Catching up Part 2

Yes, after SIX ATTEMPTS... my emails to myself finally made it through. Well, just the one email... several copies of it are still in limbo.

At any rate, I now have photos to share! lol

So, as I mentioned, I've had mentions of interest in owl themed jewelry lately... so I printed out some Michael's coupons ( a miracle in itself since my printer was possessed LONG before the ipad was and rarely cooperates), and headed up in search of some owls.

I already had a few, but I was out of my itty bitty silver ones... Michaels has two different styles of itty bitty silver owls... one was gorgeous but expensive... and I decided my coupons were better used on others, so I got the cheaper, not so awesome ones. I'm keeping an eye on the sales though.. just in case.

So, now that I'm armed with owls, ready to see all of the owl jewelry I've made?

Well tough toodles, because I haven't actually made ANY owl stuff yet >.< LOL  I have the beads, and the designs, and all the bits all ready to put together... but I was distracted... first by SKULLS...

 

two pairs of skull earrings for ME :D I've had the skulls for ages now.. the top pair is green sea glass skulls that I got from Znet. 

The little gold skulls were part of a gift from a friend a while ago, and have just been waiting for the right beads to go with them.

For the record, I have an entire bag of skull beads, clasps, and charms, of all different styles and materials... at least a third of which were gifts. They're all just waiting for inspiration to strike for me to create with them... although I've been debating on making a display case to show them off until I do lol

 Here's a picture of the green glass skulls where you can sort of actually SEE the skull's features.


And then, once I'd satisfied the need to be distracted by Skulls....

................ I was distracted by these gorgeous peacock beads I bought, and the need to make this...

I went with a brass chain, and used up a bunch of little swarovski crystals to make several little chain dangles. It hangs high, just shy of being a choker, and a very simple design, but I love the way it turned out.

So maybe I'll be able to make some of those owl pieces now :)

In non jewelry creating, I've been doing some painting lately, and while I've started plenty, I've only finished one...

That's a 16 x 20.. something or other.. canvas... and it's all done in splatter paint... with a toothbrush and a nail brush. The black was super quick and easy... the green  took forever and my thumb hated me for it. I'd envisioned bigger splats, but ended up with a fine mist that could be mistaken for an airbrush... so I'm nabbing my brother's old airbrush for any future designs like this lol I have the small compressor and the adapter for it should be arriving monday or so... I'll try not to let the new toy distract me fomr the owls for too long... unless it's to paint them... Ooo... owl painting.....


damn it >.< lol  first the muses won;t speak up, and then they won;t shut up... lol


I'll share some more jewelry pics in my next post, but for now I'll end this with a wee video clip showing you all... my new phone. this was taken at my mom's house where we tried it out lol... I still have to clear off my cabinet to make room for it.

Whoohoo! I'm POSTING!

:D

See? I remembered and kept to my deadline ;)

And thank you to my reminders - Even though I didn't need the nudging and poking THIS time, I'll probably need it the next.. or the one after that. So if you notice the week drawing to a close and no new post from me... ;)

Anyway, I had a three day to-do list that consisted of JUST cleaning/sorting my office/stash area, doing this blog post, and baking. The baking is in progress ( it was supposed to be done on the first day so I could eat the muffins for breakfast.. but instead I ate the last three eggs then couldn't bake until I bought more.. and today was the first day I was at a store .. See? not REAAAALLy procrastination on that one ;) )

.... and the blog post is right here...

... the cleaning... the only things moved were for me to access stuff for this blog post >.< I WILL get it done. I WILL. sooner or later... usually later, but still, it WILL get done!

So, what have I been making jewelry wise?

Nada.

I had four V-day type braclets on the go.. then the chain on the one proved to be absolute crap... the same chain is on two of them, and I didn't discover this until both bracelets were three quarters done... so  they got shoved aside in a bit of a minor tantrum... right into the first two that had made it about half way done, all pretty dangles and beads done with gold accents to go on a gold chain... when I discovered I was out of the right sized gold coloured chain >.< All I had was a big chunky one that was too big, and a fine one that was too fine... but that I used for the other ones and it turned out to be crap anyhow >.< so again, not really procrastination on those... merely frustrated refusal to touch them until I have the right sized chain.

