Ocean Bay Designs

Summer Comes to an End

2011-08-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well, today is the last day of my summer vacation. Eight weeks off and it just flew by! What does one do with 8 weeks off? I made lots of jewelry this summer. www.oceanbaydesigns.etsy .com and www.oceanisle.etsy.com I tried to keep the kids busy and entertained; we went bowling, to the movies, the fair, the horse races, hiking, etc. I took a couple trips to Las Vegas (didn't come back a millionaire), and spent a lot of time getting the house spotless and maintained since I'm having to sell it.

With the start of school, it marks the end of summer for me. In my mind, tomorrow "fall" begins. I've actually felt it in the air as well. And tomorrow, I'll feel it as the alarm goes up much earlier than it should and I trot on back to work, getting ready to meet a new group of second graders.

Another Trip Down the "Eating Healthy" Path

2011-07-31T16:21:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I've been watching these food documentaries lately: Food, Inc., Food Matters, and most recently, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Each one I found very interesting and informative. They got me thinking about all the processed, yet SO yummy, foods I've been eating. As much as people like to argue against eating whole foods or organic foods, one really doesn't have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to which are healthier: processed vs. whole foods. The problem is, mostly, at least from my point of view, that whole foods just don't taste as good as processed foods! And in addition, whole foods 1) are more expensive, 2) take more of our time (grocery shopping, food preparation), and 3) have a shorter shelf life.

In Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Joe went on a 60 day juice fast. Not store-bought orange juice, but fresh veggies and fruits put through a juicer. Not to anyone's surprise, he lost a lot of weight and was able to get off the medication he'd been taking for an unsightly and painful skin disease. It definitely inspired me to eat better, as did the other two documentaries mentioned above. So today, I purchased some fresh fruits and veggies and made my first fruit and vegetable smoothie. In it I put carrots, cucumber, spinach, grapes, apple, a bit of peach yogurt and soy milk and some ice. Delicious! Better yet, the kids liked it too. So I have a new goal. No, I can't see myself going on a juice fast, but I do want to incorporate more fresh fruits and veggies into my diet. I'm planning on having a fruit and veggie smoothie for either breakfast or lunch 6 days a week. I think it's a good start.

Newly Single

2010-11-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure where to begin. . . I'm newly single after 16 years of marriage. It's the beginning of the rest of my life and I'm excited to discover and live it! It's been a good change and the kids have adjusted wonderfully. I think it helps that they are on the older side (12, 12, 14). What *has* been hard is starting the dating process again. Online dating is a great invention and a Godsend for people like me--in their 40's or older, with a very limited opportunity to meet like-minded, similar in age singles). Dating in the 2000's is definitely different than what I remember and have experienced. Things seem to more more quickly and men come right out and discuss what used to be taboo right away, before even a first meeting. I've met some nice guys and some flaky, dishonest guys. But I've only been on this dating train since July. It's a bit frustrating and confusing. And I'm not sure I like it. I'm on eHarmony, tried Match.com and a free site called OKCupid. What I'm encountering are some wonderfully written online profiles that get me intrigued, just to find out later that they were more than 50% fiction. I haven't yet experienced the date where the guy has posted old or PhotoShopped pictures; I guess that's something. I'd like to meet and date a nice guy with whom I feel a connection with or chemistry. It's going to be way harder than I'd hoped and expected. Of course my ex found a girlfriend within a couple of months. But I do believe it's easier for guys. They can pursue a girl, and it still is not politically correct (nor comfortable for me) to do the pursuing. We gals have to wait for someone to notice us, contact us, etc. But that's only 1/2 the battle. Three quarters of those who *do* contact me are blatantly looking for sex, emanating a facade to cover up that they're looking for sex, are nice guys that I'm not in the least bit attracted to, or an occasional guy that seems nice and is decent looking only to find out by date 2 that he has serious character flaws (dishonest, still into the "game playing", etc).

I don't want to sound cynical or pessimistic or down on dating. I just want to find an honest guy, with integrity with whom I have a connection with. It sounds so simple. So why is it so darned hard?

