Fresh Face to Website

I finally got my website updated and online. I have a pay pal cart on it now, so you can order directly from the site. I don't have a lot of items listed yet, but hopefully I will have more up soon.

Check it out: http://www.carelebeads.com/

Here are a couple items you will find over there:

I will be back soon with pictures from my trip to Montreal. What a great time we had!

Rammstein in Montreal

At the beginning of this year I never dreamed I would be going to Montreal, Quebec. Nor did it cross my mind that I would go there specifically for a concert... a German lyric industrial metal concert. But I am.

My husband, at the suggestion of someone else, told me to look up this band, Rammstein, last year. We looked up the video for Du Hast. It was good, but because it was German and we didn't fully understand it, we both dismissed it for several months until in March of this year, when we watched XXX. The band playing a concert in the move sounded familiar. My husband was sure it was the same band, so I googled it. Sure enough, it was. But this time was different. Something clicked. We went out and bought two albums. Then I bought another for my husband's birthday a few days later.

I let my sister listen to one cd. I didn't think she would have liked it at all. But to my surprise, she was hooked too.

I listen to Rammstein every time I get in my vehicle. I own every album I could find. My eldest will change the CD to the radio once in a while, but my seven -year-old will complain and ask for Rammstein to be put back on.

Anyway, my sister found out they were going to be in Montreal in December. We were both excited. Tickets, flights and hotels were booked almost immediately. Call it an early Christmas/birthday present (x3 years). I am excited. So is she.

Hopefully I can get a few pictures of Montreal when we are there and I can share a bit of that part of the world with you too. Now I better go study up on my French and German!

Here is a link to the video for Du Hast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My0HQ0QkGLQ

Teacher Gift Idea Treasury

I was recently added to a new treasury on etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4ce447c052bc8eef5677780f/gift-guide-for-teacher?index-0

Check it out. It features my purple and black pen:

New and Old Stuff

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Whistlestop Craft Show last weekend. It was nice seeing everyone, as always.




Here is one of the compliations of new items I have available. Some of the items may have sold already, but it gives you an idea of what I am doing. If there is anything you see that you would like, please contact me and we can work out the details.

Most of these are jelly spoons. Pendants, keychains, earrings, and a bracelet are also included.




I have been trying to update my website for a little while now, but I am unable to edit it. I have contacted vistaprint 3 times now and they all say it is a problem on my end, even though I have tried it on several computers, not all my own. Because of this, do not bother to check it out for now. If I am able to access it again, I will let you know. I was planning on upgrading my package so I could have a paypal cart on it and sell directly off of the site. Oh, well, I guess that will have to wait.



November 20, 2010 I will be in Estevan, Saskatchewan for the Kinnettes Club Craft Sale held at the Wylie Mitchelle Building. If you happen to be around, make sure you stop in. It is a really good show!

Happy Halloween!

Hmmm, losing track of time. Getting a few sales in here and there. Next weekend is Whistlestop in Moose Jaw. There are so many vendors, it makes for a great sale. I am getting a few new things made here and there as well. Check out my etsy shop for a few of the newer things I have made. I also have a picture of a bunch of new items on my facebook page. Take a look. If you don't follow me there yet, click the link on the side!

Have a great halloween. On my way to trick or treat with the kids!

Cream of the Crop

The Cream of the Crop craft sale starts today at 3pm. It also runs Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 11-5. It is being held at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan. I will be set up at booth #92, near the concession.

I was at Cream of the Crop last year. I enjoyed it, but the area I was in didn't seem to get as much traffic as the main room. So if you go, be sure to find all of the exhibitors - go to the Ontario/Quebec Room and the J. Schumlatcher Room. And don' forget to stop and say hi to me too!

Harvest Hues With Jewellery Won

I will be attending the Harvest Hues Jewellery show on September 25, 2010 in Regina, SK. This is the same group I was supposed to join in with back in May but was unable to at that time. I am looking forward to being there and meeting everyone.

Come on out if you are in town!

