Thirsty for Art

So last time I updated I was throwing a fit about my cracked cell phone.  Which I am still using with all of its shattered glory.  It works good enough.  :p  Let me give you a run down of some things that have been going on since then...

I just recently finished a custom guinea pig for a nice lady in Australia.  Her little one turned out really good and is currently making his journey home.

My neighbors behind me decided, for whatever reason, that they should cut down the very old, very large, tree from their yard.  I'm very sad.  I loved that tree.  I would sit in my window and watch the squirrels and birds, the wind, and the seasons change.  Now she is gone.  I felt so helpless sitting there watching the destruction of her limbs.  When I couldn't stand to watch any longer, I could still feel her as she hit the ground with each resounding thud.  I miss her.

Unfortunately, the loss of the beautiful tree has put a slight damper on my landscaping plans for the yard.  Sweetheart and I are planning on installing a circular patio, or one made of faux cobblestones.  We are going to tear out the old unattractive patio, expand the flower bed planter in the center of it, and expand the other planter behind the house.  I found several terra cotta flower pots someone was just tossing out in the trash that are going to be filled with butterfly attracting flora.   So many ideas, and I can't wait to get started.  All of this depends on the approval of our landlord though.  :)  I'm sure she will be excited about it once she sees our schematics and sketches.  I want to build an arbor/trellis and a small table with benches.  While we were tearing out last years dead plants and raking up the debris, I found this little one!

A real ladybug with seven spots!  And I mean real one, not the asian ladybird beetle.  So I had a little fun with my macro lens out in the yard.  This is one of a bunch of shots I took.  I know its not the rare 9 spot ladybug.  I have yet to find one, but when I do, I hope I have my macro with me.  :)

I've been pretty lazy about creating lately.   My job wears me out, and when I get home to actually work on something new I been ending up on the couch researching cool, amazing, fantastic ideas I want to try.  Without art my soul dries out, and it's been like a damn drought the last couple months.  Its high time I get creating.  Even if that entails me literally throwing paint at a canvas.  On that note, I think I'll grab my sketchbook.

A Mini Updatey Type Post

Kinda fell off the map for a couple months there.  I had full intentions of blogging every week and talking about my awesome glass bead making adventures.  My last "class" was today.  Well, the actual last class was last week.  Today entailed picking up my last batch of beads, chatting with classmates, and making functioning jewelry from our beads.  It was nice to see everyone one last time.  Another session might be offered coming up in a month.  I'd LOVE to take it.  It will all depend on how the money is flowing.  Its not completely ruled out yet in my opinion.  :)

Work pretty much dominated my last few months.  Which is fine because there are bills to be paid.  Though its been so tight and tough even with all the extra time.  Just when you think you're stuck in a tight spot, the universe throws you a rope.  I was prepared to sit it out and wait in that hole.  Still, I'm thrilled to be able to climb out.
I was least expecting a big change like this.  I was hoping for a minor one.  I don't know what I did for the universe to look down on me and smile, but I'm feeling pretty lucky.  More about all this later as it develops.

Spring is here and we have been working in the yard trying to make a little haven in our corner of the world.  The big hedges in the yard have perked back up to life, some of our flowers from last year have started popping up, and so have the sweet lily of the valley.  My sweetheart has been working hard re-digging the trench the planter bricks sit in.  During the week we "planted" a ton of seeds.  I cant wait to see what starts to grow.  I just hope this last past frosty night is the last frosty night we have for a while.  Ive been shooting some of the little flowers that have been blooming around me with my macro lens.  Some have turned out and some haven't.  I suppose I should use my tripod.  Apparently my hand is not as steady as I thought.  :p

Other than that I've just been chugging along.  I think I'll leave it at this for tonight.  :)

