My life took a different turn last August.
The owner of our local bead store decided she couldn't keep running the store and teaching so she decided to close the store.
After very little consideration I decided to buy the store from her. 
This is not what I had planned for my retirement but it has turned out to be a fun twist to my  plans. 
I have a place to display and sell all the jewelry I am making. 
And I have been teaching others the joy of bead weaving. 
Along the way I have made some wonderful new friends I never would have met without the store. 
I will be taking pictures of some of the things we have made in the classes and posting them here in the future. 

My guidelines for 2011

This blog entry is not about my jewelry or my scrapbook work.  This is about the guidelines I want to live by for 2011.

           Ten Guidelines From God
         
1. QUIT WORRYING:
          Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for you?  Or do you just enjoy fretting over every little thing that comes your way?

 2. PUT IT ON THE LIST:
          Something needs done or taken care of. Put it on the list. No, not YOUR list. Put it on MY to-do-list.  Let ME be the one to take care of the problem. I can't help you until you turn it over to Me. And although My to-do-list is long, I am after all... God. I can take care of anything you put into My hands. In fact, if the truth were ever really known, I take care of a lot of things for you that you never even realize.

 3. TRUST ME:
          Once you've given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs, your problems and your trials.

          Problems with the kids? Put them on My list.
          Problem with finances? Put it on My list.
          Problems with your emotional roller coaster?

          For My sake, put it on My list. I want to help you. All you have to do is ask.

 4. LEAVE IT ALONE:
          Don't wake up one morning and say, "Well, I'm feeling much stronger now, I think I can handle it from here." Why do you think you are feeling stronger now? It's simple.  You gave Me your burdens and I'm taking care of them. I also renew your strength and cover you in my peace.  Don't you know that if I give you these problems back, you will be right back where you started?   Leave them with Me and forget about them. Just let Me do my job.

5. TALK TO ME:
          I want you to forget a lot of things.
          Forget what was making you crazy.
          Forget the worry and the fretting because you know I'm in control. But there's one thing I pray you never forget. Please, don't forget to talk to Me - OFTEN! I love YOU!
          I want to hear your voice. I want you to include Me in on the things going on in your life.
          I want to hear you talk about your friends and family. Prayer is simply you having a conversation with Me. I want to be your dearest friend.

 6. HAVE FAITH:
          I see a lot of things from up here that you can't see from where you are Have faith in Me that I know what I'm doing. Trust Me; you wouldn't want the view from My eyes.

          I will continue to care for you, watch over you, and meet your needs. You only have to trust Me.
          Although I have a much bigger task than you, it seems as if you have so much trouble just doing your simple part How hard can trust be?


 7. SHARE:
          You were taught to share when you were only two years old. When did you forget?
          That rule still applies. Share with those who are less fortunate than you. Share your joy with those who need encouragement. Share your laughter with those who haven't heard any in such a long time. Share your tears with those who have forgotten how to cry. Share your faith with those who have none.


8. BE PATIENT:
          I managed to fix it so in just one lifetime you could have so many diverse experiences.
          You grow from a child to an adult, have children, change jobs many times, learn many trades, travel to so many places, meet thousands of people, and experience so much. How can you be so impatient then when it takes Me a little longer than you expect to handle something on My to-do-list? Trust in My timing, for My timing is perfect. Just because I created the entire universe in only six days, everyone thinks I should always rush, rush, rush.


 9. BE KIND:
          Be kind to others, for I love them just as much as I love you. They may not dress like you, or talk like you, or live the same way you do, but I still love you all. Please try to get along, for My sake. I created each of you different in some way. It would be too boring if you were all identical.

          Please, know I love each of your differences.

10. LOVE YOURSELF:
          As much as I love you, how can you not love yourself? You were created by me for one reason only -- to be loved, and to love in return. I am a God of Love. Love Me.

          Love your neighbors. But also love yourself.
          It makes My heart ache when I see you so angry with yourself when things go wrong. You are very precious to me.
          Don't ever forget.....

          Touch someone with your love.
          Rather than focus upon the thorns of life, smell the roses and count your blessings!

          All the wealth in the world could not buy you a friend, nor could it pay for the loss of one

Simple Spring necklace

Spring is here.  Or pretty close I think, finally!  I was given a chance to work with some May Arts ribbon and it made up into a really pretty necklace.   I used the Kumihimo braiding loom. http://www.mayarts.com/ is the website.
   

Sea Foam Necklace

I finished my peyote necklace and just love the way it turned out.  I was going to hang a PMC fish from it but it looks so delicate the way it is.  I decided to put the fish on something else.