Molly the Barn Own

2010-04-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Some time in March, I fellow first grade teacher asked me if I'd been watching "Molly the Owl". I had no idea what she was talking about, and to tell you truth I was less that intrigued when she told me about the Live Cam of a barn owl. Oh yeah, must be so interesting watching an owl sit on her eggs. She had the Live Cam on in her classroom when I walked in one day, so I asked if any of the eggs had hatched. The first one had that day.

Fast forward a few weeks to Spring Break. My kids were still in school (they had spring break the week after), and I didn't feel like hitting the jewelry bench, so I put-putted around on the internet. For some reason I decided to check out this Molly the Barn Owl. By this time, there were two owlets and three left to hatch. I also noticed a live chat and people sure seemed into this owl and her owlets. I read the chat for a while, but learned that the third egg was due to hatch within a day or two. Well, since I was available, being that it was Spring Break and all, I decided to try and watch for the next egg to hatch. I missed it, but did get to see McGee (Molly's partner and the owlets' daddy) bring his family some food and engage in bonding. Hmm....a little more interesting. I decided to try and catch the fourth egg as it hatched. No luck, I missed it again. But I was starting to get hooked. I enjoyed watching for McGee at night to see what morsels he'd bring his family this time. And I liked reading the chat and starting recognizing some names. After a while I joined in the live conversation.

Since then I've seen lots of visits by McGee, more owl bonding, and an escape by a terrified mouse that was brought in still alive. I watched for the last egg to hatch (it never did), worried about Molly as she returned after her longest time away seemingly wet and injured, learned that owls do indeed take baths and look disheveled afterward, and discover with thousands of others that it's normal for a barn owl mommy to leave her chicks for hours on end after they have all learned to swallow their food whole. I've discovered that watching a barn owl sitting on her eggs is much more interesting that I'd thought, and I've "met" some great people who are right there with me. We all have the same affliction called MODs - Molly Obsessive Disorder.

To view Molly and her four healthy owlets, go to The Owl Box for a live view. You'll be glad you did.

My First Gem Fair

2010-01-29T19:54:00.000-08:00

I went to my first gem fair after hearing wondering things about them. The great deals, the beautiful gems, etc. It took place at our local fairgrounds and I talked a friend into going with me. She was quite patient as I looked around and bought the place out. There were definitely beautiful gems there but the prices varied from vendor to vendor. I bought a lot from one of the first vendors I came to. He had a good selection and good prices. The others I visited varied in their prices quite a bit. I learned a lot by the end of my day. Next time I really need to take a look around at all the vendors before purchasing. I think I overpaid on some and got a nice deal on others. Such is life, huh?! All in all, I had a great time and loved looking at all the gems. The Gem Faire is coming back in a couple of months and I'll be there. But....better prepared than before.

A New Necklace Display

2009-12-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas I bring my artisan jewelry to work. My fellow teachers and other coworkers have made some very good customers. Since I do not do shows or craft fairs, I don't have much on which to display my jewelry. Last year I had tons of jewelry boxes, I small basket for earrings and two small busts to highlight two necklaces. It did not look very good. This year I am more prepared. I have a bracelet display and I've purchased a decorative box for my earring cards with separators by color. For my necklaces I didn't know what to do. So, I went to one of my favorite all-purpose stores (Target) for something that would work. I saw a cute artificial desktop tree that would have worked, but they were out of the small 2' size. :-( I wandered around for quite a while and really didn't find anything that would work. Finally, I had a thought, and I'm pretty sure I'd seen or heard of this idea which was why it was in the back of my mind. I purchased a picture frame and a frame stand. I went home and found a nice cloth napkin, covered the cardboard backing that came with the frame, closed it up and put in some push pins. Viola! I still need to iron the fabric, I think, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with it. I do need at least 2 more for next year as it doesn't hold all my necklaces. So I'll still bring some in their jewelry boxes, but my display will certainly look much better than previous years.

Trying a new "Discipline" Plan

2009-11-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

I just read a book that my husband's aunt gave to me a few months ago called, "Loving Your Children on Purpose". It was a quick read with some interesting ideas for alternative discipline. The plan is to stop punishing and start teaching. Teaching them to solve their own problems which we as parents often try to own. Here are the key points I got out of it:

1.) When your child comes to you with a problem ("so and so did ______!), empathize and ask them, "What are you going to do?" This get them thinking of possible ways that can solve the problem themselves, thus empowering them.

