Treasury Time!

I woke up this morning and found that my bracelet was a part of this great treasury!! Please take a few moments and look at it and leave a comment for Jody! She worked so hard on it too! What a sweetie she is!

http://bit.ly/cwfZnF

One Great Giveaway!

Be sure to enter this great giveaway!! If you love beads, you'll love this!

http://gemaliciousbeads.blogspot.com/

A Gloomy Tuesday!

Here I am on a Tuesday, sitting in the gloom and typing about nothing! The sun peeks out long enough to get my smile to start, but then quickly hides itself under a cloud, so the pout comes back. Why are some days like that? This time of year, in Michigan, the flowers are dying (due to neglect on my part, and a lack of rain), the tourists are going home (Yay!), and the kids are getting ready to start school. We are even seeing the leaves changing on some of our Maple trees! Must be the inevitable is creeping into my thinking (shhhhh ......(whisper) *s.n.o.w.* - *w.i.n.t.e.r!!! I HATE winter!! Now don't get me wrong, it IS beautiful, no doubt! But if you live somewhere warm and have never had to shovel it, you have no idea!!

Even the birds seem a little less happy. They're songs are starting to change. I'm seeing the hummingbirds frequenting my feeder a little bit more, and some birds are just not around like they once were. Do they know something I don't?
Even my jewelry is starting to all look alike! Yikes!! What am I going to do!! Time to make a change, yes!!! So I have come up with some new earring ideas. Here's a sample:

These are my "Button" earrings! Simple post earrings for those who love posts with no dangles. Tell me what you think, please, and help me get that smile to grow! Or the pout to become poutier!! <

A Dish Is NOT Just A Dish!

When is a dish not a dish? ....... When it's a spoon!!!! Ha ha ha!! Or when its stored away in a cupboard and forgotten! That's what has happened to these beautiful soup bowls.
My friend Wug (that's my affectionate name for her), and I decided to write about our flowery dishes today. We've both had them for a long time. But I think mine may be a bit older. Let me tell you the story.

When my husband and I got married, 38 years ago, my dear departed grandmother, bless her heart, couldn't afford much of a wedding present, and so she gave me these beautiful bowls that were already old. There are 8 of them!! How old??? I have NO idea! We loved them and have used them a LOT over the years. I cherish them and feel bad that I've put them away in a cupboard out of sight. But my latest dishes came with soup bowls, so I had no need for them. I still love them though. Hope you like them too.

Please go to my Deb's blog and read about her beautiful SET of dishes that she has!
http://poetesswug-thewugsbackyardblogspot.blogspot.com/

Say, and while I have your attention......here are my latest earrings. Do you like them?

Sneak Preview Of My Latest BrainStorm!!

Yep.....you heard it!! I had another brainstorm!!
Now that the smoke has cleared, I'll let you in on it. Last night I tweeted and posted on facebook my newest idea! I got some positive vibes from it, so I decided to take a stab at it. Let me tell you how I came up with this idea:
You may have already seen these beautiful earrings, but if not.....take a LOOK!

Because so many expressed to me that they liked, even loved these earrings, it got me to thinking about how nice it would be if I made another pair with interchangeable bead charms, to have what I'm going to call "Four in One Earrings!" So this is what I came up with.

What do you think?? You see, by changing the beads, you can have 4 pairs of earrings instead of 1! And with a little ingeniousness, maybe even more if you doubled the beads or even tripled them! Viola!! Is this a great idea or what!!?? If you're not crazy about the bead charms, just remember this is my first attempt at these. I'll come up with other bead charms as I go on.

While I have your attention, I also wanted to show you my newest baby!! It's a bracelet! I've been dying to show it to someone. I'm so proud!! But probably I'm the only one that will think it's cute. Isn't that usually the way with newborns?? But I know it will grow into something fabulous!! Ready??? Okay.....the suspense is killing me too! (Drum rolls.............)

This is a triple strand bracelet! I even handmade the clasp!! What do you think??? Potential?
I absolutely love it!!
Thanks for taking a few moments of your valuable time to humor me and take a look at my quirky ideas and new baby!! You're the best!!!!

Mondays!!! Whew! I'm Glad It's Almost Over!

I usually don't mind Mondays. But today was one of THOSE Mondays! It started out so nicely! Warm weather, no humidity, sunshine.....who could ask for a better start!
Then the morning went fairly well, except that I listed a new bracelet that I thought everyone would love, and got few, if any comments on it. Hmmmm, what do I know!
This afternoon started out pretty good, until I got a phone call from a dear friend who was crying because of a situation she is faced with. I agonize over the fact that I have no miracle cure for her. I can just listen and hopefully say the right things to her. I can't give my opinion, because that's not what is important. She has to make her own decisions based on what she knows to be right. I then did some research and tried to find some encouragement for her. Hopefully it will help.
When that was over, my sweet cat, Roxy as you see her here, brought me a "gift!" Eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

Hi! I'm Roxy!!

Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwww! Hi! I'm her gift!

