My word for 2013

Last January, I noticed a trend among bloggers to choose a word to capture the coming year.  I jumped on the bandwagon and chose a few words for  2012.

While I think these words still apply in 2013, I think a new word will (hopefully) guide me through the year.

My black belt test is a mere 97 days away.  I WILL practice and I WILL take the 97 days to get myself into better shape.  I have the WILL to make these things happen.

I WILL kick actual and figurative butt while sparring.

There are other goals I have for 2013 and I WILL do my best to make those happen.

My blogging review of 2012

I began blogging late in 2011.  2012, then, was my first full year blogging.

Throughout the year, I've tried to develop both my beading skills and my photography skills.

I spent a good part of 2012 participating in Lori Plyler's i heart macro series.  I was usually able to take pictures while playing/walking/running with the kiddo.  (Okay, she was doing the running.)  This post is a good example of me making use of my time while the kiddo was busy climbing, swinging, sliding and running around the playground.

My beading skills were put to the test by Karyn, from Releases by Rufydoof.  Karyn started Beading Babes group in 2011 and the group created some wonderful pieces in 2012.  It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love that I was able to use some African bronze beads to compliment Nancy Dale's Trellis necklace in project 4.  (If you want to try Nancy's pattern, it's available in her etsy shop.)

I received my 1st brown belt in karate and in kobujutsu in 2012.  (My black belt is looming around the corner -- 99 days, but who's counting?)

Around the time of our anniversary, my husband and I saw The Avengers, the *best* superhero movie to date.  (All hail Joss Whedon.)

I was able to convince my husband to take a few vacation days in 2012.  We traveled to Colorado for our first family vacation.

2012 was also the year the kiddo started kindergarten.  I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.

Throughout 2012, I participated in several beading challenges, my favorite of which was the 3rd annual Challenge of Color, hosted by Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found and Brandi Hussey of Brandi Girl Blog.  (Erin's entry and permalinks to all the participants are here.)

I also spent the year following other bloggers.  I feel like I know Therese, Kim, Amy and Marla, to name a few, through their words and through their work.  I also found Sharyl's blog.  Sharyl and I were able to take advantage of our close proximity and spend a few afternoons watching the kiddo play.

I'm sure there are events I am forgetting, but these stand out to me.

My blog also had a good year.  According to google analytics, from January 1 - December 31, 2012, a whopping 7,007 people visited my blog a total of 10,695 times.  Of those visits, 3,688 (or 34.48%) were from returning guests.

Those 7,007 people viewed a total of 20,398 pages.

In 2012, I wrote 91 posts and received 793 comments (thank you all!).

While most of my blog traffic originated from google searches, a few referring sites stood out:

• many people found my blog thanks to Lori's i heart macro series on her blog, Studio Waterstone
• my love for challenges helped generate visits from Lorelei Eurto's blog and from Erin Prais-Hintz's blog, Treasures Found
• several people visited after seeing this post from Beading Daily 
• this post from Sharyl's Jewelry has brought many new visitors to my blog throughout the year (thank you, Sharyl)

This was my most popular post in 2012, though it was written in 2011. (Wow .. my photography has improved since then.)

I would like to thank everyone who has visited, commented on and followed my blog in 2012.  Every page hit and every comment means the world to me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2013.

Family Vacation

A few months ago, my husband decided he needed a vacation.  He kindly allowed the kiddo and I to accompany him.  :)  Actually, he decided a family vacation might be in order and the kiddo and I agreed on the spot.

We chose to visit Estes Park, Colorado.  My husband loves to hike and the scenery in Estes Park can't be beat.  We live in Kansas and while the state isn't entirely flat, cornfields are not the prettiest things to view.

Yeah, even with rain clouds in the background, mountains beat cornfields in the aesthetics department.

The kiddo was great in the airport and on the plane.  She loved that we traveled by car (to KCI), plane, train (in DIA), bus (to the rental car) and car (to Estes).

