More to Life Than Beads

I have my first show coming up in July (more about that in another post... promise) and I spent the better part of the week before last FREAKING the EFF out. Stressing over money (like always) and inventory.

Then this happened on the 16th.

My nephew's 1st birthday. FIRST! He had a cold. But certainly loved all the attention. That picture in the bottom right corner? That's storytime with me and Rowan who is adorable.

There were lollicakes. Cotton candy hair is genius, by the way. Genius... AND delicious. *nomnom*

Then the next morning, Rod and I made pancakes with Kai, my other nephew and Kian's older brother. That boy is such a picky eater... but if he cooks it, he eats it. I'm told they've already cooked through the whole box of pancake mix we bought. That middle picture? HE put the blueberry there on top of the butter.

At first, he only wanted plain pancakes, but Tita Rose made blueberry for herself. Well, he saw me making them and wanted to make them too... then... he ate them. Lol. LOVE YOU, KAI!

Then we went home. It was our anniversary week last week. We took it easy. He played guitar. It reminded me of one of our first dates... 4 years ago. <3

At first, there wasn't much creating. We went to a book store and I found a magazine called "Handmade Fashion," a British import that cost $20! Oh how I want it. He picked me flowers. I played with seed beads.

I was able to go to the bead store on Thursday. These were the lovelies I acquired. I got two Ganesha bone pendants because I want one for myself. We turned the table into our own joint worktable.

Toward the end of the week, after some much needed relaxation, he had at least three watercolor paintings done. I was frantically working with my wire and sketching out new designs.

My family is so important to me. So far, I've seen someone from my immediate family every weekend for the past 3 weeks. How lucky am I? Why am I stressing? I'm doing what I love... Sure, right now, it's a struggle, financially, but I know I can do this. My family believes in me. My boyfriend believes in me. Now, I just need to believe in myself.

How was your week last week?

Korean BBQ and Metal Stamps

Did you know I have a little sister? Well, not really little anymore... or even that much younger than I am (we're a year and a half apart), but she's the baby of the fambam. She's the one who calls me "Ahtee."

My Kuya John, Michelle (the baby sister) in blue, and that's me in back. Oh. and the little guy? That's Kai. This was in Hawaii almost 5 years ago.

We have our ups and downs... a lot of downs lately but we're trying. Anyway, she came to visit me yesterday.

We had Korean BBQ. So. Good. Expensive but when do we ever get to hang out like we used to? There was a book store trip and a Hobby Lobby exploration as well. I had a good time and she said she did too so a successful visit, I think.


Speaking of Hobby Lobby...

Remember when I bought these?

I looked up "metal stamping" on youtube the day after I bought these stamps and found some videos by Lisa Niven Kelly that explained the basics of stamping. I also picked up Lisa's book at the library (goodness, libraries are a book lover's best friend when they're broke)... I just need to read it :P

But I'm still missing tools (like a torch for annealing or something to darken letters). So, when I decided to give it a go, I really didn't see results that made me happy...

See! Or well... maybe you can't. Lol. Those two pieces of metal are supposed to say "AHTEE." On the brass square, you can (just barely) see how the last 'e' is up higher than the rest of the letters. Well, I didn't know that these stamps were going to come oiled and the stamp slipped. Oh, the frustration.

I thought maybe I needed to anneal the metal. I thought maybe my stamps were SO CHEAP they wouldn't stamp anything right. I thought I was a complete klutz and not meant to stamp metal.

I wrapped my stamps up in paper towels and let them sit on my desk for a while... intending to wait until I could afford a torch and try again...

But. You see. Today. My anvil was out on the table with the stamps and something clicked in my brain. Lisa says in one of the videos that she doesn't like anvils because they're higher up than a regular bench block and don't have a big enough surface area so when I tried out my new toys, I used my RUBBER bench block. Well, I whipped out the first letter I could find and tried out the anvil...

This picture shows the difference between the rubber bench block and my anvil. The letter came out cleaner! WOW! Then I moved the metal blank to the rubber bench block to try it again and sure enough, it did not work (see purple arrow... yes, the 'b' is on it's side :P).

Oh, the happiness I felt. I'm not a klutz! And the paper towels got rid of all the oil! And I don't need a torch right now! YAY! *happydance!*

By the way. My solution for the height of the anvil and small surface area?

Turn the anvil on it's side. YEP! Still not perfect letters but I'm getting better. For some reason, my hammer strikes have resulted in a deeper indentation at the bottom of the letter than the top. I'm going to try and work on that. Maybe tilt the stamps a little? I dunno yet.

Any new techniques you're working on right now?

PS. The metal blanks? From Michaels. YEP! MICHEALS. They've been getting a ton of new tools making it easier for people to get new tools to give techniques a try. I even saw a disc cutter for $50. When a good coupon comes out, I'm going to grab one. I'm lucky I have a Michaels, JoAnns, and Hobby Lobby all in one county. AND 3 or 4 bead stores I love. Happy girl.

