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Ooh, Shiny!

October 28, 2010 by

I finished the earrings! And the best part was that I enjoyed doing it. Instead of getting halfway through and giving up or getting frustrated, I enjoyed the whole process. I did get distracted, though, by perusing Etsy at all the different designs, looking for inspiration, what’s possible, and studying the close-ups to see if I could decipher the technique and see for myself how easy or hard things would be. I bookmarked a bunch of shops to go back to.

I also got positive reviews from people who have seen the new earrings and viewed my blog. This is encouraging, because not only did I get good reviews, I felt good about the work I did. It came out more or less according to what my expectations were, and even breaking a bead didn’t slow me down – I reconfigured things a bit, added an extra silver bead to the mix, and am very satisfied with how it came out. It makes me want to do more. In fact, I want to keep going so much that it’s taking a lot of willpower to keep myself from going to the craft and bead stores in town and spending every penny I have on supplies.

I must pace myself.

I did buy a few things the other day to start another pair, this time an original design, and so far I’m liking it. I’m also getting ideas for another design, so I might go to the craft store this weekend. But the works in progress shall be kept a secret for the time being.

In other news, Greta is awesome. We’re having some challenges getting her to go potty outside, but we’re working on it. She was most likely never properly housebroken, and it’s become apparent that there was quite a bit of abuse. Except for the potty issue, she’s the perfect dog, and we just plan on loving her and using positive reinforcement until she gets it.

Also, I feel like I’m never going to catch up on reading blogs, but I’m slowly making my way through. Maybe this weekend I can catch up – if I don’t get lost in the craft store.

Filed Under: Crafty

Yet Another Crafty Attempt

October 26, 2010 by

Here we go again – I’m bitten by the crafting bug. I love walking around the craft stores (and we just got a Hobby Lobby in Vegas – squee!) thinking about all the things I might want to make, without quite knowing how or why I want to make them. I’ve tried making cards, a mixed media piece for my mom, paint-by-numbers, a picture frame for a friend’s baby shower, and countless other things.

The cards didn’t quite come out the way I wanted, though people liked them a lot. The picture frame, same thing, but that was more due to me not being able to find the materials that I wanted. The paint by numbers is still less than half-finished, and got stowed away when I was cleaning for guests. It’s a bit tedious. I liked doing the mixed-media piece, but I’m not always quite sure what I want to do. For that, it’s like I have too many partial ideas and too much inspiration, and not enough cohesiveness in my thoughts.

My lastest foray into the crafting world is jewelry. At first I was intimidated because there are so many little pieces, but I was driven to try it because I have a few pairs of earrings that are gold, which I don’t really wear anymore. I wanted to try to make them silver. Also, my one favorite categories to browse when I’m on Etsy is jewelry – specifically dangly earrings.

I finally bit the bullet and stopped into the bead store down the street from my office. I found the earring wires for the ones I want to change to silver, and also got 2mm round silver beads and headpins, along with a basic set of tools, and went to it. I started off ok, until I realized that the holes in my garnet beads aren’t quite big enough for the new wires. Back to the bead store I went, and picked up a file. I got home and started filing the holes, and it went just fine until the last bead on the first earring – I just couldn’t get the hole big enough, then the bead broke in half.

Shit. Now I can’t put them back together, which was my backup plan in case everything failed.

I thought and thought for awhile, then finally came up with an idea. I removed all the beads, added in more silver beads and reconfigured the pattern. This would give me a bit more flexibility in case I broke another bead. I strung all my beads and curled the end up so the earring would close. It worked! And even better – Mister liked the new earring better than the old one. It’s shinier and looks a bit more modern. Have a look:

Jewelry 001 (2)

On the left is the original – gold 20mm hoop with garnets and 2mm gold beads.
On the right is the new and improved – 25mm silver hoop with garnets and 2mm silver beads.

What do you think? Should I keep going? Obviously I will on these earrings, because I want to wear them, but how about other stuff or making something from scratch?

What sort of hobbies do you have (besides blogging, of course)?

Filed Under: Crafty

Talk to Me

October 22, 2010 by

I have to admit – I’m not as good at commenting on other people’s blogs as I could be. I can give you all the excuses:

  • I’m an introvert so it’s not in my nature to join in the conversation
  • I often don’t feel like I have anything useful to add
  • I am very busy and barely have time to read blogs or post on my own blog, never mind comment on everyone else’s blogs

The last one is closest to the truth, but in the end, it’s still just an excuse.

Why do bloggers even care about comments at all?

As personal bloggers, there’s a reason why we put our thoughts on the internet, available for anyone who wants to read them. We want feedback. We want to know that someone is reading and that we’re not talking into a void.

Through these comments, bloggers build a community. We are introduced to each other and get to know each other through comments just as much as we do just from reading each other’s blogs.

