New Hobby?

Well, not really. Sometimes you never know what will trigger your interest on something. I was cleaning my daughter's room a month or so ago when I stepped on one of her trinkets. It was a key chain with a pink butterfly and some plastic beads strung together. I thought it was really cute and would make a nice zipper pull. That was my main idea--start adding zipper pulls to my silk wristlets (I still have to add some to my site!!). I wanted some glass beads and maybe some Swarovski crystlals. Before I knew it I had accumulated so much stuff I decided I'll make a couple of earrings and charm bracelets for my daughter and I. The thing with beads is you just can't buy a couple of stones but you have to get a whole strand. To cut the story short one thing led to another and I decided I had spent so much on supplies I might as well start selling them.

Photographing them wasn't that easy. The purses are lot easier. I just go in the back and shoot. So I had to buy a small photo tent and some photography lights (an added expense, mind you). Removing the backgrounds was a pain ( I did a couple) but I have been looking online and I have seen that most have backgrounds that had been artistically blurred. I think it is really pretty and requires less time for me to prepare the pics for my site.

Small acorn earrings with unakite stones.

Love these frosted lucite flowers I call "wedding bells".

Amethyst Czech fire polished glass beads. I love the blurred purple background--I didn't even know my camera can do it.

Pink and purple glass beads with Picasso luster which I have named "romance"

Striking cobalt blue glass beads.

Antiqued silver tulips that tinkle when you wear them!

Blue glass beads with azuro coating (darker than Aurora borealis finish).

Sweet sixteen pink lucite flowers. Very sweet.

Check out my jewelry collection here. Hopefully I can add more within the next few days.

Okay I am done with my show and tell. Until next time. I have a giveaway coming up to stay tuned!

Finally--an embroidery machine!

Hello there. It's been awhile! Well I have finally bought an embroidery machine a, Janome 9500 ( about 2 months ago). I have always wanted one way before I started making purses. Since the closest Janome dealer is 2 hours away I decided to buy it online. I paid it off right away and I am so happy with that. I have been very good with not using my credit cards. My new motto--if you can't afford it, don't buy it!

I was sitting by the kitchen waiting for the UPS guy. I was so excited.

I finally found time to make a purse for me for a change. I haven't had a chance to put this on the site yet.

A gift for one of daughter's friend.

My first online order.

Another gift for a friend of my daughter's.

This one is for one of my retailers.

Another purse for me

These are the fonts available. It took me forever to do this. I have to test drive all of them make sure they stitch out really well. Then I took pictures of most of them and took the backgrounds off. I am quite proud of myself it does look really nice, don't you think so? I am slowly updating my site for monogramming but it such a hassle.

It is so much fun and when I can find time I will embroider some pillows for my daughter and I. Holiday shopping has started on the site so I have to be prepared. I am somewhat nervous and excited at the same time. Have a fabulous day!

Fay--The Aftermath

Well--one down! You might have heard about the widespread flood all over Florida. This is the worst that I remember. Not even past hurricanes caused such massive flooding. The storm actually came late since it was predicted to arrive at midnight but actually the relentless rain actually started at about 6:00 am.

This was about lunchtime. That bird is probably Sam. He's a permanent fixture in our backyard. He was so cool-- oblivious to the pouring rain and 60 mph wind! At this point I was getting worried as the water level kept getting higher.

By mid afternoon the strip of grass had all been covered with water and the lake and the small creek had merged. I was thinking we were certainly going to get flooded. We have a strip of grass before the backroom (where our three bunnies stay)but it didn't take long to get the water this high.

The day after. What a mess! At least we didn't get flooded.

Outside around the neighborhood. I was thinking well it wasn't so bad the water will receed soon. Well I spoke too soon because when I tried to get out to the main street the water was knee high!

Hurricane 2008

Here we go again! Living in gorgeous Florida is synonymous with tropical storms and hurricanes. We are not in the direct path of Fay but we will experience wind gusts of about 50 mph arriving midnight. I went through Andrew in 1992 and two back to back hurricanes (within 20 days each other) Frances and Jeanne in 2004. I am proud to say I am as prepared as I can ever be. Unfortunately for some they do it when a storm is approaching. I should have known better than to go to the grocery last night. On top of back to school shopping people were doing hurricane shopping and I was in line for half an hour at the check out counter!

I have been doing laundry because power failure is expected. In between loads I was trying to finish orders so hopefully they can go out on Wednesday.

My daughter is supposed to start school tomorrow. She had everything ready--uniforms pressed, new backpack filled with tons of pens and fancy binders--oh well she got an extra day of summer vacation!