Musings from the Bead Hussies

Stone Lore on Turquoise

2011-03-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

Turquoise is the birthstone of December and ranks on the Mohs scale between 5 and 6. In other words, it's a fairly soft stone and needs to be treated with care. Keep it wrapped up and away from other jewelry that might scratch it.

Turquoise was, by most accounts, the first gemstone to be mined, as early as 3000 B.C. It's been used by ancient Egyptians and the Chinese who have always been a major source of the stone. For at least 2000 years, Iran (formerly Persia) has been an important source of Turquoise.

The lovely deep pastel color of the stone has made it a favored stone of many ancient cultures such as the Aztecs, the rulers of Ancient Egypt, the people of Mesopotamia, and the pre-Columbian people of South America and Mexico. For both modern and Ancient peoples Turquoise has been regarded as a holy stone and/or a stone of great luck.

In the U.S. the American Indians have always revered this stone. It is sacred to them and has been carved into animals and birds and placed into tombs to protect the dead and to bring the good spirits. Medicine men would use it for healing and warriors would use it to insure their arrows flew true.

Interesting fact, around the beginning of the 17th century, it was a stone worn almost exclusively by men. In fact to be considered to be properly dressed, a man had to wear a turquoise ring. Women very rarely wore it.

These days however, it is treasured and worn by both sexes, although in the United States it is a stone that is more popularly worn by men in the south west region.

Folklore of this gorgeous and ancient gem include the power to attract money, to bring luck, love, healing and courage.

Stone Lore on Amethyst

2011-03-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

Amethyst Lore. February's birthstone. Has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale and is the most valuable of all the quartz' and has traditionally been used by royalty.

The word Amethyst comes from the Greek word "amethystos" meaning "not intoxicated. It is also known as the Bacchus Stone. Mythology has it that Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, turned a nymph that Bacchus loved into amethyst. She must have been pissed for something but I don't know what yet. Apparently Amethyst has been used for sculptures and have been made into cups. Again, probably as protection against drunkenness. Mystical uses for Amethysts are: healing, courage, overcoming addiction, protection against psychic attack and is a stone of friendship.

Okay, according to what I could find, it's the same old song and dance. Apparently Diana was jealous. Why she would want to become involved with the King of Partiers is beyond me. Besides, if I remember my mythology right, she wasn't all that interested in men anyway. In fact, I believe there has been several suggestions that she might have been a lesbian. Or not. I'll research that later.

Website is slowly coming together

2010-10-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

After nearly a year of doing nothing with the website, Leanne and I are finally getting ourselves together and are working to get it workable. Yesterday we put in a new page, uploaded pictures and fixed links and old pages. We have a long ways to go but at least we are making an effort.

The shame of it is, that due to some of the optimization we did last year, we've been getting a ton of traffic. Amazing considering we've done no advertising and have really had no way to sell any of our jewelry. Also leaves us feeling really REALLY dumb for not having done anything earlier.

So this week it's web work, lots and lots of web work. I'm hoping that Leanne finds that she loves the work and figures out how to make web expressions SING. It frustrates ME because there are things I'd love to do but can't figure out how to do it. ARGH. Guess it's time to go back to the manual.

Do follow along with what's happening there ( http://wwww.coloruspurple.com ) and if you have suggestions to make, we would welcome them.

K

Introspective Claptrap

2010-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Something has changed. I went to PA for two weeks and left my family behind. This was a vacation to meet two "almost" strangers who quickly became very good friends and during the visit, something changed in me, for me, and since coming home, I've been worrying at it like a dog with a bone.

While I was gone, those two weeks without the responsibilities, joys, duties of being a wife and mother (except for the phone calls) I was completely free to be me. I could be happy, sad, depressed, joyful, sarcastic, introspective, extroverted, funny, grumpy, whatever I wanted. I had the freedom to read, to play, to bead, to do anything I wanted or just to be.

After 17 years of being a wife and a mother just being me was bewildering to say the least. And still is.

Laurie, one of my new dear friends, made the comment "Midlife crisis" during my moment of just letting go of everything and being totally wild, happy and manic. If that was a crisis, bring it on, let's have more of it.

However, coming home again, assuming the "role" of being mother and wife and conforming to the rules of both have left a certain disquietude within me. Who WAS that person, was that REALLY me and if so, who am I now? Do I even like who I have become? What do I do with what I found?