There are lots of pro tips to build your community and get visitors to your blog, but for personal bloggers there’s just one: Get out there and comment. It’s just like real life – you have to get out there and say hi if you want to make friends.

It is difficult to comment sometimes, but I came across a couple of posts on other blogs that can help motivate. Be a Better Blog Commenter has some thoughts on leaving comments that help you participate in the conversation, and includes some extra links for more motivation. Challenging Yourself to Comment puts forth the idea of challenging yourself personally to leave more comments on blog posts, and includes some good comment tips as well. It’s an older article, but still extremely relevant. I reread it every time I need a bit of commenting motivation.

Do you comment on a lot of blogs? What motivates you to leave a comment?

Filed Under: Personal Blogging

And Puppy Makes Three

October 20, 2010 by

Meet Greta.

Greta 002

Mister and I adopted her last week.

We had been talking about it for awhile. We both had dogs growing up (I had cats too at my mom’s, but I prefer dogs). We went back and forth on it, but the thing that sealed the deal, so to speak, was my in-laws visiting. They brought their dog, Coco, and Mister saw how much fun I had playing with her in my own home. I always love playing with her when we visit, and having a dog in my house as opposed to visiting at their house was no different.

We found Greta at the Nevada SPCA website. They are a no-kill rescue shelter, and they have lots of dogs (and cats and other animals as well) that need loving homes. We had our eyes on one fella, a 1 year old MinPin, but when we met him he was a bit too energetic for me. Mister probably could have handled it, but to me it would be the canine equivalent of Jeffery and I don’t have the energy for that. Then we found a sweet little girl named Lizzie.

Lizzie was shy 3 year old MinPin, skittish with everyone and everything, and seemed most comfortable in my arms. We went out on the patio with her to get to know her a bit better, and we fell in love and renamed her Greta – it seemed to fit her more. We also found out her history.

She was a puppy mill dog that the SPCA had rescued. She’d had a few litters, but has since been fixed. She was then adopted out, but the woman who adopted her returned her six months later, saying that she barked incessantly and wasn’t bonding. It only took about an hour for Mister and I to call bullshit on the bonding issue, since Greta is reluctant to let us out of her sight. We also found out that her former home had other dogs, and my guess is that Greta, not being very aggressive at all, waited patiently for her turn at some affection and therefore never got any.

If you’re wondering why we went with a shelter, read Gala Darling’s 10 Reasons Why You Should Adopt a Rescue Animal. She basically put into words the reasons we did it.

She gets plenty of affection now, and she’s enjoying every minute of it.

We figured out that she’s never been properly house trained, since the intake papers from the woman who returned her said that Greta slept in the garage at night (very cruel in Las Vegas, since garages aren’t air conditioned), so we’re working on that. I woke up Saturday morning to find out my living room had been shit-bombed, necessitating a trip to the mega-mart to buy a compact carpet steamer. I also bought a crate for Greta, figuring that since she had taken to her doggie bed so well, she was either crate trained or could easily be crate trained. Both mornings she was in her crate, she started howling at 8:30am on the button. We’ll try training pads instead and see how it goes. If she goes on or very near the pads, we might have some progress. In the meantime, she’s not going much, but we aren’t really giving her a chance to go in the house – we’re taking her out every couple of hours.

Greta has been a lot of fun so far. It’s great watching her come out of her shell and become more comfortable. She’s not jumping so high anymore when she’s outside and the air conditioner goes on, and we still need to socialize her with other people, but we’ll get there. Funny, though, as jumpy as she is with all sorts of noises, she’s oblivious to the thunder we’ve had the past few days.

I’m glad we got a dog. She adds another dimension to our lives, and we are enjoying every minute of it. Plus, she’s so cuddly. How can you not love that?

Filed Under: Pets

Encyclopedia of Me – S is for Sister

October 17, 2010 by

Me and My Sister

Today is my little sister’s birthday. As you can see from the picture above, I have attempted a choke hold on her while making it look like we’re getting along. In all actuality, we probably did get along at that age – in this picture I am just shy of 4, and Sis is 2 1/2. Not long after that, Sis stopped being so cute and started being annoying, so we fought for the next 25 years or so.

We’ve had our ups and downs. She put everyone through heck and provided everyone with plenty of blonde jokes. It wasn’t easy being her sister, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We get along now, but it took a long time. That’s not to say that everything is perfect. It isn’t, and probably never will be. As an only child, Mister can’t understand why I continue to have a relationship with Sis when she upsets me to the point of tears, but he’s learned that he will never understand that sibling bond. I’m sure those of you out there with siblings get it, though. If we weren’t related, Sis and I would most definitely not be friends, but we don’t have to be. We’re sisters, and that’s a stronger bond than any friendship can be.

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Filed Under: Encyclopedia of Me