I've Never Felt So Lucky

I had such an amazing weekend. My boyfriend had his hours cut at the shop he works so our weekend started on Thursday.

Drove up to Fullerton in search of a baby print press. I was cranky from lack of sleep but Rod still managed to get me to smile by (surprise, surprise) taking me to check out the Whole Foods that opened up a few weeks ago. Lots of yummy looking pastries! They even had Indian food in their food bar!

On Friday, after taking me to the bead store and the new Hobby Lobby that opened up, he took me out for some pho. It was our date night and I love me some pho. Before going to the movies (we saw "Pirates!"), we hit Starbucks and I got to look at my new lovelies.

Saturday, the boyfriend and I hung out most of the day at Starbucks, making and creating (and Facebooking :P). He had dinner with his mom that night and I went back to Hobby Lobby. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they have Vintaj. And all the leathey goodness makes me swoon. I bought my first letter punch set that day. I'm excited to try it out.

And now Sunday. Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. Why? Because I got a surprise visit from my lovely family.

My adorable nephew, Kai...

And my other nephew, Kai's baby brother and my godson, Kian...

My sister-in-law called me Sunday morning to let me know they were on their way for a surprise visit! We met them in Irvine for dim sum (yummy!) and drove out to Laguna Beach. We hit the Fingerhut Gallery and looked at all the Dr. Seuss paintings and bronzes. Kai was IN LOVE. He just couldn't believe his eyes. Here were drawings and paintings he learned to read from in an ART GALLERY. It certainly opened his eyes to new things.

He said to me, "Let's paint Kian and put him in the art room." Lol. <3 Even asked for paints from his mom who promptly said to ask me. Ha!

It was pretty cold.

Kai, being the energetic 7 year old that he is, begged us to buy him a shovel and bucket to make sand castles. But it was freezing! My brother, sister-in-law, and I sat on a bench with Kian while my boyfriend ventured out into the sand and played! I love him so much for that. Lol.

My big brother and Kian. Kian's nose is red! Lol.

After Laguna Beach, we hit Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour for dinner.

Such yummy food. Those garlic fries were excellent with ranch.

Kai was fascinated with the flags that came with our sandwiches.

Kai right after I said, "No ice cream until you have some pizza..." Something we had to constantly remind him of. Lol.

Quite possibly the best BEST cherry coke I've ever had.

And of course... the ice cream... 

My big bro and our ice cream.

We got Kai his own little sundae but ours looked better, I'm guessing. :P

At the end of the night. That's me directly across from Kai. My sister-in-law is taking the picture... Lucky lady. Lol. She can hide behind the camera. :P

I had such a wonderful weekend. Nothing inspires me more than being with my loved ones and I needed their love and hugs. Even my brother, who is usually pretty quite, gave me a good hug when they left. 

I miss them so much but I will see them again on the 16th which is little Kian's 1st birthday party. The theme? Cat in the Hat. ^_^

How was your weekend?

Legos

No Printer Tray Tuesday today. I spent two days in my hometown with my brother's family and did not go home until this morning... and because the boyfriend missed me so much, we went adventuring.

The highlight of my trip (other than my sister-in-law's yummy food) was building a Lego train set with my brother for my nephew Kai.

 My brother with my nephew. My nephew started out SUPER into it. Even built half a car...

Then he started to lose interest in the building process. Here he is playing with what I built.

Three hours later, at 11:30PM, the train set is complete. My brother announced that there were no batteries to which I replied "Ok then, I'm going to bed."

Kai didn't make it past 9PM. LOVE YOU KAI! <3

Monday Muses: Cherry Blossom

 Copper Blossom Branch Cuff by HapaGirls

Gun Metal Cherry Blossom Earrings by beladonnajewels

Whimsical Cherry Blossom Ring by LolaAndCash

Cherry blossoms are so dainty and feminine. I'm not sure if it's their color or their shape but something about them is so beautiful. So cute. Precious. And delicate. Love them.

I'm currently at my brother's house absorbing the love his family has. I've been having trouble sleeping lately and last night was the first night in weeks I slept 7+ hours straight... once I actually managed to fall asleep, that is. :P I think it had something to do with the yummy chicken soup my sister-in-law made. I had two bowls of it... lol.

My baby nephew. He's going to be 5 months old in a week. Isn't he adorable? He looks just like his daddy. 

My brother, the baby nephew, and his big brother... I stole the pic from my sister-in-law... SHHH!!! :P

I'm recharging my batteries. My baby nephew's giggles, me playing with his big brother, eating my sister-in-law's good food, and watching how my brother just loves his family- this is what I will think of when I hit a low spot, which has been a lot lately. And when I think of what I want when I "grow up," the happiness and love they have for each other is what I want... but don't tell my brother that. Siblings don't admit that stuff to each other :P

When I go home tonight, I'll be ready to tackle my magazine submissions and plan an open house (hopefully).

Happy Monday, all! Let's have a good week this week, k?