Catch up

** note ** If you're looking for my BSBP reveal, click HERE.

~ ~ ~

Sorry about all the missing posts in April >.< Any and all winners were contacted on time and have long since received their prizes. As for the missing April shop feature, I had two shops left in the queue, and got tangled up in checking out some stuff, then forgot to actually POST. I WILL be posting one THIS FRIDAY. I'm writing it today and scheduling it to ensure it ;) Which means there's just one more after this one, so if any of you 'shop owners' would like to be featured here and can offer a little something up for grabs to my readers, give me shout :)

As for the whys behind the lack of blogging... I don't think there's really a need to mention I'm just really good at procrastinating... you all know this by now ;)

So what have I been up to that my blogging has been next to non-existent? Aside from procrastinating, of course ;)

The usual, of course... plus we just finished off another round with Project Bead ( which I'll be updating and mentioning here soon).

Had to get my BSBP done and up, and of course, I'm still hopping my way through :) I went against my new 'no more hops' rule and joined up with TWO, one of which I've already completed my piece for.

Oh, and remember the Project Bead 'Sneak Attack'? Where Shelley Graham Turner had put out the word looking for purple beads so she could  make earrings for Alzheimer's... so we dropped a box containing a few THOUSAND purple beads on her doorstep... remember?

Well... seems Shelley has turned the tables on us with that one ;) She decided she couldn't possibly use all of those on her own, so she started up a fb group called 'Jilly's Bead Posse' in memory of her sister, then put out the offer to send a baggie of purple bead soup to anyone who would be willing to use it to make earrings for her, and send them back to her.

 In no time she had a nice little group of earring designers working away.

And then... it grew.

... and Shelley kidnapped me and pulled me into it, because 'it was my fault anyhow' ;) lol

Jilly's Bead Posse went from a group of ladies making earrings for Shelley to hand out to people taking part in the 'Walk to End Alzheimer's' , to an acknowledged associate of Alz.org. My project right now is helping get items listed in the etsy shop, as well as get my own contributions submitted. Oh, and make more purple stuff... current items I'm planning on are key chains and zipper pulls ;)

I'll be telling you all a bit more about this group in a future post. My giveaway with a twist went over rather well there for the Global Genes Project ... might have to do something similar for this one ;)

I'll be trying VERY HARD to get back into the blogging habit, and as I said, I'll have a few posts scheduled ahead of time for you ;)  Friday for sure you'll have a new giveaway to enter with the shop feature, so be sure to pop back and check it out ;)

Think I need to end this update with some pretty pictures,  don't you think? How about my sunny-day-sitting-on-the-porch projects? Those on FB with me have seen them already, but oh well ;)

Autumn's Glory

( yeah I know... sitting outside on a gorgeous spring day enjoying summer like weather .. and I create a piece with an autumn theme to it >.< lol )

Passion for Purple

Check back tomorrow for this month's shop feature, and enter the giveaway!

 

Kreativ

Some of you may know that my coffee perk died on me last week... for a coffee lover, this was dire news... especially since I couldn't find my receipt and warrentee, and was fairly sure it was still covered. The machine had been a gift but I had the receipt...  A week of using my little four cupper .. which actually only makes two cups in my size mug... and my mom came to the rescue.

She came up to spend the week end with me, and brought her spare perk with her... her spare perk being my old 'slow-as-molasses' one. We cleaned it out, and had a pot that took about half an hour to perk ... *sigh* It was really good coffee, but still... half an hour was not an acceptable waiting period of coffee. Then she found my warrentee for me and proved that it was indeed still covered... for another three months :D

This morning I woke at 3 am for no reason.. again. Every other month or so I seem to hit this run of suddenly being wide awake at 3am for no reason. since mom had the pull out bed in the living room, getting up and going on the computer or working on some jewelry wasn't really an option, so I just stayed put until I fell asleep again. 

Six o'clock saw me awake again and this time I got up.

Since mom and the cats were all still snoring, I used up the last of my vinegar and cleaned out the perk again, speeding it up to about a twenty minute pot. While I was doing that, I made coffee on my 'mini' perk. When the smell of fresh coffee, and the sound of me doing dishes and moving around in the kitchen failed to wake mom, I decided to turn on the computer. She managed to sleep through two hours of me cleaning, typing and brewing coffee, plus a phone call. I was impressed ;)

We headed out for a bit more shopping before she was going to head home, and I came across a fantastic deal on a new coffee maker. One that made bothering with the warrentee seem rather like a waste of time. So I have a new perk :) And it's got a timer so I can set it to have my coffee ready and waiting for me when I wake up or get home from work :D

I also talked to my landlady, and I'm picking up a new mailbox tomorrow after work. I found a nice long one with plenty of room for my photo prints, and parcels of beady goodness, so I should not have any more worries about my mailman jamming them into my itty bitty mailbox and risking breaking everything >.<

And then, as an extra bonus to my day, I popped on the computer to discover this

Marlene Cupo awarded me this :) Isn't that a bright spot to any ones day?

And now I get to award it to ten others :)  As I told her, I knew of four right off the top of my head... the rest needed some consideration because I read a lot of blogs and so many of them are deserving of this!

 When you receive this award, there are a few rules:

1. Post a link to the person who awarded you
2. Share 7 well-thought out random things about yourself
3. Award to 10 other deserving bloggers and let them know

So, here are my 7 random but well thought out things about me :)

1- I'm the only woman in my family ( immediate plus my mothers side), over the age of eighteen who does not have a tattoo. My mother has two ( three of you count the one covering her first one). She got her first one  in her early forties. The following year, my grandmother and one aunt went with her, and they each got their first while she got her second. The next time she went back to get the one fixed, they went with her and got their second ones.

