FML you have GOT to be kidding me?!

Hello friends!

Have you ever done that? I was getting things all fixed up in these nifty little apps on Etsy only to have DELETED the descriptions to 31 OF MY LISTINGS!!! Luckily I caught it before it had replaced ALL of them, but OMG! There was no fixing this new little mess I had made myself. Thank GOD I had some sold listings and other inactive things where I could copy and paste and fudge around to save myself some time and effort. I am happy to say that after only 2 hours I have gotten everything fixed! *WHEW* 

Now to get OFF the computer since I have been sitting in this chair like ALL day!

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON :)

Much love,

Genea

Topsy Turvey- A week in review

Hello friends!

Today has been a crazy day.  I realized it's been just over a week since I have last posted. I have been BUSY per usual. 

Before I get into my crazy day I would like to take a moment to thank all of the lovely people out there that have stopped by my shop to pick up some holiday items this season. You all are AMAZING! Thanks so much for supporting me!

World turned upside down...

Ok, where to start... Well I woke up and checked my messages over my morning cup of coffee. When Ricky got home he was distraught. After a few exchanges of words back and forth he had pretty much told me he had decided it would be best for us if he dropped school. If you didn't already know my hubby was working on his massage therapy certificate.  After the school giving him the run around and with finances being what they are, he thought it would be best for him to focus more on his training job and maybe getting a second job. He has been gone for endless hours in the day and felt like his candle was burning at both ends. Our end goal for this upcoming year is our move to Portland, OR and it seemed with this new plan put into action that we would better be able to achieve that goal by mid summer. So that certainly spiraled my day around.

I think it will be better too especially if that gives him more time home and to really get his focus in the right place. I also wouldn't complain if I got to see him way more often than I do :)

Happenings of today....

It's just been crazy around here. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what is the best plan of attack for all of the many things I have going. I feel like the state of my desk is what the state of my life feels like at the moment.

Yeah, nuff said huh? lol.

So I spent the beginning of the day getting together a few packages that needed to go out in the mail. Next I got my sale banner up for the December 1-7th sale I have going on in my shop for 20% off lampwork beads.I liked the sale banner so I decided to make a new one for here too. Then I went off to pick new fav's for the shop and edited some pics. When I logged on to upload the new banner I was checking out some of the new blog posts from my list.

I first saw Amy's blog Copper Diem and I was like "hey those look like my beads, wait THOSE ARE MY BEADS" :D Amy is so sweet. She just received the wing ding beads she purchased and took some photos :D

I bounce back and forth all over the internet many times a day and read on Lorelei's facebook that she was participating in a Secret Santa Exchange with Lillyella. I am a gifter so you know I was all over that!

Forgive me if this is all crazy like. I have so many things to talk about and fill you in. Hopefully you make it through all of it ;)

 Ok so totally random, but if you don't already have one of these little elasticy headbands, you totally need one. Its like a huge rubber band with a little rubbery stuff on the underside so it doesn't slip out of your hair. Pretty nifty huh?

And.. here's my face. I figured I might take a quick snap shot just for "S's and "G's".

 Food porn....

So after all of my crazy photo editing I realized I had many photos to share.  So here are some of the delicious food Ricky has been cooking :D

 Ricky made me this delicious french toast with some cooked Jazz apples on top. OMG if you have not already had some Jazz apples you MUST go find some and eat them! They are some of the BEST apples I have EVER eaten, I might go as far to say as they are my current favorite! They are deliciously sweet and a little sour! Mmmmmm! Doesn't it just figure 2 of my favorite fruits are from New Zealand?! Blood oranges were the second :D I have also been eating my weight in clementines :D

 Here was an Asian noodle salad. Pretty delicious.

 OMG. Have you had this yogurt? It is like the BEST! It's thick and creamy with a tang. It tastes just like an exquisite desert. I would totally recommend it to curb that sweet tooth with a healthy choice. Trust me, it totally doesn't taste like it should be that healthy for you!

 Chicken cooked in orange juice with greek cucumber sauce, feta, caramelized onions, and mushrooms. Mmmm.

 I just happened to notice the awesome way the sunlight was coming in the room so I clicked a picture :)

Ok so this might actually kind of blend a little bit here... lol

Beads & Breakfast....

The other day I had the pleasure of hanging out with my friend, Melissa. I was up ASS early the technical time for that statement is 5:30am(way out of my character) so I started my day after tossing and turning for an hour. I seized the day by going on a walk with Leeloo, showering, and then inviting Melissa over for breakfast. 

