Archive for 2007

Last night I realized that given the recent skills I have acquired, I can now call myself an amateur metalsmith. How cool is that?? *grin*

On a less than positive note, here’s a question for you. I see so much disrespect being thrown around regarding spouses (most of it I see these days is women disrespecting their husbands or other various men in their lives). My question is when did men cease to be our respected spouses and instead become our lap dogs that we “punish” into “good behavior”?

Here’s what I have to say about that: *GAAAAAAAG*

I realize that the women’s rights movement did a lot of good. A lot. But is it possible that too much “empowerment” has served to sway us a little too far in the opposite direction? What, are we “getting back at them” now?

Again: *GAAAAAG*

So, I have this dilemma now. As I mentioned yesterday, things aren’t exactly centered in my bathroom in a way that makes sense to, you know, a human. It might make sense to some other lifeform, but to mine? Not so much. The lighting I guess is sort of centered to the sink, but not perfectly. I think the builders were high on paint fumes (much like I am now) when they installed the box thing. Seriously, I think I must have picked the stinkiest brand of paint ever. I won’t mention which brand it is… Martha Stewart… because I am ashamed.

The paint, apparently, in semi-gloss looks different than it does on the card. Apparently this is also a disclaimer on the back of the card. So, my lovely gray-purple color turned out more like purple-purple, which is ok. It’s a pretty color, just not exactly what I was expecting. I like it, but I don’t know about future potential buyers. I don’t want to paint it again. I spent almost four hours in there today and I still need to do a second coat!

So, help me make a plan here. I have a rectangular mirror with a thick dark brown frame that I need to hang. Should I center it with the lighting, and hang it with the long sides going vertically and maybe put a candle sconce on the right side to “even” it out between the cabinet and wall? Or should I hang it with the long sides going horizontally so it’s not as obvious? Or should I center it to the wall and let my OCD drive me insane for as long as we continue to live in this house?

Here’s a photo. Sorry it’s not good… I’m tired (and a little woozy still from the fumes… Martha, if you’re reading this, make your paint less stinky PLEASE – I can smell it all the way on the other side of the house). Please ignore the lighting which is missing two glass things. I took them down so I’d have an easier time painting, but the third one was fighting with me, so I just left it. In case you’re wondering, the hole on the left side is where the medicine cabinet goes. I took it down. Why? I don’t know. Blame Martha. Actually, I’m going to paint it and I thought maybe perhaps it would be easier to paint while off the wall, but I’m not sure that makes sense to my lifeform.

What color should I paint the cabinets? They need it for sure. I’d rather stain them, but they’re not entirely made of solid wood, so I can’t. I’d replace them, but don’t have the time right now. I was planning on painting them cream, as well as the trim, but Dustin suggested brown to match the mirror frame. I’m not sure how that would look. I’d like dark brown if I were staining them, but not so sure about the paint.

So what would you do (aside from just moving to a house that was built by, you know, humans).

Guess what. I didn’t bruise at all. For a girl that bruises extremely easily, this is a miracle. I mean, I hit my face HARD. I almost always have a bruise or five on my legs from whacking them on things as I walk down the hall or step over the dog gate or something (and don’t hit them half as hard as I hit my face) and yet the face didn’t bruise. The body is a strange thing. It just swelled a little and was sore for a few days. It’s just a bit sore now, but at least I can rub it without wanting to scream. *grin*

I don’t think there’s any way I could have hit my eye. I wear my glasses all the time when I work because I can see better with them close up than I can with my contacts, and, well, I hate my contacts. They dry out too fast and drive me nuts. I’ve already tried two brands. I haven’t decided if its worth trying another. I’m *always* careful when I work with the dangerous tools – like the saws (especially the flex shaft, which could quite literally cut a limb off) but pliers? It’s not like you really consider the possibility of stabbing your face with pliers. I mean, who does that?!

My toe hurts though. My little toe on my left foot (just thought the visual would be interesting). It feels like it was smashed with a hammer, but I don’t recall that happening so I have no idea what is wrong with it. I must have banged it on something because it is quite mad at me. Poor mad little toe.

Over the weekend, we started to work on our hall bath. We (read: my dad) replaced the faucet and we (read: I tried it all by myself but Dustin ended up doing it anyway) replaced the lighting. Then I (read: again, tried myself but Dustin ended up finishing it) replaced the toilet paper holder. Now everything is a lovely brushed nickel finish. Ahh, I love brushed nickel. Only, I’m a bit unhappy because, umm, the lighting box wasn’t really centered with anything. How dumb is that? It’s not centered perfectly over the sink and it’s not centered perfectly between the wall and the cabinet. Huh? So now when I hang the new mirror, I get the lovely job of finding out how to place it without making the whole room look dumb. I swear, as much as I like my house, I will never buy another home designed by this builder again! Lots of strange things. Lots. The room is also taped off, ready for me to paint it today. Yay. Have I mentioned how much I hate painting? I decided I’m going to also do the trim and probably the cabinets too. Someone come help me!

