Peek at My Week (Oct 20-26)

This past week passed in a blink! I guess that's because I kept myself pretty busy.

We started the week on Sunday with what we call "Puppy Fun Day." Basically, it's our attempt to get outside and drag Zoe with us on an adventure of some sort. We even took the niece who lives with us!

While out on one of the trails I spied an enormous dead grasshopper. He was almost as long as my hand. After spotting him, we spied a few more. The one above is one of the live ones we found. Apparently some people think it's gross, so I'm sorry if this weirds you out.

As usual, Monday was full of knocking errands and chores off my list. Those bled into Tuesday.  However, I did work on a few creative endeavors.

I've been mad over playing with my bead loom!

That evening, I did something else a little out of the ordinary for me.

I went to Pat's band rehearsal and took pictures for the studio. Fun. 

Wednesday was spent at my mom's where we celebrated my birthday with a delicious cake baked by another one of my nieces.

Thursday was my actual birthday, and I spent it out and about shopping for new clothes. After shopping, we met some friends for dinner. 

I spent much of Friday just playing in the craft room. Pat did interrupt me to go outside and check out this little guy he found in the grass.

It's a tiny green tree snake. Isn't he cute!?

I also made a run to the store to pick up a few new supplies including this set of watercolors I've been wanting!

Fun!

And, Saturday was all about college football.

Roll Tide!

As for inspiration, that lacked some too, though I did find a few tidbits.

• I am IN LOVE with these beaded sculptures of decomposing fruit. They're so Wabi Sabi!
• Here's a sad reminder to all us creative individuals that we should always observe safety first when working with our materials. 
• Here's a great little video tutorial on how to make a cute pair of earrings. 
• Nunn Designs has kicked off its Fall Semester of video tutorials. 

And, that's it. I'm already running behind this week with everything. So, I'll leave it at that and wish y'all a wonderfully creative week. 

Peek at My Week: Feb. 10-16

Don't you just hate it when an entire week slips by and you have no idea what happened to it? That was the case with this week. It feels like the entire week had me preoccupied with other thoughts.  Here's a glimpse into some of it. 

Sunday was the day after my Mardi Gras Ball and we were SUPER lazy as we recovered from the late night out. Leeloo's position on the couch accurately represents how we spent most of the day.

That evening was a different story.

We drove over to Pensacola to see James Taylor and His All-Star Band with special guest, Bonnie Raitt. We've had the tickets since October - they were an anniversary/Valentine gift to ourselves. I absolutely loved the show. In fact, I was so excited, I cried almost all the way through James' performance. I'm a big fan.

Monday began with some art journaling before I knocked out several chores. 

 After lunch, I headed to my local Michael's to complete forms in order to become a classroom instructor! What!? Yes, I'll be teaching jewelry classes (as soon as I develop my ideas some - if you have suggestions, please shoot me a note!) as well as the Kids' craft classes. Fun!

Tuesday...sigh. I was able to knock a few things off my list like taking pictures while the sun was out. But, the rain began just as I headed to the grocery store. 

These Valentine steaks tickled me to no end!

After getting a few more things done like taking pictures of my swap beads for Swap-n-hop, labeling them, and packing them up to ship, I realized that there was no memory card in my camera. I was pretty devastated as it was already dark and would be near impossible to recreate some of the photos I had taken. My plan for the evening was to cook dinner then edit photos. Instead, I had Pat pick us up some Indian food while I pulled out the lightbox and did the best I could.

Thank goodness I still keep it handy! While the pictures aren't everything that they would have been in natural light, I got some okay photos out of it. 

On Wednesday, I was at my mom's with my grandmother. I was able to get some work done but spent far too long playing games on my phone. Drat. 

Thursday was a blur. It was Valentine's Day so I made Pat a few little things. After lunch, I ran out to handle my errands. Right after I left the house, Pat discovered Leeloo having a seizure. That had me hauling butt back to the house. There wasn't much we could do but make a vet appointment and watch her, so I headed back out to finish my tasks. When I go home, I felt so frazzled over everything that I decided I needed a little time outside. 

Zoe and I took a walk around the trails on the property. It was just what I needed to get my blood flowing and my mind back where it needed to be. And, I love finding little treasures. How about that lacy skeleton leaf? Pretty cool. 

On Friday, I took Leeloo to the vet. And, they really had no answers about her seizure but gave me medicine in case it was caused by some kind of virus or something. Giving a cat her pills is NO FUN. But, I hope we're done with the seizures. After the vet visit, I headed back up to Michaels for more orientation stuff. Back at home, Zoe and I went for another walk. I think it was good for both of us. 

Saturday was my first day at work!

Though there weren't any kids in my classes, I was able to get a feel of the classroom and figure out where everything was in preparation for next weekend. 

Once I was done with work, we went to a party for a friend's daughter before coming home and binging The Great British Baking Show. (I love it!) And, that was the week for me. I think I was having a hard time wrapping my head around starting a job, and I let that get the bulk of my focus for the week. I'm glad I've gotten a feel for it (somewhat) and can perhaps focus on some of the other tasks I want to get done - like making jewelry maybe. 

Here's some inspiration for your week.

• Nunn Design has been sharing a ton of tutorials lately. Here is Part 5 and Part 7 of this series. (not sure what I did with 6 - oops)
• Beading Gem shared how to Rivet a Leather Bracelet using Strap Tips.
• Please go have a peek at these bead and cord-covered skulls. They're amazing!

And, that's all I have. Like I said, I've been distracted this week. Here's hoping we both have a better week ahead! Wishing you a good one. 