 Here is Melissa, our breakfast and her beads :)

 The face beads closest to you were called "Beads Gone Bad". She had a hollow flop(the green face above all the rest_ and decided to make a face out of it. Look what else she created! The small beads in the top right were "production beads". These beads were made 4 at a time on one mandrel to see just how many beads she could make in 2 hours.

 Here are some super dotty masked beads and a large dotty glass disc.

Here are some of the other "whompy" hollow beads Melissa made along with the earrings she will be doing in the Bead Boutique earring exchange.

2 OUT OF 4 COMPLETED!....

So with the craziness of holiday happenings I have a few more deadlines to complete. I got 2 out of 4 done on Sunday afternoon! One was my very FIRST lampwork tutorial EVER! It will be coming up in the Flow magazine in spring. I would love to give more details, but I am waiting to see what little tid bits I can give you before the magazine comes out, so stay tuned for that ;)

My other completed task was doing some bead release testing for Planet Glass Products(coming spring 2011). I had the pleasure of working with founder, Tim Keyzers. I have nothing to say but INCREDIBLE things about his new bead release called "Universal Bead Release". It is amazingly strong, awesomely green and easy to clean out of your bead holes. It is literally the BEST bead release I have EVER used! Here are the test beads I made to put his bead release to the test!

 One of my ornage BIBH's done in gorgeous Bullseye glass :)

 Another BIBH. We had 2 different batches to test.

 My "Jaw Breaker" hollows.

 Wing Dings, of course. One in opaque and one in transparent to test the ease of cleaning.

In the works....

Some new Genea Beads items. The multi-functional Wing Ding has found yet another finished item!

They make perfect stitch markers with their wonderfully bright colors. They are shown here with knitting, but they can also be used as crochet stitch markers since they are attached to a split ring!

 

They can even be added to your key ring temporarily  so that they will be with you when you travel.

They are even fashionable! You can WEAR them when you aren't using them too!  Pretty sweet eh?

 Now what's the only bad news about them? They aren't in the shop yet because I am still wading through tons of other tasks ;P I will get them in the shop eventually... 

Well I'm sure if you did make it to the end you are probably starving by now since it took SOOOO long to read everything. I think I am ready for some food myself ;)

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

Just stopping in to say "Hi".

Hello friends!

How are you doing today? Me? Oh... I caught the death :( Ack probably part of being a home dweller. I don't get exposed to all of those cooties like everyone else. I hope the rest of you are feeling healthy and enjoying the holiday.

I was excited today because I was feeling well enough to get my project with my Graphic Artist/Photographer friend, Evan. I needed his expertise to help me with my task. I just didn't have enough arms to do it on my own ;) I would love to fill you in, but unfortunately I need to button up for now. I will tell you that it turned out awesome and I will post as soon as I get to share the news! 

It was really amazing working with Evan. I told him how happy I was that we worked well together. It's nice to be able to take a task on together. The hubby and I get into it when putting together furniture ;) I think that just being part of a couple though. It keeps things interesting lol.

So what's new in your neck of the woods? Any snow? Weather staying uh winter like in your area? It's all over the place here and no first snow yet. Hopefully soon. Even Portland is getting snow!

Well I thought I would just pop in and say hi. I am getting some of my timed tasks done so that's giving me some relief. I have some beads to make to finish up some sets to re-list, a design to put together, and some testing to do. Getting there. I should probably rest up so I can beat my cold and still get some work done. 

Well that's all for now.

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

DON'T FORGET! Kind Over Matter GIVE-AWAY going on NOW!

Hello friends!

The Kind Over Matter give-away is LIVE! Here is the link to enter and have a chance to win this amazing coffee themed wall art!

Follow the link for instructions! The give-away is going on now through December 1st 2010! 

Good luck!!

Genea Beads Sales- Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Sales in December

Hello friends!

I am excited to announce the Genea Beads sales schedule for this holiday season! 

Sales are as follows: November 24- FREE SHIPPING(First Class) and FREE bead with purchase.  I will add a bead in your package along with your purchase!This offer will go on through December 29th(12am).

If you wish to get faster shipping please note this in the comments when you check out. *There will be a charge for upgraded shipping.*  Please allow adequate time for shipping for items to arrive before Christmas. Items will ship same day or next day depending on purchase time.

