Lazy Dayzee

It's poured rain here for the last two days. The sun seems to have completely disappeared. The sky is fully furnished with gloomy clouds that have a hand in the gloomy mood I'm feeling today.

I've been working on a mish-mash of things over the last couple of days and I can't seem to decide to stick to one particular thing. Make beads in a complete and utter disaster? Clean studio before I make beads? Work on graphic design projects? Stare into space? hmmm... the latter sounds decent.
One of those days I guess...

I will however, share with you the outcome of last weekend's beadFX Beadaholic get-together! We had yummy pizza (and yummy healthy stuff like fruits and veggies too!) Thanks to Jen for all of that! It was a lot of fun! But one of the highlights of the night was our "collaborative beadmaking". One person would sit at the torch and begin making a bead, then pass it along to another to add to it, and pass it to another person and so on... The beads came out rather "unique" I will call them, but the good news is that they are available for sale in beadFX with 100% of the proceeds being donated to a Breast Cancer Awareness charity! (However, they may all be sold as I write this!)



Somehow, my posts are always much wordier than I originally expect ... not that it's a bad thing I suppose. But it brings me to a thought: How many of you are on Twitter? I've had a couple of people ask me about it and even a couple officially "follow" me on Twitter, even though I have never posted. I have to be honest, I signed up for Twitter with a specific group in mind that I was interested in "following" and only ever read other "tweets" as I think they are called? The benefit to Twitter is (going back to my original point about my posts always being much longer than anticipated) is that you can post or "blog" brief little notes here and there. Tweets are short and sweet. I've posted a poll on the right-hand side of my blog here in regards to Twitter'ing ... please let me know what YOU think! (Post a comment too!)

awww well... I think I'll go back to my "staring into space" idea I had earlier. Cheers.

It's Over Now | Back to Business

I feel like I can breathe again ... the Christmas holiday season has always been my favourite (with Halloween being a close second) but it is indeed a stressful time of year no matter how hard you try to make it easy-going. Realizing that it's been nearly a whole month since I last posted, I'm trying to think back to what kept me so darn busy. It did however, seem that I was out shopping almost every night even though I had thought I was successful in completing my Christmas shopping early. I had several issues with the gifts I had for a few people I had bought for early, which led to numerous trips to the same stores, countless phone calls to every Home Hardware in the province and an exchange or two due to shotty manufacturing of an expensive item! Anyway, it's all over now and everything turned out very nicely! The highlight for me was watching my parents open the gift I gave to them! I had been wanting to give them this gift for the last three years or so but it just never seemed to work out. I dug out the old video camera from the basement (which has been broken for about 11 years with a half-used tape stuck inside) and I got all of the home videos transferred to DVD's! It was so great to watch old family vacations and birthday parties, forgetting we ever looked the way we did back then! Needless to say the out-of-date video camera is no longer, in order for the tape that was in there to be removed without getting damaged, but it's the memories that were on those tapes that are important! I got some pretty nice gifts as well! I got a Hydroponic Herb Garden in which I was eager to plant the pods on Christmas Day and already I'm seeing sprouts come up! It holds seven "gourmet" herbs including Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Dill and Chives. It's really neat to see them sprout up without even being in dirt! My sister got me a lovely Lennox Disney Tinkerbell to add to my collection! She sits upon a minty green coloured thread spool and she has beautiful pearlescent wings! She's wearing a crystal necklace too! Keeping with my Disney-themed collection, I got a dish set that displays original black and white sketch images of Mickey Mouse in different positions using different expressions, with artist's notes and such from 1937. It's so unique, yet it doesn't scream out loud DISNEY, it has a more subtle, mature feel to it. Jay, my fiance, got me a beautiful handmade piece that I fell in love with three years ago! It's a hand-carved, hand-blasted and hand-painted piece of glass with a wooden base. It's a beautiful flowing mermaid painted in a Monet-sorta-style using my favourite colours; teal green that fades to celadon, fades to mint green... it's stunning! It has a light behind it so it gives off a nice soft light! He also got me a really nice tri-pod for our new camera! Not only will it make it easier to take photos of my beads, it will help in taking photos outside and in the dark, with a steady surface! Both Jay and I are excited to take up photography as a hobby, snapping interesting scenes while out for a walk or simply taking more photos at home of family and friends!

Perhaps it's because of all the holiday candy and chocolates, turkey dinners and desserts, along with quick fast-food meals while shopping in the malls all month long ... I've been feeling rather "sluggish" lately with very little energy and some days if I had of allowed myself, I would of stayed in bed 'til 1pm! Even with my late nights, going to bed at 2 or 3am, sleeping in past 10:30am bothers me, leaving me with a feeling that I wasted my entire day merely because I didn't get an early start at my day. I don't know. So beginning January 2nd (after one last New Years Day turkey dinner!) Jay and I have decided to do a 30-day detox! It may end up being a 21 day detox, or it may even end up being a 14-day detox, but gawsh'darn it I am going to try my best at it! I'm not setting myself up for failure by thinking I won't succeed, I'm just being realistic ... detox systems are hard to stick to! I'm really looking forward to the fresh, energetic feeling I'm hoping I'll get from it!

