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Wow, last day of July. I hate to see the summer zooming by like this. Ah well, it’s all good. I posted two necklaces last night (click on the pix to go to the auctions)…
I also put some new things into the store here…
I’m working on a kind of a weird necklace at the moment. *I* like it, but I’m not sure if anyone else will like it. Anyway, I had to swipe two beads from Gabe’s stash, which then entailed me going to eBay and revising the count available in the auction… and that’s when I discovered I was locked out of my eBay account. No biggie now, but it was freaky at the time. Turns out eBay Security thought my account might have had some unauthorized person trying to get in so they temporarily froze it. Mike and Monica went to Barns and Noble today to get a couple new books. Gabe’s still finishing the new Harry Potter book. Don’t forget, it’s Shark Week. We’ve been having fun watching. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) The 19th-century German philosopher is renowned for his pessimistic view of life as defined by needless suffering and the primacy of human desire over the intellect. But he saw the possibility for salvation from this miserable existence through ascetic living, an appreciation of art, and charity for fellow man ("loving kindness", in his words). The two enemies of human happiness are "pain and boredom", he wrote. The symptom of unhappiness is the pursuit of wealth, he believed.
Darn! I forgot to blog yesterday. Sorry. I did make some jewelry and worked on improving my photography, but I forgot to photograph the copper bead that I dipped in liver of sulphur so I could show you the effect. Anyway, went to the gem faire early Saturday with Patrice and Alex. It was rather a subdued affair, but I still managed to spend some money (not NEARLY as much as I usually spend, though). BTW, Alex and Patrice… did you notice that the one thing I really wanted (those strands of Hessonite Garnet), I forgot to go back for? D'oh! Ah well, I'm soaking a couple of things right now just to make sure the dye is permanent. So anyway, I got some jewelry made and photographed and will list them shortly. Dinner's sort of on hold at the moment 'cause Mike's team didn't kill the last boss so they have to start over. I want to take this opportunity to mention a few people from Etsy who've been really nice to me. First, there's a super nice lady in Another shop I'd like to mention is Lampwork Diva, featuring glass beads by Cindy Gimbrone. At the moment, I'm particularly fond of her "Niagara Skies" series. Last (for now), but certainly not least, is Sonita's Treasures. Unfortunately (for you), I just bought one of the coolest items in her store, but there's plenty more where that came from… she has pages of wonderful handcrafted items… and she does all this with two little ones underfoot. Eek! How does she do that?! Well, I know I'll be back for more when I have time to shop because I already saw some more things I want to get. Yay! Okay, it's
Alright, I'll sign out now… I'm too tired to maintain a train of thought. TTYL! And may I start off with: TGIF! Goals for today: 1) Get orders out (can’t do… forgot to bring boxes with me… d’oh!) 2) Simplify some stuff (organize/sort) 3) Send emails to remaining hockey parents before NCalHockey dies! (my list is on the other computer) 4) Pay $2500 owed to mortgage company for mix up during re-fi (ugh!) (done) 5) Tell Darisa to find someone to work the scrimmage since Gabe’s dad said he doesn’t want him to go (done) 6) Send PayPal invoice for gemstone necklace (done) 7) Call Natalie regarding order 8) Separate Jewelry category on website (done!) 9) Remember to buy bras with an “x” in the back ‘cause I’m REALLY tired of straps slipping off my shoulders 10) Add available items to Etsy and here (done!) 11) Plan Paleo
meals 12) Update findings inventory Added this bracelet to the website:
Oh, I don’t think I ever showed
you any of Blackie’s babies! Here’s
Smudge:
And here are three pictures I found on the internet that I think are hilarious…
Well, it looks like no hockey this weekend. Bummer! Gabe says his dad doesn’t want him to go. Simpsons movie comes out today. I wonder how crowded it will be. I’m sure Mike wants to go, but I think we both hate crowds. Well, supposed to go to the Santa Clara Gem Faire with Patrice and Alex. It’s always fun seeing beads. Okay, I’m out of time… TTYL! I’m pretty busy today (yeah, comparatively speaking), and in a minute I’m going to go meet Mike for his 2nd surgery consult. So I’m merely going to leave you with something I think is sadly hilarious… it was forwarded to me by my good buddy “other Laura B” (but of course, to HER, *I* am “other Laura B”). Recently, I was diagnosed with
A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests: I decide I better put them back on my
desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. Then, I head down the hall trying to