Read more about the sale and about the people behind it here:

http://jewellerywon.blogspot.com

Whirl Wind of Shows Finally Over

What a month! I am exhausted after the amount of shows I have done in the past few weeks. It may not seem like many to seasoned veterans of the show circuit, but it was a lot for me!

I have pictures from each of the events I have participated in (taken by me or my children).

Park Art was first, held in Moose Jaw on July 1, 2010. The Mortlach Berry Festival was next on July 3, 2010 in Mortlach, Saskatchewan. I had a few weeks off before Summerfest in Moose Jaw on July 31, 2010. The week after held the Regina Folk Festival for August 6-8, 2010 in Regina, Saskatchewan. And rounding out my travels was the Brooks Medieval Faire in Brooks, Alberta on August 14, 2010.

Here is a picture of my daughter in my booth at Park Art.

All of the pictures I have of these events are posted on Facebook. Click the link on the sidebar and it will take you directly to my page.


Now I just need to finish applying for the rest of the fall shows. I will post under upcoming shows once I know for sure which ones I will be attending.

CF Summerfest

This Saturday will be the second annual CF Summerfest Festival in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. This festival is to raise money for cystic fibrosis. Many live band will be participating in the event that runs from noon until 11pm. There will be a children's activity area and and artisans market. I will be participating in the artists market area.

I have been debating whether to apply for this festival or not for a while. This weekend is also my 20th high school reunion (dating myself I know). I decided not to go to the reunion and go to the festival instead. I finally go a hold of someone today (my procrastinating again). Thankfully they are able to accommodate me still.

My nephew will be there also with his leather cuffs. I should have taken a picture of some of them while I had them. They are really nice. He is John the Leatherman if you happen to stop by. He is also on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-The-Leatherman/112267387437

CF Summerfest also has a facebook page.

We went down to Happy Valley Park today to see what it looked like. It is very nice. You really can't tell it is there until you are going down the hill. I am even more excited to go now. I took a few pictures of the park, mostly the trees. I didn't realize how many or how big the trees were.

If you happen to come down, make sure to stop by and say hi!

Caroline

P is for Procrastination

As much as I would like to get things done in a timely manner it rarely hapens. I have three sessions worth of beads I have made sitting around. I finally cleaned them two days ago - they sat in a cup of water for at least a week! I have projects in mind for many of the beads, I just don't seem to have the desire to do them yet.

I don't know if it is because it is summer and (most) days are nice, too nice to be indoors, or if it is because I am working a slough of nights and just don't have the energy. I used to bring projects to work with me when I worked nights. I don't feel comfortable doing that anymore though.

Something has to get me out of this slump soon. I have two big shows coming up and I would like to be ready with some nice new projects.

A real good night sleep should help. Only 4 more nights to go before I will see that though.

Procrastination is my life. I would be over-worked without it.

Oops!

I must apologize for being so absent lately. I had intentions of writing but my google analytics was messed up and said no one was looking at my blog. If no one was looking, why bother writing? Not until someone mentioned they looked at it the other day did I realize something was wrong. I am guessing that when I gave my blog the overhaul a while back, it kicked out my tracking codes and all was lost.

Well now I am back and I will try to write something interesting if anyone out there cares to read it. Lesson learned - don't always rely on technology!

Christmas In July Sale

I am joining in with hundreds of shops on etsy who are having Christmas in July Sales. Everyone sets up their own sale/terms/deals. Some have free shipping, some have percentages off.

I will be giving away free cell phone charms or zipper pulls (valued at $10) with every purchase from my shop.

If you buy one item, you will receive one charm. Two items receive two charms. Three gets three, etc, etc.

For me this works better. I believe I would at times actually lose money with the free shipping (overseas shipping mostly). And I am not exactly sure how to refund money through paypal. But mostly, who doesn't like something for free? I know I do.

I have a pile of cell phone charms ready and waiting to send. Colors can be requested yet I may not always have a specific color. I am somewhat limited right now. (At least until I get another tank of oxygen!)

This is just a sample picture of some of my old cell phone charms. Most of these have been sold. I do have a lot of other charms. I will have to take a picture of them for you.

My sale runs until July 31, 2010.

Come and check out my shop. I will hopfully be adding more to it in the days to come.

