Facebook AARRGGHH

So, I have a virtual pet on Facebook app Super Poke Pets. Hopper has been in existence since mid-March and he/she's doing really well and I'm having fun with him. I wanted to start a second pet with a different Facebook account. I got the Facebook account set up, and then got a bunny set up. But, it turns out that the SPP account and the Facebook account aren't talking to each other and when I try to get either one to acknowledge the other, they are telling me that the account already exists. I'm going to have to find out how to delete my new pet completely, and cross my fingers and hope that Hopper won't be a secondary casualty to that deletion. What should have been simple turned out to be a royal PITA because Facebook is NOT a very user-friendly app even though it is turning out to be ubiquitous in my cyber-world.

But, today is Saturday and that's a great day. I work an hour less, and I go to the shop an hour later. Any time I only have to be there for 9-1/2 hours instead of 11-1/2 hours is great. And tonite I'll play Lord of the Rings Online with DH. Sunday we'll cut the lawn and do some miscellaneous work, I'll get some more beading done, and we'll have a nice dinner. I think my weekend will be fabulous and hope I'll get some design work done also. Exercise your creative brain over your weekend - look for colors, shapes and harmony to put forth into your own work. Then you can start your next work week with an enriched perspective.

Finishing Up

I've been trying very hard to complete my Beading For A Cure 2010 project before I leave for Bead & Button Show at the end of the month. With the exception of tearing one part apart and redesigning it, it is starting to come together. My DH is rather astounded by my designing style. He can't understand how I can just pick up a needle and the beads, start work, and make what I want without sketching or designing it before then. What he doesn't understand is that I am working from a mental image that is complete, but that changes occur to meet the physical realities that can sometimes insert themselves between a dream and reality. I'm working on one of the final portions now, and it should allow me to finish this no later than the middle of next week. And, as much as I wanted to put enameling with it, I decided to pass on that and just work this one with beads. Part of that was time, but the other part was that the design of the piece altered as the elements came together in real space and I think that the enamel would actually detract from the finished look. There are still a few challenges in the future to make the project complete, but so far I'm pretty happy.

So...when you think of a project, how do you approach it? Although I love to have my sketchbooks, I will rarely do much to sketch out an idea. My ideas are already in my head and it is my job to make them appear in real-space. Sometimes there are years between the design and the realization of it because I have to acquire the skills necessary to make the project. So, do you work a project out little bit by little bit? Do you start by working out a small detail and then branch out from there? Are you economy driven - i.e., you have to make X number of pieces by Y date for a sale or a show? What works well for you and what doesn't? When you know how you design, you can fine tune the method(s) that work best for you and become a more effective and productive artist.

Hitting the Ground Running

I rarely oversleep - and my alarm clock is one of those that gets constantly louder as time goes on. I have it set for 3:30 am (yes...I know that time is ridiculous), and usually if it reaches 3:40 am my DH will poke me because it will wake him. Today he was sleeping away when it finally managed to wake me at 3:58 am! And, of course, this is a day when I'm expected to be out the door no later than 6:15 am to meet my accountant/friend for breakfast. Running late before the day starts - it's becoming my personal mantra .

And then I hit my elbow a really sharp blow on the shower door as I was exiting the shower. Usually those things sting for a while but then stop. This has been almost an hour and still hurts when I move the arm. Since I will need to be moving it all day at work, this might be intresting and NOT fun. Maybe I should wear a bandage on my elbow like the chap in this photo?

Yesterday's beading session was very productive and the strand that I designed for my BFAC piece works extremely well. One or two more strands and I'll be ready for assembly (YEAH !!). I can't wait to finish this so that I can get back to my cloak. I'm really anxious to get my fabric spread over the template and see what adjustments I'll need to make. In the meanwhile - have a creative and friend-filled Thursday. It's the BEST kind of day :-)

Retrench, Recover and Retry

I'm getting to my post today about six hours later than usual because I'm not feeling super right now, but, that too will pass. I took a nap for an hour and feel much better, so it's probably a bit of sleep deprivation coupled with stress. There are probably many of you in the same position, so enough pity party for me :-)

I have been working on my project for the 2010 Beading For A Cure charity auction. I really want this finished before I leave for Bead & Button Show at the end of the month so that I can concentrate on other things when I return from the show. I am doing a multi-strand neckpiece, and two of the strands are quite nice. But the third, that I did on Sunday, I am not happy with. So, after I am done posting here, I'll be ripping it apart and doing something else. I'm not happy with the entire project concept, but it'll actually look really nice and be rather versitile, so things could be worse. I just need to buckle down and finish the darned thing.

And last night my DH took me out for a birthday dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (I highly recommend the Jamaican Jerk pizza - absolutely amazing) and the new Star Trek movie. The movie was fabulous, the dinner was great, and I came home to roses on my kitchen counter. All in all, a really nice day.

Friends and Relatives

It's amazing what a small amount of kindness can do. As a bit of background - I have a virtual pet - a frog - on Super Poke Pets (want to friend my pet? Email me directly). Hopper is a happy frog who celebrated my birthday with me by indulging in a Hobbit tradition - that of giving gifts to others on our own birthdays. So, starting Sunday night and continuing into Monday, I gave a gift of breast-cancer awareness tulips to each of my virtual pet friends (almost 300 of them). In return I received 48 fabulous gifts from others and more than 100 happy birthday wishes. What a wonderful day it was :-)

And my cousin, my best friend as we were growing up, also wrote a great Email to me. Both of us are adopted children, but we approach our adoptions with slightly different perspectives. I have to assume that it is because we were raised differently, but everyone has different things that they consider vital. She send a short document detailing her feelings about adoption. My response to her included the following:

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"I thank my birth mother for her courage. I don't want additional relatives, and I will come down with health issues if it is in my future - my past won't change that. I am secure that I was blessed to have been brought up in a country of plenty where females are treated with respect and where personal endeavors are not only approved but encouraged. I feel unbearably fortunate in my life - the little things that caused X to happen, which caused Y to happen, and which caused Z to happen. Paths taken can never be rewalked or changed, and I don't think I would want to. I had my usual problems during adolescence, but I know, now and forever, that I had parents who truly loved me and who enriched my life with their loves of music, literature, and history. My life has continued past their boundaries into my own life, shared with my best friend and a host of other characters, all of whom contribute to who I am today. I have no regrets, and I have no real desires to change anything and refuse to add to any of the evil in the world by thinking in any negative fashions about what was, basically, an extremely positive experience. I always had the security of knowing that I was a 100% wanted child because I was personally chosen to be the daughter of my parents. How many others can say so much. "

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Help someone in your own life to feel loved and cherished today, and encourage them in their own endeavors and creativity. The pay-off can be magnificant and can transcend borders of nations and beliefs.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday, I'm running late (again), so I'll actually do a decent post tomorrow and just get back on track today instead. Sorry - for those of you reading to find out what insane things I may have done over the weekend, it was very quiet and pleasant - LOL.