I finally got a chance to see the new Trollbeads. I had been wanting to for a while. I was a very good girl. I did not buy any of them. I just looked and planned.
I didn’t see the gold : mini heart, golden wreath, or brilliant hearts; or green or yellow jade.
Surprised by
I was surprised by paradise birds — I loved it, and had thought from seeing it online that it would be one of my least faves.
The lock
Love the swan lock!
The glass
I thought all the glass were a bit smaller than ones in the past, except for the baby boy/girl/hope beads. I prefer them the larger size.
The amazonite
The amazonite was pretty, but had a lot of white in it. I expected it to be more solid green.
Carved flowers
I loved carved flowers — @ $97! But I was pretty sure I would love it, sight unseen. Oh yeah. Love it. Book Girl said it was her favorite of all of them.
Silvers: The chick is adorable!
Zucchini flower and heart ball are large and ornate, very nice. Soccer ball should be a hit.
Fantasy butterfly is beautiful and just like the ones with glass.
The kiss is hard for me to see.
Heartbeat is great for nurses or doctors.
Do you have faves? Have you bought any?
Are you planing to buy any?
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The quartz that I bought is drilled like briolettes, top drilled, not center drilled, so that changed the whole project. Therefore, what I started out to do is not what I ended up doing. I should have paid more attention when I bought them, or the store should have pointed it out, knowing how I intended to use them. OTOH, if they had, I wouldn’t have done the project I did. So it’s a toss up.
On the whole, I don’t like briolettes. They are hard to work with, unless you want the only style they are pretty much used in, and that’s not a style I generally wear. These fooled me because they are flatter, not so round. If they had been round, I would have known they were briolettes.
I ended up making a lariat with a briolette at each end. I can use the S clasp freely anywhere along the piece to make it any length I’d like, but the S is not attached. And I made earrings with a briolette on the end of each. With some left over beads I made a normal briolette necklace that when worn with the lariat looks as though it is part of the lariat, but it is not. And with the very most left over beads, I made a small piece with a briolette in the center, hung from thin leather cord. That’s fun. And considering that I took apart a necklace that I hadn’t worn in years to get to some of the beads, I will wear these, in some combination, a lot more often.
When beading, it is the beads that dictate the finished project. I have to wait until they speak to me. I might still try to make the original project, but only if I can get the right components. I’m not in a hurry. I’m surprised I beaded at all, it’s been so long.
I’m really pleased with the way the lariat and earrings turned out. I’m not sorry I bought all the rutilated quartz pieces. That way I was sure to have enough, since the store is not convenient to get back to, if I had wanted a few more. I think I have 5 left. If I had had less, I would have made only the lariat and earrings.
I must be on a creative kick. I made a couple of knitted collars this past week. Knitting is more relaxing than beading, because there is less thought put into coming up with a pattern. Once I decide on a pattern for beading, it is relaxing too. Sort of, anyway! Either one I can do in the midst of family life.
Do you like to bead? or knit? Now’s the time to knit up a few scarves. The weather will be turning cold for most of you.
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I enjoy beading so I thought I could figure out how to bead a bracelet from a leather lariat. I have one of the early Pandora leather lariats. Mine is quite short, maybe 18-20 inch. Now they make it 36 inches, which is what they should have done in the first place.
Anyway, consequently I didn’t wear it much because I generally like my necklaces to fall longer. I have on occasion worn two lariats together to get the length.
I noticed in one of the Pandora brochures, they showed the lariat as a bracelet, doubled, but they only had one bead on it. Consequently they didn’t need to worry about a number of beads sliding together.
I WANTED THE BEADS TO STAY IN PLACE, not float into each other. FIRST ATTEMPT
In my first attempt, I knotted between stations and only went around once. This works good too.
SECOND ATTEMPT
I thought I’d see what I could come up with using some of the ideas I’ve seen elsewhere.
DIRECTIONS:
Take your leather cord and double it. (It can be just cord you buy, not a finished necklace as I had to work with.)
Knot the end where the silver ends are (or where your cord has the cut ends.)
Pass the doubled end through your beads.
THIS IS WHAT I FIGURED OUT BY DEFAULT.
You will be passing the doubled end through the beads a second time. Some of mine didn’t have a big enough hole. When I figured that out, I staggered my beads so that the ones that wouldn’t pass through twice were in stations by themselves, so that the cords passes through 3 or so a single time, then passes through 3 or so doubled, then 3 or so singled, etc.