Fishing

We have gone out fishing for the past two weekends. The first time, Saturday, was my first time fishing on a boat. I have always shore fished before this. Wow! I can see why people fish this way. It is so much easier. You let out your line and troll along. I'm not even sure how many walleye (pickerel) I caught that day. A lot. Most went back in the lake as you are only allowed to keep 5.

We went out again on Father's Day. This time I counted. I caught 8 (kept 4). We went out twice on Sunday. I got really sun burnt on the first run, so I didn't want to go the second time. But my husband said I was their good luck (I caught more than they did - theirs were bigger though) so I felt obligated to go. It was a hot day and I ended up wearing my sweatshirt zipped up to the top so I wouldn't burn anymore. I think I still burnt the back of my neck.

The next day I was a bit sore ( I do use aloe gel which works well), but my biggest problem was I felt dizzy, or more like I was still on the boat - rocking I guess. I am glad it went away.

Here are a few of the things we saw last week and this week on our fishing trips.

This beaver was swimming around in the area we were fishing (from the shore). There was a houseboat docked in the bay and I snapped this picture when he came out of the water and was walking around the houseboat.

Here are some tiny snail shells my daughter collected from the dock.

There were several different kinds of flowers where we were. These purple and fuchsia ones were so pretty. I am not sure if they are a flower or a weed, but they were pretty.

We took a break from fishing on Sunday and let the girls play at a nearby play park. We discovered a mushroom forest under the trees. This picture doesn't even begin to show the enormous amount of mushrooms there were. My husband started to hum the theme song from the smurfs. I thought it was funny.

And here is our dog who seemed to have enough. She, like the rest of us, was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. We didn't stay too long there.

It sure is nice getting away once in a while.

Mortlach Saskatoon Berry Festival

I have been accepted as a vendor at the Mortlach Berry Festival in Mortlach, Saskatchewan on July 3, 2010. I was there the first year they held the festival. It was fun. There was a parade, petting zoo, saskatoon berry treats, and a bunch of entertainment. I had to leave early that year so I didn't experience it all.

Last year I was unable to go. But this year, I will be there and I am looking forward to it. They weren't able to give me my exact location so if you come you will have to look for me. I am sure there will be plenty to see and do on your way to finding me.

The first year I went I made a special cell phone charm with a cluster of glass saskatoon berries. I am not sure if I still have it, but here is a picture of it.

For more information on the Berry Festival check out their website:

http://www.mortlach.ca

Park Art

I finally received my confirmation letter for Park Art.



I will be attending the craft show on July 1, 2010 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It is held in Crescent Park in front of the Public Library.



Many different kinds of art work are on display - woodworking, metal smithing, loads of different kinds of jewelry, paintings, and so much more. I will try to post some pictures of the event this year.



If you are near Moose Jaw on July 1, come on down and check it out.

Wine Stoppers

I posted a bunch of pictures on my facebook page of all of the wine stoppers I have right now (minus one because I didn't see it when I grabbed the rest).


They make wonderful gifts and they work really well. That is if you actually have any wine left in the bottle when you are done!


Here is a picture of all of them. Go to my facebook page to see individual pictures and other assortments. I also have a set of three on there that I made as a special order for someone. Check it out.

Cathedral Arts Festival

The Cathedral Arts Festival is over for another year. This one proved to be the most challenging yet. It began fairly cold and didn't really warm up all day. Thankfully I wore a warm sweater/jacket. (So much for my "fancy" new outfit. No one could see it!) It was misty part of the morning and rained lightly around noon. At about 2:30 it became quite dark, so much that I commented that I almost needed lights because I couldn't see. And then the sky opened up. Wow the rain came down hard! Some people sought shelter under my canopy. It rained on and off for the rest of the festival which was over at 5 pm. At about 5:05 the sun finally peeked its face out. Nice timing! Oh well. I hope next year is a little better weather wise. I still had a lot of fun. The people I met were great and I can't wait to see everyone next year!

Here are the only pictures I was able to take. Between the rain and my table being fairly steady with people (except when I took the pictures) I wasn't able to get too many taken.

