Beading Dreams

Where have I been?

2011-04-24T17:51:00.003-04:00

I have not been here for a bit to say the least. I have been quite busy just the same. No I never did cull through all of my beads all the way but, I did start. I still need to work on that but that has nothing to do with where I disappeared to for these many months. Last year (March 15) I decided to make a better me. I slowly changed my diet and began to exercise. I wanted to live better than I had been and I never really succeeded at losing very much weight before. Lets just say there was no real thought by my family that this would be any different than any other of my attempts. Many times I tried to lose weight in the past but just could not make a real lasting change. What would be different this time, well me. In the past I did not have real goals and like most would give up after a mistake would happen or if I would go off because of some type of celebration. I now realize that I always had control and the ability I just really was not truly committed. I had to examine my life and make the changes that were necessary and want it for no one but me. Losing weight for my kids, husband or a special occasion were not good enough I had to want it for me and me only. Well I did get there and I have been at it since then. I also have lost about 80 pounds in the process and I am not done. I still have a bit to go and it all takes time, hard work and moving your butt a whole lot! I have learned so much including the fact that we are what we eat and if we don't watch we are a mess. You have to count every calorie eaten and everyone burned so you know exactly what you are doing.

It is all baby steps and I have done it without pills, powders, gyms, and mail order food. It was good old fashioned learn what you should be eating, drinking and doing and then go do it. I don't believe personally that the mail order food helps anyone. If you do not learn how to cook and feed yourself on your own you will be living on that stuff forever and it is not cheap! The pills and powders out there are mostly gimmicks and again take your money. The lovely exercise equipment commercials are showing people that have been fit for years as an example to those of us, myself included, what you could look like if you took care of yourself properly. They are not showing an obese person a realistic look at life. I purchased many of these so called quick fix, lose weight gimmicks and was still fat, except my wallet wasn't. Then the item would sit around in the way and remind me how foolish I was to spend my hard earned money on them. If you are not truly ready to make a change don't throw your money away. We all have good intentions but if you are not going to learn what and how to eat and move your body as it was meant to, then you are not ready. You can't go to fast food establishments, guzzle soft drinks and knock back a bag of salty chips and expect to lose weight. If you think that sitting around eating pizza and wings in front of the TV watching movies all weekend is part of a balanced diet well then you may not be there just yet. If going to the donut shop for a cup of joe with whipped cream on top and a pastry is your idea of heaven well you need to think again. It just will not happen and you are fooling yourself if you think you can lose weight and be healthy this way. It takes time and commitment and it will not happen overnight, in a week or two. You did not get to be _____ amount of pounds overnight and it will not go away overnight either. We all want the quick fix and it all takes time and effort. I have lost all of my weight by working out at home, riding my bike and counting every calorie that reaches my lips. I started out using my Wii and a few of the Wii games. Then I worked up to using Exercise TV On Demand & chose the Jillian Michaels' workouts for myself. I did that for most of last year. In December for my birthday I purchased Bob Harper's Inside Out DVDs. I now do a combination of On Demand and Bob's workouts and I also do what I call commercial workouts. If I have a show I want to watch I try for the most part to workout during the commercial breaks. It is fun and gets me off my butt. With the warmer weather now here it is time to again pull out my bike and take it out for some fresh air. I am blessed to live in the country so I enjoy the scenery while riding. I did start workout out slow. I started with a couple of times a week for about a half hour. I now do a minimum of an hour 6 nights a week. As things get easier you need to add to it so you get the results you are looking for.

The problem with the American diet is not what is available to eat, we have a wonderful variety of healthy choices. Our fast, go get it done mentality that has allowed fast food, drive thru's and junk food to enter out diets. Not that having a little will kill anyone but if it is the main focus of your food intake it is killing you! Would you sit and eat about a 1/4 cup or more of fat or shorting at/for a meal? How much do you think you are eating when you sit down with a burger and fries? We were all taught the basics of you need to eat your fruits and veggies but, when you deep fat fry them they are no longer a feasible option for consumption. If you think that eating things like batter dipped and fried butter is good for you then you need a lesson in nutrition for sure. A balanced diet where fruits and veggies are the larger part of what you eat and then the grain and meats are not the main focus is more how we are suppose to eat. Somewhere we lost sight that the meat on our plate should compete with size of the plate. Your salad should be the main thing with a side of meat. I love meat don't get me wrong but eating more than 4 ounces of meat at a meal is overkill for your body to digest and more calories than you should have at any one sitting. The next time you are in a restaurant line see if they have the nutrition information for what they serve. The average person should have no more than 2000 calories in a day. Take the time to just add up the calories for what you are going to eat there. You may be shocked at what you are eating. I have had a few folks that I know realize that they were eating almost 1500 calories in one meal. Ouch! That hurts your waistline and the sodium in these meals is usually off the charts. Then we wonder why we have so many diseases that cripple us later in life. It is never too late to take a look at what you are doing or to make even small changes in your life. Your body will thank you for it and you can thank yourself for avoiding many of the diseases that plague those that choose to continue eating the fast food, quick pickup meals that are everywhere you look.