THE BEADS STAY IN STATIONS
The result is that the beads stay in stations and do not fall into each other when you wear it.
THE CLASP:
After you have gone around the bracelet twice (with some only once) make a knot about 1/2 inch down from the doubled end. This becomes your clasp that you pass over the knot at the other end (which is now at the same place on your bracelet.)
To take it off, take the loop off the knot, and loosen the bracelet enough to get it off your wrist.
Open
To put it on, put the bracelet on your wrist, tighten it, pass the loop over the knot, spread out the stations and they stay all day.
ALTERNATIVE CLASP:
Attach the two ends with a Troll Clasp or other similar clasp — or one you make yourself, which I have also done.
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If kvetching is second nature to you, I heard today of rubber bracelets to be worn to help you stop complaining. I guess even Oprah talked about it on her show. I’m behind in finding out about things.
It is worn on one wrist, until you complain, then you move it to the other wrist and begin to count again. The hope is to get to 21 days without changing wrists. Thankfully, it doesn’t register complaints in your mind, only spoken complaints.
And I don’t think it counts for legitimate complaints (though we should be honest with ourselves which are and which aren’t, LOL)
It’s spreading around the world. So far, more than 3.5 million have been ordered, going to 78 countries. If you want to read a story about it, go here; or to order bracelets and read more about it, go here.
See my later post on this here. I added pictures from this post below:
My bracelet
I thought about making a bracelet with the words No complaint, but for me, I wanted a positive reminder of what I hope to bring.
I was playing around with alphabet beads to see what letters I had to work with. It isn’t necessary to put much money into making a bracelet like these. I made two bracelets that I alternate wearing. If I find I really enjoy them, I will remake them in silver beads. I added crystals and carved beads to make them more interesting.
Create-Imagine-Appreciate
Bring Joy-Love-Pax
What do you do if you find yourself chronically complaining? What do you want to bring to situations? How do you keep resentments and complaints from sizzling?
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Flipping Brilliant is a short little inspirational book based on penguin life, but it is filled with wonderful, wonderful pictures of penguins.
It is also available as a Kindle book for $6.39. But I’m not sure you’d want it as an ebook yet, because you would lose the color photos. I don’t think black and white would be quite as good, despite the majority of penguin color being black and white.
I had no idea there are 17 different kinds of penguins!
Ever wonder why the Emperor Penguins march so far from the sea before making their nests? This book has the answer — because when the ice begins to melt, if they are too close to the sea, the entire colony would be lost.
I rate this book 5 star for the photos, and the inspirations drawn from them are better than I expected.
Have you read it?
Trollbead/Pandora/Chamilia/etc. penguins
BTW, for those of you who collect trollbead bracelets or Pandora, there are plenty of different styles of penguins to choose for your bracelet. Barbara Maria has one (she designed TB geese) that is really cute.
Another management book: Our Iceberg Is Melting by John Kotter
If I had time right now, I’d read this book among the first of the books I have to read. But it will be on a later agenda, even though it is an approximately 45 min read. It looked very interesting at the book store. Additionally, you can find it at $9.99 for your Kindle. This fable is about a penguin colony faced with a potentially fatal problem. Along the way, the author teaches 8 insights into how to understand and manage change.
Have you ever thought that change either comes too quickly — or not soon enough.
Managing change, the unexpected kind, might be a good thing!
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Some people have such fun ideas! This group of 11 from Houston, target public places with knitting. Sometimes they choose the target; other times the target comes to them. They are making their own good news! And it benefits the rest of us.
Sometimes we tag randomly (car antennas, door handles, stop sign poles, park benches) and sometimes we choose larger, more specific targets. The random tag nights are usually “come if you can”, while we knit with a purpose for the larger targets. For one large project we did (24′ scarves on two statues in Houston), we all knit piecemeal, then crocheted all the pieces together to form the giant scarves. Those were nice.
Occasionally, our targets come to us. We get requests every now and then. We’ll still bomb those requested targets under cover of night, in order to retain some sense of anonymity though. Every once in a while, we knit and knit and knit for a trip out of town to spread Knitta out a little. This coming weekend, for instance, four of us went to New York City for 4 days of crazy tagging. We had an extra suitcase full of pieces that will grace the streets of New York (for at least a week or two, we hope). MascuKnitity just got back from a 3-week trip to China, where he was able to leave a little Knitta presence on the Great Wall. We still haven’t figured out how we’re going to top that one.
