New Stuff!

I have been working at getting new stuff listed in my Etsy shop in the past couple of weeks. I still have a box full of beads that are ready to be listed but I'm making a dent! I'm also working on my masters degree so that tends to mean LOTS of writing which I'm putting off doing at the moment because the subject is not one that interests me....

Anyway, here is my newest listing!

Moving on and beads

So on the job front, I'm jobless. Yep. Really have nothing else to say about it; just going to move on and hope that the next job will be with people I can respect and who are not so threatened by someone who is going to stand up for what is right.

Anyway, I have spent most of the day back and forth between looking for a new job and working on my Etsy shop (see the shop mini to the right). I have neglected it for sometime as well. Because of that I have a PILE of beads that need to be listed. I know that sounds like a simple process but is really isn't. First they all have to have their pictures taken at least twice. Once I do that I put them in separate little baggies so that if there are several that look similar I can make sure that the buyer gets exactly what is in the picture (unless it is a made to order listing). Once I have a good bit of them packaged up this way, I get the pictures loaded into my computer. From here on out is my least favorite part of the process! I have several different places I use for photo editing, but I will be honest, I really don't know much about it. My main goal is to make the subject look as much like it does in real life as possible. Sometimes that isn't exactly easy. Once the photos are finished, then it's time to write the description. I'm not very good at that part either, but alas, it must be done. I always write my descriptions in Word fist one, to make sure I don't lose it and two because it has spell check! ;) When this is done, it is finally time to actually list the bead. This process takes some time but it is worth every step of the process when someone stumbles across something I have made and "hearts" it, or better yet buys it! If you haven't already, please check out my shop and let me know what you think!

Here is a pic of my most recent listing.

I'm back! :)

After a looooong absence, I am back to blogging! There has been so much going on in life and such that I just haven't had time to update anything really but I am starting to realize that it isn't something that is destined to change anytime soon, so I may as well just "make time" for the things I want to do! Since I last wrote, I now have a new job that I am really happy with; working as a home health nurse at the local hospital. This is a "specialty" that I hadn't really considered before until someone suggested I give it try and I am really glad that I did. We are a very small agency with only a few nurses and most days we all get along great and that just makes for a much nicer working environment than where I was before. Plus now I get to work "normal hours" most of the time.
I wrote before about being part of a dachshund rescue group; for reasons I won't get into here, we have decided to no longer participate with them, however we have added two more doxies to our family....these will be the last as this puts us up to four! :)
I still make and sell beads via Etsy; and I still LOVE it! I have a few new listings up and more to follow soon!

Still no puppies.

Well, looks like we will have to wait until next weekend again for our foster dogs to get here. They are having some trouble finding enough volunteers to get them from a to b. It probably worked out better for us this way anyway; it was 73 degrees earlier this week and right now there is about 3 inches of snow outside! That is Missouri weather for you!

Maybe this will give me a chance to take some pictures of all those beads that I have piled up in my studio just waiting to be listed in my Etsy shop! I have some lovely big hole bracelet beads that I am really tempted to keep for myself if I don't get them listed soon! I have been having so much fun with silver foil and frits and heavy encasement on them and most of them have turned out just beautiful!

I talked a bit before about my nurse practitioner prescribing me a new medicine for my migraines and being afraid to take it, well I finally did and it worked with no side effects which was great! Unfortunately I was still having headaches almost daily and it had been going on for almost a month even after adjustments from my chiropractor and a round of antibiotics and trying some medicine for allergies so she put me on a daily medicine for the headaches now and it seems to be helping with very few side effects but right now it makes me sleepy still so that is another part of the reason you haven't been seeing very many new blog posts or new beads or anything from me for a while, I am just trying to get back to a good working rhythm. I am getting there, it's just taking a bit longer than I would have liked. But I'm feeling better and the sleepiness is less and less each day so hopefully things will pick up again soon! :)

Finally a NEW Listing!

I finally got some pictures taken of some of the beads I have had laying around here for weeks now; I even managed to get one set listed! :)

I had a decent time at my Granny's yesterday, but the drive wore me out (couldn't have had anything to do with only 4 hours of sleep the night before!) It is a bit frustrating to spend much time there though for several reasons. My grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago and has had a stroke as well, but for some reason my Granny still seems to believe there is nothing wrong with him and that he is "faking" and only does the things he does to irritate her. She on the other hand, is severely depressed but refuses to acknowledge it or be put on any medication for it. It all just makes me sad. As I said though, yesterday really went pretty well all things considered. She made a peanut butter pie for me (my fav!) and she is the ONLY one who knows how to make it right! We visited for hours and ate till we felt we would bust and then visited some more. I left home at 9am and got back a little after 7pm and it really did make for a very long day, but well worth the trip!

