Feb Glymm Box

My Feb Glymm box arrived this week. I have to say I have mixed feelings about this one. To start off the bamboo cleansing cloths that were missing from my Jan box were not in this box either. So that was disappointing. Included in February's box was the following.

A full size 11ml bottle of Sula Paint and Peel nail polish in Berry. I'm not in love with the whole concept of "peeling" off nail polish. The color is pretty but I doubt I'll use this product as I am really hard on nail polish. Value on this is 9.00

There is a full size Burt's Bee's tinted lip balm in Tiger Lily. This I love! Burt's Bee's is one of my favorite lip balms and the color is subtle yet nice. Value is 7.99

I also got a 7ml size sample of Glam Glow mud mask, which I'm fairly keen to try. I've been doing a weekly facial mask and trying a new one is always good! Value on this is 10.00

I also got a sample of MAI Couture 2-1 Oil Blotting paper, this was disappointing. It's a 2 3/4 inch x 2 inch small sample sheet. It just looks sad to me, almost like a full sample size was cut down and sent. I've got oily skin so I am interested to see how it works how ever I doubt the size is big enough to get a good idea of that. I'm putting a value of zero on this as 100 sheets is 24.00 and this must be 1/4 a sheet?

So my value for this month was 26.99 with a couple disappointing products in there. The Burt's Bee's has made me feel a little less let down, it's a great product. But the rest I'm not so excited about.

Turn your life around

Mark you calenders!

March 3rd is blog hop reveal day!!

Here's a little sample of my bead soup from Nan Emmett. I've got lots of ideas mulling of what I might do with it!

Hold strong

Hold strong in the face of adversity. Crisis is nothing to fear, it's a way of moving us on to the path of right direction. Holding strong means having faith and letting go.

Ikazi Dolezall

My Valentine's LuxeBox came today!

I'm always excited to get my Luxe Box, it makes me feel special every time. This month was no exception what a great box!

I was really excited to see a 25 ml bottle of Morrocan Oil I just started using this exact product while I was in Tucson and love it! It's value is 10.00

There is a 30 ml bottle of Mereadesso body balm that smells heavenly, a little bit of lemongrass scent I think. I love anything that smells yummy! It's value is 8.00

There are three samples of the Redken Color Extend shampoo and moisturizer which I can put to immediate use as we head to friends this weekend. These are perfect travel size and will last the whole trip. I'm not putting a value on these as they are sample size.

A Lise Watier 24 hour glam mascara 5ml size in a very cool cow print patterned bottle! I love my mascara I'm currently using so this will go into my gift box and will be given to someone else. Value 13.75

I also got a bonus sample of Mereadesso Face and Neck firming gel can't wait to see if this works.

Included in this months box is a 3 issue subscription to Flare magazine! Only a 3.50 value but I think it's a very cool idea to add it.

So my value for this months box is 35.25! A wonderful gift for my 10.00 subscription!

What I did today

Today I tackled something that's been driving me crazy for months. Our tackroom has been a disaster since fall of last year, the door hardly opens, there are piles of tack and clothing all over the floor and Roddy's bronc saddle dumped in a heap on top of it all. That sentence made me realize it's been a mess since spring! Roddy broke his shoulder promptly in spring of 2011 and his saddle has been sitting in a heap ever since, it hasn't moved! Which makes me realize how LONG this place has been a mess. See photo below, taken from the door which I had to shove hard to get it to open even that much.

Today was the day, it's pouring rain so I decided to finally tackle it. Since there was room in the alleyway of the barn (YES you read that right NO car parked in my barn!) I took everything off the floor of the tackroom and moved it into the alleyway of the barn.

During that time I un earthed 7 count EM 7 bronc saddles?! I had no idea, and from the look on Roddy's face when I told him there was 7 in there I don't think he knew he'd amassed to many either. Here's hoping he decides to sell off a few! I also found the slats to go into the trailer windows for winter hauling, something we've been looking for for years. In fact we'd given up and had more made! I also found the new purple haynet I got for Xmas about two years ago, the feed bags for the two horse trailer, a pair of clippers from my school horse days and a few old trophies.

