Homemade Jewelry

A year or so ago I decided I wanted to learn how to make jewelry. I bought a basics book, some necessary supplies and set to work. I can’t tell you how incredibly easy it really is. I mean really really easy. And so much cheaper than buying from Claire’s or something. And the best part? When you find an awesome shirt like this:

You don’t have to search high and low for jewelry that matches. You just buy some beads and make it:

Carved cinnabar, blue dyed howlite and silver plated spirals.

Or say you have a lovely shirt like this:

Dress it up with a homemade necklace:

Freshwater pearls of assorted size and hue, faux lapiz lazuli and aventurine

Just a little imagination or some good instructions and you’ve got some custom creations you’ll love! Below are some links to help you get started.

Jewelry Lessons.com - a place to download free or paid tutorials and tons of different styles of jewelry

Beadage - This one has a some very nice step by step tutorials and photographs of others creations

About.com Jewelry - Beginner Earring projects.

WigJig.com - Lots of jewelry tutorials of all varieties.

An addition

I’ve not been myself for quite a few weeks now. I broke down in church on Sunday sobbing uncontrollably during a hymn. A few weeks before that I broke down sobbing in the car after I missed getting a breakfast burrito at McDonald’s by about 3 minutes. I’ve been carrying a plastic grocery bag with me everywhere and I’ve been ravenously hungry, on the verge of puking and disgusted by all food in sight, all at the same time on occasion. But they’re worth it every time right?

Due early Nov. 2010

Finished Decoupage Box and Blocks Project

So I thought the end result turned out so well I wanted to share. I added the alphabet to my blocks and painted and decoupaged a box for them to go in.

Go ahead. Try doing something new today!

Decoupage Decorative or Baby Blocks

I got the urge to make something completely new today and I found the world of decoupage. It’s crazy easy stuff but can yield really amazing results. I decided to decorate some wooden blocks and show you how I did it.

1. First you’ll need an assortment of pretty coordinating paper.

2. And you’ll also need some wooden blocks which you can find at most craft stores, along with the pretty paper.

3. Now you need to cut the paper into squares that are about the same size as the sides of your block. If they’re not perfect, that’s ok. You can fix them later.

4. Now, using some Mod Podge or other decoupage paste, coat one side of your block in a thin layer of paste and put a square of paper on it. Make sure you press down on all the edges for a secure seal. Wipe away any glue around the edges.

5. If you find your paper is a little big, you can trim it to fit with a pair of scissors.

6. Continue adding papers to your each block to complete all sides. Be sure to let each block dry completely before the next step. Assuming you’re going to do the next step anyway. It’s optional. Once they’re dry you can sand the edges of each block if desired.

7. Spray each block with some clear coat acrylic spray and let dry. Now you are finished. If you want to use them as baby blocks you could put alphabet stickers on them or decoupage letters before spraying.

Moving

Around six months ago my husband came home from work and said boldly, “I see a path!”

I knew it meant trouble before he even started explaining. Long story short, he had decided he wanted to go to law school. He had been toying with the idea of becoming a patent agent for a while but when he realized patent lawyers do a similar job but make more money he decided law school might be worth it. Surprisingly enough, I was on board with this plan by the very next day. It just felt right. And besides, what’s three more years of school when you’ve already done eight?

So in December he took the LSAT and scored a 172 (99th percentile). If only his graduating gpa had been just a tad higher we might have been able to attend our dream school with that kind of number. We got accepted to 7 different schools and two of those schools offered us full scholarships, one of them being BYU. Duke offered us a third of tuition which sadly, wasn’t enough to justify going there. The idea of adding 100k + in debt in addition to what we already have just wouldn’t be worth it.

After other school considerations, we finally decided on BYU. Tom put in his deposit and we’ll be moving to Utah this fall.

I know. Utah. The one place I never wanted to go back to. But in spite of my many fears and reservations about returning, I feel at peace with our decision. I’ve been thinking daily about the many positive aspects of moving back and I know my experience will be a good one if I maintain the right attitude. I am happy to see family and friends again.