Adventures in Lampwork - Day 2

My second day in my flameworking class was great.  I had gone in early to take advantage of the lab time.  Looking back now, I got a little over excited and tried to plunge ahead of the class and attempted to make dots on beads before the lesson.  It was fun, but after the class had ended I can see why I should have waited for the instruction before.  It was still a learning experience.  :)  I should have practiced making my lifesaver shaped beads instead.  I did kind of do that, but then I put some wonky dots on them too.  :D
The lesson plan for the day was to learn how to make dots, and then put dots on dots.  As my teacher said "Dots nice".  ;)  The final ideal bead was to be an eye bead.  Eye beads are used for protection.  They ward off the evil eye, bad luck, and bring good fortune to the wearer.  By the end of class, I had a few eye beads, and a couple nice dot beads.  I also had a few less attractive beads, and some plain lifesaver beads too.  The other lesson I learned from that class, don't rush.  Don't rush thru making a bead just to make another one.  I have a couple beads I stuck in my vermiculite that were too hot and ended up getting damaged.  Some might think I should ditch these damaged beads, but I could never do that.  Its a journey, and I want to be able to see the distance I've come since the first class.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  I am still having a sale in the shop thru the end of the holiday.  So if you see something you like, you can get 15% OFF with the coupon code LOVEYOU during checkout.  :)  Hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day!

My best eye bead with two plain little green beads.

Adventures in Lampwork - Day 1

Two weeks ago I started my lampwork course.  I am in love with it.  It has been so much fun, and I can hardly wait for the next lesson.  On Friday, the instructor taught how to make dots.  My beads are in the kiln waiting for me for the coming class.  My last two beads that day turned out really nice.  I hope they survived the kiln and I will be able to wear them.
This has really been an awesome journey so far.  I was worried that I might not enjoy it, or that I would completely suck at making glass beads.  I didn't think it would be a good idea to invest in anything until I knew where I stood with the medium.  Right now, things are looking promising.  If they continue in the same direction I could see myself trying to concoct a studio fit for lampworking.  :)

Speaking of new and exciting things, I have two other little updates to share. 
I have a sale running to show some love to all my customers in honor of Valentines Day.  :)  All you have to do to get 15% OFF in the shop is use this coupon code during check out:  LOVEYOU.  Because without my customers I am lost.  So Thank-you all of you for your continued support and business.  :)  Happy Valentines Day <3
My other little exciting update, which really might only be exciting to me, is that soon, I will be able to take credit as a form of payment at any of my shows to come!  :D  Isn't that awesome?!  I think so.  :)  In the past it was hard for a small business artist to get ahead, and had to limit accepted payments to cash or checks, and really these days, how many people pay in cash, and how many people carry their checkbooks?  We live in a digital age where plastic rules the land.  So if you are backed by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express, I can finally welcome you to come and check out my booth with open arms.  :)  Heehee :D

More to come on shows and such later :)
For now, here's a picture of my beads from my first class!

Blue and black beads!

A Path Untravelled

There hasn't been much time to do anything for myself lately.  This weekend has been the first days off I've had since January 8th.  Its been a long month.  So its not surprising that I haven't been able to create anything new for my shop.
I had planned on making more heart pendants, and experimenting with some tiny bead embroidery projects. With the new year, I told myself that I would push myself harder than last.  Get more done, explore more creative paths.  So far, I've been lazy.  :P
So when I got an email a week ago for a 10 week flameworking course that I've been trying to get into for easily two years now, I couldn't let it pass by without trying to get in.  I immediately responded and with a change of luck, I got in.  I can't even tell you how thrilled I am to be in this class.  :D
The first class was on Friday last week.  I spent my time that day getting familiar with the torch and the beautiful way the glass would glow and melt.  The way it flowed over the mandrel folding into itself.  It was so completely awesome.

As the weeks pass and I continue on this new path, I hope that it leads to amazing new places.  I can't wait. :) 

Holidays

I won't pretend that this was an easy year.  Plus christmas time is always a hectic time of year for me.  This year was no different.  I got an incredibly late start; about 4 weeks too late.  It makes the season less enjoyable to be in a constant crunch mode.  I say the same thing every year, and it always ends the same anymore.  Stressed out and in a panic, then depressed its past and over.  Christmas seems to start on November 1st anymore, and usually by Thanksgiving I'm pretty burnt out on the music, decorations, and everything.  Even though I've accomplished nothing by then.  No presents finished, no tree yet, no decorations.  So then, after Thanksgiving, about a week or two will pass, and I will panic.  That's xmas for me.
So right now, I am in a holiday downswing.  I've visited with all my family, gave out all the presents I hurried to finish or buy, and now its just a couple days till the new year.  I'm just a little disappointed its over.  Time moves too swiftly, leaving little room to savor a moment.
All in all, it was an enjoyable time.  I spent a nice holiday with my family, and then the second part was spend with my Sweetheart's family.  As every family knows, it is hard to coordinate a large family gathering, and I've been lucky to be able to see everyone almost every year.

