Beads, Leather, Suede, Chain, Cabochons and More!

This past weekend my friend, Daniele, and I took a trip up to Syracuse to go to the Innovative Beads Expo. With Daniele behind the wheel we were guaranteed a wild ride. (Has anyone heard of a "New Jersey sweep"?)

I've pictured the assortment of goodies I purchased. I'm hoping to get creative with these next week! I'm in love with the colors of suede I bought. There was a lot to choose from. I'm also in love with the chain I bought and I'm already wishing I had purchased more as I know part of it will be used for something for me! And what about those large holed beads?! I could have taken some of all they had if it wasn't for the pesky little thing called money.

Before the bead show, we also stopped by The Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market. This was the second year of the craft market and the organizers had a great collection of artists gathered in a neat old warehouse. I bought a couple of goodies; hand warmers from the Secret Lentil (my son called them hobo gloves but he's 14 and still has to be told when to brush his hair so hardly the one to be giving fashion input), some lavender sachets from Crude Crafts that I plan on using for stocking stuffers, a reusable cookie/treat bag by TerreMum for my other son's lunches and a set of Christmas cards from Pistachio Press that will go to my dog-loving friends.

While at the craft market, we visited with Nancy of RoundRabbit. Hopefully she had a good show even though someone stole one of her rings. (Why are people so crappy sometimes?! If they only knew how much work and time goes into the items people make...)

Pick Me!

I had a nice surprise in my e-mail yesterday. It was a note from a fellow etsyan, choosingbeauty, stating that she picked one of my bracelets for her Daydream Believers Treasury. I don't know if it was ever chosen to be on the front page of Etsy (do you ever find out?) but it was nice to be included for this treasury nonetheless. Hope you have some nice surprises coming your way too.

(If you haven't noticed, my shop is seriously depleted - not my inventory - just my shop. Very sad indeed. I hope to have it stocked with some new items soon. I realized last week that the the shop was seriously lacking color with what I had in there. So my goal is to get some color in there!)

A Hunting We Will Go...

I'm excited for this weekend! It looks like my sisters and I may actually make it to Bouckville for their HUGE antique show. We went many years ago and when we got there it started lightning so decided to turn around and go home. I hope to find something I can add to my home. Do I need anything?! No, but that's not the point! I love the thrill of the hunt, wondering what some things are and what they were used for and especially finding something that you had totally forgotten about from your childhood. We haven't figured out which day we'll be going. Hopefully there will be no rain or lightning. When I asked my husband, "You didn't want to go, did you?", his reply was, "No, I'd rather have hot needles poked under my fingernails.". I just don't understand. What's wrong with him?!

Vacation in the Adirondacks

Oh, Adirondack chair, do you miss me? I miss you, the smell of the pine trees, the calm water in the morning. Sigh... We had a great couple of weeks at Brantingham Lake which is near my hometown of Lowville (the "Low" part is pronounced like you would pronounce "Cow" which actually makes sense as there are more cows than people there).

My husband, Bob, and I kayaking. (My shoulders were tired!)

The boys both enjoyed tubing. Here's Ethan having a bouncy ride. Thank you Sue and Jeff for taking us out on the lake!

Here is Sean making friends with the local black ducks. (Actually, he was chasing after them with the paddle boat but that doesn't make for such a nice story now does it?) My father was nice enough to buy a paddle boat for all of us to use. The camp we rented the second week was so cute. Just as you would expect an Adirondack camp to be.

Greene's Annual Arts & Crafts Festival

I will be at the Greene's Annual Arts & Crafts Festival again this year. It is next Saturday, July 24th from 9:00AM - 4:00PM. My tent will be in the same place as well. (The map, above, shows a portion of the festival's layout and where I will be located: Booth 206.) I hope to have a flag made for the outside of my tent to make it stand out a little more. We'll see if I actually get that done. As usual, many things to do before next Saturday.

My friend, Daniele, of Thistle Farm will be my neighbor again in booth 207. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather. Hope to see you there!

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

Settle down, I'm talking about ribs. I hate cigarettes! Bleh!! My sons and I got my husband a smoker for Father's Day. Bob finally got his smoker assembled for the 4th of July. We bought hickory chips and two racks of spare ribs for our foray into the smoking world (or into the world of Dinosaur BBQ as Bob would like to believe).

The experiment was a huge success. We debated on a couple of things we might do differently next time. Our house sure smelled like we walked into Dino BBQ and that's a GOOD thing! Next time I think it will be a whole chicken with apple wood chips/smoke. Yum! (I hope...)

Happy 4th of July!

I thought I'd blog some of my favorite quotes from our founding fathers as a reminder of why we, in the U.S., celebrate today. Amazing people who laid down the groundwork for this nation and for those who are now protecting these principles. Thank you to those who are in the armed services, the families of these brave people, our veterans and those who have lost their lives in protecting our freedoms.

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It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.
George Washington

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
Thomas Paine

But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.
Thomas Paine

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?
Benjamin Franklin

(That last quote is for all you talented people out there...)