I love my children and being their mother, I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, I think I have found that there is much more to me than that. The question is, what do I do with it? Do I quietly put it away and save it for when the last one leaves home (at least 10 years until college), am I able to even DO that?

There is an old saying, " A little Knowledge is a Dangerous thing". Take the word "knowledge" out and substitute "freedom" and that's where I am. Having tasted it, I'm greedy for more. And yet... I am still a wife and mother. I still have responsibilities, duties, a role to perform. It will be interesting to say the least to see if some of what I have discovered bubbles out in weird and wonderful ways or if I quietly fall into line and do /be what I have always done/been.

Being unemployed

2010-08-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

This is such a weird place to be at this point in my life. I'm 54 years old and have been unemployed for a little over two years. My unemployment will be exhaused in six weeks and we are teetering on the edge of losing everything. I've got to check this week to see how much I will lose on the two 401Ks I have if I cash them out. I have to deal with the reality that if I don't cash them out we will have no place to live.

I'm battling depression and living up to Jeannes Dixon's description of me: "you start a lot of things that you don't finish." (As Activities Vice President I hired her to speak at a community college years ago. She held my ring finger and made that statement.) Can't tell you how many times that has haunted me.

This has been such a roller coaster ride but I'm tired of going down. Every time we think we have come up with an alternative to our living situation, something goes awry and we have to try something else. I've got religious folk offering their prayers and other offering ideas that have already been tried on and tossed. I have my husband trying to reassure me that it's not my fault that we're in this mess; but we would'nt BE in this mess if I was working. Heavy sigh....

I don't know when or how this ride will end, but I know it will eventually. Just afraid of the additional cost. All this for standing up for something I believed in at work. Will I ever be able to understand why I was the only one who stood up? At the same time I wish I was one of the former co-workers who held on until they found another job or quit without a job to go to. Even though I am proud I held onto my integrity and know I am a better person for it, I foolishly thought that good karma was going to kick in and end this drought.

A few more pictures

2009-12-19T01:03:00.000-08:00

Don't forget, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

our set up.

2009-12-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

going to try and post some pictures of what we had at the BEGINNING of the show, the only show we did. Should actually have taken some pictures at the end because with nothing to do, we did a LOT of creating those two days.

Swings and Roundabouts

2009-11-30T13:19:00.000-08:00

Tis the season and all that stuff and for crafters it's a busy month. They're off to shows every weekend to sell their wares and make money for Christmas and to buy in more supplies. I used to be one of them but no more. Not after the last show.

Ever had a show where the attendance is minimal, the two days seem like two weeks and you don't even make your booth costs? Of course you have. We all have. It's frustrating, it's depressing and if you're anything like me, you rant and rave for a while and swear you're never going BACK to that show.

Well, Leanne and I had a show that was something like that. Bad year, bad attendance etc. It was not the sponsors fault, they advertised all over the place, but the grumbles were heard from all corners. I heard one woman say ( on the first day) that all she sold were a couple of bracelets and a necklace and had made only $20.00.

Gee, we wish we had made that much. In fact, we wish we had made something, anything! It was the first show I had ever been to that I sold absolutely nothing. We were the only booth that at the end of the show, had more inventory than when we started. For two days we had nothing better to than create more jewelry and buy B.J's fantabulous Bar-B-que sauce. I bought 5 bottles and Himself bought one too. Great stuff.

After the show, we were of course upset. We knew our prices were out of step with most of the things being sold there and while we didn't expect to sell much, we didn't expect a big fat goose egg. Then, I talked to a friend of mine, extremely smart, scary smart in fact and he said something to me, that I passed on to Leanne. Something simple, elemental and brilliant. He had the pleasure of making TWO women feel stupid in the space of ten minutes (I called her as soon as I could stop blushing from the embarassment of being so dang dumb!).

"Kathleen," he says, "what you should do is..." and at that point I thought of the fortune cookie that I got the night before the show opening. I kid you not, this is the absolute truth, the cookie said "You need to start a new collection or get a new hobby." After that craft show you can imagine how THAT kept running through my head.

At any rate back to Dave's brilliance, "what you should do is..."

"Find a new hobby?" says I

"No, you need to sell at ART SHOWS!"

Well, DUH! After banging my head against the wall and having finished blushing I call Leanne. So now two of us are feeling really stupid.