What kinds of things have they done?
As for quantity of projects, I really can’t say how many tags we’ve thrown since we started this. Probably hundreds of antenna cozies. We covered lamp posts on three local highway bridges with 6 foot, hot pink wraps the night before New Year’s Eve. We laid 24 foot scarves at the end of January.
Bored by long projects? I sure am! Plus, who has the time?! (Except for the Waikiki ponchos.)
We were bored with the usual knitting projects and get-togethers. Personally, I get tired of a project that takes more than 2 or 3 days to complete. I call it crafting ADHD. I had plenty-o-unfinished projects laying around my house that I’d simply become bored working on.
Well, now you have some ideas for unfinished projects. I generally find that I’m not too crazy about a project until I hit the half-way point, then I hurry like crazy to get it finished. OTOH, I know someone who donates her half-finished (or less) projects that she no longer wants to do to Goodwill! I’ve bit the bullet and done it a few times myself. Why finish something you really don’t enjoy!
The woman who started this began with making door knob cosies. How funny is that!
What are you knitting or crocheting right now?
I think I have a scarf going somewhere, but I’ve been doing more beading lately. Yesterday I took apart a necklace and made two bracelets out of it, plus an extender. Didn’t have to change the patterning, just took it apart.
Don’t you think this idea is wonderful! Make some happiness in your life. Go for it!
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I saw a friend the other day, and as we were talking, she remarked that she had read somewhere that there were only three things we needed to do to look 10 years younger:
Do your nails
Wear makeup
Wear jewelry
Hey, that seems doable!
Jewelry
Then she laughed and said that I could easily take off 15 years with my jewelry, LOL! (I like to bead.) How funny! It’s good to laugh.
My personal look is flower child as someone told me.
I like simple, flowing clothes — but I keep adding jewelry until it makes me happy with the effect, layering necklaces and bracelets. Most items are not chunky, but the overall effect might be after layering. I had to laugh recently when I read a designer who does the same thing. I’m not a minimalist — remember the old rule of only so many accessories, including gloves? I’m over the limit just with the number of earrings I wear, LOL!
But I don’t think I’m overdone — except at times and usually intentionally.
Jewelry doesn’t have to be expensive to be beautiful. Buy silver. Buy pieces that look real even if they are not — or buy things that are intentionally costume but beautiful. Watch for sales. Take up beading, though sometimes it can be expensive. Take apart old pieces you no longer wear and re-bead them, or pick up pieces at garage sales and rebead (or simply wear!)
Makeup
I, in turn, shared these three things with another friend yesterday. She has only just begun to wear makeup at age 60. Her comment: it was easier not to wear any.
Well, it might be easier, but I know which way I look better, though my kids tell me I look fine no matter what. That’s love for ya!
Not too long ago Avon showed how makeup enhances and looks more youthful with before and after pictures, without and with makeup. What a difference! At the time, when I showed the pictures to my friend, she didn’t believe it. I did, because I know the difference for me.
Nails
Remember how I’ve talked about taking care of your hands here? Same thing, almost!
My own nails are natural at the moment.
Nail polish alone doesn’t last very long, though I know of several folks who reapply daily with different colors. My nails absorb color and turn yellow. I don’t like that. Only Lipmann polish doesn’t seem to do that on me.
I like the look of white tips, and I have an excellent manicurist who does a very thin veneer, but it’s not possible at the moment, and I don’t like what it does to my own nails after they are removed.
How about you?
Do you have your nails done? Do you wear makeup daily — at least some? And do you wear some jewelry?
What is your particular look?
classic? traditional? sexy? gypsy?
Don’t forget to keep a smile on your face, put fun in your life, and smell good too! Who knows, that might be as important in keeping youthful as anything! What do you think?
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Pictures were taken in unforgiving outside light. My earrings are pendants from Inky Productions, my daughter.
Eyes: All MAC, except where noted
Sweet Lust under brow and inner corners.