My husband "watching" the table (or ignoring me taking the picture). He was a big help throughout the day. Until I looked at this picture, I never realized how bad my table cloth was hanging. The other side of that table actually looked pretty good. The one end on the right side of the picture is empty because that area is soaking wet from the rain. The entire opposite table was drenched for most of the day. I am drying all of my products out right now. Only a few things were actually ruined.

The rack in the foreground of this picture had to be turned just right so my bookmarks didn't get wet. I didn't want all of the paper they are hanging on to warp. I think I will still have to change all of the papers anyway.

The lady beside us was selling honey. Here is the back of her giant bee. And right across is the mini donut stand. Of course we had to buy some!

Even though it was raining, people were still shopping around at the booths. There were all kinds of booths at the festival. These were across from me - the only bra maker in southern Saskatchewan (I could hear them tell everyone as they passed by), paintings, hoola hoops and other fun stuff, and the one covered with blue tarps was wood working. There were several jewelry booths all around me. Unfortunately there usually are a large number of jewelry booths. I just wish people would understand the differences between many of them. We are not all the same (I will post more on that at another time).

And finally, here is one of the heavier rainy times. People still enjoyed themselves - just at a bit faster pace.

Thank you once again to everyone who stopped by to say hi and to those who purchased items from me. You are all the reason I keep coming back. Thanks!

Tomorrow Is Almost Here

Well, my time is just about up. Tomorrow is the Cathedral Arts Festival in Regina, Saskatchewan. I still have to pack up my van, but I think I am ready besides that. I made a few new pieces that I hope everyone will like - bookmarks, key chains, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, lots of new wine stoppers, pens - well I guess I made a little more than a few new things.

If you happen to be in or around Regina tomorrow May 29, 2010 please stop by.

You may require an umbrella (and may be a parka if it doesn't warm up soon!).

http://www.cathedralartsfestival.com/

Hopefully I will have a lot of pictures to show you when it is done. It is such a fun festival!

(This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just found it somewhat intriguing.)

Brooks Medieval Faire

I just received confirmation this morning that I was accepted as a vendor for the Brooks Medieval Faire on August 14, 2010 in Brooks, Alberta. I am quite excited as I expect it to be very entertaining.


We have to dress in medieval costumes for the event. When my husband and I were married, we had a medieval themed wedding where we dressed in costumes. I still haven't tried it on, but I am hoping my wedding dress will still fit me so I can wear it. If not I guess I will take a trip to the costume shop downtown.


I had intentions of adding a wedding picture here to show what our outfits looked like, and I don't know if it is blogger or picnik, but I can't get my picture to face the right way. I will have to try again later.

Check out their website for more information:
http://www.brooksfaire.com

Facebook

I really don't get facebook. I get it for personal pages, I just don't know what people want for a fan page. Do I add new stuff there? Do I babble on and on like I do here? I have posted shows I will be attending, but what else?

Do you have ideas for me? Please let me know in the comments section below.

Thanks
Caroline

Facebook

I just signed up for a facebook fan page. Check it out.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carelebeads/302223984316?v=wall

I hope this link works. I never thought to find out what the actual address is. If anyone knows how to find out, please let me know.

I have never been on facebook before. I am not even really sure what to do there. Oh well, like here I guess it will be a learning experience.

Take care and have a good night (or day)!
Caroline

Chickens and the Weather

I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow covering everything. Any other day, this may be fine, but today I was going out of town to Regina. It isn't far away - only 45 minutes, but snow at -1 degree Celsius and winds up to 60km/h, I wasn't too sure how much I wanted to be on the highway. On the open prairie has to be the worst in those conditions as there is nothing to stop the wind. And it is supposed to continue to snow (at least 5cm) all day (and all weekend).

I drove to the highway to check it out. It became very slushy. Semi trucks were slowing, one was even stopped (he could have been having a nap though). On my way back home I finally heard the weather report. Not very promising. What was funny though was the song that came on right after the news - Should I Stay or Should I Go?. I broke out laughing. I decided to stay home.

