November Rain

I'm not entirely sure why I entitled my post "November Rain". Perhaps, it's the fickle weather we're experiencing these days or maybe it's just me. I feel dark and gloomy about the fact that I only have two months to go before 2010 ends and it seems like nothing has changed with my list of unaccomplished projects... they still remain unaccomplished. My hectic hours at work are to be blamed, as well as the fact that I seem to be attending more blog events now. The rest of my so-called free hours are left to do house chores, watch my favorite DVDs and read some books. I don't even get to sleep a lot anymore. So what's new?! Sigh.

However, I am happy about the fact that my days last month have been filled with meaningful work and a lot of fun blogging events. And now that Halloween has just been over, which means that Christmas is almost here, that's a whole new reason to be excited about! ^_^

Anyway, gloominess aside, I still have hope. If only I can discipline myself to only take care of things that really matter, I know I can still accomplish my personal projects, even if not all of them. So let me rack my brain for a little while and think of a good schedule that I must keep (by hook or by crook). Hihi.

Nuninuninuninuninunu.....thinking....


Okay, here is my basic plan:

1. If I'm invited to events, attend only one-two events per week as much as possible. Choose the ones that I am passionate about and ones that I'd really enjoy. Like, later, I'll be at Resorts World for some food tasting and on Nov. 6, I'll be at Nido Discovery Center with my parents.
2. On Nov. 8, Monday, I should take the time to take care of my DTI application and business permits.
3. Do general cleaning and laundry once a week, preferably middle of the week, after work, so my weekends can be allotted for more important projects.
4. Avoid doing more than 10 hours of work per day from Mon.-Fri. unless really, really necessary.
5. Every work week, after work, I should allot 1 hour each day for beading, 1 hour each day for spa making, 1 hour each day for drums/guitar & keyboards, 20 minutes for biking, 20 minutes for Wii workout, 20 minutes for tarot.
6. On Nov. 11, I shouldn't stay so late at the Brownman Revival Gig. I should also avoid getting so drunk so I can still work once I get home.
7. On Nov. 13, I should accomplish all the things on my errands list (like buying my own mannequin, a couple of photo frames, baking ingredients, soap making ingredients, candle making ingredients, some potted plants and a wall mirror; have my nails done; buy new DVDs; check out Citibank promo --- I want a simple digicam with video recorder coz our Olympus digicam has been having problems for a while now).
8. On Nov. 14, Peter and I should continue with our windsurfing lesson plus camping & picnic.
9. On Nov. 15, I should start uploading my new supply of clothes.
10. On Nov. 16-19, I should urge Peter to finish processing papers for the Bulacan house, have the Yaris aircon fixed and schedule our Boracay trips c/o Panoly.
11. On Nov. 19, I should allot a few hours for HARRY POTTER screening. *Excited!*
    
12. Nov. 20 will be for baking, soap making & candle making, plus a few blog posts about my Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur trips if possible.
    
13. On Nov. 21, I should start packing for our Dumaguete trip.
14. Nov. 22-25 will be devoted to work and the scheduled personal projects.
15. Nov. 26-30 will be for fun, fun, fun!

Okay, it's settled then. Wish me luck!

Lots of MUSTs this August

Wow, we're now on the 8th month of 2010. I don't even wanna think about the things I haven't even done yet (like learn how to drive, read all my books, make spa products, learn how to surf and windsurf again, make homemade soap, regularly play with my guitar, drums and keyboards, etc...). Honestly, 24 hours in a given day is just not enough. I tried, Oh God, did I try. But it felt like I was killing myself and my marriage. Who really has the time to do all these things?! I'm no wonder woman. I try to be but... Anyway, I still have four months to attempt doing everything that's on my 2010 list. Maybe, just maybe, I can still hack it.

For this month, I intend to continue with my VA work. On Thursday nights, I have the Brownman Revival gigs to look forward to at 70's Bistro. On weekends, I hope to be more productive by hiring part time help to do house cleaning so I can make some more beaded accessories, concoct my own spa products, make my own soap and read my books ( I just recently bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Eat Pray Love, and 4 new double digest Archie comics. But of course, there are still tons of other books on my bookshelf which I haven't even touched yet. Talk about "takaw mata sa libro"), go surfing at the end of the month and windsurf in between all these activities. I think I need a miracle to be able to do all of these activities. LOL!

On August 10, I'll be claiming one of my policies with Prudential Life and invest it further in a small but manageable business. The amount is not that breathtaking but it will have to suffice. I hope I can make it grow for Popsy's sake. I just dunno how long it will take before I receive the cash. I hope it's not one of those irritating things in insurance companies --- When you need your money, it takes forever to get it, but if they wanna sell you some sort of insurance, mabilis pa sila sa alas kwatro. *Keeping my fingers crossed*

On August 14, Peter and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary as a romantic couple. We're married 8 years now but those 3 years of just being boyfriend-girlfriend prior to our marriage marked the real foundation of our solid relationship. I have nothing planned and I doubt Peter has either. We'll just see how our days go and just do something at the spur of the moment.

