Shredfest update

I am sooo proud of my daughter! She was one of about 26 kids in her age group, and one of the least experienced, but she went out and did her best! It took alot of guts to go out there with so many people watching and that's what I'm so proud of, I could not have done that! Yeah Teagan!!

My daughter the skate boarder!

Saturday, my daughter Teagan, will be in the annual Shredfest! What is a shredfest you ask?? It is a skate board competition at South Street Skate Park. They have competitions by age group and there will be a pro skate boarder, food and fun! She has only been taking lessons for about 8 weeks but she has gotten pretty good and really enjoys it. So I'll post some photos of my baby girl skate boarding next week.

Troll Beads

Every where I look there is a Troll bead trunk show lately! I went to one last week and got my first two beads, both where glass lampwork beads and are very pretty. But two beads does not make a bracelet! So Saturday there is another trunk show in my town that I'll check out, they have buy one retired bead get one free!!!

Troll bracelets

My new "Gotta have it!" is a Troll bracelet! I first heard about Troll bracelets about 2 years ago and I didn't really give them much thought, mainly because I was busy making my own jewelry. But something has happened in the last couple weeks and I'm not really sure what, but I've become obsessed with getting one! I love the idea of being able to change a bracelet to a different theme or color whenever I want. So a couple days ago I bought the silver bracelet without the clasp, because the clasp is way too expensive, and I added a lobster claw clasp to it for $3.50! Now I have to wait, which is killing me, till I have some extra funds to buy some beads! I thought some of my Bali beads with big holes would work, but they didn't. There are some great stores on Etsy that sell Troll beads for very reasonable prices and my favorite is Susan Sheehan. She even sells the silver bracelet for about $28.00 with the clasp and she has free shipping!!!

So, do you have this obsession??? What are your favorite beads and where do you get them?

The 39 Clues

I've recently found out about this new book series for kids that I think is going to be pretty hot! It's called The 39 Clues and will be a series of 10 books, the first is by Rick Riordan and is titled The Maze of Bones. You can visit the website www.the39clues.com and learn more about finding clues, playing online games and winning prizes. The book also includes includes trading cards with codes that you register on the website . My daughter just finished the first book and really enjoyed it!
The story is about a very powerful family, the Cahills, and the source of their power is hidden around the world in the form of 39 clues. When Amy and Dan Cahills grandma dies she gives them a choice in her will, they can either have 1 million dollars or get the first clue. They take the clue and begin their adventure.....

Sleep Apnea update

I've had my CPAP machine for three nights now and I LOVE it! I haven't needed to take a nap so far and I'm having tons of dreams! My sleep study showed that I had 19 minutes of REM sleep, which you should normally have 90-120 minutes a night. Not only do you stop breathing with sleep apnea you are not getting REM sleep which affects your memory, mood, concentration among other things, you are basically not getting your battery recharged.

New Fall items on Etsy

Check out my newest designs for fall. I have a set made with freshwater pearls and shell in beautiful brown sugar and honey colors. The link to my store is http://silverstonedesigns.etsy.com if you want to see more.

In my "tip of the day" section I mentioned that a very good friend of mine has breast cancer, well the Dr. called her today and a very small amount was found in her lymph nodes and she will need more surgery and chemo. Pleas keep her in your prayers.
Thank you!!

Do you snore?????

Do you snore? Do you wake up with a headache? Do you need a nap in the middle of the day? Do you wake up chocking or coughing? Do you have problems with you memory? You might have Sleep Apnea.
I'm only 41 and not overweight so I didn't think I'd have Sleep Apnea. But my snoring (so my husband said) was getting worse and if I didn't want to sleep on the couch I needed to do something. So I looked up snoring info on the Internet and came across Sleep Apnea. The thing that really made me think I might have it was the headaches. I'd wake up with a headache and my eyes aching so bad I couldn't stand it. I realized I had all the symptoms except high blood pressure, so I went to the doctor. I had blamed most of my symptoms on having young children and a busy life, I even had to have a nap almost everyday! The doctor ordered a sleep study, which of course I wasn't very excited about but at this point I was willing to try anything! Turns out I did have Sleep Apnea and I'll be going for another sleep study in about 10 days to find out which machine I'll need. I'll keep you posted one the machine and if I feel better with it. But my message here is if you think you might have this, talk to your doctor even if you're young and not over weight.