The reason I was on my way to Regina was for The Buds of May jewelry show where I was to have a booth. Unfortunately I am unable to attend. I have been working around the clock making wonderful new pieces for this show. Here are a few of the items I am pleased with:

So, what do chickens have to do with anything? The other deciding factor for not going today is that my daughter is having a really rough time with her chicken pox. They are now very painful and everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I feel very bad for her. She got up at 6 am today as I was getting ready to go. She was crying, had a fever, and was begging me not to go. What kind of mother would I be if I left?

If the weather was good I may have been able to justify it in my mind, but too many things were screaming at me to stay home. I tend to listen when that happens.

I wish all the other ladies (and gentlemen if there are any) good luck with their sale. I hope I will be able to join them at another time. I was looking forward to it.

Chicken Pox

My daughter has the chicken pox.

Two weeks ago, other children in her grade 1 class were coming down with the chicken pox. I was really hoping she would come in contact with them and come down with a case of them herself. Well today she finally has some spots. It took a while to know for sure if that is what they are, but they keep coming and I can't think of what else they could be.

On Saturday she had a sore throat, but her dad had a throat infection and I thought she had caught it (they were sharing drinks). Then yesterday she said she wasn't feeling well and stayed home from school in the morning. She did get sick once, but was bouncing off the walls and ready to go back to school when her sisters came home for lunch. So she went.

Then this morning... "Mom, what is this back here" she points right above her butt. "It really hurts." I took a look. Sure enough, her first pox.

She was excited. But by the afternoon, she finally was tired and crashed.

I am not so sure how I feel about all of this. I was excited at first. But now, with a show coming up and with me being booked for work but need to stay home with her (good thing I have a great job in that respect) and having to let everyone she has recently come in contact with know about it incase they haven't had them yet, I am getting exhausted just thinking about it. And to top it off, once she finally went to sleep and I got a minute to relax myself, I am feeling a sore throat coming on. Just my luck!

Oh, well, we will get through this. Just like everything else.

Take care everyone.

The Buds of May

Next weekend I am participating in a jewelry show called The Buds of May. It will be held in Regina, Saskatchewan at the West Harvest Inn in the Solarium Room. I am looking forward to going, however I am a little nervous as I have never attended this show before.

It is always nerve wracking when participating in a new show. You never know what to expect. How will the room be set up? How much space do I get? What do I need to bring? What don't I need to bring? How do I look like I know what I am doing and not just flying by the seat of my pants?

I try to plan for any senario I can think of. I know this time I get one table. I haven't set up a one table display in a long time and I have a LONG list of items in stock. I will bring everything, but I will likely only put out a couple of certain items or none of some things.

It is also nice to know what sort of clientel to expect. Are they looking for quality items or a bargain. I have been to shows of each. And a bargain to one person is an outragous price to another. There is no pleasing everyone anywhere.

You have to walk into the situation expecting anything, but remember for next year what it was like so you can plan accordingly.

I have never been to an all jewelry show. This is also something totally new. The biggest problem with that is not to undercut or overprice your work as compared to the other sellers. I hope mine is inline. It will be impossible to tell until I get there and see what everyone else charges.

Price has always been a problem with me. I want people to be able to afford my work, so I don't tend to use sterling silver in a lot of my pieces. I do have some pieces with sterling silver, just not very many. I am happy to make anything for someone in whatever materials they want (provided I have access to said materials), but for now I am trying to make affordable quality pieces. (I once had a woman ask for sterling silver because it wouldn't tarnish as my plated pieces do. I had to let her know that all sterling silver does tarnish, the only difference is that silver plated can wear off over time. She didn't care. She still wanted the sterling silver. I have found that putting my jewelry into plastic zip locking baggies helps to prevent tarnishing.)

Everyone uses different pieces and styles for their jewelry. I guess if I am happy with what I am charging for a piece and am making something on it, I shouldn't feel as if I am over or undercharging for my work. It really shouldn't be "comparable" to other artists. It is what it is.