My modpodge experiments were halted after that first batch due to my needing my table for other stuff, and it was the project set up that would give me the most room the quickest. I'd hoped to have a couple decent podged pendants made to add in to the giveaway, but maybe next time. Ditto for my clay experimenting.

Okay... now I DID promise a giveaway.. but while putting the one batch together, I decided to do a second as well ;)

So first up we have a little bundle since it's V- Day.

 

So all the beads in the center are pairs, the ones on the bottom are singles, and then there's a nice sizes piece of cord :) All of the beads are glass. Now, since it's for V-day, and I didn't have any hearts to include, I'll see if I can't have a heart or love-inspired pendant made in time for it to be mailed out to the winner. not sure on what it'll be made of.. could be wood, could be clay, could be... whatever I decide to play with ;) If I don't have anything good enough to send made, I'll substitute a pendant of some type form my stash.. it just might not be lovish-type-stuff ;)

 

And for the second... which I considered doing on a different day, but then it kinda defeated the purpose.. ditto theV-day one.. so... number 2...

The 'Back to Work' giveaway

' Okay, now those two big peachy/orangy tubes kinda feel like stone, but the bottom one is definitely polymer, as are the two brown flowers. The speckled orange beads and the goldy/brown beads are all glass, and the pendant in a copper wrapped stone I collected from a local beach and polished up and sealed :)

Okay, so  the 'Back to Work' bundle is done through rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How do you win the Valentine's one, you ask?
Simple - leave me a comment below and tell me if you have plans for today/tonight .. or if you'll be checking out the 1/2 off V-day goodies tomorrow with me ;)
I'll do a random drawing for the winner Monday, Feb.17th ( Family Day here in Canada, so it'll be an evening/night posting ;)

*sigh*

Did it again >.<

Keep planning on blogging, but keep thinking of things to do first... and then never get around to actually blogging >.<   I'm going to try to stop that ! I'm setting a goal to blog at least once a week... whether I've got photos taken or edited to share, or jewelry done, or NOT. I will post! lol

So... promise made.

In recent news, I bit the bullet and signed up for BSBP #8. Yes, it'll no doubt be a huge hop... which is rather wearying just thinking about >.<  but despite that, it's always a lot of fun and gets my butt in gear :)

I've also been considering jumping in the Ears Inspiration challenge going around... where a photo is shared on the first Friday of the month, and you have to make a pair of earrings using it as inspiration, then blog and join a little hop on the third Friday of each month. Pros - gets me creating and gets me blogging. Con- another freakin' hop >.< lol

Haven't picked up the tools or the paintbrush much this month at all, so far, but I will.

Another challenge I should join is the one for cleaning/reorganizing studio space... you know, since I'm doing it anyhow..I should sign up. Only problem is... if I sign up, I just know I'll be hit by something ( even just the lazies) and not get anything more done >.< lol I'm thinking I'll just do it and if I'm done in time or have made significant progress, I'll blog and link it in... considering this has been an ongoing project for over a year now... I'm not holding my breath. It's one of those things where I'll between half and three quarters done, and then something gets in the way - whether it be illness, or whatever- and by the time I get back to it.... things have exploded again and I need to start all over :(  this time it'll be different though... I have a stack of boxes behind me, into which I'll sort everything as I dig through. Anything I have plans for but am not sure when I'll find the time, will be packed, labelled, and stacked neatly out of the way. Anything I use or will use, but don't have a need for often, will go into the cabinet behind me ( the one I can never get to because of the stuff piled up in front of it ;) ) AND, most painful of all... I WILL admit to things that I will probably never use or get around to doing... and I will get it out of the house. In addition, I will make room on my work space, or find a place with easy access, for the tools and equipment I'd like to use but can't get to.

That is what I've been trying to get my butt in gear and do for the last couple weeks >.< The bitter cold temps are back and since I'll be hiding out indoors as much as possible, I'll be trying to get started on that this week.

There. Blog post written... no photos, but a few updates.

