Great Deals and Fun Tutorials!

I think today is a day for lightness. I found great deals and fun tutorials to share with you.

Get 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Have you heard of Bundle of the Week? Every week is a new topic and you can buy a bundle of five different ebooks on that topic. I LOVE that idea. This week the topic is Paleo as in a way of eating. More and more people are interested in "getting off the grid" as much as possible. People see the value in sustaining a wholesome and healthy life through energy efficiency and savings, growing their own food, creating their own textiles, and believing through sustainable living we will survive this difficult time in history, like our greats and grandparents did! And how our ancestors ate is what a Paleo Diet is all about. Paleo diets are based on fruit, vegetables, nuts, and meats. For those people who are sensitive to gluten, this diet is a very healthy way of eating.

This bundle includes the following ebooks:

• The Paleo Miracle by Joe Salama
• The Paleo Snack Recipe Book by Suzanne Crawt
• Eating Out and Traveling on the Paleo Diet by Aglaée Jacobs
• Toadally Primal Smoothies by Primal Toad
• Paleo Ice Cream by Ben Hirshberg

$10.00 bottle openers!

Karen Thomas has great prices, but now through the 17th of June she's having a great sale on her Beadable Products! She has different kinds of bottle openers, wine stoppers, serving utensils, pens, key rings, swizzle sticks, and beadable bangle bracelets! Great and easy ideas for Father's Day!

 

I'm also having a great sale for a week 50% off EVERYTHING! 

Use coupon code CLEANOUT50 at checkout. 

 Here's one of my favorite tutorials, this Shambala bracelet. I just made my second one last night! TooCuteBeads has a lot of nice tutes; here's my first one.

Here's a wonderful tutorial by Bizsugyar that is simple to follow, simple to execute, great for using my lampwork beads, and very high impact and beautiful! 

The language is not English, but the pictures are worth more than 1,000 words! The supplies are easy to get from the craft and/or hardware store. 

If you like DIY's check out my Pinterest DIY board!

LookBook: Pansy Skies

Pansy Skies is one of my favorite beads. I love how perfectly balanced the amount of colors and the placement of dots turned out. I have an issue with color...more is better I say, but not necessarily better looking. Often my work looks like (at least to me) I just didn't know when to stop.

Margie Deeb

Some people have such a talent in the area of color, and two "masters" I admire are Brandi (Brandi Girl Blog) and Margie Deeb.  

Brandi Girl Blog

There is so much inspiration, but never enough time or money to create all the things I would like. I think that is what I love about websites like Pinterest and Polyvore. They let me plan to create. Here I planned to create a necklace with Pansy Skies using complimentary beads by Lori Bergmann. I had a lot of fun designing an entire ensemble around my imaginary necklace, including a FABULOUS pair of shoes I can only think about wearing!

Paired with beads by Lori Bergmann

If you ever want to see how I would design jewelry with my, or even your beads, subscribe here to my blog, follow me on Polyvore, or just send a request.

Even better, create your own designs with my beads and share them with me on my Facebook page; I'll give you a coupon for 15% off if you do! And if you "Like" my Facebook page I'll give you ANOTHER coupon to combine for a total of 30% off!

Yeah! New Beads listed!

If you want more information you can go to my shop here. Keep your eyes open because I have a few more listings coming up AND a new posting format including "Tubes n' Tutes Tuesday" "WeDesire Wednesday" and "Free Bead Friday"!

More Than a Pretty Face

I love Pinterest! It's not just a bulletin board on which to pin pretty pictures; it is a place to communicate ideas and inspirations in all areas of creativity. I have had a need to create all my life and when I can't do it, I dream of doing it.

When I was a little girl I used to make puzzles by making a huge drawing on multiple sheets of binder paper. The only one I remember was of a nude woman; I think my grandmother found it and I got in trouble for it. I've always been fascinated by the human body, especially the mechanics of it; I guess that's why I used to dream of being an investigative coroner ala "Quincy" and why I love making goddess beads.

Teresa Laliberte is my Goddess Bead Muse

 I remember in Junior High School I would make replica drawings of the fruit that was on paper lunch sacks and my friends would ask me to make duplicates for them. I still love the bright colors and balloon shapes of fruit; maybe that's why I like beads by Heather Trimlett. I also remember learning to sew, and being pretty good at it; and I remember being the Queen of Hearts in the school fashion show/play (I wanted to keep forever my self designed and created playing card costume!)

Beads by Heather Trimlett

Courtesy How To Draw Cartoon

All along the way I liked to
save all my markers and crayons and I had a penchant for quirky ink pens; I still have scores of them! One of my favorite gifts was from a friend of my mothers, for whom I used to babysit; it was a book of geometric shapes, drawn like fractals, and I would color the designs I saw in them.

SO MANY inspirational color books on Amazon!

