Trying new things - decoupage, etc.

It takes a lot of effort to run a jewelry shop on a gazillion different venues, and sometimes it's just nice to try something new. Something got me inspired to try decoupage and other different styles of jewelry. I think I get bored easily. One of the nice things about trying something new that you aren't even convinced will work is that you get majorly involved in the process and forget about everything else. Here is my first successful decoupage work: a pendant and matching earrings. The decoupage is only part of the pieces, there was still plenty of beading to do!

I call these pieces, Psychedelic Swamp!

pendant

earrings

Blog-stipation

Argh - I need to update more often! Workspace today... February 22, 2010. Can you tell my muse is generally on a creative crime spree? LOL. She takes no prisoners...unless they're crafty.

Who Wrote the Book of Love?

Look at this cool Treasury by TAGLine Designs! My Love Hurts necklace is in good company!

Enjoy, Lori

The 2010 Valentine Video!

Those of you that follow my blog, know that I like to make goofy videos. Here's this year's Valentine Vignette! Enjoy!!



~Lori

Market Research-2010 Color Trends

I subscribe to Gift Beat, and they had a very interesting article in their last issue about color trends to watch for 2010 from Sherwin-Williams, the paint giant. You can view the palette in detail here. Here's a screen shot of what to expect. If you click the link above you can delve further into the colors. There are 4 themes for 2010: Rooted, Treasured, Simplified, and Refreshed. Pretty, huh?
Color always inspires me like crazy! Hope you enjoyed!

~Lori

Obama-The Perfect, The Good, The Ugly

In case you haven't heard, there's a huge election in Massachusetts today where Martha Coakley (D) is in a Senate race for her life and the life of the Democratic majority in the Senate against Scott Brown (R). Coakley's run a lackluster, obtuse campaign and Democrats are having a collective freak out because Ted Kennedy's seat may go to a tea party candidate whose convictions run as deep as friendships on Jersey Shore. Oy. This is not good. A Coakley loss could mean the 'death of healthcare.'

Throughout the entire lead up to this election, Obama and the White House have made many miscalculations that are probably going to cost them. As a proud member of 'Obama's base,' I offer where I think Obama and the greater 'Obama machine' went wrong.

Incorrect Assumptions...

1. The vibrant base that elected Obama would somehow become tone-deaf once he got into office and behave as sheep pining for a shepherd.

WRONG. Why? Who do you think Obama's base is? Folks who have no access to technology? Folks who ran off into the hills after the election, waiting for smoke signals about the 2012 race? No. The base who elected Obama...their lives are filled with nuance. We aren't ignorant. We understand the difference between a public option and an exchange. We understand what it really means to allow insurance companies to compete across state lines. We're sickened by vote buying and lame-ass elected Democrats. We despise bail outs and pointless wars. This is 2010, dude. We tweet all damn day. We practically know what you ate for lunch.

2. Any attempt at bi-partisanship is better than none. Oh, and it's noble, too.

WRONG: And WRONG. We have a -0 respect for Republicans in general, and quite frankly, we don't understand why Obama has any at all. Why campaign effectively against Republicans and then throw all of that momentum in the crapper the second you enter the White House? Have the Republicans done anything to help you or the country? No. They blew the 2008 election by thinking that running an empty vessel for Vice President was even more fabulous than the empty vessel who ran this country for 8 years. (They called you a terrorist, remember?) They risked the basic security of our country for their own political gain FOR 12 YEARS IN A ROW. Can we please not aim for a baker's dozen here?

This isn't a Montessori school exercise in social graces. This is the United States of America. The Republicans presided over a corrupt war; they drained our economy to fund it with mercenaries from Blackwater and cost-plus contracts to Haliburton and KBR; they tortured and imprisoned people for nothing; they took their eye off the real terrorism ball; they presided over a gargantuan theft of wealth by bailing out Wall Street, and they called anyone who questioned their actions in this regard un-American and un-patriotic. Today, they show up at mis-named rallies with goofy ass hats, tea bags, and absolutely sick posters.

At this point, striving for bi-partisanship in this climate is the actual unpatriotic thing to do.

