The Bento Box

today is good friday and i have the day off…it’s a state holiday here…which means i get to stay home with the daughter (yipee, yeah right…).  so far it’s been good, she’s not misbehaving or whining.

 the last couple of days have been good for my etsy shops.  one bought from my jewelry shop, but she picked up the last of the supplies there (sp headpin), and the other bought from my supplies shop.  and, a couple of other people showed some interest, but i haven’t heard back from them or had their business yet.  so will see.  in my supplies shop most seem to be interested in the gemstones.  i offer them in very small quantities so that buyers don’t have to spend a lot of money for a whole strand.   so, i’m pretty satisfied so far that my stores are getting some looks.

 so anyway, it’s time for our afternoon siesta.  the daughter’s already nodded off, after a bit of whining and crying.  now it’s my turn to get some shut eye.

until next time…

so here’s some pix of some of the recent gemstones i purchased.  lovely don’t you think? 

well hello everyone! (whoever that reads my blog…)

 did anyone think i got lost since i haven’t posted in months?  i don’t really know why i didn’t keep up, well, that’s not really true…i just got lazy and the lack of interest in my blog made me lose motivation to keep it up.  but, now i’m back sort of.  one of my delphi forum and etsy friends asked if i had a blog.  well, yes, but i wasn’t keeping it up.  so since she asked and i gave the url to my blog, i guess i’m gonna have to do some writing now and then to keep her, and any of you that reads my blog, interested in visiting here every so often.  my forum/etsy friend also has her own blog: http://tomoko-etsy.blogspot.com .  she’s from japan and her english isn’t very good so she needs to use translating software, so please be patient and understanding.  she is a very nice person and has done very well with her etsy shop.

so what have i been up to?  not much except for the daily grind of work and family.  haven’t had enough time to work at my beading like i want to.  i’m currently in the middle of increasing some inventory for the local pet expo coming up on mother’s day weekend.  i’m making doggie necklaces for the chihuahua club to sell for me.  they’ll be getting a donation from the sales of the necklets, as i like to call them.  i’ll try to post a few pix when i can.

i haven’t added any new jewelry to my etsy store, but i did make a few sales of headpins i listed.  i also opened another etsy store…for my extras beads and supplies.  why open another etsy store when i could just sell them from my first store?  well, i’m a neat freak and i like to keep my finished jewelry separate from the “loose” stuff.  and besides, i can only have 10 sections (categories) in a store, so i thought better to save the unused sections for new categories of finished jewelry that i haven’t come up with yet.

personally, the daughter will be four years old in 18 days.  how quickly they grow up, and yet, not grow up fast enough!  if any of you are a parent, then you know what i’m talking about, i hope.  one minute she can be so sweet and good natured, the next she’ll be a tyrant and have a fit. <sigh>

back to  a beading note…i’ve been spending way too much money lately on gemstone beads and brios that it’s taking a toll on the checkbook!  they’re wonderful gems, pink and green amethyst, smoky topaz, citrine…oh, so costly!  anybody want to buy some of my extras?  check out my etsy store: http://leighbeads.etsy.com .  convo me that you found me through my blog (and you have to name my blog) and i’ll give you a 20% discount on your purchases.  (this offer expires 12-31-07).

okay, that’s all from me for now.  until next time…

i finally have a photo of a pair of earrings that i completed a while ago.  it’s a scan (not bad) and not an actual camera photo (i’ll try to shoot it this weekend).

simmery is linear earrings featuring chainmaille and gemstone brios.

the chainmaille weave is helm and the brios are smokey quartz, about 12mm i think.  can’t remember which size i used.  can’t give you a length either. will know for sure when i get it uploaded into my etsy shop.

i had the toughest time (and still am) with the wirewrapping of the brios. for some dang reason the wraps loops kept ending crooked, so then the brio wouldn’t hang straight down, even now, and you may have or will notice that the wrapped loops are slightly crooked. but, it’s not so crooked that the brio hang down straight enough.

i was doing pretty well with wrapping loops, but know, sheesh it’s driving me nuts that they don’t come out nicely. oh well, i guess i need to start practicing again.

