The Season

Now that Christmas is almost here with us, I am reflecting back over the last year . I find myself thinking more and more about my Christianity then ever before. What does it mean to be a true christian in this day and time in our world? Do we bend our religious convictions to suit what others think is the correct definition o being a christian Or do we say, others be -----, I am what I am, even though I don't fit the mold that others would love to buttonhole me into.



I like to think that I have stepped out of my comfort zone in my Christianity and talked to others about my beliefs . I find my self wondering and hoping that I was tolerant to others about their beliefs. I also hope that the lessons I learned about others beliefs will be maintained and that I will better understand the differences in other religions compared to mine. I did not judge others for their beliefs, yet wondered many times if I was judging them on what they believed instead of trying to listen to them.



I hope in the new year that I will keep listening to others and rejoicing with them on their journey to self awareness in their religions. I hope that we will have great discussions on beliefs and Christianity, and that we will all walk a little closer to God.



Have a Wonderful Christmas and Merry New Year.

Busy, Busy

I recieved the most beautiful beaded Christmas ornament the other day.
The bead fringe was so soft and delicate, and the color was stunning. I have never been a fan of these type of ornaments until now. Now I want to get my hands on lots of pretty colors of glass ornaments and work on making these beaded ornaments. As if I have time for all of that.. But I do think that I will try to do a few. They may not get done until after Christmas, but I will still enjoy doing them.
I have been working on getting the web site up but have also thought about trying to get some of my work in a store near my house. Going to Etsy has also been on my mind. I really want to get some of my designs out there so that others can see them. Taking the pictures for these is what is the holdup. I never think that the photos that I take are good enough to put up onto either my web site or on Etsy.
I also have some small jewlery egg boxes that I want to get beaded. they would make great presents so that is something else that I need to put on the list . Of course this list has reached the length of my arm, so when everything gets done it will be a day for celebration.
I am also designing a cross that will have a gem stone in it and will be metal. I hope that it turns out nice. I have been working with brass and learning how to solder jumprings and other jewlery. I am hoping taht this will open other doors for my designs to get out into the world.

Time for the Holidays

Well, Thanksgiving has just passed and now it is time to gear up for the Christmas Holidays. So much emphysis is placed on what presents to buy and how much to decorate the home. and playing Christmas music two months in advance that all the joy is going out of the holiday.
I think that I will spend more time working on my jewelery and trying to get things accomplished around the house. I have a small tree this year and really don't feel much like getting the house decorated up. I don't know if this is a sign that I am getting older, or just feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that seems it must be done by a certain time.
Oh for the olden days when everything seemed so simple.
I did get two necklaces done yesterday, and got more beads in order so that I can work on more different ideas for the jewelery. I have some fun things to do. but have been so busy that even the fun things have taken a back seat.
I have a few homework projects to work on and want to work on some of the silver jewelery before Christmas. I have several pieces of amythest that I need to set as well as some crystals. I also have a wonderful piece of ammolyte that I want to make a necklace for. so I need to get busy.
Lets hope that the weekend will allow me to get some of these done.

Kits and more Kits

Well, I have had a busy few weeks. Worked alot of overtime and then took some classes from Jill Wiseman. We had such a wonderful time. I was able to get some good ideas from Jill about doing my own kits and how to design kits. Now I can not wait to design and work up some kits that I have had in my mind for a while. Also just got together with some of the beading ladies and just worked on some stuff that I had just hanging around. So quite a few good weeks. Now I have to push to get some things done for the WWBS Christmas party. I need a great design for a christmas egg for the party for a gift exchange. Has to be beaded. so off to do some research on what I can get done quickley.
Hope to do some silver work here in the near future also. Got too many things just hanging out that need to be finished. Not enough time in the day to get everything done.
We just added a new addition to the family. her name is Lexie and she is no bigger than a minute. She is a miniture maltese and she is adorable.She will be my new shadow for a long time.
Well, back to working on a double Ogalala necklace done with purple pearls and crystals as accents. Hope to have it done today.