Newest edition

Well it's been a week since the squirrels went back to school and so far so good. We took them to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City this weekend and had a blast, the place was pretty much empty and we actually had the water park all to ourselves for two hours on Monday morning! ( yes, we took the girls out of school for Monday) That will probably be the last vacation till we go to Disney World next year. Did I mention that we're going to Disney next year??? I'm going to be mentioning it a lot for the next year because I LOVE DISNEY!!!! It will have been 5 years since we last went when we go next year and the kids will be into completely different rides! More about Disney later....

So I made myself a new bracelet and love it sooo much that I'm going to get the supplies to put one for sale at my Etsy store. It's made with sterling silver and wrapped with fine silver and has glass lamp work beads from another Etsian artist, Jennifer Ionta. Here's a photo of it......what do you think???

Handbags as an obsession

Some women have an obsession with shoes, my brother in law owns a shoe store so I've got that part covered, but my obsession is Handbags!
I love handbags, they are the perfect accessory! Of course my husband doesn't understand, he uses the same wallet for about 5 years! I could use a different handbag every week!
I found some awesome handbag designers on Etsy so I'll mention some of them in different posts.

The first one I'll mention is XcessRize at http://xcessrize.etsy.com/ and she doesn't need me to promote her store, it speaks for itself! She has gorgeous patterns and very beautiful, functional designs. My favorite, right now, is the Retro pink pattern. She's been selling on Etsy since August of 2007 and her sales and feedback rating of 100% tell you a lot! She has hobo bags, messenger bags, diaper bags, camera bags and even yoga mat bags! What I like the most about her bags are the fabric designs that she uses, they are definitely sexy bags! The quality is obvious, even in the photos, down to the last detail. If you prefer to be unique and stand out in a crowd, then you need to see her stuff!

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day all!
I'm just trying to wake up a bit before I do my "Walk away the pounds" workout. I've definatly noticed a difference in my muscle tone lately which keeps me motivated! We're going to Great Wolf Lodge next weekend and I'm thinking I'll look OK in my bathing suit.
So, I've started silver fusing and it's very exciting! It was impossible to find fine silver wire any where in my area so I bought some on eBay. I started with 18 gauge which is a little thin for what I want to do so I'm ordering some 14 gauge, but I'm sure I'll come up with something to do with the 18 gauge! For those of you that don't know, you have to use fine silver wire not just sterling silver.
I've also made some polymer clay beads this week and plan to put them in a new bracelet ASAP. Working with polymer clay has been more fun than I expected and it's very easy to be wildly creative with all the colors to choose from!
So tomorrow the squirrels go back to school and I'll have some extra time to really get going on some new designs! Not that I'm looking forward to school starting! :) What mom of two preteen girls would say that!!! ;)
Have a safe and happy holiday!
Celia

Three sheets show

I've been meaning to mention this show for a while now and kept putting it off. It's called Three sheets and I'm not sure what channel it's on but it's hilarious! This guy Zane gets paid to go around the world drinking the local alcohol and talking about it and the local hangover cures. This guy can drink!!! I can't believe he can even talk on these shows with the amount of alcohol he drinks! I watched one where he went to Spain and was drinking from morning to night and was still coherent! If you've never seen it you should check it out, it might be on the travel network. Zane is a very entertaining guy and you can even learn some interesting stuff.

spending time with the girls

I haven't had much time to blog about anything lately, it's the last week before school starts and I'm trying to spend time with my girls. We've finished school clothes shopping and washing, school supply shopping and meet & greet the teacher. My oldest, Teagan, is going into 5th grade and Celeste is going into 3rd. Next year Teagan will be in middle school which I'm dreading. Celeste is pretty happy about school as long as she has her friends, she loves to socialize! So next week I'll probably be bored out of my mind! HAHAHA!!!!

My two cents

I want to give my two cents on "Walk away the pounds" exercise videos by Leslie Sansone.
I have been using them on and off for about 4 years. When I first started using them I had about 25 lbs. post baby weight to lose and I lost it in about 6 months. I looked and felt great! In the last couple years I got lazy and put back on about 15 lbs. so I'm doing it again.
The 3 mile is 45 minutes and perfect for working up a sweat, I try to do that about 4 times a week. There is also a 1 mile and 2 mile for when I want to get in some exercise but I don't have a lot of time. What I love is the moves are all easy, not like a complicated routine that you need to learn, so I can space out and think about other things while I'm doing it. Before I know it 45 minutes is up and I feel real good about getting off my butt.
This exercise program is great for pretty much anyone in any shape. I have problems with my knees so I can't do any lunge type exercises which is another reason why I love this program.
So that's my two cents.
Celia

Calling all parents of picky eaters!!!