3. The perfect can never be the enemy of the good.

WRONG. Why not? Sometimes the distance between good and perfect is a country mile on a foggy day. The perfect is always the enemy of the good. They're supposed to be enemies. If they weren't, how would we know what we're fighting for? Where are the standards, the goals, the benchmarks, the platform shoes of our platform? There's a difference between the good (a dirt road) and the perfect (a paved road) when that dirt road runs backwards at no lawful speed limit (dirt road and all that) and crashes into the same trees that it was trying to get away from. Who's going to fix that car? The perfect mechanic who was overlooked for the good one? Turns out 'the good one' doesn't even work on cars. He works on motorcycles. Whoops, our bad. (Come on, he looked so 'good' on his resume.)

4. The best time to expose your backbone is after you've had the crap beaten out of you in a Democratic state.

WRONG. Granted, I'd like to see that backbone again because I'm starting to think it was a temporary medical procedure or something, but mirages aside, if this is what it takes to get Obama riled up, then someone in the White House has let the perfect be the enemy of the good for waaaay to long.

Mr. President, your base was so fired up after your election that we would've moved to the moon to outsmart Al-Qaeda. Now, we can't even outsmart a tea bagger in Massachusetts. We don't want to look that stupid. We're the liberal elite, remember?

~Lori

The Capitol Necklace 14K gold by Lanyapi

My Memory's Not What It Used To Be

I have a difficult time remembering some phases of my life. Part of that is from years on Topamax, or as those of us who tired of it, 'Stupamax.' I took it in an attempt to regulate my migraines, but I don't take it anymore. Anyhoo, there are huge sections of the first 40 years of my life that I don't remember. I've been cleaning out my apartment lately because I have an irrational fear of becoming a hoarder (lol-thank you A&E). In the process of this cleaning, I found a box of years of canceled checks. I started to flip thru them and some of my memories returned. I'm going to use them to reconstruct my life and write about it here.

So, here goes nothing...

January is Organization Time!

January is a popular month for re-organizing. I freely admit that I love organizing my beads as much as I enjoy making jewelry with them. I hardly ever throw away a container without thinking, 'I could put beads in that!' Here are some interesting organizational options from our handmade friends at Etsy:

Distressed Brown with Aqua Flowers Desktop Organizers

Large Knitting Needle Case

Get Organized Chalk Vinyl Labels

Trendy Trash Brown Dots, FREE SHIPPING

Coupon Organizer Jezebel

Tan & Blue Stripe purse organizer

twenty 10 calendar

*whew* Are you inspired yet? You know you are!!

Until next time, Lori

My new shoes...

Of all the gifts/purchases made this holiday season, I am the most stoked about my new shoes. I'm a Keds girl. I love them and they fit me perfectly. I have several really cute pairs already, but these are the latest additions. I adore brown. I wear it constantly.

Hampton style!

Savanna Velvet Grey Slip On!

I love the sneaker. Love it, love it, love it!

BOGO SALE - Buy 1 Get a Clearance item FREE!

♥ BOGO SALE THRU 1/10/10. BUY 1 GET A CLEARANCE ITEM FREE!

♥ Free CLEARANCE item can't be more than $3 beyond your purchased item price. Ex: If you buy a $9 pair of earrings, you can choose a free item up to $12.

♥ Request free item in notes to seller at a checkout. Don't put it in your cart.

♥ Limit 5 free items.

Behold the New Coffee Table

So a couple of days ago, I blogged about the new sofa I got and the fiasco that ensued when we finally ended up hoisting it over my 2nd floor balcony. Well, also got a new coffee table. I specifically wanted one that I could use as a storage as well because I need more storage! So, I bought this coffee this thinking it was a solid piece of wood. It's not. It actually has a shelf that pulls out underneath it! This was fate because it gives me the perfect place to store (most of) my ridiculous plethora of beads. Behold...

The coffee table in standard mode:

The coffee table with the shelf pulled out:

A close up of beadle-mania!

I'm too ashamed to photograph the bookshelves full of findings or the other 2 storage towers. I need help, omg. Hope you're having a good Monday!

~Lori

My New Year's Nightmare

Today was one of the most insane days of my life. I awoke excited and determined because my brother-in-law was bringing new furniture I'd purchased--a new coffee table and sofa. My existing coffee table and sofa were Ethan Allen originals and 35 years old. The new sofa is a gorgeous deep dark mocha brown. Removing the old sofa wasn't easy because it's heavy as hell. We thought that would be the hard part. But no. Turns out the new sofa I got was too wide for my apartment door. We took the door off the hinges. Still too wide. There's also an artic wind blowing thru here today, so we had the door off, the sofa stuck in it, and no way to stop the wind. My friend, Brian, who'd come over to help, ended having to sit in his car to keep warm until some moving guys I called could come help us. Eventually, they decided hoist the freaking sofa up to my 2nd floor balcony and bring it in like that. Seriously.

