Finished.

Blogtoberfest has come to an end, and it's been a great way to remember to post often. Thanks to everyone for joining in, including those people who are new to following my blog.

I'll draw for the beads later tonight - thanks to everyone for entering. I can't wait to see what the winner makes!

I also have finished jewellery to share - this is two new bracelets and one new necklace out of mostly my own lampwork beads, plus some crystals and some purchased pearls and other beads. I wanted the pink necklace to be somewhat funky and un-matching, similar to a purple necklace I own.

Consolidated.

Sitting with my iPhone, which contains my electronic boarding pass, with my baggage claim stub attached to the back. What a far cry from paper tickets. I remember the bundled of parr that it used to take to get there and back again. Last night's concert (U2) was awesome and I can't wait to see them next year!

Yyc -> yvr

Out of town again. I suspect I know why I'm so bad at blogging some days - I seem to be constantly on the road.

Joyous.

n These are the latest beads - they just make me feel happy, which is probably why I like making them so much. Most of the flat round ones have already been turned in to a bracelet.

The blog giveaway is open until Saturday (the end of the month).

Sunday.

When I started Blogtoberfest, I had no idea how I was going to fill 31 posts. I haven't been the most active blogger this year, and some days I feel like I have absolutely nothing to post about. But here I am, a week short of the end, having posted on all except one day. With progress on at least 3 of my WIP's, and some new beads to boot. I have more progress to share this week on St. Petes and Cirque de Carreaux, and will have new beads to share tomorrow.

Contest.

Blogtoberfest is over at the end of the month, and to celebrate, I thought I'd offer up a second giveaway, which will run until the end of the month (October 31st)

This giveaway is for 10 glass beads handmade by yours truly - 5 gummy bear shaped beads, plus 5 large hole beads, which can be worn on a Pandora/Troll/European style bracelet. A couple of caveats - the gummy bears are actually glass, so should not be eaten. The large hole beads can be worn on a bracelet, but the Pandora people told me that wearing "non-Pandora" beads will revoke the warranty on the bracelets. You can also put the beads on chain or string, or anything else of your choice.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. Mentions of the contest on your blog will get you a second entry into the contest.

Snowed.

It's snowing hard today - much harder than I had imagined. It's supposed to warm up this afternoon, and possibly turn to rain, but I still think I'm going to get my errands done quickly, grab some food and stitch for the rest of the day.

Won.

Rainbow Child is the winner of the beads! Congratulations - I was looking through her blog, and think the beads will be going to the perfect home.

I'll likely do another giveaway starting over the weekend for the end of Blogtoberfest, so stay tuned.

Fed.

Homemade spaghetti marinara for supper, with cucumber salad and a glass of wine. Life is good.

Cheeky

I've received a package in the mail today - I now have tickets to something I'm very excited about (details later). I'm so shocked that the tickets came this fast - I bought them pre-sale last Wednesday, and they turned up via the DHL courier last night. I'm feeling a little cheeky, as I know my life affords me a lot of great things, and this is one of them.

Blog candy is open until Friday, details are on Sunday's post.

Stumped.

After 20 days, I haven't a clue what to write for today's entry for Blogtoberfest. Perhaps tomorrow will be more inspired.

Blog candy is open until Friday, see Sunday's post for details.

Decided.

I've been taking dance lessons at two different studios for the past couple of years. I liked twice a week when it was Mondays and Thursdays, but one of the studios switched to Tuesday this year, so it's now Mondays and Tuesdays, which isn't ideal. Both of the studios have increased their rates, and while I understand why, I'm now at the point where I'm not sure I can justify both sets of lessons financially, and will likely only take one set of lessons in the winter. I'm kind of sad over deciding to drop one of the lessons - I like both classes, and it's hard to pick one over the other, but I'm not sure there's much more I can do.

Blog Candy draw is Friday - to enter, add a comment on Sunday's post.

Gifted.

I have new beads to share! To celebrate, its time for a little blog candy giveaway!

Draw closes on Friday, October 23rd, and I'll draw on Saturday for this set of beads - 4 spacers, 4 medium flat rounds, 1 medium flat round with dots and 1 large flat round. There's enough beads here for at least a bracelet, probably more if you want to add some extras, and perhaps even a necklace if you want to spread things out. To enter, leave a comment on this post. If you leave a link on your blog to this post (and leave me a comment saying you've done so), I'll enter you a second time.

Updated.

Updates on "Cirque de Carreaux" and "White Nights in St. Petersburg"

Early.

I thought I saw my first set of Christmas lights while driving home tonight. I looked closely, and noticed that they were actually Halloween lights, as one of the figures outlined was a ghost.

It's still too early for outside lights.