Oh and for those of you wondering if Tom is simply throwing away 8 years of PhD study, he isn’t. He intends to be a Biotech Patent Lawyer so his Biology PhD will have been necessary for this step. Utah here we come.

A Genealogy Miracle

My interest in family history began as a 14 year old girl. My maternal grandmother had recently gotten into it and presented our family with a blue 3 ring binder filled with pedigree charts and family information she had collected. As I looked through that binder and asked questions about what this thing called genealogy was, a fire was lit. I wanted to fill in all those empty spaces I saw on those pedigrees. Find those names and make our history more complete. I haven’t stopped trying to do that since.

For most of those years I worked on my mother’s family history along with my grandma but my dad’s side kept calling to me. My dad himself knew little about his family roots as he had come from a broken home and his mother had been raised by her step dad. I had some success on my dad’s father’s side but non on my dad’s mothers side. So eventually I decided to call my grandmother and ask her to give me anything she could to help me begin my search. She gave me the name of her Biological Father, a year and state of death, and the information that his parents had died when he was a baby and that is what I started with. Working with that I found his Social Security Number which helped me request an obituary for him. But the obituary held few clues to his parentage. After that I sent for his death certificate and on that were the names of his parents. I was thrilled! But I wanted more. I wanted to know if there were siblings, what happened to his biological parents, who he was raised by, etc. Since I lived in Maryland, there was not much I could do to continue the search though. But I did find someone online, a volunteer at raogk.org who was willing to keep and eye out for information on my great grandpa and his family on his monthly trips to the genealogy library in Marion county Missouri.

A few months passed and he sent what information he found on the surname I was searching, but none of it seemed to pertain to my great grandpa. I had been praying for a long while for help on this line and was certain I was close. Then one day I received an email from this volunteer. I wish I had saved the original copy but it said, essentially this:

On his trip to the library that morning, he had made his usual stop to the section he had been visiting in trying to find information for me. There he saw two men searching around as well. He asked them what surname they were doing work on and found they were looking for my same surname. He then told them the names of the three personages I had asked him to search for information for and found two of them were the same people that these two gentlemen were looking for.

It turned out that these two men, two brothers, were on a genealogical trip and were passing through the county. They had stopped at that genealogical library that day only, within the two hour window my contact would be there. And who were they? They were nephews of my great grandfather. My contact thankfully, collected one of their email addresses and forwarded it to me. I have been in contact with them ever since and they were the key to unlocking much about the family that I would not otherwise have found. They found clues as they researched in different areas and shared them with me. They had names of siblings and places and so much that I needed to continue my research and I KNOW that Heavenly Father directed them to be in that library that day at that hour.

I share this story with you now because tomorrow, they are coming here. I get to meet three brothers, nephews of my great grandfather, three men who I don’t really know but who I love for their willingness to share family information with a stranger. The main brother, Howard, told me a few weeks ago that when he met up with a relative on a connecting line, that relative told him he looked quite a bit like my great grandfather. He said, “So when you see me, I suppose it will be a little like seeing your great grandpa.” And I cried, because I haven’t found any photographs of my great grandpa yet. But I’ll keep looking, because I want more than to find names, I want to know the people behind the names. I feel privileged to be able to meet these distant cousins of mine tomorrow. I’m so excited!

The answer to Menstrual Woes according to a 1900’s newspaper

This little beauty is just another perk of doing genealogical research. You never know what gems you’ll find.

Published in the Ralls Co., Times (Missouri) Oct 19, 1900, pg. 3
TRANSCRIPTION:

QUESTIONS FOR WOMEN
Are you nervous?
Are you completely exhausted?
Do you suffer every month?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you have ills which Wine of Cardui cures. Do you appreciate what perfect health would be to you? After taking Wine of Cardui, thousands like you have realized it. Nervous strain, loss of sleep, cold or indigestion starts menstrual disorders that are not noticeable at first, but day by day steadily grow into troublesome complications. Wine of Cardui, used just before the menstrual period, will keep the female system in perfect condition. This medicine is taken quietly at home. There is nothing like it to help women enjoy good health. It costs only $1 to test this remedy, which is endorsed by 1,000,000 cured women.
Mrs. Lena T. Frieburg, East St. Louis, Ill., says: “I am physically a new woman, by reason of my use of Wine of Cardui and Thedford’s Black Draught.”