2- I love my hair best when every one else seems to hate it. If I get a hair cut I love, everyone else hates it... if I dye it a shade I love, everyone else seems to hate it. Luckily, I don't let their opinions on it get in my way :) It's my hair and I'll do what I want with it ;)

3- I'm not a girly girly, but I have my girly moments or phases. Five years ago, I hit a major girly time and wore makeup, jewelry and skirts or dresses on an almost daily basis. Then I went majorly tomboy and wore mostly mens clothes for a couple years. Including these great mini boxer briefs I found that are fabulously comfy, but I can't find anymore >.< The past year or so has seen me combine the two, wearing mostly jeans or pants, with mens shoes, and a lot of mens t-shirts ( but that's because they have the best ones ) , but mixing it up with some feminine tops or jewelry.  Friday I wore a sundress and make up, going totally girly for no special occasion, for the first time since...well... since my last girly phase five years ago.

4- I like to read and name critters after characters in the books. when I was younger and lived on the farm, I named all the calves and pigs and rabbits that way. I only named two household pets that way though, since I usually let their personalities or first impressions combine to help with them. The one was a cat I named Fizgig, and the second was a hedgehog I named Binx.

5- Inside, I'm a fun, vibrant person, who is a tad crazy, and once you get started talking, I have trouble shutting up. Friends online especially know me this way, as do those in person who spend enough time around me to get to know me a bit. Most people who meet me at random when I'm not being 'myself',  see me as being rather quiet and shy, and no doubt rather boring.

6- I love music and have very eclectic tastes. My mp3 player is jammed full of a bit of every thing and programmed to play it all randomly. Friends find it hilarious when I'm listening to keep asking me what I'm listening to every few minutes due to the insane differences. It could go from Enya, to Marilyn Manson, to Nickleback, to Loretta McKennit, to Johnny Cash, to Blink 182, to Neil Diamond.... you never know ;)

7- I love writing and painting and creating... but have a hard time getting my brain settled on one thing and keeping it there until it's done. I'm very ADHD when it comes to my projects and tend to be working on several at any given time. Currently, I have seven different bracelets in progress, a painting almost done, and am writing in about five different story arcs, as well as working on an art exchange group, putting together an ebook, and participating in two different bloghop/challenges as well as running my own.  Oh, an of course there's the usual blog writing and procrastinating I do in between all of that :)

 So there. Seven random but well thought out things about myself :)

And now  I shall pass this award on to 10 deserving bloggers.

 ~ Lori of Pretty Things , although I'm sure she's already received a few of these at least, for her posts full of laughter, courage, inspiration, and shared pain that always leaves you with the understanding that you're not alone.

~Marina  of Faniciful Devices with her blog full of randomness and snicker-inspiring comments, combined with stunning jewelry and techniques. 

~Anvil Artifact's with a blog full of beautiful jewelry & photos, experiments & advice, and always some laughter :)

~Shay of Shaiha's Ramblings, for insights into the bright spots of her day and the things that she turns to for inspiration, as well as bits and bites of her life and the things within... and lots of fabulous book reviews :)

~ boobies of Boobies, Babies, & a Blog  for a blog chocked full of giveaways and laughter :)

~ 'Sparrow' or Star Tribe (formerly SparrowSalvage) For a blog full of beautiful creations, courage, and  strength.

~ Anna of The Laughing Raven for tons of beautiful, inspiring photos and tid bits.

~ Maneki of Wild roses and blackberries  for two blogs full of jewelry and techniques, as well as photos that should be inspiring jewelry :)

~Char of Crap I've Made  for a constant flow of creativity and 'stuff to do' .

~ Evie & Beth of EBBead & Metal Works  for sharing their mother/daughter creative lives :)

Go visit them and see what I mean :)

If I didn't mention your blog, don't take it personally. I read, follow, and love a lot of blogs, all for various reasons. Choosing ten was very hard since a great many more deserve this too :)

~ Skye

FF Winner

Once again time flies away from me! I keep meaning to blog more often , and I have plenty of things to blog about, yet I just can't seem to get around to actually setting aside the time to DO it >.<

This week is especially hectic, what with my manager being on vacation and me working extra shifts to cover her, plus ending up staying late several shifts just to get things done. On top of that, the Creative Chaos Challenge reveal is this Saturday, and I still need to finish off my designs... would be terrible if the hostess didn't finish off her own challenge ;) 


Since that would be more than enough work right there to keep me hopping, I of course took on more... I'm almost done that panda painting I showed you a peek at last post... just need to add in some finishing details and shading now, plus I've got the kits for the next Creative Chaos challenge all ready to go... just not sure on whether I included too much or not enough... I'll have to check with this rounds participants before I toss up the sign in form ;)


Then.. because all of THAT would be MORE than enough to keep me busy... I have my Bead Soup all ready for me to pack up and mail off to my partner, Maria, this week ( I'll be doing a blog post introducing her soon, I promise!) , and then on Monday I responded to a message and am now hip deep in the running of another big project.




I think I'm done taking on extra work for this week ;)


Well, aside from a couple blog posts...


... and some writing...




.. and some photography if the sunlight cooperates....




>.<


Okay...so..I suppose you all want to know who won F.F.# 6 ? Well according to rafflecopter, it's Susan G.


 So, Susan G., give me a shout with your address and your decision on what you want - all of the chain, or just one with some extras to go with. 

I'll catch you all again in a day or so for another post .. and if not, then I'll catch you on Saturday for the Creative Chaos Challenge reveal :D

~ Skye

sharing the love

Hello :)

As I mentioned in my last post, my challenges have been busted due to illness. I did complete one pair of earrings but... not gonna bother sharing a pic of them today :)
Nope.. today I decided to share some of my favorite blogs to read.

