What I got!

I got my beads for the Bead Soup party in the mail a couple of days ago and I wanted to share them with you.

Isn't this just a gorgeous focal assemblage? It was handmade by Mary Jane who makes the most amazing, interesting, unique jewelry. She maintains a beautiful blog that you can visit at http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/.

It may come as a surprise to those of you who know me, but I actually can't wait to get started on my jewelry piece. I'm not much of a designer - mostly because I can't ever make a decision regarding what beads to use, how many, what color, bracelet or pendant, etc.... but I think I can handle this one. I already have a plan.

Some Valentine pretties

I'm not making much in the way of sets lately, but I did have a few Valentine beads that I wanted to share. They're adorable and perky and girly - three things that I am really not. Hmmm....maybe that's why I like them....

They're all available right now in my Etsy Shop:

Bead Soup party contribution

I only have about 47 seconds before I need to run out and make a bunch of beads but I wanted to share my contribution to the Bead Soup party. The party is a fun little undertaking that pairs up participants who then exchange a focal, clasp and spacer beads and try to come up with a worthy design.

This is my contribution: Some pewter and ss beads and clasp, abalone discs, a whole bunch of my Organic Essentials beads and one gorgeous focal that I made especially for my partner in my favorite combo - copper green and Double Helix Aurae.

Hope my Mary Jane likees!

Waaay back week!

It's Waaaay Back week on Facebook. The deal is, you change your profile picture to one from way back (obviously).

It sounded like fun, so I thought I'd do it. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find an old picture of me. Or a new one, for that matter. I'm the one behind the camera 99% of the time. I actually force my family to get a portrait done once a year, just so I'll make sure I have a photograph of myself occasionally, to look back on in my dotage.

So, anyway, here's my choice. It's from my very first trip down to the Islands. I was in Jamaica on Spring Break in 1989 with my friend, Colleen. It was cool to look back. Very cool to be reminded of what my actual hair color is (was). :)

More bunny news

Well, I had to break down and hand-feed the babies. All the reading I've done said that this was an absolute last-ditch effort, that more harm could come than good, but the mother was definitely not feeding them, she had no milk whatsoever and they were basically shriveling up into nothing.

So I did it. I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the new beads I've been working on lately. That will take my mind off of sweet little defenseless bunnies for awhile.

These are all listed on Etsy:

New Organic Essentials!






~Adrift~


~Pink Dream~

Babby bunnies

Well, yesterday morning began with quite a surprise. Baby bunnies! Violet Bunnygirl shall hereby be known as 'Maxwell McBoy'.

So, yesterday, when he was feeding the rabbits, Connor suddenly races into the kitchen yelling his head off, "Mommy, there's babies in there. Violet and Blackie had babies in there!!!"

I, of course, was skeptical, "No, it's probably just apple slices from last night. Sometimes they don't eat them all."

"No, there's BABIES in there!"

So now I'm getting worried. And a little bit queasy. And a lot horrified. I go check.

Damn it!

There's babies in there! And they are not cute and they are not furry and they are quite possibly dead. Oh no. I think they're all dead.

But, they're not. There are six of them and they are spread out all around and underneath the wire rack in the cage, they are icy cold and they are barely moving. I quickly run to the Internet, to the House Rabbit Society website to see what I can see. I follow the instructions, get the father (Violet) out, make a warm, cozy nest box, move the babies in and relocate the entire cage to a quiet area, covering it with a large beach towel for privacy.

The kids are excited about these events but they are practical. They've already lost a puppy this year, unexpectedly and in very bad way. They know about baby animals and the survival rate. Connor qualifies every statement about the babies with the words, "If they don't die." Anna refuses to bond at first, but, as the day goes by, I can see her interest building. She has chosen her favorite and can't seem to help herself from it. A big, sleek black and white one that looks just like the mother. (They have no fur yet, but their skin already holds the colors they will grow into.)

We have to run some errands. When we get home, we check on the babies. One has died. The kids are sad, but they understand. That one never looked quite healthy. It was expected. They prepare a little box, bury him out in the pet cemetery and perform the brief ceremony.

I continue to check on the babies through the night. They seem fine. They are pink and plump, so I have to assume they're o.k. Finally, I go to sleep.

I wake up at 5:00 this morning and check the babies. Another has died. It's the big, freckled brown and white one. My special one. I double check him but he is gone. I prepare his little box and wait for the kids to get up. They'll want to tell him good-bye.

It's almost time for the kids to get up for school. I check the babies again. Another one is gone. It's the big black and white one. Anna's baby.

Damn it.

What's wrong with this picture?

These are pineapples, that's what!!!

My kid's tire swing doesn't really look very inviting either, does it? Apparently someone doesn't realize this is Florida...

Party, Party, Party!

How much fun does this sound?

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things is hosting this 'virtual' party and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. All you have to do is go here, to Lori's blog for information on joining in.

Basically, participants get paired up and the two of you exchange bead kits which will include a focal, some coordinating spacers and a special clasp. Then, it's a free-for-all of creativity. Just see what you can come up with. Everybody will post pics of their completed project on their blogs on Feb.1 (my mom's birthday!).

I'm not really much of a joiner, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Trying something new

Do you all have your resolutions carefully thought out and safely tucked away? Did you save them somewhere easily accessible where you can look at them every day? Because I think that might be the key to achieving them.

Every year I make out my list of aspirations and resolutions - all of my bright and shiny goals for the new year. And every year I half-keep them in mind.

But I don't usually go back and revisit the file where they're stored very often, probably only once or twice during the year, including the week after Christmas when I'm going through a frenzy of prep and organization for the upcoming year. And by then, it's too probably too late to travel to New Zealand or learn to play the piano.

Still, I typically get quite a few more mundane items accomplished, even if it's only because they're things that are relevant to my every day life. This year, though, I was shocked by how incomplete the 'completed' column was. Because I'm getting old and because my kids are growing up, the time is racing by at an uncontrollable pace. I can't slow it down. I can't even keep track of it's passing, some days thinking it's Wednesday when it's already Friday. It's terrible and frightening. I have lots of things to do still with my life. I need to pay more attention to that and less attention to doing the laundry and loading the dishwasher.

In fact, that's one of my resolutions: To spend more time accomplishing goals and less time worrying about the trivial details.

Not that clean clothes and sanitary eating surfaces are trivial. It's just that they probably aren't as important... oh... say, finishing that book I started writing 3 years ago, taking my daughter on a hot air balloon ride, or helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Know what I mean?

So to help keep me on track to fulfilling the absolutely limitless potential that life holds, I will be keeping New Years Resolutions - 2010.doc open on my desktop, every day of the year. When I turn on my computer in the morning, immediately following the opening of To Do.doc, I will open my Resolutions and review them, with all intention of completing every single item on it within the time frame allotted.

I think it's going to work. I'll keep you updated.