Warning! RANT POST!

I don't like to use my blog to complain but I have something I have to get off my chest.

First of all, I love and appreciate my customers. I mean really, you guys are the best! You give me your hard earned dollars because you like what I do and in return I try to ship your merchandise as quickly as I possibly can. In some cases within minutes of receiving your payment. I'm not looking for any special praise for that. It's part of my job as an online merchant.

Now, here comes the rant.... Folks that have online shops or websites that wait a week or more to ship. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? I just don't think there is ANY excuse for that. I can see getting backed up so that you are a couple days behind, but a week? I can ship a package to the other side of the world and it is usually there within a week to 10 days. Come on, if you have more than you can handle, enlist someone to help. You owe it to your customers. When I have to wait 2 weeks for a unique clasp that I've ordered for a custom bracelet that means my customer also has to wait, and that is not okay with me.

I'm ranting because this has happened to me more times than not lately. As an example, for whatever reason, Etsy sellers can maintain 100 percent positive feedback even though they may have several neg. and neut. ratings. I don't understand that. Why have the feedback system at all? How are we supposed to know about the sellers that are notorious slow shippers and/or basic non-responsive sellers without reading every single feedback response?

So I've decided the next time I encounter one of these sellers, (and believe me, I will do better researce before I buy), they will receive, in their feedback, this very eye-catching  award........

There are too many great Etsy sellers who really care

about their customers to bother with those that don't.

Okay,I feel better now......

Hello Sunshine!

PARTY ON!

Aren't you glad spring is finally here? I am sooooo over winter!

I've been busy in the bead dept. this week. I've made some new pieces for Seagrass Gallery and also I'm trying to add to existing inventory for upcoming shows.

We are in the planning stages of spiffing things up out in the beer garden at Norm's Place. I don't have any photos yet of the work in progess but I hope to have soon. Our landscaper is just finishing up with some general cleanup. Planting some new lawn areas and adding some more cement blocks and such. I can't wait until it's warm enough to plant some flowers. We hope to make this area a comfy outdoor extention of our bar and grill for warm weather. Hopefully a spot that's hard to resist for folks driving by.  



Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Maybe I deserve a pinch. I don't have any green beads today. Just classic black and white in this adorable toggle bracelet. I may just have to make another for me. You can find "A Fine Line" bracelet in my Etsy shop today.



They're back.......

......and right on time. Our hummingbirds arrive every year on March 10th. We could set our watch by that very fact. We have a feeder right outside our living room window and it's been in the same spot for many years. Last Wednesday, March 9th, I brought the feeder inside, cleaned and sterilized it, and filled it with nectar, (just a mixture of sugar and water that I boil for a few minutes to prevent fermentation). After letting it cool I placed it on the shepard's hook where it belongs. The next afternoon my husband came and tapped me on the shoulder and told me our little friends had arrived, right on time. How do they know?



The Global Genes Project-7000 Bracelets For Hope

"Blue Jean Baby"

A CHILDREN'S RARE DISEASE CAMPAIGN

Please read about this very important project here.



I guess I won't be making beads today.....

I turned on the kiln and started the oxycon this morning. Found some soothing tunes on my CD player. I was really appreciating the sun shining through my studio window right onto my work surface. As soon as I lit the torch however, the power flickered out. It came right back on but it's a really good thing I didn't have a kiln full of beads or they would have been garbage. The wind is HOWLING today. I just didn't realize it before I sat down to make beads. Guess I'll have to go to plan B and find something else to do. Maybe I should think about vacuuming, or tackling the ironing I've been putting off. Just doesn't sound as interesting as making beads. 

A lady contacted me by email a couple days ago and she told me she was so excited to find my website online. She stated that her husband had purchased one of my bracelets for her several years ago at an art gallery in Cheyenne, Wyoming and she loved it so much but unforturnately lost it. At first she asked me if I would remake the beads so she could perhaps make another bracelet. I dug through my archives and actually found a photo of the original bracelet. I emailed the photo to her and told her I could remake the bracelet and she was so, so grateful. The bracelet had held such a sentimental value for her because it was a gift from her husband. She also stated her daughters and granddaughters were hoping that she may give the bracelet up to one of them one day. How sweet that one of my pieces could mean so much to someone. I am more than happy to make her day! I was even able to find the unusual sterling silver fish clasp and Birkenstock sandal charm that I used for the original bracelet. I can't wait till it's done and I can send it to her. I wish I could be there when she opens the package!