I finally received my check yesterday for the beadwork that I sent out to Eleanor a week ago. well when I went to cash the check, she had made it out to me instead of to my mom (she has the bank account). Naturally this complicates things with the bank. first we went to the drive-thru and the teller tells us that we have to go inside to cash a third party check because the drive-thru tellers aren't allowed to do those kinds of checks anymore. so we run an errand and stop by another branch on the way back; well that branch isn't allowed to third party checks EITHER for some odd reason, we have to go to the main branch.
third time's the charm I'm thinking....I'm also getting really really irritated at this point because I had specifically told Eleanor to make out the check to my mom and not me so we could avoid this type of problem. But I keep my mouth shut and just keep praying quietly to myself that we will get this check cashed before the bank closes. We get to the main branch and we talk to a bank employee who tells us that the bank manager would have to make the "call" on cashing a third party check, and he just had stepped out to lunch for 30 minutes.
Deep breath.
ok, so mom and I decide to go get a bite ourselves and come back in 30 minutes. still praying under my breath and trying to decide what to do if we can't get this cashed or who would cash it for us.
Mom and I go to Sonic, have a bite, go back to the bank and try one last time. As I'm walking into the bank I'm still praying for patience and for the check to get cashed. We're standing in line and the bank manager comes out to try and get the line moving faster by asking what everyone needs. He gets to us and we explain about our check, the only solution he gives us is for me to be added to mom's account and then they could cash it for me. Apparently the third party check has gone the way of the dinosaur since all of these bank closures started happening. And well I hardly ever receive a check for payment on anything anymore except my payroll check at work. Anyway, as we're talking to Thomas, the guy signing me up to mom's account, we tell him about our little craft business that he have and the bead shop, Whispering Winds, that we also do business with. Well Thomas tells us that he's part Chickasaw and starts telling us about his grandmother and his whole family. At that point I still had Jeannie's earrings in my purse that I had made for her, so I show him the little Choctaw girl earrings and he just loved them. We told him about the angel pins I made and gave him my business card, and Whispering Winds' card....basically he put in an order for 3 angel pins while I was getting signed up for a joint account. How AWESOME is GOD!!!
I hadn't even expected another beadwork customer, just my check to get cashed, and thank the Lord he kept my mouth shut too, during all of that waiting and running around yesterday afternoon. I may not have found another beadwork order if I had thrown the fit that I wanted to over the check fiasco. But I kept quiet and kept praying through all of it and got my money, got a new order for this week, made a new friend at the bank, got a joint account, got my errands done and kept my sanity through it all. THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
new bead patterns
I forgot about this one....while at the conference my aunt Judy had on a pair of horse earrings, she let me borrow them for the pattern. (this horse earring is part of my bead order for my vendor neighbor, Elanor. she ordered 2 pairs of these earrings as soon as she saw the pattern. heh.)
that's another great thing about conferences and fellow vendors, you always find something NEW to add to your stock.
thanks again Judy!
that's another great thing about conferences and fellow vendors, you always find something NEW to add to your stock.
thanks again Judy!
back from Tulsa (NJOMA) conference
*I would’ve posted this earlier yesterday but I had a lot of errands to do.
we got back from Tulsa late wednesday afternoon (we left for the conference early saturday morning). set up the booth saturday evening and even sold a few items once we were done setting up. Sunday and Tuesday were our best sales, Monday wasn’t so great, but we did sell some that day (it was also raining a lot and of course we only did sales in between conference meetings and meals).
I went down with 16 beaded angels, 10 choctaw girl earrings and various other pieces including my pink ribbon pins and sold the majority of my stock; I have 2 angels left, the blonde ones (go figure...it’s a NDN conference so yeah they didn’t sell) We also ate out everyday either at the hotel restaurant or something local, so the majority of my sales’ money was spent before I got home. then of course I’m a big tourist and had to get family members a little something. I had just enough money for a dab of groceries and now I got 10 bucks left to my name. However, I am working on a custom order for one of my fellow vendors (she was our best customer and bought quite a few items from both me and mom), so I’ll still have extra moola by the first of December for this order.