First up we have Anvil Artifacts.
I found this blog by some random link hopping during one day of boredom. I'd got a giggle out of a comment she'd left on another blog and decided to follow her home... So glad I did :) Her blog posts are always fun, packed with photos of her own work as well as others and the last photo in line is always something ... 'interesting' .. lol
I own a pair of her earrings :) Beautiful green-patina copper pieces that are just so nice :) I won them from her ;) I couldn't find a link to a picture of them though, and I'm too lazy right now to take a pic myself to share ... so instead I'll show you a pic of my favorite pair that's still available for sale in her shop :)

The Mysterious Jewel Box by anvil artifacts - available in here

And I HAVE to share a pic of one of her diorama necklaces! I couldn't find a picture of my number one favorite...it's an underwater scene with two divers and one of them has a tentacle wrapped around his leg ;)  The bigfoot one is really cute too :)  These are sort of a two-in-one deal...you get a gorgeous necklace...then you flip it open.. and get this! Hmm..I wonder if you could wear it flipped open? Because that would be like having two necklaces... the fun 'open' one... and the beautiful 'closed' one :)

 

Day at the Beach by anvil artifacts - available here

 Anyhow, here is her blog addie & Esty shop address, so be sure to visit! 

Anvil Artifacts -Blog 

                       - Etsy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Next up we have Fanciful Devices ... this is actually the blog I followed Anvil's link from ;) And guess what? I found HER blog by following her link from Sparrow Salvage's blog :) ( another great blog you should visit!)

Fanci's blog is another one that's always chocked full of beautiful photos of her work and that of others. She's always left me in awe over how effortless she takes random 'things' and turns them into gorgeous jewelry! And she's now started to sell tutorials... incredibly detailed and well laid out tutorials ( one of which I'm trying to buy by paypal and etsy aren't liking each other much today... either that or neither of them are liking my card >.< )

Here is a couple of my faves from her shop. She's made so many beautiful things... and I ADORE her bangle stacks ( that's the tute I'm attempting to buy ;) ). I love the Egyptian feeling these give me...she makes no mention of an Egyptian influence or inspiration, but that's what they make me think of :)

Of Bondage by fanciful devices-available here

Oddly enough... so does this necklace...it's sort of makes me think of a simplifies Ankh... or maybe it's a combination of the piece and her 'model'? lol I love that thing... she did such a fabulous job on it and it shows off her creations wonderfully :)

Much Beyond  by fanciful devices - available here

Here are her addresses... make sure to go check her out :) you won't regret it!

Fanciful Devices - Blog

                          - Etsy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Fanciful Devices & Anvil Artifacts are pretty much strictly jewelry/components/ life happenings in their blogs, Shaiha's Ramblings offers more of a variety :) 

necklace & photo by Shaiha

While Shaiha does post photos of her jewelry... such as this hand-knotted pearl necklace using AA Black Pearls and Crystals that she made for the Spring Fashionista Event ... (and since I won it, I'm anxiously haunting my mailbox ;) ) ,  her blog is more open to all aspects of her life. She does tons of book reviews ( thanks to which my 'find & read' list has reached  rarely-seen-before lengths ) , and shares the 'beautiful things' that happened in her week to help her keep focused on the bright side :)

I found Shay's blog thanks to Lori McDaniel Anderson's 4th BSBP, in which we were partners :) 