2.) They have responsibilities just as we do. If they don't want to do them, fine. But the bottom line is that it has to get done and the responsibility is theirs. Don't want to clean your room? Ok. "I'd be happy to do it for you, but you need to know that I charge $20 for a room cleaning". "Do *you* want to do it, or do you want to use 'Mom's Cleaning Service'?"

3.) Offer choices (see above). Both choices you offer should be ones you could live with.

4.) Follow through with what you say you will do. Ex. "Company is coming in 30 minutes and your room needs to be cleaned up. Do you want to do it, or do you want to use 'Mom's Cleaning Service'? I'll be back in 5 minutes to see what you've decided. If you're working, I know you've chosen to take care of it yourself. If not, I'll figure you want to use my service and I'll get started! (she said, smiling sweetly). If you come back and your child is just sitting there, playing their PSP, start cleaning. If they choose not to pay your "fee" you can say, "No problem; I can sell one of your PSP games. That should cover it"

Now this sounds great and I'm all for it. I tried to implement some of these ideas today and I'm quite happy with how it's going. My kids are 13, 11 and 11 (twin boys). One boy chose to finish his job after a long day of baseball (because he chose not to do it or let his brother in their room so he could do it), and the other boy chose to us Mom's Cleaning Service (he had done some earlier but did not finish).

Bottom line, I'm tired of getting angry and upset when my kids don't take care of their responsibilities. This is something I'm willing to try. I like the plan of using real-life consequences (You don't want to do it? Pay a gardener, cleaning service, etc.). I also like that I'm helping empowering my kids to solve their own problems and realize real-life consequences.

Gosh, parenting is hard.

Being Thankful in Tough Times

2009-11-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

Here it is, November. The month of Thanksgiving. Yes, we will all be gearing up for a huge feast eaten with family and friends. But in these tough times, what will we be giving thanks for? My husband has just been laid off, the second time in a year. Financially we are not making ends meet but still have our house. The kids don't really understand why we can't go out to eat like we used to or why we can't take a couple of small family trips to Big Bear. Halloween worked out well with borrowed props for handmade costumes and the purchase of just one lab coat for my daughter's vet costume. I bought less candy and not as much of "the good stuff".

It has really been a tough 14 months. Christmas is coming up quickly and the pressure is on to be creative with presents this year. I know we need to accept the good along with the bad; it's hard to do. Yet with all our financial difficulties we still have a lot to be thankful for. I still have a job, the kids and we are healthy, and we still have our house. The small things we have taken for granted are now looked upon thankfully--we have two wonderful, loving dogs, our cars are paid off and, knock-on-wood, working well, we've enjoyed little get togethers with friends and look forward to family visiting for Christmas.

My goal is to keep the faith that things will get better, accept those things that I cannot change, be creative in my spending and gift-giving, enjoy the little things, and keep things as normal as possible for the kids. May we all find happiness and keep the faith in these trying times.

Soldering – No More Procrastination!

2009-09-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have literally waited until my last day of summer to solder. I had almost the entire summer to attempt soldering, But like usual I waited until the last minute. I did make my own head pins earlier in the summer but that’s just using flux and heating wire, not soldering. So today I decided, “This is it!”.

How did it go? I don’t know really as I've heard that ones "first time" can be difficult. I had decided to try to solder a 16 gauge sterling wire ring closed. It took me a few attempts. I first tried what I thought would be the easiest method—using a flux and solder paste. That didn’t seem to work. Then I tried some wire solder and heated the wire ring with the solder underneath. That didn’t work. Last I heated the wire ring, added some solder wire after it got hot, and that seemed to do the trick. I wasn’t sure, so I did a bit more than I needed to and got quite a nice hunk of silver solder on top of my old seam. I was able to file it down, hammer it out and then tumble it. So although I wouldn't call my first attempt at soldering a success, it turned out ok. I'll continue to practice on the weekends and I plan to take a workshop that reviews soldering as well.

I go back to my “real” job tomorrow but at least I can say that I did attempt soldering over the summer. Even if it was on the very last day of my summer vacation!

Back to School Shopping - Ugh!

