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?

Karin

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Well, the best laid plans…and all that.

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.

Karin

Originally posted 2007-09-18 09:47:55.

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See more at Addicted2Troll Beadsandmore.

I’ve updated this pattern with pictures.

Closed:

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.

Here’s what it looks like on:

Let me know if you try it.

Enjoy!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-05-29 13:03:01.

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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?

Karin

Originally posted 2007-04-05 15:41:16.

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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!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-15 08:08:39.

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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?

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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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?

Karin

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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!

Karin

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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.

Karin

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• Beads Collectibles

I recently saw a $5750 necklace. It was lovely, but not in the least tempting unless I came into a windfall. For that kind of money, if I had it, I likely would not buy this necklace. I can think of other, more worthwhile for me, choices.

It was a lariat, about 40 inches long, made with gray Tahitian pearls, very good quality odd shaped smoky quartz, 18K white gold 2-3 mm diamond-cut beads — these really did look like diamonds — and chain, and aquamarine oval beads. A pearl anchored one end. The other end had a circular clasp similar to clasps used to hang slides from an Omega chain. This would clamp along the necklace to change the length.

I liked the pattern. I liked the way it draped. The major cost was likely the pearls. OTOH, this store has it’s own manufacturing center, so the mark-up was excruciating. Each component can easily be found, generally at cost, especially if you wander the bead shows.

Creative copying
The good thing about beading is that with a little creativity it is relatively easy to ‘copy’ something, even if it is not identical which is more creative anyway, because of the tweaking necessary since the components are usually similar but different.

Such is the case with this necklace. I might use some large freshwater pearls that I have on hand.

I pretty much decided I would skip the chain and beads. I could do it with silver, but I’m not sure I’d like it as well as without it. OTOH, it might not drape as well without the chain. I can’t picture it in my head right now.

Finding the smokey quartz as rutilated quartz instead
I visited a bead store that I’d seen advertised on a billboard every time we went past it. They claimed to be wholesale — not — but they were interesting anyway with a fairly large selection.

They didn’t have smoky quartz, but they had some kind of rutilated quartz, just as interesting, in the shape I wanted. Several had very interesting striations, with gold lines or an interesting reverse side. These were separate in a dish, not a temporary strand. I decided to take them all as I can come up with various combinations for earrings, etc., plus I didn’t know how many I would want or need, and since the shop is down the road apiece, I wouldn’t be heading back there until another road trip, who knows when. Additionally they had a strand of hexagonal aqua chalcedony which looks a bit like Peruvian opal. $16 for that was a good price, I thought. And I got an interesting silver S clasp for the end which will link to the long side to change the length of the lariat.

At a second store I bought some silver chain. I don’t think it is workable in this project, but you never know.

So for well less than $100 I will have something I will like as well, I think — maybe better since I know it is not as expensive.

I haven’t beaded in months basically, due to life, but I think I’m motivated. I might play around with it a bit. It might be fun. I’ll keep my hand in.

Update on my finished projects
My creations turned out beautiful — I liked them better than the $5750 beauty, which I visited again, — and I had to be doubly creative because the rutilated quartz was not drilled end to end, but top drilled. I learned a lesson on that one, but I love the beads. I just would have known ahead of time that they were drilled ‘wrong.’ Wrong turned out to be right.

Do you bead?

Karin

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The back story is that years ago my great-aunt brought me back lovely charms from Scandinavia. I had put them permanently on a bracelet. Lately I wanted to make it more Troll-friendly. It was just blah, sort of, without any Troll — and feeling quite lonely, LOL! And I wasn’t wearing it . I purchased several clip beads that I felt I could clip between the charms. That worked, but didn’t give any color, and I was afraid I might lose the clip if it wasn’t clipping tight enough over the chain.

Yesterday I beaded pearls and Swarovski crystals to alternate between some of the charms — that added color and left me with lonely clip beads.

After some tweaking, I made a ring. It’s going to be a favorite!

IF YOU WANT IT TO BE ENTIRELY INTERCHANGEABLE: USE 1-3 CLIP BEADS depending on the size of your finger across or if you want to wear it on your little finger.

MINE IS PARTIALLY INTERCHANGEABLE: I can change the two outer clip beads (these open and shut as stoppers.) I knew I’d keep the center bead as it has moonstone and never really showed up on my other bracelets, but it is central to the ring.

DESIGN POSSIBILITIES: Use clip beads with non-clip Troll-type as I did or use a central bead with beads that are simply large hole beads.

I bet we could get one of our glass people at Addicted to Troll Beads and More to make some small large hole beads to use on rings!

If you’d like to join the yahoogroup, send an email to: Addicted2Trollbeadsandmore-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Karin

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• 10 reasons -- or 100 -- for loving Troll beads 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...

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Today was a lovely, lazy, very busy — oxymoron, I know — happy, productive, fun day. I did nothing — and everything.

Meanwhile some tropical storm or other is likely sitting off the coast because after having no rain for longer than we’d care to remember, we are getting inundated with it. No thunder; no lightening; just lots of glorious, wet weather. Good weather for ducks.