I'm looking for easy, healthy recipes for my picky eaters, do you have one???? Please post it to me.
I love casseroles and my daughters hate them, my husband always asks "what soup did you use in dinner tonight?" :) They are meat and noodle lovers. My mom in law feeds them steak, hamburgers, lamb chops and noodles about twice a week. (no veggies) So when I try to feed them healthy I get nothing but complaints and comparisons to Grandmas cooking. So if you can help me out with some tried and true recipes of your own I'd really appreciate it! I do sneak in ground turkey and usually don't get to much flack bu I'm running out of ideas.
Thanks all!
Celia

Agate

One of my favorite stones is Agate. There is no other stone more creatively striped by nature than agate. My favorite is crazy lace agate, it has such amazing colors and patterns and each one is different.

Agate is believed to discern truth, accept circumstances and is a powerful emotional healer. Legend says that agate improves memory and concentration, increases stamina and encourages honesty. Agate is said to be particularly beneficial to people born under the sign of Gemini as it helps them to remain calm and focused. (which I am a Gemini)

Agate is a variety of chalcedony formed from layers of quartz which usually show varicolored bands. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks. Agate can be found all over the world including: Africa, Asia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Nepal and the USA.

Some other beautiful types of agate are Blue lace agate, Moss agate, Rosetta agate, Madagascar agate, Montana agate and Dry head agate to name a few.

I love diamonds as much as the next girl but taking away the value of diamonds I'd take an agate any day for the beauty of it. I hope you found this little blurb interesting and come back again for more facts on other stones.

sources of information for this blog: Bernardine.com and wikipedia.org

New Items I'm Listing Today.....

I have 4 items that I'm going to be listing today. One is my very favorite bracelet that I wanted for myself but I received such a great response about it I thought I'd see if anyone else loved it as much as me. So, I will part with it if it will be going to a good home. There are two more bracelets, one is a half and half design where half is sterling silver and the other half is a stone, in this case red coral.

The beginning

I'm looking for a new project. Necklace or bracelet? Should I use copper this time?
The photos show a very small sampling of the materials that I'm thinking about using. I prefer to make bracelets because I personally prefer to wear bracelets but also because they use less materials so I can make more with what I have.
I just bought a bunch of copper materials and I really think I'll make a necklace and bracelet, maybe even some earrings. I have some light colored stones that I think would go very nice with the copper to give it some contrasts in color.
I'm still planning on trying out the polymer clay this week..........but laundry takes precedence. :(

Art Clay

Have you heard of Art Clay? It is 99.9% pure silver in clay form. You shape the clay, file and fire it, then you have a finished pure silver piece. Sounds so cool, I can't wait to make a ring with it. This project will probably have to wait for a little bit though because there are supplies needed for this that I don't just have laying around, like a butane torch. I think it will be so exciting to make silver pieces for my jewelry designs.

hello Celia

Been too busy this week to blog but since I'm just talking to myself anyway no one will notice..... LOL

random thoughts

Who knew there was so much networking to do on the internet???? Well probably a lot of people. Not me though, I've been spending so much time finding out about feed, widgets, blidgets, links, referrals, other blogs, mom blogs, rating blogs and so on and so on. This is exausting! All I wanted to do was make some jewelry and get what I put into it back so I could make some more. How naive.

I went to a home jewelry show a few years ago and loved the stuff and bought some. The one necklace that I REALLY wanted was too expensive so I passed on it. Well, of course I had to obsess about it so I called the local bead store, which I'd never given any thoght to, and yes they carried semi-precious gemstones! OH NO! My addiction began............
Three years later I have more jewelry than I will ever be able to wear (well maybe I could try:) so I think I'll try selling it on eBay. Didn't work. Then I stumble across ETSY by way of Cathy Daileys (see side bar) website. She has gorgeous jewelry that is sooo my style. So I decide to try ETSY, which I think is a great place that not enough people know about. I love being able to help people try to do what they love and possibly make enough to keep doing it. If you haven't ever been to ETSY check it out, they have so many different items. There is a link to ETSY and my site on the top of this page.
So I ponder what to make next.....what is it that other people would love to have??? Maybe I'm in a rut, designing what appeals to me. But that is what I love to make so I guess I will have to just wait for the right people to come along that have the same taste as I do.......