Yes, I am being a bit preachy but maybe it is for your own good. I have one child that is pre-diabetic, and my husband is obese as was I till not to very long ago. I was this way all of my adult life and it is not healthy nor normal. I have changed the diet for everyone in my home but, I can not control what anyone eats away from home so I still am working on my own family. I was headed down a road of disaster myself before I decided to change. I did not have high blood pressure but there is heart disease in my family as well as diabetic situations so, I was playing Russian roulette with my health. I finally realized that I did not want to be in a situation where my health depended on me changing. I wanted the choice to be mine not a doctor telling me what I could and could not have. So I did it and I will shout it from the roof tops if I must to try to have the rest of those folks out there that need a kick in the butt to move their collective bottoms for the betterment of their own lives. In the end the choice is yours. Remember that you make your choices for the good or bad in all that you do. This includes eating and exercise. I wish all of you the best in your journey in this thing called Life!

P.S.

Here is what I am doing this week!

This week with my knees trying to act up due to the back and forth weather I am working to keep my hour long workouts up. I have done well so far but today is no different in the fact that they are swollen and unhappy. I have upped my fruit intake because I was slacking a little. All I can say is yum! Find things you like and it makes it easy! I love raspberries and cherries so I have been getting frozen ones and they are good and easy. This is my kind of fast food!

Home for the Holidays

2010-12-14T00:30:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone and Happy Holidays! I have been gone for wow a really long time. Sorry about that I have been working on me for a change not to mention that my computer that I was using for my last post has been replaced too. The poor thing lived but it is now being used by my kids rather than me pray for a pulse. Like I said I have been working on myself and I have lost a lot of weight and still working on that. I would like to lose a lot more so I am continuing on that journey. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I wish all of you the best and I will do better at keeping in touch here.

I need to refocus on my jewelry. I have been helping a friend with her jewelry business. I love helping out and seeing her succeed. I will continue to do that as she needs it. I also feel like many of the items I currently have for sale may be reworked because I really need to go in a new direction. I love the things I created but I am just not feeling it at this point. I hope all of you keep an eye out in the new year for some of my new work.

Take care gang!

Well it has a pulse but not sure if it will survive...

2010-02-03T20:35:00.003-05:00

My poor computer has tried to suffer and has been in the ICU and now I believe it has a pulse but not sure if it is gonna make it. I am hoping it is gonna pull through in the end. Hope all of you are doing well. I need to work on it and check out a few things to see if I can bring it back. Wish me luck...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-26T22:43:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to stop by and say Happy Holidays to all! We were going to do our own tradition but as life would have it my husband's job changed his schedule so he had to work. So this past Monday I had to figure out what I had and what I needed to do the old fashioned traditional Thanksgiving feast. I needed a turkey and most of the fixins so to the store I went. Thankfully I had earned a free turkey so I picked it up with the other missing fixins for our family meal. It was only going to be three of us dd#1 was going out for the day so it was not like I needed to feed an army by any means. Last night I realized that I forgot something I needed to cook with for this morning so I needed to get up early and head to the store again. To my surprise I was not alone. The grocery store was packed with other last minute shoppers for turkey day cooking needs. I came home and got busy. Unfortunately in the end the homemade mashed were replace by instant because they came out like glue! *yuck* The turkey took a little longer than expected and the my dh was less than amused because he wanted to get out early to get to work as soon as possible to get a jump start at work. All in all it worked out in the end and we had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed a few of the leftovers already. DD#1 even came home and made herself a plate and went to town so I know it all tasted good at least.

My wish for all of you is that your day was blessed and you enjoyed time with those you love. I hope you have fond memories from the day and were able to be thankful for everyone that is and has been in your life.

I'm having a handmade holiday, come and join me!

2009-10-30T01:09:00.002-04:00

For the upcoming holiday season I will be not only creating but purchasing items from my fellow Artfire sellers. Come and join me you will find so many handcrafted, vintage and all around awesome items that only your mind could imagine. Artisans have worked hard to bring you items that everyone on your list will enjoy. I can't think of a better way to stimulate the economy or to give things from the heart than to purchase items from artists that put their heart into their work.

