Sicky :(

Madison woke up feeling yucky today and decided it was a day for her to stay inside the house. I guess with it being so chilly, she picked a good day. I have a bit of a sore throat too. I hope that I don't get sick...but I would rather it be me than the kids. So, Madison cuddled on the couch with one of the dogs (alternating of course) and watched movies "with me" while I made spiders and clips. I am attaching pictures of the most recent and then posting them on my etsy site for sale. I'd like to say that I had a productive day, but honestly...nope. Man I am bored and ready for school to start. It's sad to think that the most exciting part of my day today was walking to the CX to buy the children a peach tea. WooHoo! Party girl--hold me back.

I am also posting pictures of my girls at Emily's party and a picture of Ava's arm that makes me want to fire up the oven and eat a baby for dinner :)

Hair Cuts And A New Idea

First let's chat about the haircuts. I think they look sooo cute and the girls like them very much. I don't know how well you can see it, BUT Sierra's hair has so much blond in it now from the sun that it looks as if we did it on purpose. Madison has the same but it is more red in color. Julia...Thanks so much for doing their hair for me. I don't know what I would have done because the people that I have taken them to here don't seem to know what to do with it.

As for the dragonfly hair pins, I saw them online and thought I might try my hand at them. These two sets are just a practice run as I feel I need more work on it. I do however, think they might be cool to sell at the store. Now maybe I am way ahead of myself, and I hope that Corinnea, Kelly, or JennyP will tell me so. It won't hurt my feelings or anything, I just thought it was a great idea when I saw it. the are regular sized bobbies so the clips aren't too big. They are more for cutsie look than function. Let me know what you think:)

Just A Saturday

We spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing. Big Michael had to work, and the kids played outside--getting mad every time it started to rain and I made them come in the house. I spent the day watching a movie, beading, and dead-heading some flowers in the garden. Not too exciting, but hey...this is my life. I was walking the dogs and ran into some friends. I made a comment about how we should schedule a BBQ or gathering of some sort and "POOF" we were doing it tonight. As many of you know, this may have caused me anxiety on a normal day, but I was actually OK with it because I was having a down day and needed something to take my mind off of it.

They came over around 6:30pm bringing with them chips, dip, cheese squares, grapes, chicken, shrimp salad, a Russian dish that I don't know what it is called, some wine for the women and liqueur for the men. I provided juice boxes, plates, wine, baked mac and cheese, and a tomato/feta, olive/basil dish. Peoples' food was very well received. A couple of neighbors came as well. All in all it ended up a really good day. It could only have been better if Big Michael could have been home instead of working.

I have pictures from tonight, BUT I don't have their permission to put their pics up on the Internet so I don't want to do it yet. I will ask though since it was so much fun watching all those brown children running all crazy (interestingly enough, all of us are mixed couples). So, I will post a different picture from whatever I find in this months folder on my computer. I don't know why, but the posts always look so naked to me when they don't have pictures. I have decided on one of Little Michael running. The premise of this picture is that everyone was playing kickball today...yes the adults were playing too. We were all a big bunch of kids.


There was also a point where the boys (adult boys too) decided to race because no one can beat Sierra and see if they could finally do it. I give you two guesses as to the outcome of the race. MAN CAN THAT GIRL RUN!!! It is a God given talent to which I can't relate because i hate to run. Well she amazes me much like Madison's musical ability, and Micheal's ability to morph into Eeyore at a moment's notice...I am sure there is more than that with him, but honestly the "woe is me" is pervasive in his live. This is due, for the most part, to being a teenager. Poor kid...he "never get what he wants!" Honestly, I am surprised he didn't choke on that one.

Problem With Bugs

Maybe you all can help me out a little. I seem to have an insect problem in the house. There is an infestation in my livingroom to be sure. I have now made seven large dragonflies. They are fun, but are much more work. There are over two hundred fifthy beads in each one! I think that $21.50 is reasonable for the amount of beads, wire, and time that they take to make. The smallest one that I have made is 8 inches long from head to bum, and 6-7 inches in wing span.

That's a lot of beads. To give you an idea of how much work goes into one of them, it took me all day (10-5 with breaks of course) to make three of them. Bear in mind that there was SOME parenting and dog care involved in there :) I am thinking of taking the orange, brown, and pink ones in to the PMC Store for sale, but the others are already for sale in my esty shop. I know that one of the window pictures makes a large dragonfly look orange, but really, there is a red one with a little orange in the wings, and the other is actually ALL orange.