Then synchronicity comes into play. "You mean there's MORE to this story?"

Darn tootin.

Turns out there is a woman (Christine Gierer) who is starting a new website (Handmaderesults.comand )giving free lessons to people who want to learn how to sell jewelry online. Turns out there are more than a few of us that really need to learn how to do this. Along with the free lessons she will also have paid membership lessons, premier and premier plus which has coaching.

Leanne and I need something like this desperately. We really want to know how to run our website and make a profit. So we signed up for it and I entered a contest that ran to win a free premier or premier plus membership and would you believe it! I found out this morning that I won the free premier lessons.

So in the space of two weeks we've swung from the depths of misery and rounded up to being excited, hopeful and happy about what we've done hither to and what we will accomplish in the future.

So swings and roundabouts my friends. Nothing stays the same and every depressed beader can have their day. ;-)

Going Purple?

2009-11-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

Food for thought. I read something last night that set me thinking. When it comes to selling making jewelry we should do something that sets us apart. Well, there's a "DUH" statement if ever one was made. The problem is finding that something. It went on to say something like concentrate on one that that you love. Cats, dogs, colors etc. And BAM!

Leanne and I love PURPLE. She loves the darker purples and I'm a lilac type person. So what if instead of trying to make all sorts of lovely jewelry for the whole world, we concentrated on the "Purple People Eaters" (those of you who are around my age may remember that song)?

All our Jewelry already has a very high quality amethyst in it, what if we just expanded that theme to the whole piece and worked on PURPLES. Just purples.

Leanne is probably not out of bed yet, however I'm going over to her house this afternoon anyway, I may spring it on her then. Or not. I may just call her and see what her response is.

We are starting to sweat. Our one and only show is this weekend and due to all the swine flu that's infiltrated my house, we've gotten nothing done. She can't come over because she's a care taker for her elderly parents, and no way can we risk her infecting them. I had the flu and am over it, so it's safe for me to visit. It is going to be a MAJOR hassle though. I've got to pack up a TON of stuff, bring it over and then UNPACK it. >sigh< All for the cause.

Anyway, I need to ponder on the purple proposition. Preposterous or Possible?

Well meaning people, good intentions and all that jazz!

2009-10-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

Doncha just love people who know how to do EVERYTHING better than you do? "Oh you shouldn't do it that way, you should do it THIS way." "Here, let me tell you how it really works and what that is really used for." And my personal favorite, "Well, that's not how a REAL business does it."

That one really has me loading my gun and reaching for my lawyer. What do you mean "REAL business???" I AM a real business. I have my fein number and my resale number, I sell and buy and have the filed taxes to prove it. So what if I don't do it the same way everyone else does, everyone ELSE crashed when the stock market did. Look at the number of businesses, oh excuse me, REAL businesses that have had to close their doors and I'm still here.

Yep, that one REALLY gets the old and tired juices flowing.

Leanne and I are getting ready for our (probably) one and only craft show this year. I'm pretty happy that we were able to find THIS one so late in the season. Of course that they still has openings has me a bit worried that it might be a dud. Been there and done that in San Jose. Nothing worse than a two day show with no customers!

The other thing that does concern me is that there are going to be the well known brands as well as those of us who aren't so well known. Having done that before too, I am a bit worried that we won't be able to compete.

Of course, when it comes to setting up an interesting table to show ones goods off to their advantage is also NOT my forte. Okay, let's be blunt. While I can make nice jewelry, when it comes to decorating, I'm CRAP! Just once I'd like to have a table that people ooohed and aaaaaahed over. I hope Leanne has better instincts that I have as it would be nice to announce ourselves to the local community with a Roar instead of a constipated whimper!

Well, back to the real world. Today I'm baking pumpkin muffins (cooked up the pumpkin yesterday and couldn't finish the rest as the electricity kept going out. We had a HUGE wind storm), seeing the quack about my blood pressure and diabetes, and dealing with the two eldest children who are in bed ill today. yippee skippee.

Etsy or Ebay?

2009-09-27T09:53:00.001-07:00

That is the next question on our minds. I had never heard of Etsy until a few weeks ago and now a lot of people have some good things to say about it. One person (Stacey Miller) said that Etsy is for artisans to get out there and Ebay is for sellers who sell stuff. I am paraphrasing of course.

