Long Weekend with the Greatest Grand Kids

I had been planning a trip to visit my son and his family for a long time so I was excited when the time finally come for us to go to Cincinnati.  It is hard to explain the attraction to grandkids.  They are way, way better than kids.  Maybe it is because they look like your children when they were young or maybe it is just that blood is thicker than water, who knows?  At any rate, I'm crazy about my grandkids.

I have three.  Sophie, who is a three year old diva, and Owen and James who are one year old and absolutely perfect.  The twins had a rough start in life but they fought through it all with an energy and commitment to growing strong that was unbelievable.  Although they are still tiny compared to other one year olds, they are strong and healthy.  What a gift they are!

However, when I finally got to my son's house to see them after 2 months without seeing them, Owen, who has always given me a big smile when I showed up, began to cry and reach for his mother when I reached out to pick him up.  I was devastated.  Of course, I know that he is just a baby and that all babies go through a stage where they are leery about going to strangers.  I'm not a stranger!  I'm his grandma who has always loved and wanted the best for him.  Of course, after we were there for a few hours, Owen was crawling all over my lap and showing me all the new things that he could  do.  But throughout the weekend, he was crawling away from me looking for his mom whenever he was upset.  Understanding what is going on is very different from not being affected by it.  It was heart breaking when he cried and crawled away from me.

James, on the other hand, was willing to let me hold him right away and gave me a great big smile.  James looks almost exactly like my son when he was a baby.  He has bright eyes and an engaging laugh.  What joy he brings to my life.  James is completely focused on climbing and rarely has his feet on the ground.  The same is true of Owen.  Always focused on the next big thing he is learning.

Sophie, my first born grandkid is simply amazing.  She is loving and smart and beautiful and funny and headstrong.  She has known exactly what she wanted ever since she was born.  She is three going on 18.  She is wise beyond her years.  Sophie loves her brothers and is always glad to see me.  We have spent many hours having tea parties and dressing up and coloring and going for walks, etc.  I have been able to forge a special bond with her.  Sophie never cried when I picked her up and her face lights up when I come into the room.  I am so thankful for having such a good relationship with her.

I know that kids will be kids and always do and say what they think.  And, I'm actually very grateful for that.  Their unexpected pronouncements are always so entertaining.  I hope that Owen quickly outgrows his fear of me and that James never gets it.  Of course, if he does, I'll be disappointed and hurt just like I was when Owen did it.  However, I will understand that it is part of the growing process and not a reflection of his feelings about me.

Still and all, it was horrific seeing the fear and panic in Owen's eyes when I reached for him.  I hope I don't ever see that in his eyes again.  If I do, I'll deal with it but it isn't easy to let it go.

Ambrosia Bead Shop

Well, I think most of you know that I haven't yet found the perfect bead store in my new city of Baltimore.  Good bead stores are very hard to come by and if you are lucky enough to have a good one near you, you should do whatever you can to support that store.

Whenever I get some free time, I continue to check out bead stores in the greater Baltimore area.  I've been fairly disappointed in the quality and variety of beads and findings available here.  However, yesterday I ventured out to Columbia, MD and discovered a pretty nice bead store.  It is very convenient, just about a mile off 695.

The store is the Ambrosia Bead Shop located at 9143 E. Red Branch Road, Columbia, Maryland.  you can find their website at www.ambrosiabeadshop.com.  The store is small but they have a fairly good selection of high quality gemstone beads.  In addition, she has a couple of rotating trunk shows that she changes about once a month.  She generally doesn't have any idea what will be showing up in the trunk shows but it is usually something interesting.  She also stocks a few gold and silver plated findings along with vermeil and brass findings.  I also found glass beads and Swarovsky crystals.  A small bit of bead stringing materials are on the wall as well.  I didn't see any sterling silver wire but I found silver and gold colored wire.  She doesn't carry any seed beads at all.

By far, the best part of the store was their gemstone beads.  In addition, her pricing was ok.  However, she doesn't currently sell wholesale but is trying to figure out how to give discounts for purchasing in bulk.

The store is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 am. - 5:30 pm. except for Saturday when they close at 5:00.

One very positive comment I need to make about Ambrosia Bead Shop is the the store is very clean.  There was no dust accumulating on anything in the store and the beads were sparkly clean.  It's very difficult to keep your stock dust free but Ambrosia has succeeded.

I still haven't found the perfect bead store in or around Baltimore but I'm planning to continue my search.  I suspect I'll not find a replacement for Scottsdale Bead Supply (which I've blogged about in the past).  Rather, I'll end up with several different stores for different things.  Of course, there is alway online but I'm one of those folks who want to touch my beads before I purchase them.

Do you have a favorite bead store in the Baltimore/D.C. area?  If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Owen's First Steps

My grandson, Owen, took his first steps today.  The best part of the video for me is how excited Owen is.  He has a twin brother who hasn't yet taken the plunge.