Well, off to edit more pics and maybe list something else in my Etsy store!

Oh, and here is a pic of the set I just listed!

Lucky me, are YOU next?

So I told you all in the previous post I had won a bead from StudioMarcy. I knew that I would be ecstatic with whatever bead she decided to send to me, but I did not expect for her to pick one of my favorites from her shop and send it to me! I was beyond thrilled, I think my poor hubby was a bit scared that I was that excited over a bead! :) Anyway, here is the bead she sent me (hope you don't mind Marcy, I used your pic. It is better than I can take!)



So not only did I get this amazing bead, but about a week or so before that I also won a bead from Jennifer Cameron of GlassAddictions! I haven't had the chance to take a picture of it yet, but it too, is truly amazing! It is from her Insomnia series which is just beautiful! I will try to get a pic of it sometime this week.

Anyway, now it seems that it is time for me to give back. I have been lucky enough to win two beads so now I will give away one of my beads! Post a comment here giving me a two or three color combo to work with and from those posts I will let my hubby draw a winner for a free bead! (make sure you leave a way for me to contact you!) I will let this run through Sunday and try to post the winner on Monday, Good Luck!

The Bright Side of a Bad Day.

I had to work tonight and it was not a great night. I had to send two of my staff to the ER for tetanus shots after being bit and scratched by the individuals we care for. I still don't really know anything about the whole transfer thing I posted about before other than that it will be at least another 2 weeks before any decision will be made and that now I know they don't have to take into consideration that I already work there because I have been back for less than 6 months (the initial probationary period); they can hire someone from off the street with no experience and throw them over there with the one other nurse who had 4 months of experience there and only psych experience before that in a mostly medical building....makes since right? Well that is the state of Misery (yeah, I know it's spelled Missouri, but if you live here, you know) for ya!

Anyway, I won a bead! Not just any bead mind you a Marcy Lamberson bead! She makes the most amazing whimsical pieces you have ever seen! I have never seen a bead of hers that I didn't like so I am sure I will love what I get! Be sure and check out her blog and her Etsy shop, you will see what I mean! ;)

I have a pile of beads that need to be cleaned so I will have them ready to be able to take pics tomorrow if the weather cooperates, but am I doing that? No. I am blogging, and then I am going over to the abc.com website to watch last nights episode of Grey's Anatomy! It is the only thing I really ever watch with any regularity, but since I work on Thursdays I always have to wait until Friday night and watch it online. It works for me though! Maybe I'll clean beads after that....maybe.

New Series

A few posts back I spoke about a new series I had in the works. Well, it is finally time to show it to you, at least the first of the series. I got this idea after finding out what the October challenge would be for LEST (Lampwork Etc. Street Team) on Etsy; breast cancer awareness. I have made very few goddesses to this point but the idea of a "Survivor Goddess" popped into my head as I was trying to think of things to create for this challenge. To me, a goddess represents the beauty and grace of the female form regardless of size, shape, age, color...or whatever else. I was so excited about the idea of this that I made several before it occurred to me that some might be offended by this...if you are one of them, I am truly sorry. I didn't create these to offend anyone, the plan is to raise awareness. As part of the challenge on Etsy, the proceeds from anything pink and these goddesses will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Please help me support this great cause!

Sponsoring a Giveaway!

Well, our day was pretty good today. We did some shopping (and spent too much $$) and dinner was GREAT but it was a long day! I almost forgot that I am sponsoring a giveaway on Simply Sentimental the Blog this week; click here to go check it out and enter to win this sterling silver necklace with one of my own handmade hollow lampwork pumpkins!

Halloween Beads

Ok, I did manage to get a few pictures today, though they didn't turn out as good as I would have liked...


Here are a few of the beads I will be sending in for the Halloween exchange.



Not much else is new in my world, I did get a few sets of disk beads listed today in my Etsy shop and started to add a few pics to a Flikr album...that's really about it!