Here is a close up of the beads.  It does sparkle a lot more than the picture shows.

Second Necklace

This is the second necklace I finished this weekend.  My brother Andy brought me back some beautiful pearls from China the last time he went.  It took me a long time to figure out the best way to use them.  I think this is unique and pretty.

Finished

I finished two new necklaces this weekend.  The first one is made with a porcelain piece I found at a thrift store.  I wire wrapped it and then made a necklace out of glass pearls to hang it from. I used gold bead caps on the bigger pearls.

Blog Giveaway

Check this site out http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.com/  She is giving away ribbon today.  Her store has lots of gorgeous ribbons to choose from.  www.reasonableribbon.com 

Retreat cancelled

Well I am going to cancel the bead retreat.  I think the economy and the time of year is keeping people from spending money on 'non-essentials' right now.  But that's ok.  I have plenty to keep me busy.  I started taking violin lessons 2 weeks ago.  It is going to be an uphill battle since I can't read music and am tone deaf.  It is something I have wanted to do for years so I am giving it a go.  I have a real good teacher so I have a chance.
I am working on some Valentine cards and some layouts of Emma for my scrapbook too.
I have designed a necklace that is almost done entitled 'sea foam'.  It is done in peyote stitch and I used size 11 beads of various colors of the sea.  I love the way it is turning out.  But I can't figure out what kind of clasp to put on it.

Menu

Well the menu for the beading get together has changed some.  The woman who owns the herb shop across the street from the lodge has volunteered to do the cooking.  Since she is a gourmet cook and I am not, I took her up on her offer.  I have eaten at her house more than once and the food was always delicious. 

I've been working on my first complicated design for a necklace.  I am trying to work up peyote to make a piece that looks like ocean waves.  So far it is working up great but we'll see how things go.

I've been attempting to take pictures of some of my latest work but the lighting inside isn't the greatest and the temperatures outside keep me inside where it is warmest.

Wire Wrap class

Barb Penrose has volunteered to teach a wire wrap class at our Bead retreat.  Since I know that she does beautiful work I'm looking forward to learning from her.  We will have to bring a cabachon and wire or we can buy it from the stash she will bring.

Beading with Friends

It's time to start planning for a "Beading Weekend with friends" from February 19 at 3 pm - 21st at noon in Cotter Arkansas.
We will be staying at the Rainbow Lodge in Downtown Cotter.

Since there are a variety of sleeping arrangements, the rule is going to be "first pay, first serve."

If you are interested in attending, please let me know as soon as possible and then send in your deposit.

You will then get to choose your lodging based on the order I receive payments.

I don’t have the capability to take credit cards so payment will need to be cash or check.

Your $150.00 registration fee includes:

- Space to bead

- Five meals - for dinner on Friday we will put together an order for Nima's pizza and calzones, Saturday and Sunday breakfast will be muffins, toast, yogurt, dry cereal and oatmeal, lunch on Saturday will be cold cut sandwiches and chips and dinner on Saturday will be your choice of chili or potato soup and dessert. There will be coffee and hot tea available all day .

- One beading pattern from Glenda Payseno for a bracelet

- Two nights lodging

You need only to bring your beading supplies and personal items. I'd suggest you bring a table light too. We will be beading and sleeping in the Lodge. We can take a road trip to Mountain Home to go to the Beaded Path Bead store if you would like.

Lodge Rooms:

The Iron Mountain Room has 4 bunk beds. The Missouri Pacific room has 2 bunk beds. The North Arkansas Room has l bunk and 1 queen bed. The Union Pacific Room has l queen and l trundle bed. The St. Louis Pacific Room has 1 queen bed. The lodge is upstairs over an old antique store. There are 2 full bathrooms and a half bath for us to share and a full kitchen with a refrigerator, stove and microwave.

Space is limited to 15 so sign up early!

A $50.00 deposit is due to reserve your spot and the last $100 is due by February 1st.

In case you need to cancel, you may transfer your spot to a friend without penalty at any time.

If you can’t find a replacement, I will make every effort to fill your spot with another guest.

However, if I am unable to fill your spot, the following cancellation policy will apply.

Cancellations made prior to Feb 1st are eligible for a full refund of all payments made.

Cancellations made after Feb 1st forfeit the full amount.

You may mail your registration to Irene Lenihan 233 Combs Cotter, AR 72626.

