Bracelets

Finally getting back in the swing of things - we have been enjoying the summer quite a bit lately - swimming and visiting with friends and family. 

Tried a pattern from Bead Fantasies II.  The patterns are a little hard to follow - but that could be user-error - the end result is beautiful. 

Made some leather wrap bracelets with the TILA beads...  Some for sale, some for a friend and one for myself. 

And some pumpkin earrings for Etsy.  Just in time for anyone gearing up for fall...

And I have 3 more bracelets that I am putting the finishing touches on and will post pictures soon.

Vacation

Just got back from vacation with the family in Indiana Beach - lots of sun - which is what I love.  We are all tired and recovering this week. 

Chicago on the SkyDeck in the Willis (previously Sears) Tower.  Joey was fascinated with looking at the boats below.

We couldn't get the kids to look up at the camera - too much else to see.

Our cottage in Indiana Beach

Riding the train.  Joey's first and only time to ride the train because it went through a 'scary' tunnel by the Haunted Castle.

They were all so cute riding together.  I think this is Kori and Brady's first time riding rides.

On the Shafer Queen before we went out on the Lake.

The kids enjoying the view out on Lake Shafer.

At the Whistle Stop - a pretty, neat train restaurant and museum nearby.

The family portrait.

Ken and I went ziplining over Lake Shafer.  Pretty awesome!  I'd do it again anytime.

Making a race car at a Lowe's event at Indiana Beach.

Kevin and I took the kids to a Monticello city park.

My parents and Daphne, enjoying the last evening.

Outside our cabin at Indiana Beach.

And the result of getting rear-ended on our way home.  :(  But no one was hurt and it's all fixable.
We had a great time!

What a Week!

We acted a bit like tourists in our own city this weekend and took a DUKW tour of Cincinnati.  We had taken the Boston one on our trip there and thought it was different.  The hard part was convincing Joey - I think he was a little nervous about the possibility of getting wet in the DUKW boat.  But we stayed dry and got to see the city from a different angle and we saw Janet and Kim on the downtown streets of Cincinnati.   We spent the day in Newport at Gameworks and getting ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery - just a fun day with the kids.  And walked on the Purple People Bridge.  And on Tuesday, we went to the World Choir Games parade downtown and on Wednesday, to the Touch-A-Truck event here.  Daphne likes getting on all the trucks, but this year, Joey was even more open to getting in some of the trucks - a big jump from last year.

 And I still managed to get some jewelry listed on Etsy...

Zerberts

Yesterday, the temperature outside, according to my van was 112F !!!!  Crazy hot.  We went swimming last evening and the water felt like bath water - which is just the way I like it.  Nontheless, we are waiting for the 'cool front' to come in this week and put the temperature back in the 80s, so we can maybe not sweat as soon as we walk outside.

A bracelet for myself, made with white sponge coral, that my dad picked out for me at Christmas.  And my first handmade clasp. 

Brady has learned to give zerberts.  Oh, at such a young age- it's so funny!  It's fun to watch and hear him but he alternates between giving zerberts and biting my leg, so I have to be on my toes.

Overcast

I've been reading a book about starting an Etsy Business and it talks about taking pictures on an overcast day to get some of the best light.  And since then, we have not had any overcast weather, except for the 2 hours in which I took the kids to the pool today... by myself... this afternoon. 
God, don't you know how hard it is to get 3 little kids ready for the pool?  It was sunny when I started getting them ready.
I got them all changed, pottied and lathered up with sunscreen and snacks and drinks ready for this 100 degree day.  I checked the forecast before leaving - only predicted a spotty chance of rain this evening.  As soon as we got out of the van at the Y, I knew it was bad because I heard thunder.  We got in the Y and the outdoor pool was closed but I figured - hey, it will blow over - since that's all it does lately - a little clouds and nothing else- and they will reopen the outdoor pool. But after an hour of swimming in the indoor pool with a zillion other families who thought the same as me and over an hour of constant rain, we headed back home.  I'm glad we did get some swimming in but, man, we can go to the indoor one all year long.  I am grateful that we got the rain, it just could've happened in the middle of the night.
And with this messed up excursion, I also missed some primetime overcast picture taking.  So a lot of pictures continue to be either too dark or too light.  They will have to wait to be improved.
Soon to be listed on Etsy....  Earrings

 Soon to be listed on Etsy... Bracelet

 Soon to be listed on Etsy... Necklace

 And a bracelet for myself - instructions taken from 'Bohemian Inspired Jewelry'

Change

So I'm going to try and change things up a bit here.  In the past, this blog has been all about keeping my family, especially those without facebook, up-to-date with pictures.  But since I am trying to start a business from my hobby, I will now be putting more pictures of jewelry on here, in addition to the cute and fun pictures of the kids.  I have some things on etsy, but I've created way more than I would ever put on etsy - you know, the learning-a- new-technique-bracelets that have become my favorites and others that were one-of-a-kind and I like to much to sell.  So the people out there in the web world can see the kind of designer I am or have been and what I am progressing too and then, maybe mosey on-over to etsy and see what I am doing there.
And, maybe now I feel a little more official, since I had my first sale on Etsy in the last week - YEAH!  
First, I have to say a huge thank you to two other jewelry designers that I have only recently been following (and they are awesome) because I won some beads and a gift certificate to buy beads from their blogs - both in the last month.  I feel like the luckiest person because that just doesn't happens.  I wish some of that luck would rub off at the festivals around here so I can win a basket.
  
Thank you to Lorelei Eurto for the cool flower beads - so pretty.
And thank you to Amy Freeland for the gift certificate to Ornamentea - which has already been used.

And now here's some of jewelry shots - I'm debating whether to sell them.  They are both made extremely well, but the shell one is a choker length and I don't know if that is the length that people would like and is the best for it and the silver one - well, I can't decide if I want to keep it.  Plus, I need some better pictures.  If any jewelry makers follows this - how much jewelry that you make do you keep vs.  sell or giveaway?

And, of course, a cute shot of a kid.  After a day of fun in the sun, sometimes you just get tuckered out.

Daphne's Dance Recital

Daphne had a great time at her Tippitoes Dance Recital and loved performing.  She said she definitely wants to do it again.  Daphne says, "I loved getting flowers and I didn't expect all the flowers I was going to get.  I loved getting ice cream after my recital and I loved it because both of my Grandma's were there and Kim."