There are 10 artists in total that will be attending this show. I think I have met only two of them. Here is a list of the artists:

Chase and Ollie

Prairie Sky Creations

EllJay Design

Shauna Mitru

The Finishing Touch by Roxanne Brown

Charming Betties

Stonewench Handcrafted Jewellery

DD Jewellery Designs

Susan Betker

and me - Carelebeads

If you know any of these talented artists and want to see their work in person, come on down on May 1, 2010 to the West Havest Inn, 4025 Albert Street, Regina, Saskatchewan from 10am to 5pm and see all of us.

Hope to see you there!

Cathedral Village Arts Festival

As I am waiting for confirmation from several of the craft sales I have applied to, I am beginning to get nervous that I may not have enough stuff, or the right stuff. I need to get ready for my next sale on May 1 in Regina at the West Harvest Inn. I just received confirmation on that one today. Although I am looking forward to that sale, the one I am really waiting for is the Cathedral Village Arts Festival.

This is my favorite sale every year. I love the atmosphere and that it is outdoors. You see some of the craziest outfits, hairstyles, and people walking up and down the seven blocks. The sale is held in Regina, Saskatchewan in the Cathedral Village area. They block off the street and some side streets. There is a stage at each end of the main street where musicians showcase their talents throughout the day. Vendors set up booths along both sides of the street. Most are crafts of some sort - paintings, jewelry, sewing, woodwork, etc. Then there are food booths with carnival type foods, one booth sells fresh lemonade (a soft spot for me), and don't forget the mini donuts. Yum!

I am always located in virtually the same spot so people who are looking for me can find me easier. I am on the last block on one end, which means a lot less congestion. I have gone for a walk down the street previous years and you can barely move once you get to to the centre blocks.

There are entertainers every year too. The buskers, belly dancers, and magicians make it worth the trip.

I must admit, I think my favorite part of this sale is that it is the only one my husband goes to with me. I definitely would not be able to go if he wasn't able to help me. And I am very thankful he can.

Check out their website for pictures of previous years. http://www.cathedralartsfestival.ca/ the festival lasts all week but the craft sale part is only one day (the Saturday).

Hopefully this year I can snap a few pictures to post!

Skyping with Australia

This evening I took my daughter to her classroom where they were able to talk to some children in Australia. Their teacher and the other children's teacher set up a time where they were able to talk via skype.

My husband and I went with our daughter. We seemed to be more excited to hear the differences and similarities between our countries and cultures than the kids were (although they did all seem fairly excited). They talked for almost an hour and discussed things like school days, activities, food, weather and so much more. They could literally see the ocean from their classroom. I was quite envious. I looked outside my daughter's classroom and could see a ball diamond and some trees. Not bad, but not even close to as cool as having an ocean there!

The other class was surprised that it is 3 degrees Celsius here (it was 27 degrees there). They were also surprised that our children went home for lunch. They were not allowed to go home even if they lived right across from the school. They also asked how everyone knew what school the kids went to if they didn't wear uniforms. We thought it different that they did wear uniforms. (It wouldn't be a bad idea if they did have them here though.)

I find it very interesting to learn about other places. Some things are so often taken for granted.
Learning new things is always fun.

My Impress Is On Its Way

I am so excited. I finally got the email I have been waiting for. My Impress Bead Liner is on its way! I should get to work making more beads for it I suppose. If I could just get my tax work done, I would be there already.

Now all I have to do is wait for the Impress's arrival.

Have a good night everyone!
Caroline

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who checked out my treasury recently. I really appreciate all of the comments everyone left. It sure makes designing the treasuries a lot more worthwhile.

Thanks again!
Caroline

Yeah! My Treasury Is Up!

Finally I got a treasury. Here is the link:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=120417

I had to change it a bit because one of the items was no longer available.
See my previous post for the screen shot that I originally took.

Oh, I just checked to see which one was missing. It is the mushroom with the red cap. I must go and search for another one to add.

My Bead Liner is Coming

A while ago I ordered a tool for lining my large hole beads with a silver core, more resembling the Pandora, Troll-style beads commonly seen. It is the Impress Bead Liner from http://www.artintheround.com/ I am excited to get this. I have sold many beads without the core and people seem happy with them. It is the few people that turn their noses up when seeing there is no core that I want to appease. Not necessarily as much to make them happy as to not have to see the reaction on their faces.

