Thursday Thirteen #2

Sorry this is late. I actually started it last night and got completely sidetracked! Anyway, seeing as this is the week of Halloween...13 Horror Novels I've Read(in no particular order)!

1. The Shining by Stephen King. This is the first horror novel I read and it was at the age of 14. I "borrowed" my dad's copy and he found out and took it away from me, but my friend loaned me her copy so I could finish it!

2. Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. This is about mind vampires! Very cool!

3. Misery by Stephen King. I've added this one because it is so frightening in it's plausibility!

4. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. I'll admit as much as I liked the book, I enjoyed the movie version simply for Brad Pitt! :)

5. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Truly be careful what you wish for!

6. Watchers by Dean Koontz. I looked at dogs a bit differently for a while after reading this one!

7. Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Sometimes secrets can kill.

8. Summer of Night by Dan Simmons. Which leads to...

9. Children of the Night by Dan Simmons. I really like Dan Simmons' writing. I've read several of his Sci-fi novels and really enjoyed them.

10. The Stand by Stephen King. I was hooked within pages and read the entire book in two days!

11. Hideaway by Dean Koontz. This really scared me. You always hear about near death experiences, but this one was freaky!

12. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The classic horror novel. The original is always the best.

13. The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber. This book truly gives wolves a bad name!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

BAO IOTW 10/27

It's that time again!
Bead Art Originals Items of the Week for 10/27 to 11/02.

Click on the link and check out all the lovely items up close and see what specials are being offered with them!

A Blog Award With A Meme!

Jojo of Unique You has been so kind and passed this award and meme on to me! Thanks very much!

The Rules for the Award are as follows:
1. Mention the blog that gave you the award & comment on their blog when you post the award.

2. List 6 things you VALUE & 6 things you DON'T VALUE.

3. Then, pass the award onto 6 other blog buddies!

OK, here goes:

Six Things I Value:
1. My dear husband. He is so patient and kind and very supportive. He handles stress really well and believe me, he's been under a lot of stress lately. I know I haven't helped with the job situation and yet he doesn't nag or push me. He knows how much my jewelry means to me and would really like me to succeed.

2. My daughters. Yes, they drive me nuts sometimes, but they are beautiful, talented girls and I am very proud of them both! I can't believe my oldest is going to be 20 in the spring or that my "baby" is 16! Soon we'll have an empty nest (DH and I are actually looking forward to that!)

3. My dog. I know some people go really overboard about their pets, but my dog, Sadie, truly saw me through some of the most difficult days when my mom died. She knew I was upset and would just sit next to me or put her head on my lap. That unconditional love from her was truly a comfort!

4. My art. I can't imagine not being able to bead or at least create in some way! Beading is my therapy. I really think I'd have gone crazy without it! :)

5. My friends. I know that sometimes I'm not the best of communicators, but my friends seem to love me anyway! :)

6. Books!

Six Things I Don't Value:
I'm going to have to copy Jo on a couple of her choices for this section.

1. I too, don't value junk mail or spam. Talk about a waste of paper and killing trees! Does anybody really enjoy junk mail?

2. Hollywood and celebrities. I enjoy a good movie or show just like anyone else, but I don't care what you do or say or believe. You chose to act, so just stick to that!

3. Professional politicians. They'll say anything to get elected. Promise they will fix everything and then once elected they don't do anything except vote themselves a raise every year and get their buddies money and contracts!

4. Liars, cheats and thieves.

5. Shopping malls. I know, what an odd thing for a woman to think, but I really hate shopping and shopping malls are the worst!

6. Telephones. Another odd one for a woman, but I answered phones at a law firm for well over 11 years and I really despise the things. OK, I have a cell, but the majority of communicating I do with it is texting my daughters!

Now, to name six to take this:
Well, I was going to list six people to take this, but it seems like everyone is getting this meme, the "seven" meme and now it seems there's an "eight" meme going around! So, if you want to take part, please do so and let me know so I can check out your sixes!

Thursday Thirteen

I thought I would try this Thursday Thirteen thing that I keep seeing on other blogs. It sounds interesting and seems to be a great networking idea. So, here goes...

