There and Back

I have had such a whirlwind weekend I do not know if I am really back or just physically feeling the woes of vendor booth aftermath!

This past weekend I had a booth set up in Bend Oregon for the Bend Summer Festival. It was wonderful! Of course the weather did not make up its mind until after we left. On Saturday we had hot weather, over 90 from what I heard. And on Sunday there were winds and barely 68 degrees. I did have one of the best booth spots in terms of the light though. Ok, so the sun was a little warm about 4pm on Saturday, but it just made everything sparkle!

We had a fabulous time and now it is time unload the car and take inventory on what I have left. I know it's not much from when we were loading up it only took about 20 minutes instead of 60 minutes the previous night. A lighter load is always a good sign.

A New Bead Stop in Town

Have you ever written a "How To" before? How to make cookies, or how to make earrings, or how to plant pea's in a peet pellet? Well, with kids in 5th and 6th grade, I have had a lot of experience in how to speeches. So when I was approached to do one for a website I thought it to be an easy task. I have to admit, making the item is so much easier than writing down step by step and remembering to take pictures at each step. But I managed. And I forwarded it to a person that has started a site that has a lot of these how to's for the rest of us.


The site is called My Beads Club. It just launched its opening two weeks ago with a bang! Click here to go directly to the site. These are some of the great opportunities you can enjoy with the membership:

Here`s what you can enjoy -

1. Unlimited access to bead patterns and make jewelry projects, View as many as you like, choose from over hundreds of patterns and videos for necklaces, bracelets, earrings, special occasions, wedding, and home ware. All projects are fully illustrated with step by step instructions providing you with all you need for years and years of making beaded jewelry. Once you get going there`s no limit to what you can make...

2. FREE "Funky Beads" book- when you sign up today, downloadable quickly with 20 unique jewelry making designs by up and coming NEW designers. Retail Price $19.99 (Lulu.com & Amazon.com)

3. GREAT discounts on our special monthly offers area.

4. FREE report on how to sell your jewelry for a profit. Do what you love to make lots of cash -dont miss this one !

5. Monthly competitions, enter your jewelry designs to win and show off your talent !

6. FREE Monthly Newsletter with expert tips, advice on making beaded jewelry and new finds, beading discounts and much more...

7. Each and EVERY month we will be adding more and more new and exciting designs for you to try for all levels of expertise.

8. Plus there`s more "how to make beaded jewelry" videos to watch, including lots more projects to try.

**Pictures shown are from mybeads.com. This is a glimpse of what is currently available.

So be sure to check out mybeadsclub.com and see what it's all about. Come back here and tell me what you think!

Finally catching up

It has been well over a week since I have been here last. I have lost track of time and have been enjoying the great weather we have had. It is nice to see summer has finally arrived!

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my mom, my oldest daughter, and I went to Portland for a bead show. It was a wonderful drive. Well if you consider 5 hours in the car wonderful. But it was more getting to spend 5 hours visiting with my mom, which I do not do a lot of. I am guilty of going days without talking to her. So it was nice in that respect.

When at this bead show, there were some lampwork artists there in a second room. The Beadwife and Harvest Beads were there with some absolutely beautiful work! I found a pendant similar to this that made its way home with me. This is Amazonia. So after a BIG dent in the pocket book, we continued on our journey. I found so many pretty things though!


We stayed in Salem for the evening and on Sunday we went to Schreiner's Iris Garden. They have over 10 acres for the public to walk around and view all the beautiful iris there are. We spent about 2 hours and most my phone battery taking pictures! my daughter managed to get my mom's phone and was video taping the family acting strange and silly. Schreiner's has every color iris imaginabele. I wish I could mimic the colors of the flowers in my work. This has always been my goal. I wish I could put every picture on here so you could see such beautiful colors in these flowers!
This place is just amazing. As you drive down Interstate 5, you just see rows and rows of flowers! When you turn off it is even more impressive when you are able to walk through the flowers.


After we got home, I hung out with chickens and butterflies. I just wish I could get the butterflies to hold still long enough to get a picture. Instead I have action photos of our new baby chicks. Actually they are almost 6 weeks old. We have also been working in the garden and you would not believe the size of my strawberry plants! And I have blossoms on my raspberries too! No, this is not facebook. Although I do spend a little bit of time there.... ok maybe I am there often. OK! I am there every day! You dragged it out of me!!

I have not worked too much with the jewelry. I guess this means that come Monday, I have to get back on track. I will be in Bend in July and will have more info on that event as soon as they update me.
Have a cool and springy day!