Weekend Wrap Up

Whoa, it's been a long time since I last time I wrote a blog post. What have I been thinking? What have I been up to? We've been busy, I think. Since J has finished school, I feel like we're constantly going but not really accomplishing much.

I bought two new lens, which is fun. I bought a new macro lens and I bought a telephoto lens. I've been practicing using them. I've also been working on my composition and my photoshop skills. Slowly buy surely I'll get good at this. :-)

I've been so busy with work because the fiscal year ended on June 30th. It's always busy this time of year. We have to get a bunch of things finished up before the new fiscal year starts. But now the new fiscal year started and we can get back to a little bit of normalcy.

Our 4th of July was okay. We were very busy and traveled all over to see friends We cooked out a lot and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We had a few bonfires and made delicious smores. It was nice to spend time with our friends. But it was exhausting and I'm actually glad to be back to the normal work week.

I did make a little bit of time for beads! I finished a new custom order. I'm so happy with it and I'm hoping my client likes them as well. I now have to work on a few new patterns and look up some bead colors. I also have a few new cuffs that I need to get photos of them and then get them up on Etsy.

That's about it. Not really all that exciting. A little bit of beadwork. A little bit of cookouts. A little bit of enjoying the weather. Not much other then that. What has everyone else been up to? I hope everyone had a good 4th of July.  

Weekend Wrap Up

It's Monday! My birthday weekend (and week) just flew by. It was fun to hang out with friends, eat good food, enjoy some drinks, and have a fire. It was absolutely perfect weather for all of these things. Thank you to all of my awesome friends who helped me celebrate sometime this week. You

guys are amazing.

I got this amazing gift from J. It's a new DSLR to replace my 10 year old DSLR. I'm in love with this new one. It's quite a step up from my Canon Rebel XT (I think I might have mentioned this before, oh well). It's quite a bit larger and it has so many crazy functions. I can control it from my damn phone. FROM MY PHONE. Technology, it's crazy. I love it and I'm one lucky girl to have gotten such a great gift from my love.

I've been taking a lot of photos trying to get use to all the new functions and options. I'm in love, I really am. I've been mostly using the animals as my models, because I don't have much else. I will be able to take some pretty flower photos soon, but there is really not much blooming in the yard.

But a new camera also means new product photos. I've already started working on new photos and I can't wait to get a few new things listed. Hopefully I'll have some time this week to get new items up on Etsy. I think I can accomplish that.

After all the birthday celebrations (and our anniversary - 11 years), we did do some work around the house. I got the garden all ready to go. We installed new carpet on the porch, yay. J cleaned up the garage. See it wasn't just all fun and games around here ;-)

So what did everyone else do this past weekend? Did you fill the weekend with creative things or did you get out and enjoy the weather? I'd love to hear what everyone else did.

May the 4th be with you my friends.

Friday Freebie

Wow, it's Friday already. This week has been crazy! It seems like I've been busy every single day, oh yeah that's right, I have.

It was my birthday on Wednesday (Don't forget to use coupon code BIRTHDAY to get 20% off anything in my Etsy Shop). It was also my last class and the class decided to throw me a surprise birthday party (I knew about it, but it still very nice). We had cake and punch. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves. It was lots of fun. I really am going to miss all of them. I'm probably going to forget that class is over and just show up next week. I'm sad it's over, but I'm so proud of them. They accomplished so much in such a short period of time. They will rock it.

Speaking of birthdays, J got me a new camera. A Canon EOS 70D. I'm in love. I've only had it 48 hours and I can't put it down. It's quite the upgrade from my 10 year old Rebel XT. So expect a ton of photos, not just on here, but on my Instagram and Facebook pages. Right now they are only of the animals, but I promise to take some photos of beads. ;-)

But that's enough about that, let's get to today's freebie (I'll share more about this weekend on Monday).

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

Another weekend under the belt. Now it's time to get down to business.

This past weekend was a very productive one. I am now 99% moved into my new studio. Yay! I only have a few more things to accomplish and I'll be completely moved in. I'm so excited. I'm loving the new space. It makes me so very happy. And I can't wait for it to warm up here so I can plant some flowers outside the window. Yay flowers.

J and I also got some work done on the house. J's graduation party is at the end of May so we need to get our butt in gear. We took a trip to Menards and stocked up on new carpet, trim, paint, etc, etc. Good news, we used all our saved up rebates, so it cost us very little. I love when that happens.

I am also getting ready to teach my last class. I can't believe the month has gone by so quickly. Tomorrow is the last open lab and Wednesday is the last class until our reunion class in June. I am so proud of my students, they have accomplished so much in such a short period of time. I know they're going to do great.

