Focus on Life - Week 26 - You Pick!

The Eyes of Love

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.


1) Pixie brought a lot of joy to the people we visit in hospice care this week.  She brings joy wherever she goes.  The staff loves her!  They look forward to seeing her, too.  On top of that, Pixie gets her doggie dish of ice cream after her visit!

2) I finished my spider web scarf!!!  Love it!!!

3)  I joined not one, but two bead exchanges this week!  This should be fun and inspiring!

Now, Back to the Yarn Shop! I found This Great Yarn!!!!

It reminds me of spider webs!!!

I'm making a scarf!

Pictures to follow when it's done!!!

So far,

I

LOVE 

IT!

Thoughts on the dentist, yarns, and selling your product...HUH? and Quiz to follow. Get your pencils ready to answer the questions!!!

The dentist
Oh, yes, I visited the dentist yesterday.  That was me after he told me about the work he feels needs to be done--in August--in 3 weeks.  I half jokingly asked him if should mortgage my house.  He just smiled and said, "If you think you should."  Ouch!  Don't get me wrong.  He's good at what he does, and he looks like Jack Nickloson--a lot!!!  That does make me a bit nervous when he starts to drill.  We'll see what the estimated bill is going to be.  My teeth might just have to wait a bit, at least all of the work he wants to do.  Ouch!!!! 

Yarns

I have way too much in the way of yarns.  I'm working on ways to incorporate them into what I do.  Scarves are good.  Weaving them into jewelry is good.  Well, we shall see.  The reason I mention yarn is because I have started to haunt a local yarn shop called Mary Lou's.  I love this place.  It's dangerous for me to go there.  I'd willingly spend more on yarn than I would on my teeth!!!  I am also working with the owner to sell on consignment.  That's the next topic.

Selling Your Product 

Etsy has been devastatingly slow this month.  I think I've had 3 sales?  I will probably owe Etsy more money this month than I made in sales.  I'm looking into consignment now.  I've only sold consignment once before, and it took me over a year to be paid.  The owner went out of business, then opened another store in another town.  When I found that out, I went into the store and let it be known I was not happy.  I felt then, and I feel now, that if you someone can open another store, the monies that were owed to consignment sellers should be the first paid.  After this incident, I found a check in the mail with a nasty note a few days later.  I was satisfied.  This was in June.  That December, I was in a show in the same town.  I spoke to some of the vendors who had consignments in the same store.  They had not yet been paid yet.  This has made me very leary of consignment selling, but I do feel good about the young woman who runs the store.  We are currently negotiating terms, but I think it will be good.  I really do.  Hopefully, business will improve overall.

So, now for the quiz:

How do you feel about the dentist?
Have you ever sold consignment?
Has this been a successful venture for you?
Do tell!!!

Ema K Designs - I love her work!!!!!!!!

WOW!

Is this an amazing bead or what?

If you visit Ema K Designs,

you'll be able to find this bead by clicking

HERE.

Not only does Ema have handmade lampwork beads in her store, she also has some beautiful jewelry!

With summer here, you're going to need an ankle bracelet!

Look. At. This. One!!!!

I. LOVE. IT!!!!!

Click

HERE

to get a closer look at this amazing anklet!!!

Then there's the metal work!!

Ema is so multi talented!

I love this copper bracelet focal!

It is beautiful!!!

Click

HERE 

for a closer look!

Here's the direct link to Ema's store.

Click

HERE

for that link.

You won't be disappointed.

I Heart Macro! Roses in the Garden

I Heart Macro!!!!!

Focus On Life - Week 25 - You Are...

Not You are, but

I Am!

I am  aging well.

I am a survivor.

I am the person I want to be.

Really,

I am!

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

 1)  Painting is finished!!!  The only problem is, all the walls look blue, and neither color I chose was blue!!!  Oh, well, The walls look beautiful!

2) I came to admire a young man this week.  I wasn't sure about him, but when push came to shove, he stood up for what was right.  I have a great deal more faith in the "younger" generation now.

3) It's HOT outside!!!!  That's nice, too!!!

Memories Found

I stopped when I opened the small, corked jar,

and

for one, brief second,

I stopped breathing.

More memories,

certainly 

unexpected.

Who would have thought that someone

at one time

placed these roses in that jar.

The fragrance was still there,

not strong, just a whisp of scent to remind me

of 

that Mother's Day,

that anniversary,

that birthday,

I'm not sure when, 

but the memories flooded back.

I'm just not sure which one.

Surprise!

Memories in a jar.

 

Hey, I wrote a New Tutorial!

It's Listed in my 

Etsy Store

and it's called

River Rocks.

You make them out of polymer clay,

and

they 

do 

look

real!

So, Yesterday, Gail and I were Skyping and she taught me to felt!

I've know Gail for about

8 years now.

We met in Chicago as we boarded a plane to take us on a pilgrimage to 

Medjugorje

in Bosnia-Hersogovina

where the 

Mother of God has been appearing for 

32 years.

Anyway,

as hard as I tried to get away from 

Gail and Eileen,

who live in Sacramento,

they wouldn't let me get away.

I finally gave in,

and we've been friends since.

Fast forward 8 years and the advent of Skype.

We chat and pray almost daily.

Yesterday,

however,

Gail gave me a lesson in felting a beautiful flower via skype.

There she is beginning her lesson!

This is what our flowers looked like at this point.

