Job update

So I posted a while back about some things that had happened at my old job and how much I hated the tactics of my former boss. Well, I have been at the current job for just over three months now and so far things are good. Every job (at least all of them I've had) has drawbacks and things that could be better but overall I am happy. The best part? The boss is realistic, understanding, and has COMMON SENSE! Three of the main things that the former one was lacking. I haven't had much time for beads of late with different hours and school, I just don't have the time or the energy right now. I have a couple of projects in the works but it will likely be a couple of weeks before anything new hits Etsy. I still do check there almost daily and look at what others are doing and also on Pinterest...maybe this is why I don't have the time to actually MAKE the beads??? Nah, didn't think so! :)

Happy New Year

I realize I am a bit late but wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone! I hope this year is better than last, although I had some great times last year too. I hope to have more time to spend at the torch and working on things I love this year. Here is a pic of some of my most recent work, a custom order set in Boise State colors!

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!

Ready for Fall

I love this time of year! The air is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter...soon the leaves will begin to change. It's my favorite time of year! I love everything about fall, the crisp air, the warm colors, the appearance of apple cider on the shelves, and pumpkins. I LOVE PUMPKINS! I have been trying to find a way to incorporate them into my home year round, I love them that much. I have some of every shape, size, and color; mostly made of glass. Speaking of ones made of glass, here is my most recent addition to my Etsy shop, you guessed it; a sweet little pumpkin!

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!

New listings!

Two new listings today! I spent last night taking pictures so I plan to have a few more up tonight if I can get the pics edited and descriptions written. Sometimes by the time I get through that whole process I forget what I have. For example that first picture was made a while back and I just found them on my bench last night, just sitting there all ready to go! :) Anyway, you can find these two in my etsy shop now.

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! :)

Busy as Usual

I mentioned before that we had joined the All American Dachshund Rescue and will be fostering dachshunds and the rescue has been very busy of late due to several puppy mill raids. I have been working on one foster member application myslef, unfortunatly the person decided that fostering is not for right for them at this time. We were to get a female doxie a week ago Sunday but she was lucky enough to go to what I am sure will be a wonderful forever home instead. This Sunday, if everything goes as planned, we will pick up 2 *somewhere* as a caravan makes it's way from TN to AZ. It is really amazing to see the way this all works, all of this transportation is volunteer and because there are enough members, usually each "leg" of the trip is no more than 2 hours or so. I have also been working on putting together some things to donate to the rescue to put in baskets to raffle at the picnic that will take place in May in TN. I don't think we will get to make it to the picnic ourselves due to work schedules and things but it sounds like fun!
In addition to all of that, I have been working like mad trying to make new things to put in my Etsy shop, no pics unfortunately as most of it is in the kiln still or hasn't been photographed yet. I took an extra day off of work this week thinking that I would get some of these things "caught up"...not so much. :) Hubby has been sick with a nasty sinus infection so has been home 2 extra days himself. So basically it's been a whole lot of busy but not a whole lot of actually getting anything done! But hey, that's just me! :)

Pigs and Elephants!

It's strange the way my mind works sometimes...ok, if I'm going to be honest it's strange the way my mind works MOST of the time, but here is an example. I've been going along working happily on disk beads and flowers and some big hole beads when all of the sudden I decide to try my hand at making a pig. He didn't turn out too bad, I named him Percival; here he is.

Somehow from that I thought, "Hey, why not try and elephant?!" I know, strange order to work in but it worked out ok and I named here Eleanor; here she is.

I also made another set of green beer mugs, some big hole beads, and some exchange beads for the "Twigs and Berries" exchange on LE. (I'll spare you the pics of those!) :) Like I said, my mind takes me strange places sometimes! :)

Finally Something NEW!

Yep, you read right! I finally got some new things listed in my Etsy shop! I have had a few custom orders over the past couple of weeks, one a very large one. That, along with my full time job has made getting new beads done to list a bit difficult. Not that I'm complaining at all, the custom orders were fun and turned out nice. But sometimes it's nice to not have any clue what I will be making when I sit down at the torch! Over the past few days I have managed to create a new frog bead (see below) as well as an elephant and a pig which have yet to be cleaned or have pictures taken yet.