Next year’s conference is in Phoenix. I’m sending my beadwork along but I may not go myself this time, just to reduce spending all of my profits during the conference. Plus, since dad found out the conference is in Phoenix he wants to go now and have a mini-reunion meet with his mom from california, along with his brothers. There would be no room in the car for all of us, plus baggage, plus stock for the booth...and no one to care for the animals here. I think I’ve already talked myself out of going now. We’ll see, it’s a year from now and a LOT can happen in a year.
all in all I had a great time, very few cat fights with family members, and made it home in one piece with additional beadwork orders. good times.
we got back from Tulsa late wednesday afternoon (we left for the conference early saturday morning). set up the booth saturday evening and even sold a few items once we were done setting up. Sunday and Tuesday were our best sales, Monday wasn’t so great, but we did sell some that day (it was also raining a lot and of course we only did sales in between conference meetings and meals).
I went down with 16 beaded angels, 10 choctaw girl earrings and various other pieces including my pink ribbon pins and sold the majority of my stock; I have 2 angels left, the blonde ones (go figure...it’s a NDN conference so yeah they didn’t sell) We also ate out everyday either at the hotel restaurant or something local, so the majority of my sales’ money was spent before I got home. then of course I’m a big tourist and had to get family members a little something. I had just enough money for a dab of groceries and now I got 10 bucks left to my name. However, I am working on a custom order for one of my fellow vendors (she was our best customer and bought quite a few items from both me and mom), so I’ll still have extra moola by the first of December for this order.
Next year’s conference is in Phoenix. I’m sending my beadwork along but I may not go myself this time, just to reduce spending all of my profits during the conference. Plus, since dad found out the conference is in Phoenix he wants to go now and have a mini-reunion meet with his mom from california, along with his brothers. There would be no room in the car for all of us, plus baggage, plus stock for the booth...and no one to care for the animals here. I think I’ve already talked myself out of going now. We’ll see, it’s a year from now and a LOT can happen in a year.
all in all I had a great time, very few cat fights with family members, and made it home in one piece with additional beadwork orders. good times.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
bca pins
this month (October) I'm working on breast cancer awareness pins. this is 3 of 5 that I've designed and made so far.
If I don't sell these before November I may take them with me to the Tulsa conference next month. (or if I don't give them away before then)
at first I was going to just keep playing around with different designs until I decided on one particular one and just make a dozen or so of that one design, but now I've decided that I like the variety of them all, so they will all be unique in their own way. ;o)
If I don't sell these before November I may take them with me to the Tulsa conference next month. (or if I don't give them away before then)
at first I was going to just keep playing around with different designs until I decided on one particular one and just make a dozen or so of that one design, but now I've decided that I like the variety of them all, so they will all be unique in their own way. ;o)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
beaded scene-choctaw couple
I finally finished this today. the pattern I drew myself combining the choctaw dress earring patterns to one block scene. all done in size 11 seed beads and brick stitch. originally I couldn't make up my mind what it was going to be a necklace pendant, a beaded bag or just a beaded scene. I've opted for the latter and have adhered it to a small 5" square canvas.
this took me at least 3 to 4 days to complete with my regular work schedule over the weekend.
this took me at least 3 to 4 days to complete with my regular work schedule over the weekend.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
beaded purse
*the penny is there for scale size only.
this is my first beaded purse that I completed last night; it took me about 2 days with breaks and my regular work schedule.
Monica bought me this decorative beaded purse book over the weekend and the original pattern was only 2 shades of blue, and of course the fringe and necklace chain were completely different from the way I've done it here. Naturally I had to use my own colors and make it look more like a medicine pouch than a purse.
this is my first beaded purse that I completed last night; it took me about 2 days with breaks and my regular work schedule.
Monica bought me this decorative beaded purse book over the weekend and the original pattern was only 2 shades of blue, and of course the fringe and necklace chain were completely different from the way I've done it here. Naturally I had to use my own colors and make it look more like a medicine pouch than a purse.
