First Wish Continued

In my last post I shared my first wish completed. I learned the easy peyote stitch. But, I should have had the information before I posted of where I learned it from. My bad. I apologize! I was just so very excited I couldn't think of where I saved the information. Well here it is....

I subscribe to a blog www.jewelryandbeading.com and from there they have a post Best of the Basics online. A compilation of beginner tutorials. The one I found to be the most helpful for me, was from Beads East by Ann Benson. The video tutorials helped me to visualize better; the placement of my threads, how to start and end, and how it was supposed to look. There are others there as well. While getting the information to share, I even looked at another video for a stitch I was curious about, and guess what? I am trying that one today!

I would like to thank both the Jewelry and Beading Bloggers and Beads East, Ann Benson for their knowledge and sharing of these great tutorials.

It's a Start

One Wish down 19 to go!

I finally learned how to do the Peyote Stitch! I have been searching for a tutorial forever and finally came across one online that was a huge help. My problem was all in the begining and now it's a breeze. I'm hooked, addicted whatever you want to call it, I can't stop! My kids are encouraging me terribly. They have placed "orders" for their favorite colors and color combinations. The list seems endless. It's really not taking me very long to complete one little 5-6" bracelet either. Now to learn how to expand on what I've learned so I can branch off.

Wonder if I should make that another wish?

Twenty Wishes

One of my favorite things to do while relaxing is to read. I don't get to do this often, but when I find I'm reading a good book, my relaxing time often extends itself until the book is finished or I get to a point where I can put the book down for a minute or two. Being a business owner, this can be a problem. But, I've had to reschedule my work time to accomidate my kids being home from school for the summer, so that leaves me with a bit more relax time.

The other day, I read a book by Debbie Macomber, TWENTY WISHES. It inspired me to make my own list of 20 wishes. (And yes, I did read it in one day-Oops!) I figured a list of 20 wishes would be easy for me and fun too. As I was reading, I kept thinking, I can do this in no time and would have to start another list. Nope! It is harder than I thought. But I am having fun!

Want to make your own list of 20 Wishes? The sky is the limit. They are your wishes. Things that you want, miss, wish you had, wish you could do.
One line of dialog in the book can help, "Your heart has to let your head know what it wants". Hmmm. You could almost look at it like Aladin with the Magic Lamp, where a Genie comes out and will grant you 20 wishes, except there is no lamp and no Genie.
The characters also get creative in making their lists. One makes a Scrapbook with 20 pages and pictures to go with each wish.
The characters also meet with each other occasionally and share updates on their wishes. I don't think we can meet in person, but we can still share updates here.

What would your wishes be? Make your list to find out and share updates here!

I want to apologize to my readers for taking an incredible amount of time in posting anything.

The weather has been crazy here. The power has gone out several times and instead of just turning off my computer, I've had to unplug it. Can't always trust surge protectors. Then I got a case of Pink Eye (grabbed some old make up by mistake-not good) and got over that only to come down with a very bad cold. Then, while I'm down with this cold, my kids (10 and 9) present me with a huge problem of some kids threatening to hurt them. Goodness! Just not a good last few weeks for me.

The good news.... I'm back. The weather looks to be letting up finally. The cold is pretty much gone. And the issue with the big kids vs. my kids is fixed.

I will be getting posting Interviews soon along with other topics. Anyone interested in participating, leave your comment here.

Thanks for being so patient! Hope you have a GREAT Day!

Is it OK?

Is it OK to use a design you saw someone else do in a magazine, online or anywhere? Do you need to state the designer if you do? Can you sell that design?

Sure it's alright to copy a design you find and make one for yourself. People do that all the time. They'll do it to try a new technique, play with color etc. But is it ethical to then sell the design? Even if you use different beads or colors? A lot of people seem to be very torn about this topic. I am too.

Sure I look through magazines and I love to see what others create online. I even like going to the stores to see what I can make for myself. But, my style is basic stringing. Not much to that. For basic stringing, it's all in the color palate, stones, and findings used that makes a design what it is. For me to go and literally copy a design it would be to use the same stones, in the same colors, and use the same findings and that is an exact copy. Would I sell that? Nope!

Is it OK to take the basic pattern and change the stones and colors and sell that? I'm curious what you all think. Leave a comment and let me know.

Looking to be Interviewed?

I am starting a new interview segment here!

If you own your own website, design, create and sell your own products and are interested, please contact me. I have done many interviews on my other blog which have generated a lot of traffic. I am getting new questions ready and will hopefully be starting soon~with your help.

Once your interview is posted, I will send you an email with your link attached and you can view the post as well as link to it from your blog and/or website.

Looking forward to hearing from you.....;)

Time to Journal for Business

Do you remember when Oprah had suggested keeping a journal to write down your thoughts and feelings for 5 minutes or so at the end of everyday? I know it was years ago. But do you? I know she said to write down positive things and when you referenced back you would get all warm and fuzzy. Didn't work for me. I must not have been a positive person back then.

Then I tried it with writing down all of my thoughts When I was planning my wedding I filled up several notebooks with more than 5 minutes worth of writing almost everyday (I got so frustrated~but it turned out to be the best!). Since beginning my own business online, I've kept a journal (to keep me on track). I have been keeping journals on and off for over 12 years. It truly helps me keep things in perspective. It also helps when there are issues I just can't discuss with others who are not knowledgeable on what I need to talk about. Sure, I use a journal for ideas too, but I have a separate one for that. It's mostly for getting things off my mind. A write-it-and-forget-it type of attitude.

To start a journal is really inexpensive and easy to do. All you need to start is a notebook (college ruled works best~more lines per page~lol) and something to write with. A few moments here and there every-so-often and you are on your way. If you haven't tried it yet, I strongly suggest you do.

Do you keep a journal? Does it help you?