I like rain — any rain. I like the sound of it. I like the overcast nature of it — which can be overcast in one place and across the street the sun can be shining. Unlike Michigan where it would be overcast all over for days.

I like it that it breaks the heat and humidity.

The temps dropped from in the high 80s, low 90s, to the high 60s. Glorious weather.

I like the smell of rain. I look for the perfect scent of rain in a fragrance, and I’ve tried out several. Some I just like to have around to smell when I want that ozone/dirt perfect fragrance. The latest I’ve tried is Thundra — a truly lovely, interesting fragrance. I might review it tomorrow.

And I stayed in all day except for all the schlepping of the kids. The 11 yr old had a field trip today in pouring rain. I sent her off with a sweatshirt and an umbrella. She came back wet.

Night products
Admission: generally I don’t take my makeup off at night. Bad Karin. But I don’t perspire, so my face is still clean. Last night was no exception, but I wanted to use the Arbonne night cream. So after I cleansed my face today — with the Arbonne samples — I put on night cream and enjoyed the day. I actually think I could apply my makeup over the top of it, but I never got to it.

When I was in my 20s, night creams were too rich and would break me out. And moisturizer alone, without something to seal it in, wasn’t moist enough. I’d wake up drier than I’d like. So, for me, my regimen has been pretty much no night products, unless I wore them in the daytime, or unless I was jump starting my face.

I don’t recommend this if you have oily skin or if it doesn’t work for you. But whatever works, works!

To buy Arbonne from Bookgirl, if you don’t have a representative, just ask.

So what did I do?
You got me, but the day flew!

No, seriously, I did a lot of beading to catch up with projects I had.

Oh! and I started a yahoogroup for serious bead addicts of Trollbeads, Pandora, Chamilia, Biagi, artisan or other beads http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Addicted2Trollbeadsandmore/ It will be a place for resources of all kinds, including shops or artists that might want to tell about themselves.

I helped my 13 yo learn to iron so her skirt would look better for school. Schlepped the kids, including waiting at the bus stop until she was picked up — and again until she was dropped off — as it was raining too hard to let her stand out there in the elements.

Talked to the Arbonne rep (hi, Sherri!). Talked to a lot of friends (you know who you are.) (I can tell Sherri will be one too.) Talked for a long time with my sister while I waited for youngest to return from her field trip. Did a bunch of adoption related stuff. Cannot ignore the horror story now going around in RL or the adoption related horror movie that will be coming out soon.

Knew I would write in my blog, if I could break away from beading long enough.

Helped BookGirl decide some things about her art work. She helped me choose between patterns of beading.

Will write another Arbonne review in a few.

Leave me a message so I know you are out there.

I’m going to enjoy the sound of the pouring rain. How about you? Do you like rain? Is it raining where you are? Do you need rain? We were parched here.
Karin

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I had the pleasure of attending a street art fair in downtown Melbourne, FL, and while I was there, I wandered into many of the local shops. Downtown Melbourne is a very pleasant place to stroll, shop, or have lunch, especially before the weather turns hot, hot, hot, as it will. You would enjoy it if you visited as I did.

I wanted to share this gallery.
This is not the first gallery the owners, June and Bryan Miller, have had. The others have been out west. Melbourne is fortunate to have them! They share a delightful eclectic style influenced by Dadaism. You can find something here for everyone. It could easily be your one-stop-shopping source.
Art and Junk
Located at 818 E. New Haven Ave. Unit 104 (in a side cut-through that reminds you of Paris)
Cell: 775-397-8555
Hours 11-5:30 Tues – Sat; Monday by appt.

June is an accomplished artist, as well as jewelry designer. You can see glimpses of her artwork here, as well as some of the jewelry and the loose strung beads she has for sale. Many of the jewelry pieces are her own work. Prices range from under $100 on up. She will also do custom pieces for her clientele.

June will be showing her work at a show May 15-16 in Elko, Nevada, at What2Wear (775-753-5622 or what2wear@frontiernet.net.)

Current prices for her art work at the Melbourne gallery range from $250 – $1200.

If you can’t get to Melbourne, perhaps you are closer to Nevada. If you see her or Bryan, be sure to say I told you about her.

Karin

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Have you heard of this line? Are you in Europe?

Thomas Sabo is a European company that has made collecting charms new again. I first saw them in Las Vegas at their shop in the Fashion Show Mall. If you are there, make a point of stopping in to see the whole line. There are few places that sell the charms in America, though there are online options. The Thomas Sabo website only sells to Europe, not the States.

The charms are 925 sterling silver, some with Swarovski crystals. They are very, very nicely made and rich looking. Some are meant to be worn by men. Some are very large, edgy, Goth. You are only limited to your imagination or what you’d like to collect or commemorate.

They are made to attach 3 at a time with their own clasp to a connector. This clasp is small enough not to take away from the beauty of the charm. They have many styles of connectors such as:

You can buy ready made bracelets in various colors:

They have cute charms such as:

They have charms suitable for Vegas:

Or an angel wing:

Hand of Fatima

How about a Minnie?

