A Minute To Breathe

Okay, I've got a minute to breathe between holiday gift deliveries and jewelry orders so let me catch you up on my (unexciting) life! I've hardly left the house in the last two weeks so Brian and I have planned a much-needed date night for Saturday. I'm sooooooo excited to dress up and go out! I just finished my forty-seventh or so piece of jewelry and I'm so glad I began building up my bead inventory in August. Unfortunately I put off Christmas shopping (which I also normally begin in August and have finished by November) but this year has been a painful reminder of why my shopping needs to be done by Thanksgiving. I'll be better about it next year! LOL!

Meanwhile, I've loved all the custom orders and really gotten to stretch my creativity lately. (Hence, the blog absence.) I cut some vinyl for my house, which just went up on the walls this afternoon (see: other things I should have done by Thanksgiving). I also discovered that low-tack vinyl application tape has the perfect amount of stickiness for removing glitter from a toddler's soft skin without hurting them when they pull a half-dozen glitter balls & snowflakes off your tree to pile in the middle of the living room floor while you have your back turned to hang the vinyl.

I had anticipated the tree being a problem so I bought all shatter-proof ornaments and let Aiden select a 'special' ornament that he can pull off the tree and play with any time he'd like. (He chose a silver Eiffel Tower. He loves my little model ones and about fell out of the shopping cart as he leapt for the ornament version when we passed it at Target. I love his ornament! I was afraid we'd end up with Lightning McQueen on the tree...) However, the rest of the ornaments are off-limits. Or so I say. EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm not looking, he runs to the tree and starts plucking things off. Or I'll hear the light tinkling of the jingle bells, followed by a very metallic PING-JANG-JANG-JANG as they ricochet & bounce across the tile while he shouts 'I fro ball!' or something similar. If I'm not paying him enough attention at the moment (read: in the bathroom), he'll bring me one and give me a very stern 'no no' as soon as he places it in my hands.

Actually, I'm afraid I have created my own problem there. ALL my psychology texts say that children will usually resort to misbehavior when they want attention. It's easy for me to spot this so I'll often stop and ask Aiden if he needs a hug instead of telling him 'no' for the billionth time about throwing the mail on the floor or standing on the open dishwasher door. Only problem is Aiden doesn't seem to understand he can ASK for a hug. Instead, he does something blatant & obviously naughty to get my attention, most likely hoping a hug will follow. Today he barged into the office, crossed the room and threw the biggest fistful of vinyl he could grab across the floor before turning to look at my surprised expression. His little bottom lip pouted out a fraction of an inch as he processed the agitated look on my face. How could I be mad at that pout?!!! When I gently said 'You must really need a hug', he barrelled into my arms and he hugged me like he never has before, burrying his head under my chin and wrapping all four limbs tight around me. I'm not entirely sure what upset him (my attention to hanging vinyl?) but I was completely melted! We played in the playroom for the next hour and a half and then cleaned up and packed some old toys away to make room for new Christmas toys coming. He had a great time and I did, too! He's such a cool little kid. And I'm amazed at how much he can make me laugh! This morning I carried him into the pantry and asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He simply replied 'food'.

Write Something Tay!

I tend to do things in reverse order don't I? Let's back up and I'll tell you about Thanksgiving.

It was a blast! We broke the trip up into two legs, staying one night with Brian's brother Dan and his wife Laura in Dallas. We caravaned the rest of the way up, girls in one car and boys in the other. I had way too much fun talking with Laura! We need to do that every year! Aiden rode with us gals and Dan was patient with my just-at-the-speed-limit driving. When I suddenly blew past them on the highway doing 85, heading for the nearest exit with Laura rapidly punching buttons on the GPS, they didn't have to call and ask why. Aiden had woken up and was howling for food. We stoped almost in the middle of nowhere at an A&W that was inside a gas station. It was very easy to tell the holiday travelers from the locals. LOL!

All the in-laws made it up to OKC on Wednesday and so did Brian's cousin Melissa that also lives in Houston. There were 9 kiddos, including newborn Kyra, so Aiden had plenty of playmates! I enjoyed all the girls and even went with them to go see Twilight again. (Ugh. It's just as bad the second time.) We had a nice meal - or as nice as you can have with Aiden throwing food around my MIL's elegant carpeted front dining room - and then we had Christmas with everyone on Saturday. We had some gifts we were excited to give and I was SOOOOOOOO thrilled to get a Bamboo Fun designer tablet!!!