The End of a Long Week

Well, it's my Friday, and boy am I glad! I spent 2 days (out of 5) at work as the only nurse in the building...I don't like that much. The position I talked about in an earlier post was put up, and I applied but haven't heard anything yet; and I finally got a chance to make a few beads tonight! I entered a Halloween bead exchage over on LE and I was a couple of beads short of what I wanted to send so I *think* I should have them ready to go out this week. I still have a pile of beads to clean and take pics of for my shop but, as I said it has been a busy week and I just haven't felt like messing with it. Anyway, I decided I'm going to just relax for a bit now before I head to bed, maybe watch a movie (great time to watch a "chick movie") because my hubby just started night shifts again tonight which means I won't be able to sleep well anyway! I probably won't get much done tomorrow either as I have agreed to watch a friends baby :)
I will try to post pics of the exchange beads when I get them done and before I send them out, so keep watching! ;)

Funnel cakes and ghosts

My hubby wanted a snack tonight so I thought I would make funnel cakes! For some reason they always sound better to me when it's a bit cool out than they do when it is hot. Around here you can usually only get them at the fair. Anyway, I made these from pancake batter! Super easy; I just mix it a little thick and since I don't have a funnel, I used a plastic baggie with a corner cut off so very little clean-up either! Mmmm!! :)

I have been trying to work on Halloween beads and fall things for my Etsy shop, but I seem to have trouble staying on task. Tonight though I did get a trio of candy corn listed and a family of ghosts that are also my entry for the LEST team Halloween challenge. (Click on the LEST logo to the left to go to our page) I think they turned out rather cute! If I were a more creative writer, I could have come up with some little story to tell about why the gray one is laying down while the rest seem to be peering down at him, but my brain is gone on vacation....I wish it would come back!

Florals!

I am really excited about a couple of new floral beads I just finished! One even has cz's in it. Why am I so excited? Because these are some of the best ones I have made AND they didn't break! I know it is just part of the process of learning what works and what doesn't but it is so frustrating when you have a bead that you think is going to be amazing, and it is....until it splits right down the middle! :( I also managed to make my first hollow bead tonight....followed by several more once I figured the process out. I think it was hollow beads that first attracted me to lampwork years ago, no commercial bead can even come close to comparing to them (or any other artisan-made bead imo!). My husband even liked the hollow one, which is really saying something for a man who could really care less about beads! :) Anyway, the florals are up in my Etsy shop, here are the pictures.

Now what?

OK, so I get to work today and the lady I was talking about yesterday was sent called into the building supervisor's office, presumably about the issue yesterday; and came back to our area in tears and not speaking to anyone. My boss (one step below the building supervisor) called me later to tell me that she had discussed the issue with the woman and it was determined that she did not need to be written up for anything at this time! And, now she doesn't have to cover that area on Tuesdays (the only day the "new" lady works on our shift)! Now what do I do? I feel like I have been totally undermined. I am not kidding, I have never been yelled at like that by anyone before, and certainly not from someone I supervise! If I had talked to MY boss that way, you can bet I would have been written up if not worse! I don't really care that she doesn't have to cover, but isn't it a bit discriminatory that they are telling her that she can cover for everyone except this person? I feel like now nothing I say to her matters because she can just go to my boss and get whatever she wants...
I swear if I could figure out how to support myself through my Etsy shop or lampwork somehow, I would soooo quit my job right now!

Still working....

I'm still working on getting new things listed in my shop but this week is a bit tougher because other things in life seem to be getting in the way! Tomorrow I have a mangagement class all day that I'm sure will be absolutly thrilling; anyway I doubt I'll get much done when I get home from there. If I could only figure out a way to support myself on the things I like to do instead of the things I have to do....
I have some ideas in my head for new beads to create, but haven't had much torch time here lately to work on them. I really want to start working on more Halloween and Christmas things...maybe this weekend.

Giveaway winners!

I have contacted the winners of the giveaway! I know, it's late and it was supposed to be yesterday but I've been having problems with my ISP. At any rate the "grand prize" winner is.....sockmonkeyjungle! In looking for a way to contact the winner I stumbled accross her Etsy shop and you NEED to check it out if you haven't already http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5194547 ; these are the coolest sock monkeys I have ever seen! And while you are at it heart her shop and enter HER giveaway on her blog! I did! :)
The % off winners were all notified by email. Be sure to subscribe to my blog as I will be doing giveaways regularly from one of my shops and you don't want to miss them! :)