Sometimes Things Do Work Out

So, there are many reasons why this is a tough week. My husband moved out (when I objected to him happening to invite his unemployed new soulmate at dinner time expecting me to feed her too three days in one week). He couldn't understand why that would bother me. Even the poor girl was desperately uncomfortable (and he's told me she hates to be around me - apparently being rude to me is just fine).

Does anyone else need an explanation?

So the same week I file for divorce and have flu-from-hell, along with my two smallest children, and loan my van to my soon-to-be-ex for his birthday campout with his girlfriend and his cronies, I also get to run the Valentine gauntlet in every store.


And I look at my Amazon.com wishlist, to see if there's something there I could get myself that would cheer me up (yes, I did buy several manga, too) and I notice that a ring I'd put on there back when I was still thinking of myself as a married woman is now out of stock. Now, it's not a pricy ring. I like colored stones, always have, and don't much care if they're "genuine" gemstones or semi-precious or CZ or whatever. And I actively prefer silver to gold. Always have. So, when I saw this dramatic ring on amazon.com, I just loved it:

But I can't buy myself a $155 ring. There are too many priorities that preclude it. So, when I went down my wishlist and saw it was now out of stock, I wasn't really surprised. Missed that window, I thought. But I was curious to see if there were other multicolor CZ rings out there. Surely this wasn't the only example!

So, I looked, and, sure enough, there were quite a few. Some were quite nice, though none appealed like the first one I'd seen until I saw this one.

 

Look the same to you? Yeah, me too. And this beauty was a whopping  $38.26.  Heck, even I can afford that, so this was my Valentine's Day gift to myself, as pathetic as that sounds. By the way, if you feel like you MUST spend $155+, the first one is now back in stock.

I did worry that the real thing would be clunky or heavy or muddy or dangerously sharp and catch on clothes or children. But it was gorgeous, fit nicely on my hand and seems very comfortable there. 

So, sometimes things work out after all. And my daughter gets a jewelry box inside another box that she can play with for HOURS.

Read more...

My Weekend Project

A blog-friend of mine, quadmama, has quadruplet girls, age four. One thing she'd noted as a frustration was someone sending one darling thing (often an item of clothing or other wearable item) to her four girls. Even with monumental willingness to share, it becomes a bone of contention.

So, after Christmas of course, it occurred to me that I could make individualized jewelry sets, one for each girl so they'd each have a matching set, but completely one of a kind. I'm pleased with the results so I'm posting a picture here.

Thanks to Lee for the picture, which is why it isn't a bunch of multi-colored smears. Feel free to click on it for a better look. The "greenish" one is really yellow with only a hint of green.

The girls picked the colors and I tested them on Alex and Roxy to check the length of the bracelets (long enough to go around my six year old's wrist, small enough they didn't just fall off my two year old's hand). I made the necklaces a little on the long side 'cause I didn't know what they preferred.

For both bracelets and necklaces, I used magnetic clasps. They're less secure than regular clasps, but it severely limits the possibility of getting necklaces or wrists caught on something (safety) and reduces the chances of the jewelry breaking with pieces flying everywhere.

I hope it works out. Quadmama, I'll get that in the mail to you tomorrow.

Read more...

What I've Been Busy With the Past Two Days

Which is also why I'm not writing much today. Yes, I've been making jewelry because my husband's family reunion is coming up and we need items for the raffle (which pays for it). But, I stink at taking pictures, so I asked my daughter to do it. It was "I don't know where my camera is - maybe at Dad's maybe *somewhere in my room*." So she used her cell phone and, though she got a great picture of Dax...


The jewelry (this is the one I made her) photographs didn't come out too well, at least not as well as the jewelry.


So I asked Lee to help out. These three are necklace/bracelet sets to raffle for the reunion.



And this is the necklace I made for my baby, Roxy. She loves it and hated going to bed without it.
This is the one I made for Lee, all in black, white and silver.

And Alex wanted one, too. These are acrylic beads but he likes it.


Back to "normal" tomorrow.

Read more...