I’m having a hard night. The stress of the upcoming stuff along with other stuff we’re going through is wearing me out and I’m stressed and depressed and probably every other -ressed you can think of. Prayers would be appreciated.

I’ll leave you with a piece I made the other night in preparation for the party. It won’t be available on the website until after the party (provided it doesn’t sell) but I thought you’d like to see it anyway. But of course, if you really want it, you might be able to pull my leg. *grin*

It’s made with one of my favorite gemstones – blue crazy lace agate. The color is sooo pretty. It’s a 2-in-1 chain made with hand sawed and woven rings. It’s one of my favorite weaves even though it’s so simple. It’s just classy looking, I think. The clasp is also hand made. If the bracelet wasn’t too long for me, I’d probably keep it. *grin*

Click for larger pictures.

And one more piece (this one made by Momma Belle) with my other favorite gemstone, smoky quartz. These stones are SO pretty and their clarity is so nice. It’s hard to find good gemstones with perfect clarity without having to pay a fortune, but with smoky quartz it’s possible. *grin* Plus, the color just goes with almost anything. Pretty, pretty! I hope this one sells at the party or show because it deserves a lovely model.

So do you have a favorite gemstone?

makes for a good roadblock.

Or at least that’s what my pliers thought this morning when they jammed into my eye socket bone, just 1″ below my eyeball.

Like freaking OW.

I look like I have a miniature snake bite… two little holes in my skin. Lovely. Now I’m just waiting for the black eye. I punched myself pretty hard! Who needs enemies when I have myself?

I just hope I didn’t crack a tooth. Possibly too high to crack a tooth, but its all really sore and achy now, so who knows.

I’m the poster girl for safety goggle awareness. I wear regular glasses most of the time, and the pliers hit right below my frames. However, if I had been wearing safety glasses, the pliers would have hit them instead of ME.

Don’t you just love the combo of snake bite, need-to-be-plucked eyebrows, and cleaning-house-today hairstyle? I’m so pretty. *grin*

We just finished planning a grand opening open house party at my home for November 10th. It’s from 2-6pm, so if you live nearby, feel free to join us! We’ll be having some good food, some fun, and some door prizes.

Just after we solidified the plans, we were contacted about being a vendor in a local trade show. The fees are low and benefit charity, so we thought why not? The kicker? The show is two days after our party. Two days, people! Can you say crazy weekend?

I am now officially freaking out. I have so much to do between now and then that it’s not even funny. I need to paint the hall bath, and change out some fixtures in there. I also need to shampoo the carpets, and and and… not to mention all the business prep stuff. I mean, inventory, food, decorations, cash box, change, oh my Lord I’m going to go crazy.

We’ve decided to offer hostess party opportunities as well. So, I’m going to have people in my home, I’m going to go to a SHOW as a VENDOR (which I have never even come close to doing!) and might be going into other people’s homes to hold parties. Umm, have I mentioned that I have social phobias?

It should be interesting, that’s for sure.

that jewelry making can drive one insane? Apparently it can. This pendant gave me fits. Everything that could have gone wrong did. I barely survived its creation. But I’m glad I did, I think it’s pretty cute. *grin*

I sawed the flower from sheet metal, then soldered on a fine silver center, textured the yahoo out of it, oxidized and called it a day. Or two. It took me two days to make. I think I want to make a few smaller ones for matching earrings and a ring.

Have I mentioned that I love working with sheet metal?

I only met him once, but we connected immediately. Those big, kind dark eyes and that hair so soft and full, Keegan was a sight for sore eyes and a good old soul. He was the kind of guy that would sit and let you talk for a while, just listening. Just watching. Just letting you be you without any judgment at all. A loyal companion was he.

Living until the ripe old age of 14, Keegan the Keeshond lived a good life surrounded by people who cared for him. He is survived by his family in Pennsylvania and Texas who all miss him dearly. Memorials started yesterday shortly after his passing and shall continue indefinitely as each loved one grieves in his or her own private way.

We love and miss you, boy.

Rest in peace, old buddy. Rest in peace.

