Morning Coffee - Quotes

"If a thing goes without saying - let it."
- Jacob Braude

"Men who never get carried away should be."
- Malcolm Forbes

"When expressing opinions, people make two major blunders: never stopping to think and never thinking to stop."
- Dr. Mardy Grothe

"Since time immemorial and pre-industrial, 'greed' has been the accusation hurled at the rich by the concrete-bound illiterates who were unable to conceive of the source of wealth or of the motivation of those who produce it."
- Ayn Rand

"Why can we remember the tiniest detail that has happened to us, and not remember how many times we have told it to the same person."
- François VI Duke (duc) de La Rochefoucauld

"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities."
- Stephen R. Covey

"He is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Like a baseball game, wars are not over till they are over. Wars don't run on a clock like football. No previous generation was so hopelessly unrealistic that this had to be explained to them."
- Thomas Sowell

"When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it."
- Edgar Watson Howe

"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem; it is generally employed only by small children and large nations."
- David Friedman

"Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer."
- Jean De La Fontaine

"The only job where you start at the top is digging a hole."
- Unknown

"An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage."
- Jack Welch

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
- Luke 12:48

"We wish to be happier than other people; and this is difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are."
- Charles De Montesquieu

"Whenever there is a hard job to be done I assign it to a lazy man; he is sure to find an easy way of doing it."
- Walter Chrysler

Morning Coffee - A Message to BP

Not that I think it's all BP's fault, it's partially mine, too (and yours, probably). I drive cars that require gasoline and heat my home with gas and I could go on and on about the many ways I depend on petroleum (See what other common items are made using petroleum at http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm). But... I'm frustrated and sickened by the whole thing, not quite enough to graffiti an overpass, but enough to put post this video. And to re-think how I contribute to this seemingly never-ending need for petroleum and resolve to change what, when and where I can.

Featured by Crimson Moon

I got a nice surprise from Liz of The Crimson Moon - she had featured some Etsy Beadweavers artwork in shades of green and had included my Emerald City cuff! How cool!! Liz is a fellow Etsy Beadweaver from Wales, UK and has a great shop on Etsy called , of course, TheCrimsonMoon - I hope you will stop by to see some of her beady creations. One of my favorites is The Last Rays of Summer, seen below:

Here is a screenshot of the original blog post along with Emerald City (which is on sale until July 1st for 20% off the listed price! just a little hint... ) -

The Duchess

Just listed to day at "CindyCaraway" is The Duchess. Inspired by the beautiful jewelry worn by Keira Knightly in the film of the same name, this pretty piece is meant to be worn fairly high on the neck, almost choker style. The Duchess is fashioned using brick stitch. Seed beads in shades of gray and silver are combined with mother of pearl beads, iridescent pearls and white stone beads with lovely gray veining throughout. The stone cabochons are cradled within peyote bezels and backed with soft suede leather.

Featured in "The Storque"

A few posts ago I explained what Etsy Treasury collections are. Now we're on to "The Storque" The Storque is Etsy's blog - there are lots of contributors and you just never know what you might find there from day to day. I have gotten a wealth of information, advice and how-to's regarding running a shop on Etsy and online sales in general. There are also articles that feature the work of different artisans - I had never been featured in any of them (and, yes, I was jealous of those lucky ducks who did get featured!!) Well, today my luck changed! One of my necklaces  - Raja - was included in "Etsy Finds" for today - WOO! HOO! I'm so excited, I just had to share it with you. There truly IS a first time for everything!

Here's a screenshot from the Heart-o-matic website (if you are an Etsy seller and haven't made a visit there, you really should!) and a shot of Raja:

Announcing the June/July give-away!

Well, here it is - The June/July give-away! Up for grabs is this sweet Classic Beaded Bon Bon pendant called "Sage". I offer Beaded Bon Bons in my "caraway" shop (after July 1st you'll be able to find them at CindyCaraway) on Etsy and they are made using vintage bead cluster earrings as well as bead clusters made by me using some of the same classic jewelry-making techniques of the 40's and 50's. Beaded Bon Bons have vintage charm but with a contemporary twist. Beaded Bon Bons listed as "classic" feature an authentic vintage earring - most with lovely, shabby signs of age and patina. If the piece is labeled as "original" then it was made by me using a variety vintage beads.

To be considered for the give-away just leave a comment anywhere on my blog during the months of June or July. If you like this pretty pendant, be sure to stop by my caraway shop to see more - I'm having a Summer Solstice Sale and everything in the shop is 20% off until July 1st. On that day, I will be closing my caraway shop and moving all remaining inventory to CindyCaraway.

I'm Back and Having a SALE!!

Hey, everybody!! I'm finally back from vacation! While hopes were high that I could post from Florida, it turned out that our hotel did NOT have internet access so...

We had a great time visiting Disney World but it was HOT this year. We were happy to come back north again and made a stop in the Great Smoky Mountains on the way. So beautiful!! I took lots of pictures and videos along the way and will be posting them soon. Among the T-shirts and other tourist-y fare in Gatlinburg, I did find some fabulous artwork and can't wait to share it with you! I'm sure you will love it, too, so check back for that post!

Well, it's hard to get back to work after not having to worry about it while I was gone. Even though I was a little frustrated at not having internet access, it was nice to have a complete break from it - That's what vacation is supposed to be, right?? I really am thankful for all of the electronic gadgets and such, and never cease to be amazed at how this technology changes lives everyday (which can be good AND bad!!) but I am old enough to remember the days before even answering machines!! If someone wanted to talk to you on the phone, you had to be home. If you weren't then that was that. People used to write letters - you know, put pen to paper and actually WRITE a letter - and proper grammar and spelling was valued! Anyway, that was just a little OT (aka. off-topic) rant (so much for proper grammar and spelling - HA!!)

Having so much time to think about work without actually doing any made me decide it was time for a sale! A decision was made to close one of my Etsy shops! My "caraway" shop will be closing on July 1st and until then, starting today, this very minute in fact, I will be having a "Summer Solstice Sale" and offering 20% off everything. Not to worry, after the shop closes on July 1st, I will be moving everything to my other Etsy shop - "CindyCaraway". Two jewelry shops is just a bit silly so I will be consolidating and also closing my shop on "1000 Markets". Simplify, simplify, simplify! More time for fishing.... :)

So, I hope you will decide to stop by for some nice bargains on some handcrafted jewelry!

May Give-away Winner!

Well, I am blogging from the road. My mother and I are on our way to Florida to visit Mickey Mouse and ride a few roller coasters. Even though I'm on vacation, I made sure to take time to do the drawing for the May give-away - and the winner is...

Joanne of gr8jewellery!!

Congrats Joanne! I love the idea of one of my pendants going all the way to Malta! I will convo you on Etsy to get your mailing address but you can feel free to send it to me at cindycarawaybeadwork@yahoo.com, too! Your new pendant will be on its way to you as soon as I get home from vacation (around June 15th or so).

Since I am on vacation my blog posts will be sporadic over the next 10 days. I will announce the June/July give-away when I get back, too.

Thanks to everyone who visited and commented - I LOVE reading your comments!