The year is coming to an end, and I will be spending some time over the next few days taking stock and revisiting lessons learned.  I will be planning and evaluating what's important and what isn't.  I will be taking what I need with me and leaving behind what I don't.
I hope 2012 brings opportunities.  I feel like 2011 has been a bit unbalanced.  Its either been more work and little play, or no work and no play.  I know that just because the calendar has been reset it does not mean the balance has been restored.  I wish I could say that "new year" means all the ongoing unpleasant crap can't cross the timeline into 2012 with me.  The journey will continue.  I remain hopeful though, the balance will be restored.  This year, I expect great things.

	Here she is! :) My new baby! Isn't she beautiful?! Well, I'm sure I don't have to say how excited I am, but holy crap am I excited about her! :D I've been wanting to upgrade to a DSLR for some time now. I love my film SLR and I always will, but she will only be used for special reasons in the future. However, I did transfer my SLR camera strap to my DSLR.  I inherited my film camera, which used to be my Grandpa's.  I wanted to keep a part of him with me on my photography journey.  :) The only problem with showing off my new DSLR is that I had to take this picture with my phone :P

Thankful

Thanksgiving.

A day for family, friends, memories, good times, big meals, and more.  This year, my family had Thanksgiving on Monday.  It was the only day that we could all get together without work conflicts.  Then today, I gathered for Thanksgiving part two: Turkeys Revenge.  Well, more like Thanksgiving lunch, hot turkey sandwiches.  It was delicious.  :)  Soon we will be gathering again with more family for some T-Day dinner of some sort.

I just wanted to take a minute to say how thankful I am.  I'm thankful for my Sweetheart, my family, my friends, my health, my home.  I'm thankful for the food I eat, the clean water I have, the heat in the winter and air in the summer.  I'm thankful for my car and my job.  I'm thankful for the ability to express myself creatively.

Hope for those of you celebrating have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Falling Short

When August had just begun, I said to myself, "Self... this year you are going to have a whole slew of new Halloween charms ready by September."  Unfortunately, I must have been distracted when I was telling myself this.  Its October 1st.  I've got nothing.  I have been completely involved in taking care of everything else that time slipped away from me so fast.  Considering the circumstances, I am going to cut myself a little slack though.  Its been a rough year.  I was still hoping to have something new and exciting for this year.  I do, but its only in my sketchbook.
So now, I think its a little late to really try and stock up.  I could attempt it, but I'm just not sure I could really catch up.  I'm afraid that I wont be able to do any shows before Halloween. I might just have to let it go this year and look into the following holiday seasons.  We'll see.

...  I started to write this on Saturday, but its Monday now ...


Today was a great day.  My Sweetheart and I went apple picking.  If there is one thing I have to do every year, its apple picking.  The weather today was gorgeous.  It was breezy, clear blue sky, no rain, 68 degrees beautiful.  We had cider and cinnamon doughnuts, and did some wine tasting.  Went home with a ton of apples and bunch of other things, including our 4 pound jar of honey.  Today was a great day.  :)

This week my goal is to focus.  So many things have been distracting me.  Too many things.  Whats worse is that even with so many distractions, I can't even get those things done.  I should make a list.  I should write out things I want to have taken care of by Friday this week.  Maybe I will do that tonight while I lay in bed.  Contemplate what needs to get done.  Its as if the tasks are piling up in my brain and causing lockup.

I hope to have some pictures soon.  If I can get my act together.  :)  Keep your fingers crossed.