Our first day, we took a short hike to Copeland Falls.  My father in-law was kind enough to add something to his pack so the kiddo could walk hands free.

With her friend safely stowed, the kiddo was ready to go.

(Yes, those are Batman socks.  The kiddo is awesome!)

The falls were really something to see.

The next day, my husband and father in-law started at the same trail and went several miles further to Bluebird Lake.  They passed the Calypso Cascades

and even managed to make a friend.

My mother in-law, the kiddo and I went shopping instead.  We paid a visit to the Estes Ark and picked up a new friend for the kiddo.  We also stopped at the Red Rose Rock Shop.  Both the kiddo and I picked up a few shiny things.

The kiddo picked up some honey quartz, pyrite, chalcopyrite (the dark blue), beryl, rose quartz and a pretty pink striped glass shard.

Of course, I picked up a few things for myself.

Above are thin slaps of blue jasper, crazy lace agate and Brazilian agate.  They are thin and light enough that I could try some bead embroidery with them.

I also picked up a few stones:  labradorite, lepidolite and blue lace agate.  These are a bit thicker, but would work with a bead or wire bezel.

I couldn't resist the copper flecks or heavy copper slugs.

I also had to restrain myself and buy only two of these fabulous stone buttons.  I adore these.

After we finished shopping, the kiddo and I treated ourselves to our first ever mother/daughter pedicure.

Seriously, how cute is it that the kiddo's skirt matched her flip flops?

Later that day, we drove out to the Alluvial Fan.  My husband said the Alluvial Fan was a nice waterfall with some rocks to play on.  I was in no way prepared for this:

Oh .. and by the way, see that red arrow?  The kiddo climbed to there.  She wanted to go to the top, but my husband (wisely) told her that might not be such a good idea.

The next morning, we rented a paddleboat (for me and my mother in-law) and a kayak (for my husband and father in-law).  As it turns out, the paddle boat was too slow for the kiddo and she wanted to try the kayak.

My husband was more than pleased to take her for a ride.  I don't think she really wanted to stop.

We also drove to Loveland later in the day.  We made a point to visit the Benson Sculpture Garden while there.  The Benson Sculpture Garden is a park that provides a home to over 100 sculptures.

We didn't get to see nearly all the sculptures, but I was taken by "Evening Jazz" by Warren Cullar.  I love the soft colors Warren used.  The pieces just takes you right into to the mood.

I also loved "Storm's Brewing" by Jeannine Young.  My father is a fan of old Westerns and I watched more than one growing up.  This sculpture brought to mind Clint Eastwood and the Man with No Name.  I love the detail on this sculpture.

Since Ft. Collins is only a short drive from Loveland, I asked my husband to drive a bit further.  He and my in-laws took the kiddo for ice cream while I paid a visit to the Bead Cache.

The Bead Cache had a marvelous selection of seed beads.

I found a few colors of delicas I hadn't seen before.

I also picked up a few odds and ends.  I love the ribbon in the background.  The teal and brown pearls have large holes (perfect to string on leather).  I treated myself to some bone circles, a bone spacer, some Czech lentil drop beads and those awesome black and white beads in the front.

On our last day, we did a bit more sightseeing.

We also managed to visit Fun City.  This place certainly lives up to its name.  The kiddo and I started out on the giant slide.

Of course, she wanted to try on her own, so I watched her climb the mountain of stairs and slide down, laughing all the way.

I took the kiddo on the bumper cars and go karts.  Her favorite, however, was the bungee trampoline.

I have never seen a smile so big on anyone's face.

In case you are wondering, I did get some beading in while on vacation.

I didn't do as much as I had hoped, but I got most of the components finished for Josephine's Collar, designed by Jill Devon and published in the June 2012 issue of Beadwork Magazine.

This necklace is one of the projects for our Beading Babes group.  You can find out more about the projects in this round here.