I can't get over how much specialty shops/jewelers sell the name brand beads for. No core is worth that much. And most of the beads I have seen in person are not that nice. That is why I like to make them. Mine may not be gorgeous to everyone, but I do think a lot of them have more character than the "name brand" ones. I may not have a catchy name or story that goes with each one, but I also don't mass produce hundreds of the exact same design. Here are a few of the ones I have (uncored of course):

Once I get my lining tool, I am hoping to add a few to my etsy shop. I will show you when I get some done. I also just ordered some metal to line them with. Besides sterling silver, I am also going to try copper and brass.

Good things are about to come.

Moss and Woodland

I just noticed that the treasury on etsy should open up again, so I created another one using the poster sketch tool. There are only 7 more spots to expire before it opens but that isn't supposed to be for several hours and I will be at work then. So I decided to add the collection that I put together here incase I don't get a spot.

I searched for woodland, forest, and moss and here are the things I liked best.

The first thing that I did find was Mr. Dimbleby. I absolutely love the things in that shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/feythcrafts. There are so many cool looking items. That is what sparked my search for the items I found.


I unfortunatly don't have links for most of these items or their respecive shops. But a search for the seller and I am sure you will find what you are looking for. With any luck I will get a treasury spot and be able to add a working link so you can just click and find.


Take care
Caroline

Skating

My youngest daughter started skating at school the other day. This was her very first time ever on skates. Needless to say, she didn't skate circles around...well, anything.

Her teacher first taught them how to fall and get back up. Well, she got the falling part down pat. Unfortunately she was not able to get back up. So after a bit I convinced her to come to the boards to help her up. She got up, but she didn't let go of the boards. Her dad and I both wished we had skates so we could have helped her. We both felt so bad.

Near the end, her teacher came and got her, this is when we found her skates weren't tied properly and they were a bit too big. (We got there late so someone else tied them for her) I retied them quite tight, which helped, but they were just too big.

Since then, we took her and our middle one out skating. The next time she went skating with the school she was awesome! She only fell twice and didn't hold the boards at all. She was still cautious, but in a good way. She skated in the middle of the ice all by herself. We were so proud of her. And more importantly she was proud of herself.

I just wish we had taken them out sooner to practice. One, it would have been helpful to them, and two, now it is melting and we will have to wait until next year to do it again.

My Treasury

Here is a screen shot of my treasury. I even included the alternates because no one ever gets to see the alternates and they are great as well. Check out the little angel:)





The screen shot is not that great as it is the first one I have ever done. I tried to hyperlink it to the actual treasury page. I hope it works.

Roses are Red Treasury

I was finally able to make another treasury!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=114709

I am exhausted though. I had to wait literally hours for it to open up. I did get a start on my facebook fan page while I waited. Hopefully I can publish it soon.

I found the items in the treasury by searching for "rose". I just love the baby! He/she is sooo cute!

Well good night for now.

Caroline

What Would You Do?

I don't like to admit when I am sick, but today my sinuses are driving me crazy. Actually only one sinus is bothering me. The left side of me face keeps getting sharp pains then my eye waters, usually I sneeze 2-4 times then it stops. I can go for quite sometime fairly clear but then it hits again. I wish it would just go away, as I am sure eventually it will, but for now I need to treat the symptoms.

I like to drink tea when I am sick. Lemon or mint. I prefer to use Kleenex with lotion so my skin doesn't break down as fast. I use Vaseline under my nose when my skin does finally get red and chapped.

My husband likes Vick's vapour rub. I haven't used that since I was a kid. But I think it did work. Or at least made me feel better.

Neocitron is something I should get. I usually forget about it but I do like it.

What is it that you do when you get a cold?

The Little Fox Giveaway by Vanessa

Check out the link I posted in the sidebar for Designs by Vanessa. She has a bunch of great giveaways including one from one of my favorite shops on etsy - The Little Fox. http://www.thelittlefox.etsy.com. The shop is giving away two sets of postcards and a print to one lucky winner. Just click on the link and follow her entry guidelines and you may be that lucky winner!