Handmade Jewelry

2009-10-04T12:07:00.002-04:00

As most of you know that stop by here or those that know me I create Handcrafted Jewelry. I must say I am far from being alone in this world. Please stop by:

http://handmadejewelry.artfire.com/modules.php?name=categories&op=targeted&query=handmadejewelry

You will be dazzled with the work my fellow artisans create with their hearts and their hands. With the upcoming holiday season you could find beautiful gifts for friends and family. You can even find some bling for yourself while you browse around.

I hope to see you there!

Artfire info

2009-09-28T19:03:00.000-04:00

All members of ArtFire can list unlimited items for the Holidays. No cost, no fees, no kidding.

Back to school

2009-09-08T17:05:00.002-04:00

Well today is back to school day for my girls. Up early and out for a new year they went. My oldest is now a freshman. She has been nervous and now sees that it is still school. She was glad to see many of her friends that she has not seen all summer. My youngest was also glad to see old friends and get her 8th grade started. She will be going on a camping trip that the school does for the 8th grader's every year. It is an awesome time to bring them together for their last year of middle school.

Summer found us

2009-08-12T14:41:00.004-04:00

Well summer decided to show up and we have been a bit on the warm side of things. Thankfully we have been able to keep cool. I don't do well in the heat, I melt and fall apart. It is not pretty. I am looking forward to the cooler days ahead and being able to have my windows back when we remove the window air conditioners. They just make it feel so closed in. I love having my windows open and enjoying the fresh air. It will be here soon and then I will be mad cause it will be getting cold and I can't have the open windows again.

I have been needing to focus on getting more of my things up on my Artfire site. Finally started again last night. I need to re-work a few items and get others photographed or written up. I unfortunately can not do the craft show circuit any more. It wears me out so much that it is not worth it in the end. I have also been trying to find my style or voice with my jewelry. I have been feeling like I need a direction. Many of the items I currently have for sale were put together for the craft show circuit. I made them so I could get started and now I feel like they are not selling because I have made items that are just so generic or blah. I just have so many things I love and directions I could go and not sure what truly says me. The other hard part for me is our finances just make it hard too. I have always had to watch what I spend. I end up getting what speaks to me at the moment and that may not turn out to be a stellar or items I should actually getting to make into items that will bring in a profit. I have so many things I want to learn so that I can expand my abilities and what I can create. My hopes it that I can get some money flowing somehow to move things on but I have not figured out what I can do exactly at this point. My essential tremor makes it so I can not get a real job because I can not guarantee that I will be able to show up everyday and that creates a cash flow issue. Argh! It is just so frustrating some days. I want this to work for me but it is so difficult to make it work out in the end.

I hope everyone is having a good day and a pleasant summer. Catch ya next time...

So you say July is part of summer you would not know it here.

2009-07-22T19:38:00.003-04:00

Well it has not been the summer that all of us are use to. It has not be really hot or oververtly sunny or humid as I am use to. Not that I like it hot and humid, I have a tendency to melt. This year July has been a mess. Three of us were sick for the better part of two weeks and when the kids went on their summer vacation over a family friends home no one was up to the regular fun that they have together cause they are all still getting use to the things teens deal with in their young lives. Everyone is now home and back to normal but it just stinks all around this year. My DH does not have sick time so that has messed other things up too. Argh! Well life moves on and we all will soon forget all of this mess.

I hope your summer is better.

Oh btw I just went outside and I think summer is trying to make a comeback. It is humid. LOL!

Thanks for the help

2009-06-27T23:43:00.003-04:00

I would like to thank those of you that made either purchases or twittered, blogged or helped in any way you could to help my friend. I appreciate your participation and hope I can count on you again in the future if this need should arise again.

Thanks!

Helping hands helping heavy hearts...

2009-06-09T18:31:00.007-04:00

As we all know many of our friends, family and our world in general have hit hard times due to the ever looming economy. At times like these we all need to feel that our own lives are safe and secure. What would you do if your situation was not like everyone else? Do you run and hide? Do you ask for help? What would you do? I have been in this place and you do hide until it gets so hard that there is nothing else you can do but ooze anger, fear and frustration at your situation and everyone around you.

We have a situation, many of us artists trying to sell our wares in an economic state of affairs where all disposable income has dried up like the drought last summer in the Southern US. Orders have dried up. Buyers have said that they can't make purchases because their overall sales are down or they are going out of business. Customers are saying how beautiful your work is but don't have the funds to make a purchase right now. They will keep you in mind and take your business card for future reference. The lack of sales make it difficult to stay focused and motivated. This makes it difficult for those of us that depend on this income, and this may be an artists only income. This is the case for myself and many others.