The coffee table I purchased, my BIL didn't think it was kit, but it was. Turned out to be pretty complicated to put together. I took my friend, Brian, out to dinner for helping me and freezing his butt off, and he called me on his way home to tell me he'd gotten a flat, and he was stranded in the freezing cold dark. I changed back into my clothes from my pajamas and drove across town to pick him up and get him home.

We'll deal with the flat tomorrow. I'm exhausted!

Good-bye 2009. Me Likey, Me No Likey

Well, it's time for the last blog post of 2009, so I'd thought I do a little recap of what made me happy this year and what didn't.

What me likey about 2009 (in not particular order):


*Having a president who's intelligent, knows the English language, and is respected throughout the world.
*My customers!
*Having Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. I think she's doing an amazing job. She makes me smile.
*Launching the Handmade Highway. It's 6 months old and has over 350 members, and it was featured in the year-end double-issue of Gift Beat!
*Spending quality time with my adorable nieces and getting closer to my sister.
*Finally watching an episode of Project Runway and realizing that it's not Project Runaway as I'd previously thought. I was expecting a documentary about homeless kids. (We finally got Bravo here.)
*Adding some real cool pieces to my Risky Beads shop, like Taco Salad, Autumn Orchard, Linguistic Courage and Winter Sugar.
*Mad Men, Hoarders, Modern Family, So You Think You Can Dance, Glee, Men of a Certain Age, CSI anywhere, Criminal Minds, and any other show that I'm addicted to.
*Getting amazing feedback from the readers of my book Make It Small When You're Trying to Make it Big.
*Loving that my youngest cat who is by far the biggest cat can finally accept affection. She seemed clueless before. I wonder if the fact that I work from home now has been the difference.
*Making some true friends from the handmade galaxy.
*My best friend moving back to NC. We have so much fun together.
*Rachel Maddow.
*New furniture and computer arriving any day. Good-bye Ethan Allen albatross. It's been real...uncomfortable.
*Being in charge of my own destiny and working for myself.
*Discovering some amazing Etsy shops: Funktional Spa, Crocheted Little Things, Blue Pie Designs, Lavender Lore, Tattie Tats, Lynsey and Harper Confections ...and so many others.
*Throwing away a bunch of crap.
*Lopez Tonight on TBS. Watch it; he's hilarious!
*Panera Bread. You own me.
*Reading Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Julie Gregory.
*Improvements in Twitter.
*Improvement in my overall health.
*We got a good amount of rain.
*Former President George W. Bush because at least he knows when to shut up.

What me NO likey about 2009 (in no particular order):


*Still need to lose weight.
*Losing access to health insurance.
*Tea bagging haters who don't even know what tea-bagging really means, lol.
*The mysterious disappearance of Obama's backbone.
*Glenn Beck--the only right-winger who can cry on TV and not be branded a liberal.
*Sarah Palin and her Facebook psuedo-prophecies.
*Cat litter. It's too heavy and a pain in the ass.
*The inability of lawmakers to grasp the concept that we already have a Public Option for health insurance in this country. It's called Go To the ER and Don't Pay the Bill You Can't Afford. I'm willing to pay for my insurance; you just have to let me.
*Afghanistan, and our approach to fighting terrorism. It's misguided. We need fewer troops on the ground and more spies in the hot spots.
*Throwing my knee out.
*Not keeping up with this blog!
*Airport security that isn't.
*Severe writer's block. I wish they made a pill for that.
*Joe Lieberman.
*Discovering, yet again, that the minute I find the perfect perfume, moisturizer, shampoo, etc., it gets discontinued!!!
*Dick Cheney...although watching his very public slide into lunacy by way of De Nial is kind of entertaining.
*And as always, grocery shopping. The bane of my existence.

I'm sure I'm forgetting things in both categories, but that's enough for now! Happy New Year everyone! Bring on 2010!

~Lori

First image is Train/print by Tosya on Etsy. Second image is Angry Mob Print by dpsullivan on Etsy.

Inventory Reduction Sale thru 1/1/10!

Snowstorm Encapsulated Silver Plated Pendant, 20% off = $13.60!

Happy Risky New Year! Take 20% off your entire order at Risky Beads thru 1/1/10. Please convo or reply to this email with your order so prices can be adjusted for you. Spend over $50 and receive free shipping as well! Earrings are still buy 3 get 1 free and you can take 20% off of that as well! Offer not valid with other discounts or coupons.

