Therapy Thursday ~ it's for the dogs

In need of a good laugh? Then check out this post - My dog: the paradox - at The Oatmeal. It's full of dog humor and sweetness.

Even our dog Chunky laughed out loud - except not at the part about fireworks and staring contests with cats. 

This post at The Oatmeal was so popular that it's been turned into a poster ~ you can purchase it here.

Follow The Oatmeal on Facebook here.

HAPPY THURSDAY!

(it's almost Friday)

Sneak Peek Tuesday ~ What a Hoot

With the holidays on the horizon, I want to have more "ready-to-wear" options for my customers. So I'll be making more earrings in the coming weeks. Earring pair beads are some of the hardest beads for me to make - unless they are mismatched earrings. But not everyone is into those, so I'm trying to make several pairs where the beads match. It usually takes a few tries to get a good match, but yesterday it took only three beads.

I think the two middle owls will work well as earrings. The little guy on the right is a good match size-wise, but his eyes are a little crazy. The larger owl on the left is a new design I'm working on - adding a little heart to one side.

So watch for the little blue and raku owls to be hanging out on sterling silver ear wires in my Etsy shop. The larger owl will likely be listed as a focal bead.

Murrini Monday ~ Sweet New Year

On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we dip apples in honey as a symbol of a good and sweet new year. This year Rosh Hashanah falls on Murrini Monday, so I've found some wonderful murrini for the occasion. 

First there is the apple - these little apples have already been tasted and deemed delicious ~ they are called Bitten Apple by FritNChips. 

And here are some very well-behaved Bumble Bees by Chase Designs - they will make the honey. 

Everything you need for a sweet New Year ~L'shanah tovah.

Both of the above artists have shops filled with much more murrini, and FritNChips also sells glass shards and beautiful twisties. Check them out!

Happy Murrini Monday!

Saturday is Catterday!

Today I'm introducing a new feature - Saturday is Caturday! But I probably should spell it Catterday, or it could be read as "cat turd day" and that's just not what this will be about. I hope. What it will be about is cats! We have two cats - Ernie and Bert. We still call them "the kittens" and they are almost 3 years old. But we got them when we had an older cat, so they were and still are the kittens. They still act like kittens anyway. So on Catterdays I'll post an adorable picture of one or both of our cats or I'll post some cat bead pictures. This being the very first Catterday, I've got both! Bonus! 

Here we have Ernie (the ginger) and Bert sitting on the kitchen table watching a little bird on the back patio. I'm no cat mind-reader, but I can guess that they're thinking mmmmmmm. 

 Here is Bert, again on the table, demonstrating that he can sit in the weirdest positions and still act like he's comfortable. He looks like he has elbows. 

And looky here! Cat beads! I put a group of my cat beads together (they all behaved for the picture, but you don't want to know what went down afterward. Lots of hissing). I've been experimenting a lot with cat bead design and I'm still trying to figure out my cat style. The two kitties on the left in the picture are standing, and notice they both have those classic cat "cheeks." The two on the right are a little more artsy(?) - just the cat face and body and tail - no cheeks or even feet. They can't go anywhere or even mew. They've even been mistaken for owls (with tails). Poor things. The kitty in the middle is sitting and seems to have it all - the cat cheeks and all four legs. 

What style of cat do you like best? Cheeks or no cheeks? Do you like the little spots on the orange cat's cheeks? 

Thanks for your input! 

Happy Catterday!

Therapy Thursday

I'm bringing back one of my old blog features ~ Therapy Thursdays. Every Thursday I'll post something therapeutic - a day brightener or mood lifter. So if you don't have time for therapy, stop by here on Thursdays for some good news or something fun. And it's free! =)

Today's therapy is a sweet video about a guy who builds his cat Rufus (that was my childhood dog's name) the most awesome box castle ever. My cats would love this!

Have a wonderful day! See you next Thursday!

Sneak Peek Tuesday

Now that I'm back to blogging (ok, two days in a row now), I've decided to make Tuesdays Sneak Peek Tuesdays. I'll post a picture or two of beads I've made but haven't yet listed. This week I have some mini beads (my favorites to make!) that I plan on turning into earrings. There are three Halloween beads, so those will be a pair-and-a-spare listing; and two little matching turtles.

Be sure to come back every Tuesday for your sneak peek of things to come in my Etsy shop. 

Thanks!

Murrini Monday!!!

That's right, Murrini Mondays are back! And for that matter, I'm back, too. I can't believe the last time I blogged was in July. So now that the school year is underway and I'm kid-free much of the time, I plan to be more regular - about blogging! So let's dive right in and I'll show you some of the awesome murrini I've been using.

This turtle features four slices of Lori and Kim murrini, all encased in clear. I'm not much into symmetry or making everything match, so I used four different slices of murrini, a twistie and some frit to decorate the shell before encasing it. I love the random color surprises.

Here's a newer style of owl bead I like to call patchwork. Before adding the eyes and other features, I cover the owl's chest will all sorts of random murrini - my collection of rosebud101 murrini works great!  Doesn't it have a patchwork look to it?

I've been making miniature dinosaur beads to benefit the JDRF (Dinobeadies for Diabetes), and they are perfect for showing off one slice of murrini (on each side!). These two brightly colored dinos are wearing murrini from FlamingEck - love them!

Thanks for coming back to visit on Murrini Mondays! I'll have new murrini to show off next week, and new posts in between. Have a great week!