Unloading

I'm going to take a few minutes to unload.  I don't plan on doing this very often here.
Today was the last day our Borders had its doors open.  Its meeting its end, much like the final chapter of a book.  I can't help but feel a little sad tonight.  Its hard to understand sometimes how a large company can meet its end like this.  I know why Borders is, there are many reasons and I could list them, but I wont.  It still baffles me though for a few moments every now and then.  Over 11,000 people are losing their jobs all over the country.  Not to forget the thousands before this when the company closed 1/3 of their stores a few months ago trying to get it together and save the business.  So many jobs lost.  Its a major disappointment.
My sweetheart brought home a few books with him tonight.  Everything good was pretty much gone a few weeks ago.  You could maybe find something good here and there if you picked thru enough stuff.  Most likely though, it wasn't something you were looking for in the first place.  A handful of good ones managed to squeak by.
Beyond my obvious reasons for sadness, I'm angry.  Yeah, I'm pretty irritated.  We have been applying for jobs all over the place.  Aside from the lack of them in general, I have a separate gripe.  And that is, personality tests.  I hate them.  I think they are a ridiculous waste.  We haven't encountered many of them yet, but we did just fill one out a few days ago.  It was so ridiculous.  They say to fill it out how you feel, and not to put too much thought into it, or answer how they think you want them to answer.  After 30 minutes it took to fill it out, a few days later we receive the "thanks but no thanks" email.  Whatever happened to interviews? First interview, second interview, talking face to face, getting to know someone.  Most times you could fill out an app, and hand in a resume, and that was all it took.  I just don't see how it can be determined what a person is like based on what seems like the same 15 questions asked 5 different ways over the course of 12 pages.  Infuriating.  I was hired into Borders by word of mouth mainly.  A friend dropped my name, I filled out a paper application, got called for an interview, then a second interview, and was hired.  Shortly after my hire, they changed their process to computer apps and personality/psych tests.  Honestly, I think it was as hit and miss for employee hires as much as paper apps.  Maybe more miss than hit in fact.  There were a small handful of good employees that came from the computer apps, but then there were also, quite a few people that were terrible workers, unmotivated, lazy, and just belligerent.  So much for the personality tests.

Anyway, I haven't been a very busy bee for the shop lately.  My job has been taking a lot of my energy.  I also need to clean my work space.  Its a big cluttered.  I might have a few inches to work on at the moment.  I really wanted to have a bunch of Halloween charms made by now.  I've really fallen behind.  However, I don't have any craft shows lined up (not even sure if it will be a possibility to do any right now).  I still wanted to make some.  Not that there isn't time to get a few new ones cranked out.  I also have been kicking around a new idea that I really want to get moving on.  I've just been hesitating on it.  I need to promise myself to get this space clean so I can do some work. :p  I did manage to finish a new skirt over the weekend.  Its plain black.  I will have to post some pictures later.  :) 

Until then, here's a shot of my wild flowers.  :)

Where shall I start?

"When in doubt, I find that retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin..." ~ Albus Dumbledore

I have been finishing up a custom guinea pig charm, and the dog charm is still being worked on and perfected.  Its almost the end of July, I haven't had a chance to start any holiday charms, which means I've fallen behind.  I've also had this idea rolling around in my head for a few weeks now, and I would like to get started on it.  Not sure what the world will think about it when its unveiled, but I think that it will be beautiful.  I'm excited to get started, but uncontrollable forces may hinder my efforts to truck along on with it.  More on that in a bit.

Today I stabbed myself with a rake.  Yes.  A rake.  There are raccoons in my neighborhood.  I love them, but they like to pull the siding back on the garage to climb in and hide.  I normally wouldn't care, and really I still don't mind, but today was hot, muggy, and I had just taken a shower before work.  I tried to pop the panels back in with the rake, and ended up dropping it and it stabbed me right in the thigh.  So there is a scratch and a bruise AND a welt.  Fun.  :P
A week ago today, I bit a great big hole in my cheek by my molars while eating dinner.  I thought it would just turn into a canker sore, and then heal as usual.  I was wrong.  It ended up becoming very painful.  It must have also become infected or something because my lymph node, cheek and jaw on that side of my face are swollen.  More swollen a few days ago, less swollen today, but my jaw aches, and cheek hurts inside and out.  OH! And my ear hurts too, so the whole right side of my face.  Tons of fun!  :P
Now, I'm sure you are all asking, "Jen, why haven't you just gone to the doctors???"  Well, I have no insurance.  I haven't had any for a few years now.  Its okay.  I have paid out of pocket for some things, but this time, well, aside from not really being in the budget, I feel like I can wait it out.  But, a week later now, I might be eating my words soon if things don't change dramatically for the better. 

The last few weeks of work have been wicked busy.  I've been working late a lot of nights.  It doesn't bother me.  I've just been tired, more tired than usual.  Its not like I don't get enough sleep though.  However, a friend of mine, has brought it to my attention that I might have an iron deficiency.  So, I have decided to start taking a multivitamin.  I know I could use it.  I don't exactly eat right all the time.
Still working on balancing work with my shop.  Its been hard.  I hope the vitamins help boost my energy, and I will be able to catch back up on things.