Kid in crease
Satin Taupe on lid
Prunella liner
White liner on waterline
MAC mascara
Face:
Mercier Moisturizer, color Nude
MAC NW 20 concealer under eyes and also to add coverage to foundation. It didn’t drift into any pores, which I liked.
Mineralized pressed pwd light
Brit Wit rouge (pinkish mauve) (pretty color)
Lips:
This is a pretty plummed neutral. I like that it has some plum to it.
Naked rose pencil + Naked Paris Lippie + Date Night Gloss
My take:
I really like the lipstick color. And I like the way the concealer covers.
Thanks for looking!
Karin
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All I did was add
Sephora #10 gloss + YSL 12 sparkling brilliance
to whatever was left of the AL lippie (Karma.)
The Sephora is a gorgeous plum with gold sparks. I don’t like the taste, which is pure grape soda. It does leave though. I don’t know if the other glosses taste or smell the same, as this is the only one I own. Do they? I thought maybe it smelled like grape because it looks grape. 5 for the gloss; 1 for taste
The YSL is a sparkly plum, a bit on the warm side, at least the opaque wand makes it look like that.
The one earring is a gorgeous one from Bookgirl. (Inky Productions).(Jonquil which means desire.) The other is one I beaded (carved turquoise.)
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I updated it with information on how they used candles. And with information on the language of flowers.
Cranford is an amazing period piece that spans a couple of years somewhere around 1843 in the small market town of Cranford in the North West of England.
Change is on the cusp, but not everyone is ready or greeting it with open arms.
It makes one very grateful for the advances we have in medical practices, not the least of which is anesthesia.
And it gives one a slight grasp of what it must have been like to have lived during this time frame.
One interesting thing was how they used candles. The two elder sisters and their niece (I think she was their niece) sit by the fire with two candles on the mantle. When the one candle got shorter than the other, they lit the second candle and blew out the first. When they had unexpected guests, they quickly lit both candles, so as not to look so frugal — and the person commented on ‘how bright’ it was — it was very dim! Later, it is touching to see them be the first to offer their household candles so that the new doctor can perform an operation at night, so that a limb can possibly be saved (it was) vs. amputation. The old doctor wanted to amputate thinking that was the only way to save his life.
Ah, sweet electricity! Do we half appreciate it!
It has everything: poachers; servants; clerks; storekeepers; relationships galore; heart break; sorrow; joys and happiness; births and deaths; misunderstandings with dire consequences — and those who gossip, but not maliciously.
We recognize the actors and actresses from other pieces and they seem like old friends already. Judy Dench, Michael Gambon, Eileen Atkins, Imelda Staunton.
And it doesn’t take long before we care about all the members of the community — even the lady of the manor who has sorrows of her own.
I was touched by the acceptance of one’s life on the part of the elderly women, without any bitterness or lack of joy in other’s happiness. To see some things come full circle (some lost love remains lost, but some lost love is found — and some love is found that didn’t appear possible.
I was touched by the portrayal of the elder sister…the lady of the manor…the clerk…the friends who rally to the aid of Miss Maddie…
I was perhaps most touched by the servant girl, played to perfection by the same actress that marries Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice.
This is a little slice of life wherein each person is portrayed through a glass that puts the best outlook on any foibles. Quite a nice town to live in, especially for the age. But a very hard life in many respects. I’m glad I watched it, but would likely not watch it again.
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I’m hoping it will be a great resource for many of us.
So far, there are several artisan glass makers who have joined and have their information posted as well as some gorgeous silver compatible Bali beads from a shop in Australia: redbalifrog.
You can see pictures and meet new friends who share the same interests.
I’ve also posted pictures of the new Murano beads for Pandora that will be available shortly and Jasper beads for Troll that are not available in the US.
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How it began
Perhaps you’ve heard of the church that gave out rubber bracelets with the words No complaint. The idea was to wear the bracelet on one wrist, moving it to the other when you caught yourself complaining, with the hope of going 21 days without complaints. I’m not sure, if this was only for expressed complaints or included complaints in thought, but unexpressed to others.
They offered these bracelets to others for a donation. Later they added a charge for them.
My little complaint — sorry! — is that I ordered some bracelets for myself and a few friends which were never grandfathered in, so I never received them. I thought it would be a good exercise for us.
Prone to complaining
Some personality types seem more prone to chronic complaining. It’s not easy to be the person thinking complaints all the time or the one around them.