2009-08-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

I spent the afternoon with my kids (yea!) going shopping for school tennies and backpacks (boo). I enjoy shopping for and with my kids but it's frustrating when I have to tell them "Sorry, too expensive". Don't get me wrong, even if I won the lottery I'd still be smart with my money. However, with three kids to buy for I cannot afford a $40 on up backpack apiece along with $50+ for shoes. The economy doesn't help of course, but how can you explain that (and should you?) to your kids. We went to approximately 8 stores looking for shoes and backpacks. I found two places with buy one get 2nd half off, but my kids either couldn't find their sizes or styles the liked. I found one pair of shoes for one of the kids after visiting 7 stores. All the kids were getting frustrated and tired as well. We hit another store and happened to find all three kids backpacks under $20 each. And my daughter found some shoes for under $30. I still have one son who still needs shoes. I'm sure we'll be able to find something, right? Hopefully it won't take another 7 stores. I don't think I can take it! I hope shopping for school supplies is easier.

Made My Own Headpins

2009-07-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

I had tried to make my own headpins before, but I didn't have any pickle so they just didn't look very good. So now I am prepared. I bought flux, some pickling acid and a small crock pot. I first held the 1-3/4" cut wire in my hands when trying to melt the ends. Don't do that; sterling is a very good conductor of heat and it burns you fingers. So I switched to a third hand and it worked much better. Surprisingly a couple of the wires didn't ball up with the heat and some did. I'm wondering if the flux inhibited the melting process. I kept trying with and without the flux and all wires eventually balled up. I put them in the pickle for a while, tumbled them, and they turned out great!

My next step is to try to solder two sterling pieces together. Baby steps.

Trying Something New

2009-07-09T16:18:00.001-07:00

I believe that trying new things helps us grow as people. The sense of accomplishment when we've succeeded at a new task is wonderful. So why is it that giving something new a try makes us a bit nervous? Or is it just me!? As I'm sure many of us do, we put off trying new things or methods. Probably the smart thing to do in my case (soldering) would be to take a class. I have all summer off but I haven't been able to find one. I have, however, been reading up a lot on it in both books and on the internet. I have purchased some basic supplies and plan to start on something simple. I feel I'm prepared, but I've still be putting it off. I don't want to mess up; although I know that's par for the course. I've always been a bit nervous about trying new things or meeting new people. I don't think I'll ever get out the feeling at this point in my life. But knowing this about myself, I try not to let the feeling stop me. I go to those gatherings where I don't know many people (reluctantly!), and I've tried a lot of new things, too. And I can honestly say, I have come through unscathed!

I'll let you know how my attempts at soldering go.

A Blog on Blogging - Some History and More

2009-06-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

As I sat down to blog today I got to thinking, "How did this whole 'blogging' thing get started and take off like it has?" So I researched it a bit. Here's what I found out:

The word "blog" is short for "weblog" (web log). It can be used as a noun (I have a personal blog on such-and-such.) or as a verb (to blog, meaning to add content to one's blog). According to Wikipedia, the modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep an ongoing account of their personal lives. One of the first was authored by Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at college. Early blogs were regularly updated entries on Web sites. Blogging gained popularity in the late 1990s. A gentleman named Bruce Ableson launched a site called Open Diary in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary became the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.

As of December 2007, the blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs, reports Wikipedia. Just think how many there are today in 2009! I only started blogging about 6 months ago, pretty late in the game. In today's online business world, blogging is becoming more and more important. Using highly searched key words and search engine optimization (SEO) can move online shops up in the search rankings. More visibility means more visits and more visits will eventually lead to more sales. Blogging also allows your readers to get to know you, through your own words. There's a thread in 1000Markets main forum on benefits of blogging: with comments and opinions from online shop owners.

Ok, so we are learning that blogging is important to online business success and reports are it is here to stay. But blogging isn't easy for a lot of people. Sometimes it's hard to come up with something creative, fresh and interesting to write about. But don't give up. There are many websites that provide ideas for blog topics. Here is one site with 23 great ideas and another with 101 ideas .

So what are you waiting for? Go Blog!

Color - "Survey Said . . . "

2009-06-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago I decided to test my theory that one’s “favorite” colors are influenced by how we look in them. I asked people to take a survey to help me prove or disprove my theory. Here are the results of my color survey.

I had 14 responses, not the best numbers I know, but all scientists must start somewhere!

