A few words.

I would like to take a few moments to share a few words about things that have been on my mind as of late.
First, I have come to believe that drama for the sake of drama is a waste of valuable time and energy unless it is put onstage.  I've been reading and experiencing a lot of drama lately that seems to exsist for no other reason than to simply stir the pot.  Teenagers do this because they honestly feel they have nothing better to do.  Adults do this to feel some semblence of control and belonging.  Neither actually happen and both are a waste of time and energy.  Why bother?
Seriously, going out to pick a fight or even being passive aggressive in the hopes a fight will break out and you can jump in.... it's just stupid.  That being said, having a disagreement is bound to happen.  Passions and beliefs flare and cause lots of things to be said.  But if you can express them and then release them, it's the best step.  Sometimes the other party( or parties) involved will be reluctant or even downright refuse to let it go.  Just say "oh well" and walk away.  That is now their issue and not yours.
Of course, this can all be easier said than done.

Second, why do some people insist on bothering me about being friends with them when I am clearly not interested?  Allow me to ellaborate.
My first love, let's call him R, was my boyfriend in college.  We dated for 2 1/2 years.  We had talked about marriage.  We did things that serious couples do.  Then his mommy told him he could do better and so he dumped me over the phone on Christmas Eve.  I went batshit for the next 6 months.  Seriously, I plead insanity.  We tried to be friends.  I got jealous and cranky.  We tried being friends with benefits.  I was fine for a while, then got jealous and cranky when he decided it was OK to boink a new girlfriend and an old one at the same time.  Then we tried being just friends and I did the whole "la la la, we're just casual friends and i can act like you mean nothing to me, out of sight out of mind" thing.  Then, in the middle of that phase, I realized something.  I didn't like this person.  If we hadn't have dated, this would not have been someone I'd have made friends with.  I disliked him.  I still dislike him.  He acts holier than thou towards me because he is 9 months older and because he graduated college a whole year ahead of me.  He listens to his mother and not to himself.  I would NEVER have picked him to be a close friend. 
So, why did I feel obligated to attempt friendship with him now?  Why?  The relationship was ended and sour at that.... so friendship is not necessary.  So, I told him I didn't like who I became when I was around him.  I told him I did not want to speak to him or see him ever again.
And yet... the douchebag has repeatedly attempted to friend me on Facebook.... 7 TIMES.  I reject his request everytime.  He even wrote me an email asking why we can't act like adults and talk and catch up.  Because.... I DON'T LIKE YOU.  Not even a little.  And I tend to avoid people I don't care for so as not to cause drama for the sake of drama.
He calls this childish.  Fine.  Call it what you like... I just think it is necessary to stay the hell away from you.

That's what's been on my mind today.

Back after a hiatus again.

I just can not seem to motiate myself during the summer to blog about anything.  And so much has traspired over this particular summer that I am almost uncertain about how to compose this "I'm back" blog post.  Perhaps a list with select details will be best.

1.) The garden looks phenominal though as usual some things grew better than others.  I have lots of pictures about that to post at a later date.  We had some hellish weather this summer which made my watering of the garden more of an obsession than a passing chore.  Because of that, the plants grew big but haven't really officially started producing vegtables until these past few weeks. It's bizarre.  We had pumpkins ready to pick and cook before we had ripe tomatoes.  Positively strange.

2.) My friends have some serious drama going on.  One married couple split up the same day as another married couple... each of the dumpers leaving their respective spouses for the other. So.... it's been an odd social season for us.  We can no longer just call couple #1 and couple #2 for dinner or drinks because... well.... they are now single #1 and single #2 and couple #3.  It's a big, fat mess and we are all forced to deal with it. *sigh*  Doesn't make a god case for marriage does it?

3.) I have been busy doing Farmer's Market things once again this summer.  Since we've had 40 traight days of 100+ degree weather, produce has been slim and thus we have almost all resorted to making some kind of baked goods and crafts to sell in the mean time.  I discovered that Dodge City is comprised of a number of dog lovers.  So, I began making and selling homemae dog biscuts.  People and dogs love them. I've also been making homemade english muffins and scones which are becoming a big hit as well.  I've done quite well this summer.

4.) Lee, my boyfriend, moved into my home in January of 2011. Things have been going well for us.  So well, he got a promotion at work.  He is no longer an assistant manager of customer service at the car dealership but has been transfered to a different section and made a proper manager of customer service.  In other words, when your car breaks down or has the oil changed or is making that weird noise, he's the guy you talk to to schedule an apointment with the technicians.  And he's damn good at his job too.

