Summer Jewelry

Whew! Just finished making dozens of anklets. These are very popular items and sell quickly. And why not? They are fun, colorful, whimsical, flirty and just down right cute! Wear one or several! One for each swim suit! Got a color in mind? Measure your ankle and drop me a line! I'll be happy to send one your way!

Ohhh, I love you too!

When I walk in the house, no matter how long I've been gone, you great me with exuberance. You are thrilled to see me again and relay your happiness with such joyful abandon.

Whenever I suggest a ride or a walk, you are overjoyed at the prospect of hanging out with me. You don't questions which path I choose or the pace I set, you are just pleased to be a part of the adventure.

If I lay down for a nap, you happily agree it's time to rest. You tolerate snuggling with me, even if it's hot. You never complain if I stick my cold feet on your warm body.

If I prepare the same meal for you today as yesterday, you don't mind. You wolf down whatever I set in front of you. Left overs, scraps, it doesn't matter. You love my cooking!

When I am sad, you instinctively know I need cheering up. You are gentle and persistent in your nurturing, bearing the widest grin to make me smile.

You are my best friend. My bosom pal. My constant companion.
You are my dog. My schnauzer. My Buddy.

Don't Forget the Sister!

For the past month or so I have been trying to get my sister to check out my etsy.com page. Not that she doesn't know what my jewelry looks like. I was just wanting her opinion and critique. Sisters are always good for critique! :) So this morning she tells me, "I finally went to your etsy site, but it was really your blog."

I am thrilled she read my blog - still waiting to see what she thinks of the etsy page - but, after reading my blog, she was not a happy camper. Why? Because I neglected to mention her in the sand castle blog of yesterday. It was not intentional.

My little sister had many jobs when we would gather at the beach for family reunions. Most notably, she was in charge of bringing puzzles. We have built dozens of puzzles over the years. Dragons, country stores, ocean scenes, shaped puzzles, puzzles with all the same size pieces - we've done it all.

It was also my sisters sand tools we used to build the castles. She had the youngest kids in the group, so she was still bringing shovels and such, long after my kids were done with that phase. It was also with her help, that I gathered and placed all the shells and beach finds on our sand creations. Building the "city" around the main design, was mostly her job, too. I could always count on her help. And we really enjoyed playing in the sand together.

Whenever you have family gathering in a condo for a week, you have unpleasant chores as well as the grand memories. Sometimes the chores and grand memories are one. So while Mom was cleaning and my brother was cooking, my sister and I volunteered to do laundry. It was not a hard task. It meant gathering and sorting the laundry everyday. We'd haul it down to the laundry room, 4 flights below the condo. Then every 30 minutes or so, we'd return to the laundry room to switch clothes from the washer to the dryer and haul dry ones back up to the condo. We considered the running up and down the steps as part of our aerobics for the week. It was an opportunity to get away from everyone - especially the young children. We secretly LOVED doing the laundry!

This year, we are not gathering. The condo we have had for the last 10 years or so, is no longer being rented. While a few relatives will gather at my Mom's house, it won't be the same as the past years. Kids are growing up, moving to far away places, jobs, girlfriends and boyfriends, they all play into vacation time, and it's gotten hard to gather everyone. I hold the memories of 129th St. condo near and dear to my heart.

Just like I hold my sister near and dear to my heart. We won't have the laundry room to run away to, but we could still build a sand castle together. Bring a puzzle and the sand toys. Maybe in the evening we could visit my site at etsy.com.

Have a great day!

Peace!

Still awaiting fame . . .

When my family would gather in Ocean City, MD for our annual family reunions, we all had our designated chores. My brother, the chef (for real) obviously, was relegated to cooking, while my Mom, did cleaning and pancakes for breakfast. I have always been handy with the camera, so I took the photos. I also was in charge of designing and building the sand castles.

My castles weren't of the caliber you see on some of the forwarded e-mails I have received from major competitions around the country. I didn't have any rising castles out of the sand with dragons swirling about them. But, mine were still cool. I put a lot of detail in them, using straight edges to cut walls and buildings, shells to decorate windows, path ways, and even draw bridges. I created dolphins swimming in the sea, turtles, laying eggs, dragons coming out of the sand and plenty of geometrical designs.