remember what I was planning to do. Wow, I absolutely LOATHE doing court paperwork for custody change of the children. Wwwwwaaaa! But I have to, so I need to just buck up and do it. Eek! This Okay, rant over… now onto normal stuff. So, what was this I heard about regarding the current Tour de France? To improve stamina, the latest thing is to have a blood transfusion of someone else’s red blood cells so you have more oxygen in your system. Holy cow! Oops… whole day gone. Sorry! Will try to come up with something more enlightening tomorrow…
My good buddy (Scary Terri) turned me on to this most amazing artist. You HAVE to check out his work. Hm… not really sure how to make anything follow that one. Those of us who scratch the surface of the art world can be really humbled on a daily basis. The kids are home… yay! When Monica found out how much her hockey is going to cost this year (and she doesn’t even know the worst of it yet), she offered to help raise more money. I’ll try to teach her this week how to list other things on eBay so we can get a steady flow of money for the AAA fees… little bits here and there will help. Mike was excited today ‘cause I told him about another Great White attack off the beaches near Half Moon Bay. Shark week is coming up! July 29-Aug 4 I am NOT doing my part to keep the retail industry alive. My post office box has been empty for weeks! Wwwwwwwwwaaaa! I miss buying the gorgeous Lampwork and pc beads I saw on eBay. Sunday July 22, 2007 My
experiments today (first time ever) with Liver of Sulphur were less than
stellar. They weren't HORRID... just
sorta mediocre. I'm thinking that MY
opinion is that I'm going to have to be very careful how I use this because
I'm not overly fond of the tarnished look.
A little patina is fine, but I don't want things to look
tarnished. Ick. I
did a small strand of sterling chain and it looks gold. How did THAT happen?! Then
I took one of my copper beads... the ones that look dark (that Gabe sells).
Anyway, I did one of those and then brushed it with a steel brush and
now it actually looks like copper.
Weird. I'll try to remember to
take a pic next time I'm doin' pix. The
kids come home tomorrow night.
Yay! I'm glad they had a good
time, but I also miss them. I'm
still trying to tweak the site. It's
frustrating not being able to do certain things... like get empty spaces
moved. Wow,
I just went in there and played around and actually got what I wanted for once. Still needs lots of tweaking, but I like
when I can actually DO something with html and templates and such. Anyway,
I added some gemstone bracelets. These
ones...
And blah! I spoke too soon. Yeah, I got my thumbnails to go three across and I got rid of the empty space between the menu and the thumbnails… but I have no text! My title descriptions on the category pages are black font on black background. Wwwwwwwwaaaa! I'm tired… I'll try to deal with this again tomorrow. 'Night all! Saturday, July 21, 2007 Okay,
so just noticed that I'd referred to every date this month as 2006 (don't
look; I've already corrected it... hmph). Had
lunch with Alex and Patrice today.
Whoohoo! Nice food, great
company, outstanding beads and jewelry.
I need to make something magnificent with some of Alex's beads. Tomorrow,
maybe I'll expement with Liver of Sulpher.
I've had it for over a year... you think maybe it's time? Besides, I bought THAT before I bought the Next
week, I'll add the section to the website for the re-instatement of the
contests and I'll also put keywords on my old blog entries so I (or anyone
else) can find things I might be looking for. Guess
who sat in my lap today... of her own volition! Little Miss Calico. Ha!
The cat who wouldn't DREAM of me coming within arm's length for the
past 8 months. Only one more day,
though, then we release her back to the wilds of east Oakland. This
entry isn't for information purposes.
I'm tired. Long day. After lunch with Alex and Patrice, Mike and
I went out and bought me a new CPU (I can't do business with a dying one now,
can I?) then grabbed something to eat, got cat and dog food, and stopped at
Michael's for some jewelry boxes. I
got home, listed four bracelets and now it's after 8:30. I'm not an evening person, so my best bet
is to go into the living room around this time and start creating. Here,
btw, are the listings I put up tonight... (you can click on any photo to be taken
to the eBay listings)
Thursday, July 19, 2007 Okay,
in case you didn’t notice, I changed my website around. The
way it is with ProStores, it’s too difficult to change the homepage
constantly so I’m just leaving it sort of
’as is’ for the most part and then just updating my blog on my BLOG
pages. J Hope
you don’t mind! Not
too much new news... Put
three new listings up:
I
also made a mini tutorial on some photo-editing techniques... here was the
disclaimer first: A) NEVER NEVER
NEVER over-sharpen. ick! The only thing worse is fake sparklies (with
over-saturation running a close second)
Oh, I also (took me two days to figure out how to do it
properly) made my first YOUTUBE video.