Late.

Forgot to blog yesterday for Blogtoberfest, so I'm posting early this morning.

Happy.

I won a giveaway from Erica a few weeks ago, and I received it in the mail tonight - it was a very welcome surprise! She packed the JCS Halloween issue, some uber-cute Halloween buttons and ribbon and a note pad in to an awesome Halloween tote! Thanks Erica!

Wondering.

Why did it have to snow on the first workday after the long weekend? Why couldn't it have snowed yesterday when few people had to bec
somewhere...

Thanksgiving.

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, and for me, that means baking! Today's offering is going to be a cranberry-pear pie. I've also ut a few hours in on St Petersburg, so part 4 is about a third done at the moment.

For anyone else who's celebrating this weekend - Happy Thanksgiving.

Stitched.

Updated Egyptian Garden and the start of Cirque de Carreaux, stitched with Dinky Dyes "Cowrie Shell". The instructions for Cirque tell you to pick a nice colour, and I'm glad I did, because even after 5 hours, I'm tired of purple and yellow.

Lazy.

This is the cat, Sabine, who always makes herself welcome in the most comfortable of spots.

Pictured.

The ort jar and the latest bracelet.

Perplexed.

I've started to use my gmail account a lot more in the last few weeks, as it hooks up with the iPhone quite nicely. I got my gmail account way back when it was still beta, and you had to know someone who could forward you an invitation to open an account. As a result, I have an account that's firstname.lastname@gmail.com. I know it's mine because I successfully use the password to get into the account, and most of the mail is something I want or have signed up for.

I've recently discovered that someone in Seattle has been giving out that address as their own - I get party invitations, messages from friends iPhones, school notifcations, etc. that belong to the other person. Most of the time, I'm nice and just send back a "this isn't the correct email" note, but after sending several of those, I asked the sender of today's email (a school notification) to let the person know that the email that they've been giving out isn't in fact their email.

I don't really understand this - gmail does require you to type in your email each time you log in, so hopefully over time, you become familiar with it. And if you give out an email that goes to someone else, you should realize that you're probably not going to get the party invites, school notices and friends emails that you actually want. I do hope the person figures out their actual email soon, and starts giving that out to friends and family.

Purchased.

The new 2009 JCS Ornament Issue finally arrived in (Canadian) stores! I'm so excited. I have most of the issues from prior years, and always look forward to the new patterns each year.

Of course, that's not the only thing I bought this week. Along with the JCS issue, two beading magazines somehow managed to find their way into the cart, and I'm looking forward to new ideas. I've acquired quite a few new beads lately, and and need ideas of what to turn them into.

Blessed.

I forget that in all of the running around, the busyness and the errands of life that I am actually very blessed. This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, and I have lots to be thankful for:

- I am blessed with a job I like, and enough money to do the things that I want
- I am blessed with good friends, who celebrate with me, cry with me and comfort me
- I am blessed with a sane family, who have good values and support one another
- I am blessed with a furbaby, who shares her life with me
- I am blessed with mentors, who trust and support me
- I am blessed to have a life I want

Cold.

I can't believe how fast winter hit. I only got 5 days of wear out of my fall coat before needing my winter one.

Sigh. Off to find the mittens and scarf.

Tired.

Drove back today - there were a few flakes of snow, but nothing too bad. It was a nice wedding, and a good chance to catch up with friends whom I haven't seen in a while. I also got to see the new baby of some dear friends, who was of course adorable.

I'm reasonably shattered at the moment, but have no food in the house, so am making macaroni & cheese (homemade) and turkey tortilla soup, which is lovely and spicy for the cold weather that`s just arrived.

Away.

I'm headed out of town again for a quick trip to attend a friends wedding. I'm quite looking forward to it, as it means I'll get to see old colleagues and friends that don't live in the same city. I think it will be quite a nice event, and hopefully the snow (yes, snow) will hold off long enough for me to travel safely there and back.

Accepted.

Into the 2010 Bead Journal Project! It means completing 12 bead embroidery pieces over the 12 months in 2010. I got excited about the next round of this because someone in either 2008 or 2009 decided to bead button covers, and I figured that was perfect. At just under 2" in diameter, I decided beading buttons was something I could do - small enough to use whatever I wanted, large enough to convey an idea. I'm hoping to also have a complete colour wheel contained within the project, but we'll see how well that goes.

Only 3 months to practice my bead embroidery!

Returned.

I've been in a good mood lately - a good mail day, some good luck, and very good friends have contributed to that, so I thought I'd try my hand at blogging every day in October. You all may be sick of me by the end of the month, but I will try. Melanie linked to TinnieGirl, who's got people signed up for Blogtober, so I thought I should give it a go....