A Dog a Day (not), and a Cat

 A rare glimpse of Her Majesty’s face.

 Escape hatch.

 Turning into a ghost.

 What title would you give this photo?

Great Beading Tutorial

I found a great beading tutorial on YouTube today that I wish I had watched before I made my mother in law’s necklace.

I have watched several others but this lady covers so much from beginning to end of making a bracelet and also includes information interchangeably for a necklace. She discussed why the clasps should be added at the end unlike other videos that showed one end being put on first then starting to string the beads. She talked a lot about crimping beads and why it’s a good idea to buy sterling silver ones as opposed to the cheap two dollar ones. I had not seen a wire guard used before so that was very helpful as well.  She also went over measurements and how to do that correctly. You get to see how she finished the necklace which is slightly tricky if you have never done it before!  So I saw all of the mistakes that I made but I think I can fix them without too much trouble.

She has a pleasant and consistent speaking voice and not too loud or too soft. The pace is steady and not boring or too fast. I highly recommend this video if you want to get into beading and making jewelry! It is suitable for adults and children.

Making Jewelry

My mother in law and I have been learning about the best colors to wear according our skin tones. As in the book from the eighties called, Color Me Beautiful. The color information still applies just not the fashions in the book of course! I also have another very interesting book called The Color of Style by David Zyla that takes matters a bit farther. He says we all have a particular color that suits us as individuals to attract love, enhance our power, restore our energy, make a lasting impression and show the world who we really are.

So my mother in law has really taken to this in a big way much to my surprise. She wore a sweater the other day that I had never seen her wear before in a color that was definitely her color! I have never, ever seen her look so good. I was absolutely shocked by it. She positively glowed and looked so well rested, healthy and happy.

Since we can’t run out and buy all new clothes in one trip we are trying to add accessories in our colors to expand our wardrobes as best we can. So I decided to make her a necklace in similar colors to those of the sweater she looked so good in. Here is the result.

I have bought a lot of beading and jewelry making supplies over the past years but never quite managed to make anything nice. I always bought willy nilly and never had a plan in mind. And as they say, if you fail to plan you plan to fail! So true. This time I pulled out one of my beading magazines and found a source of inspiration and followed a plan.

This is the March 2008, Volume 6 Issue 2 of BeadStyle magazine.

I already had a large aqua colored medallion that I wasn’t going to use for myself and realized that was perfect for her necklace.

So this is my first official piece of jewelry that has been properly made according to directions. I think she will love it and I already have another planned for her. Her husband passed away about eleven years ago so it is nice to see her getting some zest for life back after so long. I keep telling her that we should find her a special “friend.”  She doesn’t know that she is ready. Maybe whilst she is wearing her proper colors a special “friend” will be drawn to her.

Aperture

A Dog A Day Photo

Dog A Day Photo

 Just give us the treat!

Dog A Day Photo

I would love to commit to A Dog A Day Photo series but with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue that is not likely to happen, so lets just say A Dog Once In A While.  I would love to learn how to take really great dog photos. I have read that in order to get better at any type of photography it should be practiced every day. I’ll do what I can. And I will have fun.

 This is Luna, she is a little shy.

Dog Photos

 

I was using treats to help me get interesting photos of the dogs.  I was giving them out one at a time.  A photo, a treat. They weren’t crazy about this new system. Buster on the right just had to show off that he got the first treat.

 Luna is always going to keep her eye on the treat!

Buster displaying very bad sportsmanship!

The Evil One

Scripture says the evil one roams the earth as a hungry lion looking for those he may destroy and devour. Those who are not strong and rooted in the love of God’s son Jesus Christ. When I saw this worm eating one of my tomatoes this image came to me.

The position of the map is completely random.

The Yellow One