It’s the bracelets I sold in 2007 set to music. So make sure
your volume is on when you click here… I
need to go back and find one my sister did... it’s a laserium (ha!) show set
to a NoBoy song (one of my old bands). The
kids are still in Montana, camping and stuff with their dad. Last night they sounded really good, like
they were having a lot of fun. I’m so
glad. Can’t wait to see all the
pictures and hear all the stories.
They went fishing, but didn’t catch anything. All
the ferals have been released except Cal (because she’s still on
antibiotics). I’m really enjoying
holding her and petting her. She purrs
and enjoys it right back. Things
I want to do before the month is out... take care of the final court papers
so the kids can play hockey unhindered this year... and send my book proposal
off. Oh,
I also started a new website: www.NCalHockey.com
The mission statement is on the message board there. Sunday, July 15, 2007 New eBay listings and Wow,
what a day. Got the four cats to the
clinic… just got them back home. We
have to keep two of them until tomorrow night, one of them for three days,
and the last one for a week. Joy joy. I
made some bracelets (that I really like).
Will try to photo them if I have time tonight (after getting orders
out). Got
some new listings up on eBay… Two bracelets I REALLY LIKE… And then I
also made a fairly feminine (for me) necklace of Citrine and Aquamarine… Then I also
got new listings into the store here. And
don't forget… not only is my jewelry always less expensive here (as opposed
to my listings on eBay), but so are my findings. Now,
regarding this week's contest… we had a WHOOPING turnout for last week's
contest, but so far, if I get one entry for this week, they'll be the
winner. Yup! Not one entry yet. C'mon people… get those cat-oriented items
in here. What
else? Oh,
here's today's bead/jewelry news… CONTESTS (besides mine, of course). There's
one I really wanted to enter but only two weeks left… on the Bead &
Button Forum (which is going through a change this week… eek!)… Due
Date: July 31st, 2007 How
to Enter: Between now and July 31st create a piece
of wearable art with your interpretation of the theme Cool Waters. Please not
that this piece MUST be created during this time period, so please do not
submit older work. More
details on the forums! Bead–A–Day Call for Submissions Lark
Books Entries must be postmarked by July 31, 2007. No fee is required. Okay,
now, back to work… photos waiting to be taken. See you tomorrow! Saturday, July 14, 2007 Oh,
sorry sorry sorry… but I have a great excuse!
This weekend was for trapping the ferals and getting them in for
fixing. Yay! Will
update tomorrow, I promise!!! Thursday, July 12, 2007 Contest
#1 Winner Announced, Contest #2 Theme Announced and
Time-Management/Scheduling So,
here's the big news… I'm going to announce the winner of my first Bracken
Designs Weekly Contest…yay! Remember,
the theme was Summer… and the judging is totally subjective… it's ONLY based
on what MY impression of summer is compared with the entries. First,
I'd like to really thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. It was SO sweet of you to send me
SEVENTEEN!!! Entries in such a short amount of time. And I loved reading the explanations you
provided… so did others (they emailed me and told me). Selecting
If you need a refresher on the entries… And,
I'm setting up a catalog in here so you will be able to go back and check out
past contests any time you like. And
now, without further ado, the winner of SUMMER is: #9, Bonnie!!!
Fresh
lemons and limes squeezed into a pitcher of sugary chilled water and
stirred with lots of ice cubes for a refreshing summery drink to quench a
thirsty soul. These
vibrant leaf beads would look smashing in a necklace to compliment a breezy
crisp white cotton tank top against a smooth bronze tan. Bonnie, please email your shipping address
to: WeeklyContest@BrackenDesigns.com and I will ship out your
prize… Please join me in congratulating Bonnie and
hey… let's start Weekly Contest #2!!! There is currently a great thread in
Lampwork Etc with photos of beaders' cats… mostly (NOT) helping the technical
side of the creative process. Ha! Let's say the theme for Week #2 is cats…
big cats, small cats, house cats, wild cats… doesn't matter… show me
something that screams Here's the prize: As before, by midnight (pacific time) next
Wednesday (July 18th) just send an email to weeklycontest@brackendesigns.com with “Bracken Designs
Weekly Contest #2” in the subject line.