As well, since I've been so horrible at keeping myself going at it, I think I need to reward all my followers who haven't deleted me from their lists out of boredom... I shall have a giveaway :) It's been AGES since I had one, so I'll need to make sure it's a good one ;) My bead stash has grown considerably... plus there's plenty of stuff that I haven't found a spot for yet... maybe I should just gather up a bunch of that and do a little soup giveaway...  Hmmm.. decisions decisions... Like I said, I'll have to think on it ;)

So... next blog post I'll have something up for you to try for. Whenever that is... some time within a week.. or so... lol ;)

Newest winners!

Alrighty...  busy procrastinating today, so a quick update to call out the winners, then back to it ;)

Remember this ?

This will be making its appearance in  Tiffany Smith's mailbox... as soon as she emails me her address ;)

And the bracelet?

 That will be soon be seen on Jen Ren's wrist ... as soon as she sends me her address...

And the surprise prize?   Kristen will be watching out for THAT particular butterfly-bedecked envelope... as soon as she sends me her address.

So hurry up and email me your addresses, ladies!

The rest of you have one more week to get your entries in for the big October giveaway!

Want another chance to win one of those 'fiber' bundles that Tiffany won?

Share a link to a picture of your favorite Halloween project - must be something YOU made, whether it be jewelry, clothing, costumes, or even a Halloween decoration! I'll pick a winner on Friday and have it posted by Saturday ;)

Okay ... now I'm going back to procrastinating. Catch ya'll later :D

Still Playing Catch-up

So, despite several scribbled notes scattering my desk... and floor... and beading bag... concerning blog posts to write and projects to finish... *sigh*  Yeah, it's been one of THOSE summers. So many things to do, but no time to seemingly get them done..

.. and when you do have the time to do them... you don't have the drive or energy >.<

So today I'm taking a massive stab at 'GETTING THINGS DONE' .

Is it working?

YES!!

I completed two, VERY long over due projects, got them all photographed, packaged, got the notes written, and MAILED THEM. Whoohoo!! Two biggies crossed off my list! 

Plus I've written out two lists that are still attached to the notepad that remains right in front of my monitor so I won't loose them ; one list is for all the upcoming blog posts, both regular, as well as for hops, that I need to write, and the other list is for the rest of the current  as well as upcoming projects that I need to do.

One will not be completed. My dad requested a crap load of earrings and things that he could sell at his yard sale this weekend. According to my to-do list and what day it currently is... unless I'm hit by a massive creation drive the next two days, the best I can do is price all of the stuff I have here already made that have never found homes... and that I'm not allowing myself to keep >.< lol And he only gets them if I make it out to their place in time.. or they come up and get them ;) lol

Anyhow, so looking at my lists... I feel more positive about clearing them in time to still get a fairly early start on Christmas season projects. I'm thinking I might even manage to get in some Autumn and Halloween creating too if I keep myself on track :D

Now, onto one more over due task that I'm sure you're all waiting for - and it's ONLY one day late ;) lol

The winner of the Autumn Pantone Beadsoup from August's Freebie Friday giveaway is...

Gina Hockett !

Gina, you've got two weeks from today to contact me with your mailing address. :) If I haven't heard from you by then, I'll draw a new winner!

There will be more blog posts concerning a myriad of subjects over the next while, so keep your fingers crossed that I clear out my list so I can move on to making more pretties all the quicker! 

And you can also cross your fingers that tomorrow's blog post will be an early start to September's Freebie Friday ;) That will depend on whether or not I get the blogging stuff done and get time to tackle getting the goodies together for it! 

And remember last year? Autumn is my fave time of year, so starting with this month, there'll be either extra special giveaways... or just more of them ;)  Keep an eye out to see what I decide to get up to ;)

~ Skye

Quick Pre-photo spree update

Just a quick note to report that the winner of F.F.#6 has failed to contact me within the two week period. She even had a couple extra days thanks to me being on a different computer without the proper access.

On that note, I had rafflecopter chose a new winner for the beaded chain :)

Sarah G.  you've now got two weeks to contact me to claim your prize. 

If at the end of those two weeks, the prize remains unclaimed, I think I'll call that one a lost cause and the beaded chain will go towards something else.  Or, maybe I'll draw three names, one for each chain and first come first serve as to which one they get.

Not that that will happen since Sarah will note me with the next day or two. ;) There's no way she'll let this slip away.

On that note, I'll leave you with a photo, taken with my new camera of my 'bead guard'.

This is my dad's dog, Sissy. She got tired of chasing frogs and swimming and came to join me.

