But, seriously

I'm going to get serious (kind of) just for a minute, which I rarely do. Then I'm going to leave the situation alone, for now.

First of all, I want to say 'Thank You' to all of you who've emailed me, PM'd me and purchased items in the last 24 hours as a show of support now that the Eye of Sauron has fallen upon me. You're amazing. I don't even know what else to say. Just...thanks. It's a huge help. You are the BEST!!! (and that's almost the last time I'll be using caps, bold and exclamation points.)

Secondly, and this is very important, I want to assure you all that, contrary to the claims made against me, I am not now and have never, NEVER been a FRAUD SELLER!!!!! Quite frankly, I was so shocked by this accusation that I was nearly speechless (nearly). I have never sold a Fraud or participated in the exploitation of a Fraud before in my life. I want you to know that I am morally opposed to both Fraud mills where the Frauds are bred and then released out into the world and also to the trafficking of Frauds. I would never be a party to this. Ever.

Finally, I want to say that I'm not going to do this again. It was done last year when this Creature of the Dark Forest purchased beads from respected lampwork artists and then resold them, claiming that she'd made them herself. It wouldn't have been a problem if she just resold them. But no. She couldn't be a (gasp!) bead supplier. She had to pretend to be an 'artist', a master 'sculpturer'. (BTW, it's sculptor, dumbass) She's not an artist. The appearance and execution of her beads alone shows that. She's just someone who wants to make a quick, easy buck off the backs of real craftsfolk.

But she wants people to believe that she's someone of great creativity and talent and, because they don't - because they're laughing at her pretensions and her poor grammar- she's again on the attack. Just like she did last time, she's trying to ruin the reputations of beadmakers who have more talent in their pinkies than she does in her entire swollen head. I'm sure she's going to read this, and I think that's funny. She can sit there, rubbing her veiny hands together, cackling gleefully while her pinwheel eyes spin madly in the blue-white light of her monitor.

Whatever.

Eventually, her legs will begin to shrivel and then roll back up under the house of lies that she's stuck beneath, leaving the Ruby Slippers of Truth behind and we'll all skip off down the yellow brick road, leaving her behind. (Too far with that analogy, do ya think?)

This is nothing. She is a blip who will go away soon enough. She can't do any real damage because the people she's attacking can't be harmed by her libelous words; they can only be inconvenienced. They are too talented, too secure, too well-loved and trusted in the lampworking community. Things that she will never be.

So, thanks again to my many, MANY loyal FRIENDS and CUSTOMERS!!!!!!! (Sorry, I just couldn't resist that nonsense right there at the end.)

I've been hit!

Aw, I'm touched. She cares!
Ullja has posted harmful lies about me on her blog. It's what I've been waiting for. I will, of course, be forwarding this information to an attorney, not a government agency.

Thanks, U, for all you do and MANY kind REGARDS, you grammatically challenged cow! :)

LMAO

Yes, bad things have been brewing while I was wasting away again in Margaritaville and otherwise offending the general public with displays of too much skin at the beach and bad beach bar dancing at night.

Allegedly, a U-boat has been spotted in the waters off the Texas coast.

Err, off the coast of Italy.

Umm, make that somewhere in German waters.

Oh, what the hell, I can't keep it straight anymore.

If you are A beadmaker then U know WHAT THIS IS about!!!!!!! (please take note OF MY blatant misuse of bold caps and exclamation POINTS!)

Just grab a couple of cookies and check out this blog, http://handmadeartisanfraudtruestory.blogspot.com.

I laughed!
I peed!
I got warm funny feelings! (not related to merlot, lifeguard boys, or eating cheeseburgers in paradise.)

Fun, cool stuff that I didn't make

YAVA glass

How fun is this? These folks are the featured sellers on Etsy, so I'm not advertising them. It just caught my eye. This is not a new idea, of course. I've seen similar items before, but (and maybe I'm just thirsty!) I really like these.

Remember the infommercials (we didn't call them that at the time) from years and years ago for the glass bottle cutter that you could use at home? You could make all kinds of cool, interesting things with your old bottles.

Maybe that's why these appealed to me. Nostalgia.

Anyway, I'm going to advertise myself, since this is my blog.

I have listings ending tonight on eBay, including this focal.

It's the second time around for this big beauty. I hope someone buys it because it's positively gorgeous and I think whoever opens the package would be very happily surprised by it. I think they'd congratulate themself on what an amazing bargain they got.

O.K., I'm gonna go get started on some nice Pinot Grigio flower vases or a fabulous set of Kettle One tumblers. Have a happy day!

Look what I found!

I was out, stumbling around in my little shade garden, looking for a place to hang a windchime I'd just finished so I could get some good shots of it, and I found my bromeliads were blooming like crazy. I've been so busy and so distracted, I didn't even notice. They've spread like weeds and the whole garden was in bloom and I never even saw them.

I also found some beads on my desk that I'd completely forgotten about, so I listed those last night. I put some in my Etsy shop and I listed some on eBay.

These are on eBay. They're the most gorgeous, deep blue and aqua. I used some of my original Olympia Rain from Double Helix. The company has made a limited run of it again, and that reminded me that I've still got about 1/2 a pound of it. A little bit goes a long way, so I'll probably have it for years.

These lively little beads are listed in my Etsy shop. I wanted to brighten things up over there.

I also wanted to share another little Gaffer Chalcedony goddess. I used the frit this time. I wish I could capture all of the different colors, but I can't seem to get my camera to cooperate. Well, she's pretty anyway. You'll have to take my word for it. I'm thinking of listing this one. She's just too nice to keep for myself. She'd end up tossed carelessly into a bowl or scattered on a tray somewhere with a bunch of mismatched orphans, wonkies and oddballs. I don't think she quite deserves that, do you?

What next?

I just wanted to pop in and say hi.

Hi.

Hope everyone had an awesome Independence Day. We're usually on vacation over the 4th but not this year. And that turned out to be a good thing. Robert's back went out on the 3rd. (My sister was watching the kids for us and we actually had a 'date' and plans, so OF COURSE that's when it happened.)

Anyway, his back went 'Krechhicktrckkkkrkkkarggggg' and he's been in bed ever since. Literally, he's gotten up 4 times since it happened. Which is progress. The last time this happened, he was on the couch for three days, unable to get up at all.

Do not ask.

So, I've been not working, trying to stay quiet and keep the kids occupied. Nothing has gotten done except for a few orders I had to fill. I did do my best to make sure the kids had fun on the 4th. We played and swam and ate typical 4th of July food. We spit watermelon seeds all over the patio, threw water ballons at each other, made snowcones, set off fireworks, (carefully placing them on the driveway where Robert could watch through the bedroom window), watched and listened to the neighborhood set off real fireworks late into the night. I let them stay up and eat ice cream and watch movies until about 2 a.m. (they couldn't have slept anyway, what with the rednecks in full-on firework mode) and then I let them sleep as late as they wanted the next morning.

It wasn't exactly a Bahamas vacation, but it wasn't bad, either.