this one is on the way to Dubai this week.
Other than that I have been putting belongings that I need to clean out up on Ebay all week. I do need to make one of these bags for my Etsy shop , and I just this past week agreed to make 10 mini amulet bags for consignment for a shop in another state. I am a bit hesitant but I will try it and see how it works. The lady owns a shop that sells jewelry made by her and a few others and she thinks my bags will go very well. We shall see. Hope you all are enjoying a beautiful, sunny day like I am here, I should be out playing in it rather than sitting in this studio.

I had to laugh so I'm sharing

2010-03-11T20:50:00.003-05:00

I have been on a mission today. I have spent the last few day's stressing about the fact that I can't pay any of my bills then stressing about whether or not I am going to have a roof over my head soon and I got to thinking........If I lose my home what the hell do I do with all my stuff? That got me thinking even harder......I have an attic full of stuff, I have a cellar full of stuff, I have a spare bedroom full of stuff. Nothing great, just stuff we have collected, different crafts I have tried my hand at, outgrown clothes , you know exactly what I mean. Collections of life.
Then I got to thinking if I used any of this stuff, it wouldn't be stored in the attic or the cellar.
So I have spent the entire day starting to do a clean out, one box or bag at a time, either toss it, donate it or put it up on ebay. My old craft supplies especially on ebay. During this process I came across this purse pin. When I first started playing with polymer clay I made a bunch of these, the face basically all the same but different hairdo's some even had leaves for hair, some had strands of beads hanging from their hair. Each one had a big brooch pin in the back plus a top to hang it from a necklace. Any way it was a really good time for me playing with these, I don't know where they all went but I found this one in a box and it gave me a really good chuckle. Back to work now.