New Products!

So excited. We got in the new cross components by Tierra Cast. They are really neat and come in 3 different styles.  Two of the styles are for 4mm bicones or rounds and the other style is for 3mm beads.  They are super simple to make and will make great gifts.

We also have a gemstone trunk show starting this week and the beads will be in the shop for a month. There are lots of different stones and styles.  The price on the strand is an extra 25% off. Be sure to stop in and check out all the goodies.

And finally, Saturday is our Christmas in July Sale.  Just wanted to let you get a sneek peak at our tree this year.

7/24/10 Newsletter

Greetings Friends and Fellow Bead Geeks:

As you can already tell I have changed up the newsletter.  I started using a new format a few months ago but it turns out that it was more trouble than it was worth.  So, each week I will send out an email with a link letting you know that a new newsletter is up.  All you have to do is click and read.  Or, just check back every week for a new post.  I have had to do a lot of thinking over the last few weeks.  I am 29 years old and I honestly cannot tell you an exciting thing that I have done outside of work in the past year.  I have used all of my time and energy and put it into the shop.  With the way the economy has been it has taken every bit of my energy to keep us afloat.  It seems like each week it takes more and more and I have less and less to give. To say the least, I have gotten very burned out.  So, I have decided to step back a little bit, take a deep breath, and look at what's really important in my life.  I have tried to do so much that I have found that what I am doing, I am not doing well because I don't have the time to prepare for everything.    So with that being said, I am sad to say that first of all this Saturday at our Christmas in July Sale, I will not be doing any demos but we will have all of our new Christmas items out and available for purchase. We will have refreshments and free goodies as well as each customer will receive 20% off of their total purchase. This discount excludes pre-made jewelry, consignment, and classes.  I hope that many of you will be able to attend because we have some wonderful new kits for the 2010 season.  Be ready to hear your favorite Christmas Tunes and munch on some Snickerdoodle Cookies! Another exciting detail about Saturday is that it will mark the start of our Gemstone Trunk Show.  One of our distributors is sending us a box this week full of new Gemstone Goodies.  These gemstones are strung on 8 inch strands and no strand will be over $15.00.  We will have the show for about a month but the good beads will get gone fast!

Another change you will be seeing is that I am cutting back on the number of scheduled classes that I teach.  Instead of 3 or 4 a week, you will now be seeing a weekly average of 2 classes.  I know this will work out better for me because I am teaching a lot more one on one classes during the day but it will also work out great for those of you who try and take a lot of the classes.  I am going to try and have a good variety of classes and it is my hope that with having a little bit of extra time, it will allow me to venture into new techniques to learn to teach you guys.  Sammy will have the August Class Schedule on the website later today.  To see the schedule check out www.offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com and click on classes.  There is a new deposit policy so please be aware of that when signing up for classes. To sign up for any of the August classes you can do so online or you can give us a call.  Some of the classes have already started filling up so when you get a chance later today check it out.

We have two great classes for this week.  On Thursday I will be teaching the Crystal O Ring Watch class from 6-8.  This class is $45.00 and includes all of your supplies. In this class Students will learn how to make a beautiful watch band out of jumprings, crystals, and rubber O rings.  Then students will learn how to attach the watch face and the clasp.  This is a really interesting watch band to make and it looks great when you wear it.

On Saturday, along with our sale, Tina will be at the shop teaching how to make some beautiful Wire Wrapped Pendants.  This class is from 10-1 and costs $30.00.  The Class cost includes all of your supplies.  In this class Tina will be teaching students how to skillfully wire wrap a pendant so that it looks amazingly different.  Each piece will be unique in it's own way.  This class is great for students who are wanting to start dabbling in wire work. To sign up for either of these classes be sure to call us at 245-0306.

And finally, we have our last Try-It-Tuesday coming up tomorrow from 4-7pm. This week I will be teaching how to make fun coraling necklace.  Summer is great for coraling effect type pieces and they are easy to learn and make.  Be sure to stop in and learn this new technique.

I hope each of you have a blessed week and I hope to see you Saturday!

Bead and Button here we come!

Ok, so i'm so excited because we leave Monday for the 10th annual Bead and Button show in Milwaukee.  Plans have changed over the last week and now Sammy, Leslie, and I are going to be driving up and meeting Cathy when we get there. Then i have 4 days at the biggest bead show in the world!  I will be giving updates as i can but you know how it is when your having fun.

The first 30 years were great. So why do the next 30 look so blue?

Ok so bear with me everyone. It's been a hard day emotionally and I just need to put it all in words.  Yesterday was Memorial Day at my deceased Grandmothers church so I went with my mom to pay my respects.  My mom and I talked about Death a little but and it didn't bother me until today.  I look back over the last 29 years of my life and it is filled with mostly joy.  I got to grow up with wonderful parents who taught me how to be the person I am today, I got married, built my life, and built a business and career that I love. My parents worked hard to raise me and I am super lucky that I grew up in a household that had two parents who loved me more than they loved themselves.  Up until last year I was fortunate enough to still have my two grandmothers with me. So, why do the next 30 years seem like they are going to be horrible? If I live to see the day my parents pass, in 30 years my mom will be 90 and my father will be 87.  It is possible but in all likely hood they will pass in the next 30 years and I will be left here on this earth to guide my own path.  I will have to bury the two most important people in my life and I will be the one who feels the grief the most.  I will be the one left with decisions on where to bury and how to move on with life without them.  I will be left to make all decisions on my own.  There will be no more picking up the phone and calling mom or dad when I need advice or just need someone to talk to.  How do you deal with that?  How does life go on? I have watched the grief that my mom has gone through over the last several months of losing her mom and I wonder how to you deal with it?  How to you wake up everyday, put one foot in front of the other, and act like everythings ok?  I guess one day I will find out.