It took several hours but I'm much happier with the way the tack room looks now. I've gotten two saddles sorted out to sell (YAY!) and hoping we can figure a few more to part with. You can see the floor and the door opens now!

Bokamo Designs

Part of what I really enjoyed about Tucson and the Whole Bead Show was the chance to meet fellow artists. So I thought I'd share with you one of my favorites. Bokamo Designs is a husband and wife team, Steve and Terry Rhoades. I met them in one of the suites at the show and I really liked their work.

Steve works in boro a lot and it's always nice to see another boro beadmaker. To quote Terry "Steve was an electrician by trade and bought himself a torch and a kiln and taught himself to make beads. He watched videos, trial and error and picked everyone’s brain that he ran into that was making beads Then he came home one day and told me he had told his boss “he wouldn’t be in for a while”. Hmmmm! You might have thought that he would have discussed that with me. However as they say – the rest is history." Their first show was Bead and Button 2002.

They have a blended family, they have two daughters, Steve has one son who is also into glass and was in the bead business for a while. They have 3 granddaughters – 4 years and 2 year old redheaded twins! They are their pride and joy. Again quoting Terry "We thought we enjoyed our kids but grandkids are even better. We also have a little black malti-poo that is Steve’s baby (especially since Steve is home all day unless he is traveling). And we are planning a wedding for May of next year for our youngest daughter."

I loved their swirl earring pairs, they gifted me a pair I cannot wait to make into earrings! Thanks guys!

They also make Bokamo Exclusive Clasps that are stunning. All you jewelry designers out there NEED to add these to your finding collection. Well made and with the added touch of clasp cabochons they really are eye catching.

You cannot protect

You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.

Jonathen Safran Foer

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'll admit as a child Valentine's Day was not my favorite day, I got teased a lot. But as an adult I do enjoy it. It gives me a day to make a date with my husband and to make a special effort to say I love you, something I do not think we do enough of. Days get busy and often we forget to make special notice of those we love. If it takes a special day of the year to make me stop and take note, then I say "Thanks Valentine's day" for reminding me how much I love my husband.

Falling out of love

I remember when scrapbooking came out thinking "where has this been all my life". I bought paper, books, scissors, punches, more paper, stickers, more punches and paper (again). I put photos into albums lovingly created mainly my husbands rodeo pictures and articles. I spent hours chronicling the years, fussed over page layouts and carefully detailed events. Then slowly it became an effort, papers sat at the table for weeks then months untouched. And finally I lost interest in it. Some days I wish I could re spark my interest in it, but I can't it just seems like way too much work!

Have you fallen out of love with anything?

Aftermath of Sabino Canyon

Just when you think you are fit something comes along to let you know otherwise. Our Sabino Canyon hike has made me realize I am no where near as fit as I thought. I've been stiff for 2 days! Mostly my shoulders today, I think from the backpack. But yesterday my lower legs were pretty tight!

We headed back to the west coast yesterday, it'll be nice to be home. I head back to home tomorrow, one more day in Washington today then the early ferry tomorrow morning.

I am hoping to bring back some sunshine!

Sabino Canyon

Today we hiked Sabino Canyon. It's a park area about 10 miles outside Tucson, you park at the bottom and a tram takes you up through a canyon for about 30 min to the top. We got out there and hike up some switch backs for 1 mile, then hung a right and hiked about 4 miles of gorgeous trails. Cacti like I've never seen, alpine meadows, rock formations and wild flowers just starting to bloom. It was some of the most stunning scenery I've ever seen. About 3 1/2 miles into the 4 mile hike it got high and ran along the edge of some rock faces and drops with no vegetation for buffer on the downhill side. Some of you know I have a fear of heights, well, did it ever kick in. I did ok for about 10 min or so, then we kept having to go out around a rock formation and turn a corner, and there was more uphill with yet another rock and corner, then another, it kept coming and coming. I had a full on panic attack. We had about 30 min of that type of trail to do before it started to go back down and level off to where I could breath without sobbing. Then we came down to come pools along the creek and back out to the road for a 1 mile walk back to the car. All in all about a 6 mile hike, and what a gorgeous hike it was!

