Friday Freebie

Oh my, it's Friday already. It's been so crazy busy here. I've been trying to finish up the gold beaded gauntlet before the end of the month. I met my goal, oh yeah. And J and I are both trying to get ready for his graduation party tomorrow. It's one of those huge, invite everyone you know party. I'm sure it's going to be fun, but boy it's always a lot of work getting ready for it. So that's what most of my day will be; cleaning cooking, etc, etc. I'm hoping for a little bit of time to work on my solar system project, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen.

But that's enough about that, let's get to that freebie (and I need to get my butt back to work).

This is such a neat freebie.  This pack contains one quick page.
 
Don't have My Memories software, don't worry about it.  You can use my promo code, STMMMS11215, to get $10 off the My Memories Software and then an additional $10 off any purchase in the store. That's a pretty cool deal. The My Memories folks have some really great scrapbooking things. And even if you don't scrapbook, the software and extras are really awesome. I don't scrapbook, but I love the software to make interesting blog post pictures. I even used it to make some labels for my homemade granola bars, so J wouldn't have to guess flavors anymore. Just use STMMMS11215 to get the discounts.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and stay creative.

Weekend Wrap Up

Wow, what a weekend! It was a busy, happy, celebratory time here! J graduated with his masters of engineering. Well, technically he graduated in December, but he got to walk the stage this past weekend at the UW Madison ceremony. It was a full day, that's for sure.

We had to get down to campus at 9:30am to pick up his gown and have class photos taken. I entertained his parents while he did this (we got some coffee/tea and sat at the terrace). He had decided to forgo the large UW ceremony (it was all graduates in Camp Randell) because it was very hot and humid and he was more excited about the afternoon ceremony (oh yes, there were two ceremonies). So we headed downtown to get some brunch (and I got myself a couple of bloody mary's). After brunch we headed up to the Kohl Center for the ceremony. It was a nice ceremony with all the engineering graduates.

I am so proud of everything he has accomplished. It's not easy getting a masters degree while still working full time and remodeling a home. I don't know if I could have done it. I'm proud of him and what ever the future hold for us.

And even though it was a super busy weekend, I did find a little bit of time to work on my latest custom project. I better hurry up, this is due next week. Fingers crossed I get it finished in time.

So how was everyone else weekend? Did you attend any graduation ceremonies or are you getting ready to do that? Did you enjoy the weather or did you have some of that scary spring weather? I'd love to hear from you.

Friday Freebie

Hello Friday, how have you been? I wish I could be enjoying you (translation: getting work done on my custom order that is due by the end of the month), but I'm stuck here in the lab. Yup, as I write this, I'm sitting in the lab waiting for an assay. So much fun. Now I know what you are going to say. "You shouldn't be on the internet while you're working." Before you get your panties in a bunch and try to report me; today is my day off, I'm not even supposed to be here (aka, I'm not getting paid for this. Well I guess I am because I'm salaried, but I still only get paid a 50% salary and I've already worked 20hrs, so again, I'm not getting paid for this.) I digress. All I'm trying to say is I wish I was in the studio working on things that need to get done instead of sitting in the lab (also, I've been here since 6 am, so I maybe a little crabby). Good news, I shouldn't be here too late, so I should get home early enough to get some beadwork done. Yay!  (I love my job, but sometimes it's frustrating when you are working on things your student should be doing but is apparently too busy to do).

Okay, I'll stop. I sound like a whiny baby today. I'm just tired and cranky, I'll get over it.

This week has been okay. I've been busy, busy, busy in the lab (hence the crabbiness). I've been playing with and enjoying my new camera. Updating and adding new items to the shop. J and I have been working on getting a few things finished up around the house before his graduation (it's next weekend, oh my). Nothing too exciting here.

So I'll just get to this weeks freebie.   

This is such a neat freebie.  This pack contains seven page elements.

Don't have My Memories software, don't worry about it.  You can use my promo code, STMMMS11215, to get $10 off the My Memories Software and then an additional $10 off any purchase in the store. That's a pretty cool deal. The My Memories folks have some really great scrapbooking things. And even if you don't scrapbook, the software and extras are really awesome. I don't scrapbook, but I love the software to make interesting blog post pictures. I even used it to make some labels for my homemade granola bars, so J wouldn't have to guess flavors anymore. Just use STMMMS11215 to get the discounts.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and stay creative.

Weekend Wrap Up

Why hello Monday. I guess this means it's time for me to start my week. Blah. Well, not really. I really do enjoy Monday's. I know it's weird, but I enjoy getting back to a normal routine and getting things done. Not that I didn't get things done over the weekend, I was a hard working girl this past weekend.