A Bit Distracted

It was a mixed bag of a weekend.
There was a little of this

And some of that.

Plus there was some crafty time mixed in with it all.

As a side note, we had a GREAT time out on the boat, but the lagoon where we sailed was so eerily foggy that I felt like I was in a horror movie. It was awesome and scary at the same time. My imagination was all over the place (and by imagination, I mean the neurotic, zombie fearing part of my brain.) You can see some of the fog in the picture below . . .and this was when it had cleared up!

You probably noticed that my blogging tapered off a little bit last week. As such, I just want to show you the new items in the shop

Copper Flowers Necklace

Red Link Earrings

And that this necklace went on sale.

Button Cluster Necklace - 20% OFF!!

I also stumbled upon a few GIVEAWAYS!
1. There's a bead giveaway over at BeadWorkByH's Blog. All you have to do is let her know your favorite item in her shop to be entered.
2. The ever-fabulous Lori Anderson at Pretty Things is giving away a few beads and findings of her own. She's got a few awesome prize packs for some lucky winners. Leave a comment and share the giveaway info for chances to win.

While it's still Menu Plan Monday, let me go ahead and share my meal plan with you. Check out some of the others as well at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

MONDAY
B:Bagels
L: Hot Dogs
D: Cheesy ham and broccoli casserole

TUESDAY
B: Smoothies
L: Bean burritos
D: Hope meeting, Pat on own

WEDNESDAY
B: Cereal
L: Ham Sandwiches
D: Beer Chicken, peas, mashed potatoes

THURSDAY
B: Pancakes
L: Chicken Salad
D: Chili with rice

FRIDAY
B: Breakfast parfaits
L: Soup and grilled cheese
D: OUT - Margarita Friday

SATURDAY
B: Omelets
L: Bagel pizzas
D:Pat gig, hope on own

SUNDAY
B: Muffins
L: Leftovers
D: Pot roast with potatoes, carrots, and rice

That's all for tonight folks. Perhaps I'll be a bit more inspiring tomorrow!

Caught in the Act (of Crafting)

I've been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY the last few days. Too busy to blog, but there HAS been some beading going on. I've been out of pocket, but not without a craft bag. As such, you might have seen me participating in one of my favorite activities, crafting in public.

In the waiting room while family member saw the doctor

At the restaurant bar while Pat's band set up for a gig last night

I'm always on the lookout for people to ask me what I'm doing (hence the post title), but most of the time they seem to mind their own business. Odd.

Today, while checking my activity feed on Etsy, I found that I was included in a beautiful treasury.

'Sweet Home Alabama Southern Treats, Hearts & Romance!' by wishbone77

Sweet as honey, flowers and hearts, unique jewels, soft and fluffy..........love calls for a special Valentine's Day gift for your Sweetie! Beautiful tags, cards, bracelet, earrings, necklaces, fluffy tutus, pink peppermint soap, honey, sweet dress, romantic hat, hearts, or a phone fit for a princess! The Romance of the South....................................

vintage inspired pi... 0namesleft $6.00	Lorelei Necklace - ... CraftyHope $38.00	The Blushing Beauty... kidgloveindust... $55.00
10% Off Sale Vintag... LiliesWhite $45.00	Atutudes Lollipop P... atutudes $31.95	Pink Swarovski Crys... SunshineSister... $14.00
Museum Grade Tupelo... HortonsFarm $12.00	My Little Valentine... SewingLoves $6.00	Rich Wine Kindle e ... laurldesigns $38.00
Sweetheart Tree Gre... helloheartdesi... $8.00	Bunny Valentine Dog... ChocolateKenne... $4.50	Lots of Love Jennarosity $18.00
Daddy's Little ... Stacynae $30.00	PepperMINT - Natura... CoffeeHouseSud... $4.00	Damask Pillowcase D... FrillyLilyBout... $24.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Nice, huh?

In other Etsy news, I've added a few more pairs of earrings to the shop.

Turf Earrings

Copper Calla Lily Earrings

Alrighty, let me get back to enjoying the weekend. Here's hoping you enjoy yours as well.

Weekend Review and MMSM

How was your weekend? Did you get much accomplished, stay out of the sweltering heat, or party all weekend long? I had a fairly good one myself, considering, and was able to go out on the river on a friend's pontoon boat. Saturday's activities included some bowling with my Mardi Gras society and then dinner and drinks with friends. We ended up eating at a different location than we had originally planned. Boy, did we luck up in the music category. We saw a great band, Flatrock. Here's some video I took of them (please keep in mind that it's not really a video camera that I used.)

Then, on Sunday LOML* and I spent some time in Gulf Shores on the beach. The water was perfect!! After beaching it, we went to LuLu's for a late lunch and some Bushwackers. Before we knew it, we were heading to bed to be sure we would be up for work this morning.

We did get up and make it to work for another "Made Me Smile Monday"

• LOML* and I have seriously discussed making one of these signs to add to our stash of beach supplies. Seriously!
• Did you ever consider that animal sounds are pronounced differently around the world? This site lets you listen to those and other sounds. I haven't listened to them all, but I really liked the rooster, dog, and car horn. To hear one of these from the home page, click on the one you want from the border. There are three pages of sounds. It's really cute.
  
• Because of videos like this one, I'm so glad my dating days are over. However, you could find the perfect date yourself.
• Check out Demotivational Posters like this.
• And, lastly - too funny!

Have a great week y'all!!

*LOML=Love of My Life