Finished

UPDATE (7/20): Woohoo! The person I was hoping would buy this cuff is not only buying this one, but commissioning me to make three more just like it! YAY! He has 3 daughters and a daughter-in-law and now he's done with this part of his Christmas shopping!

Here's the cuff finished with a lovely pearly-rose 1/8th inch ribbon.

New Piece

I finished a new piece! I know, shocker, huh?! It's a right-angle weave base of Japanese silver-lined milky peachy-pink 11s with embellishments of Swarovski cream rose pearls and Swarovski champagne bicone crystals. I love the antique look of it and have decided to use a 1/2" satin ribbon lacing as a closure instead of a button or beaded toggle. I'll take more photos when I get the ribbon together. I think I'll actually use a model for the photos, too as it looks absolutely gorgeous on a summer tanned arm! The only thing I haven't been able to do is come up with a beautiful name for it. Any suggestions??

New Listing and Events

OK, so it's been almost two months, but I've finally listed the Champagne Cuff. It's really gorgeous and it will go with most any outfit. Dress up jeans for a night out with friends or with that little black dress to add just the right amount of bling!

In other areas of life...the girls and I went up to the Buffalo area this past weekend to celebrate our cousin, Ally's graduation. It was great seeing the family there and we will be seeing more of them this weekend for Uncle Cal's birthday and 4th of July celebration at the lake. We really love it there as it's so peaceful, yet a lot of fun with the family!

On the health front, I finally got my injections to block the occipital nerves in my head so that I can stop getting these horrendous 3-day headaches. They aren't migraines as it's not caused by anything other than a malfunction in my occipital nerve. I was really out of it yesterday (the procedure requires sedation) and today I'm still "off", but day-by-day it will get better and I hopefully will have months and months without another headache episode.

So, that's all the updates for now...

Busy Weekend

So, we had Baby Girl's graduation party on Saturday and we had way too much food. Though I'm sure the "boys" at the apartment were quite happy since they took a LOT of food home! It was also nice that everyone who came stayed for quite a while. The only down point was the mosquitoes! Despite fogging the yard, having citronella candles and one of those "Off" lanterns, the mosquitoes were still bad! I have many, many bites to prove it, too! Ah, well, it was still a successful party, everyone had a good time and much eating and drinking was enjoyed.

Yesterday was, of course, Father's Day. It was a quiet day for my DH. In fact, Lindsay and I left him alone most of the afternoon while we went and did some cardio, some weights and then went swimming. We were feeling pretty good about our day, but I've blown it today! This is the problem with party leftovers...too much "bad" food left to munch on! Oh, well, tomorrow is another day!

New Look & Stuff

So, I'm really liking this new look for the ol' blog! I was thrilled when the new designs became available and they had these gorgeous roses! I really needed a change of pace and this was perfect! Let me know what you think!

So, Baby Girl graduated on June 8th (YAY!!) and we have her party tomorrow to celebrate. Between getting everything together for her party, other grad parties and work, I've really neglected not only my blogs, but my beading as well! I'm hoping that things will settle down in a week or so....OK, it might not happen until after the 4th and I have all these beautiful beads calling to me! And yet, that is another problem...I have so many new beads, I'm on idea overload and that's added to my frustration! So, I just keep putting it all off.

One thing I have been spending way too much time doing is ogling everything on Modcloth.com! I've become addicted to the clothes on this site and I have at least a dozen items on my wish list already! If only I could buy everything on my list just so I could have a fun, new wardrobe for our vacation at the end of August! This dress is perfect for a lovely dinner on our cruise! The site has so many gorgeous retro/vintage style dresses that it's really hard to pick just one! Then there's the retro/old Hollywood style swimsuits that look great on most any figure...how could you go wrong?

OK, I just really need to stay off that site for a while and get down to working on some bead designs! Focus, focus, focus...oh, look...a pretty dress!

Photos and Info

I know you're probably tired of all the flower photos, but I've been feeling "off" in regards to beading lately. I have started a new RAW cuff with the hope that it will turn out as I imagine for the BAO Challenge theme ("A Novel Idea"). And though it's going slowly, I am at least working on something! I have also decided to list the champagne cuff I originally made for myself. I will make another, somewhat smaller version for myself sometime later on.

On another note, after thinking it through then adding my favorite blogs to my Google Reader, I am going to drop Entrecard (pun intended!). It's been great for traffic, but I find that I don't have enough time for everything I normally do plus dropping from two different blogs. So, thank you to all my loyal droppers and I hope you'll stop by from time to time anyway or maybe even add me to your reader! I'm hoping with the little extra time I'll have, I'll be able to post more regularly!

Photos (top-bottom):
1: Sterling Silver Rose
2: Perfect White Rose
3: Deep Pink Verbena
4: Yellow Daisy
5: Euphoric Honey Bee on a Miniature Pink Petunia

More Flowers

Here are some more of the gorgeous flowers in and around our yard! One more bloom I'm looking forward to seeing is the tiger lily.

Events of May 22nd

So, this day brought about Lindsay's 21st birthday and Ashley's senior prom! Needless to say, we were busy all day! After the photo op with Ashley and her friends, we took Lindsay and her boyfriend Nick, along with more family and friends out to a favorite bar to celebrate her turning 21! We were all having so much fun that the table behind us bought her a drink, too! Turned out they were cheer parents who knew Ashley and didn't realize it was her sister!

Ashley said her evening was great and I know Lindsay had a blast, so it was an all-around wonderful day!

Photos: Lindsay impatiently waiting for her sister to get ready so she can wish her a good time, then she was off with her boyfriend Nick to buy herself a new dress for her birthday celebration.
Ashley with her boyfriend Steve, her longtime friend, Devon and Devon's boyfriend Mike. Don't they all look great?!
Ashley and Steve...yes, they do look cute together.

Don't Forget...

...it's Mother's Day. To our Mamas, we love you and miss you so much!!

Updates and Stuff

So, I've taken more photos of the beautiful blossoms in our yard. This time it's sweet white lilac and beautiful pink azaleas. In a few days I'm going to take some photos of our neighbor's miniature lilac that is so full of buds you won't be able to see the leaves when they are all fully bloomed!

On the beading front, I'm currently working on a lace (netted) cuff in turquoise and I'm debating about adding in contrast colors. I think I'll see how it goes with just the two styles of the turquoise first! I also bought some gorgeous triangle beads and seed beads that I just couldn't resist making into some bling for myself! I have the first in silvery gray using the RAW technique and I'm looking for the perfect buttons to finish this stunner in champagne AB triangle beads using two-drop peyote.

Most exciting is a huge order from one buyer who said she saw my work through another site and fell in love with my style! I'm waiting on some confirmation from her before I ship it all out to her! I'm so thrilled with this order, I hope it all goes through perfectly!

So, that's the news for now...