No joke, I just cleaned my desktop about an hour before I went to her blog! The Rock Chick tagged me for a desktop screen shot showing meme. If I would have been a good bloggy friend and visited her last week when she tagged me (I didn’t know!) I’d be in some trouble. My desktop was full. FULL, I say. Not just cluttered, FULL. Jewelry photos, web pages, newsletter edits, and other such business junk were taking over the world. But, apparently, being a bad bloggy friend isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Here is my beautiful, clean desktop. Do you love it or what?

I have to tag people, and the unlucky ones are:

Erin at Glimpse of Pink
Sandy at The Daily Poop
Kim Thru the Looking Glass
Laurel Wreath
Amber at My Journey in Faith

If you play along, let me know!

My desktop computer decided to crash today. My LIFE is on that thing. Our budget stuff, all our photos, my business records, invoice blanks, my pricing sheets, everything! I have also written over 30 songs (and a few I’ve recorded) and all those files are on there too. *sniff*

I can’t access ANYTHING at the moment. We’re pretty sure the hard drive is fine, it’s bad memory and something else that’s not working (and I do have backups of some stuff)- but ugh ugh ugh, I feel like my entire life is on hold. Thank goodness I bought a laptop earlier this year, or else I wouldn’t even be able to function, but it’s not my main computer and I want my main computer. My laptop also hates my printer, and I had 4 orders I needed to get out this morning, and I needed my invoice file and I needed to print that and labels for my packages. Thankfully I was able to download a driver that seemed to make it work. But…

WAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! What a HUGE pain in the rear (and checkbook).

My hubby and dad can both build computers, but they’re saying with the parts we need to replace, I might as well just call Dell and buy a whole new one. *big, huge, loud sigh*

Bye-bye swanky, new camera that I wanted to get as my Christmas present to myself. I swear, the fates are keeping me from that thing!

I had a visitor this morning. I guess it’s a praying mantis. I have an uncle that is terrified of those things. This one was tan and skinny. I thought they were green and a little bigger. Don’t worry, I didn’t lysol him. I had pity and captured him in a cup and released him on the back porch for the huge frog-sized red wasps to carry him away. Life is so interesting living in front of a large open field in Texas.

Did you know they fly? I didn’t. But I do now.

That’s how our press release starts. Did you catch that? Our PRESS RELEASE. We’re sending out a freakin’ press release! So it probably won’t get noticed and made into a story, but it’s still very exciting to me nonetheless. Special thanks to Kathryn of SpunSister Designs for the writing help.

Want to read it? Of COURSE you do! Here it is:

—————-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 28, 2007

CONTACT:
Crystal LastName
Two Belles & a Bead
xxx-xxx-xxxx Voice
crystal@2bellesandabead.com
http://www.2bellesandabead.com

LOCAL JEWELRY DESIGNERS RAISE AWARENESS WITH GLAMOUR
Using Jewelry to Fight Breast Cancer

OurTown, Texas — Pink ribbons do much to raise awareness of
breast cancer, but now you can join the fight with a little more style
and glamour. Local jewelry designers, Karen & Crystal LastName of Two
Belles & a Bead, have created a line of handcrafted jewelry to support
the fight against breast cancer.

The line, titled “The Jane’s Hope Collection” was recently designed
and named in honor of a beloved family member who lost her fight
against breast cancer in April of this year. The jewelry is
handcrafted from sterling and fine silver, 14kt gold fill,
semi-precious gemstones, Swarovski crystals, and glass beads and
features a small collection of earrings, bracelets, necklaces,
pendants and accessories. For the entire month of October, 100% of the
proceeds from sales in The Jane’s Hope Collection will go to The Rose,
a charity based in Houston, TX.

Karen & Crystal, who have been jewelry designers in OurTown for
three years, say they were inspired by the spirit of women fighting
breast cancer and the hope they all hold. “We have tried to reflect
their beauty and strength in the designs we have created by using
materials that are both beautiful and lasting,” Crystal says. “The
jewelry has extra meaning when you consider the importance of the
issue it supports. It’s basically women helping women. Our goal is to
spread the message of awareness and represent the spirit of hope.” You
can find the pieces on their retail website,
http://www.2bellesandabead.com, where Karen & Crystal have sold across
the US and also internationally.

Two Belles & a Bead is a mother and daughter team of jewelry designers
whose goal is to offer high quality jewelry at affordable prices. They
carry a wide variety of jewelry pieces and specialize in semi-precious
gemstones, Swarovski crystals, sterling and fine silvers, 14kt gold
filled, copper, and chain maille jewelry.

####

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact
Crystal LastName at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email her at
crystal@2bellesandabead.com