5.) On the jewelry front, not much has been happening in the way of sales.  However, a lot has been happening in the way of PR for my jewelry studio on Artfire as well as my designs in general.  I've had pieces featured in Bead Trends magazine in the past and have pieces that were selected to be featured in the November and December issues for 2011 as well.  This July I received an email from the editor asking if they could use me as the Designer Highlight for the February 2012 edition.  It's a full 10 page spread along with a head shot of myself and bio page.  I am SUPER excited about this opportunity and will therefore be getting pieces put together and shipped off in the next 2 weeks.  How cool is that?

That's a good update thus far.  More to come later.... including pictures.

Another garden update

Things are continuing to pop up out of the ground in our garden.  We finally did get the pumpkin garden planted with pumpkins, watermelon and cantalope as well as flowers to fil in the space.  Things are popping up in that garden though I haven't photographed it yet.

Our other gardens are just zooming along.  We have brocolli heads beginning to form.  The onions are growing taller.  There are cucumber and yellow melon sprouts and last night the zuccinni came up as well. The carrots are sprouting and the peas are growing larger everyday.  I've had to this the radishes and beets as well as the lettuce and spinach. 

See how my garden is growing!

Things are growing in my gardens and how!  Check it out.

The onions are coming up like gang busters.  We have planted yellow and red onions. 

The peas I planted in the tire are doing well.  There are 4 shoots so far and I put some more pea seeds in there not long ago.  Can't wait to have fresh peas.

And look how big the potatoes have gotten!  WOW! 

This evening we are planning to tackle the pumpkin garden and maybe pull some weeds in the herb garden.

Garden season is upon us!

I have the spring fever bug bad.  I have been itching to get started on my garden work for almost 6 weeks now.  So much so that I had started many of my herb and veggie and even some of my flower plants inside.

Anyways, this past week the winds were too high to get a proper start on the garden.  However, this past weekend was the PERFECT time to start.  And with highs in the 60s-80s for the next week and a half, I am so ready.

I started with my 4'x8' garden box.  I have brocolli, cauliflower, tomatoe and pepper starters inside already, as well as some garlic starters.  Those went in the box.  Then I started lettuce, spinach, nasturtiums, and beets from seed.  Top it of with some marigold plants to help with pest control and voila!  My garden box is in and growing.

Lee and I had heard that planting potatoes in old tires worked realy well.  Since Lee knows the tire guys in town, he inquired about getting some old beat up tires for this purpose.  I planted two kinds of potatoes in tires as well as one tire of peas.  All are coming up like gang busters now.

I also dug out the old dead foliage from last season from one of my flower beds.  I put in some new dirt and peat moss and planted African daisies, black petunias and snapdragons.

And this is just the start of my gardens.  Wait till you see the new herb garden addition, the pumpkin patch and the veggie bed.  There's so much more to do yet.  I'll keep you all updated.  SQUEE!





Rob Kalin SCARES me

So, I have a Livejournal in addition to this Blogger account.  That is my very personal and limited journal whereas this one is more public.  On Blogger, I follow a number of other blogs for various reasons. Makes for excellent reading material throughout my day. At any rate, one of them I follow is called Etsy Bitch.


Etsy Bitch was founded on the principle that they wanted to help change Etsy by pointing out what needed to be fixed. This mission has changed... considerably... especially given that Etsy is turning into a complete and total MONSTER. But I digress. What I want to talk about briefly is something I saw in a few recent posts on this blog.

Apparently, Inc. magazine did an interview with the CEO and founder of Etsy recently and the article hit news stands and the internet yesterday. I became curious about what the man behind the monster had to say, so I went on over to the website and read the article.

WOW. That was the one word I came back to repeatedly. From reading this article, it became clear that the journalist was having a hard time trying to report exactly what was going on. To his credit, the journalist did try to stick to the point of just reporting the facts and quotes from the person in question... and just by doing that the truth about this nut was revealed. He's freakin' scary.

If you are interested.... here are the links.

www.inc.com/magazine/20110401/can-rob-kalin-scale-etsy.html#



And here's Etsy Bitch if you are looking for some more although snarky info.

http://etsybitch.blogspot.com/



Seriously..... SO glad I ditched out of Etsy while I could and am now happily instated at Artfire. Whew!

APRIL FOOL'S SALE!