Besides work and illness keeping me from my shop there has also been car troubles.  My little car just had new brakes, new rotors, new wipers, and an oil change and new oil filter all put on.  Things were looking better for it.  Well, then I discovered I had the beginnings of a flat the other day.  I took it to the tire shop and it turns out that the tire was probably the same tire it rolled out of the factory with back in 1999/98.  So, now it has one new tire.  There will be another new one in a couple months hopefully.  The flat tire was so old, they no longer make them, in fact, the company doesn't exist anymore.  As for the other tires?  Also discontinued. But, it now has one nice new one.  :)  Hooray for more car expenses.  Can you feel my sarcasm?  ;)

Speaking of expenses.  I decided to replace my old camera with a new one.  My old Canon only had 4 measly MP.  Now my new Canon has 14 MP!  Its incredible!  :)  I decided its now or never, and bit the bullet.  I picked it up over a week ago.  I had a gift card from my brother and that helped take the edge off.  I justified this purchase in a pretty reasonable way, unlike when I justify things so I don't feel guilty when I buy them.  I use this camera for all my shop stuff.  My old camera's batteries no longer held a charge, and rather than investing in an old cam, I decided to just upgrade.  The old Canon is about 7ish years old.  Pretty long life in camera years.  I'd have to say that's about 92 in people years.  It's been a good friend and companion.  Documenting many many good times.  I'm sure its predecessor will be a worthy replacement.  :)

Yes, I did see Harry Potter 7.2.  Yes, it was awesome.  Yes, I am sad its over.  Yes, I did cry.  I wont go into much more than that.  I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.  :)

And now, unfortunately I will be ending this on a sad note.  If you haven't yet heard, and I'm pretty sure you would have to be living under a rock to not know, and if you are under said rock, you probably don't have internet connection, but what do I know.  Anyway, if you haven't heard yet, Borders is closing.  I bring this up because once upon a time, I worked at Borders for about 5 years.  Borders is where I met my Sweetheart.  Borders is where my Sweetheart works currently.  Its sad news that they are liquidating.  It breaks my heart to see them go.  Not only because we are staring down the barrel of the unemployment shotgun, but because I feel like books are disappearing. 
I love books.  I have many.  I cant imagine a world without them.  I'm not saying that there will never be books, but there is something to be loved about holding a brand new book in your hands, being the first to open its pages, to bend its binding.  The smell of a new book can't be replicated with e-readers.  The feeling of accomplishment when I see how many pages I've passed, while marking my place for next time.  The absolute excitement of the Harry Potter release nights will always stay with me.  A memory I cherish.  It wouldn't exist if it weren't for the actual physical books.  I have many technical craft books, and I like being able to flip between pages referencing what I need.  I don't see myself using an ebook for that.  On my shelf, wedged between children's picture books, is a book I was given by my first grade teacher when she retired.  Its Ed Emberly's Drawing book of Animals.  I have a copy of a Tale of Two Cities that was my Grandmother's when she was in school, inside which she has written her profession of love of a certain actor.  :)
I could go on and on.  I love technology as much as the next person.  I don't think that ebooks and e-readers are useless.  I can see where they can be nice and convenient, but books, real, actual, ink on paper books, will always have a special place in my heart.

Woah!

Where did the time go?! June is almost over.  I can't believe it.  This whole summer has felt off for me.  It was cold for a long while into spring with a few days of scorching heat sprinkled in.  Its been a weird season.  At least, I think so.