Black Friday/ Cyber Monday sale- November 26- November 30(12am) - 30% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP!

 

December 1-7th(12am)- 20% off ALL lampwork beads!

December 8-14th(12am)- Select earrings $20 each!

December 15-21st(12am)- Bracelets 20% off!

December 22-28th(12am)-  1/2 off earrings with the purchase of a necklace! For this sale you will have to make your purchase and I will credit your paypal account or you can contact me before your purchase so I can change the price. There isn't a default way to offer this sale. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you for all of your continued support! Happy Holiday shopping!

Much love,

Genea

Benefit Auction for Andrew Thornton of Green Girl Studios

Hello friends!

If you may not have heard Andrew Thornton of Green Girl Studios had some severe health issues that caused him to rack up some hefty medical bills. Andrew is an independent artist and doesn't have health insurance so you can imagine just how much his visits cost. Many in our community have come together to help raise money for his cause. I would like to do the same by offering an auction right here on my blog :)

Although I have just met Andrew through my e-mails to him I can sense his kind caring nature  through his replys. I have collected Green Girl Studios art beads for many years and I couldn't imagine not collecting more due to the high costs of paying medical bills or loss of inspiration due to stress. I can't imagine going through what he has, and want to do what I can to help him keep doing what is in his heart.  Artists are amazing creative spirits and without their pieces the world would be  much less magical place.  Please join me in helping out one of our creative souls :)

Here is how to bid. Please leave your name, e-mail and the amount you would like to bid on the piece. Bidding will be open from now until 12am on Sunday(so pretty much Monday morning). I will contact the winning bidder and ask them to paypal their bid directly to Andrew's paypal account. Once I get a conformation from Andrew that the amount has been paid I will ship the item with insurance.

 Silk cording is more teal and blue variegated than the picture demonstrates.

Necklace can be worn long or short by tying silk cording.

Here are the details for the piece...

Winding layers of streaky and glittery blue, Streaky glittery green, yellow green, aqua blue, turquoise blue, and olive green ruffle into a freeform flower shape. Inside the flower sit treasures of tinkly bells, swirling spacers, seed beads, swarovski crystal and flowers. Up the base meticulously macramed leaves,drops, bells, seed beads and crystals are tightly bound into a fantastical design.

STATS:
Vortex flower focal is 38mm across. Pendant dangles a drastic 2 3/4"(5.08cm) from top to bottom. Pendant ring is 7mm. Silk necklace cord is 33"(83.82cm) long and can be worn long or tied as a short choker. 

 Happy Bidding!

Much love,

Genea

What would you like to see on sale?

Hello friends!

First off I am SUPER excited that I got my blog fixed. I couldn't tell you all about it because it wouldn't post my text. So I found out somehow my template was set to put white text on a white background. Well that would explain it huh?! So anyways, crisis averted after giving up, sleeping and coming back to it this morning.

Can you believe it's November 16th ALREADY? I was out in public(which I am not as frequently since I work at home and the hubby is out with the car at school and work) and I was like Christmas music, already? Then it dawned on me that yes, it was an appropriate time for Christmas music! HOLY CRAP! How did the season sneak up so quickly?! I mean I have been working at things as fast as I can trying to get them out for the holidays, but DANG! 

It has been super crazy around here with Autumn giving us a brief "hello" before winter comes around.  Infact with all of the craziness of the holiday season going on, we have decided not to exchange gifts this year with friends or family. It's a good thing too because the second I cross off something on my to-do list a new thing jumps on that is due right before the holidays! Eep!

So you may wonder why we have not gotten to the title of the blog yet, right? Well here we go... so while thinking about the craziness of "black" friday and "cyber" monday I got to thinking about what kind of sales I should be doing this season. I have lots of ideas, but my real answer should come from the people that are shopping.

So what do you guys want to see on sale? Would you rather see a percentage off? A sale on things like earrings one week and lampwork beads the next?  or different sales for each week leading up to the holiday? Like would you like to see a special sale from black friday through cyber monday? Then a different sale each week up to the holiday? I would love to hear your thoughts :)

I have already planned on doing free shipping from black friday through Christmas, but wanted to get some sales going on along with it. Thanks to Etsy on Sale we sellers on Etsy can now easily schedule a sale in our shop without having to offer our sales by refunding the discount to you through paypal! Horay Etsy on Sale creators! :D

Well I should be on my way. Only an hour of daylight left and lots of things to do!