For the most part I try not to complain — perhaps I do more of it than I think!
I knew someone who would express negatives, then say, “I’m not complaining; I’m explaining!” However, it was voiced just the same.
Habit of complaining
The habit of complaining can be routed out of ourselves, sometimes with difficulty, if we desire it to be and are willing to work — and sometimes pray — toward it.
We can leave the negatives of our personality type behind and pick up the positives from other personality types as we become more Christlike.
Is complaining ever a good thing?
It’s hard to know what part of complaining is a good thing. It’s almost a truism that progress comes when complaint turns to action. If we were always satisfied with the status quo, we’d still have gas lights and live in caves.
Yet complaining for the sake of complaining, or being in the habit of complaint, works to suck the joy out of the very air around us — and out of the consciousness of those around us who might most need a little boost, not something to drag them down.
If our complaining doesn’t add up to our own happiness or the happiness of those around us, then it is time to be free(r) of it.
I venture to say that nearly everyone has a joy-sucker in their life — it isn’t always a person, it can be a situation — but hopefully we are not adding to the negatives!
Gratitude is riches
There’s a hymn with the words:
Our gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty. Vivian Burnett
It’s something to contemplate: that every bit of gratitude or appreciation expressed or even thought — no matter how small — adds to the riches of ourselves and those around us.
And then, the reverse: that every time we complain for the sake of complaining it depletes us in some way — or perhaps even worse, shows up on our face — ouch!
We would be less quick to complain about vexing situations, without some action following it that might bring change, if we would just catch ourselves with these reminders.
My bracelet
I thought about making a bracelet with the words No complaint, but for me, I wanted a positive reminder of what I hope to bring.
I was playing around with alphabet beads to see what letters I had to work with. It isn’t necessary to put much money into making a bracelet like these. I made two bracelets that I alternate wearing. If I find I really enjoy them, I will remake them in silver beads. I added crystals and carved beads to make them more interesting.
Create-Imagine-Appreciate
Bring Joy-Love-Pax
What do you do if you find yourself chronically complaining? What do you want to bring to situations? How do you keep resentments and complaints from sizzling?
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A friend sent me a card with these words on it. I’ve seen it attributed to either Emerson or ee cummings.
The earth laughs in flowers.
Now the card is front and center to my computer screen where I see it daily.
I wish I knew why it seems like negatives grab consciousness quicker and stay longer than happiness, which seems so fleeting. I try to reverse the emphasis by being conscious (and keeping lists) of unexpected happy moments. They feel especially like serendipitous gifts, if I’m having a low moment.
This is a reminder to me that joy is found in places and moments that we might not recognize if we don’t consciously let it register. It reminds me to be childlike — to notice the interesting bug or the flowers in someone’s garden or the wildflowers that are profuse along certain roadways. These are moments of happiness mitigating the adult issues that we all face in some form or other. Nature is a gift, freely given.
It just tickles my fancy to think of the earth, laughing, in flowers. A kind of celestial hiccup. And there’s another one. And another one. Just like happiness.
I tell a friend that we need to string together moments of healing and happiness, as if the moments were pearls. No one focuses on the knots in a strand of pearls, just the pearls. So too, the knotty issues of life should fade into the background of our happier moments.
I made a bracelet with small sized alphabet beads and crystals using this quote so that it would be before my consciousness as I go about my day. There are even little crystal flowers on it and a butterfly.
I can always use more conscious happiness. How about you!
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10. They make you happy.
9. They are easy to transport ’cause they’re small. That is, until you collect several drawers full as some aficionados have at their finger tips.
8. It’s nice to be able to commemorate a happy time.
7. Once you get into collecting them, you can do themes in your designs.
6. There’s no end to available beads. Isn’t that great!
5. They aren’t just for bracelets and necklaces. If you’re creative, you can come up with lot of ways to wear them.
4. They are lovely to give or receive as gifts. Duplicates welcome of many of them!
3. They add color and fun to your life.
2. The hunt takes on a life of its own.
1. You meet some of the nicest people, online and in RL.
What can you add?
I know you love your beads too! I suspect there are as many reasons for loving Troll beads as there are beads to love. I love this bead…and this bead…and this one…and that one…and the one on your bracelet…and where did you get that one? and those OOAK (now called Uniques) are pretty terrific too.
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