The first “question” was: Please rate the following colors according to how well you like them. The rating choices were “Love it”, “Good”, “Indifferent”, and “Don’t Like”. Survey takers had to choose one rating per color.

The condensed results are:

The most popular colors as measured by the rating of “Love It” are green, blue at 50%, followed by purple, pink, and orange at 42.9%.

The colors chosen as the least favorite as measured by the Don’t Like rating are yellow at 28.6%, followed by pink and orange at 14.3%.
The second “question was: Please rate how you feel each color looks on you. The rating choices were “Great”, “Good”, “Ok”, “Horrible”.

A summary of the results are:

The colors people feel they look best in, measured by a rating of “Great” are blue (50%), black (42.9%), followed by green and purple at 35.7%.

The colors people feel they look horrible in, measured by the rating of “Horrible” are yellow at 78.6% followed by orange at 30.8%.
Findings: Well, nothing conclusive. The ever-popular color blue fits the theory well with 50% loving the color and 50% thinking that they look great in it. Purple was close in it’s rating of 42.9% of the people loving the color and 35.7% feeling they look great in it. Yellow is a tricky one; 14.3% ranked yellow as “love it’, 35.7% rated it as “good”. If you combine them, that’s 50% that either love or like yellow. Yet an overwhelming amount (78.6%) said they look horrible in it. However, if you combine the ratings of “don’t like” and “indifferent”, you get 50%. So I guess half of us like yellow and the other half of us don’t . But most of us don’t look all that great in the color.

Note to reader: In the interest of space and a potential for boredom, only partial results were shared. :-)

Color and Personal Style

2009-06-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about colors lately. My favorite color is purple, with shades of blue in a close second. However, I do not like yellow or orange very much and I rarely wear items in those colors. I wonder why some people like some colors more than others? Obviously personal preference is involved, but is there more? It got me thinking about the colors we wear. Although I've not done research to back this up, I have a theory that our favorite colors are those we look best in. It's true; I do not look very good in yellow and I do not wear it often. Clothing in shades of purples and blues definitely look better on me. My favorite colors are the ones I typically am drawn to when designing jewelry, too. I have to almost force myself to use yellow in my designs! I think I'm going to create a survey to see if there is a connection between a person's favorite colors and the colors she looks best in. I'll let you know what I find out.

Here's the survey (don't worry it's only 2 questions long! ) I'd love to hear from you.

Click Here to take survey

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing

2009-05-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that song? It was made into a Coke commercial way back when. And it's funny, I still remember the commercial and I was pretty young at the time! Here's a link to the original 1971 version. And they redid a Christmas version of the commercial in 1978.

I had my first grade class sing some good, "old-fashioned" songs at our Open House last night: I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, What the World Needs Now, and It's a Small World. Now, don't get me wrong I love a lot of today's music, but I find a lot of value in some of those "old" songs. And what a great message they convey.

The Passing of a Friend

2009-05-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we had to put our beloved dog, Sammi, to sleep. He was 14 years, 2 months old. He was our first "baby". He was a very calm dog, not very affectionate, but always glad to see us. Up until the end, he was quite healthy with very few necessary visits to the vet over the years. Last Thursday when I came home from work, he wasn't as we left him earlier that morning. When he tried to walk, he would stumble. His eyes were twitching side to side rhythmically. For a while, I thought he would pass within the hour. He didn't. He was able to stumble downstairs, sometimes falling over, go outside to relieve himself and his appetite seemed good. But we knew his quality of life wouldn't be the same. When outside, he would become disoriented and watching him fall over was heart breaking. We made the final decision the day after that something happened (stroke? seizure?), and we took him in on Saturday morning. Leaving him was so hard and so sad. We were saying good-bye to a friend, a member of the family. I know he went peacefully in his sleep although I couldn't bear to be present. I truly hope there is a doggy heaven. He deserves to be eternally happy and healthy.

Good-bye, Sam (March 1995 - Mary 2009). We love you.

Fun After Forty

2009-04-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, I admit it....I'm over 40. The number looks so strange as a type it even though I've been in my forties for 3 years now! I don't feel 40-something.

