My dirty little secret...

Well, not exactly a secret, but I thought I'd share what else I like to do besides

beading and jewelry.

Yup, I'm a derby girl and oh, how I LOVE it!

Bet you didn't see that one coming?!

I'm actually going through the 3 month training process and if I pass the final exam

I'll be a part of these gals...

the Cinder Kittens. 

I wake up with aches and pains and bruises and motrin has become my best friend,

 but it's so worth it.  So there you have it my cyber friends. 

 Life is WAY to short not to have a little fun...

Cheers!

My other children

As I walked into my room to get ready for bed last night, I came upon this....

Love comes in all forms, doesn't it?

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!



New Beads

I came up with these pretties last night while watching some horror flick on Hulu.  The movie was so bad, can't even recall the name, that I had time to actually concentrate on what I was doing.  I love the colors.  They kinda have an Egyptian flare so I anointed them River Nile.

We have beautiful blue skies here today...hope you're feeling the sunshine!

Tumaini

I am a lover of all creatures great and small.  In fact, I cannot recall a period of time when my life did not, in some small way, revolve around their presence.  It had been my dream to achieve a college degree that would allow me to work with them, but, as it goes, life happened.  I fell in love, got married, and had my boys.  Now my days are filled with them and my bead/jewelry businesses.  My life is good.  But, there is a slight void that is aching to be filled and as it so happens, I came across the solution.

I just recently found out about a private sanctuary here in Bend, Oregon called Chimps Inc.  Their goal is to offer lifetime sanctuary to adult chimpanzees in need and at the moment there are 11 chimps in their care.  I was blown away by their story and what they have done to care for these creatures, each of whom has been saved from horrific conditions.  I will be applying for a volunteer position there, but I also wanted to do something special; something involving my art.  So I came up with a new collection of beads/jewelry that I have named Tumaini.  Tumaini is Swahili for hope.  Hope for awareness, hope for habitat renewal, hope for a better future...

The start of this collection will soon be up in both stores and 30% of all sales will go directly to Chimps Inc.