A Million Thanks, Earring Eye Candy, and a Peek at What's Next

For all of those who stopped by during the 7000 Bracelets of Hope Blog Hop and left wonderful, warm comments, a million thanks!!! I am touched, thrilled, and humbled by the kind words. It was an enormous privilege to be included among the beauty created by all the talented bead artists who participated. If you're back again, I hope to see you here regularly!

So what have I been making recently besides a blue bracelet? Here are the earrings I made for Pay It Forward that got sent out last week.


They were fun to make, and I hope they're just as much fun for the recipients to wear!

Now, I off to work on a project that's been taunting me for weeks....it's just sitting there on my work table, scoffing at my lack of progress. And no, it's not my income taxes. (They're not done, either, but at least the extension got filed in time!) But it is one of those projects that started innocently and has grown into a monster beyond what I had originally planned. Ever have one of those?

Here's a peek:

I'll show you more as I progress -- how's that for self-motivation? Yeah, self-motivation through making yourself reportable to others. Whatever works!!

Mailbox Surprise!

You know how it is. You have a long day, the weather turns icky, the laundry's piled up like your own personal Alpine range. And then, something comes along to make things look a little brighter. Look what was in my mailbox to brighten my day!!


Deci from Gem Trails made these lovely earrings for me as part of the Pay It Forward exchange. Aren't they fun? I love the girly sparkle and the tough edge of the metal.

Thanks, Deci! Can't wait to rock these!

Wherein the Old Dog Learns a New Trick and Links Abound

Okay, y'all can call me pathetic. Go ahead. I've been sitting here slapping myself in the forehead so much that anyone who sees me must think I'm practicing for a V8 commercial.

But I finally figured out how to imbed a link.

If you're from the South, this is where you say, "Bless her heart." If you're not, this is where you say, "What the heck took her so long?!"

What can I tell you? I'm over 30, and everyone who lives in my house under the age of 25 is off at college, so I had to figure this one out myself.

So anyway, there are still a couple chances left to Pay It Forward. Check it out -- leave a comment, and I'll be sending you something handmade fresh from my worktable to your mailbox!

Folks, I'm gonna be a linking MONSTER!

Wherein I Commune With Fleas, Fall in Love, Heed a Call From the Universe, and Pay It Forward

First, you should know that I don't go to flea markets too often. I enjoy them and I absolutely love antique stores, but the time needed to pore through the mounds of treasures (while avoiding the less than fabulous junk that really may carry fleas), is not usually abundant in my weekends.

Today, though, the time was right, and there was a flea market at the fair grounds. I casually mentioned it to my husband, and he agreed to go with me.

Okay, this was a sign from heaven. The fact that my husband was willing to give up a portion of a rare free weekend to go digging through flea market goodies was either a sign that hell was freezing over or that I might, just might, find something wonderful.

So we went. We browsed. We communed with the fleas and their marketers. It was all pretty disappointing, frankly. Until on our way out to the parking lot when I glanced over and noticed a table that seemed to call my name.

And I fell in love. With a lovely, lovely face. A watch face. And here she is.

Squeee!! Can you see the beautiful little garland of flowers where the hands were? And the tiny, tiny, dots of silver that look like dew drops? I didn't even bother to haggle too hard with the vendor. Seriously, I flunked Haggle 101 on this transaction.

I've been doing some work with watch faces recently (and I'll post some pictures of a work in progress soon), so I was kind of keeping an eye out for more. This is so delicate, so ladylike, such a breath of spring -- she'll have to live on my bead table for a while until she tells me how she wants to be dressed.

When I came home, I found not one, not two, but FIVE postcards, reminding me about a bead show in town this weekend. I figured this was a sign from the universe that I needed to heed. So tomorrow, I'm going SHOPPING.

After all, who am I to ignore a sign from the Universe like that?!?

And while you're here, check out my last post and find out how you can Pay It Forward and get a handmade goodie from me! (If I knew html coding, I'd have a nifty link to take you right to the post. That's next on my bucket list....until then, just scroll to the next post down and don't forget to leave a comment so that you can play along!)

Pay It Forward - Leave A Comment, Get A Goodie!

I'm taking part in a great idea in blog world called Pay It Forward 2011. I read about it on Deci's blog, www.gemtrails.blogspot.com, and now I'm lucky enough to get to continue the fun here. So here's the idea: be one of the first five people to leave a comment on this post, and I'll send you something made by my own busy hands. Fun! Then you share the idea of Pay It Forward on your blog, and promise to send the first five people who make a comment on your post a handmade goodie that you've created. More fun! You don't have to send something the very next day, but to play fair, you do need to send something as soon as you can. It's not the size of the item that's important -- it's that it comes from you and carries a bit of your creative spirit on to five people somewhere across the world. It's the spirit of sharing a good thing by paying it forward. And seriously, who couldn't use a little extra joy and beauty brightening their world? One act of random creativity can have a great ripple effect. I did a happy dance when I found out I had been one of the first five to respond to Deci - come on and join the dance!

So leave a post! I look forward to sharing the fun with you!