That’s right, for YOUR menstrual woes be sure and get yourself so flippin’ drunk during the week of your period that you don’t remember any of it.

In all seriousness though, if they were looking for a cure way back then and we still haven’t found one now, I highly doubt there is one. *sigh*

I enjoy a busy winter

It distracts nicely from the dreary landscape. I’m not a big fan of doing update posts, not that they’re below me or something. I simply like to try and be more creative in my writing. However, today is a day for an update post.

1. We are likely going to be going to law school this fall.

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I paused for dramatic effect. Did it work?
I’m not going to law school of course, it would be the hubby. He wants to be a Biotech Patent Lawyer. At least he’ll finally be getting his PhD and at least he now has a specific goal in sight. Honestly, I’m on board with it. Well, in so far as we don’t end up doing BYU. I’ll of course adapt if we go to Utah but all my dreams of experiencing someplace new will be crushed. :)

2. My oldest child will be turning eight very soon and I am planning on making this birthday a very memorable one. The eighth birthday is a special one for most LDS children. It’s the age at which they may choose to be baptized into the church. So anyway, I have planned a fun party for him.

I came up with some birthday themes for him to choose from and he decided to go with an outer space theme. Since we’re tight on money I am doing as much as possible from scratch. I cut out 50 poster board stars in varying sizes and as of today, they are all hanging from the ceiling. I also created all 8 planets (r.i.p. Pluto) using paper mache. The boys painted the various details on each planet and then I hung the planets from the ceiling as well.

Right now I have some fondant cake decorations drying on the counter top and I’ve put together goody bags for each guest. It’s probably crazy, all this work I’m putting into it, but I’ve found it very fun. I had never done any paper mache before so it was a great excuse to try it and it’s been a long time since I’ve made any homemade decorations. Made me feel like a kid again.

I promise to post pictures of the decor and the cake when it is all finished. I know Count Dooku we’ll appreciate my efforts someday when he’s looking through photographs.

Nine years of Marriage

It was on December 19th of this last month, our anniversary, that our middle child started throwing up. Then we all followed suit. I was the last to get it and recovered just before Christmas Day. So much for celebrating our anniversary. Maybe in a week or two we’ll get to go out.

Anyhow, I was thinking today about an amusing thing that happened on the day we got married and wanted to share it with you. You see, if I could go back and do things over I would have rented a wedding dress. But for some reason I had it in my 19 year old mind that I wanted to buy an insanely expensive piece of clothing I would wear but once. So I went dress shopping, looking for the perfect dress and knew that if I found it, I must fit into it no matter the cost. Eventually I did find it, the dress that perfectly represented me. I tried it on in a size 3/4 (I was a lot smaller then) and it was too large in some areas. When I asked about alterations, I was told that due to the style, it couldn’t be taken in in the problem areas. So then I asked to try on a size 1/2. It was tight around the middle, but fit fine everywhere else so I bought it.

I had only worn it for a few moments in that dressing room and didn’t realize how very tight it was. I also didn’t take into account that I would be wearing the thing for around 7 hours total

As I dressed in my gown on my wedding day I felt really beautiful, but I also noticed that I felt light headed the longer I had it on. It was really constricting my breathing. It was pretty much the equivalent of what I imagine a corset is, but I knew I would just have to endure and take slow, deep breaths. What I didn’t realize was that during the entire ceremony, my slow and deep breaths were very noticeable and a little shuddery, as I tried to expand my lungs to take in the air I needed to stay conscious. I later found out that my soon to be husband was truly wondering if I was about to bolt from the room, leaving him at the altar. Poor me. Poor him.

So a word of advice for future brides. Just rent the dress and use your money for something better, like a good photographer, and never try to squeeze into something that might make you pass out on your wedding day.

Photography Blog

This is just to let you know I’ve started a blog specifically for my photography and the things I’m learning. If you’d like to follow along here is the link:

Summer Owens Photography

I hope you all had wonderful holidays and that you have a safe and happy new year celebration!