Lets see...
Last time I wrote I was shopping for a dress, and making a dog charm.  Well, I'm still working on that dog charm.  Its been on the back burner, but I've started working again.  Painting is going slowly, but its not a race.
My future brother in laws wedding happened a few weeks ago now.  It was pretty, and classy, and a lot of fun.  Its always nice seeing the family.  I ended up with a saucy red dress, and a pair of high heels that gave me the worst toe cramps in my life.  I think I might have to burn them.  Whoever thought that high heels were a good idea should be beaten.  Or forced to wear them.  Something.  It was terrible.  Plus, I ended up not wearing them at one point, but I wish I would have had some flats or something.  Especially since a lot of rose petals ended up on the dance floor, and my feet turned purple! :)  I think they were purple for a couple days.  It was a lot of fun though.
I've been working at my new job for a few weeks now.  Its really interesting, and my bosses and coworkers are really nice.  I'm feeling pretty lucky about that.  There is a lot to learn, and I'm hoping to absorb it all like a big ol' brain sponge.  Its going to take some hard work to get into the swing and balance work and the shop.  I just need to organize and focus.  Its been a struggle, but I'm not giving up or anything.  I'm just going to take it one day at a time.
My garden is starting to grow pretty good.  Little flowers are poking their heads up and blooming.  So far I have only seen the pansies.  :)  Yesterday I found a little millipede, a fuzzy white caterpillar, and a green bug I've never seen before.  I researched it, and it looks like it was a green tree cricket.  Like a baby one though.
I recently finished a personal pendant.  It was my first time working with silver metal clay, and it turned out great.  I'm really pleased with it.  :)
I've been working on a new idea for the shop.  Something from a long while ago, something that only a vague memory of remains.  Little bits suddenly came back to me though, and now it needs to be revisited.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when it finally comes together.
With all of these interesting things going on, I would love to toss in some pictures for you to see what I see, but that brings me to my final issue.  My camera is old.  Well, by electronic standards, its a dinosaur.  It sucks too, because I love this camera.  Its been a great little companion and has captured so many memories for me.  Its coming to be time to replace my little buddy though.  The batteries no longer hold a charge, and its not worth investing in new ones.  So, I've been researching, and I think I have found a worthy replacement for my old Canon PowerShot S410 with its tiny 4 megapixels.  Hopefully if things go well, I will have my new baby soon.

*fingers crossed*  :)

Dog Charms & New Things

A couple weeks ago, it might actually be a few weeks now, I was asked about creating a dog charm.  I took on the task and I am struggling with it.  :/  I've never sculpted a dog charm before, so its all new to me.  I've been trying to do a bust rather than the whole dog.  Keeping the charm small enough for a pendant, but also keeping the details of the dog in tact are both important.  He is turning out to be pretty tricky.
Besides that there has been other things going on in my life that are taking time away from my creative endeavors.  I've been cleaning up the yard with my sweetheart.  We planted some flower seeds.  I think something has already started to sprout.  Unless those are weeds...
I started a new job after a long search for additional employment.  I had the interview a couple weeks ago, and then they brought me in for a trial period.  A couple days ago, they told me they were going to keep me on.  Its exciting and stressful.  New things like this usually are for me.
Mother's Day and my Mom's birthday have both come and gone now.  I wasn't sure what to get her for those, but I ended up finding some things that were pretty cool.  Me and my sweetheart took her out to dinner, and that was nice.
I've been out clothes shopping a few times looking for new stuff for work and a dress for a wedding in June.  Being a girl, and going clothes shopping, doesn't necessarily mean that shopping is fun and rainbows and lollypops.  I pretty much loath looking for pants and dresses.  Most pants don't fit me right.  Dresses are a whole other ball of wax.  I might just have to break down and get pants then make alterations myself.  :/  What a pain.  Plus, I cant stand spending money on clothes.  :P
This weekend went by way too fast.  Hopefully I can find a rhythm between work and my shop and play.  The last few weeks I've neglected the shop, and the dog charm.  I need to get back to working on that as soon as I can.  Which, should be tomorrow. 

Happy Days Are Here Again

After spending a grueling few days without a laptop, I am happy to say that she fixed and I'm back in business.  :D  I felt so cut off from everything without her.

I have probably thanked my friends about a half a million times, but I really cant thank them enough.  I don't know what I would have done without them.  They spent a lot of their free time to fix her, and it means the world to me.  Thank-you so so much.  :)

Also, it looks like I'm not alone.  I've been perusing the internet and found that many more people have fallen to the same virus as me.  Multiple times even.  I don't know how long it will be before the issue has been taken care of, but I'm certainly not hitting dA anytime soon.  What an incredible pain that was.

Until then, I am thinking of bringing back my flickr account for my "portfolio".  I'm not sure it will get as much traffic or exposure as dA does sometimes.  I just feel like I should have somewhere to display all my various creations.  Kicking it around.  If anyone has any suggestions for a better place as a "portfolio" let me know :)

 I recently sewed some sweet little snuggly sacks for my friend for her guinea pigs. 