Since today is the last day of my Spring Cleaning Sale, I decided to up the anty as it were.  Today only, everything in my studio is a whopping 20% OFF!  Yes, everything.... new pieces, old stock, puppets, destash..... EVERYTHING!
Fools and Jewels

Come on over to my studio and check it out!

Beaded crystal prisms~ a new endeavor

A while back I asked my sister what she wanted for Christmas and she gave me a simple answer.  She wanted a couple of crystal prisms to hang in her kitchen window.  My nieces like to chase the rainbows that they make.  i can remember clearing doing this with my sister when I was a kid as well.  I decided I would bead a wire to attach the prism to for her. 
As I was doing this one evening, my boyfriend remarked how lovely it looked and pointed out the prisms in my livingroom window.  He inquired about perhaps beading them as well.  And then once I had finished them and hung them up, he stated that there was the possibility others may be interested in them as well and they could be an item that may sell well.  I don't know about that but they sure turned out nice.

Spring Cleaning SALE!

I have decided to clear out some of my old jewelry stock to make room for new stock. This means savings for you!  From now until April 1st I am offering 10% off everything in my studio!  If you tweet, blog or Facebook this sale, please leave me a comment and something special might come to you as well. ;)

Come on over and check it out!

http://www.artfire.com/users/divapixie

Catching up

Wow.  So much has happened since I last wrote.  Both on the jewelry front and on the home front.  In the past two weeks I have:
~Caught a BAD head cold.
~Had my parents and grandmother come for a week long visit.
~Fixed up my kitchen.

~Hung curtains in the livingroom.

~Worked on my final concert for my students at school.
~Been filling a large custom order for resin buttons.
~Been recruited to do a jewelry line for an online fashion website.
~Been asked to sew some quick curtains for a local community theater production.
~Helped my father sand, water seal and assemble a cedar bar for my dinning room.

Yep... that about sums it up.  It was a LOT.

Preparations for Carnegie Arts Wine Tasting and Art Auction are underway

At least on my end, preparations are underway.  Last year I had the pleasure of being asked to donate a few pieces of my jewelry to the art auction.  Of course I was delighted to do so.  It is a great way to get my jewelrypieces out in the public eye and the proceeds go to benefit a local art gallery.  I made three pieces especially for the auction.  For my trouble, I received a pair of tickets to the event.

A piece from last year's auction, made by myself.

Lee always likes to attend this event so he had been going for years.  We went and had a great time.... except for one thing.  I had donated thre items for the auction.  All three of my items were placed on the Silent Auction table instead of in the actual auction.  I had donated three items in the hopes that they would at least place one in the full blown auction.  I was hurt and upset by this.

Another of the pieces donated to the auction by myself from last year.

This year, I have once again decided to donate items to the cause. I will once again be creating brand new pieces fr this event.  However, I am stipulating that at least one of my items be placed in the actual auction. If they do not agree to this, I wil not donate anything.  I don't really think it's too much to ask.  I just want the exposure of having the auctioneer takes public bids on my item and watch it being displayed by the lovely volunteer "Vanna White"s. 
I have been planning to begin work on these pieces all week.. and have yet to actually sit down and do so.  I have however been giving a lot of thought to what kind of pieces I want to create.  My goal is to once again make three items.  I plan to make one piece out of something vintage that has been repurposed, like an old vintage rhinestone piece or beads or chain from a broken piece of vintage jewelry.  I plan to make one small copper wire wrapped pendant with fresh water pearls.  And the last piece I can not decide on a design yet..... perhaps a large pair of wire wrapped earrings. 

Painting project: Room 1 complete!

Well, we finally finished all the walls, window trim, detail painting in the livingroom.  No more green walls.  Not that the green was a bad thing.  I rather liked it.  It was just time for a change and this is it. 

I decided to do the large picture window in two tones to bring out the architectural design of it.  I believe this window is nearly 100 years old and original to the house.  It's not exactly efficient but it's historical and I could not bear to replace it when the new windows when in.  I used a very deep, dark chocolate brown for the detail work on the top and outlined the rest in the same creamy shade as the rest of the trim in the room.  I still am finding little spots that need filling in with a paint brush but that isn't so much trouble.

I completely cleaned out the aquarium while we had it moved out from the wall.  It looks much better now and the fish seem more active.  Goldfish really aren't all that exciting but they may move outside to a water garden someday so who knows what will replace them in this tank.  And Lee's Frank Sinatra poster actually looks pretty good against the new wall color

We don't have all the wall art up yet.... we are still struggling with where to hang things. And we are currently on the hunt for curtains for all 4 of the windows. I'd like to not have to put the horrid blinds back up again. 