If we have to cancel due to bad weather I will refund all money.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 870 435-2487 or e-mail me at ilenihan@yahoo.com

I can't wait for a fun weekend of food and beading!

Busy Summer

Here is a picture of my display at Festival of the Little Hills in St. Charles, Mo last year.

Well I haven't been writing much to my blog but I have been working on things.
I've been busy traveling from festival to festival trying to sell our creations.
We've been to Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Iowa and now we are going back to Missouri.
We are soon headed out to the Festival of the Little Hills in St. Charles, Mo. with lots of products and high hopes.
The shows this year have been a little slow compared to last year but I guess the economy has something to do with that.

John has been doing pretty well selling his outdoor furniture but I guess jewelry is not a necessity. It really makes me feel good when someone falls in love with my pieces and takes it home.
I did get John's new website finished. www cotterfurniture com

Use 'em

I have had some beautiful lampwork beads my friend Debby Gwaltney made for quite some time now. (Her website is www.starlight-beads.com) I kept thinking I would find just the right bead pattern for them but I never found just the "right" one. I finally decided to just go for it and see what I could make. So I made myself two beautiful summer bright necklaces. And I love how they turned out. One was my 4th of July jewelry since it was in Red, White and blue colors and the other is just summery fun and I wore it to church today. I've got to admit I loved looking at those beads but love them even more made up.

Busy Busy Busy

I've been working on my stock for the next bead show. We did one in Lee's Summit, Mo and I did fairly well. I sold 12 necklaces and 4 bracelets. But now I have to replace them for the next show. We were across the street from a food vendor downtown Lee's Summit and 2 blocks one way from the beer tent and the stage and 3 blocks the other way from another beer tent and stage. So that made us sort of a cross road for everyone going between the stages.
This is one of the necklaces I made to replace one that I sold. I call it Rainbow of colors and it is all swarovski crystals so it really shines in the light.
The next show is in Ruston, La and we are indoors. Thankfully. I'd hate to have to be outdoors in this heat!
After this one is done we don't have another one for a month so I'll have time to do a little bit of scrapbooking. I've got lots of baby photos to do.

Beads, Beads, wonderful beads

Silver Parrot's blog is giving away a box full of beads! It is stupendous.
Head over to Silver Parrot and check out the box of beads.
All you have to do to enter the drawing is make a blog post about the give away and leave a comment with a link to your blog.
Get going! Here is the link to Silver Parrot's blog.
What a great day it would be if I won that box of beads!
I can envision all the wonderful things I could make.

Another day

So much has been happening lately that I haven't been back to this blog in a long time.
I have been doing art shows, visiting my newest grand daughter, seeing my best friend (not as much as I'd like to), being with my sister and my mother as they go thru breast cancer treatment and trying to keep up with my house work.
Just making that list makes me tired.
Oh on top of that my blood pressure went sky high and we had to experiment with medicines to bring it back down. Not fun!
But here is a necklace I managed somehow to complete. Simple but pretty.

Finished

It's finally finished and I love it. I started this pattern by Glenda Payseno a while ago and it is finally finished. I love the way it turned out. Of course I didn't use the colors she selected. I never do on any patterns but I love the way these colors worked together. I have already started another of her patterns using two shades of gold seed beads and 4 sizes of gold swarovski pearls. Glenda's patterns are so good. They aren't simple but they turn out so pretty.

So much to tell you....

Camp Mitchell
I forgot three important things about this retreat.
1. The scenery was breathtaking.
2. There were strong, handsome men who unloaded and reloaded all our numerous containers of scrapbook stuff so we didn't have to do any heavy lifting at all.
3. And most important (I don't know why I forgot to mention it) the MVPs (Memory Villa Princesses) who treated us like queens all weekend long. They waited on us bringing us snacks and drinks and showing us techniques and just in general being wonderful to us.
Thank you so much ladies! Hope you are getting some well deserved rest today.
I'm hoping to get some of my online scrapbook friends to come next year so we can scrap in person.

17 pages

I am just back from the world's best scrapbook retreat. Good friends, good classes, lots of make and takes, a beautiful atmosphere , and good meals and snacks. What more could you ask for. Oh yeah there were lots of really great door prizes. And did I mention GREAT classes. This was the 4th Memory Villa Scrapbook Retreat and believe me I will be going again next year. Wish there was a way to sign up ahead of time because I certainly would.
After I get unpacked and organized again I will take a picture of some of the 17 layouts that I did while I was there.

Blog Candy

Here is a link to a site that is giving away scrapbook goodies.
http://whimsicalwishes.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-candy.html