My question is, why do cats do that????!!!!! I will never understand! Plus she's declawed! How does she catch them?
I can sure think of better gifts!!
I then decided to list a new necklace I made yesterday, that I thought was awesome! Once again, no comments. What do I see in my jewelry that others don't see? Or is it that people at that time of day on Facebook and Twitter just plain don't talk and RT? I will never figure this out!! I don't know if I want to either! Then I may spend a LOT more time there than I do. Bad idea for me. LOL
Well anyway, I hope you had a better Monday than I have so far! And it's not over yet! What else???!!!!

Adventures In Blueberry Picking!!

Yep, I went blueberry picking last night despite the fact that it was 87 degrees and extremely humid as you can see from this photo of my temperature reading in my car!

There were 5 of us! Are we crazy???!!!!! When we got there, we not only knew it was hot, but the mosquitoes were atrocious!! So after a LOT of bug spray, we got our buckets and went to the field! Yum! Look how wonderful the berries were!!

As you can see, the bushes were LOADED!! Jackpot!!! Were we happy! And we showed it too, as we sang "Blueberry Hill!" Not good singing, but we sure had fun! After about 1 1/2 hours, we decided enough was enough! Here's how many I picked! :)

Maybe you don't think that this looks like much, but, believe me, it is!!! Now, what am I going to do with all these blueberries???!!! That was the question I was asking myself when I got home! So the first thing this morning I decided I would make a homemade pie!! This is the recipe I used.

Very simple recipe as you can see! So I started with a "homemade" pie crust (thank you Pillsbury!),

....rolled it out and pre-baked it according to directions! Then I finished the filling as listed and viola` a super pie!!

Doesn't it look delicious??? All it needs now is some:

......and it's good to go!! Notice how I cut down on the calories!! Tee hee!!
Next I went to baking Blueberry Muffins! I love these! Here's the recipe I used:

Another simple recipe, but oh so yummy! I followed the instructions as written and ended up with these:

Don't they look delicious??? Believe me, they are! I just couldn't resist!!
Now you may think I have no blueberries left after using so many to make these luscious treats, but look how much was leftover:

What am I going to do now????!!!! Well, I decided to put 3 of the bags in the freezer. The bowl is for munching on, and the last bag??? I'm not sure yet......maybe I'll give it to a dear friend! Anyway, I may have gotten a bit carried away, but the time I spent with my friends picking and singing is priceless!!! ♫♫ "I found my thrill.......on blueberry hill!" ♫♫Oh, and by the way.....the blueberries were priceless too! We got them free!! Bonus!!

It's Another Hot Day!

Another hot and humid day today caused me to stay inside in the A/C this afternoon and create. I've listed 1 pair of earrings so far, but I still have several other items to list. Here are some samples. What do you think? Am I slipping?

I found these awesome beads yesterday in a little bead store in Saugatuck Michigan, a quaint little town just south of here. I pictured a bracelet. Not sure if this is the bracelet!

I bought these beads a few weeks ago in Frankenmuth Michigan and have been beside myself trying to figure out what to do with them. I THINK they made cute earrings, but I'm just not sure....

These are awesome beads! Not real colorful though. I bought these in Holland Michigan awhile ago. The focal bead is a fossil coral. The secondary bead is a bugbog seed! I've never heard of that before, but it caught my attention!
I guess I'll just have to list them and see what happens. Give me some advice if you want. I'm always open to any suggestions you may have. Thanks!

Audrey Has A Great Giveaway!!

I just entered this great giveaway and you should too!! Don't wait!! The drawing takes place on August 27!! Here's the link:

http://audreysgiveaways.blogspot.com/2010/08/tulipbag.html

Later Summer Blues

I can't help but think how sad it is to see summer winding down. I mean, everywhere you turn you see "back to school" sales!! The kids have a few weeks, why not let them enjoy there last few!! You go into the stores and what do you see? Winter coats!!! C'mon!! Summer had nearly started and they were already there!
In our town, the last week of July and the first week of August, is a time when we have the "Coast Guard Festival!" I hate this time of year with all the tourists. You can't get around, but the people love to be here. It draws thousands of people!! The best part is the craft show! I look forward to that. And tonight is the finale! Fireworks! Always enjoyable to watch by all!
And speaking of fireworks, we sometimes forget there are fireworks going off in our gardens this time of year! Some plants are as dead as dead can be, but as for others, like these zinnias, they are thriving and flourishing! Soon the mums will bloom. So I guess it is sad to see summer winding down, but fall has a lot to offer too! Let's enjoy what we have left and look forward to what's in store for the future!
NOTE: Sorry about the photos!! They keep turning out sideways!! Anyone know how to correct that?? Please leave me a note and let me know!! Thanks!

Just Entered A Beading Contest

Hey everyone! I just entered a beading contest and you can too!! Just go to: http://www.happymangobeads.com/songs_of_summer_beading_contest.aspx You really need to do this! This is the necklace set I entered. I will be adding it to my Etsy shop next week.

I can't wait to see what you enter. This is a great contest if you really enjoy beading!!