I think I'm going to work it this way, post one item at ebay, list it for a penny and see how it does. Then I think I'll post another item for a penny at Etsy. Of course if they SELL for that penny I'll be horribly upset, but thems the chances one takes when one is experimenting.

I am hoping people will keep on telling me about their experiences with both or either. Will definitely help with the research input.

Leanne and I have been working on Jewelry for Halloween. She's been doing the earrings and I've been doing the necklaces. However, unless I can figure out my website making program (using web expressions 3) and why some things aren't uploading at all, NOTHING is going to go up.

This is driving me insane. The code is exactly the same for all pictures (I triple checked, letter by letter, symbol by symbol) and yet, some just wont upload. sigh.

Speaking of which, I'm headed back to the program to try it again. sigh

Wild Turkeys or Guess who's coming to dinner.

2009-09-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

These are just a few of the huge flock that comes and mooches off my property. I know the picture is not that great but at least one of the birds is clear. I opened my screen door to get this shot, and they decided to move on. This is a very quiet flock. No noise whatsoever. In San Jose, the turkeys are noisy and messy. These guys, I don't care if they're messy. Got enough land to accommodate a little bit of turkey mess.

As for noise, the only reason I knew they were around is because the cats had gathered at the screen door and were drooling over visions of Thanksgiving dancing in their heads. It's going to be interesting to see what else turns up during Autum and Winter.

Hag Bags and Cash for Clunkers

2009-09-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Definition of Hag Bags from the wild and wonderful dictionary of Kathleen Petrides.

Hag Bags are any and all breasts that have gone well past their "use by date" sag down to the knees and have no purpose other than filling up a bra.

A bit like a clunker. In fact, I think mine fill the qualifications for clunkers, my hag bags have done well over 100,000 miles, they don't work right anymore and they're just "parked" and don't even go for Sunday drives. I wonder if Obama could do another cash for clunkers program. I wouldn't mind a new set. A smaller and perkier pair. I wonder what the trade in value would be. Come to think of it, why stop there. I wouldn't mind trading "Himself" for a new and younger version either. I sure hope Obama gets to that stimulus package and soon. I'm not getting any younger you know.

Ranting, raving and venting, amongts other stuff

2009-09-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I hate web work. Just hate it. I uploaded a brand new beautiful website at beadhussy.com and guess what. ALL my pages are now blank. not one or two but ALL. Godaddy is doing their best to help me, but I'm not a happy hussy. Sure would help if I was some teenaged wiz who understands this garbage intuitively, but instead, I'm a middle aged cranky woman who thinks that this stuff has been created by freaky demon gods who just love to see people like me swear, hiss, rant, rave and freak out over something that is supposed to be "simple". This is NOT good for my blood pressure, which at last check, was 187/81. Guess I should go back on my medication. Sheesh.

And PLEASE, for those that can afford to hire someone to do this crap for them. Don't tell me about it. I don't want to know, it will just make me suicidal. Or homicidal. Some kind of cidal anyway. BeadHussy.com is just starting out after a long hiatus and Leanne and I have spent every penny available on beads, findings, licenses to make it legal and everything else involved with a new business. The coffers are empty.

Had a small tradgedy yesterday, Flower, the ancient and decrepid rat, shuffled off this mortal coil. Popped her clogs. Fell off her perch. Died. The Seven year old is devestated. Funeral will be held this afternoon. The undertaker was busy yesterday digging his hole. All mourners will be present graveside, except for the football player who will not return until long after tears have been shed and cuddles passed around. sigh.

Well, tried it again. It ain't working. Back on the phone to godaddy. See me sigh.

Frustration abounds!

2009-09-14T22:38:00.001-07:00

There are days that I seriously think I hate making jewelry. Today is one of them. I'm making a yellow necklace, have already been made it twice, was just about to add the signature Amethyst when, CRAP! I have to take it apart again. I've given up for the night. It's sitting in the dining room, laughing at me every time I walk by.

I did get some good news today. I sold two more lanyards and a sterling silver peace sign at "Elegant Corner" in San Jose. Some good news to balance out a necklace that doesn't want to be built.

Some more good news, Jessica of Cocoon's apothocary.com has agreed to a trade. She get's a year of advertising free at Aromaticsage.com and I get someone to do some major rescue work at Beadhussy.com. I have a few talents, Web designing is definately not one of them. I don't have the patience nor the skill to do what I want.