widgets

what the heck!!!! I can't beleive how much there is that I DON'T know about the internet! Just heard about widgets.........too much to absord right now. Gonna go make a bracelet to relax me.
Have a good day!!!!
Celia

iPod touch

I love my iPod touch!!! Yes, I've become addicted to it! I have to have it with me at all times. I guess this is what it's like for people with a blackberry.

bracelets

These are a couple of new designs I just listed on my site on Etsy. I love the multi colored one with the beautiful focal piece in the center. I hope someone else loves them as much as me. I make all my pieces as if they were going to be my own in case they all end up in my jewelry box. :)

New creations

Family on vacation.............

I'm back

Back from vacation and trying to get back into everything, kinda overwhelming.

I realized on vacation that I'm spending to much time away from my kids with other distractions and before I know it I'll be wishing they had time for me.
My oldest is one year away from MIDDLE school and that freaks me out! I asked her to flunk a few years :) that probably won't keep her from growing up though.....
So until they back in school I need to limit my time here and with my other projects.

Later...............

Going on vacation

I'll be gone "up north" this week so I won't be posting anything new to myself till I get back next week. (LOL)
Those of you many people that are reading this (LOL) that don't live in Michigan may not know about "up north". Since the top half of Michigan is pretty much small towns and wilderness, alot of us take our vacations up north as we call it. Theres tons of lakes and rivers, so we'll be canoeing and swimming most of the time and relaxing of course.
I'll have to take my beading supplies too in case it rains one day, you must be prepared! I'm hoping to stop in Frankenmuth on the way up north because they have an awesome bead store there.
Later...............

My new bracelet

Well, this is what I created with that orange focal bead I love.

I'm not sure what the stone is but I love it!

Thanks!

What's your opinion?

OK, I made my new piece of jewelry today but it turned out to be a bracelet instead of a pendant for a necklace. I love it!!! I'll try to get a pic of it up, if anyone even reads this..........I'm probably babbling to myself. :)
Don't ever start making jewelry if you haven't already because it easily becomes an obsession! I get an idea in my head of some beads or stones that I want to use and can't get it out of my head until it's complete. And forget about going to a bead store and not spending a bundle!!!! There's always some little bead that catches your eye that you just gotta have!
I have so much silver and stones that I need to make something with and until then I'm trying not to buy more supplies.


Hey, if anyone does happen to stop by my little ol blog could you give my your opinion on the pieces of jewelry on my slid show????

next project

So, I'm deciding on my next design. I'll probably make something for myself with some new materials that I picked up at this awesome bead store in Frankenmuth Michigan called Bead Haven, should be Bead Heaven! They had everything you could possibly want or need to make jewelry.
I picked up this beautiful stone shaped like a very narrow diamond in a creamy orange color. It's about 2 1/2 inches so I'll use it as a pendant for a necklace, I just need to put it with some other pieces to see what I like the best.
I really want to make something with the oxidized copper that I pick up also. Maybe a nice pair of earrings.
I'm a bit distracted right now listening to my sisters Chihuahua and my Golden play together so I'm done posting for now.........later.

Etsy

I found Etsy about four months ago and I think it's an awesome site! I think it's important to support people that handcraft items because so many things are mass produced now. To be able to purchase something that someone put their heart and soul into making seems much more special to me than something bought off the shelf.
How many times have you needed to get a gift for someone and thought you'd really like to get something unique and special?? Only to resort to a gift card or something you need to give the gift receipt for. Who wouldn't want something handmade???? Don't get me wrong I love getting gift cards once in a while but for someone to put thought into my gift and get me something that fits my tastes and personality and that some real person made, that would be "priceless"!

finding time

Trying to juggle family, work, friends and hobbies!!!! Plus it's summer which means very few nice days in Michigan so I'd also like to spend a little time outside...........
Trying to figure out blogging and getting my etsy site up and out there has been taking some time but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it!!!???
If anyone happens to read any of this please feel free to give me some advice on blogging. I don't even know how people find my blog and get to it besides if I tell them about it.........

Well, I'm obviously not so good at blogging since it's taken me a few months to get back to this. I finally got high speed internet this week so maybe I'll get better at doing this. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

New to blogging

Hi, my name is Celia and I've recently opened a store on Etsy.com to sell my handcrafted jewelry. Since I've done that I thought I'd also try to start blogging, which I really have no idea how to do.