Shaiha does not have a shop, but you can find her blog here .  She also has a second blog where she JUST reviews adult books ;) You can find the link in her profile...I'm making you visit her to find it :p lol

~~~~~

Okay ... now this is next one is not jewelry or bead related at all.

I actually found it through a giveaway link back.. and have been hooked ever since. Boobies, Babies & a Blog  is a mother's rant and rave where she shares all the ups and downs... and embarrassments... of having children. I've sympathized with and helped reassure her through panic attack blog posts about her children's health... and laughed uproariously over her revelations concerning her teen age son and his... happenings ;)  and of course, one of my favorite features are her ' Sh#T the Boss Says' posts ... the Boss is her five year old... and some of the things that he comes up with... true genius... or hilarity lol

But she doesn't JUST chat .. no... she also does the odd product review... oh, and Boobies is seriously addicted to hosting giveaways. She's done a large variety of items, from scarves, to purses, to giftcards.... to sex toys. She tends to do the sex shop giveaways most often, I think. I keep tossing my name into the hat for about three quarters of her giveaways, but as of yet, my lucky number hasn't come up.

And you're damn right I enter her sexy ones ;) Every time it's open to international! lol

Boobies,Babies & a Blog    - blog

~~

So there are a few of the blogs I enjoy reading :)  I hope you pop in and visit them and perhaps get hooked as well :) 

Maybe I'll share some more later on :) In the mean time, don't forget to enter the 4th Freebie Friday draw! For every TEN entries I receive I'm adding another little batch of beads and such to the pot!

~ Skye

Check in.. kinda sorta...

Yeah..I know it's not Sunday... it's not even close anymore >.<

The weather has been beautiful here... more early summer than pre-spring... 

although today is finally the first official day of spring :) Yay! The threat of more snow now is considerably lessened :)  I'll admit too, that I'm getting a major giggle over us Canadians enjoying the summer like weather while the Californian's get our snow and usual crappy seasonal weather :)

But back to the matters at hand. I have several pieces made, sitting here on my desk, done except for their clasps or finishing bits, which I've been too blah to bother adding >.< 

Been feeling a bit off for the past week, nothing bad just ...meh >.<

Today I awoke to a scratchy sore throat, couch, increased blah-ness, and I'm pretty sure I have a fever and resulting headache >.<

... and the birds outside are singing their little hearts out, telling me how beautiful it is out there.

little buggers >.<

I woke up pre-dawn this morning, unable to sleep any more... so was greeted by the calling of seagulls from the harbour. You know it's going to be a good day out there when the seagulls are that noisy. that early.

Anyhow, I need to drag my butt downtown and do my laundry so I have a clean uniform to wear to work tomorrow... assuming this holds off enough to allow me to function that well tomorrow. I was going to go curl up and try to sleep some more.. or at least plug in some music and try to ignore the sound of the birds outside calling me out.. however, the seagulls have shut up and it's not even 8:30 yet... which means it's going to be a hot one today... so I'd better go now. I'll decide if I want to hang my clothes out to dry or use the dryers while I'm out... while the idea of the fresh smell of clothes off the line is really nice... hanging them all up, then dragging my butt down three flights of stairs later on to take them all off the line... not so nice a thought >.<

I'm rambling...yes..I am... >.< I'll try to post later in the week.

hope you all enjoy the nice weather and avoid the spring colds and other miscellaneous bugs going around >.<

~skye

Check in and FF Winner

Yes, I know I missed my last 'Challenge Check in' .. considering I'd just posted eight pieces of jewelry for the global genes hop, I decided it wasn't needed ... plus I was busy working on a new set :)

Remember those chip stone bracelets that I loved making for the hop? From the first one I had the urge to try out a similar design on a necklace... and Sunday I did.

Alligator Tears

A short while ago I came across this tube of shell beads called 'Gator Teeth'. they were such a beautiful creamy color I had to get them. Turns out it was a good thing I did since they were perfect for this set :)

I made every twist and wrap of that chain too... even the clasp :) My first handmade clasp... so proud :)

My ABS February challenge piece never got made...My little vintage peacock broach is still sitting here staring at me, surrounded by a few beads. The gorgeous lamp work I had set aside to go with him have been used in another project already :)

I mentioned on fb that I have a gift to make for someone. I'm part of a group called 'Artcrossing', where we submit a 'profile', (basically it's more of a wish list of stuff we like), then that's assigned to someone and they make a gift for us. You don't know who the person is, since you get their real name with their address, and you know them by a nickname in the group, so you can't contact them at all. At any rate, the necklace above was for one.. and it went so well, I finished it in just one night! Since I'd figured on a week for it, I was done reaaaly early.. so I asked for another one.  

This one I knew I wanted to do a charm bracelet... I just didn't know what OF... so I picked two themes and color schemes, then went through my entire stash, for both beads and charms, and tossed in some of everything that fit either theme... then looked at the two piles. I went with a sea life theme and currently have it about three quarters done. I have all the large beads wrapped in and the charms added... now I just have some smaller beads to work in, and the clasp to attach :)

I blame Lori Anderson and her Bead Soup. Ever since taking part in her last bsbp, when I'm truly stuck I do a test 'soup'... tossing things into a dish and seeing what sticks.It's also a lot of fun :) ... not so fun to clean up afterwards, but... oh well! If you get stuck for an idea one day, try it :)

So that's where I am jewelry wise this week.  Now, my monthly art challenge...

I'd decided to do a painting this time around. I'm done... but I don't know if I'm 'finished'... I've reached a point where it's got the look.. 'mostly'.. the way I want, but I feel the need to do 'more'... however... anything more I do... just messes it up. So for now, it's done and I shall put it away. Perhaps at some later date I'll give it another try.

Fiery Gaze

 I've redone her right eye about four times now... plus I'm not happy with the shading.. but it's really hard to figure out the shading for FIRE .. >.<  I need to choose easier subject matter  >.< lol

So my art challenge this week was a really crappy painting. Maybe I'll try a better one for March...I keep getting this image of a comic strip type project popping into my head though... not sure what I'll be doing with that >.<

Alrighty, so on to the big news. If you've popped back to the original FF #2 post, you've seen the winner posted on the rafflecopter widget.  For those who haven't, this month's winner is Shaiha :)  Shay, remember you have your choice of either the geode, or the two pairs of earrings :) 

Sarah S. - I figured out how to fix your entry, so you did have the full amount of entries you were supposed to.

Carolyn - you were minus one entry since you clicked an entry for adding a blog comment.. but didn't add the comment tsk tsk tsk lol

Check in on Friday to find out what's up for grabs for March :) I've redone the Rafflecopter options and removed a couple.. and trying to figure out how to word a new one... lol  I think I'll also be doing a second prize for most referrals again - I figured out how to have Rafflecopter select multiple winners :D hehehe