We had a good time on vacation, but it is always nice to be home.  It will be nice to get back into our usual routine this week.

With packing, vacation and unpacking, I missed a few too many karate classes and I need to get back before I forget everything.

The kiddo is gearing up for kindergarten and it's only a short few weeks until school starts.  I think we can make it until then.  :)

Kreativ Blogger Award

I was surprised to see that Alicia, from All the Pretty Things, chose my blog and nine others to receive the Kreatv Blogger Award.

I seem to be in some amazing company.  Check out Alicia's blog post to see the other blogs she chose.

There are a few rules:

• Post a link to the person who awarded you
• Share 7 well thought out random things about yourself
• Award 10 other deserving bloggers and let them know

I don't talk about myself very much, so ... seven things ... hmm ..




1)  I know how to use nunchakus.  Seriously.  I'm not saying I'm any good with them or would win in a street fight, but I understand how to swing them, how to hit something and how to use them to trap an attacker.

2)  I didn't like dogs until I met Pixi.  I didn't even like Pixi at first.  One day, I started feeling sick at work and went to my husband's house to lay down (he was my boyfriend at the time).  Pixi layed with me the whole time.  I now realize she just wanted my blanket, but at the time, I thought she was trying to make me feel better.  In this picture, Pixi is on the left and Roxi is on the right.

3)  I never leave the house without jewelry of some sort.  I don't always wear jewelry that I've made, though.  Although it's hard darn near impossible to pick a favorite, one of the pieces I wear most is a design by Keirsten Giles, from Cerebral Dillettante.  Keirsten was kind enough to pattern a necklace after one I had seen on Bones.  (The photo is Keirsten's.)  

4)  I have read comic books since I was a child.  One of my favorite Christmas presents was a large box full of 25 cent comic books from my parents.  My favorites, at the time, were the Silver Age Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, etc.  (The image is from wikipedia.org.)

5)  My husband never thought I was a good cook until I started cooking with more butter and oil.  I think the first dish I made that he deemed "acceptable" was a baked ziti.

My Baked ziti had about a half cup of olive oil, a pound of sausage, about 3 heads of garlic (yes, three heads), a pound of romano cheese, a few cups of tomato sauce and .. oh, yeah, some pasta.  :)

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my baked ziti.  Instead, I'll show you a picture of the wonderful tenderloin my husband made for my birthday a few years ago.

6)  I love to bake.  My favorite dessert is cheesecake.  I've made many different kinds of cheesecakes over the years:  chocolate mousse, strawberry, white chocolate raspberry, cookie dough, oreo.  They have all been very good, if I do say so myself.  The richeset one, though, was a recipe from Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook:  a three layer chocolate cake with a layer of cheesecake in the middle.

7)  I started watching British television in college.  It started with Red Dwarf, a British sci-fi comedy that centered on the last human, a hologram, a senile computer, a lifeform evolved from a cat and a robot obsessed with cleanliness.  It sounds odd, but the first six or seven series are absolutely hilarious.

Currently, I'm waiting for the new season of Dr. Who.  While I love Matt Smith, my favorite Doctor is David Tennant.  I have yet to watch "The End of Time" because I don't want to say goodbye to the Tenth Doctor.

The image is from "Polymorph," one of my favorite Red Dwarf episodes and is from wikipedia.org.

Okay, now onto the really fun part:

Ten blogs that I love (in alphabetical order):

Keirsten's necklace was featured
in BeadTrends magazine

Cerebral Dilettante - Keirsten's designs are breathtaking.  I am constantly blown away by her sense of style and her ability to work with beads and metal.  Keirsten makes her own components, which results in stunning, unique jewlery.  On top of that, she has a great sense of humor and her blog is always a joy to read.

Lampworkified bullet
casing used in a tassel,
created by Jen

Glass Addictions - Jen is a wonderful lampworker and jewelry designer.  Her beads are filled with gorgeous colors.  Jen recently hosted a "blog slumber party" and I  really enjoyed staying up with her, reading her blog posts (one every 5 or 10 minutes) and ogling her gorgeous beads.