I went out dancing with some coworkers last Friday night. The band was playing 80's music--perfect! We all danced, had a couple of drinks and acted how we felt--20-something. I realized that I hadn't been out for quite a while, other than to a Padres game with my husband and kids. I'd missed it. When the band was done playing, most of my coworkers left and a friend of mine and I stayed for a bit waiting until they kicked us out. As we were waiting, one of the singers from the band and his buddy came over to chat. It was soon apparent that the singer was hitting on my friend (a divorcee) and had probably asked his friend to come over with him to keep me company. We all talked for about an hour before we finally decided to head on home. My friend gave the singer her phone number as he promised to call and invite her to the band's next show and pre-party. I had to smile as she talked about the singer, wondering if he'd call. I do miss going out with friends, dancing, talking, having a couple of drinks, etc. But I realized that there was something a don't miss--being single! The anxiety involved with getting back out there, meeting someone new, worrying if they'll call, dating and then breaking up...well, *that* I am too old for!

When Communication is Difficult

2009-04-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

We've all had instances where what we've tried to communicate to another person via a forum, or e-mail was taken the wrong way. Our "voice" is lost in the black and white of the words. There are no facial expressions or body language to help us convey our message. It tends to occur more often with strangers than with friends and family. Our friends and family know us; know how we communicate, what our sense of humor is like, whether we are sarcastic or a kidder, etc. When communicating over the web, we've learned to be very careful with our wording, rereading our message before sending or posting, editing our words and using emoticons like :-), :-( and LOL! But they don't always work at conveying our tone of voice. This has happened to me twice in the past two days! It is frustrating to have your message misunderstood or misinterpreted. But what can we do to improve it? I think we should continue to try our best to communicate clearly, reread our messages more objectively and maybe get some input from someone else (especially if it has the potential of being a touchy subject). And if you're on the receiving end of one of those questionable messages, give them the benefit of the doubt. I'd like to think that most people are still inherently kind and good. :-)

2009-04-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a ByHand.Met Spotlight that a kind fellow jewelry designer created for me. She spotlight's a different designer every day. How sweet!

1000Markets is Getting Closer!

2009-03-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

Closer to their "Grand Opening"! I'm so excited to see what happens once the site goes live. It's such a beautiful, friendly venue for quality handmade items. This weekend admin is fine tuning the new search categories. What I love about this is that the shop owners are being asked for their input and furthermore, admin is listening and responding to the suggestions! I love the feel of shared ownership, respect and professionalism. It's a huge step forward in the world of buying quality handmade items online.

If you haven't checked out 1000Markets, you really should.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

2009-03-17T19:24:00.001-07:00

Today ended the second day of the spring Parent-Teacher Conferences. It's always so interesting to reflect on them as many times they don't go as expected. Today, my last conference with planned for a child who's mom has not previous showed up at a conference nor has ever returned a notice that she was or was not planning on attending. A strange woman was waiting outside my door at the end of the day and sure enough, it was this child's mom! She came! I never would have recognized her in a million years but she was there. She's a single, working mom raising two boys. One is 14 and the younger one, my student, is 6. She has a lot of guilt about not spending much time working with "Johnny". He's a struggling student who often appears unmotivated, tired and sad. His mother told me more than I needed or wanted to know about her past, her extended family and the antics of her teenage son. I got the feeling that she just needed to talk. She was the last conference of the day so I was able to listen. And now, reflecting particularly on that conference, I realize that no only are teachers mentors, counselors, confidantes, etc. for children, they're sometimes those same things for their parents.

Using a Sketch Book

2009-03-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well, tonight I got out a little journal that one of my students had gotten me and did a quick sketch of a design that had just come to me. Why haven't I done that before?! Before I knew it, I have 2 more designs sketched out. Now, they're not much to look at but the sketches will definitely help me remember my ideas that seem to come and go so fleetingly. Of course many come as I'm drifting off to sleep when my mind is calm and not worrying about the millions of other things going on in my life. But my new sketch book will be housed in my nightstand--ready for the next design.

I Have an Idea

2009-02-05T19:54:00.001-08:00

I have an idea for a great jewelry design. The problem is that I just can't put my finger on it. It seems to be just out of reach. There....but in a fog. I can't see it clearly. It's very hard to explain. I try to reel it in so that I can picture it, but I can't yet. I think the problem is that what I want to create isn't possible for me. I don't have the materials nor the skills. There is endless possibility in jewelry design as there is for the arts in general. It's out there. That great design. The one that's been eluding me. And you know what? There may be more than one.

