Mailman brought something besides bills!

I love it when the mailman brings me something that starts with a "B" that's not "Bills".  I got beady goodies today!  Two packages!!!  Last week I was so lucky to win a giveaway by Spyder Jewels.  She got a screamin' deal at a going out of business :( sale and decided to share the love with two lucky blog readers.  I am new to her blog, and I'm glad Mandy over at Beads for Brains: 365 posted about the giveaway because I have really been enjoying Spyder Jewels blog.  (And speaking of Beads for Brains, you should go check out the stunningly gorgeous beaded bead that Mandy made today!)  I'm going to show you pics of everything I got from Miss Spyder Jewels...

Look at that pile of beady goodness!  Let's take a closer look...

All the blacks...bugles (they have a very satiny/silky look to them), magatamas, delicas and cubes.

Some crystals...6mm cubes in garnet and 4mm faceted rounds in green.  Also, I have never had Tilas before...wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  Now I get to try them out!  Lucky me!

Some more delicas and tear drop looking crystally ones.

Some purple 15/0's.  I love purple!

Look at all these yummy delicious colors!

And finally, some more of my favorite things...metallics! galvanized silver, nickel plated, copper and a raspberry metallic hex.  Very cool!  Did I make out like a bandit or what???!!!  Please go over and visit Spyder Jewels.

Next, I ordered some things from Believe Jewelry Supply on Etsy.  I chose two really gorgeous cabs.  I made a mistake, though.  I fell in love with the photos, checked the sizes and went ahead and ordered.  Then I went back and read the description.  You shouldn't do that.  It said that the photo of the Picasso Jasper was much brighter in the photo than it was in real life.  Oh no!  That's what I loved was the vibrancy and the lines and gradients.  So I was very worried that I wouldn't like it when I got it.  When I nervously opened the package and unwrapped the pretty pink tissue paper, it literally took my breath away.  It. Is. Simply. Fantabulous!  It's true, it's not quite as reddish as the photo, but I am so in love with this stone.  I am so happy I clicked that "add to cart" button!  Take a look at the front and back of this 30mm cab...

You know what it reminds me of?  The name of the place escapes me, but it's down in South America in the deserts where there are mysterious lines and gigantic drawings made with rocks that you can only see from a plane...do you know what I'm talking about?  This stone immediately reminded me of the desert sands, dunes and mysterious alien runway lines.  Now, if that isn't some inspiration to make something cool, I don't know what is!

The 2nd cab I chose was a purple Crazy Lace Agate.  I loved how the colors blended from pink to purple and even some coral in dramatic waving lines.  And when I opened it up I was not disappointed at all.  It is really beautiful.  It is also 30mm high and I think 20mm wide.  Check this one out!

Was the mailman nice to me today???!!!  Thank you so much from Spyder Jewels and Believe Jewelry Supply.  Oh, I forgot!  The prices at Believe Jewelry Supply are really super reasonable and there's LOTS to choose from, so go check the shop out.  The seller was also quick to put the cabs in the mail; the service was very good.

I got an email that one of my orders from Artbeads.com shipped today.  For some reason it seems to take a really long time to get things from them once they have shipped.  I mean, Spyder Jewels mailed my package on Friday and I got it today, Monday.  But Artbeads usually takes about 4 days.  I mean, it's not like it's an eternity or anything, but when you want something now, you just want it now.  Right?  When that comes I'll have more goodies to show you.  Then after that I have another Artbeads order and one more from Fire Mountain Gems.  I was such a bonehead!  I spent soooo long calculating how many beads I would need of a certain kind for one of my book projects.  I needed I think 6 strands.  Dummy me only clicked in 1!  I had to put in another order and pay the $7.65 shipping all over again!!!!!  GRRRRRR!!!  I guess that's a lesson to double and triple check your calculations with your order to make sure you got enough.

Ok kids.  That's all I got for today.  I hope you enjoyed seeing all my fun stuff!  Have a very happy week!