Now I am going to the real important part of my message today. I would like to see how many of you could help me help someone with a heavy heart. I am not asking you to part with your hard earned money for nothing I am asking you to help my friend, a fellow artist and a Mom with babies that creates these beautiful items with her own hands to make a living. Please visit one of her following sites:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=46486

http://www.artfire.com/users/bluenoodle

http://www.bluenoodlejewelry.com/

I would really appreciate all of you to take the time to stop by any or all of her sites to see if you can find something that would brighten your day and help a heavy heart. In a week I would love to come back and let all of you know how many of you helped someone in need, lightened the load and helped an artist continue her beautiful craft.

Thanks for stopping by!

$12.00 a Month for Life at Artfire

2009-06-02T20:24:00.003-04:00

Here is another newsflash for everyone! Would you like to have your own website to sell your handmade items? Artfire is offering for a limited time $12.00 for Life for a verified accounts. All current artisans will have the price locked for life and all of the new verified artisans who sign up in the promotional period will have the $12.00 per month price locked in. This is a great promotion. Don't delay go to Register on ArtFire.com today and sign up for your verified account. Hey this is for all of you have have Basic Memberships at Artfire too! Are you on the fence would you like to have more than 10 items a month in your Artfire Fusion Studio? Join now while your memebership is only $12.00 per month! Stop by to visit my shop too! See you there...

Newsflash & Ya know...

2009-05-29T17:43:00.008-04:00

Hey gang sorry I have been scarce recently. My benign essental tremor was acting up a bit and kept me from having time to visit. It seems to have calmed down again so here I am!

I have some news to pass on to all of you. Artfire is offering the Free for Life program again. If you have not heard about this here is what you need to do...

Tell your friends about Artfire and ask them to join; share with them what you like about Artfire and invite them to participate. Together all of us can build a community of artisans that care about making a positive impact on the world and who support and create handmade items.There are a few ways to do this, you need to go to the Free for Life page on Artfire and follow the instructions.

I am also trying to get a Free for Life account. So, if you are looking for a place to share your creative vision with the world and would like to have a webpage of your own to sell from for only $12.00 a month with no relisting fees, one button relisting of your items, fast secure tranactions, please click on the following link for more information about Artfire!
Register on ArtFire.com

Are you looking?

2009-04-14T02:41:00.001-04:00

Are you or someone you know looking for a site to sell your wares? Go check out here: http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=sevenforlife&afuid=11391

Hey have you tried Artfire yet?

2009-04-06T18:38:00.001-04:00

ArtFire Offers Two Membership types:

Verified User :

Basic User (free) :

$12 Monthly
No Fees for Sales
Sell Unlimited Items
Make Your Own Categories
Full Community Interaction
Up to 10 Pictures Per Product
Prefered Placement in Searches
Shop Banner
Forums
Custom
Google Analytics
Global Shipping Profiles
Social Media Promotion Tool
Social Media Resource Library
Real Time Statistics
Instant Flagging
Categories Displayed Randomly(No Relisting Needed)
Fast, Clear Checkout Process
Fast, Accurate Filtered Site Search
One Button Relist
One Button Vacation
Sales Mode
Education/Training
Green Impact
View Prices in Any Currency
Google Base (Autofeed Every Item)
Kudos
Guilds
Artisan Councils
Artisan Profile with Photo
Market Hub
Site Participation Rewards (Artifacts)
Automated Markdown Manager
Rapid Cart

Shop Banner
Forums
Custom
Google Analytics
Global Shipping Profiles
Social Media Promotion Tool
Social Media Resource Library
Real Time Statistics
Instant Flagging
Categories Displayed Randomly(No Relisting Needed)
Fast, Clear Checkout Process
Fast, Accurate Filtered Site Search
One Button Relist
One Button Vacation
Sales Mode
Education/Training
Green Impact
View Prices in Any Currency
Google Base (Autofeed Every Item)
Kudos

Artfire no longer has the $7.00 accounts they are now $12.00 accounts don't wait until they change them to $20.00 accounts. Apply today or even just try a free account to see if Artfire is right for you.

I've been busy...

2009-04-05T18:54:00.000-04:00

Well I have been away for a bit. I did not realize for how long that I have not been here to make a real post. I have been doing some Spring cleaning and getting rid of things around the house. We donated so many things and gave a box of books to my nephew that belonged to my daughters. I have been going through so many boxes of junk and glad to be able to pass on the things we are no longer using.

My husband & I went out for a night on the town last night. We stopped at a bead store that I just found. Loved it! Needed to pick up a few things so I can finish two pieces that were needing clasps so I can get them up on the site.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a wonderful week!