~ for those wondering why I only replied to some of the comments left on my last post, I did reply to ALL of them... I just answered the first batch through email, then hit some that didn't allow me that option, so I came to the blog... then just replied to the rest of them here lol

I've decided to leave you with some words of wisdom...

F.F 2 -update

Alrighty... February's F.F. giveaway is almost over!

There are only 3 people who've entered so far so you still stand a good chance if you get your entries in!

Remember, you have a choice this month as to whether you want the geode or some earrings :)

I'm done with my '7000 bracelets of hope' bracelets.. having redone one of the ones I'd said I'd changed my mind on last post ... lol. I  will write up my hop blog tonight so it'll be ready to go tomorrow :)

I've started to take my photos at my window and putting the natural light to use. You'll have to let me know if you notice a difference in the quality.

 Unfortunately with the weather, taking photos outside isn't really an option. Wednesday the snow was blowing and visibility sucked for drivers.. and for us pedestrians it wasn't very pleasant either >.< Thursday it was gorgeous outside and half the snow melted away while I left my winter gear behind and wore my spring jacket outside... today...it's been snowing and blowing all day and all the snow that melted away yesterday has returned .. and brought friends >.<  Perhaps I'll venture outside with my jewelry and camera once Mother Nature calms down and decides on a season ;)

I work tomorrow so who knows what the weather will be like...I'll most likely either have to bundle up for the walk in then sweat to death on the walk home once the weather shifts... or enjoy a nice walk in and freeze the girls off during the walk home >.< I can totally understand why people around here head south during February... and I would too if I could afford the trip.. and thought I stood a chance of having weather that would let me actually reach the airport... with my luck you just KNOW a blizzard would hit and either stop me from reaching my plane.. or ground the plane ..>.< lol  Oh well...I'm afraid of heights anyhow ;)

Okay... rambling done...I have a second blog post to write tonight in prep for tomorrow so I'll run away and grant you all some peace for now ;)

Don't forget to pop back to the original FF#2 post and leave your entries with Rafflecopter. Everyone is welcome and I will ship it to you no matter where you are :) ( except maybe sending the geode to Australia... you'll have to check with your customs authority about the geode if you live overseas..I know Australia, at least, is picky about that kind of stuff >.< )

 So -> FF#2 Giveaway

later all! ~ Skye

Challenge Check In

Well... it was bound to happen sooner or later...

This week was a challenge failure >.<

Other things through out the week left me unable to bring myself to work on jewelry and so I left it for the weekend. I had the entire weekend off so there shouldn't be any trouble.

Friday, as you may have read in my last post, started off with some bad luck. That bad luck seems to have carried over throughout the entire weekend where jewelry is concerned >.< Every piece of jewelry I've made this weekend has failed... right at the end of it.

I made three different bracelets for the '7000' blog hop... and each one went great until I 'finished it' ...

The first one, done with chain, apparently had, not one, but THREE links stretch just enough to lose the dangles..I've found one of the missing dangles so far >.< When I find the other two I'll replace them and go over all the links to make sure they're secure.

The second one... done with hemp cord, ended up with one of the middle metal beads getting switched with a crimp bead.. and it getting squished >.< AFTER I cut the ends and secured it. I'll take it apart and make it again from scratch, this time making sure my beads are BEADS.

The third one, made on stretch cord.... had the nice and secure knot... turn out to not be quite as secure as it had appeared to be when I attempted to hide it inside my focal bead. When the tip says to 'pull it slowly and gently'... pull it EXTRA slowly and EXTRA gently >.< So...I'll take THAT one apart and restring it too. This time, I'll ignore the instructions and let the glue on the knot dry COMPLETELY, then add a bit more before pulling it inside the stupid bead to hide it >.<

The multi bead, multi dangle earrings I tried to make... kept coming up missing dangles... which I'd find on the floor caught in the rug... or having beads vanish off the end of the headpins.. somehow... still not sure how that happened since when I check, they won't slip over the end ... O.o

Two bracelet tutorials I'd seen and thought saved for me to play with and do my own versions on... vanished. I have searched every file, every link and every blog that I come across these things and can't find them ANYWHERE.

I know that as soon as I do something else and forget about them, I find them no problem. *grumble* Stupid Murphy and his stupid laws... *grumble*

So... considering how this has been going, I think it's a VERY good thing I didn't get around to pulling out my paints... that would have been disastrous no doubt >.<

In light of my utter bad-luck-induced challenge failure this week, I will endeavor to have these three repaired and finished as well as three new pieces (at least) for next Sunday's check in >.<

Today however..I have put away my beads, and refuse to give in to temptation to 'try one more time'. My patience is utterly frayed. I even yelled at the bird for refusing to be quiet no matter what I did for him, and finally covered him up and shut him in another room.. in the dark.. where after a while, he finally stopped the high pitched, ear drum piercing shrieking and went to sleep *sigh* I love the feathered pain in the ass, really I do... but this has not been a good weekend for my nerves apparently. I think it's long past time for me to open one of those bottles of wine in my fridge and have a glass after supper. Maybe two... as long as I don't blog, or comment on certain peoples pages afterwards I should be good ;)  If I'd gotten around to cleaning my bathtub like I'd been planning this weekend, I'd go have a bubble bath, however...no. Not until that bath enclosure has undergone major scrubbage >.< I have been putting it off for far too long... *sigh* I'd go do it now, but considering how my day is going..I'd probably end up hurting myself somehow. Best not to tempt the Fates to extend this streak back outside the realm of creativity...

*sigh* well.. better luck soon, I hope. I'll let you all know later on this week how things are going!

Oh.. and by the way... when entering ANY of the Freebie Fridays through Rafflecopter .. if you click on an entry option... you actually have to DO what it says. Such as 'leave a comment'. This is twice now I've deleted entries stating that they left a blog comment.. and didn't. so far all the tweets, 'likes' 'shares' and what not have been done, but for some reason, people are having trouble clicking the 'leave a comment' entry and then actually 'leaving a comment'  lol  I check these things ;) no cheating! lol

~Skye

Random Rambling plus a Story...

First off, I shall apologize up front in case I ramble or make no sense... or my spelling is beyond atrocious even with spell check...it shouldn't be... but... one never knows.

I'm a wee bit tired, you see. Today was supposed to be my day off so I was up a bit late last night writing since I didn't have to get up too much before noon, and my plans for today, aside from an appointment at the bank, were strictly jewelry and sewing related.