Black Friday was a lot of fun for me, too. I had a list of places I wanted to go and when I was ready before my other SIL's were, I stopped at Old Navy first to kill time until I met them at Khols. I never made it to Khols. Instead I loaded my cart at Old Navy up with a whole new set of work out capris (the gym needs to hurry up and open!), several pairs of $4-and-under denim & khaki capris and gobs of maternity items I found for $1.99 and $3.99. (No, I'm not pregnant. This is for late next year.) The best deal of the day was the cute denim cropped shorts I got for $1.99. Seriously! Black Friday rocks!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, I did fall down the stairs at my in-laws. The holidays wouldn't be complete without the thud-thud-thud of my body crashing down the steps at least once. (Growing up I never lived in a house with stairs. That's my excuse.) And yes, I was wearing my Twilight 'Accident Prone' shirt when I fell!

Jewelry Inventory Clearance

I'm re-posting this previous photo of my show inventory. I made several in each color so nearly all that are shown are available. (At least as of right now. I have more friends coming this afternoon.)



I have two dozen pairs priced at $4 and $6. Lots of chunky chocolate brown, warm honey gold shades, flashy aqua, festive pink and glittering red. Come and get 'em!

We're Back!

Just a VERY quick blog post to say we are back in town! It took us 12 hours to get home last night from OKC, which normally is only an 8.5 hour drive with stops. UGH! Traffic was awful! As if it could get worse, I had a sinus infection on top of yesterday's 24 hour stomach bug. Brian had to pull in to a gas station so I could throw up. I didn't even make it out of the car - I puked all over the concrete in front of the gas pump. (We're all well now. Aiden and most of his cousins caught the bug over the weekend before we left town.) Thank goodness Christmas is at my house this year and we don't have to travel!

I paused quickly to check my e-mail and was flattered to find several jewelry orders & requests waiting for me. I'll begin working on them this week so you have them quickly! I am retrieving my earring inventory, which has been to craft fairs, Canton and back, so everyone is welcome to stop by and see what I have. There are some petite single-drop earrings I am clearancing at FOUR DOLLARS per pair. That's COST for the gemstone, sterling silver and Swarovski crystal. But hurry, I'm sending Brian to work with most of my marked-down inventory on Monday December 8 for the fabulous, trendy women he works downtown with and I don't anticipate him coming home with much!

NEW Holiday Card Deadline: Monday December 8 (sorry, too many current orders)
Jewelry Custom Order Deadline: Monday December 15 - allow 5 days for completion
*Inventory jewelry is available all the way through January 1. Earrings, adult bracelets & baby bracelets are in stock.

Holiday Card & Jewelry Order Deadline

I don't know where else to post this other than my blog but my Holiday Card deadline for ordering is December 10. Our huge family christmas is at my house this year so after the 10th, I'll be getting ready for a houseful. HURRY and get your pictures to me if you want one!

The deadline for custom jewelry, cut vinyl and baby bracelet orders is December 15. (It's a few days later because my re-stock order is shipping late.) If you need a gorgeous gift under $25 that looks like you spent $50, come see me! I've got tons of brand new JUMBO sized gemstones coming that you won't want to miss. Perfect for trendy moms, grandmas & in-laws that are otherwise difficult to shop for. ;) I'm taking pre-orders for my chunky drop earrings made with naturally-occuring LEOPARD PRINT stones since there are only a few 'ideal' beads on each strand. (The rest are brown with chocolate brown & black veining, which also make stunning earrings and bracelets.) $25 for a pair of the Leopard Print stone earrings, $20 for the non-leopard brown stone or Sesame Jasper earrings and $18 for other gemstone earrings, all made with glittering Swarovski crystal, the new 'iris' style ultra-iridescent freshwater pearls, Swarovski Crystal Pearls, coordinating gemstone 6mm round beads and sterling silver components. Shell earrings are $10-$20 depending on whether you select 3,4,5 or 6 drops. Gemstone bracelets are 'set your own budget' priced, starting at $15.

I usually have jewelry already made and on-hand but most of my inventory is being sold in Canton this weekend. Come see me in December for some great deals on any leftovers. ;)

Tay's Twilight Movie Review

Stephanie Meyer should sue. If she had any control over that massacre of her masterpiece then she should BE sued. It was worse than terrible. I told the girls who saw the movie with me that I rated it as a 'bad camp skit' but I think eighth grade drama production would more accurately describe the train wreck I paid $9.50 to see last night.