Thanks for your business!

Lori

Nifty Gifts-The Sequel

This episode of Nifty Gifts focuses on gifts for your co-workers, employers, etc.! Let's get busy! First up is Lynsey & Harper Confections and their DELICIOUS sweet treats! These ladies make some FAB-U-LOUS goodies! I bought some cookies for my mom for her birthday, and she went crazy! She loved them! They have gift baskets as well!



Next up is Shelley MacDonald Designs. Shelley makes beaded flatware, jewelry, and desk sets. GREAT gift for that co-worker who has everything...you know, like your boss!



Let's head on over to EcoTropical Crush! Check out these eco-koozies for your beverages! $10 each!



Please don't pass up an opportunity to visit the Snowman Collector! After all, snowmen don't last forever! Talk about a great idea for a Sekrit Santa gift!



Next up is beaded votive holders from CiCi's Beaded Art. Aren't these cool? Talk about original!



Meet Sweetirie. Look at these adorable zip pouches, lanyards, and key fobs! Very affordable! You could put a gift card in the pouch and make your gift a 2-for-1! She even has a unisex section and gift sets.



Last up is Miss Franny's Christmas Ball. Ornaments are a great gift! What about starting an office tradition and getting a new one for the office Christmas tree each year? What a great way to give a gift to your co-workers and save money in these tough times. She makes commemorative ornaments featuring famous lighthouses, states, etc.



Okay, I hope you're ready to shop now! Good luck and have fun! You can find all of these sellers and about 350 more at Handmade Highway! See more nifty gifties in the first episode.

~Lori

SALE this weekend!

Take 15% off your order this weekend at Risky Beads! This little guy really needs a home. His name is Downsized.

these times

they are tough

as I'm sure you know

look what happened

to this guy

no bailout

for snow.

He's already had to go thru life with a horrible name and only a head, so have a ♥ why don't ya, and adopt him before he's just a carrot. :(

Sale is valid at Etsy, ArtFire, and Zibbet. If shopping Etsy, please convo first so I can adjust your price. Use coupon code at checkout at ArtFire: 15pRB. Prices are already adjusted at Zibbet. They make it easy. At Etsy, I have to do each one at a time and my shop is too big!

super sekrit: Sign up for my mailing list at time of purchase and get an extra 10% off 1 item. Just say 'sign me up' and give me your email address.

~Lori

Nifty Gifties - A Handmade Holiday Night on the Town

I find some of the coolest things when I'm browsing, and I buy a lot of them, lol! Here are some that I've come across that would make a great holiday gift or stocking stuffer! First up is Deb Taylor's Secret Stash cuffs at Bluepie Designs at Etsy. These cuffs are brilliant. On the outside, they're a fashionable, trendy accessory. On the inside, they're a super-sekrit wallet of sorts. I bought 1 of these for 1 of my nieces and one for me. At $15, they're a GREAT gift. Just think--if you're going out to party on New Year's Eve, just stick your ID, your debit card, a little cash, a little protection (lol) [yes, she makes these for men, too], and your keys. Boy, will you look FAB-U-LOUS as you ring in 2010!

Now before you go out to tie one on, be sure to lather up with some Gin and Tonic Soap from Funktional Spa for $5! I personally don't drink, but now I can pretend I do in the shower. I keep falling down a lot, so maybe I should re-think that.

Now, if you get to the party and realize that they're serving Cristal champagne out of a keg and you forgot to bring your own funnel, never fear! Simply whip out this festive We Be Drinkin' painted glass from The Curious Crab for just $8 and keep the party going!

And if you're worried about the effect that the holidays are having on your waistline, never fear. Paula at Picard Creations has the answer for $4.95!

Okay, now you can't carry your phone in your Secret Stash cuff, but try this awesome ECO case set for glasses, ipods, cameras, phones... from EcoTropical Crush. Just $10! (I want those red glasses... are you listening Santa?)

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're swamped this time of year; you can barely keep track of your day time schedule , much less your evening! Well, the Java Girls have an answer for that with their Pink Pedicure Themed 2010 Pocket Planner for $6.40!


Now, if you're amazed that you even made in home in one piece, then test drive this Home Sweet Home sleep mask from BibBon for $12.

So now you have NO excuse for not being fully prepared to enjoy the holidays! Stock up and head out!

~Lori

See more nifty gifties in The Sequel!