On a side note, I spoke to Lianne today and she is going to crochet Caden a hat with spiderman on it. Caden loves two things in the world more than anything...spiderman and starwars. The fact that he is bald, in Seattle, and moving home to Alaska makes hats a must. What better way to make sure he wears them then to make ones that he loves? Too bad that I don't crochet :) There is still no news on his biopsy. While I am normall all for the "no news, is good news" idea, my mother very intelligently stated that the problem with that mentality for this ordeal is that he still has these issues but they don't know what it is and then don't know how to fix it.

New Size

Well, as I stated in my blog last night, I am now making Large Dragonflies as well as regular sizes. The lady who ordered the big green one indicated that she was interested in a couple of large ones so I have created a red/orange one too. They are both listed on etsy, but I am attaching pictures here. The are really cool hanging in my window surrounded by smaller ones. I like them a lot.

On a Special Note: Corrinea thank you so much for your idea to send special handmade glass beads to Caden. I have been thinking about it all day and honestly it is such a kind and selfless thing to do that I am moved to tears. I mean you don't know my family and you don't know this sweet little boy, but you were moved to do something kind anyway. I don't think that I can tell you quite how much that means to me. I was wondering if you might string them (Or I Can) and send him a special beaded strand of courage from Germany. You could include a special note if you wanted as well. It's a small idea, and you are already going beyond what you need to, so please feel free to say no with the knowledge that I wouldn't be upset at all. It is a very special thing you are doing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sharing Past Work

I thought since JennyP was sharing some of her past work, I could share some of mine. The colorful blanket was created by me for one of my nephew's birth. The first one with all the blues was made by me for me to use as a lap blanket---Madison took it. The last one on the middle right with the flower border was made by me for me to use as a lap blanket because Madison took the first one--Sierra took that one. The bright one on the top right was created for the same reason and Charlene took it. I still don't have my own lap blanket BTW. The peacock tapestry is still being created for my grandmother. She already has a beautiful one of the Lord's Prayer that I made and my mother had matted and framed, but this one is her awesome one. It truly is a thorn in my side. The one on the bottom left is called Earth Angel and still does not have a home. It was created for someone that asked me to make her something and told me to decide what to make. THEN when I was done she told me it really didn't match her decor. WELL, needless to say...I kept it. The one with the little girl is for my JennyP and is hanging in her sewing area. The little redhead made me think of a little me and the black kitty made me think of her. It was the perfect gift. Sometimes I do OK :)

I finished quite a few new dragonflies today as well as a couple of new spiders. I will post them on etsy very soon. I have added so many, that I should stop making them but it passes time. Boy am I bored over the summer. I really should read more, cross stitch more (Lord knows I have more than enough to do there), finish a lap blanket that I might be allowed to keep--Kelly is lucky that I didn't take the one Corinnea made for her the other day because I wanted to. I mean really it's only fair since others always take the ones I make for myself :)

Right now I am getting ready to make one more red dragonfly for Corinnea's mother so that I can bring those to her tomorrow. I sure hope she likes them as much as she thinks she will. Apparently, she has a large picture window that birds keep flying into so she hopes these will help them to stop doing that. She asked for two, but she is getting three. Consider it my contribution to helping mentally challenged birds :)

Out On The Town

Well, it's been a while, but I am going down town today. I get to go shopping-something I love-and just hang out for the day. Michael is going to watch the kids and I am going with Lianne. Of course it's cloudy out and will probably rain because that is just my luck, but it's OK. JennyP was going to go with me, but her hubby is going to go with her and the kids to the pool. I hope he follows through with that. I know for sure we are hitting the craft store, Karstadt, H&M (OH HOW I MISS THEM), Nanu Nana, and as many others as I can get her to go into. Then we are going to lunch. I am not sure whether I will buy anything other than lunch, BUT I do believe that I will have fun looking. Oh, I have also tried my hand at a longer bodied dragonfly with no antennae and I think I like them. Let me know what you think.



I know for a fact that I like the wings best with the seed beads because they are delicate and prettier that way. Also, I can get a GREAT deal on seed beads from Fire Mountain so that makes me smile. Take a look at my display at the store. I think it looks pretty good. My thanks to JennyP for taking pictures of it for me. I don't have any of the crabs in the store yet, but JennyP says she thinks I should have a couple of those too. I am just not sure how they will sell or if they will. honestly, the spiders are my favorite.