A new day

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

J.B. Priestlet

More Tucson, a magical day

After a lazy start to the morning Andrea and I headed out to sightsee around Tucson. We headed for Saguaro National Park. Wow, I think I must have said wow at least a dozen times. The cacti are amazing, the views breathtaking. Fresh air and gorgeous scenery was just what we needed.

We soon realized we were heading in the direction of the Desert Museum another place we wanted to see and decided to stop in. What a magical place. Many different desert settings to see from every cacti imaginable to riverside creatures. Bobcats, mountain lion, otters, raptors, coati and then the magic happened for me. The hummingbird aviary. Like walking into a magical fairy land. Dozens of hummingbirds flitting about, several momma's sitting on nests. You can walk through and watch them feeding from the many feeders. I was standing watching a feeder across a bit of brush and a little hummingbird flew straight across the brush at me, up to my face, hovered, dropped down and touched my hand, hovered back up to my face and flew away.

My heart skipped a beat.

It was one of those moments you have to make yourself breath.

We spent quite a bit of time in the hummingbird aviary, it was hard to make ourselves leave.

We headed back out a different way through a bit of a higher canyon with more gorgeous views. Went to dinner with friends, laughed, listened to their gorgeous children tell stories, laughed and most importantly relaxed.

Came back to our hotel and I decided a hot tub was a good idea, as I wandered across the parking lot to the hot tub a little breeze picked up and I could hear the coyotes calling.

While sitting in the hot tub looking up at a full moon I had to wonder, how could anyone not enjoy their time in this magical area? Day two draws to a close with me thinking more positive thoughts about Tucson and my bead show experience. OH! I forgot I got to see the new venue for the Whole Bead show tonight, it looks great! I love the atrium, I think it's going to bring new exciting things to the show for 2013.

Tucson 2012 - Whole Bead Show

The Whole Bead Show at Tucson 2012 came to a close for me today. And what a show it was. My first time coming to Tucson I was very nervous. The first time at any venue let alone one as large as Tucson can be really daunting.

The crew at the Whole Bead Show laid those nerves to rest pretty much upon arrival. I was impressed with the way the show was so well run, the selection of vendors but most of all I was really touched by the care everyone puts into everything they do. I really don't think I can effectively put into words the feel this show has.

What I can say is I this, I've realized that people complain a lot about every little thing. I listened to vendors from other shows jumping ship, complaining about a lack of sales, complaining about traffic etc I could go on and on. BUT and I really believe this is a big important but, vendors need to start taking responsibility for their own sales more. Pick a good show (like Whole Bead "wink wink") and back it fully. Stick by it's hard working staff, shout from the hilltops how good it is, bring something new and exciting to the show for your customers to see, promote yourself before during and after, make friends with other vendors, learn about them and what they do, make and EFFORT!

I've realized how much effort the staff at Whole Bead Show put into the show and how much effort I need to put into it as well. It was a learning experience and hugely positive one for me. I thank Andrea for the chance to come, and the whole crew for the support.

The Whole Bead Show Tucson is changing venue's next year, it'll be closer to other shows. I have no doubt this will be a positive for the bead show and am looking forward to see what exciting things this brings. So remember for 2013 to go to the Viscount Suites on Broadway for what I believe is the best Tucson experience going.

A relaxing soak in the hot tub was the perfect ending for a perfect show. I'll blog more about classes and vendors once I get home so keep an eye here for more input about my Tucson experience.

How I fell in love

I fell in love with glass many many years ago. I remember a glass blower at a produce style farm I used to visit as a child. I remember him blowing those clear glass animals and ornaments. I used to spend at least an hour there every time I went, I wound up working in the trail ride area of the place and managed to watch the glass blower often. I think that is where I first fell in love with it.

When did you first fall in love with your medium? Who inspired you to learn more about it?

Live life

We have all been placed on this earth to discover our path. We will never be happy if we live someone else's idea of life.

James Van Praagh