Now, painting project room #2..... the library.  Here's to hoping we have the energy and strength to start that venture this week.  Blech.

Giving my livingroom a face lift

So, my boyfriend of 2 years and I decided this year that we should live together.  So, since January we've been moving him into my house.  He's been living there since the 1st of the year but we haven't quite moved all of his things in yet.  His mother only lives on the other side of town and that was where he had been residing.  We are all working to cut back expenses and purge our respective homes of things we simply do not need. 

As well as all the cleaning, purging and simplifing of our households... we have been rearranging furniture, reclaiming rooms and have also decided to redecorate a few of them.

This past weekend we began a painting project. We have decided to tackle the livingroom first.  I had a livingroom that was a dep and bright shade of green and had black trim.  I liked it.  But honestly.... the paint was starting to fade and it had scuff marks and chips in it.  They no longer make that color either.  We both took our time finding a paint color we could both live with.  That took a long time.  I think men and women see colors differently. 
I had to drive 45 miles to the next city over to get the paint color we wanted.  None of the hardware stores in town carried Behr paint and that was the only color scheme we agreed on.  I drove the distance and went to Home Depot.  I had committed myself to purchase the much more expensive Behr paint that had the primer in it as well.  We had to cover a prety bold color. 
Yesterday we got the walls prepped in the morning and painted all afternoon and evening.  About 9:30 we stopped.  We have one coat of color on the trim (after two coats of primer) and two coats of paint on the walls.  We have not taped off the window trim yet so it's still green.... but it's a start anyways.

A Day in the Life of

6:14am Lee's alarm on his phone went off. He had changed it to a rooster crowing instead of the usual musical alarm. Had a moment of WTF when I heard it. I got up out of bed, got the dog his breakfast and went about getting ready for work.


7:03am I headed out the door to my car after putting Wynton in his crate. He put up no fuss this morning so he must have still been tired. I decided to listen to Royal Crowne Review on my iPod this morning instead of my usual Sirius XM channel (Siriusly Sinatra). Ahhhhhh... that's the stuff to wake me up.

7:32am Arrive at the elementary school where I teach. I brought along a box of construction paper and various other arts and crafts bits and baubles that I need to rid my house of. I put the box in the teacher's lounge with a sign on it that says "Take if you want". We'll see how quickly things disappear.

Noticed that the box I put these things in was a Bud Light box. I quickly found a copy paper box and transferred them into that. I am hiding the Bud Light box in my classroom till I can take it home.

8:55am  Dismissed first round of 5th graders from class.  Instrument activity went VERY well this morning.  Patterns were clear and played with 85%-90% accuracy and the kids sang loudly and on pitch.  Excellent class.



9:43am  Awaiting the arrival of my second round of 1st graders.  The morning is going by quickly.  Thus far, no detentions nor outstanding disciplinary actions have been taken aside from one student relocation to a different seat.  All in all.... a good morning.

10:05am  Headed to the teacher's lounge to photocopy some listening tests for the 2nd grade.  They have completed Unit 4 and I need to check their listening for comprehension. 

10:28am  A sly smile has spread across my face as the students take their listening tests.   Several of them have asked that I play certain examples a second time. They are learning to take their time when testing and get their answers correct.  Now, if only that caution pays off.

11:06 am  Sitting in my quiet classroom for a few minutes eating a banana before heading to the cafeteria to do lunch duty.  I HATE lunch duty.  Hopefully it will pass by quickly.
Found pencil writing on the girl's bathroom stall walls.  I Love [insert 5th grade boy's name here].  Reported it to principal and both 5th grade teachers.  I suspect the 5th grade girls.

12:12pm  Ahhhhh.... sitting again in the quiet of my classroom with my lunch before me.  I have until 1pm to just chill out and eat.  This is my favorite time of day.

12:34pm  Chatting via gmail with my boyfriend's mother, Sharon.  We are all trying to figure out the plan for this evening so we can get dinner all squared away.  This is a typical afternoon activity for us since we all three enjoying cooking.

1:23pm  Taught a simple song to the first round of 3rd graders. A wonderful proverb that was set to a simple melody. "Don't worry if your job is small and your rewards are few.  Remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you".