Fest and Craft Fair

Well, here are some pictures from the craft fair at the multicraft store and from the 4th of July Fest. The store was supposed to be closed today but opened up anyway. I think they did OK business wise, but I didn't look at the books :) I do know that I paid for the girls to take a "Kid's Craft Summer Camp" from the 4th through 8th of August. They will make different crafts everyday, which as most of you know the girls will LOVE. The crafts are ceramic dish, marbled paper, book, t-shirt and one other thing I can't remember. It is from 11:00 to 1:30 each of those days, the craft supplies, and instructor are part of the price. I think it will be money well spent.

I think that the pictures from the rides turned out pretty. My three girls look SO cute! The fair was good, chocolate covered strawberries were GREAT! Dad took the girls to the movies, the fest, and they got home around midnight from the fireworks. Little (I guess not so little) Michael hung out the whole day with his friends eating junk food and chilling. They all rode home together. All-in-all, it was a really great day.

Random Thoughts and 4th of July

Well, I officially missed a posting day yesterday. Truth is...I couldn't think of much to say. Those of you who know me are saying "yeah RIGHT Jen!" I do have some stuff though. Today is 4th of July, and I am going to bring the dragonflies and spiders over to the Patch Multicraft store for the craft fair. Since is just me and one other guy I guess I should just say I am going over to hang out with the girls at the shop :) I must admit I am looking forward to seeing the new door too. I think it's great that it's supposed to be up and running today. What great timing!

While I hope that the dragonflies and spiders sell, I must say that I am just sort of excited to get out of the house and hang out with grown-ups. Don't tell the people at work, but I get bored over the summer. I am bringing my much neglected cross stitch project with me so that I have something to do. I don't know what the rush is really. I mean it's not like it's been worked on for like five years or something--yes it has! In my defense, I am also working on a tapestry for my grandmother and other things too. Like the Earth Angel one I did. JennyP might remember how I made that big beautiful project for Karen and she said it didn't go with her decor. Keep mean ugly thoughts to myself. Anyway, I am just lazy I guess. I also have a blanket I need to finish along with many other things.

Anyway, I started seeing what I thought of dragonflies with no antenna since we all know they don't have them, and I am attaching a picture of one of them so that JennyP and anyone else who wants to can comment on them and let me know what they think. YES I know I didn't use the light box, but leave me alone...it's not like I am selling it online. Let me know what you think. I have others, but I liked this orange one because it reminds me of the picture I took at my mom's house last summer. Oh and Kelly, Corrinea, and JennyP if you see me not working on my cross stitch today remind me that I want to finish it so that I can finish others :)

Working on Display

Well, I kind of put together a little display for the craft show. See, the dragonflies look pretty hanging from trees as well...you know for Christmas. Of course they look good in a window with the sun shining through or on the fridge as well. I want to post a copy of the Christmas Legend with the spiders, and possibly place them on a doily so that it look similar to a web. Maybe I will bring a few pretty rocks for them to sit on too. I am not sure if that will be OK for the store, but I think it should be fine for the craft show. I can't think of a way to hang the dragonflies on the suction hooks though. I guess I will just lay the rest out.

So, that's what I have done so far todayother than give myself a facial. BTW, it made my skin very soft. Anyway, I am going to go outside and enjoy the semi-sunny day for an hour or so. You know sun = happy makers = less depression = more fun to be around. :)

Arachnophobia Conquered

Arachnophobia is an issue that many people suffer with in varying degrees. I wonder if it would be better if all spiders looked like the ones I have created today. I am having difficulty making it so that the legs don't spin and it is frustrating for me but I will keep trying I think. My favorite one is the orange one. I like the legs the best. If any of you crafty people reading this have suggestions regarding the legs and keeping them in place, I would be so happy.

I have placed my dragonflies on etsy inactive so that I can work out some logistical issues with regard to shipping. I am not allowed to ship from my APO address for reasons of military regulation, and after going to the German Post I realized it's NOT cost effective for me to ship that way and I actually ended up losing a little over two dollars on my first sale. Regardless of some obvious loopholes, it isn't worth the risk to me or my husband to ship through the military and I don't mind giving them away to friends but I am not willing to give them away to strangers and what with losing money I actually paid to give them away. Not too bright I suppose :) I am disappointed though. But for now I will confine myself to selling from the Patch Multicraft store--which is fine and still makes me happy.

Oh, a note about the girls...their hair was NOT too ratty last night so that was pretty exciting. Both of them did see my point about hair on your neck in the summer making you hot and wore braids today though. It's funny when children realize their parents actually know a thing or two. Imagine that :)

Trying Something New

Well, I tried out a new light box that I made (one of the instructions says not to cut yourself...guess what I did) and took pictures of some new stuff. I tried my hand at making a spider. Be kind, it is my first one. Personally, I think he is kind of cute. It was JennyP's idea for me to create a light box for my etsy pictures, so she found one online for me to make, brought me the box, paper and then I bought the required poster board then put the whole thing together. So not only can you see the new beading ideas, but you can also see the new way to take pictures for the Internet. It seems to work great, but I will have to play with it a bit.