Friday, August 1, 2008
beadwork found
(woo hoo!) thank God. mom finally found the 6 missing beaded angels and I now have them in my storage container, safely put away until November. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!
I did not want to remake 6 more angels either. I'm currently at the half-way mark on the 40 angels; I finished the 50 crosses last week (just haven't had time to scan them in yet) and I've only completed 5 pairs of earrings with the Choctaw couple design.
also considering making sets of pearl earrings with the glass pearl beads that I bought a couple of weeks ago.
Tax-free weekend starts today @ work, so after Monday I'll have more free time to work on jewelry.
I did not want to remake 6 more angels either. I'm currently at the half-way mark on the 40 angels; I finished the 50 crosses last week (just haven't had time to scan them in yet) and I've only completed 5 pairs of earrings with the Choctaw couple design.
also considering making sets of pearl earrings with the glass pearl beads that I bought a couple of weeks ago.
Tax-free weekend starts today @ work, so after Monday I'll have more free time to work on jewelry.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
beaded crosses
this is my latest creation, courtesy of my Aunt Gwen who sent me a beadwork book with this pattern; I think it's called a bordeaux cross. anyway the original pattern in the book only had 2 colors, the center corners of the cross were a different color than the rest of it. so I decided to play with the colors and make a cross within a cross and this is how it worked out. so far I have 24 of these crosses made.
woo-hoo!
woo-hoo!
Friday, July 11, 2008
beadwork colors (and drama)
it’s always an issue when it comes to beads’ colors and the scanning light (or lack thereof) anyway for some odd reason the scanner I’m using (my sister monica’s) refuses to pick up a certain pink bead color on this one angel I made. it’s a matte pink, so I know it isn’t a reflection issue. however when I photograph it with my digital camera I can see the original color of it just fine, even though the quality of the picture isn’t great.
*bangs head on desk*
if only I could invent a natural light scanner or something.
so the crummy picture will have to stay in the album until I can take a better one. in the meantime the search for the missing 6 beaded angels continues. (the lesson learned here is to never give work to a senile, old pack rat) the pack rat I’m speaking of is my mom; she’s “misplaced” 6 pieces that I gave to her to hold (my mistake obviously) and now she can’t find them; nor can she recall whether or not she gave them away or packed them away.
I may have to write it off as a loss and just bead 6 replacements. the only other problem is that I never photographed or scanned those angels before I gave them to her, so I have no record of them. grrrr. I’m now photographing/scanning pieces as I finish them and keeping them in my own storage container with me.
My aunt Gwen sent me a beadwork book, via my brother when he came back from Oklahoma. she’s marked all of the pages with post-its of the items she wants me to make; some for her and some for the Johnson-O’malley conference in November. I picked the simplest one to start with first, the beaded crosses; these are meant to be door prizes. thankfully Hobby Lobby has a 50% off sale on beads this week and (Thank God) my stimulus check already came on Monday; it’s almost gone now, but I’m stocked on supplies for my summer projects ;o)
*bangs head on desk*
if only I could invent a natural light scanner or something.
so the crummy picture will have to stay in the album until I can take a better one. in the meantime the search for the missing 6 beaded angels continues. (the lesson learned here is to never give work to a senile, old pack rat) the pack rat I’m speaking of is my mom; she’s “misplaced” 6 pieces that I gave to her to hold (my mistake obviously) and now she can’t find them; nor can she recall whether or not she gave them away or packed them away.
I may have to write it off as a loss and just bead 6 replacements. the only other problem is that I never photographed or scanned those angels before I gave them to her, so I have no record of them. grrrr. I’m now photographing/scanning pieces as I finish them and keeping them in my own storage container with me.