Gwen's sweater coat

Gwen Beads - I am constantly amazed by Gwen's designs and her ability to incorporate math and beading.  Gwen's blog is always a pleasure to read.  She makes me thing of beading in totally different ways.  In addition to beading, Gwen sews and felts.  I ran to my computer almost every day to look for an update on her sweater coat.

Kim's entry for the One
Color challenge

Kimmy Kats - Kim has a great eye for color and takes beautiful pictures of her creations.  Kim does amazing work with old spoons, turning them into gorgeous jewelry.  She's also been experimenting with seed beads, achieving wonderful results.

A necklace by Lorelei using
urchin sticks as fringe

Lorelei's Blog - Lorelei has tremendous ability to create the most beautiful jewelry almost effortlessly.  I love everything she does.  In addition, her blog is so much fun to read.  She shares her life with her readers and I totally feel like we're friends through her blog.

Dragonfly component
by Melinda

Melinda Orr Designs - Melinda does amazing work with metals, wire, patinas, paints and leather.  Her designs are inspiring.  Plus, she offers some great tutorials.  I always love to see what Melinda has come up with, whether it be a new component or design.

Boreas necklace created
by Sharyl for the
April 2012 ABS challenge

Sharyl's Jewelry and Reflections - Sharyl's blog features both beautiful jewelry and wonderful photography.  Sharyl joins in the Art Bead monthly challenge and offers up some gorgeous interpretations of artworks in jewelry form.  She also hosts giveaways, challenges and puts the spotlight on some talented artisans.

Hippititi, by Marla,
based on Helena Tang's
Echoes of Nefertiti

Spice Box Designs - Marla has a great eye for color and for design.  She can take anything and make something so unique and fun.  I love to see her creations.  Marla also has some funny stories to share.  Her blog always makes me smile.

A necklace Staci made
using several of her components

Staci Louise Originals - Staci has the most amazing style.  Her jewelry is stunning and, lucky for us, she also makes components.  I love reading about what Staci has created or about the progress she's made on this or that.  Staci also posts about the art/craft shows she attends, which is always a treat.

Erin's Opulent Odyssey

Treasures Found - Erin is a gifted designer in so many ways.  She creates the most beautiful jewelry and also has a line of Simple Truth pendants made from polymer clay (I think).  The color she achieves in her simple Truths are nothing short of amazing.  Erin also hosts periodic challenges (of music, color, or literature, to name a few).  Her blog is a wonderful read.


** The ten photos above are taken from the designers' websites. **
** The photos are not mine and are intended only to show off the creativity of these talented ladies. **

When I'm not beading ...

It all started about a week ago when the kiddo and I discovered this book at the library.

The kiddo was so excited that she spent about an hour looking through the book and deciding on projects.  

We attempted a finger puppet:

This morning, the kiddo decided on a bigger project:  the Yoda doll.  I spent my time tracing, cutting and sewing.  She, of course, supervised.  She did have time to draw a few pictures, though.

I could not find black buttons, so our Yoda has green eyes.

I wanted to give his face a bit more definition than I saw in the example in the book.  After a bit of googling, I found this wonderful example of Yoda by DeadlySweet.  It looks like her etsy shop is closed at the moment, but if you want to see some absolute adorable work, check out her deviant art gallery.  Man, that girl is talented.

Here is the finished doll:

He's not too shabby, I guess.

Somehow, the kiddo loves the Dark Side.  I don't know what I did or said, but she loves Darth Maul.  For this puppet, I used the template from the book and added a bit of detail.

Of course, when the kiddo saw him she said I should make a Darth Sidious.  How bad is it that my five year old likes the Sith?

As time goes on, I'd like to add to the finger puppets.  They are cute are easy to make.  Maybe I'll even get to make a Jedi someday. :)