Thirteen Things about Anna 1. I'm a bead artist as you can see from my Etsy widget in the right sidebar. I am a member of the Bead Art Originals Street Team and the Etsy Beadweavers Street Team. 2. I'm a wife and I've been married to my dear husband for 22 years! 3. I'm a mother. I have two teenage daughters. One in high school and one in college. 4. I'm a homebody. I'd rather be at home than just about anywhere else. 5. I've lived in three different states: California, Washington and Ohio. 6. I got my creativity from my mom. She tried to teach me to knit and crochet (didn't work), but she was successful with embroidery! When I found my niche (beading), she was my biggest fan, supporter and salesman! 7. I lost my mom to ovarian cancer in 2003 and my mother-in-law to the same in 2007. I miss my mom everyday! 8. I believe everything happens for a reason...even if I don't understand that reason at the time. 9. I leave the TV on for background noise. 10. I love to read and I can't go to sleep unless I've read at least a few pages! 11. I wish there were more hours in the day. 12. I bead for therapy. 13. Baked goods are going to be my downfall!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Ease in Chaos

Well, we have finally gotten Grandma settled into an assisted living facility today. She has been in and out of the hospital and nursing care centers since May, so it's really been a tough summer. It will take a while for her to get used to this situation, but it's a really nice place (brand new facility) with a wonderful staff. It's also very close to our house, which makes it a lot easier for us, especially my husband who has been driving an additional 45 minutes every other day after work to check in on her. I know she would rather be in her own home, but she's just not steady on her feet anymore. There are still many things that need to be taken care of, but having her in her new place is a real ease on all our minds!

There are still many other things going on for us in the real world, but this one has been the toughest, especially on my dear husband. So, for his sake, I'm very glad she's in her new place.

New Pieces

I've created two new bracelets and two pairs of earrings. I like the earrings because they are fairly simple to make, but look lovely! The first bracelet is "A Gilded Lily Cuff" and I named it that because of the Art Deco style button I used as the toggle and because it does remind me of a bracelet a woman of the 30s would wear (like Claudette Colbert in the movie "The Gilded Lily"!!)This next bracelet doesn't have a name yet, but it is one that I've been thinking about for a while. I really like the stark black against the soft rose colors. And as you can see from some of my other pieces, I like geometric patterns! In this bracelet, I've also used opaque, matte and Ceylon style beads which gives more depth to the piece.
The earrings are simple, but I think they will love great with either a little black evening dress or a pair of jeans! I've used Swarovski crystal components which sparkle like crazy! The ear hooks are sterling silver. The beads are metallic silver Delicas in the one and opaque black in the other (which would look lovely with the black and rose bracelet above!). Let me know what you think!

BAO Items of the Week 10/12

To check out all the gorgeous items of the week up close and personal, check out our blog at Bead Art Originals. My piece is the Royal Copper Choker. I love so many of the other artists' pieces this week!

The Seven Meme

I'm supposed to share seven facts about myself, some random and some weird. Then I tag seven more people. Here goes:

1. I'm not a big fan of cooking (I can cook, just don't like to), but one of my favorite shows is "Top Chef" and I have a subscription to "Cooking Light"!

2. Most perfumes and most scented candles give me a headache. Unfortunately, my youngest daughter loves perfume!

3. When I was answering phones at a corporate law firm, we were allowed read while we worked as long as we answered the phones in a timely manner. Well, I read 267 books in one year while I was there! (A book every 1.4 days!) Big fan of the downtown library at that time!

4. I had a similar habit to MaryLou's silly pants, only mine was silly socks! Mostly it was to entertain the little girls I taught gymnastics to, but it was also my "hidden" silliness!

5. I'm a firm believer in the benefits of naps and I don't mean for your toddler! It is amazing what a 20 minute "power nap" can do for you!

6. I hate shopping! Grocery, clothes, shoes...any kind of shopping! OK, fine, put me online with a bead supplier and my money disappears!!

7. Something else like MaryLou...I used to sing all the time. I was in choir from fourth grade though my senior year and even sang with my mom in the Cleveland Metropolitan Choir. Now, it's in the car and no, ML, no one can see you! LOL!!

The rules for tagging are:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Unfortunately, I've had several memes in the last month or so and I don't want anyone getting mad at me, so I'll just say...anyone who would like to do this, link back to me so I can find out your secrets! :P

Entrecard Issues

I've been trying to drop in on my EC droppers, but I am having nothing but slow, slow, slow loading or no loading at all! I apologize for not visiting, but I'm thinking I'm probably not the only one having problems! I'll try again tomorrow!

Reminder!

Please don't forget to visit the Etsy Beadweaver Blog to vote for your favorite "Animal Instincts" piece! There are amazing pieces to choose from!

Copper and Turquoise Bracelet

Here's the latest piece... I used copper lined crystal, galvanized pale copper, lined aqua and opaque turqoise green Delicas in a single-drop peyote diamond pattern. I really like the Southwestern feel these colors and the pattern evoke.

Bead Art Originals First Ever Trunk Show

Come to the Bead Art Originals first ever Trunk Show this Thursday, October 9th from 7:00pm-9:00pm EST. Also, if you join us at The Etsy Treehouse, on Thursday, you will find out some special deals our featured artists are offering!

To learn more about us and our art, sign up for The Official BAO Newsletter (see the sign up block at the top of the left sidebar)...you might just win a prize!