I got very little beading done...I was too busy taking photos :D

~Skye

And the winners are....

 Marge, Kristi, Tammie, Sherri, Sarah, Paula, & Shawn Marie :)

Don't believe me, check out Rafflecopter below :p lol

a Rafflecopter giveaway

wow I really love that thing... just click a button and it chooses your winners for you and displays them on the widget for you. so much easier and quicker than random.org ;)

So there you have it. The 7 designers who will be joining me for the next round of the Creative Chaos Design Challenge :)  

Assuming of course that they email me their mailing addresses so I can get their bundles mailed off to them.I'll do the same as the giveaways - you've each got two weeks from today to get back to me with your address. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll pick someone to take your place ;)

Once I've heard back from all the participants and discovered whether they'd like me to post photos of the kits before they receive them, or to wait until after wards, as well as the reveal date they all agree on, I'll do another update on this :)

I really need to get these things packaged and mailed though... because I keep seeing things that would be so perfect to add in... >.< lol It's getting hard to resist!

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

Challenge Aftermath

 wow... alright, the toolbox challenge was not only fun but very productive :)  I am truly impressed by what was created out of this :D

I'm going to be posting a gallery here on my blog where all the pieces made for this challenge will be posted, along with the links to the blogs. Anyone who wants to take up this challenge, even now that the hop is over with, is welcome to create something and send me a link to their work, and I'll include it in the gallery.

There were four no shows for the hop... Shaiha let me know ahead of time that she was having camera troubles and would post as soon as she could.  The other three, I've since heard from two, one of which posted a day late and the other forget to hit post before she left on vacation... she'll have hers up in July when she gets back home ;)  However, we also picked up an extra participant, Toltec Jewels who blew me away by joining up, finishing, photographing and posting all on the day of the hop :)

All in all it was a success and I WILL be hosting another one. Part of me wants to do it RIGHT NOW  lol.. but I think we'll wait until the fall ;) However, in the mean time, as I said, you're welcome to take up the challenge again and send me a link to your finished piece for the Challenge Gallery, and gee, if enough people are interested, I will certainly host another hop sooner ;)

At the moment however, we've come to the little surprise I sprung on my hop day post. I didn't tell any of the participants who signed up, or mentioned anything about it before signing any one up. I had a little pile of goodies for one lucky participant who finished the challenge and got their blog post up on time... so all of those who had their blogs posted on Saturday ( or let me know ahead of time about problems) were entered into a drawing.

Sarah  aka Poodledo , you're the lucky one :D  Send me your address through email or facebook and I'll mail these out to you :)

 A mix of Czech glass, porcelain & glass, with four crackled faceted agate rounds, and two vintage foil lined glass rounds.

Remember, the Chaos Challenge mini blog hop & reveal is June 30th :)  For those interested, I'll be posting sign ups for round two of that shortly, so keep an eye out ;)

~ Skye

Last Chance

Alright, so since I never got around to finding the rest of the parts for the F.F. #5 cording giveaway.. until today...I've extended the giveaway for two more days; you now have until midnight on Thursday ( ET) .

So ... what is up for grabs this month?

9 bundles of satin rattail cording. 

2 bundles of hemp cording

5 bundles of faux suede

3' of black satin 3/8" ribbon

3' of purple 1 1/2" craft ribbon

3' of mauve 1/2" velvet ribbon

3' of black & white 1 3/8" vintage Conrad velvet ribbon

 So, yummy enough? Click on the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The winner will be posted on Friday's blog, as will the next giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm BAaaaaack!! :D

So... long time no blog >.<  

... well, aside from the Freebie Friday post, which was late >.< lol

Sorry everyone. My brain just hasn't been in the 'sit and blog it' mindset lately. Too many things running through it at once, I guess. Nothing majorly bad or stressful, just... in the way, I guess