I have to say yet again that we had a great time today playing with the Parrish girls. I have so many pictures to choose from for the photo album. I mean I took over 200, JennyP took some, and Big Michael took some. JennyP told me that between the three of us we had over 700. UMMM, maybe we went a bit overboard. The good news is that there are so many to choose from that I can pour over them for hours. The bad new is actually the very same :)

Seasonal Dragonfly and Pics of My Mommy

I have decided to create some season specific dragonflies for Fourth of July. It would not be something that I might choose, but lots of people like red, white, and blue things. I am selling ten of them in my etsy store, and will bring some into the store. I will also have some at the arts and crafts show. My friend LeAnn gave me the idea and then I felt silly not having thought of it. Such a simple idea :) I hope they sell OK but if not oh well! I tried!

Also, here are some pictures of my sweet mommy. She is taking a MUCH needed break from the hospital with Caden or the Ronald MacDonald house with Cameron to take a stroll on the beach. Good for you mommy! You have to take care of yourself too. Perhaps you should make it a daily ritual until you leave. You were right though...the pictures turned out really well. I think I can see the stress washing out with waves. For the moment anyway.

SUCCESS :)

*Edit* I forgot to write that the person who bought something from me is a total stranger, which makes the purchase that much cooler! Also, six random people have marked me as one of their etsy favorites :) If I knew how to make the spiders, I would sell them on etsy too.

Well surprise! I sold my first dragonfly today. It happened about five minutes after I listed it. I was SO excited. One is a start but more would be great! I sat outside today at our table with my umbrella over the table and created about five or six dragonflies. Every so often one of the kids outside would come over and tell me what color I should make next so today's were based on the whim of children. Well only the colors not the patterns. The one that was purchased was one I made today too :) It was really dainty and sweet. A couple of mothers thought I looked lonely I guess because next thing I knew I had company that I didn't really ask for. It's not that it bothered me, but honestly I just wanted to hang out and bead. Oh well, no worries. It was a bit distracting but I made it through OK. I have created seven so far today and may just take a break or make one or two. I am not sure. I have posted a whole bunch more on my etsy, so you can check them out if you want.

Warning! May Cause Drowsiness

Ok, so last night I took something to help me sleep because I haven't been sleeping well. Let me tell you that no one should ever post ANYTHING while drowsy. One of my poor little dragonflies was listed on etsy comments as being a trouble maker. Why I wrote this I don't know, but look at him there to the right. I ask you, does that sweet little thing look like a trouble maker to you? NO! Poor guy now he will be put into a big lump with all those other trouble making handmade beaded items on etsy...I wonder how many people looked at that listing and thought I was nutso :)

This second little guy was listed as bright, beautiful in the light, and "just hangin." I guess he was quite the little gangster.What does that mean anyway? Why did I write that? Was I momentarily taken over by weird aliens? If it weren't silly and I didn't feel like such a dummy at who might have read it and thought I was looney (I am really), I would think it was funny. Ok, I really do think it's funny but others might just be frightened off by the crazy "JennyBean" chick :) Oh well, to know me is to love me I suppose.

Adventures in Town

Well today was rather uneventful. But aside from being a Crabby Pants this morning, Michael had a good husband day and took me to town so that I could pick up some more material for my dragonflies. He even helped me pick some bead colors. AND he just got back from IKEA where he bought me a tray so that I can have a flat place to make them when I am sitting on the couch. First of all, he hates going down town and IKEA so that fact that he did those things is very sweet and supportive. They all have those great days once in a while.

If I would have thought about it, I would have taken pictures of the kids playing in the slip and slide. They were VERY funny and cute. Also, I have added a couple more dragonflies to my etsy store and added more pictures to existing ones. JennyP said she always likes it when sellers have more than one image of their craft so that she can see them in different lighting. I must say that I agree--and not just because she is my friend. :)

Entreprenuer and Spending Time at the Park

Well, let me start by saying thank you to Corinna (sp) and JennyP. My thanks to JennyP is for encouraging me to take my Dragonflys to the Patch MultiCraft Store and consign them for sale to our community. My thanks to Corinna for allowing me to do it. It was very nice of both of you to support me :) Today I consigned 14 of them with the hopes that others love them as much as I do and that they bring a smile to others' faces. You can currently find them for sale at my Etsy store as well which is called akaJennyBean just like my BLOG...I am really excited about the possibilities. OH, also JennyP asked me if I wanted to share a table with her at the Arts and Crafts fair fourth of July weekend. See how much she loves me? I am so lucky.