Also, I have come to the terms with the hand that I have been dealt in life.  I understand that I will never own a big fancy house, will never be rich, will probably be in debt for the rest of my life, and will probably live the rest of my days in small town friendly.  Last year my husband, at the age of 29,  was dignosed with MS.  The last year has been hard on us.  We have had to come to terms with his illness and what it means for our future.  There have been a lot of fights and a lot of hurt to have to deal with because of the illness.  I understand that there are a whole lot of other illnesses out there that are a lot worse but it is hard for us to wrap our head around the fact that there is not a lot known about MS and that there is no treatment for the disease.  Sammy has to take medicines that will hopefully slow down the progression of the disease but unless god or science interveins his disease will get worse over time. In the next 30 years it is highly likely that we will have huge set backs. I will be 30 next year and I am scared to death to have children becuase of not knowing what the future holds for sammy's disease.  If he has a set back or the disease gets worse how could i possibly take care of myself, sammy, and a child and then at some point deal with the death issue?  How to people have children? It scares me to death to think that I would be responsible for the safety and well being of another human life.  I respect people who have children because I honestly don't know how they do it. How do you raise a child in the society we live in? How do you not run away screaming.  A life of seclusion sounds good right about now . :)

I guess my bigest thought or question is how to I make the next 30 years of my life count? I know that I am not promised tomorrow but looking ahead how do I balance everyday life, business, and family and make the next 30 count? How do I ever spend enough time with the people I love so that when one day they are gone, I will feel at peace and be able to move on? How do you keep moving foward when the future looks so bleak?  I know that the few of you who take the time to read this will tell me that I need to put my faith in Christ and know that one day I will see my loved one's again.  The only problem with that is the unknown.  Lord willing and I somehow make it to heaven, we won't be there to carry on with life, we will be there to praise Christ and all his glories.  When people pass away on this earth is that the last of that type of love that you will ever feel? In that last breath does the love that you have felt all your life from that person drift away?  Do you ever get to feel that again?  The next 30 years look bleak.  How do you deal with that?

It's Good to be Queen!

So I just had a wonderful week and weekend!  I worked most of the week getting the store remodeled.  We worked out butts off and honestly I don't think I knew the extent of what I was getting myself into BUT...i'm glad I did it because the store looks awesome!  I am a proud mama! We re-opened on Thursday and a lot of our regulars came by because they wanted to see all the new changes.  We got a lot of positive feed back so it was nice to hear.

On Friday and Saturday I worked in Franklin NC selling Preciosa Crystals for one of my distributors.  I love working the shows because you can meet some really awesome people. One of the people I was so excited that I got to meet was Jennifer Heymen from Jangles.  Jennifer makes wonderful ceramic beads and buttons. If you have never looked at her stuff then you absolutely must because her stuff is SOOOOOOOO cute!  You can check out her website at http://www.jangles.net/ she also has a blog at http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/ Take the time to check it out because you will not be disappointed!

Another wonderful lady I got to meet was Carol Wilcox Wells.  Carol is widely known for her beadwork and makes some breath taking pieces.  She lives in Asheville NC!  She had on a beautiful necklace that I adored and she said that she would be teaching a masters class on it next year at the Bead and Button Show.  Guess I better start saving my money!

And finally, I was going through some old pictures today and found this pic of me at Dolly Wood a few years ago.  They had a place that was selling all kinds of funny hats and I tried on a bunch and had sammy take pics.  I guess I knew that someday I would be queen.  I guess I should have bought this hat because I think it would make a great Beadie Lama hat!

First 5k

It has been a really interesting weekend!  Friday was my 29th birthday and I had a blast.  I was the best birthday that I can ever remember.  Then on Saturday I ran my first 5k at sunshine school.  It was the worst 3.1 miles that I have ever done.  I was not prepared for what was in store for me.  As you can see I was waving and smiling when the race started and then you can see the look of exhaustion on my face as I crossed the finish line.  My trainer David had me to the 5k and I'm sure that he will want me to do the one coming up in June.  I did 3.1 miles in 49 minutes so I guess I will train and try to do a better time in June.  I will defently have to find me some better shoe support because my feet were killing me after the race and then today the tendons in my feet are aching.  Hey...i"m just proud of myself for finishing the race.

Been awhile!

I haven't been on the blog scene much these last few weeks because life has been crazy. I am the President of our Merchants Association and I have been busy planning our Antiques and Arts Fair which was held this past Saturday. It has consumed most of my time and what time I haven't been working on it I have been busy planning for our store remodel in May and reading a new series of books that I have found called Cirque Du Freak.  It is a wonderful series of books about a young boy who becomes a half vampire and it tells the tale of his life as a new vampire.  The series has 12 books in it so far and I have just started reading book #6. I guess you could say that I have become a little obsessed like I was when i read the Twilight Series.