the biggest happening was that I found a lump in my breast and had to get it checked out. The last time this happened the doc felt it too and sent me in for a mammogram and ultrasound, but they couldn't find it >.< The popular consensus on it being that it was merely scar tissue form my breast reduction a few years before that. So, despite finding the lump, I wasn't overly stressed over it. The doc told me right off he felt too much movement in it for it to be cancer, since cancer lumps tend to stick in place and have no or very little movement to them.Plus I have boobs that have always felt lumpy to me, plus for the last eleven years have had the added 'texture' of the scar tissue, so self exams are difficult. This bump felt different so I decided to err on the side of caution and get it looked into. I've been up for a mammogram, got the boobs squashed all to hell and back, only to have the nurse say there didn't seem to be any difference form the last mammogram, and the technician wants an ultrasound to double check. So I headed down the hall in my little wrap top that didn't want to stay tied, REALLY thankful I got to keep my jeans on, to have that done. And I would just like to say, that it's AMAZING how that ultrasound tech can find the slightest tender spot and constantly press the hell out of it >.< lol  I haven't heard anything back yet about the results, but I expect to either here that it's just the scar tissue again, or possibly a cyst that I'll get to go have cut out .. yeah .. more abuse and scars on the poor jugs >.< lol  It's so good I'm not over vain about the parts of me that stay under wraps ... and that even with the reduction and scars, I still have some damned impressive cleavage ;)

 

See? Believe it or not, those DD's  were once bigger ;) I was a D for several years but as I let the waist line grow a bit, they kept pace >.< Actually, this photo was taken last year.., like.. January maybe, and I put on some weight since then .. lost a bit again, too ;) when this was taken, I think I could still squeeze into my D cups, as long as they were a certain brand.

So, while not overly stressful ( the only real stress involved was in not letting myself get stressed over something I had no control over anyhow lol ), my heads been full of plenty... mostly in avoidance of chores.  No seriously. Since the Messy Blog Hop I've done a few starts at cleaning that have all ended in being minor tidies. My heads just too full of things. I start with one part then my mind jumps ahead to what else needs to be done that should be done first.. and so on and so on until it's too much to do and I just stop >.< Like I have this shelving unit I got from my mom for my bedroom to help organize some of my storage clutter. It's still wrapped up in plastic, joining the clutter because every time I think of getting started... my mind goes off on a 'to do' list tangent and I get overwhelmed. Example - I need to put the shelves together, but before I do that I should make room to set them up... which means I need to move stuff out of the way... which means finding places to put it all. Plus I need to sort stuff out to put in boxes that will fit on the shelves once they're together... And since I'll be back moving stuff..I want the tv and nintendo from back there, pulled out and set up, plus the large chair back there moved into the living room to replace the one couch. However, before I can move the chair out, I have to get the couch hauled out and to the dump which means arranging for someone to come help. And for the tv & nintendo, my old computer is sitting where I want them put, but if I'm going to move the computer around, I might as well  gut it for the parts to change up my current tower, but that means making room to haul them both out and set them up.. and figure out what the hell I'm doing... OR call my brother and get him to stop in to help. Either situation that calls for help arriving, requires some house cleaning done first >.< See? My brain just makes huge endless chaotic loops out of things until I feel buried under it all >.<

However, there is light at the bottom of that heap lol I was in a similar state with my jewelry making. I wanted to make stuff and needed to make stuff, but couldn't  because A) I had too many choice beside me and B) the need to choose had me allowing myself to become distracted by the computer, and C) .. becoming distracted by the mess than needs to be sorted, getting frustrated with it all and turning to other hobbies that I could access easier.

My solution? Until I find the strength to clean again, I've been grabbing a few complimentary colored bead cases, along with one of my boxes of findings, my tools, a small tray and bead mat, tossing it all into a bag, and leaving the apartment. By getting myself away from the distractions of the 'todo' list, and narrowing my choices to what I took with me, I've found a way to bypass the blockage :)  It's not a permanent solution, since I do have to tackle cleaning and reorganizing things so that I don't feel that way in my own space, however it IS becoming a very pleasant habit that I will endeavor to continue. I really like sitting down on the porch and enjoying the nice weather and devoting a couple hours to JUST my jewelry, with nothing else getting in the way.

So I am slowly finding ways through my disorganization to get things accomplished, and finding some enjoyable new ways of doing things in the process. Btw, the reason I'm not on my porch right now, is because I face the sunrise and until late morning, you're pretty much blinded if you sit out there lol  The sun's high enough now, but I decided to get busy and BLOG first ;)

While I was avoiding blogging and cleaning chores and everything else, I did get stuff done.