Cleaning and Designing

I have been working on cleaning some of the crystals that we got in Arkansas. I had picked up some clusters that I could not really tell if they were any good or not because of all the mud. I have cleaned a few of these and am really happy with what I got. I have started designing some of these to be wire wrapped and set into silver jewelry.
I also went home to visit Mom for a while She is still spry and we had a good time talking about old friends and places we had been. I rode the mower and did a good days work mowing down the weed out at the farm. and yes the rain came every afternoon right on time.
I was elected secretary for the Wild West Bead Society. I will be a fun year. the ladies in this group are very talented and I have learned alot from them. I really feel that my beading has improved due to the teaching and creative help that I have received from them. I hope that we have some great programs and classes this next year.
Back to cleaning crystals

Feelings about Love

While I was at home visiting my Mom, we got to talking about different churches and how they seem to succeed or not. she asked why I had strayed from First P when I got older. I told her it was because that i did not feel that the minister was preaching with love in his heart. I felt somewhat alienated from the church. I told her that many times I did not feel that I could talk to the minister. that I was not important in the grand scheme of things. I did visit other churches and found many were I felt the the minister actually had love in his heart for all of his flock. and that he could preach a sermon that would grab you and compel you to listen to it. That these ministers had some much love for what they were preaching and it spilled over reaching out to everyone that was sitting there. That the love that they had for everyone transcended all worldly problems and that they would pray to God and Jesus with every fiber of their being to help anyone that came to them. That this was lacking at First P. and that the only thing that some of the ministers seemed to been interested only in what you could offer the church, not what the church could offer them. This really bothered me as I felt that I had become some arbitrary number and that only when my number was called, could I approach them and ask for their help.
I think that this is what lead to my comstan searching for the correct church and the minister who would leand a ear to your plight and pray for you right then.
Still searching for that all encompasing love found in Christ Jesus and God. Looking here on earth for it.

Crystals and the County Fair

Well, I have returned from a very soggy week of camping and crystal digging in Arkansas.
I actually had a great time. Altho the weather was bad, and we only had one good day of sun, the relaxing sounds of the rain hitting the tent really made me slow down and listen to what other sounds there were around me. We saw several deer, an eagle flying over the lake and 20 Canadian geese flying in to sleep. We went to our favorite place for crystals, Wegners Phantom Crystal mine and found a new place, Gee and Dees on Brewster mountain. We found wonderful
points and many beautiful clusters.
We also attended the small county fair that was in Mt Ida. Saw many beautiful quilts, lots of beautiful crystals and other crafts. The people were very friendly nad we vowed to come again next year.

I got several flowers made. but really just spent the time relaxing.

Idea books

I have many ideas for making things with found stuff. I wonder if other people like these sorts of things or am I off in left field ? I need to go to junk shops to find stuff to use, I think that i need to make an idea book with every thing in it so that I can remember what I want to do. I sometimes feel very blessed that I have as many ideas that I have because I think that means that I will always be busy doing things that I like to do.
sometimes I think that I need to retire and just play with my jewlery.
I am going out of town for a few weeks. One place I am going is to hunt for crystals in Arkansas. I hope that I find some beautiful crystals. the thrill of the hunt is just as much fun and camping will be very relaxing.
I of course will be bring some of my bead work. to work on. I feel the need
to work on some of the french beaded flowers.

A Question

In this day and age, have you really thought about what being a Christian really means? I feel that many of us have strayed from the real values of Christianity. How can we get ourselves back on the correct track so that we can experience the Glory of God. There are several books written about what we should do to be a better Christian. The book that I have found most helpful is God expects Perfect. ( Total Victory Perspective) by Randy Hignight. That title might discourage or offend a lot of people, but the lessons are so simple that it is a shame that more people don't know about this.
I ddon't want to offend anyone with too much talk so i will leave it at that. I do know that the book helped me to see things more clearly and made me feel that I am now walking a little closer to God.

Thoughts

I wonder at the enorminity of it all. How did I get started on this. I know that I liked making special pieces of jewlery for myself. But how did it get to this. I have started my own little business of jewlery making. People always tell me how beautiful my pieces are. So maybe I can make money doing this and support a habit for my self. I have formed a company called RRANDJS Creations. It is hard getting all of this together, Web pages,pictures of my jewlery , and my photos and egg art, andgetting them all uploaded.I like simplicity and this is not simple. But I guess if this is meant to be, then it will all work out and I can get back into crafting jewlery. I hope that my work will be pleasing to people and they will want to buy my works .
( I always have a hard time accepting the compliments that I get for my work, cause I don't always think that my work is that beautiful.)
I have so many pieces of jewlery waiting to get out of my head and into the form that they are supposed to be, that it is actually scary. I am always afraid that I will have some sort of accident with head trauma and then they will be stuck in there for ever. I hope that someday they will be compleate and the rest of the world will get to enjoy them.

jewlery in the making.

I love making my jewlery, I just wish that I had more time to get the ideas out of my head and on paper or done. it is awful to wake up in the middle of the night and have ideas running thru your head and not be able to get them on paper fast enough. I don't know how many designs I have lost to not being able to translate the picture in my head to paper.

My brain is alway thinking, even when I am at work , about my jewlery and the other forms of crafts that i like to do, but there is never enough time to get everything done. What a shame.