One year, a young girl, maybe 6, watched as I made my castle. She was very impressed. She ran and got her Mom. Mom was impressed, too. Then the young girl looked at me with such sincerity and said,

"You should be famous!"

I'm still waiting to be famous. But I do believe the young girl was right. I should be famous.

Please check out my jewelry at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/beadhappy4u

before I get famous and run out of stuff!

Have a great day!

Advice for the Blues

Etsy.com is a cool on-line shopping mall. You can find everything from furniture to clothing to jewelry and households. For the most part it's supposed to be handmade stuff.

That's where you can find my shop: beadhappy4u. I sell jewelry - unusual, boho flavor, one of a kind pieces made from shells, beads, vintage jewelry and products of the earth.

Anyway - they have these forums, on line chat room things, where you can post a question or concern and even a section for random thoughts. I have from time to time suffered with a case of the blues. I think everyone does, whether we admit it or not. My random thought posting was:

What do you do when you get a case of the blues?

I suggested eating tuna wasabi and drinking margaritas like I was doing. Other answers varied from stop feeling sorry for myself, dance, music, taking a walk, exercise to the point of sweating profusely, or going back to bed and staying there until you feel better.

The best answer: add pink and make purple.

I combined all the suggestions. So I did a little jig, put on Bob Marley, Legend, took my dog for a walk, ran part of the way to sweat and I actually went to bed early -11:30 p.m. - and strung beads for hair ties until 1 am.

I also added a little pink in my life and made purple out of my blues. I started the Assateague Clam shell Series of jewelry. These will be necklaces, pendants, bracelets, earrings . . . Some will be cabochons, with lots of beading around the shell. . . others will be wrapped in silver and gold . . some will have a simple bail attached.

Stay tuned for photos of my progress into the purple and out of the blues.

Susan

Trying new things

I have recently joined etsy.com and set up a shop, beadhappy4u, to show off my jewelry. Actually, I want to sell my jewelry. Since I have been a part of etsy, joining in February of 2010, I have sold 3 items. Yep. Three. In a blatant attempt to boost exposure, following the cyber space Gods' advise, I am blogging.

Trying new things baffles most humans. It is difficult to step outside your comfort zone. Yet we must do exactly that in order to grow and mature. At least that's what I keep reading. I'm not so sure. Somedays, I only want to crawl into my den of security and stagnate with my complacency. But I digress . . . I'm supposed to be growing here.

So by posting these random thoughts, people are going to read what I have written and come visit my jewelry store on etsy.com. I'm not really sure how that is going to work. I don't know that what I say or write is all that interesting, or that I have a particular whit that will attract readers. I do know that my jewelry is one-of-a-kind. I haven't seen anyone else do what I do with shells.

I know that when I set up my shop at the Venice, Florida Saturday Farmers Market, I sell. I have customers return to me year after year for new products. When I set up my shop at the pool bar of Holiday Inn, 67th Street, Ocean City, MD, people buy my stuff. They call me year after year, to buy more. And I have a group of dedicated patrons, via facebook and past customers.

But how do I get my jewelry to stand out among the thousands of jewelry makers in cyber space? I'm not sure. There is this thing called SEO's - sorting tags. Making sure you have the right words for the search engines of goggle-sphere to find you. This blogging stuff. And networking. AYIEEE! But what I really want to do is make my art!

My business name is really Don't Worry, Bead Happy. But there are others that hold that name, too, so I modified it to beadhappy4u. When I first began making jewelry, my best friends, Mary and Kim, insisted I come up with something catchy and memorable. Something beachy, since I work with shells. Something reggae, since I am enamored by that island beat. As we drank our margaritas around the kitchen table of truth, I jokingly said, "What, like "Don't Worry, Bead Happy"?" Later, my friend Kim, brought me my logo on a business card. The best part is the tag lines:

"products of the earth" and my title of "Queen Bead"

I think I should stop here. Something tells me not to write too much. I'll post more on the tag lines later. Then there are the bar stories I must relate (my day job is a night job of tending bar). And dog stories to share. Oh my life is so interesting, you will be riveted to my every word. Or so I hope.

Listen, in the meantime, you have a great day. Enjoy the day, capture every moment. Stop in and check out my jewelry. I have great graduation gifts and stuff to brighten your summer wardrobe.

Peace,

Susan