well, not my favorite, rather it the daughter’s fav color.  the husband bought a new car this past weekend, and it just so happens to be red.  he was going to get a sapphire blue one, but we went to another dealer first and the only one they had left was red.  so he test drove it and fell in love with the car.  and lucky for the daughter, the husband didn’t really care what color it was going to be.  so red it is.

now my car is parked outside since he has the new car and his truck is going anywhere much now.  i’m hoping he’ll sell his truck.  he’s been a truck person since ‘99 and never thought he would go back to a car, but since this new car is a lil’ sporty and has the power and speed that he likes, he may just be willing to give up the truck.  there’s a couple of guys where he works that have offered to buy it from him.  please hubby, do sell so that i can get back my space in the garage.

must be in cyberspace, cuz i sure heck don’t know. what am i talking about you might wonder? my last post: been a while. i went the the laborous trouble of typing out a long post of why i hadn’t posted in a while, some bit of news and all that, only to have the post not even get uploaded. sometimes wordpress just drives me crazy. it’s happened to me before, but i somehow was able to recover the post, or i was dumb enough to re-do it. it could be that i did it on my work pc, which i kinda slow, has firewall issue, yada yada yada. i think from now on i’ll post using my home pc.

here’s the potd:

it’s a helm chain necklace that i finished recently. the focal is a 14ct. brazilian amethyst. this piece was fairly easy to make, my first helm weave. wrapping the brio was the most difficult. for some dang reason it wouldn’t wrap properly for the brio to hang straight. even when it did come out, the wrapped loop is still a bit crooked, but the brio hangs down straight enough. the original length or size of the necklace was maybe 17-17.5 inches, but i had to shorten it because the helm chain wouldn’t sit properly on the neck line to show off the weave. this one is a keeper for me.

okay, you see i have a new skin for this blog.  i was kinda bored with the old one and wanted one with a smaller typeface, and a bit more features.

i plan on changing the header image, not sure what kind of image yet.

so here’s todays’s POTD:

one day a small group of us workers were discussing our impending move to a temporary location while the a/c was being fixed at our current location, and several of us had made the visit to the new place to check out what it was like.

someone had asked if anyone checked out the restrooms, and nobody had cuz well, no one didn’t think to. so one co-worker had mentioned that she should’ve checked it out. she says that whenever she goes to a restaurant or stays at a hotel, or high-end store she checks out their restrooms. she claims that a classy eatery or sleepery is truly classy if their public restrooms are well maintained and easy on the eyes. one of the places she mentioned that has a really nice rest-stop is neiman marcus. well i should hope so what with the high prices of the merchandise.

i never really noticed restrooms, except when they’re dirty of course, cuz i’m there to do my business and just get out as quickly as i can, esp. if there’s something smelly going on. ;-O

but, last weekend i was eating at p.f. chang’s-honolulu (btw, pretty good food, and great service) with the family and had to take a break to the ladies’ room. initially i hadn’t noticed the decor, but after i got into one of the stalls and noticed how clean it was (of course, the placed had only recently opened, so that could be the reason for it still being fairly clean) and was a bit impressed. that’s when the convo at work popped into my mind. and, since i had my camera w/me (i usually carry it now just for moments like this) and i had the place all to myself i took a few photos of the ladies’ restroom.

and so here are the POTDs:

the photos are kinda dark cuz the place is like so. it fall in line w/the dining room atmosphere…on the dark side.

so have you been to any p.f. chang’s? and would you say that the establishment is truly classy?

the husband has come home from his biz trip in albuquerque.  and let me say that my stress level has increased significantly since.  again i worry about his needs and desires and it just is making me crazy.  no longer is it just me and the daughter (and the numerous pets) .  it was so nice…<sigh>.

but in some ways it is nice to have him home, to help with the daughter.  for instance, last nite they went out after dinner to the pet store (and who  knows where else?) and was gone for about 2 hours.  aaaahhhh…it was so nice and peaceful to have the house and tv to myself for that short period.  i got to fold some of the laundry and catch up on my soap operas.

here’s today’s POTD:

the dogs in my life: the boy on the left, the girl on the right.  i should’ve edited out the red-eye from the girl, but i was too lazy.