My aunt Gwen sent me a beadwork book, via my brother when he came back from Oklahoma. she’s marked all of the pages with post-its of the items she wants me to make; some for her and some for the Johnson-O’malley conference in November. I picked the simplest one to start with first, the beaded crosses; these are meant to be door prizes. thankfully Hobby Lobby has a 50% off sale on beads this week and (Thank God) my stimulus check already came on Monday; it’s almost gone now, but I’m stocked on supplies for my summer projects ;o)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
luna moth
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/images?l=3292
I think I found my species, a wild silk moth called a luna moth, according to the butterflies and moths.org website. it still looks like a giant ginko leaf to me. and the one a saw and photographed is a male luna moth.
I think I found my species, a wild silk moth called a luna moth, according to the butterflies and moths.org website. it still looks like a giant ginko leaf to me. and the one a saw and photographed is a male luna moth.
Friday, June 13, 2008
ginko moth?
I have no idea what the name of this moth/butterfly is but it does look like a huge ginko leaf on the outer wall of my house. it was there hours before the storm we had last night. was not there this morning, so I'm glad I got a shot of it yesterday.
if anyone knows the name of this moth/butterfly please tell me, I'd love to know it.
if anyone knows the name of this moth/butterfly please tell me, I'd love to know it.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
blueberry dump cake
this is the experiment I did last week:
2 cans of blueberry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks of unsalted butter, sliced into pieces
spread the pie filling in a 9 x 13 cake pan, sprinkled the cake mix over the filling and distributed the butter pieces over the cake mix until completely covered, then baked it for nearly an hour (or until I thought it was browned enough)
the results:
well while cooking it started to look like a cobbler but when the cake cooled it had a bit more of the "crumble" look I was going for in a dump cake (the mix I had wasn't as lumpy as it should've been, probably why it didn't give the crumble I wanted) it still tasted great and everyone ate it up. I may use 2 cake mixes next time for the blueberry dump cake.
the next experimental idea I have is for a chocolate cherry (black forest) dump cake. I've been browsing around at different recipe sites to see if anyone had done it before and I did find one.
btw NO ONE (so far) had done a blueberry dump cake just using pie filling though, the other recipe I found had used fresh berries and sugar (same thing, but pie filling is quicker and tastes better to me when cooking with berries)
also a blackberry dump cake is on my mind today. I have a jar of "canned blackberries" that grandma gave us a while back when she was canning her fruits and veggies. I may try that jar of blackberries with yellow cake mix and see how it turns out. mom and I will probably be the only ones to eat it though LOL.
2 cans of blueberry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks of unsalted butter, sliced into pieces
spread the pie filling in a 9 x 13 cake pan, sprinkled the cake mix over the filling and distributed the butter pieces over the cake mix until completely covered, then baked it for nearly an hour (or until I thought it was browned enough)
the results:
well while cooking it started to look like a cobbler but when the cake cooled it had a bit more of the "crumble" look I was going for in a dump cake (the mix I had wasn't as lumpy as it should've been, probably why it didn't give the crumble I wanted) it still tasted great and everyone ate it up. I may use 2 cake mixes next time for the blueberry dump cake.
the next experimental idea I have is for a chocolate cherry (black forest) dump cake. I've been browsing around at different recipe sites to see if anyone had done it before and I did find one.
btw NO ONE (so far) had done a blueberry dump cake just using pie filling though, the other recipe I found had used fresh berries and sugar (same thing, but pie filling is quicker and tastes better to me when cooking with berries)
also a blackberry dump cake is on my mind today. I have a jar of "canned blackberries" that grandma gave us a while back when she was canning her fruits and veggies. I may try that jar of blackberries with yellow cake mix and see how it turns out. mom and I will probably be the only ones to eat it though LOL.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
the Irises are here
that pretty much says it all. we have 2 fully bloomed and one that's just opening, plus about 7 or 8 other buds still growing.
I really LOVE spring!