Either attach a photo or tell me the URL of the photo you are entering
and write a little blurb if you like. By entering the contest, you are giving me
permission to post your photo and your explanation on my website. You may remain anonymous merely by
requesting that, otherwise I will credit you and your website (if you include
it). I will announce the winner next
Thursday! And then we’ll start Contest
#3. Okay, now onto a new subject… those of you who
know me know I have a fairly busy schedule: Ø
Full time day job Ø
Two kids at two different schools and on two different
sports teams (sometimes a total of four different sports teams) Ø
Bracken Designs jewelry business Ø
Supervise both my children's businesses Ø
Take care of the house and its 11+ animals Ø
Webmaster six websites that are in constant change Ø
Team mom as well as team manage for ice hockey Ø
Volunteer photographer for animal shelters Ø
Leader of The Mellow Bead Ø
Founder and President of SRAJD (Self-Representing
Artist Jewelry Designers) Ah, there's probably more, but who cares;
the point is: I have to be organized.
If I don't have somewhat of a schedule things aren't going to get
done. I'm guessing that a lot of you out there
are just like me and so I'm going to share one of my little creations that
tries to help me stay on track.
This is a list of only the Bracken Designs
and other jewelry-related tasks that I have to do so as not to fall too far
behind. These tasks come before my other great love
of surfing the beadie forums and yapping it up with like-minded people. Okay, that was too much time blogging… now
back to work. J TTYL! Wednesday, July 11, 2007 Lampwork Technique Tutorials Whoohoo! The first weekly contest ends tonight! You've got until midnight tonight to get
your entry in under the wire. Wanna see the entries so far? I
forgot that I started a necklace last night… should finish it tonight. Also have some custom work to do. Guess
I won't be using my art clay silver until this weekend. (Ha!... chicken!) Tonight's
bead/jewelry "thing" is going to be short, but useful (if you're a
beginning lampworker). These are some
links with different lampworking tutorials.
But what I really wanna know (use my guestbook to respond!) is: how
many of you out there move the bead and how many move the stringer? Australian Glass Beadmakers Guild: Tutorials & Helpful
Info An Introduction to LAMPWORKING by Ann Scherm Baldwin Lampwork Etc. Tutorials Section Wet Canvas Lentil Tutorial (by Ami from Zooziis) Lampwork Etc. Seahorse Twisty
Tutorial by Kimberly Affleck Sweet Dreamy Purple (EDP) by Ingridh Art Glass Forum: Ventilation 101 by
Mike Aurelius Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Oops! Sorry, it's 9:40pm so this post won't have
anything bead/jewelry related. A
ton of errands today… not much time for anything else. eBay
US changed all the eGroups so we're dealing with that too. I'll
come back tomorrow with something… promise! Monday, July 09, 2007 Testing for Bakelite Wow,
oh wow… the entries for the contest are AMAZING! Now I feel totally nervous… I'll feel badly
selecting just one because there are so many I want to pick for the
prize. Well, hopefully all the players
will come back on a regular basis… I think next week's prize is a jewelry
book. Okay,
the kids had their first day of goalie camp today, and now they're at their
dad's having dinner. I've
got about 15 minutes of "me" time (and here I am, spending it with
you!), then I take Mike to Kaiser so they can tell him what we already know
(that he has a gall bladder problem) and where he goes from here. There's
a Food Mill store right there… I'll pick up some Lecithin and Apple Cider
Vinegar for him while we're there.
Even if they schedule surgery, trying to prevent more attacks in the
short range is still a good idea. I
managed to get all of
Maybe
later tonight I can list the other two and then Monica's earrings. I've
been having a GREAT time with some really nice people on Etsy. Quite
a different experience from last time I tried to hang out on the forums. The
eGroups (eBay's forums) are down until tomorrow some time… upgrades. Someone
on Lampwork Etc mentioned one of my pieces.
Wow was THAT flattering. Okay,
what will today's bead/jewelry subject be?
Hm…. How
about different tests we can try for determining the content of certain
items. We'll start with Bakelite. Disclaimer:
These may or may not work. I am merely
posting the things I've heard that seem to concur with other things I've
heard. Bakelite Tests: A plastic is more likely to be celluloid or Lucite (as
opposed to Bakelite) if it produces a non-Bakelite odor when warmed under hot
water (more about that odor in a minute) or if it does NOT react to 409 All
Purpose (more on that, too). I've heard that some people test plastics with
Simichrome polish, but then I heard this can give false positives. Okay, supposedly there is a distinct chemical odor
(medicinal or like shellac) that Bakelite produces when warmed (I've heard of
warming in hot, running water for at least 30 seconds The 409 test means that if you expose the piece to 409
(put some 409 on a q-tip and rub a hidden area for a few seconds) and it
leaves a yellow residue on the cotton swab, that's supposed to mean it is
genuine Bakelite (or Catalin). Don't
forget to wash your piece immediately afterward with mild soap and water. Side note: I've heard that French Bakelite, a different
substance, will not react as above.