Alright, I Have Had It!!!

2009-02-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

As many of us have, I've gone up and down with my weight since high school. I'm now 40-something with 3 kids and I'm still struggling, even more so due to age! Every few weeks/months I get the thought in my head that I should really try to lose some weight. I'm now about 20 - 25 lbs. over what I should be. Today I caught myself in the mirror and I have had enough!

Why do I always make excuses? There are plenty--too tired, too busy, blah, blah, blah. I was once very diligent about going to the gym. But being a teacher, one week of spring Parent/Teacher conferences threw me off and I haven't been back. So now it's been about 5 years since I've been to the gym. And what's really pathetic, is I'm too embarrassed to go to the gym! Stupid, I know. So today I have vowed to at least do *something*. I will walk my dog after work at least 3 days a week for 1 mile. I will not eat past 8:00 (believe it or not, we often eat later than that!). And I will eat more whole foods. No more excuses! Please help keep me be accountable. Knowing someone is checking on me is sure to help. :-)

Starting weight.....ugh.....well, never mind. I will be posting my + and -. Wish me luck!

Short-term Goal: Lose 5 lbs. by February 27.

Yea! My dog pooped!

2009-01-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

Talk about "potty words". Funny that I'm blogging about one of them now! My dogs are so strange. Rosie is a 1 year old bulldog and Beau is a 7 month old lab. When I take them on walks, they never go potty! As soon as they come home from the walk, though, they get right to it in the backyard! Granted, I'm glad they aren't doing it in the house, but still. What kind of dogs don't go potty on walks? Mine.

Well, I just got back from today's walk and Rosie pooped! I was like a mom excited about her child's potty training! She pooped in the right place!! That's one less poop I have to pick up from the backyard! Woo-hoo for Rosie!!!

Potty Words

2009-01-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

I teach first grade. Every year just around this time, the kids get into a "potty words" frenzy. What's up with that? Why do kids find it so funny to use the words "poop", "butt", "pee", etc.? My own kids went through that phase too, so I'm no stranger to it. It doesn't help that some grown-ups (mostly the dads!) also find burping, farting and potty words so hilarious. Maybe the fact that I'm reacquainted with the phase year after year makes it more aggravating for me. Maybe I should title some of my designs with potty words. I'd appeal to a younger crowd! Too bad they don't make any money yet at age 6. ;-)

I love it! (why don't I wear it?)

2009-01-25T18:14:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking, as I'm starting yet another endeavor--blogging....if I love jewelry so much--buying, selling, collecting, designing--why don't I wear it? What better advertisement for my pieces than to wear some? I think it started when I had children. One can't easily wear earrings and necklaces with little hands a grabbin'! Plus, when you're home with the kids, there's really no need to adorn oneself.

My kids are older now (relatively speaking, they're 10, 10 and 13). I can easily wear jewelry safely. I do wear earrings and my wedding ring but that's about it. I have some gorgeous rings and have made some very nice pieces, even if I do say so myself! Hmmm...maybe I need to make jewelry wearing a priority. Or not. Is it really that important? I think as long as I have it around to look at, collect, design, to oooh and aaaaah at, that is enough. For now anyway.

Metal Jewelry....Boring?

2009-01-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

I started my journey in jewelry design as a collector of vintage pieces. I was drawn to those great pieces of the 50's with colorful rhinestones. I, of course, could never wear any of them--way too gaudy--but they were so pretty! On the other hand, I thought, those plain metal designs were b-o-r-i-n-g. Who would want to wear plain ol' metal jewelry?! It wasn't "pretty" at all! I just got rid of the metal pieces, never adding them to my collection.

Quite honestly, I still feel that many of those cast metal vintage brooches were indeed boring. But boy how metalwork has changed! Those dull metal designs of the past have beautifully morphed into some fabulous designs! I am in awe of the creativity of today's metalwork artisans. I love the modern simplicity, the geometry and composition. I've wanted to try my hand at it but always thought it was too complex for me to learn. Does that mean I shouldn't try? Of course not. I am starting a new phase in my jewelry design. I have started to work with metal wire and sheet metal. I love the endless possibilities.

Metal jewelry boring? Definitely not!

http://OceanBayDesigns.etsy.com