I'm hopeful that August will bring us a lot of blessings and wonderful surprises. It's the month before the BER months begin. I really hope we can make the most of it.

Til my next post. Ciao!

Rasta Bead Necklace

I made another necklace. It is inspired by my love for Brownman Revival, thus, is rasta-inspired, exuding a fresh reggae vibe. I used glass beads and various semi-precious stones. This will go well with my old rasta earrings and bracelet. I hope you like it.

Beading Supplies - Create Fashionable Accessories From Excess Supplies

These necklaces used to be trash among my beading supplies before. They're excess pieces which I didn't know what to do before. But since I started this hobby again, my creative juices, as well as my sense of inspiration and motivation to create and/or reconstruct pieces just keep on flowing.

I couldn't sleep last night so here are the necklaces I did:

These are made of leather strings. At both ends of the string, I attached some semi-precious stones. This style is quite versatile because you can wrap it around your neck, any way you want, to get the desired effect that can match your clothes.

~~~oOo~~~

For this one below, I also used a leather string. The center piece was actually a center piece for one of my old shoes. before I threw away those shoes of mine, I took out the center piece and used it to make a unique necklace piece instead. ^_^ It's fun turning trash into something pretty.

~~~oOo~~~

For this one below, I again used the remainder of my leather strings and just put various semi-precious stones and glass beads as pendant.The strings don't have locks in them, meaning, they're free flowing and you can tie them anyway you want to.

~~~oOo~~~

This one below used to be much longer and it was missing a lot of beads. I reconstructed it by cutting and re-attaching the wire, making sure that the pearls are placed symmetrically. Now, I can use it once more.

~~~oOo~~~

This one below is another broken necklace which has a missing pendant. I added a lobster claw clasp and hook at both ends and added a Carnelian piece of gemstone as pendant. Carnelian helps energize the blood, prevents lower back problems and diseases in the reproductive organs, kidneys, lungs, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. It also enhances creativity and concentration, plus it brings about prosperity.

~~~oOo~~~

I've had this bronze pendant with studded stones since forever, plus these bluish ivory and bronze earrings I never wear. I just figured, maybe I can used some ribbons to form a necklace, that can match the color of the earrings. I'm not yet done with the locks because I was already quite sleepy by then. So in the mean time, I tied both ends with safety pins instead. Quite avant garde, I think. ^_^

Making something beautiful out of supposed trash or excess crafts and beading supplies can really be fun. Now that I think about it, I also have a few real silver and pearl pieces that need repair as well. I hope to get my hands on them soon.

Til my next post. ^_^

Jewelry Beads - Restarting An Old Hobby

Howdy!

I told you I'll be back sooner. When June started, I felt kind of pressured with the fact that it's already the middle of the year, and so far, I have only accomplished a few things on my new year's resolutions list. It's a good thing that I have been studying about beading at work and it inspired me to to once again create jewelry beads like I did before! Yup, I used to make and sell my own creations from 2004-2006. Then life happened and I got too busy doing other things. But now, I really feel like letting my creative juices flow once again. I know I'm a little bit rusty. In fact, when I restructured some old pieces I have and made some new ones, my hands were a bit shaky while I was handling the long nose and other beading supplies and tools. But I don't mind. Practice makes perfect and in so doing, it helps me feel a lot happier and more relaxed.

Let me show you the two sets I did so far:

This golden butterfly jewelry beads set is made up of tiny glass beads, mother of pearl and a thin, hard, golden butterfly foil (I don't exactly know what it's called but it can be bought at Simple Joy crafts store). The earrings have additional magnetic beads at the bottom to add weight when worn.



This second set of jewelry beads set is made up of semi-precious stones namely:

• Agate - This is a micro crystalline kind of quartz silica. It is one of the ancient stones in recorded history. It brings physical balance, strength, healing, protects the wearer against bad dreams and reduces stress.
• Amazonite - This is also called the Lucky Hope Stone or the "Amazon stone". It is a green types of of microcline feldspar. It helps calm the nervous system, brings about creativity and improves physical stamina (which I need because there are still other projects I want to accomplish before the year ends).
• Goldstone - This is a kind of glass created with copper or copper salts in the presence of a reduced flame. It helps add vitality and energy.
• Herkimer Diamond - This name is actually quite misleading. It is double-terminated quartz crystals. It was first discovered in the exposed outcrops of the town of Dolostone at Little Falls in Herkimer County, New York as well as the Mohawk River Valley. It helps release physical stress and tension and discharges toxicity from your system.
• Unakite - This is also called epidote, which came from the Greek epidosis, which means "growing together". It is a combination of green epidote and red jasper that were solidly bound together. It is used to draw off negative energy, tends to lift your spirits when you are not feeling happy, and helps you to see the positive things in your life, to name a few.

I also included some oval glass beads for the bracelet and multicolored coconut beads for the necklace.


Now that I've once again started making and wearing jewelry beads, it's no wonder that I feel happier and more relaxed as of late. These jewelry beads are not just used to enhance the getup of the wearer, but they also aid in bringing about wellness.

Ciao for now! I wanna make more jewelry beads which I will share with you on my next post. ^_^