1:49pm  I am sitting here in my classroom waiting for the Kindergarten. I am sure today will be an uphill day for them.  They have an assessment sheet to fill out today and that is always difficult for them.
It's started already.... one of them walked in and let out the biggest, loudest yawn I have heard in a while.  Great.

2:38pm  Waiting for my last class to arrive. Thinking about whether or not I want to go to Zumba class this evening with one of my friends or if I want to skip it and work on some things at home.  Tough call.

3:02pm  I am done with classes and am very glad of that.  That last class used up my last ounce of patience and got on my last nerve. ARGH!

3:16pm  Made a follow up phone call with the people who run the new arena/events center about teaching ice skating.  I wanted to inquire for further information about he actual job itself and how much it would entail.  They said there were hoping to get back to me sometime after this week.  Sounds like it could be a good part time job and it would get me back on the ice and exercising again.

4:42pm  Sitting at home in my favorite chair.  The windows are open and a nice spring like breeze is flowing through the house.  It is 70 degrees outside. I ran some errands and took the dog out for potty time.  I'm thinking maybe a walk and some jewelry photo taking might be in my immediate future.

5:53pm  I managed to take some photos of both Wynton and my jewelry pieces while the sun and warm weather persisted.  It was just over 70 degrees today! Wow!

My toy poodle puppy, Wynton.

10:57pm  Well, I am back after several excursions.  Lee and I went to the local community theater to mix up the specialty cocktail mix for this weekends performances.  Then we had dinner at one of our usual Mexican restaurants.  Then we went and visited with his mother for a few hours and watched a couple episodes of a super cute series on HBO Family called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.  It was a cute little show. 
We stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up chapstick, toilet paper and an orchid plant for his mother.  I've been meaning to get her a new one. The one we bought her for Mother's Day is not doing well.  I am trying to resuscitate but so far it seems unresponsive.
Now we are back home, in our PJs and playing with the puppy before heading to bed for the evening.

There you have it.  It is now 11:01pm.... bedtime for us here.  Goodnight!

Sticking to the topic

I know, we've all had this happen at some point.  We just can not seem to stick to the topic at hand.  I remember in middle school, high school and even in college English having an instructor hand back a paper I wrote that looked like it was bleeding.  All because I couldn't stick to my original topic.
Has this ever happened to you?  It -still- happens to me.  Especially when it comes to my blog.  Allow me to attempt to explain.
I'm not really an ADD or ADHD person.  I just happen to have a LOT of interests.  So, sticking to one point all the time is kind of hard for me.  I tend to meander around a bit.  I forget that when I'm blogging that this can be distracting and hard on the readers.
So, when I set up this blog I had one thing in mind.. to keep this blog for my jewelry ventures ONLY.  I wanted to stick to the point.

And now, as usual, I find myself meandering from that point.  I have an LJ for my truly personal stuff.  I like it that way really.  However, I find that I am more and more interested in blogging about my other interests... and what is going on in general with my life and direction.
Now, part of me wonders.. would anyone really want to read about that? Would ther be any more or les interaction on this blog if I went in this direction?  Many of my friends who have successful, well trafficed blogs blog only about one thing... they stick to the topic.  While others have said they get better traffic if they blog about more than one thing.
I am in a quandry as to what to do.  I would like to think that my blog is being read and perhaps is even liked by people but alas my Goggle Analytics tells me otherwise. 
So, I guess maybe it's time to break out of this blogging shell and write about everything.... or at least more than just one thing.

I'm back...

... things in my life got a little crazy and I decided to take on a new venture this summer: The Farmer's Market.
I have a pretty good little garden... and have helped establish an awesome garden at my bf's place.  I also have great friends who have contacted me this season  and stated they have fruit trees absolutely loaded with fruit they can not use.  I hurried my butt over there and got as much as I could pick, process, jam, jelly and cook.  So, I decided to join the farmer's market and sell produce, jams and jellies.  So far it has been an EXCELLENT venture.  I am also allowed to set up sell my jewelry since it is handmade.  Double bonus points for me. 
Now, compound to that the annual Dodge City Days Arts and Crafts Show this upcoming weekend.... and hopefully I'll have less jewelry, jams and jellies to hock by the end of this week. 

So... there you have it.... I am back and will get back to featured stones, metals, articles about my jewelry making and designs, featured Artfire artisans and everything else that my blog is for.  Sorry I was gone for so long... life gets in the way sometimes.

A pause on featured pieces.

I am in MT for my grandfather's funeral service until Sunday. I will continue featured studio pieces blog entries when I get to a place that has wireless internet service.