Then...I awoke to the ringing of the phone and my managers voice asking my machine if I could possibly come in to work today... >.< Since things are slow and hours are less this time of year, I agreed. Extra pay is a good thing. I changed my appointment for Thursday without any problem, then headed into work. Now my jewelry and sewing plans are dead for the rest of the day since my eyeballs are so gritty and my eyelids are so heavy... and it's only six pm... I absolutely can NOT cave in and fall asleep until at least eight thirty... any earlier and I'll be awake an hour or so before I need to be and with a four thirty am wake up... you really don't want to be up any earlier then you absolutely need to be >.< I stopped on the walk home and got an extra large black coffee... aside from discovering that my usual three sugars is NOT enough for an extra large  NON-decaf black coffee, it really didn't do much for me, but then..I've never known coffee to keep me awake.... espresso makes me bounce off walls when combined with caramel, chocolate, sugar and whipped cream in a to-die-for-latte... but regular coffee... nope. Nada. Despite that, I have a pot on anyhow to at least pretend it'll help me make it to a decent hour.

So... my plans for sharing some in progress or even completed jewelry/sewing shots tomorrow are not gonna happen. Instead, I decided I'd write a blog tonight and whine about being tired like the big wimp I am, then share some of my fiction with you :)

I hemmed and hawed over what to share... did I share some work from my Hunter's Prey series...? and if so... did  I start at the beginning and share some of the background stories for the main characters... or jump right in and let you guys ask for more about whatever characters caught your attention..? Do I post bits and pieces then give a link to the rest of the story? .... Or do I make it an ongoing thing where each week I post a chapter and keep you hooked  ? ;) I'm rather liking that last one, but in order to do that, I need to pick one, do a massive spell check / edit.. then depending on which one it is, perhaps a bit of a rewrite. If any of these ideas strike a chord with you guys, let me know and I'll consider it :)

In the mean time, I decided I'd post my shortest complete ( non R-rated ;) ) story. I'll need to warn you, however, that this was an experiment in character development that took on a life of it's own. A couple of the girls that were in our little writing group found these little questionnaires and decided it would be 'fun' if the 'characters' filled them out. Any one who writes, I suggest trying stuff like this...it's a great way to flesh out characters and get a good feel for who they are as people :) Anyhow, one day... after I believe an all nighter of chatting and generally goofing off  with a bit of writing tossed in here and there, we struck upon the idea of writing little stories of the various characters being interviewed by some of our fans... which was fun to do. We hooked up over messenger, slipped into character and just WERE that character for the duration... which is REALLY fun for me because 90% of my characters are guys :D And a couple of them are real assholes or crazy and it is really a lot of fun to get to be an asshole or be crazy for an hour or so and not get crap over it :) 

...okay..I'm rambling... anyhow, THAT idea... and two days of running on about three hours sleep and two or three pots of coffee and way too much sugar, lead me to deciding that I would write a series of stories about my characters FROM their point of view. 

I did one.

Well okay...I did two on one of my female characters but neither got far. This one got finished :)

Before you go further, I write mostly a modern day mix of horror/fantasy/romance/action/comedy. My Hunter's Prey series is set in modern times and revolves around a company of 'monster hunters' called Chaos Incorporated ( or Chaos Inc.) lead by Lady Chaos. The cast contains a mix of  witches, demons,elves, faeries,vampires, werewolves ( and other were animals),  as well as humans and too many other types of critters to name.

During a bout of boredom, I added into the mix a spin off of the main series... with a team of dimension travelers... who are children of my main characters... just not from any match ups that occur in any of the stories up until that point.

Yeah, confusing, I know... trust me. It seemed like a fun idea at the time ;)

So that explained, I shall let one of these time/ dimension traveling characters of mine tell you about himself.. in his own words ( btw, he's a tad nuts and will probably ramble just like me :)  For those who want to know what he looks like, I'll post up a picture I drew of him first, then add the story beneath. )

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A Sneeze of Fate

You know those dreams you have.. those really weird disjointed things that are nothing more then crazy bits and pieces of really weird shit that in no way go together... that somehow do fit together and make perfect sense in the dream itself?

That dream where you're walking through a house that seems perfectly familiar but you know you've never seen before, then you open a door looking for something and instead find someone you know but don't know. The two of you are sitting in a garden having tea out of fancy paper cups with two other people you can't see but are absolutely familiar with and you feel completely at home... Then the cat tells you your pants are on fire, which makes no sense because you're not wearing pants... but you ARE wearing pants and you're walking up and down these stairs that lead in circles looking for the fire extinguisher and then you're on a boat with a pirate who's teaching you how to shoot the canon and you go to catch one of the canon balls as it rolls across the deck and you're running down the middle of main street in nothing but your underwear wondering where all the cars have gone...?

You know... those kind of dreams...?

Well.. I could say that my life is one of those. I could, but I won't. Because, while it IS true in a weird twisted sort of way, it would be even MORE true... (and weird and twisted ) to say that * I * am one of those dreams.

Well... okay... not literally, because I'm not a dream... I'm real. I think... but anyhow, like I was saying, I’m just like those dreams.

I'm made up of all these crazy, insane little bits that in no way fit or work together in any way that makes sense... yet they all do and it does.

And so you have me.

Dante.

Yeah yeah... I know what you're thinking. You're sitting there, rolling your eyes as you read this and thinking that I'm just another dumb fuck up of a kid who thinks he's different from every one else and all that shit... That I think I'm the only one who's ever felt this way because I'm weird; I'm different; I'm a freak... I'm special...


Well.... I am.

Well.. not the 'just another dumb fuck up of a kid ' part. I'm different. I AM special. And yeah... I'm definitely weird and a freak, but hey.. that's just part of my charm !

So what makes me so fucking special?

Well... Could just go with the fact that I'm half Faerie and half Demon... but.. there ARE others like that out there. Not many, true.. Faeries and Demons don't generally intermingle... but .. eh.. shit happens.

Could go with my being royalty on both sides of the family tree... dad's a Prince of two Fae Courts, which means so am I... And mom's the daughter of the Demon Lord Chaos... and gee.. I'm the only one of his bloodline who's come into his full powers and stayed sane, which makes me his heir. Well mostly... the 'stayed sane' part that is... some people find my sanity a subject of debate...

So, my being a royal demonic faerie and heir to a throne of hell makes me special right? Sure... except granddad, the current Lord Chaos.. is also a demonic faerie, so... the special part only goes so far...