One last bit of good news, the Patriots won tonight. Good game although I missed the crucial final two minutes . Leanne (my partner) came over so I had to go deal with jewelry and business instead of watching.

Brady has some good moments where he looked like the Brady of old. Other times he looked a bit shakey and hurried, but after an injury like he had and a year out, I thought he looked wonderful. Nice to see him teaming up with Randy Moss again. Was sad not to see "BREUski" this year and Vrabel! Why is he gone? Sometimes, just sometimes I think Belachick has a screw loose.

Although he's not as nuts as the Denver Broncos. To get rid of Shannahan AND Cutler. Obviously someone over there took an overdose of 'stupid pills". Just my opinion, but let's see what the season brings.

Okay, that's it for tonight. I'm done in. Was up until midnight last night and didn't sleep well. Up at 5 am to take himself to the airport. I'm one tired puppy. A nice cup of tea for me and then bed. Hopefully I'll not have two cats eating up all the bed space, leaving me with a tiny spot tonight.

The Great Horned Owl

2009-09-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

September 9, 2009

Oooh, it's THAT day. 9-9-9. Well today on 9-9-9 I went out early with my dog. For a change I walked to the edge (and I do mean EDGE) of my front yard and looked waaaaaay down and saw something sitting on a branch that was vaguely Owl shaped. I made a mad dash for the House, grabbed my binoculars and ran back. Which for me is no easy task. Hot on my heels was my teenaged daughter Lexi. Made it back to the spot where I had been and put the binocs to the old face and WOW!

There he was, A Great Horned Owl. He was Massive! Lexi and I took turns gawking at him but I was the one who had them on him when he got fed up with the tourists. Absolutely Huge, absolutely glorious and Whata BIRD! I'm hoping that he lives around here and that we get to see him often. He made my day. First time I have EVER seen a Great Horned free and wild. Gosh I love this place.

School got under way yesterday. Can't say as I missing them with all the quiet around here. The reason I can't say that is because Himself is wandering around making a huge amount of noise when he's supposed to be working. He's trying on this "work from home mode", so far he's found better things to do. Like clean out the rabbit cage, hoover the down stairs, make some tea, nag me about cleaning out the utility room.

I'm not a whole lot better this morning. Instead of making jewelry or printing out business cards or even cleaning off my desk, I'm sitting here writing about that fantastic owl. Guess I should be heading out to do something. Something constructive at least. ;-) Happy 9-9-9 day y'all!

Name that flower, deer poop and moose

2009-09-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2009

Name that flower, deer poop and moose

It's a lovely September afternoon here in Spokane. The highs are in the upper 60's, dark clouds are passing over head and occasionally dropping a bit of rain. Twice I've been out on the deck and felt ONE drop. Being me, my thought was, either it's rain or a bird just pooped on me. Seeing no evidence of poop, I've decided that it's rain. Don't talk to me about it possibly being bird pee. I don't want to know.

After a night of carousing and crawling into bed at 5 am this morning and being short on sleep, I woke with a migraine. Well DUH! At any rate, I was dozing on the sofa with a hot Woobey on my head when Laurel comes running in, "Mommy there's two Moose! A girl and a boy."

Quite frankly that was the only thing that could get me off my butt at that point in time. So I ran and grabbed my camera, and for the first time since moving in, I went out into the back and down (and I do mean DOWN) into the trees towards the stream (called Deadman's Creek, more about that at some other time). Getting down to where the Moose were was more than I was willing to risk as it's a steep, STEEP climb down and I'm neither fond of steep nor in shape enough to get back up. I had to forgo the chance to get a shot of the Moose.

However, while I was down there, I decided to take a good look around MY land (and yes, I feel very possessive of my house and land, I'm still very much in love with the whole thing). I found a good flat area where we can grow a good sized garden next year. However, the bad news is, the whole area is covered in deer poop. Which left me thinking two things. 1) great fertilizer and 2) deer are going to feast next spring unless we fence it. Sigh. More expense.

Also while there, I found a tiny flower blooming. I haven't the vaguest idea of what it is and I post the picture in hopes that someone can tell me what it is. Tiny pretty thing. (Picture at the top of the page)

Any clues?

Well, that's it for this Labor Day weekend. I hope that it's as relaxing for you as it is for Leanne and I. Leanne, by the way, is at her cabin in Idaho, relaxing after the mad dash of making jewelry and getting everything up in time for this weekend.