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

Go to the Kansas City Zoo

Hello friends!

Well the hubby and I got some crappy news today:( He had been off school for a month since he had taken the class that they were doing(he transferred from the north campus of school) so he was supposed to start up class again last week. When he came in for class this morning they told him that he wasn't properly re-registered and would have to wait to go to class again until December. Apparently they had to drop him and then re-register him and somehow it got all messed up. So, what did we do with this "lemon" life gave us? Say "Fuck it" and went to the Zoo! :D

The Kansas City Zoo was offering free admission and parking to all KC residents so off to the zoo we went!This guy was a trumpeter song and did a little performance and song for us upon entering the zoo :)
The only changing leaves pic I have gotten to take this year. Unfortunately none of the trees in our yard turn pretty colors like this one :(
Here is Nikita, Kansas City's new star. Nikita is actually a boy ;)
He would dive then do the back stroke and then come around to do it again.
You can see his head if you look just beyond the glare of stripes you can see in the picture.
There was a carousel going so I snapped a pic. It had the carnival music and all. I bet that get's annoying to listen to all day long ;)
This pretty guy was singing to me.
It was hard to photograph them cause the sun was so direct,but aren't their colors amazing?!
Llama face! LOL I love the spotty one!
Who's hungry?! I figured since they were in the back of their cage eating they wouldn't be interested, but the second they heard that treat dispenser drop food they all came running :D
This was a horse sculpture I thought was pretty. The other horse is sitting. I like the texture of the standing one best.
This was a crane. I forget which type.
The laughing monk people usually think is Buddha.
RED PANDA! OMG these are so f*ing cute!! They are a cross between a panda and racoon.
These guys were really hard to photograph. They kept moving and my camera's delay kept me from getting the perfect picture ;)The Sumatra tigers were so pretty. They kept pacing as we watched them.

This was another type of crane.

This was a horned bird.
These guys were loose in an Aviary so you could literally walk right up to them.
An Emu!

Just in front of this area there were these awesome cockatoos and some other type of bird and we said "hi" and they said it back. One time both of the birds did it at the same time. I am so amazed at how birds can mimic sounds just like people!
Lazy ass wallabys! We wanted them to jump around, but they just kept napping. They were also loose in this area. You walked on a path and they could just roam freely if they wanted to.
A tree kangaroo! They were so awesome looking.
More lazy kangaroos.

A sheepie just chillin.
Here were the Kookaburras! Does anyone remember learning that song in gradeschool? Here's a link and it's even sung by school children to help you be nostalgic along with me :D Kookaburra song I totally sang the song to them when I saw the sign telling us what they were. I wonder how many times they hear that? lolPeacocks are so pretty! They had them running loose in the Denver zoo so I was kind of disappointed they were caged up here.Anyone up for some croquet? Now we only need some hedge hogs :D:D:D
Elephants are so majestic :)
Cheetas :D Their tear black markings are so pretty.
Look it's Pumba! I guess I was feeling all song like cause this is what came into my head when I saw him. Heh.I dunno. It's grass, I guess, but it was really pretty. I am actually shocked at the quality of the picture. Since it was so bright outside I could hardly see the display on the camera so I was kinda photographing blind.A pretty tree gateway and Ricky.
These little guys were SO cute and teeny. Look at their spindly little legs They were grooming each other. It was totally cute!
These guys were the same animal only a different type. Ricky almost touched this guy. For some odd reason I told him not too. I wish I could have gotten a better picture. At one point he was looking right at me with his shiny little black nose. Sooo cute!
A snoozing big eared kitty.
I LOVED these guys! they are little Timon's(meerkats). They made the cutest noises. They would all come put to the glass, check us out, run away and then come back making their little chatter.Here was one sitting on a rock watching the others run back and forth.
It's a little hot in the back of these rhinos. LMAO. He was pretty still. He barely moved.
Giraffe! He was looking right at me when I clicked the picture. He must have known I wanted to see his pretty face :D I thought they were more yellow? Maybe it's just how they are always pictured? Dunno...What's black and white, and red all over? :D
This hippo wasn't hungry. He was pretty sleepy I guess ;) Anyone else play hungry, hungry hippos? ;)

Then the painstakingly long walk back to the front gate. I seriously think we walked 5 miles today walking the entire zoo!

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the KC animals :D

Much love,

Genea