Hey.. I'm also a time and dimension traveler. Definitely not too many demonic faeries princes running around the space time continuum, now are there?

See... THAT'S my point. That's where I'm special; where I'm truly a freak. I know for a fact, that there are no others like me out there. Any where.

I bet I'll bump into a couple hundred versions of you during my travels; same parents, different life choices, slightly different you...

Not me though. I'm a Freak of Fate. There are no other versions of me out there.

My parents, while having done the nasty in quite a few worlds, apparently, only hit pay dirt once. Only once did Fate sneeze at just the wrong moment and 'oops'... there I was.

Me.

Dante Macrory.

Son of Kay Macrory and Faal Dominic, aka Prince Ellander Errin.

In damn near every other world I've come across, mom's gone by the name Clarice LaHey, with the occasional change to Clarice or Kay Mordant.. and in every world except mine, she's also been Lady Chaos, the heir to the Chaos throne.

So what happened that things went so screwy in my world?

Told you ... my theory... Fate sneezed. Well... one of them anyhow... or at least one... Maybe the lot of them got the hiccups or something.

Things followed the exact same path as at least half the realms out there right up until my conception.... that's when the shit hit the fan, apparently.

Fate sneezed or hiccuped, that one little intruder made it past mom's defenses and bam... there I was. Time to change the world.

Don't laugh. I'm fucking serious over here!

Mom wasn't supposed to get knocked up during her little fling with the fae, alright! She was supposed to fade into a life long friendship with him while she got the hang of her newly emerging demon powers really slowly and hook up with a few bounty hunters to become a kick ass leader and take over the Chaos Throne.... I've heard that in some worlds there's some prophecy about her blood uniting the thrones or something like that... but prophecies are a bitch to follow. Don't get me wrong, they can be a fucking blast to watch... but to actually DO them... forget it.

Anyhow... like I was saying, I wasn't supposed to happen.

But I did.

And I... being me... completely fucked everything up and made it much more interesting! And that was before I was even born! See? Fucking special!!

Mom... being a demonic faerie herself, had been born while her mother was under a spell to conceal her faerie blood... and the spell fucked with moms genes, so to say. So despite the fact that she was half faerie, she never knew it. She grew up believing she was a human who happened to have a demon for a dad. Just another demon half breed... nothing special.

Then one day my Aunt Shada hit mom with a spell that stole five years worth of her memories, kidnapped her daughter and separated her from her hubbie. It also fucked with her suppressed faerie blood, setting in motion a ticking time bomb which started shit happening when she first came in contact with a full blooded Fae... that would be dad.

Dad, although he didn't know it at the time, was half faerie himself... a simple touch of his hand and mom was hit by a power surge that triggered her demon blood and turned her blue... the next fae brought forth her tail... and the next brought forth her wings. Turns out that all three of those fae had some faerie blood mixed in with their elven blood... Makes me wonder what would've happened if she'd first stumbled across a full blooded faerie. Oh well... I'm sure one of these days I'll find out. It must have happened that way at least once out there somewhere...

Gee... I'm off track... where was I... oh yeah.

So anyhow... that's what was SUPPOSED to happen... over the course of twenty or thirty years, mom eventually came into the majority of her power and gradually come to terms with her demonself.

Note I said 'supposed to'... but it didn't... because I changed it.

Mom met dad in the park and turned blue... the two of them hooked up in search of a way to change her back... became lovers... then I came along.

Being pregnant with a fae child provided a much more massive power boost than any old little hand holding could ever provide... only I was INSIDE ... so the changes I started were inside...

Yeah I know... little bastard... That's me.

So outwardly, mom's the same... still blue hiding behind dad's glamours... normally it would've been a few years before dad thought of an old friend and introduced her to the demon who would teach her to change on her own, which lead to her meeting the next fae to change her outward appearance... but ... yeah... ME again...

Mom started getting her demon abilities coming through fast and furious.. and completely uncontrollable. Thanks to me. Dad thought of his friend a lot sooner and the time table was moved up. So now mom has a tail as well as being blue, plus she has her powers going crazy and Brendan.. the half demon, can only teach her so much... so he panics and calls for help... At the same time, mom starts getting sick... big scary deal for someone who's never been sick before... so she calls her mom... who finds out about all the crazy stuff going on... who in turn calls... you got it... granddad.

Normal route... mom doesn't even meet 'Lord Chaos' until about thirty some odd years after she's started coming into her powers... by then she's already Lady Chaos and has her little company of monster hunters going strong and is about to find herself neck deep in prophecy induced mayhem.

But I changed that.

Thanks to me screwing with mom's powers... she learned the truth about granddad a few months after first coming into her powers... and because of the utter chaos ( pardon the pun) that I’d created with her powers, he took her to Hell with him to help get things under control and teach her himself. It was right around here that she changed her name from LaHey, which was granddad's human guise name.. to Macrory.. which is his real name... The change to 'Kay' came along later....


Dad still had no clue about me. Once mom was safely in the care of grandad, dad decided there was nothing more he could do... Well... okay, supposedly his friend, Callum, dragged him off and kept him busy so he wouldn't worry too much about mom... then he eventually moved on and that whole' friendship' part kicked in.

And mom wasn't in any shape to clue him in at the time. So dad went on his merry way, none the wiser that he was about to become a father. It was for the best, trust me. I shudder to think what might have happened if he'd known about me back then.

By the time I was born, mom was well on her way to having a handle on the whole demon thing. By the time I was two, mom decided that Hell was just NOT the place to raise me... apparently I was becoming a little terror.

Gee... go figure.

So she packed up and headed topside, deciding to look up her old demon friend Brendan and see about learning how to kick ass the bounty hunter way. And things SORT of followed along with the general path for a while... Mom worked with Bren for a while, then hooked up with a vampire hunter named Jaguar Rockefellar... damn I miss that guy... And then onto that fateful meeting with the MacDonnell brothers that led to Chaos Inc.... of course, it didn't all happen the same way since mom was way more in control of her shit, but the same chain happened... sort of.

Word eventually got back to dad about me and of course he just had to meet me. I was his only son of course... his only child. By this time I was eight and already coming into my demon powers.. much to everyone's dismay. Mom was beginning to rethink the whole leaving me in Hell thing. Apparently taking me out of Hell really didn't do much about curbing that 'little terror' thing I had going on.

So... enter dad.