Wednesday is not only my last class, it's also my birthday. Woot, woot. J and I are going out with my class helpers (that sounds funny calling them that) after class to celebrate.  And I'm patiently waiting for my birthday present. J got me a new DSLR. I've had my current one for about 10 years now, I think it's time to replace it. I'm super excited because it is a step up from my old one. I'm getting the Canon 70D. I am practically peeing my pants waiting for it. I've already started looking at new bags and lens and accessories. All things that I don't need, but want badly. I have not been this excited for something like this in a long time.

And because it is my birthday, I'm having a sale. If you use coupon code BIRTHDAY in my Etsy shop, you'll get 20% off your entire order. That includes clearance items and patterns. The coupon code is good all week (ends May 3, 2015). Help me celebrate my birthday! 

That's all I have. I hope you all had a great and creative weekend and I hope your week is filled with joy.

I'm on the verge of tears right now!

^^^WARNING, THIS IS A LONG RANT ABOUT ME AND FEDEX^^^
Scroll down to see my normal posts. I'm not an angry person, I've just had it up to here with FedEx.

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So many of you have listened to me whine about how my camera is broken . I'm really dieing here, I love to take pictures. But it's also affecting my business. I am unable to post new things in my etsy store or even share new things with people. It's not been a good time, I can only renew things so many times.

Let me start a few weeks back. I sent the camera to canon for some repairs, it had some bent CF pins and just needed some routine maintenance. A few days later I got an email that said that the damage was covered under the warranty and wouldn't cost a thing. Yippee!!! So I waited patiently, and last Thursday they said it was all fixed and would be shipped out overnight Friday. OMG I can't wait for my camera to be delivered. So I waited and NOTHING.

I called FedEx on Monday and they said it was still on it's way. So it has now taken you Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to get it here, for an overnight package. It only took the Postal Service 2 days to get it to NJ, and that was for the slowest, cheapest rate. Thank goodness this wasn't a sample being sent to my lab, it wouldn't be good any more. But okay, it's only a day.

So I check the progress, and notice it didn't make it to Milwaukee until this morning. It took from Fri to Tues morning just to get to Milwaukee, that seems odd? And for an overnight package it sure seems like it's stopped at a lot of different facilities. Again this seems odd. But I don't really know that much about the shipping industry.

So I call up FedEx for the third time, and of course I have to go through the 20 min of automated menus. Then I ask "is my package out for delivery?" and the reply is "of course it is, it should be there before 4:30." Okay, so I'll leave work early because normal people work until 4:00/5:00.

So I pack up my stuff at lunch and head home. And at about 1:30 the FedEx guy shows up. So now I've sort of forgotten all my hatred and started to get giddy.

Well one of the 1st things out of the guy's mouth is, "does this feel wet to you?"

WHAT? DOES THE BOX WITH MY DIGITAL SLR FEEL WET? IT BETTER NOT!!!

So the guy marks down that it was wet and late and goes on his marry way.

Now at this point I'm still not pissed, a little irritated, but not pissed. I look at the box, it got so wet that the box has now done that shriveled, wavy thing paper does when it gets wet. The tape isn't even sticking to it any more. It's okay, I tell myself, the camera is wrapped in bubble wrap and in a second box, it will be fine.

I cut open the box, and take out the second box and guess what; IT'S ALSO WET, you can see where the water damaged the box and everything inside of it is damp. OMG, my camera. So I grab the card and the battery, pop those babies in, and then.......... no pictures. It will take pictures, but nothing shows up on the screen. The LCD works, it just won't display newly taken pictures.

So my first call was to Canon. Thank god they are so damn friendly. I got to talk to real person right away and was transferred to a tech who tried to help me out. He then said it needed to come back and he would make sure Canon paid for shipping (UPS this time) and the camera would be marked expedited. So I get to send my baby back in for repairs.

I have already written a nasty statement to FedEx about how they were completely irresponsible and that if the camera shows sign of water or moisture damage I will be filling a claim. I plan on emailing and/or calling them every day until I get some sort of response.

The bad thing is that this is not the first time I've had trouble with FedEx. They are constantly loosing things, or claim they can't find the house. Both me and J have received damaged items. It's just too much and I vow never ever to use FedEx again, if I have another option I will use it. A woman can only take so much before she breaks, and this is too much. I am not an angry person, I just am so upset at this point!

SO FEDEX, I WILL NEVER EVER SHIP A PACKAGE WITH YOU AGAIN. NOT A PERSONAL ONE, NOR ONE FROM MY BUSINESS. YOU SUCK!

Okay I am done with my rant (for now) and things can get back to normal.