This was a gorgeous charm:

Or without the crystals:

How about a dragonfly or a butterfly:

How about a dragon?

You name it; they’ve got it: London Taxi
; London Double Decker Bus
; Tooth Black
; Statue Of Liberty
; Eiffel Tower
; edgy Goth charms; large charms for men; large connectors; heavy necklaces; Skull Black
; Snowflake
; faith hope love; crosses; Airplane
; initials; baby booties; Buddha
; earrings; charm strap; more Disney; Flip Flop Sandal, plain or fancy; purses; Handbag White Charm; Lantern Charm; Ball Black ;Bootie .

I bought a couple of connectors and included charms of my own in this style. That’s an option too.

Do you have any of these charms? I bet you’d love them if you did!

Karin

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I received this from Beading Daily. I could not find a link, but if someone provides me with one, I will be glad to change this post. Karin

The Amazing Power of Beads

Topic: People and Events

If there was a fire threatening your home and you had only minutes to grab a few things, what would you take? One Beading Daily reader and Beadwork contributor, Cathi Tessier, knows. Cathi was one of the estimated 500,000 people recently evacuated in the southern California wildfires. As of today, Cathi has still not returned to her home–she’s not even sure yet whether there’s still a home waiting for her.–Michelle Mach, Beading Daily editor

October 23, 2007

It was Sunday, mid-morning, when my husband called.

“Quick, pack up our important stuff. We’re going to evacuate. There’s a fire close by.

I live and work for an RV park system, and as employees, we live in the resort in our motor home. Space is tight, and things must be very organized to live 24/7 in this lifestyle. My beads take up a good part of the storage areas. I peeked outside and saw a huge orange sun, smelled the thick smoke, and realized we were in big trouble. With only minutes to pack, I scrambled to sort and decide just what would fit in the trunk of our car.
Image Blocked

A couple of folders with the important documents were the first things I grabbed. For my hubby, a couple pair of undies, pj’s, and two changes of clothes. For me????? Oh boy! Big problem. Four cases of beads, needles, crimping pliers, eight jumbo spools of FireLine thread sizes 4, 6, 8 in black and also crystal. A couple of beading pads, Fiskar scissors, and oh yeah, one pair of panties, a bra, and an extra pair of jeans.

Ready to go.

Three days later, I am sitting among a sea of people in the parking lot of the local stadium, visiting with other evacuees, listening to their stories. No showers in three days, no changes of clothes, horses, dogs, kids everywhere. Tens of thousands of homeless folks, worrying about their homes, their photos, their heirlooms, their clothes. There are tears, hugs, worry, and sadness. I pop the trunk of my car and look at my stuff. My beads are all there. I open some of the boxes, and just look at them.

I ask myself, “What was I thinking? How could these beads, valued at a couple of hundred dollars mean so much to me?”

I can’t explain it. But I’ll say this. It gives me comfort to know they are there. I know that if and when we have a home to return to, I will sit at my dining table, pull out a tube of Delica beads, thread up, and make a little bracelet. It will be my “miracles happen” bracelet. A reminder that life can take a turn in a split second, and if we don’t take the time to smell the roses, or bead the bead, if we don’t follow our hearts and indulge ourselves in our passions, then we are not living.

At this writing I am safe, and while my future is unknown, I take comfort in knowing that although I don’t have my pj’s, my beads are in the trunk of my car.
Image Blocked

Cathi Tessier
Ramona, California

• How do you read a book? Do you read a book from the first page to the last? Do you read the ending first? Do you skip around and reread sections when you come to them again? Do you read books...
• Beading I enjoy beading now, better than any of the other crafts I've done or am doing. I sort of rotate with some knitting at the moment, but beading is my fun-creative-thing. Like any craft (except...
• Making a ring out of three Troll-type beads The back story is that years ago my great-aunt brought me back lovely charms from Scandinavia. I had put them permanently on a bracelet. Lately I wanted to make it more Troll-friendly. It was just...
• Directions:Making a Troll Bead type bracelet from a leather lariat or cord See more at Addicted2Troll Beadsandmore. I've updated this pattern with pictures. Closed: I enjoy beading so I thought I could figure out how to bead a bracelet from a leather lariat. I have one of...
• Productive day today My day was productive in a steady way, no rush, no hurry. I took my time with the start of the day, and I reorganized the bathroom counter. And surprisingly I can still find what...

• Ten Tips Toward a More Eco Friendly Home Tip 1 - Turn the lights off any time that they are not needed, even if you are just moving from room to room in...
• Lake House Design Considerations Buying or building a lake house for full or part-time living presents unique home design considerations.  Sometimes you do not realize what those design differences...
• Living Below Your Means - What It Really Means To Me We often hear the expression to live below ones means. But what does it really mean? And who does it apply to? I was giving...
• Old Shipping Containers Could Be Inexpensive Homes For Many People. And I don't think it's that bad of an idea at all! So many people live in such dire poverty that imagine if we could...
• associating with the 'appear-to-be-rich' folks Should you make a cold-hearted effort to hang out only with rich people? In several of my favorite inspirational/self-help sources (Rich Dad, Poor Dad; Think...

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