It took about an hour and half, but here's the final result.

I LOVE IT!!!!

Wouldn't this make a great fascinator?

How fun is that?

God bless Skype 

and 

God bless Gail!!!

Thank you, my dear friend!!!

I Heart Macro - Rosebuds!!!

I Heart Summer!

I Heart Macro!!!!

Focus On Life - Week 24 - Green

Yes, my wall is green!

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) There was one absolutely perfect day this week, and that was yesterday!  The weather was beautiful.  There was no rain and no storms.  Peace was palpable.  Wow!  It was a good day.

2) I love to see the looks on people's faces when Pixie is doing her therapy dog work.  They look at her with such love.  I even heard two nurses talking about her.  The said that she was the best dog ever!!!!!  If only she knew!!

3) I spent a day in bed this week.  Even though I was sick, it was nice to just lay around and rest. 

So, What Would You Do?

I'm starting to list more polymer clay in my Etsy store.  If you checked out my store, you will see that I have an eclectic set of listings ranging from glass beads to my newest item, my little gardens.  Items that I have made from polymer clay are also listed and there are more to come.  So, my question becomes this,
with over 300 items listed in my Etsy store, should I reduce that number by opening a second store devoted to polymer clay?
I'm really torn on that one.  Polymer clay is a different medium, but the end result, beads, is the same.  I don't know.  What would you do?  What are the pluses and minuses that you see?  Help?

Well, I fell asleep and took a nap, then I realized, I hadn't written a blog post, so here it is, with a question....

(If you want to see my "eye" bead, click
HERE!)

That's not the question.  That's just a way to get you to look at my bead!!!  :)

My question is this:  When you see a bead or whatever as you peruse Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever site you use,
do you ever share or Pin that item?


I read somewhere, and I don't think I've ever done this, that if you want comments on your blog, ask for them.  If you want someone to Pin an item of yours, ask.  You get the idea.  The writer said, if you don't ask, it won't happen.  So, I guess I'll ask my question again and ask you to leave a comment on my blog about it.  

When you see a bead or whatever as you peruse Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever site you use,
do you ever share or Pin that item?

I'd really love to hear what you think. 

Oh, and, if you feel the urge, feel free to share any of my work.  
Also, feel free to Pin it on Pinterest.  Etsy makes it easy to pin work.  There's a button on the item page that says, "Pin it."


Here's the link to my Etsy store:  Rosebud101

Feel free to share and Pin away!!!  You can even share this blog!!!

So, Here I am at 5:40 PM with the outside Temperature being 70 degrees, and I'm in bed with flannel PJ's on and covered up with a warm snuggly quilt...

Looks like I have a virus!
Thit!!!
I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with less aching and no headache!
Thit!
And something a bit more interesting than a good, old fashioned
Whine!
Thit!
See you tomorrow.

Playing With Polymer Clay!

I've been playing with polymer clay.

This time, I have set a goal.

I am going to cover every single light switch cover in my home with polymer clay.

Here's what I've done so far.

This is a fun one, and, yes,

the wall is green!!

I like this one.

I need to get the purple paint off the switches, and, yes the wall is purple!

However, I do like this one!!!

My favorite one needs to be sealed.

I hope it's on the wall of my bathroom tomorrow night or the next morning.

Hopefully, it won't fall apart.

I haven't counted how many more I need, but this could be fun!

I Heart Macro! - A Visitor in my Garage!

Ewwwwwwwwwwww!

I Heart Macro!!

Focus on Life - Week 23 - Typography

Thank you are very nice words!!!!

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) Even though I really wish that "summer" were here aka warmer temps, it is nice not to have to turn on the air just to cool down the house in the morning! 

2) I just remembered something I have to do before this is posted, so I'm really grateful that I typed this post right now!

3) Skype is a great learning tool when you want to learn how to felt with a friend in California and you live in Minnesota!!!  What a great way to learn.

Gimme' Some Pie!!!

I do love a good piece of pie,

so it only follows that when you can't eat pie,

you can see it or wear it.

How? you ask.

Well,

You can wear this piece of pie.

No calories for you!!

Click 

HERE

to see this beautiful piece of chocolate pie!

This little piece of blueberry pie 

looks delicious!!

Click

HERE

to see this piece of pie close up.

I love blueberry pie!!!

 

 

Nummy!!!

Apple Pie!!!

Click 

HERE

to get a better look at this pie.

Can you smell it cooking?

 

 Last, but not least,

Lemon Pi

for the Geek in all of us!

Click

HERE

to see this bit of geekiness.

What's your favorite piece of pi?

Sigh!

I have to admit, I am disappointed.  Normally, today, I would be leaving for Milwaukee to attend the Bead and Button Show.  This year, I'm not.  Life happens, I guess.  I have to devote some funds to my house, so it's no Bead and Button this year.  For all my friends who are attending, I'll miss you!!  I hope you have a great time.  I'm going to start saving tomorrow for next year's trip!  Nothing will stop me then!!!!

So, what does a trip to the hardware store and bead making have in common?

A very happy me!

New techniques,

new tools,

from mandrels and wire 

to varnish and sandpaper.

Sigh!

It was a great trip!

My Mind Has Been Else Where! I forgot! I Heart Macro!!!!

Getting Bigger!

I Heart Macro!!!

Only One Day Late!!!!

Focus On Life - Week 22- Foodie

There is nothing like 

homemade blueberry yogurt!