I went to my parents and photographed the house my dad had bought and renovated himself, then set it up online for him to sell. Then I headed back a weekend or two ago and posted it on another site for him, plus sat on the dock on their main Koi pond and caught a bunch of fish for him. That was the reason I was 'invited' to spend the weekend... dad had someone that wanted to buy some young koi and I'm a better fisher than he is ;) He can sit out there all day and catch three or four... It took me about a combined fishing time of three hours to catch twenty two lol The last one was an accident..I swear, he just jumped on my hook. Dad had come to see how many I had caught and to make sure I hadn't caught any of his butterfly koi by mistake; when he heard how many I'd caught he was shocked and said that was enough lol While I was using the baited hook to coax the little guys up to the surface so dad could point out just what the butterfly koi looked like, number twenty two leaped for the bait and got it lol 

I seriously can not tell if my dad is proud of the fact that his little girl is so good at catching fish... or pissed  that she's batter at it than he is ;) LOL

While I was there, the super moon rose...so I took some pics.

 While I was there, the super moon rose...so I took some pics. Here it is just rising. Nothing but a ball of white light with my poor little camera lol

Here it fully risen... how did I take such a good shot with such a crappy camera? I cheated of course :D

We set up my dad's little telescope out in the field for a clear shot, then after an agonizingly long time getting the moon in frame and in focus, I set my camera to close up, zoomed in in a bit, set it over the eyepiece of the telescope and bam... instant fabulous photo :)  so proud of this picture :)  

Here's my little set up.

Like I said, you would NOT believe how hard it is to find a SUPER MOON  through that telescope >.< And to add insult to injury, I turned it around and tried to find the north star and zoomed in on it no problem... turned back to find the moon again.. took FOREVER >.< lol

What else have I been up to? Well, I've signed up for my first non-jewelry-blog related bloghop . The Skull-a-Day blog was advertizing a blog hop that I just HAD to get in on :) That's on June 4th, so I'd better get my butt moving on deciding what to make for it! ( the button is on my sidebar for anyone who wants to find out more about it :) )

I also took part in Lori Anderson's Spring Pantone Bead Swap. I haven't received my beads yet since they're winging their way here from France, but my partner sent me pictures  that I'm not gonna share with you ;) I'll wait until they arrive and take my own pics to share:D hehehe. 

Here's what I sent her.

I sent them all sorted and labeled , of course. Plus there were a few others that were added after this picture was taken; some large pale purple glass pearls, and some metal beads as well. 

I ended up having a hard time finding the colors as shown or even described, as did my partner, so we found beads as close as we could get them for the most part. After all, despite the name of the swap, a grab bag of pretty beads is a grab bag of pretty beads, regardless of colors :D

Alright, so I think I've tormented Kashmira long enough ;) She's been waiting to see what I sent out to the participants of my first design challenge.

                         

   hehehe ... yeah, I'm gonna show more than just THAT ;) I'm not THAT much of a tease!

... not often at least ;)

Alright, so here's what Rochelle, Alicia, & Shay should all be finding in their mail boxes shortly.

An assortment of  star washers, shell bits ( that were drilled), some feathery ribbon, faux suede cording, a little bottle, a butterfly on a stick, and some buttons :) 

I had other things I wanted to add in, but I decided to stop myself and save stuff for the second design challenge ;)

The rules are simple.. they have to use some of these items to create jewelry... ( the more of it they use, the happier and more impressed I'll be ;) ) They don't have to use it 'as is'; they can alter any or all of the items in any way they want. They create, they photograph and they share on June 30th.  I'd planned on having them have to use at one least one item from each baggie.. but I think I'll change that and have them use at least a third of that pile. They all received a little gift with their kits for participating, but I think I'll have a little prize or two as well. Perhaps have you all vote for your fave piece , plus have a second award for any of them that manage to use ALL of the kit?  Yeah .. kinda like those ideas :)  I'll be sending out an email to them shortly containing the link to the button I just made, plus the official rules... I'd meant to include them with the kit but I was lazy ;)

So there you go... a fairly lengthy and extensive update on my blog avoidance lol

I'll try to get back into my blogging habits ;) I do have to do a blog post to share my Star Wars fandom side ;)

~ Skye