November 19, 2008 by GrandmaMarilyn.

Last night, I tore myself away from the computer and tried to do a Potawatomi chain for my gothic pendant but could not get it to come out right.  I will come back to this project later.

So, I switched to a yellow spiral to go with my RAW pendant.  Of course, I had to go to Ruby’s tutorial and refresh my memory.  Now this chain was working up really well and I continued working on it while I was in Corpus Christi at the doctors today.  I don’t have a picture to show you of the yellow pendant but as soon as I finish the spiral chain to go with it, I will post it here so you can see the whole thing done.

As stated in the above paragraph, Walter and I went to Corpus Christi to see a Gastroenterologist.  He informed me that he thinks it is time for me to have my diverticuli removed.  I get to go see the colon surgeon on December 11.  Hopefully if he determines it has to be done, he can do it during December since our deductible has already been met and I was already in the hospital once this year.

After that, I had to go give my glasses to Eye Masters so that they could replace my lenses with the new ones.  Oh joy, I have tri-focals now.  I am already getting used to them and they work really well for me to see the computer.  I think I might like these after all.  I told them I would give them 2 weeks and if I couldn’t get used to them I would bring them back to get just bi-focals.

We went and visited Walter’s nephew and wife while we waited for Eye Masters to call me and say my glasses were ready to be picked up.  No sense in trying to go shopping….I am blind as a bat without my glasses.  We had a nice visit while we waited.

After getting my glasses, we went and turned back in an enclosure I had bought for the hard drive of my laptop that had crashed.  I had bought the wrong size.  Hopefully I will be able to get an enclosure that the hard drive will fit in as I want to keep all of my beadwork things on it.  That would be super cool as it is a 20gb drive.  Or, if the 30gb drive works on another old laptop that died, I could use it.  We will have to wait and see what I can find.  LOL

Then we had a 2 hour drive back home and get the grandchildren from Granny.  We fed them and put them to bed and now is quiet time for me.  Thank goodness.

I think I will pull myself away from the computer again tonight so that I can work on the yellow spiral chain.  I really want to get that done as I think the set will look gorgeous together.  I think I need to make a bigger loop on the pendant so that it can be used on the chain or not….however the new owner decides to wear it.  Love dual capability in a necklace and pendant.

Have a beady night all!

Posted in Beading, Life in General | 1 Comment »

November 15, 2008 by GrandmaMarilyn.

Ok, everyone.  In the last week I have been featured in 2 treasuries.  The first one has expired already so you won’t be able to see it except for here.  The next one is from today so you will be able to go click and comment on it.

My first treasury was curated by Smadar of SmadarsTreasure.  She featured my Metallic Iris/Green and Green WonderDome Ring (top row middle).  This treasury expired on Tuesday, November 11 so you won’t be able to go and click and comment.

Posted in Beading | 4 Comments »

November 9, 2008 by GrandmaMarilyn.

Well, on Saturday, November 8th, I spent the whole day in Three Rivers, TX at an Arts, Crafts, and Gift Show. 

My daughter, Angel, and I planned to get up early to get things in the car and drive over there and have plenty of time to get the tables set up.  First off, I was up late trying to get things in order and make sure that I had everything ready to go in the car.  I couldn’t wake up when it was time to get up so was running a little late to begin with.  We finally got everything in the car and got off about 15 minutes late.  Not too bad, that wouldn’t hurt much.   I get down the road about 15 minutes and realize that I hadn’t brought the price list so that I could mark everything (which I had not done yet).  No time to go back home for it.  After much thought between the two of us, I decided I could call my hubby and he could give me the information.  So kept on going.  We get to Three Rivers and can’t find the community center where the show is being held.  I stopped at a gas station and asked and the little girl wasn’t sure.  So she went to ask someone and they said it was 2 or 3 block that way.  So I drive that way and still don’t see it.  I go to the other end of town and drive back again.  Still can’t see the place.  So I go to the grocery store and ask them.  I am pointed in the right direction and am told I have to be blind not to see it.  I ask if it is such and such building and am told yes.  Go over there and doors are locked and no cars.  Drive around some more and still nothing.  Finally in desperation, I flag down a state trooper.  He signals for me to pull over to the side and he will be back.  So I pull over to the side and he pulls in behind me.  I show him the paper and ask where the building is.  Guess where it was!  Right across the street from the building that I was trying to get into.  So we drive over there and get into the building at 8:45 am.  The show starts at 9:00 am.  But, at least we finally found it.

We find our table and rush to get everything in and on the tables.  Got everything where we wanted it.  Called hubby and got him to where he needed to find the price list on my Etsy site.  Wanted  to make sure I charged the same at the show as was on there so that if anyone used my business card to get to my products that the prices would be the same.  Daughter set up the jewelry table because she has such a good eye for that type of thing.  

After we set up the tables, I went around and looked at some of the other tables.  I especially had to go over and look at Wanda Huston’s table as she was the one that told me about the show.  She ended up doing fairly well with her table.

By 10 am, we had made enough to pay for the booth.  I thought that was pretty good and had high hopes for the rest of the show.  We didn’t have very much traffic.  I got a whole lot of compliments on my beadwork but none of it sold.  They did appreciate the amount of time and work that was involved in the creating of each piece.  What sold the most was the crocheted pot holders and crocheted top towel sets.  The funny thing is that when I tried to sell them before, they wouldn’t sell. 

Well, by the end of the show, we made enough to pay for the booth and about 1/2 of the gas for the whole trip.  We made some friends that I hope to see when I go to craft shows again……if we can afford for me too. Here are some pictures of the show.
See the table behind my daughter?  That is Wanda’s table.
Not a very good representation of my beadwork table but it gives you an idea. The children had been messing with some of the necklaces and stuff.
This is my table that had the potholders and crocheted top towels.

Posted in Art Shows | 7 Comments »

November 9, 2008 by GrandmaMarilyn.

The theme for the Etsy Beadweavers (EBW) team this month was Ancestral Expressions.  I couldn’t think of anything for it so did not enter.  But, there are 16 wonderful entries in this month’s Challenge.  It is now time to vote for your favorite.  Go to the EBW team Blog and vote for your favorite entry.  Remember that you can see the entry larger and with more pictures by going below the mosaic and clicking on the links to each one of the entries listed below.  Then come back to the blog and vote for your favorite on the right side of the screen.

Posted in EBW Challenge Voting | No Comments »

November 6, 2008 by GrandmaMarilyn.

GrandmaMarilynsToo is the name of my supply shop on Etsy.  I am currently placing books there that I no longer need.  Some of them have never been used.  I am what you would call a addictive collector.   I tend to go in cycles with what I buy or collect and go on a binge with whatever I am interested in at the time.  I plan to use them when I buy them or receive them……but, I never get around to it.   Currently, it is beading…..don’t count on getting beading books unless they are duplicates of what I already own.  Well, if I could find them all, I would know that I have quite a few duplicates.  Working on that.I have books on knitting, crocheting, and cross stitch.  I have a couple on dolls.  I even have one on the Ronco Flower Loom (which I don’t own).  I am adding more books daily….well as often as I can find the time with my busy schedule.  I still have a stack of doll books that I plan to enter….once I get the pictures of them.  Also many more of the type that have already been entered.I plan on adding some other items at a later date.  I have quite a few doll parts that I need to list.  I have some towels that have already been cut in half for the towel toppers.   Oh, yes, I can’t forget the yarn that I still need to upload.  Heaven only knows what else I will run into before I get done going through all of my boxes that have been stored.

Posted in Crafting, Grandma Marilyn's Too, Grandma Marilyn website, Etsy, Crochet, Doll Making | 2 Comments »