First, let me say that I simply do not see HOW Stephanie could write Bella as a reserved but thoughtful, self-sacrificing girl and Edward as an intoxicating, dazzling charmer and allow them both to be played so stormily. They practically growled their lines at each other through a teenage moodiness so oppressing, it would call for immediate anti-depression medication in real life. Did neither of those actors read the book? I also know from high school drama class that if you can't play a character in a 'relaxed and normal' fashion, it's easier to deliver your lines in a sullen or angry tone to somewhat mask your acting inexperience. It was the last thing I expected from Rob Pattinson last night. SHAME ON HIM FOR EVEN CALLING HIMSELF AN ACTOR! His performance, in my opinion, ruined the whole movie. He doesn't look a THING like Edward should have but I thought he was cast because he could act the part. I would have forgiven his appearance had he managed to dazzle the entire audience but he didn't. He didn't even come close. I could have forgiven his lackluster acting had he been the perfect Edward eye candy. Again, not even close.

Kristen Stewart (Bella) did better than I thought she would, based on her LOUSY line deliveries they showed in the previews. She could have fallen down more and wiped the snarl off her face (that she carried through the entire movie) and I would have enjoyed her presentation more. However, the part where they admit they love each other (sort of - it's 'the lion fell in love with the lamb' part), they had been speaking so impatiently with each other and awkwardly walking through the woods that the lines didn't fit the uncomfortable mood of the scene when Edward suddenly blurted them out. Oh, and the 'staged' breakup scene with Edward so they could escape James was piss-poor. Bella didn't cry, she wasn't shouting through her tears and Charlie wasn't banging on her door. She was as calm as if she was packing to go away on a girl's weekend retreat. *eyeroll*

The movie mildly redeemed itself by writing Charlie (Billy Burke) as being funny. He delivered quite a few lines that made me crack up! Even more hilarious is that the audience errupted in unexpected laughter at ROB'S crappy acting when his motions or facial expression, to convey some serious mood, came across as ridiculously comical. (The same goes for Jasper, who looked like he was kicked in the balls before every scene and told to stand up straight.) Taylor Lautner (Jacob) did a pretty good job with his few lines as did Cam Gigandet (James). Ironically, the one vampire in the book that Bella described as being 'very average-looking' was the most attractive male in the movie. Ashley Greene (Alice) was not only PERFECTLY cast but she played her character spot-on. Too bad that was overshadowed by the others, like Nikki Reed (Rosalie) who was so unattractive that you couldn't understand why Hollywood would choose NOW to use a plus-size actress to portray the 'incarnation of pure beauty'. Maybe a 13 year-old somewhere has been saved from bulimia from her bad casting.

I have been (trying) to listen to the music Stephanie Meyers wrote the book to from the odd band Muse and I just don't much care for it, besides the Supermassive Black Hole song on the soundtrack. I did notice that the music is rough, grouchy and a bit aggressive, kind of like the character portrayal in the movie last night. Perhaps this IS what Stephanie was intending as she was writing these characters and what we all know and love as Twilight is the work of an extremely talented behind-the-scenes editor. Maybe the movie depicted the characters as she originally wrote them while rocking out to Muse's hybrid electronica sound. Or maybe Catherine Hardwicke is just a REALLY BAD DIRECTOR and she's to blame for slaughtering the whole thing. Either way I find myself wishing that a bigger, more experienced studio would have picked up the rights to the movie, even if it meant waiting a few more years to see it done well. I will not sit through that ridiculous charade again and I hope it doesn't ruin how much I enjoy the books. Disappointed is hardly a strong enough word for how I feel.

P.S. My friends who had not recently read the first book seemed to like the movie more than I did. I don't consider myself a harsh movie critic - I usually like everything I see - but in my opinion this movie was inexcuseable.

P.P.S. Jamie's Twilight pre-party and the girls night out was AWESOME! I thoroughly enjoyed the girls. We should do things like that more often!

Add 'T-Shirt Designer' to the List

I am SO EXCITED to say that I designed my first graphic art for apparel and received the first printed shirt in the mail yesterday! I really wanted a Twilight t-shirt for opening night that not only related to the movie but also fit my unique personality. (Or disability, whatever you want to call it.) This is the kind of design that I can wear out and only my fellow Twilight fans would know it was serving double duty. I submitted my custom design to an online printer and was thrilled when they wrote me back asking for exclusive rights to print and sell it on their website. Here's a sneak peek of the design:


Soon to be available for purchase at 2DayDesigns.net! Wow, the things Illustrator can do. T-shirt designs, who would have guessed?