I've made pretty good progress in the studio. I am so close to having the new studio finished and ready to go. I got my small storage containers up, now they just need to be alphabetized. I got shelves up in the closet and things put away. Now I just need to build my bead storage, find a counter top for my torch area, and put up a shelf or two. And I'll be all set. Super creativeness can once again happen. :-)

I also got a little bit of work done on my beaded tin. The sides of the tin are now painted a nice glass black. The only thing left to do is decide what I want to do with the inside of the tin. I might add some leather or I might just paint it. I'm not sure. But I am pretty happy with it so far. I'm hoping to get some better photos of it soon. Photos that really show off it's beauty.

I also got a little bit of work done on a custom order. This is the beginning of a bead and stud leather gauntlet. I'm really excited to see this one finished, but it's a lot of beadwork. So I'll just keep working at it and I hope to reach my deadline of the end of May. I really hope I can accomplish that.

And finally we did get to have a little bit of fun. It was a good friends birthday, so we went out for dinner and drinks and a show. Here they are with the musician while J tries to take a photo. It was a lot of fun and a nice break from all the work.

So that was the weekend here at Casa de Three Fates. What did everyone else do? Did you do something craft/artsy or did you enjoy the nice weather outside?

Weekend Wrap Up

Wow, last week was quite a week. It was so crazy, I forgot to write my blog post on Friday. Sorry about that. But I think I'm caught up (I sure hope I am).

So what happened last week?

Well Wednesday was my first Entrepreneurship Class. It went well. Okay, who am I kidding, it was a train wreck. Okay, maybe not that bad. There were a lot of technical issues that popped up and it took a lot of time out of the class to deal with them. I think we have come up a with a good solution for this, so it should be smoother sailing from now on.

So the end of my week was redoing my lecture for Saturday and trying to figure out how to make the class run smoother from now on. I really didn't get a lot of time to work on anything else before the next class.

Saturday was the long 4 hour photography class. This went a lot smoother then expected. We almost ran short on time again, but the classes are filled with a lot of info and there is very little time to do it in. It was a loooooong day, about 7 hours to be exact. But I'm very proud of everyone in the class and all they've been able to accomplish so far. And J rewarded me with a dinner at the Old Fashioned, so I was happy with that.

I didn't accomplish all that much on Sunday. J and I did some house/yard work. A little spring cleaning. I worked on class stuff a bit. I also did a little bit of work on a custom order. The weather was beautiful, so we took the little pug pug up to the park to play for a bit. Nothing too exciting.

Now I have to get my butt back into the swing of things. I need to work on the studio a bit. I need to work on a custom order. I need to work on Wednesday's class. And I need to continue working on my product photography and getting new items listed (like millions of triangles). 

What did everyone else do over the weekend? Anything exciting? Anything crafty? Or did you just relax and enjoy the weather? I'd love to hear from you.

What's on the bead board

I'm working on a custom leather order right now.  I'm about half done with the studwork.  There are going to be almost 700 studs on this gauntlet when I'm finished.  It's quite the project, but I think my client will like it.

I'm also working on a second beaded tin.  Here is the progress I've made on the embroidered top.  Okay, I've gotten a little bit more work done since I snapped this photo, but not that much more.  I'm having a lot of fun working on these.

 
And last but not least, I'm working on a custom rainbow triangle necklace.  I'm excited for the colors my client has chose.  I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of the week.  I'll get some photos posted as soon as I can.  

Busy Week

Mamma, are you done yet?

This is going to be quite the busy week.  I'm still recovering from my first show of the season and then going out that night to spend time with our good friends that were back in the states for only a couple weeks (I had a lot of fun and wouldn't have missed it for the world).  Plus, I'm still sick.  What ever this is I got, I sure wish it would go away.

Then J has a huge interview on Wed with the University.  He's so nervous (he has to take a test) and has been preparing for this interview since he got home from class last week.  I hope him the best and I'm sure he'll do great.

I also have my second show this Saturday.  We have to be set up by 8:00am.  That's after a 30 min drive to get there and 1-1.5 hours to set up.  I am just dreading Saturday morning.  But it should be fun.  It's in Sun Prairie (the same town as last weeks) at Strawberry Fest.  They have a whole bunch of things going on, so I'm hoping that the attendance is really good.  And the weather is supposed to be beautiful, which will be nice.  Hopefully I'll do a little bit better then the last show.  2010 Show Dates

Peridot chips on pink triangle

I'm still trying to be as productive as possible this week even if I'm exhausted.  I've been working on triangles.  They seem to be something that I can work on to calm myself down and relax a little bit.  Which is what I need right now.