I really LOVE spring!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
more tulips
uploaded 9 more photos of tulips to the album and am updating the slide.com slideshow for the art site with same photos.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
stripped tulip
this one is my new favorite in the garden; it started out as a yellow bud with red stripes. as you can see the red has taken over with just a hint of yellow on it.
you can see the rest of the tulips in the album link below on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/angs-beads/sets/72157602097701799/
you can see the rest of the tulips in the album link below on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/angs-beads/sets/72157602097701799/
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
tulips are blooming
I've counted 4 blooms this morning in the garden and there's at least 5 more that will blossom soon. yay!
i love spring, obviously.
i love spring, obviously.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
uphill climb, health-wise
I did finally get rid of that pesky bronchitis I had been coughing up for months (thank God I quit smoking 3 yrs ago). However my A1C is not where I thought it would be (11.2 ?) basically it only moved down .2 points from November, which really sucks even after all of the changes I made to my diet, increasing the insulin, etc. etc. I was really hoping for the number to be 10 or even 9, maybe by June it will be.
Bottom line: I have to exercise MORE and keep improving my diet.
I gave up sausage last month and this month I'm working on giving up cheese (I only use Parmasean now) I think next month I'll give up potatoes.
Plus summer is almost here and that means VEGGIES a plenty! and Farmer's Market will be open soon so I can get them cheaper there than at the grocery store.
And I'll be walking the dog, Darby, whenever dad isn't walking him. He'll get walked everyday now; dad will walk him one day and I'll walk him the next. poor dog
Bottom line: I have to exercise MORE and keep improving my diet.
I gave up sausage last month and this month I'm working on giving up cheese (I only use Parmasean now) I think next month I'll give up potatoes.
Plus summer is almost here and that means VEGGIES a plenty! and Farmer's Market will be open soon so I can get them cheaper there than at the grocery store.
And I'll be walking the dog, Darby, whenever dad isn't walking him. He'll get walked everyday now; dad will walk him one day and I'll walk him the next. poor dog
Thursday, April 10, 2008
busy beadwork
I finally uploaded some new photos of 10 new beadwork pieces; 6 new angels and 4 pairs of earrings (choctaw dress woman)
I'm trying to get my stock of finished pieces ready for the exhibition this fall in Tulsa.
my sister Sylvia and I are attending the beadshow here in May (overland park, ks) so hopefully I'll find new colors to work with and possibly some new patterns/inspirations while at the show. Monies will be tight until that long awaited stimulus check comes, probably mid-May; so I'll have to keep the bead supply spending to an absolute minimum. But I will be collecting business cards at the show as well.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Cloverfield (my review)
went to see this Friday afternoon and well, thank God I always carry some chewable Pepto-Bismol in my purse with me! talk about nauseating. all in all it's a good plot, good monsters, good action, but that damn camera movement was killing the whole film.
suffice it to say I was actually a little bit pleased when the character that held the camera for most of the film was finally killed towards the end, but my nausea didn't pass until an hour later when I got home and took a short nap.
it felt like I was watching the "rough draft" of a good alien invasion flick, right before the professionals take the idea and make an even better version of it.
I saw on the news that Cloverfield did hit the #1 spot in sales but I'm not sure it will hold it, unless the audiences can hold down their popcorn for the 2nd week after seeing it.
back to the drawing board kiddies, and remember just because running around the city with an 8mm seemed like a good idea back in film school, doesn't mean it will always work in the film industry. you have to be able to keep your audience in the seats and looking at the screen to make money. (this is probably the first time in 33 yrs. I have purposely looked away from the screen to keep from throwing up because of the camera movement.)
I want my $7.00 back!
suffice it to say I was actually a little bit pleased when the character that held the camera for most of the film was finally killed towards the end, but my nausea didn't pass until an hour later when I got home and took a short nap.
it felt like I was watching the "rough draft" of a good alien invasion flick, right before the professionals take the idea and make an even better version of it.
I saw on the news that Cloverfield did hit the #1 spot in sales but I'm not sure it will hold it, unless the audiences can hold down their popcorn for the 2nd week after seeing it.
back to the drawing board kiddies, and remember just because running around the city with an 8mm seemed like a good idea back in film school, doesn't mean it will always work in the film industry. you have to be able to keep your audience in the seats and looking at the screen to make money. (this is probably the first time in 33 yrs. I have purposely looked away from the screen to keep from throwing up because of the camera movement.)
I want my $7.00 back!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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