The End of an Era (sort of)

So yesterday was my birthday.  On an autumn day almost three years ago, I began a list called 101 Goals in 1001 Days.  today ends that 1001 days.  Let's see how I did. Warning: Lots of text ahead.

Milestones-3/8

Get a job

Start college

Get driver's license

Volunteer

Get passport

Ask for help 10 times

Go on a road trip (Massachusetts?)

Make an etsy account

Jewelry-5/12

Sell jewelry at an art show or in a store

Get published in a jewelry magazine

Post a piece of jewelry on the jewelry making journal

Create a new piece of jewelry every month

Get/make a gecko piece of jewelry

Take a jewelry making class

Order something from an online bead store

Participate in bead soup

Make a jewelry tutorial

Give plastic beads away

Use my ball pein hammer to make piece of jewelry

Figure out and use the findings my oldest sister gave me

Food-9/11

Roast a duck

Can something (pickles, applesauce, jam)

Eat 5 new fruits or vegetables

Make Croquembouche

Participate in Meatless Monday for 12 weeks

Make a recipe from a Wiccan cookbook

Make English toffee

Make southwestern eggrolls

Make angel food cake/chiffon cake from scratch

Learn how to grill

Plant a vegetable garden

Spirituality-7/13

Complete exercises in Brighid's Healing book

Make a Brighid altar

Make and dress candles for sabbats/esbats

Complete rituals on all 8 sabbats

Recognize all 13 esbats

Learn how to read tea leaves

Start herbal grimoire

Make a Brighid's Cross with plant material

Go to a metaphysical class

Complete 30 days of Kitchen Witchery

Make a dream pillow/charm bag

Make Kitchen Witch burned spoon-wands

Become a certified crystal healer

Crafts-8/15

Dye something naturally

Complete one of the three Wreck this Journal books

Make a rag rug out of old linens

Sew up pillow

Make a tincture

Make massage oil

Make four seasonal wreaths

Make a nice binder for recipes

Use calligraphy set

Make Frankenstein candle

Make mosaic

Learn to knit/crochet a hat

Refinish dry sink

Finish a latch hook

Make a baby blanket for my oldest sister (in green with a high quality yarn)

Money-4/9

Save $100

Save $500

Buy a digital camera

Buy new linens

Buy a flash drive

Sell FFX, FFX-2, and Xenosaga

Buy an e-course from someone whose blog I enjoy

Pare down and sell manga

Check credit history

Writing-2/6

Write 25 chapters for story or have it complete

Have 200 blog posts

Journal every day for a month straight

Write in a public place

Write blog post about being a late bloomer

Start Team Krimmy blog

Health-2/10

Ride bike for five miles straight

Lose 50 pounds

Drink tea every morning for 3 weeks

Take Roxy for a walk for 6 months

Complete beginners yoga dvd

Do sun salutations every morning for 3 weeks

Hike up a trail without dying

Develop a skincare regimen

Get teeth fixed

Visit a spa

People-7/10

Spend an afternoon with my oldest sister doing something fun (crafting, go carts, putt-putt)

Buy Momo something expensive

Introduce myself to the neighbors (after we've moved)

Share something I've baked with the neighbors

See Cheza

See Janelle

See B

Visit Dad and Jackie

Visit Grandma Elsie's grave

Surprise Twinny with something nice

Misc.-4/7

Learn how to put my hair into a bun

Organize craft desk drawer

Finish FFXII

Get computer fixed or get a new one

Take dance lessons

Start learning Spanish

Have Hobbit/LOTR marathon 

Final Count 51/101
I am not going to beat myself up over it.  Halfway done is decent as far as I am concerned.  Plus, certain ones I almost finished or couldn't finish.  I will be completing the summer wreath today and that's the last one.  So *shrugs*  I'm happy with it.  This Lughnasadh I will be making another goal list and posting it, so stay tuned!

Bead Peeps Blog Hop Reveal

Today is the day!  Just a quick recap before we get started.  My partner was Shaiha of Shaiha's Ramblings.  Check the post before this to see all the lovely things I was sent.  This is what I sent her. (I used her picture since mine seem to have disappeared.)


ON TO THE JEWELRY!

This necklace used some of the little green flower beads and the purple ribbon to finish off a flower focal I made.

I gave the goddess pendant a watery home with tiny conch shells as well as stick and blister pearls in white and coin pearls in purple.  Hopefully this necklace will help me embrace my watery side (my least dominant element of the four.)

With this necklace I used the house focal with the green/blue glass, red rondelles, and the chain given to me by Shaiha. The only bits I added were the hematite beads to cover the crimps and the toggle clasp.  This piece will be a gift for my sister on my birthday.

I have a few other piece in the works.  I'm making a springy dangle bracelet using the yellow ceramic flowers as well as some more green flowers.  I'm thinking of using the blue glass bead caps in a pair of earrings.  I have no idea what I'll use the bow ties for, but we shall see.

Anyway, I'm off to class now!  I will be commenting on posts later on this evening.

Bead Peeps Swap n' Hop

I got my bead soup a couple of weeks ago, but due to cats, lighting issues, and a sprained ankle, I haven't gotten the pictures up until now.  Sorry Shaiha!

Shaiha of Shaiha's Ramblings sent me a bunch of awesome stuff.  She also sent me some delicious chocolate, but I ate that.  The green bow ties are from Mandrel 2, the flowers are from JB Arts, and the house is from Jangles.  My sister expressed interest in the house pendant, so a gift of jewelry may be in her future.

