I finally have a tumbler!

Oh and it works so wonderfully!!! After attempting to purchase one through Harbor Freight online, I ended up cancelling it. They sent me one that didn't work (the motor was shot or something) so I sent it back and requested another one. But over two weeks later (today), I called and found out it was backordered until late December. After chatting about it in the Etsy forums, I found out we had a store here in Greensboro. Who would've thunk it?!?!? So, after work tonight, I went and got one from the store.

I've already tumbled two bracelets that I sold to a guy I bowl with and I'm now tumbling two rings and Ted's bracelet. Let me just say I don't see how anyone can live without one of these! It's so awesome! It takes the tool marks right out of the rings and shines them up super bright. I'm gonna have to get the jewelry I made for my boss' wife and clean it up for her really good. =)

Well, bowling last Friday sucked. I bowled two 158 games and one 148. It's way off from what I've been doing (I have a 172 average I think), but hopefully this Friday will be much better. I think my problem was the Strike Pot. You can put in 1$ and get a strip of paper with 3 or 4 strikes marked in any given frame for each game. If you get all the strikes marked, you win money. Right now the Women's Strike Pot is up to $4500 and the general Strike Pot is like $7000. You only get 1/2 the money in the pot, but that's still some major bucks. Of course, since I'd been doing so well, I decided to do the pot. When I bought in, I didn't look at the paper because I didn't want to have the pressure of knowing which strikes I had to get. Evidently that didn't help me because I was stressing and trying too hard to get 'em. I didn't do too bad... got 1/2 of what I needed, but of course 1/2 just isn't good enough. LOL Not sure yet if I'll try it again this Friday. But hey... if you don't try, you'll never win. =)

Ted's Christmas party was good. We ate at The Phoenix in Greensboro. It's a mixture of Japanese and Thai food. Of course I had Thai... Chicken with Basil and man was it good. It wasn't very spicey, but it did have alot of flavor to it. It was almost sweet tasting. I highly recommend this restaurant for special occassions, as it is a bit pricey for every day dining.

Tyler's 19th birthday is tomorrow. My baby is growing up so fast and I'm having a hard time letting go. He just got hired where I work, doing 3rd shift on an injection molding machine... full benefits after 60 days. I think that is so wonderful! I may have helped him get his foot in the door, but they hired him based on his great work. He is a hard worker! I'm so proud of him. We're either gonna take him out for a steak dinner tomorrow night or this weekend. Honestly... that's what he wanted for his birthday. LOL

I'm headed off to bed now. I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful week (and of course everyone who doesn't).

Ahhh... The Weekend is Here

and I am soooo very happy to see it. It looks like we (or I) have a fairly busy one with jewelry pictues to improve on, a Christmas party and some serious shopping.

I'll be experimenting with and retaking alot of my jewelry pics this weekend. As I get more used to my camera and it's capabilities, I find that the pictures I once thought were good (or at least halfway decent) are now crap. LOL Since it's dark when I get home from work, I only have the weekends to take pics outside. I figure this will fill up the majority of my daylight hours tomorrow and Sunday. I'm looking forward to it even though photography is not my favorite part of the business. I'm gonna try to find some interesting things to use as props. I don't know if I'll have any luck, but with a garage full of stuff, I should be able to come up with something.

We also have Ted's work Christmas party to go to. I'm looking forward seeing some of the people he works with. They're all really nice. Of course the guys are geeks, but I can talk and hang with the wives. They're having it at a Japanese restaurant, so I'm hoping they'll have Sushi. Mmmmm... yum! That's my fav now and I do crave it on a pretty regular basis.

Shopping... oh how I hate to even get out in the crowds. I do have to get some things for my son, then the majority of my holiday shopping will be done. YAY me!!! =) I try to order online when I can so I don't have to fight people for parking, wait in long lines, or wade through tons of other shoppers just to get to the next aisle over. I'm making 3 gifts this year... my mom's, my dad's and Ted's moms. I may make something for Ted if I have time and rings left over. I have no clue what we're getting Ted's dad, his nephew or my niece. So those will be the only 3 left to shop for. Not bad, I'd say.

Oh and I have bowling tonight! I almost forgot about that. Two weeks ago I shot a 244. Not the best score I've had (which was a 276), but it is great. I usually get high 100's with the occassional 200+. I think I'm finally getting used to throwing my new ball and it's working out pretty darn good. Wish me luck tonight.

I do have another Featured Artist this week... TofuNutloaf. Please check her out over to the right of the screen. If you click on her shop pictures, it'll take you right to her shop.

Have a great weekend!

I've decided to have a sale

What better time to have a sale than Christmas. For the next two weeks, I'm offering a 15% savings on all beaded and semi precious stone jewelry in my shop. Please see my shop announcement for more details.

I haven't spent much time the last few days on jewelry. I did make a pair of chainmaille earrings for the Christmas party last Saturday. Then Ted and I made two ornaments for the hostess. Ted said he didn't realize it had to be a guy gift and a girl gift until I mentioned it Saturday, so he rummedged around the house to see what he wanted to get rid of for the guy gift. He ended up giving his voltage meter (can't remember the real name of it) as the gift. I have to say, once it was opened, it got snagged up a few times, until the hostess, Jen, ended up with it again.

Sunday, Ted and I went supply and organizational item shopping. We ended up buying some ribbon for our ornaments and two 7 drawer tote thingies to store all the PC stuff in. We now have our kitchen table back to it's full functioning use of an actual kitchen table. =) And we actually ate dinner on it tonight. LOL I don't know how long it'll last, but for right now it looks nice.

I made my first Etsy sale today (thank you to the buyer). Got it packaged all up tonight and ready to ship out tomorrow. I don't know if she reads my blog or not, but it really meant alot to me that she bought an ornament!

Ok... I'm headed off to bed. I didn't get but 3 hours of sleep last night and it's hitting me pretty hard right now. Hopefully my kitty, Moe, will follow me up and snuggle with me. =)

Nighty Night!

Latest Piece

I just listed this gorgeous Sterling Silver Barrels weave this morning. It's been sitting on my work desk for a week, waiting for pictures to be taken. Since I don't get home from work until almost 6:00pm, it's already dark, so I have to wait for the weekend to take them. If you would like to read the description of it, click here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8182288.

We have our Softball Christmas party tonight, so I'm off to make a pair of earrings for my White Elephant gift. Ted said he wanted to make an ornament... not sure he'll have enough time since he's in Chapel Hill this morning, but we'll see. If he can't make it, I'm sure he'll come up with something else to give.

I hope you all have a great day! It looks like it's gonna be beautiful one! =)