Inspiration

I like to put a little clip art picture to start off my blog that is related to my post.  I Google the topic I'm looking for then click on "images".  Sometimes the pics are right on and I have a hard time choosing.  But if you Google "inspiration" and click "images", you get some pretty weird things.  So I finally found this artist sitting with what looks to me like muses watching over, and I thought it was perfect.  This week my muse is named Mandy.  Do you all know Mandy from over at Beads for Brains: 365?  She is very committed to her goal, let me tell you.  You'll have to go to her blog and check her out.  She's learning and practicing a new stitch every day for a year!  And I thought my goal of one stitch per month for the year was pretty good.  She does some pretty interesting things.  One day last week (can't remember which) she did the Oglala stitch.  I really loved the look of it so I created a necklace using the tutorial she gave a link for then making my own variation and pattern based on that.

My mil thinks it's my best one yet.  I think she's a little biased because she likes ruffles sooooo much!  I'm going to make her one too, but that will come sometime later...have to go buy more beads.  Darn.  I don't have a name for it.  Some people don't care to name their things, and that's ok too, but I feel like my creations should be named just like other things you love...kids, fur babies, dollies, whatever.  So help me come up with a name for this.  I used 6/0 black seed beads for the core then 11/0's in silver, black and some kind of maybe antique silver?  Don't know what it's called because the store where I buy them just puts numbers on the labels.  No color names...see?  Things should have names.  Makes it easier to identify.  That's the way I roll anyways.  Ok, here it is.

What do you think?

Remember on Saturday when I posted what a great day I had?  Well, I did have a perfect day except I have to tell you about Matthew.  He was not feeling well all day.  He has asthma (which is hard for a kid who loves to play sports) and he was really struggling to breathe all day long.  During the day I gave him a breathing treatment.  Didn't get any better.  Then I had him use his rescue inhaler several times...Didn't get any better.  (He has two inhalers.  One is a rescue inhaler when you're having a bad attack and need quick relief.  Then there's the regular inhaler that is a slower acting and not as strong I guess.)  I had him using the rescue inhaler over the regular inhaler.  But throughout the day I was really worried about him.  Being a weekend, and by this time it was night time, the pediatrician isn't in and the urgent care clinics are closed.  Jeff doesn't like anyone going to the doctor unless there is a limb missing.  I told him enough times how worried I was and I guess he got worried too because he ended up taking Matthew to the emergency room Saturday night.

His breathing was so poor that he didn't have to wait for anyone in the E.R.  They rushed him right in to see a doctor.  That's how you know it was bad.  When they rush you through instead of making you wait for 2 1/2 hours just to get into a little curtained room.  They gave him 2 breathing treatments.  The doctor said that the breathing treatment medicine vials we were using were past their shelf life and ineffective.  I didn't know they had a shelf life!  No wonder it didn't help him.  Then on top of that he said the rescue inhaler was empty!!!  (it made the little swoosh sound and stuff so I thought it was fine.)  omg, I felt so bad.  It was all my fault.  But I had no idea the rescue inhaler I had been giving him was out!  Good news is about an hour and a half later he came home, breathing much better and feeling hungry.

The other scary part is that we took him to the emergency room without any insurance.  Since Jeff had been off work for 5 months, our insurance ran out.  The bill is going to be terrible, I know.  But I think I'm going to try to get Jeff to call the billing department and ask them if they can cut any slack on any of the fees.  I've heard of people doing that and that it can work.  Keeping fingers crossed.  Our insurance will kick back in next month, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one else gets sick or hurt.

Ok, gang.  That's all the news I have for today.  I'm working on another necklace like this one in some different colors, then I'm going to make one for my mil in some bright colors and a little longer.  That's what's on my plate.  Oh!  and my 3 orders from Artbeads.com finally shipped on Friday (after FIVE days of waiting to be picked in the warehouse).  Maybe that will come tomorrow too.  I love getting packages in the mail!!!