Unfortunately, my daughter-in-law was on a Girl's Trip to Chicago with a pack of her friends and didn't get to see his first steps.  I think everyone understands that you cannot also be there for all the firsts but it is so disappointing when you find out you've missed something big.

Have a glass of wine Kara and enjoy the rest of your Girl's Trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a8SDqFtyZQ

I'm in Denial

I turned 55 today.  I really don't even think that it is possible.  When did I get so freakin old?

I feel like the same person I was 50 years ago.  I still have all my insecurities.  I still struggle with my weight.  I still want to go to Africa.

It seems that the majority of my life is behind me.  Oh how I wish I could just start over again.  Some things I would do differently but mostly I'm happy about my life.  I only want it to last a lot longer.

Hopefully I'll have another 30 or 40 years to watch my grandchildren grow up and see the fine adults they will become.

Who knows, maybe I'll get to see my great grandchildren!

Here's to old age.  Life should be celebrated.

Remaking Jewelry

I seem to be a bit spacey these days.   For example, I recently made a green kyanite and lampwork necklace using some beads that I found a couple of years ago at the Tucson show.  It was really the first time I had spent more than $200 per strand for gemstone beads.  The green kyanite is spectacular!  In fact, I liked the green kyanite so much that I couldn't decide what to make with it.  I finally decided to make a simple wire wrapped necklace.  Here is the picture of the finished necklace.

I didn't notice until a photographed the necklace that it wasn't right.  The clasp in the front didn't lay right and it looked very asymmetrical.  It wasn't at all what I wanted it to be.  So, it was back to the drawing board for this one.

After cutting apart all my wonderful wire loops, I began again.  Sometimes, I have had to remake a necklace several times before I get it right.  This time, however, the second time was a charm.  Here are some pictures of the remade necklace that is now on sale in my Etsy, Artfire and Zibbet shops.

Ahhh, much better.

A Few New Listings to Share

I've recently completed a few new pieces for listing on Etsy, ArfFire and Zibbet.  Keep an eye out for them as they'll most likely be listed this week.  Meanwhile, here they are for you to preview:

The first is a long antique brass, prehenite and Czech glass bead necklace that I put together with wirework.  The necklace is 84 inches long and doesn't contain a clasp.  Rather, it is designed to be wrapped around your neck or waist as many times as you like.  In addition to the stones and Czech beads, the necklace contains several Vintage antique brass pieces and brass links.  I love this piece because it is the perfect color for me and it so very flexible.  I've also created a pair of coordinating chandelier earrings.  Check out these pictures...

Next, I've created a classic necklace with a chain made from various green jasper beads and sterling silver beads and bead caps.  The pendant focal is also made from green jasper.  I found these beads when I was walking through the International Gem and Jewelry Show in downtown Baltimore a few months ago.  The pendant was the first piece to jump out at me.  It reminded me of a Monet impressionistic painting.  I immediately stopped and reached out to touch it.  Of course, once I've picked it up, it almost always goes into my goody bag.   I knew it would make a beautiful classic piece.  Let me know what you think about it.

Another piece I recently completed is made from some wonderful, absolutely striking, green kyanite beads that I found at the Earthstone booth at the February Tucson Gem and Jewelry Show.  Earthstone is a wholesale only dealer who has amazing quality stones.  The last time I visited them in Tucson, I walked away much poorer than I was when I arrived.  However, their stones are so beautiful that I can never resist.  In addition to the green kyanite beads, this necklace contains some beautiful green lampwork beads that I also found in Tucson and a few Swarovsky crystals.  All the accent pieces are sterling silver.  Here are the pictures.

My last new piece was made from a few beads I purchased recently in Dallas.  This piece is made from Czech glass beads and sterling silver.  The pendant focal is something I found a year of so ago at the Tucson show.  This is a design that I haven't done before but that I thought would make a fun necklace.

At any rate, you can find all of these new items on Etsy, at www.jillsjewelry.etsy.com; on ArtFire at www.artfire.com/users/jillsjewelry; and on Zibbet at www.zibbet.com/jillsjewelry.

The Amazing World of Etsy - Part III

Here are my remaining favorites from the first 500 pages of my Etsy search.  I hope you enjoy them.

My first favorite is a lovely wirework bracelet from Stella Rordan.

You can find Stella's work at www.stellarordan.etsy.com.

This lovely necklace is from Paul A. Elliott whose work you can find at www.paulaelliot.etsy.com.

This wonderful necklace is very simple, feminine and very beautiful.  It was designed by Amaia whose work you can find at www.amaia.etsy.com.

What wonderful earrings!  They are sparkly and have amazing movement.  I love them.  Designed by vanini.  You can find her work at www.vanini.etsy.com.

Finally, my last favorite is another piece from Vanini.  Her work can be found at www.vanini.etsy.com.

As you can see, there are endless surprises on Etsy.  It is amazing to me that there are so many talented people out there who make such beautiful jewelry.  I never tire of looking through the amazing world of Etsy.