Also, Bakelite with an over-finish will not have these reactions. Many say black Bakelite will fail the 409
test. Some people can tell Bakelite by the distinct sound it
makes when "clanked" together with another piece of Bakelite. Clanking two already known non-Bakelite
other pieces of plastic together will give you a comparison sound. Bakelite is also heavier
(weightier) than plastics because it is denser. Bakelite is also opaque (for the
most part), so holding it up to a very strong light should still not produce
any translucency. Okay,
stay tuned for more ideas on testing products for authenticity… but now, I
must go (I'm always late leaving feedback… eeeeee!). TTYL! Sunday, July 08, 2007 Wwwwwwwwaaaa! Completely missed posting in here on
7-7-7…. Sorry! Well,
lots going on… Got
the kids from Mom's… and came back in time for the kids to go to hockey. Got home from that with enough time to
watch a Jet Li movie (how can I work on jewelry if we watch subtitled
movies?!) and make a bracelet that Mon and I are in love with. Mike, of course, doesn't care for the color
combo. Phft! No sense of adventure. The
second I put the final crimp cover on the bracelet, we're off again to
hockey. Got home around 12:30am. We
were at a bookstore yesterday and the kids each got books. I'm starting Mon on the Lillian Jackson
Braun "Cat Who" series.
First up, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. She has to finish Cujo first, though… I
think she's about halfway through.
Gabe picked up King's Salem's Lot, but he was a little put off by how
many pages it is. Ha! Surprisingly, they didn't have any copies
of IT on hand. The
new hockey website isn't doing much at the moment, but today is relax day (no
errands other than grocery shopping), so I might get some work in on it
today. Oh,
I'd like to thank those who've added their creations to the summer-theme
weekly contest. I guess I should start
an official page in this website for the contests… will try to organize that
later too. BTW, I've been pleasantly
surprised by something I hadn't though of… see, I was thinking
"summer-theme" like yellow and orange items, etc… but a lot of the
entrants are submitting "summer-theme" like what type of jewelry
would be perfect for wearing in Summer… not just what PIECE looks like
Summer. How very cool! I love it! I
have a couple items I want to list on eBay later, including one hilarious
pair of "drag queen earrings", and I refer to them as that with
100% affection. I
have a couple pictures on my camera to download… will probably get to that
tomorrow. Alright,
what's our BEAD/JEWELRY subject for today?
Hm… Okay,
in keeping with my personal lazy theme today, I'm taking the easy road out
and merely sharing some of the cool links I've bookmarked over the years… If
you like unusual and/or more elaborate clasps, here's a neat place: Stars Clasps This
guy has some lampwork beads that really appeal to me: James
Smircich TOTALLY
in love with the work of: Kate
Fowle Meleney And:
Eric Rader Now,
does this look like fun or not… holy cow!: Wild Wire Woman Retreats Very
handy!: Swarovski crystal bead color chart And:
another
one I
love these: Juried Art Shows by the Smithsonian Gallery
of: Art
Clay Silver work For
inspiration: Virtual Egyptian Museum Okay,
so that's a little peek into the head of Laura Bracken. Ha! TTYL! Friday, July 06, 2007 Sorry,
no real updates today. I'm driving to
Mom's (2 hours), then taking the kids to Dad's for lunch, then back to Mom's,
then will come back home tomorrow morning. We
have hockey at 2pm, but I don't know what else is going on. Gabe *may* play in SF on Sunday… undecided. I
already have three great entries for the contest, so if you don't know about
it yet and are interested, read yesterday's blog entry. I
finally put up three necklaces… they're at the top of the screen (and if you
click on the little pix, you will be taken to their auction page). Here's
a bracelet I gave to a very good friend…
Alright,
TTYL! Thursday, July 5, 2007 No time to write but we do have
Contest #1 ready! A
very rushed day today, so I don’t really have time to get into too much
personal or bead/jewelry news. I
am, however, going to start doing a contest each week. Yay! Some
will be skills, some will be creative, some will be random, etc. This week, the contest is this: Make
a summer item… Show
me a photo of an item you have made (or make this week) that makes you think
of summer. You can even include a
little paragraph on why or how your item reminds you of summer. The winner will be chosen based on *my* reaction to your summer item and its explanation. So see… it’s not about |