Snuggly sack with rad racing stripe.

Snuggly sack with lime green and funky red fabric.

Snuggly sack with adorable owls and colorful mushrooms.

 And so far they seem to like them :)

Miss Shadow staying snuggly.

Mr. Gus keeping an eye out and Mr. Chester resting his head.

I've been working on a new mala for the shop.  It features gray wood, nuts, and green lace stone beads.  It has earthy calm feeling to it.  I will be finishing up the tassel in dark & medium green colors.  I should have it photographed and listed in the shop soon.

Until then, :)

Fun Times with Annoying Viruses

So, lets see.  A little over a week ago, my old laptop somehow got hit with an annoying virus.  It shut down my firefox, and started loading some sort of spyware antivirus program.  Which I immediately figured was a fake program because it was asking for money.  I've never had any of my antivirus software ask me for money.
This horrible virus loaded in, and took over my internet and killed my avira.  I couldn't do anything.  As if my decrepit laptop wasn't destroyed enough with its busted hinges, hit or miss fans, slow processor, and laundry list of other issues, now I have this virus to contend with.  So my friend was kind enough to offer to help me reinstall XP on my craptop.  When we sat down to back up some files, the power kept shorting out.  This was new to me.  Turns out, the wires connecting to the power source had been exposed and started to fray.  Pinching the cord helped keep the power flowing, but the exposed wires were getting too hot to touch.  I tried using one of the clamps I use to prop up my screen, but I could smell burning plastic, and that's when we noticed that the wires were glowing.  Hooray for fire hazards.  :P  Apparently it was too much stress for it to travel. 
I decided that it was finally time to take old blue off life support and let her go.  Now she is sitting over in the corner in her old bag collecting dust.

Now, because it was finally over with I decided to replace her with a previously owned laptop.  She is pretty silver and white.  A billion times faster. A nice new wide screen compared to blues square screen.  Way more hard drive space.  Windows 7.  She's incredible.  I love her.

Everything was going so well.  I was on a cloud.  Until I got hit with the same horrible virus (with a new name).  For the last week now I have been struggling to get this thing under control.  I wasn't sure where it came from or how I got it.  After some research though, I have decided that it might be linked to DeviantArt.  I'm not blaming them... yet, because I don't understand the intricacies of horrible annoying viruses, and how they can just suddenly upload to my HD, disable my internet and antivirus, rendering me to an angry raging blob on my couch.  I still think the two are connected though.  I've also been reading claims that if I had a premium paid for account with DA that I wouldn't be susceptible to these virus invasions.  Which kind of makes me think, "Why would they say that?  Is it a ploy to get me to pay for their account?",  and then I put on my conspiracy theorist hat and think "Did DA have something to do with this virus?"  My mind goes on and on from there, but as I keep reading posts and blogs, it turns out I'm not alone on this thought path.

I've scanned and safe moded and recovered and restored and rebooted and cryed and screamed and swore and cursed.  None of it is working.  Tonight, I wipe and reinstall Win7, and start all over.  My plan of action after that, is I am going to be abandoning DA for a while.  It breaks my heart because I love checking my favorite artists updates, but it has to be done for now.  Maybe I'll be able to do back some day.

I hope this fresh start works.  I hope it hasn't affected my external HD.  *fingers crossed*

Sinus Troubles

Its happened.  Every year, twice a year, I get this cold.  Its my sinuses.  They hate me.  I get it in the winter to spring transition and fall to winter transition.  Like clockwork.  If I am lucky enough to somehow squeak by without getting it, it makes me sooooo happy.  So far, I'm right on schedule.  I got sick, it was this past Tuesday I think, and it pretty much halted all my activity for a couple days. 

But good news!  I'm mostly functional again, and I'm back to creating.  Which is good because my personal calendar is about to get busy.  I've got my 6 year anniversary coming up for me and my Sweetness.  Then it's my brother's birthday, whose present is already in the works.  After that, a little further down the road, it will be my Mom's birthday and Mother's Day.  It can be a bummer that they are so close together, but it always works out just fine in the end.  I've already got ideas brewing for her too!

Lots of new pieces are being worked on and finished.  So I'll be updating the shop soon.   

It's been weird weather for the last few days, but today seems to be turning out alright.  It started out sunny, then it got windy and cloudy, and now its sunny and windy.  :) 

A lovely spring evening :)