Takin' Care of Business and Getting on Track

Wow... I have been a VERY bad blogger as of late! I'm not sure why I feel the need to apologize to my dear readers because you probably haven't noticed. Not that you don't love me unconditionally and wait breathlessly for my words of ultimate wisdom and yada, yada, yada, .... but, if you are like me (and I know some of you are!!), you have 100 or more other blogs that you read (via your Google Reader or some such) which you try to comment on or at least visit every once in a while. Anyway... if you blog then you know that while you may disguise your blog as a way to enlighten the masses, it is actually a place to keep your thoughts and latest projects - a way to keep yourself accountable to others for your progress as a crafter, entrepreneur, human being. You just hope that the things you find cool and amazing will be the same things others find cool and amazing and someone somewhere will let you know you're on right track.

So, even though my lack of posts make it seem as though I have lost my "right track" lately (I admit that it's a daily occurrence but don't tell anyone, OK?) I am trying... REALLY!

In an attempt to get on track, here's the latest news:

Here I am with my necklace "Green Acres"!

1. I had a necklace in an art exhibit last month. The exhibit was called "Art Meets Ag" and my "Green Acres" necklace was one of the featured pieces.

Here's a shot of the gallery on the University of Wisconsin - Platteville campus

2. My beadwork is scheduled to appear in 2 different craft publications in 2011 - one in February and the other in April! Yay! More on that later - I don't want to spoil the surprise!

3. There is a new bead shop in Dubuque (finally!) and I have a full calendar of classes scheduled for the month of October. We are hoping to have an open studio night for beaders every Thursday evening from 6-9pm. I hope it catches on and I hope I will have lots of students sign up for classes! The store, "River City Shoppes", is located in the Kennedy Mall shopping center here is Dubuque. No website yet but I bought her a .com domain name as a "glad you're here" gift - so hopefully a website will be up and runnning soon. In the meantime, you can check out the October class schedule on my website. Here are some of the projects I'll be teaching:

"Waves of Symmetry" cuff bracelet

Beginning Bead Embroidery - we'll make a pendant using the techniques in the one pictured.

Mandala Earrings

Dahlia Flower Pendant

4. I am one of the newest members of the Julien Chamber Choir here in Dubuque. We practice once a week and have 4 concerts during the course of the year - our first one will be on October 31st. It's great, I love it and I'm so happy to be singing "serious" music with a group again.

So I hope you will see that I have not just been sitting idly by while my blog becomes a dim memory. I'll try to be better... I will... I promise! :)

Morning Coffee - Truths

This short collection of "truths" arrived in my email from a favorite uncle not too long ago. While cleaning out my over-loaded inbox this morning, I found them, dusted them off and though they would make a good "Morning Coffee" entry for this Monday morning. Do you have any "truths" of your own to add to the list?? Would love to hear them - leave a comment!! :)

Truths for Mature Humans

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

24.The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Gothic Blue Fabric Cuff

Well, I finally finished my second fabric cuff creation using one of my roses - I'm calling it Gothic Blue Cuff - pretty snappy name, huh? I'm so bad at naming my pieces - maybe naming isn't really necessary...

Anyway, I really like this one!! I have been wearing it to work in this morning and it's so comfy and light - I hardly notice I have it on.

It's hard to take a photo of jewelry on yourself!!

Besides the blue fabric rose, there are some reclaimed, beaded Mobius knot earrings, chenille yarn, antique lace flowers decorated with pretty crystals and clay raven beads. It closes with snaps and is very secure and easy to put on and take off. Here are a couple of pics for you to take a look at - I may post this one later today in my jewelry shop on Etsy - if I think I can part with it!! :)

(Click on the pics for a better look)

Morning Coffee - OK GO!, IKEA and Puppy Dogs

I love these guys. OK GO! have the most innovative music videos ever and this one takes the cake! How can you go wrong with their great music, IKEA furnishings and lots of dogs (except for the one goat, can you find him?). Anyway, enjoy!! :)

Garland and Grace

Lisa McGown has a great blog (http://www.garlandandgrace.blogspot.com/) and a sweet Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/garlandandgrace).She was so kind as to feature some of my beaded cuffs in one of her posts and then asked if I would like to be her first blog interview!! Yay! I, of course, said "Yes!". Now, I certainly hope you will stop by to read the interview but I REALLY hope you will check out all the sweet things in her shop and maybe become a follower of her blog.

Here are some oh-so-cute items you will find at Garland and Grace on Etsy:

Custom Boutique Hair Bow Holder

Boutique Bow Holder

Morning Coffee - Beads and the Dawn of Civilization

Here is an interesting YouTube video regarding the evolution of humankind and the discovery of the oldest beads in the world. What the finding of these beads and how they were produced says about the development of man and culture is pretty interesting! Enjoy :)

Rekindling an Old Flame and The Need to Destash

I've been reunited with a former love but my husband need not worry. The old flame I'm speaking of is hand sewing and embroidery. Ahhhhh.... so nice to be back where I started! Handmade objects, no matter how crude or refined, have always held a fascination for me, especially Victorian crafts like crazy quilts, tatted lace and embroidery. I'm sure I've mentioned to you the crazy quilt I made from men's vintage brocade ties. Well, if I haven't.... I once made a crazy quilt using men's vintage ties. The process was truly wondrous to me at the time and I felt transported by it.

In a nutshell, I love this quilt. It's not anywhere near the size I wanted it to be, it's backed with a very unglamorous twin sized sheet and it's sort of falling apart after being dragged around the world with me and living on my bed for many, many years but I still love it. It is completely hand quilted and embroidered with ribbons, doilies, lace and buttons. The quilting was done in squares so it would be easy to transport the section I was working on at any given time. I kept my supplies in an old candy tin which I had lined with a bit of terry cloth. This was a great way to pass time when I was gallivanting around the country with a touring musical group or working aboard cruise ships back in the 80's and 90's. I did ultimately sew the squares together using a sewing machine - so I guess I cheated a little!

The only way I can describe going back to hand sewing and embroidery is that I was simply jonesin' for it. That's it... jonesin'. I felt a need to work with fabric and just HAD to get back to it! That is what led me to start making fabric roses and then fabric cuff bracelets (sort of like crazy quilts in the miniature!) and what has also led me to do yet ANOTHER reorganization of my studio (aka. 4' x 8' closet). The fabric and trims I want to use in the cuffs need to be accessible and sorted so I can find them easier. That means that some stuff has to go someplace else and when you live in a house as small as the one I live in, that means it has to actually go someplace else all together.

So, you know what it means when I reorganize my studio, right? That means DESTASH!! Yay! And that means lots of lots (you know... big bunches of stuff) going up for sale in my shops on Etsy and Ebay (yes, I said Ebay - dang it, anyway - but if you want it to sell fast and cheap, that's where you list it!). So, if you need some goodies and supplies at your house, please visit my shops. I love it when I can send things to a new home rather than donating. Not that donating is bad - I totally believe in donating - but I somehow think that alot of stuff just gets tossed because the people at the local thrift stores just don't see the same value in old stuff as I (and many others) do.

So, here are some of the lots of treasures available now or that you can expect to see going up for bids in the next few days - Let me know if you see something you like and we can haggle, baby!