 For the last year I've dreamed of deviating from glass bead making and going back to seed beading/weaving. I am so inspired by Zen Tangle drawings. I've also loved the art of Mary Engelbrecht, which I was reminded of today by the following video....which I found on Pinterest!

Before I show you the video, I want to share with you my experiences of creating. More specifically, I want to show you my experiences with road blocks. This video shows me that I've been standing in my own way all along. I know what I love and how it makes me feel to do what I love. When people call me an artist, however, I shrink back from the compliment and deny any possibility of it being the truth. I am driven to create by my emotions, my passion for colors, and shapes, and details. I constantly accuse myself of not being able to control my use of those elements I love, that I don't know when to stop, when enough is enough, and in the process I ruin my "art". I know I am not alone in this feeling, so if you are with me, and you feel the same way, I'm here to tell you, I've found proof that we are so wrong about ourselves!

This video is amazing. This artist, Rach of ArtfulEvidence, is amazing. She uses a million techniques and as she creates she is fearless in her continued pursuit of what she enjoys, not being dependent on what the outcome is but only what is happening in the moment. She makes a beautiful start with color and technique and proceeds to evolve and develop and add more, more, more, and at no point is it ruined, or destroyed, or "too much". It is layer upon layer of joy and experience and giving into desire to add another color, another detail, another technique. And I kept saying, "When will she stop?! WHY will she stop?! Yes! That's the important question, Why?!" Funny, I wrote that "I've found proof" before I knew her Etsy and Blog name, "Artful Evidence"! Get it? GET IT!!!

Mona, Mona, How Does Your Garden Grow

Well the first week of September has come and gone. Kids are back in school, I'm back to work,  and soon it will be frosty. It is hard to believe this gorgeous weather will end soon. Well, it won't "end" but will  transform to crisp, frosty, and snowy, another beautiful weather here in Arnold.

Click the Pic to see all  my garden pictures!

It is also hard to believe that my garden is finally producing fruit! I hope the rest of it gets a chance to mature before the first frost. I have a gorgeous zucchini that I JUST found, but it's already 3+ inches  long; lots more new ones showing too.  I wonder if the female flower at it's end is telling me to pick the fruit; I know that if you pick the bloom the fruit stops growing...does it matter if the bloom is dried up? I have two baby tomatoes at the site of my first blossoms. Green beans aren't done, but I only have a few flowers. Next year I'll have to plant at least 3 times the amount and stagger plantings so I can have larger and longer harvests. Cucumbers are amazing looking! Big ones are growing in the pot near the roots, the flowers are still coming, and the longest vine must be 4 feet! I FINALLY have peppers, well the buds at least. I checked to see if  the carrots are ready to harvest but the shoulders are still deep under the surface. I've been using the basil a lot; the more I use the more the plants produce.

I emailed my subscribers a new update on my web site. The update includes beads that have not been listed yet; they are exclusively for sale to my list subscribers, and they make an  offer instead of me setting prices. If you want in on that deal, you need to subscribe to my web site by clicking here. You also will get 15% off of your next purchase and the coupon doesn't expire!

Murder at Half Passed Midnight

Halloween will soon be here. To get me motivated, my dreams gave me the worst nightmare I've ever had! I retell the story on my website. Click the Pic to read it.






 I also tried out some of my hardware store findings to make a bracelet. What do you think  of it?  It's kind of wide and top heavy, but I love the beads, the style and the colors.

 Lampworker Extraordinaire, Jennifer Geldard,  introduced me to a  new blogger and she's Hilarious!! Check out Pintester: (Effing up Pins so You Don't Have To!)  here! 

My Favorite Pins

Speaking of Pinterest, I love  it! My home page looks like a Pinterest page! Here is a collection of my favorite pins this week. Click the Pic above to see them!

Besides watching both political conventions, I did put up new listings of beads and Jewelry this week. I made lots of posts to my web site.

I am thinking about making an official FaceBook page, but I'd like your opinion. Please take my poll and leave an opinion by clicking here.

New Dawn, New Day, and I'm Feelin Good!

I made new beads today for a custom order, and a couple for fun and to learn a new technique. Click the picture of the beads (below) to be redirected to my NEW WEBSITE, where  you will see all the new beads from last week.When you subscribe to my new website you get 15% off your next order of beads!

Come check out my new beads here!

My garden continues to grow, and soon I will have tomatoes and green beans to eat!

See the zucchini developing!?

My first tomatoe blossom

Green Beans will be ready in 2 inches!

I watched a couple movies this week, and I posted about some of my existential discoveries. Click the links in the pictures below to read all about it!

Isaac is back in school, we've been watching Dr. Who, and I'm back to work, finally, with a  great substitute teaching position that will keep me busy through September!  (Read about by clicking the pictures)