Tomorrow

I just got home from work and I am supposed to be getting ready for my craft sale tomorrow, but instead, I am surfing the net - surprise, surprise. I am so addicted to looking at stuff, I waste so much of my time that I could be using for something else. I don't get as many beads or jewelry made as I would like. Even though I am on the computer, I don't get as many things listed on etsy as I would like. I probably should spend more time with my family. You never really can spend enough time with your kids since they grow up sooo fast.

So what is my point? I need to get off the computer, get packed and ready, and go to bed so I can get up early and sit at the mall for 12+ hours and maybe sell something.

Have a good night and a good day tomorrow.

My Torch and Tools

I don't have one of the prettiest places to work, but it definitely serves its purpose. I work in the back of my husband's business, which was formerly a welding shop. They have fixed up the front, but the back leaves a little to be desired. Thankfully I am too busy looking at the beads I am making to really look around and worry about what it looks like.

Here is a picture of my work space (my husband had recently cleaned it)

Here is a picture of my torch. I use a midrange with a premix on top. I have never actually used the premix part. The torch runs on oxygen and propane. We have a medium size tank of oxygen and use a regular bbq propane cylinder.

Here is a picture of some of the tools I use. This is an assortment of tweezers, picks, and flat edges. These things are used to push, pull, poke and rake the glass in different ways.

The other night I made some "flame" beads where I used tweezers, mashers and picks.

This one is my favorite tool.


I use this a lot when I am encasing beads. I use it to push the glass around the edge.

This one (poker) is used to make a hole in the centre of flowers (among other things). The hole is then covered with a dot of glass trapping air inside which creates a bubble.


Graphite marvers are used to roll, flatten and manipulate glass. I mostly use them for barrels. The large one I also use for applying frit to beads.

The grooved marver puts grooves in beads.

And lastly, the one "tool" that I couldn't do without - my mandrels. I have three sizes plus three ring mandrels (sizes 7 & 9). These mandrels (which are steel welding rods) are all dipped in bead release ( a clay substance which allows the bead to come off once it is done). They are ready and waiting for me to make beads on.

I guess my kiln would also be a tool, also one of the important ones. It has a digital controller so the beads are always annealed properly. I heat it up to 960 degrees F. The mandrel ends that stick out of the door are almost too hot to touch when it is on.

These are the main things I use to create beads (besides glass obviously). I am always looking for other things to use as well. Once I used a nail. Nuts and acorn caps I have used for drawer pulls. But that is another tangent altogether.

What is Frit?

Frit is crushed glass. There are many kinds of frit - from plain glass to glass that reacts differently under different conditions. You can even make your own frit by placing a heated rod or piece of rod in a cold jar (or glass) of water. I have made my own once by heating short, leftover pieces of rods. I really liked the look of it.

Here are a couple of beads that I made using the frit that I made:

Frit comes in different sizes too. You can separate your handmade frit by straining it. I didn't. I find it too much extra work at the moment. Maybe someday I will become more picky.

There are several types of frit I own. I have plain cobalt and plain coral. I also have four colors of reduction frit - amber, green, blue, violet. They can be the colors they say, or by introducing them into a propane rich flame, the metals in the glass will pop.

The above pictures are coral frit, bottles of frit, and iris gold frit



The beads in the above picture all have a black base and are covered in a layer of clear glass. I used green, blue, and purple reduction frit as the colors below the layer of clear. I did not reduce the glass in these beads. However, the following picture has emerald green glass beads with green reduction frit that was reduced. It creates a metalic look to the glass. Reduction frit has metals in the glass which pop when it is reduced.



The last type of frit I have is Raku. This is an interesting frit. There are so many variations. The frit itself looks brown, green and black. But when used in certain ways, blues, pinks, and purples will also emerge.

Raku Frit

The following are beads that were made using raku frit. Depending on the color of the bead's base and how it was applied, there are many variations in the colors that can develop.

There are many brands of frit out there. There are so many ones I don't even know of. I am by no means an expert on any of this. I just thought I would let you know what I am talking about in my shop listings. I hope this helps.



Caroline