Beads Beads Glorious Beads

I was just thinking about all you jewelery buffs amongst my friends and fellow sojourners out there....I have a whole stack of excess beads sitting here waiting to be sold on for a very reasonable price SO if you would like some..............................................
Check out the pictures, descriptions and prices below and drop me a comment if you want some. OR you can check out my listings on trademe
These are only available to those who live in NZ.......sorry. You can also
They are all glass beads and are of varying grades, the sizes range from 6mmx6mm to 10mmx20mm


HOT RED MIX
Various shape Hot Red Mix Colour range of Dark Blood Red to Hot Red There are at least 100 beads in this mix including some fancy beads.
$9





OCEAN BLUE LUSTER MIX
Various shape Ocean Blue Luster Mix
Colour range of Ocean Blue to Seafoam.
There are at least 40 beads in this mix including some fancy beads.
$6




GREEN GARDEN MIX
Various shape Garden Green Mix
Colour range of Dark Green to Light Green.
There are at least 50 beads in this mix including some fancy beads.
$7






YELLOW BEAD MIX
Various shape
Colour range of Dark Amber to Light Yellow
There are at least 60 beads in this mix including some fancy beads.
$8





Right! That's it for now.....I also have a mix in Cold Blues, Lots of strands of czech firepolished crystals in the Clear "colour". They come in 4mm, 6mm, and 8mm on a 16inch strand. When I say lots........I bought a mass of the 4mm and 6mm and 1/2 a mass of the 8mm. (1 mass is about 1200 beads) And some other bits and pieces so just ask away.
Have fun with ya creating!! The sky is the limit.

Jewelery, Digital Cameras and Craftyness

Today I finally got our digital camera to the camera shop as the flash has gone on strike.
Not only did the flash go on strike BUT it went on strike just as I pulled it out to make a photo at my dear friend's wedding for whom I made the last lot of jewelery !! HOW TYPICAL!
Photo's of the jewellery (the last photo's I made before it went on the fritz) are further down on the blog........
.............ANYWAY.................the camera........
The guy looks at me, the camera then back at me and says "Well, there's good news and bad news"
hhhmmmm......I always cringe when I hear that statement.
"The good news", he says " is that the camera still works"...........................Yeeeeeess.........wait for it....." the bad news is that it will cost between $200 and $300 to fix the flash and the camera isn't worth that anymore"
(I hear Karen's hubby saying "Go the SLR....a REAL camera")
So There you have it...........with winter coming up this camera will only make photos outside in good light and apart from that it's not much good at all. Which is very sad :-(
So I reported the verdict to my hubby who suggested we start saving..........
"SIGH"

On to more cheerful things.....
Here are the photos of some of the jewellery I made for my friend B's wedding.













The 4 strand bracelet was the bride's one and the others for her bridesmaids. Each Bracelet was completely individual with the same pattern of beads on each strand just staggered so that the 2 strands next to each other didn't look exactly the same. Mostly Swarovski crystals with a few czech and celestial ones thrown in. The slide bars where Sterling Silver.




The Earrings where once again all similar....
this photo is of the bride's earrings
and her bridesmaids had the same thing just
smaller crystals. There is a different shaped crystal on the end of each drop. Lots of fun.
I also made a belt for her consisting of 2 lengths of about 84cms full of crystals of varying types. This project was great to work on and sitting there at the wedding looking at the final result was very satisfying.

Visual Descriptors

Had lots of fun with this one!
Always into things that don't rely heavily on words.
Our Western world is SO cluttered with unnecessary words.
Check it out and enjoy.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Whole Foods....RAW foods

Today I received an exciting little parcel in the mail.
I bought "Rejuvenate Your Life" by Serene Allison. It's a book on the Raw Food diet otherwise known as the Hallelujah Diet or The Garden of Eden Diet.
VERY interesting. She has written it as a handbook...so it has interesting bits on the philosophy, anatomical benefits, lifestyle, budget etc etc and LOADS of recipes.
I'm INTERESTED in this change of diet. My darling KP did a detox this year where apart from taken herbal capsules which aid in cleaning the length of your colon, he was only permitted to eat fruit, veges, plain yoghurt, olive oil, spices and herbs. I joined in in the eating part and felt a million dollars healthier (and lost 2kgs of baby weight I was having trouble shedding!).
I don't know If I could do a 100% raw diet but definitely could aim for 70%. My hubby is supportive of the idea and even wants to give it a go himself.
So there we have it.....watch this space.

Immunizations, Gluten Intolerance, Choices

A year ago I started questioning a few things.....
At 18mths (or around about there) I started noticing some interesting patterns in JK's health and behavior.......runny poos (he does have a high fruit and fibre diet...but these were not the healthy kind), big dark rings under his eyes (even after a 12hr night and 2hr avo sleep) and general irritability and grottyness in the later half of the day. After trying to figure out what was going on I happened to speak to my wonderful Christian Chiropractor about my son's disposition. She recommended I do some food eliminations to see if it was a dairy or gluten intolerance. Now he hardly has much dairy as it stood cause that we established early on......but my breadloving, polynesian little boy had a rather healthy appetite for bread.
It soon occured to me that the gluten must be it and since we have cut it out for the most part, he looks much better and when he's not teething, his disposition seems a lot more balanced also.
The Gluten free walk is one of reading labels and turning to whole foods as EVERYTHING processed seems to contain some form of gluten. YAY! for gluten free breadmix and bakingmix which has made it possible for my little man to have some of the 'normal' things in his diet.