These glass beads coordinate perfectly with the house pendant.  Plus, I have almost NO red left in my bead stash.  Thanks Shaiha!  

I love these cloth ribbons.  The blue and green one might also go with the house, but the purple/pink one has been claimed by a lime green pendant I'm working on.  The goddess pendant is the first one I've owned!  It, along with the blue bead caps in the first pic, are from Firefly Designs.  I can't wait to give her a proper piece to suit her beauty.

Things I've Made

 Just a little post highlighting some of the jewelry I've made recently, seeing as I've never posted it.  I'm not very confident in my photographing abilities, so I procrastinate a lot when it comes to sharing things I've made.  I am determined to do better!  

This first piece I call Fire and Earth. I made it for myself in honor of my more potent elements.  The focal is brass and copper.  The chain is also brass and the beads are serpentine from a bracelet my sister bought me that din't quite fit.

 

This piece I call Winter's Gift.  The design came to me a few years ago after doing a guided meditation from Jamie Ridler about winter.  This was a gift to my eldest sister.  She wanted me to repurpose the glass briolettes from some earring that weren't her style.  So I added some glass pearls, silver-tone chain, bead caps, and a dumortierite focal.

I love these cuff links.  These were a gift to my brother-in-law who also likes paisley.  I made them out of polymer clay then painted and sealed them.

Winter Wonderland?

Why doesn't it look like this?  It's supposed to look like this.  Snow on the ground and chilly.  Instead it's wet and muddy and we've just begun February.  I can't help but feel like we'll pay for this later.  Either it'll snow later on, or summer is going to be annoyingly hot.  Anyways.

Happy Imbolc lovelies!  I made butter again this year.  For dinner I made cream of potato soup in bread bowls which was delicious.  I also made some ice candle holders in place of a plant centerpiece.  It's been a pretty good day.

Edit 2/12/16: It does now, much to my mother's dislike. 

Getting to Know You

Some of you may have noticed that the button on the right has changed.  The Bead Soup Blog Hop was cancelled. :(  But luckily, one of the members of Bead Peeps, a beading group on Facebook, emailed me to let me know about their blog hop.  So I joined and entered.  One part of the blog hop is letting fellow members know my particular beading preferences, so here we go.

1. I started making jewelry very gradually.  I made pieces with whatever beads I could find in craft stores (usually plastic) up until I was in high school.  That was when I found the plethora of jewelry making websites, blogs, and tutorials.  I began trading out the sub-standard plastic for gemstone and glass.  Eventually my skill turned to upcycling old, unwanted jewelry pieces made of whatever material.

2. I have a duality when it comes to style.  On the one hand, I like to make elegant pieces of gemstones and precious metals.  On the other hand I make bohemian, eclectic style jewelry made of bits and pieces of whatever I've taken apart.

3. I'll use just about anything.  I dislike using plastic that has been bought recently, because I don't want to be a part of the demand for more plastic consumption.  However, if it comes from a piece that has been worn for awhile, I don't mind it.  I don't like to use nickle or nickle-heavy metals, as I and many others have an allergy to it.  I am trying to incorporate more color in the metal I use, such as brass and copper.

4. I love using wire.  I try to learn wire wrapping techniques whenever I can, though I am still learning.  I enjoy making multi-strand pieces quite a bit.  I am also learning how to use alcohol inks and other colorants, as well as using sheet metal.

I CANNOT BEAD WEAVE.  That isn't to say I don't like or use seed beads, but trying to weave them with thread has proven to be beyond my ability.  I hold great admiration for those who can though.

5. I love to use earth tones and jewel tones.  I LOVE metallics.  I've shied away from pastels, especially pink, but am trying to include all colors in my palette.

Random trivia?  Um... I'm about to be a first-time aunt.  I am going to school for massage therapy.  I love tiny bubbles.  You know, the ones that come out of a dish soap bottle sometimes?  Those things make me so happy.

Blooming Late

I learned to tie my shoes the 'correct way' when I was eight years old.  That's right. Not to say that I couldn't tie my shoes, because I could.  I just made two loops and tied them together instead of the traditional pulling the second strand through to make the second loop.

I've never had a real job.  A job that I could put on a resume with a manager that wasn't my sister or someone I've known since I was a kid.  I'm 24, mind you.

I finished high school at 20.  No I wasn't held back.  I was home schooled for high school.  I just didn't do the work until I felt such pressure  that I would explode if I didn't send a test in.  Note to any parents putting their kids through a correspondence school: Check in on their progress.  Ask about what they are learning.   

I do not have a driver's license.  In England this would be somewhat normal.  Heck, Chicago has it's fair share of license-less people.  But they have subways and buses.  We don't (at least decent buses).  I catch rides everywhere.

I just went on my first date ever.  Again... 24.  It went well, no fire-y rains of terror.  

I just started college this past autumn.  After a few years of worrying and deliberating and ridiculousness.

This post has a point, I promise.  It's not meant as a complain-y wall of text, but rather a reminder.  People do thing at different speeds.  Just  because someone isn't meeting the goals of their age group, doesn't mean they never will.  It's also not a terrible thing if they don't, just so long as they find a way around it.  

Or to put it another way, it's doesn't matter that you can't tie your shoes the right way, just that you don't trip on the laces as you walk.