Following the Ozone

I normally awaken at 3:30 am (yes, I already know that I'm crazy).  This morning, 3:30 am came and along with it came lots of lightning and thunder.  So, I settled on the livingroom couch to sleep for another 30 minutes because I wasn't about to turn on my computer with all of that storm activity over my house.  When my small alarm went off at 4am, I had no power.  That remained the case until 5am, so I'm running 90 minutes late today.  Oh well, that's the breaks.  At least I got an extra hour+ of sleet, my power is back and so is my internet connection, therefore all is good. 

A PMC Charm Bracelet Assembled by Rachel Miller

Yesterday I went through my charms that I received in exchange at the Charm Swap at the PMC Conference two weeks ago.  I was so fortunate - so many of the charms that I received are simply wonderful.  And I got more than I had to exchange.  Several friends and acquaintences gave charms to me even though I had already distributed all of my own charms.  I was honored and delighted.  I think I am going to make a 2x2 jumpring chain for these - there will be some substantive weight to the necklace when I am finished with it and I want it to be comfortable to wear.  I also have the charms from last year's Metal Clay World that need a necklace, so I might as well get to work on that also.  Maybe I'll play with chain-maille jewelry while attending Ren Faire starting next weekend. 

The Weekend Looms

One of the better things about the weekend is that most people get it off. The bad thing about owning and operating a retail store is that I don't. Get the days off, I mean. I always work on Saturdays - always. In fact, since they are usually our busiest days of the week, we don't allow employees to have Saturdays off very frequently. But, at this wonderful time of the year when everyone is caught up in the "lets just put this perfect gift on the credit card and pay for it next year" syndrome, I also have to work on Sundays. Ick!!! That's a serious cut into my relaxation and decompression time. I am grateful that I only have to do this until Christmas - I would much rather be able to sleep in on Sundays without setting my alarm clock.

I pulled out my "Classical Loop-In-Loop Chains & Their Derivatives" book by Stark and Smith this morning. I have that wonderful skull that I electroformed for my DH for his holiday gift, but it needs a chain. So, during this next week, I need to get some soldered jumprings made from some copper and start doing a chain for the pendant. I also need to get going on some more enamel pieces for a few quick earrings as gifts, and I got some oil enamel paints last week to try painting the other medallion that I wanted to make for my DH. I know I'll end up spending a little bit of money this holiday, but I'm really trying hard to hold the limits and keep to a very small budget. Time to make a list, check it twice, and assign gifts - something that's actually a lot of fun for me to do.