From that point on I started to keep my eyes peeled for interesting info on gluten intolerance and coeliacs..............One day I came across an article on the highly possible link between our childhood immunizations and the intolerance......
I took it into my stride, popped it away in the back room of my mind for futher thought on a rainy day as 'WHO THE HANG WOULD BE DUMB ENOUGH NOT TO IMMUNIZE THEIR CHILDREN'..............but WAIT there's more....
As we got closer to the birth of LJ the question mark about immunization cropped up in my busy little mind and felt very prompted to start exploring some more about this widely accepted and EXPECTED practice.
Well you know how it goes.....the more knowledge you have, the more responsibility you have to DO something with that knowledge! I started to ask around about the whole idea of NOT immunizing my new little baby....
I talked with Mum's who haven't done so and about their experiences of the diseases we are immunized for, I spoke with people who had a great understanding of how the body operates and I now better understand our immune system, I read 'How to Raise a Healthy Family' by Dr Mendelson (a leading American Pediatrician) and 'Just a Prick' by Peter and Hillary Butler (NZers). It amazed me and continues to, how LITTLE we know about BOTH sides of the immunization story. It's not that we have been lied to directly.....but there is a lot they (medical world and pharmaceutical companies) they aren't telling us.

Well now I had so much weighty knowledge under my belt....it was time for a decision......... I shared the condensed version with my hubby who said......'that's easy.....we won't be immunizing LJ"...........He has A LOT more faith than me.
So to this day our little 5 month old has not had a needle anywhere near him. He is a healthy, bonny and robust little boy and each day we pray God's protection over him and his brother.
It's been a gripping journey ( and continues to be) of not following the 'normal' thing to do ..... just because that's what everyone does. It's been a challenge to my habit of trying to control everything, even though I KNOW that God is ultimately in control and it's time to live the knowledge. It's been scary at times but God has spoken rather loudly to me about trusting Him and having FAITH!

Now.....I haven't told you what I know about vaccines or suchlike as if you don't WANT to know that info than you can walk away from this blog, none the wiser. But if it has caught your eye and you want to know more there ARE places you can look. Check out www.ias.org.nz for more thought provoking info.
You may read this and think I'm an absolute NUTTER!! And that's ok, I understand. It's a decision that one has to make for one's own children and not to be made lightly. That decision must be rooted in your convictions not on some person's opinion.

My Boisterous JK

In the last few weeks JK and I have been having a trying time with each other,
So today I will write about some of the FAB things about JK as I need the perspective and he is such a great little kid.
JK is funny, happy, imaginative, intelligent, loving, caring, boisterous, boyish and full-of-energy.
He has super fun interactive big little personality
JK supplies us with many laughs and entertainment, plenty of cuddles and kisses. He loves a good story, singing songs, doing games with Mummy, kicking the ball, playing in the sandpit, collecting 'cada skins' (aka cicada shells), climbing, jumping etc etc

This photo just says it all...........................


He is a caring little boy! From the day little LJ was born we have been talking to JK about him and LJ being great friends. He seems to have taken this quite to heart as he is just lovely with LJ and has been very concerned and aware of his little brother's needs. We have also been having little talks about sharing as JK can be a bit grouchy with other kiddies when it comes to sharing space, toys, turns etc...... Well all of that seems to be paying off.....check out what I spotted the other week.....................................

oooooooo.....how cute!

JK is a special young lad who will one day do great things for God's kingdom. He will be a FAB leader and great people person..............BUT for now his mission on earth is to shape his Mummy's character!!!!!

The Bigger the Party The Better

Welcome to our party!

My aim for this week is to celebrate something special about my little whanau everyday. Reckon it helps keep it all in perspective!

My title is "the bigger the party the better"....but in all honesty....I'm not a big party gal! I love little intimate parties where all can fit round a table round a YUMMY meal and talk and laugh the night away.

A bit about me!
I'm a sahm with 2 lovely boys (nearly 3 and 5 months). I have a fabulous husband who is a rock and helps keep our whanau (for those of you who are from abroad....that word means "family" in Maori) running smoothly and keeps me sane! We live on site at the High School my husband teaches at as he is also a Hostel Master, so life round here is always interesting.
I am into a loads of stuff so check out the profile. In my past life I was a primary school teacher but now am happy to be home with the kiddies and journeying with them through life.

Enjoy your partying week!

Late Night Procrastination

It is late in the evening....10:35pm actually!!
The house is quiet as I am the only one up. My friend is getting married on Saturday and I am in the throws of making her jewellery. The last items are nearly finished....but as I went to hang a load of washing out for the morning....the computer distracted my walk to the laundry and here I am.
Being a night owl, this time of day is my prime working hour.....not very convenient when you still need to get up early in the morning!
Making jewelery became a bit of a hobbie of mine when JK was but a little bub and time was readily available. I have a whole stack that I need to sell/give away as it's getting a bit nutty having all this made jewelery sitting in the cupboard. The joy for me is in the making. I love working with crystals as they have such a fantastic brilliance and the way they refract light will always mesmerize me. Here is a photo of the necklace I made for my sister's wedding in 05...being worn by none other than my beautiful sister. The options are endless......
It's been fun, but I feel that it's time to dedicate more time to crafts etc that are of use RIGHT NOW! Such as LJ's almost finished quilt....here is photo of it in progress. I need to quilt the 3 layers together and my sewing machine is being uncooperative. GRRRR!! I will bring it out soonish and get it finished before the cold waikato winter sets in.
I have been inspired by all the wonderful ladies out there who, no matter the size of their families, still get some amazing bits of work done.

RIGHT..........no more procrastinating!!!
On with hanging washing and finishing this FAB (even if I do say so) jewelery....photos to follow