Today we went shopping...mommy spent WAY to much money, but we got some cute (and necessary) things at Panzer, AND I got some new beads to make some new dragonflies for the show and for the etsy site. Yesterday we had a good day with Jenny, Emily, and Ava. We met at the store, walked to the commissary, then I drove the girls (illegally) back to Jen's house and we all hung out and played at the park. I am posting some pictures of all of us because we are all so stinking cute.

It's Official!

Well, I did it. I started an ETSY (which is of course called aka jenny bean) shop of my own. The materials that I need are on the way and I will begin in ernest after it all gets here. I have posted a few in the shop for sale just to see if I can generate interest. So far a couple of people have made me their favorite BUT since there is very little to choose from I hope the buying will start later. I hope they sell as well as I would like. I made it so I only accept paypal and noted that if there is special color that someone wants that I could purchase the materials if I don't have them and make batches.

Margaret told me to list some so she could buy them for her daughters room so I hope she checks back here on this BLOG. On a side note, Cooper is doing well and is recovering well enough that he thinks we are being mean by not letting him play with Buddy. Sorry Pal, doctor's orders. I do feel bad but what can we do? I don't really want to risk him tearing his sutures. Cindy and the boys left for the states this morning. I am jealous. I want to go visit my family too. There are a lot of us traveling this summer back home. We will not be one of those families I guess. Oh well. Even with the exchange rate we will visit the pools. I want to do SOMETHING anyway.

I am doing something exciting this summer though. I am getting my long awaited final tattoo. I do have the design already, but I am not posting the picture of it until it is on my back. There are two reasons this will be my final. First, I have been wanting this one for a while and someone finally drew the idea for me (Big Michael was supposed to but never did) so I can make it happen. Second, unless we end up staying for a few years as is planned, I won't have access to Frank and Mandy my tattoo gurus. I am now a full blown tattoo snob and don't want anyone else to put their art on my body. Frank is a tattoo genious. That and the fact that he told me no when he felt I wouldn't be happy with the end result and didn't just take my money and create crap on my body have made me a loyal fan for life. In fact, I pass out his business cards to people who like the work and ask about it. I am a walking billboard...maybe the last one should be at a discount huh? I should be so lucky. Anyway, check out the etsy store if you get a chance and share with friends :)

A Lot of Work

Well, I spent a few hours in the flower garden yesterday. My legs are sore from squatting so much. I did go to the buildings that they are tearing up to get stuff, but traded Cindy D for her Hastas because I get partial sun (which they need) and she gets full sun. They are pretty, but now that area is missing some stuff in the front. I will see what I can do. I was also weeding the flower area and digging down to put bricks. You know the border kind that you can't just put on the edge. My across the street neighbor's house still makes ours look like the ghetto though. I have attached some pictures to this post. It definitely still needs work but I do the best I can. I am in the process of deciding what I want to plant in the empty spots, but I know I have to think of something. I can't have the other building showing us up. I want some more red, pink and purple flowers. I want lots of pretty colors.

Oh! speaking of lot of pretty colors, I am ordering some wire, glass beads, and the pliers necessary to make the dragonflies like my Aunt does. Right now I have 15 hanging in my window along with some sun catchers she made me. I am hoping to be able to sell the dragonflies either on ETSY or at the Patch Multi craft Center. If not...I guess I'll have a lot on my windows. They are fun to make and the finished product is rewarding. My Aunt Ann sells them for $5.00 a piece to include the little suction cups so that they can be hung in the window. I love them personally and they make me feel happy. Maybe I am easily pleased. I am attaching pictures of them so that people who visit the BLOG can see them and let me know what they think. I know my JennyP likes them and even has some of her own. I encouraged my Aunt to sell them online, but I don't know if I was taken seriously. I made several of the ones that are in my house, so I know how to do it. I think it would be fun to try my hand at it. There are more, but I think there are enough posted.

Finally, Cooper has now been neutered and we can pick him up in a half hour. The receptionist told me that he did very well. Poor little guy. Now he will have a real reason to be scared of the VET. I think that I would be too. :) If he ends up needing a little cone or something I will post a picture of that too. UPDATE: Cooper is home safe and sound. He is sore but has used the bathroom and our biggest problem so far is that we have to keep him from playing with Buddy and visa verse for around ten days. No cone unless he won't stop licking the sutures. I am glad that he made it through OK though.