Dad is thrilled to discover he's a dad. He wants to get to know me. Mom suggests he take it slow. They argue. They fight. Mom kicks dad's ass. Dad's friends step in...Fae friend gets a tad too close to mom triggering a 'growth spurt'.. Mom grows wings, thus ending her physical ascension and, seeing as how I've already seen to it that she's reached her full power ascension, bringing her into her full-demonhood.

The power backwash at this, nailed dad big time... and wound up seriously screwing with a spell that had apparently been laid on him when he was hardly more then a kid.

Spell removed... the hard way... it becomes known that dad is really the long lost Prince Ellander Errin...And... seeing as how mom is out for the count recovering from her ascension, Uncle Esthel, the Crown Prince of Ter Nah Nog, decides it would be for the best if 'Ellander' and his son return to Court to recover and get to know each other...

Oh yeah... wonderful idea. Fabulous plan.

I had SUCH fun at Court, let me tell you. I believe that even now, twenty two years later, the entire Elven realm is still traumatized by their young prince's visit.

Needless to say, there was no further debate over custody... two months later I was back with mom who was still on the road to recovery but still the more able parent where handling me was concerned.

Although I bet she still has the odd giggle fit over the memory of the day dad brought me home to her.

I was fifteen before I was allowed to visit Court again for my Uncle's wedding.... and I'm still not allowed back. Not that that stops me.

Oddly enough however, I'm still welcome at my great grandfather's court.. but then... I've always had a very strong connection to my Faerie side. Even if three quarters of the Seelie Court have petitioned their king to have me banished to the UnSeelie Court... but personally I think that has to do with my demon blood and nothing at all to do with me... but I could be wrong.

So anyhow... while dad was recovering from the trauma of his brief stint at raising me and mom was enjoying her bounty hunting days, building her contacts and connections with the paranormal world as well as the mortal world, I was busy learning all about bounty hunting and fighting and all the various monsters out there, as well as all about weapons. For those of you who think it was a mistake to let a kid learn this stuff, trust me... it was a needed balance; because at the same time, I was coming into both my demon and faerie abilities. They continued to pop up gradually over the years, but by the time I was twenty, there weren't many half demons out there that I couldn't beat.

So I turned my attention to the full demons instead.

Granddad was thrilled to have me come live with him for a while. Seriously. We got along great and he didn't bitch about the shit I got into. He'd give me the odd talk about thinking ahead and learning to control my impulses... usually after I killed someone or something I shouldn't have... but all in all, we got a long great.

I came into my full powers during my stay in Hell and Granddad named me his heir, then insisted I start training for my full ascension. Apparently, it wasn't normally the spontaneous thing it was with mom... or rather, it wasn't supposed to be. It was normally a very important and almost sacred thing that was formed into a rite of passage. First you trained until you felt you were ready, then you faced a series of grueling tests... then , assuming you survived the training and the tests... you underwent the ritual that either ended with you being brought into your full demonhood... or you died.

I got distracted during my training and went topside off and on, winding up meeting an other dimensional half sister of mine who enticed me into joining her in her travels. So for a few years I alternately dimension hopped with Lain and trained for my 'coming of age' deal... and basically just had a shit load of fun.

Over the course of that time, we picked up a few other 'travelers'... most of whom went to work at the castle Lain called home or started up another 'team' of travelers. But one stuck with us and the two of us became pretty good friends. Of course, she was cute as hell which didn't hurt, but I let myself get wrapped up by a stupid prophecy that completely threw me.

Anyhow... during our little jaunts I figured enough was enough and headed home to take my 'tests' and get the whole 'ascension' thing over with.

Yeah ... 'grueling' was an understatement. But hey... I did it... I passed with flying colors. I stepped up and 'Ascended'.

Now that was something else. Up until that point, my physical abilities were somewhat limited... like moms. I'd grown wings... demon wings but rather faerified versions of them... and when I shifted my skin went dark and hard like scale... plus I had a tail. But when I ascended... that went out the window. I changed. I mean I completely changed.

Now when I shift... I'm not a demonic looking human.... I'm not even a human looking demon. I still have the wings and scales and tail... but I’m a good seven feet tall if not taller and I'm not even remotely human looking. I'm all claws, muscled scales and teeth.

And I'm hungry.

Now... my culinary preferences have never been 'nice'. I've always liked my steaks extra rare... but now... you don't even have to cut them off the cow... I enjoy them still mooing... literally.

So... I take it you're starting to agree with the whole 'I'm a special weird freak' thing, now huh? Yeah... don't worry... it's something dad and his side of the family still tend to have a hard time coming to terms with... Of course... they all blame mom.

Mom... mom blames granddad.

Granddad... granddad just thinks its all shits and giggles.

So do I.

Like I said... we get along great.

So.... anyhow....

Here I am.... the son of a half faerie half elven long lost be-spelled prince... and a half demon half faerie be-spelled bounty hunter... who also happens to be the daughter of the half faerie half demon Demon Lord and a be-spelled faerie of the old blood...

... bits and pieces that shouldn't be together... but are.

Add in the fact that my dad's dad, once he learned of me, spent a great deal of time and effort trying to have me killed... as did several rivals to my granddad's throne... and of course my Aunt Shada... Plus all of mom's enemies...

... I mean, when you consider the odds... with all those people out to kill me from the day I was born... I really shouldn't have grown up at all. One of them should've gotten lucky along the way and offed me.

.... but... nope. I grew up. And came into my powers.

Which is another thing that shouldn't have happened.

Ever since my granddad ascended, only the males of the family have been strong enough to reach the potential to claim their full powers... and those that survive the training and tests.... go insane once they ascend.

Can't have crazy royalty running around of course, which means they die. And all of them trained a lot longer and harder than I did... and all of them were older than me...

....but I made it.

Somehow, this crazy little fucked up demonic faerie over came all of the massive odds stacked against him, was born, grew up, ascended and LIVED.

All because a Fate sneezed at the wrong time... the universe wound up with ....

Me.


Dante Macrory.


Heir to the Chaos Throne.




Booger of Fate...

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So, there you have it. Dante's life story as told by Dante ( through me :) ).  I actually wrote this a couple years ago, and I DO keep meaning to try this again with some of my other characters, especially my main guy ( and the one I refer to as my alter ego) Graves ( no he's not mentioned in the story above... although Dante DOES end up marrying his daughter... ;) ).  This is a different style of writing then I usually work, so anything else I share won't be first-person, or as 'jumpy' .. that's just the way Dante is :)  

I hope those of you who read it enjoyed it :)  If you're curious about what else I've written, here's my website  

Hunter's Prey.

~ Skye