This is one that I just finished, actually I finished it up at my show last week (sorry I used my phone to take the picture).  I used peridot chips as little fringies.  I didn't start thinking I would use the peridot, but while I was making it, I remembered I had the chips and thought they would go great with the pink and bright green seed beads.  So I added them.  I think they really add a lot to the triangle.  I've seen people add fringe and other accents to the triangles, but I've never tried myself.  I'm very happy I did.  So I guess I'll have to try this again with some of the other chips I have.

Well I'm off.  I have a few more things I need to finish up before my show this Saturday and I have to make sure J is as relaxed as possible tonight.

*Thank you to everyone who gave me pointers on my set up for shows.  I'm going to try a few of them this weekend and see how things turn out.  I'll have pictures next week.*

What's New!

So I thought I would share a few pictures with you. This is what has been consuming my life the last few weeks. MY NEW LAB!!

So here are a few pictures of the new lab I'm helping to start up. It's a very time consuming process, but it's such a great opportunity for a young researcher assistant like me. And introducing myself as the lab manager to reps doesn't hurt either. Hehehehe!

This is what a lab looks like when there is nothing in it. As you can see we don't even have chairs yet. (I know it looks nothing like the labs on CSI, well, no lab looks like that, even fancy new ones.)

I have a room full of empty shelves, drawers, and cabinets that are waiting to be filled with fun new research equipment. And that is all I've been doing for the last two weeks.

Luckily I have finally started to get in supplies, so the shelves aren't as bare any more. I have a handful of items (beakers, flasks, tubes). So the shelves have started to fill up. There are so many things you use everyday that you don't even think about.

I don't even have a computer yet. I've been working on my personal computer for a few weeks now. Some day the computer will come. Someday all my equipment will be here and we will be able to start some science soon, yay!

I'm very happy here all the people seem like really nice people to work with. Change is good, and I'm very glad that this change was forced on me (even if it didn't seem like it was a blessing in February).

I'm hoping to have the majority of set up done by next week, so maybe I won't be so exhausted when I get home every night. I've been putting in a lot of hours right now, but it's totally worth it. Then I'll have time to finish the cuff I'm in the middle of right now and maybe drag out the photo tent and take some pictures of a few new things I've been working on. Next week I promise to get back to beady goodness.

And of course the ever happy Captin Epi who watches over the rotor keys for the centrifuges.

I also should have new puppy pictures by tomorrow, I'm going for a visit tonight.

Sorry for the Absence

So I have been completely absent from the online world lately. I've had so many things happen all at once, it's just been crazy here. I ended my research position with pathology and started a new position in a different department. J started a new class; which is Mon and Wed and lasts till 9:00/9:30, so we don't get home until 10:00 those nights. I don't have a car because my tires wore really funny, and they are a danger to drive on. So I'm waiting on my new set to come in. It's hard not having a car. It's killing me. Also my mom's dog just had puppies. Don't worry I'll have pictures and the back story this weekend. They are super cute. And now that it's summer, well a free weekend is a thing of the past. So it's been crazy here and I want to apologize to my readers that I've been seriously behind on new blog posts, new item, etc., etc. I promise to be back to normal in a week or two.

I do have one thing to show off. With all the craziness that's going on, me and J went out and got ourselves new phones. We both were using 5+ year old phones that didn't keep a charge for more then a few hours, were acting up, and well, they were just old. We've never been the couple to have the most trendy phones, we pretty much just needed something to make phone calls with. But after my PDA crapped out on me last winter, I needed a replacement. I have been looking at smart phones for a while now, trying to decided which one is right for me. I needed one that had a large screen like my PDA, one that had WiFi, so I could get my email on the road, one that had maps or GPS (oh did we miss this after the PDA died), one that was easy to use, and of course make phone calls. So after doing months, and months of research (hey I am a research assistant), I decided on one.


Me and J both got iPhones. It was a difficult decision, with all the cool smart phones out there, but the iPhone met both of our needs. And I can say, I have used it extensively since we got them. I have a bunch of apps that make my life a lot easier, I have pictures of all my work uploaded, I have Internet access where ever I am, and it is a whole lot of fun. This is a picture of mine in it's crazy bright green case (sorry for the picture, I took it at my desk at work). I really am happy with it, and I'm learning about new functions all the time. This phone isn't for everyone, but it is a perfect match for me and J. (and J's dad loved it. I've never seen him interested in something electronic before, but he couldn't put it down that last time we were over there. It was cute.)

So as I said before, I'll be back to my normal self again soon (I hope). Please keep stopping by to check for me returning to normal. I'm working on my next challenge piece. I'll have pictures of it soon. This one is crazy.