Yeah!

2009-03-23T20:10:00.011-04:00

I am so thrilled! I finally made my first sale in my Artfire shop site. I have been waiting for a happy customer to come along and find something that made there day. I shipped it off this afternoon and I hope my customer returns and gives me a good karma score for my shop. I is great just to get that first sale under my belt. Now I can look forward to my next one. I have more items to be posted in the next few days. I have not done the write ups just yet that is why they have not made it in the store plus my husband has been home on vacation so I have been busy with him getting scores of chores done around the house. Have a great day all!

Beads and me

2009-03-17T16:54:00.001-04:00

Beads and me

Posted using ShareThis

Here is some of the really cool Artfire.com info.

2009-03-06T23:21:00.002-05:00

ArtFire Offers Two Membership types:

Verified User :
$7 monthly subscription (for the first 5000 accounts)
No fees for sales made
Sell unlimited items with no fees
Make your own categories for products
Choose from multiple studio templates
Studio blog and photo gallery
Full community interaction
Up to 10 pictures per product
Prefered placement in searches
Personalized shop URL i.e. username.artfire.com
Join or create artisan guilds, mentor other members, compete in contests, win grants, become a columnist for Art Daily, receive ArtiFacts, Upload videos to ArtCast, and receive awards!(Whew! Thats a lot!)

Basic User (free):

Buy and Sell on ArtFire with zero fees
No fees for sales made
Personalized studio banner
Sell up to 10 products at one time
4 pictures per products
Some community interaction
FREE!

On a lighter note...

2009-02-21T02:48:00.004-05:00

Well things are looking better. The car looks to be repaired near the end of March. The house stuff will be worked on as funds become available and as we all know life goes on.

I still have not been able to get to my bins so no new pics have been taken yet. I guess I will have to work on this as time sees fit. I was fortunate that my assembly job has started up again since they moved in January. I have high hopes that they will continue to have work for a while to give me a few green backs to work with. They are hoping that the job we have been working on will be extended. If not I will have the time to work on Beading Dreams full time rather than the dribs and drabs I have been doing at this point.

Well time to get some shut eye!

There is still time to get a $7.00 Artfire account click on the link and sign up!

What's next...

2009-02-04T21:04:00.004-05:00

Well I went and hauled out the couple of totes that contained my craft show items. I needed to get them because many of my sterling items are still packed. I need to get them out and take pictures so I can add them to my ArtFire site.

I have been really worried about how we are going to make it. Money is so tight and so many things need fixing right now. The oven died before the summer and the stove is so old it will cost more to fix than to replace it. The roof is leaking and we need to fix under the house because of other problems. We are now down to one car and that needs a tune up and hubby hit a deer on the way home from work one night and we need to get that fixed too. Not to mention the fact that I need to replace my fuel tank ASAP because it had problems too! Ahhh! If I only had an Angel that could fix it all or that had a few bucks to spare. Oh well back to life again!

Here are the pics

2009-02-01T01:40:00.001-05:00

Well after taking several pics of some more of my work. I have been cropping and editing them and adding a few new things to the site. Please stop by and see the new pics and items that will be added in the next few days! Thanks!

Hi Everyone!

2009-01-24T00:45:00.002-05:00

Well today I have been adding to my shop. I am doing my best to get as many items up as I can. Your newly posted items go on the front page until enough of the fellow Artfire users post enough items that you are no longer on the page. It is great to have the exposure on the home page. Come and check out my items. Have a great day all!

Please come and join me!

2009-01-22T18:00:00.003-05:00

I have just joined a really great site! It is very easy to use and there is so much help that you can find on the forum and it is only $7.00 per month to be a verified user and the opportunity to have a free account. There are no listing fees and you can have up to 10 views per item and an unlimited items can be listed.

Register on ArtFire.com

If you are a crafter, designer, artist or just love to purchase items from handcrafted artist this is a great place to go! Please come and visit and see what is like. If you do decide to register please let them know that I sent you! My name there is BeadingDreams. Thank you for stopping by.

Welcome to the Beading Dreams Blog

2008-11-14T01:40:00.003-05:00

Welcome!

Well here it is a place to come and hear about what I am doing with my life and my business as it is. I started Beading Dreams in June of 2007 to share my creations with the world. At this point my business has not gotten to the point where I can say it is a success. In fact it is just hangin out. Due to the economy and my own economy it has been difficult to create when you need items to make it all happen. I am hopeful that my financial situation gets a shot in the arm at some point because I have many things I would love to do. The ideas are sitting there and I will continue to brainstorm till the money finds me. I hope that all of you enjoy stopping by to see where life takes me and Beading Dreams.