Back to business: I want to thank all of you for all of the Christmas custom orders, it is greatly appreciated! Those orders that were not Christmas gifts and for those of you that said it was ok to wait until January, I will be working on your beads again starting tomorrow and hopefully have them all shipped out by the end of the weekend. Thanks for your patience! Also, I'm still working on creating new images for my gallery pages and Etsy so stay tuned for that too!

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season, no matter what and how you chose to celebrate it! I'll be back in the new year with the last FREE Bead Giveaway for voting for my site! Good luck everyone and thanks for chiming in!

'Tis the season to be cheery!

Happy December! I love this time of year... to me, December means it is officially the "Christmas Holiday Season"! I'm even anxious to wrap some of the gifts I've bought already! (and it doesn't help that I seem to have this uncontrollable urge to buy Christmas wrapping paper every time I see it for fear I won't ever see that same design again!) Unlike other years, I didn't just wander around the malls aimlessly with no ideas for anyone. This year, I've been successful in buying something for at least one person every time I've been out shopping, and it feels nice to know that I won't have to trek through ridiculously irritable crowds in a mall that feels more like a sauna, feeling hopeless as I run out of shopping days before Christmas Eve! Aside from shopping, I've also been working on some new things in my studio! My first attempt at this new technique didn't quite work out the way I wanted it to, but I'll try again tomorrow!

Since it's December, it also means that it's time for another bead giveaway for all the voters out there! Congratulations to Loretta V. of Tampa Florida this month! Check out the home page to see what she's won! Thanks again to everyone that votes! Starting January 1st, I will no longer be having a Voting Giveaway Contest. I am finding that the two sites in which you vote on are experiencing technical difficulty more and more each month. It is becoming harder for me to track the votes, therefore the ranking of my site seems to go up and down drastically each and every day. By all means, you may still vote for my site if you wish ;) ... but just please know that December will be the last month for a free bead giveaway. I will be announcing the winner in early January (most likely not Januray 1st, as I will be busy with family on New Years Day). Thank you again to all those that have voted for my site day after day, I truly appreciate it! I'm sure I will have some other kind of free bead contest in the near future, I just have to think of something! haha

Well, I should get to bed so I can have an early start at the torch tomorrow! Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season (I'll be back in a week or two I'm sure but I just wanted to spread some holiday cheer tonight). Thanks for stopping by ...and remember to keep a watch out for some new beads in the gallery and on Etsy soon!

Slipped Away

Oh my, how the month of October slipped away from me! I apologize for the long silence on here ... I have been really busy! I'm sure those of you who read my blog on a fairly regular basis are anxiously awaiting the ridiculously amazing news that I was hoping I'd be able to share! Well.... I am ecstatic to announce that on November 9th (ok people, don't think I'm silly here...) my dream of meeting my most favourite band of all time is finally after nearly fifteen years, coming true! I will be meeting The Backstreet Boys in Hamilton a week today! As a matter of fact, at this time exactly one week from now, I will be enjoying my second row centre stage concert tickets (still goo-gaa over meeting them backstage at the soundcheck a mere four hours prior I'm sure!) My sister and I have been waiting for this day for a long time and it's finally coming true! The Backstreet Boys are the type of band that people either love or hate, so think of me what you will, but just know that I am sooooo happy!

I will be leaving the Toronto Bead Society show early on Sunday, so if you need to speak with me regarding any custom orders or special requests, the best day to do it is Saturday (I'll be there all day Saturday). I'll be there for a couple of hours Sunday morning but then I'm off to Hamilton! My fiancé Jay and my mom will be holdin' down the fort for me (love you guys! hee hee).

So, wow, the October winner already? Congratulations to Brianne G. of North York, ON! (see the home page for a photo of what you've won!) Thanks again to all those that vote every day all month long! Good luck for the November draw! Well, I better get down to the studio before the night fades away on me (apparently as the entire month of October did). I'll be pretty busy over the next few weeks with preparation for my shows and custom orders that I need to finish. I'll be back to being able to take new custom orders beginning November 24th. Thanks everyone!

Take care, thanks for stopping by.

Pinch me!

Woo hoo! Im'm soooe hpaapy rghit nwo taht I cnat evnen tyepe todya!!!! ... see post below. I've found out that I'm one step closer to having my dream come true! Next Tuesday will be the end all and be all of whether or not it will happen for sure! Keep your fingers crossed for me PLEASE!!! But, needless to say, I'm in a great mood!!!! In fact, I'm in such a great mood today that I've decided to give away free beads to three lucky people this month instead of one! To celebrate the beautiful October harvest, each of you have won a set of three "autumn gourd" beads! ...So, uh, I guess I should announce the three lucky ladies!

Congratulations to: Brandi L. of Scarborough, ON.
Janie W. of Orlando FL.
and Lucie R. of Sherbooke, QB!

Thanks again everyone for voting all month long and good luck for the October draw! Gotta run... I have to package up some orders and get to the post office. I'll be back again soon! Thanks for stopping by!