I have also been looking at going back to school to get my bachelors and then masters in nursing with the ultimate goal being getting my family nurse practitioner licence. I know that will take a lot of time and effort, actually it kind of already has just looking at programs and pass rates and tuition and scholarships and all that goes along with that, but it will be worth it in the end. If I can't be a full time lampworker, this will be second best. :)

My husband and I have also applied to become foster parents (insert look of shock here for all who know us and are saying "Why don't you just try and have your own kid?!")....and the rest of that sentence is for dachshunds. Yep, you read right, foster parents of dachshunds. We have been approved with the All American Dachshund rescue! As some of you may have read from previous posts, we have a mini dachshund named Bobo, and we just fell in love with the breed when we got him so we wanted to be able to help out where we can. These dogs come from kill shelters, or abusive home environments or puppy mills and the like for the most part. I'll keep you updated on how that goes and if/when we get a foster pup I'm sure there will be plenty of pics to post!

Ok, now on with the beads! You can find all of these in my Etsy shop! :)

Custom orders

Custom orders are not something I do a *lot* of, but I do tend to like them. They often push me in ways I may not have gone otherwise. I had a request from a repeat customer for some "flat flower beads" to use with these fantastic little felted containers that she makes. I had never made any flowers like these before so it took me a bit to get the hang of it and the first one turned out....well, not really looking like a flower! I worked at them for a few days and finally learned what I was doing wrong and the ones that followed turned out much better. She also wanted some "large" (2") ones which I had a bit more trouble with but, like anything else, they just take some practice as well.

New stuff

Well I managed to get a few new things put in my shop over on Artfire and got one new listing up on Etsy (see below). I have been working on some custom orders which have kept me happily busy! I did manage to get a few other things done tonight, hope they turn out as good as I think they might! Today was a good day to just stay inside and torch, it has been raining/sleeting/snowing for the past several hours. :( And in the spirit of that, here is the set I put up on Etsy this week; Winter Wonderland!

Well, some of you may have noticed I've been absent for a while, seems that post-Christmas things got more hectic than pre-Christmas! We did get to go to my brothers house on Christmas Eve, and even though we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked, we enjoyed being able to spend the time with family. I will try to put up some pictures later of my beautiful niece and oh-so-handsome nephew. :) Lately I haven't felt like doing much of anything, started out with a headache a few days after Christmas that would come and go every other day or so. Finally on Wednesday I made an appointment with my Nurse Practitioner because by then I had had a headache everyday for the past 6 days straight. She put me on an antibiotic, thinking as I did, that it was probably nothing more than a sinus infection; but she also thinks I may be having migraines as some of the headaches cause nausea and dizziness as well as sensitivity to light. She prescribed a medicine that I can take when I have a migraine, but I'm sort of skeptical about taking it. So today is day three on the antibiotic and the headaches are better but I still don't exactly feel well. I did decide to go back to work today and I may even fire up the torch tonight. I have some beads made that I should be getting listed, and more ideas than I can keep up with which is unusual. Next week is my birthday and a friend of mine and I will be making a trip up north, Kansas City area and try to find some lampwork supply stores, there has to be at least one right? If we find one, it will be the first time I have gotten to buy glass from a person rather than over a computer, I'm very excited about that! :)

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!

Everybody wins!

So, since I only had two people respond about my bead giveaway, I decided that you both win! How fun is that?! So, Mallory and Jennifer, please send me your addresses to nursekb08yahoo.com or via etsy convo and I will pick your prizes and get them out soon. Not really much else to say from me, it's cold here...like 34 or something like that which is pretty unusual for us in October. My in-laws (as much as I hate that term, they are FAMILY!) have some friends visiting from Louisiana this week and we are going to breakfast with them bright and EARLY in the morning, and I am NOT a morning person so I really should be off to bed...

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!