Seriously...

And now we have snow on our pumpkins and fall leaves!  And tree branches down everywhere!  And no power!!  But at least my Mac is still running.  ;-)

Scenes from today...

Seriously?

Umm, what season is this?  Fall.

Umm, where do I live?  Virginia.

What color is the grass right now?  Vibrant green.

What color might the grass be tomorrow?  WHITE!

UGH.....

Winter Storm Watch

 from Sat, 12am until Sat, 2pm EDT 

1-3 in of snow over the next 36 hours 

• Map 
• WeatherREADY: Prepare for the Storm

• Winter Storm Watch

   from Sat, 12am until Sat, 2pm EDT

RubySky

I appreciate all styles of photography, but I particularly enjoy modern artistic style.  Keesha and Katie from RubySky Photography are talented photographers/artists who captured our family last fall.   Keesha started the business 4 years ago.  They came to our house on a windy fall day and shot some pictures on our property and also on our neighbor's.  It was a memorable time of having fun together as a family and being windblown!  Keesha says about our time together, "There were many laughs during Kathy's family session!"

This duo of talented women has a seemingly effortless way of putting their subjects at ease and capturing both the posed and the candid shots.  When asked about her favorite part of capturing a family for a portrait session, Keesha replied:

"It's a wonderful feeling to finish up a family session with a smile on my face and know that I have captured a moment in time.  That one time in their lives will never happen again...children grow up."

Above, you see the posed shot.  And below you get the candid shot of my oldest son swinging on his homemade tree swing!

My youngest son has eyes that are different colors.  He thinks it's pretty cool.  So do I, and I think it's cool that he thinks it's cool.  

Goldie was pretty happy that she got to be included in some of the family pics.

Lovella, this next one is for your dear hubby!

We walked over to our neighbor's field, where treasures abound!  I'm not sure who took this next shot, but it's one of my favorites of me and my man.

And this one too.  We literally stood right in the middle of a field of goldenrod behind our house.  

I sure do love my little family.  

Love these boys, yes I do...

Yes, our younger son (on the right) is taller than our older son.  Please don't tell the oldest to "go ahead and catch up with his younger brother", because really, there's nothing he can do about it, and mostly, he's okay with it.  

They are sneaky sometimes.

They are often mischievous.

But they are always one of the greatest joys of my life.  

Keesha and Katie, I'll always be grateful for these moments in time that you captured for our family.  

On the Right Track

photo credit:  RubySky Photography

Sorry to those of you who read this blog for non-jewelry business related topics....this post will not appeal.  Come back another day this week to see more of our family pictures from LAST year!  I am SO far behind in every aspect of my life, it seems!

To those of you who are fellow jewelry business owners...please stay tuned and provide me with some advice, if you would be so kind.  :-)

Ever since I first started selling jewelry, I have kept a detailed account of each piece I have made.  It is entered into a database under a numbering system.  For example, B39 is the 39th silver bracelet I have made.  Gold would be GB3 (3rd gold bracelet).  And I describe the piece of jewelry in detail.  I must admit that only several times has this system really come in handy.  For the most part, it consumes valuable time.

I am looking to use a new system.  I believe that I am on the right track, but I need to simplify.  A simpler way would be to continue using the same system, but instead of a description, just enter in the photo number where I can actually see it in my computer and don't need to rely on the written description.

Another thought is to just use the name of each jewelry as its identifying label in the database.  But then I need to name each piece!  I've started grouping pieces and naming a collection instead of just one piece....makes it a little easier!

The other thing to consider is that if I want to start submitting designs to magazines (which I would like to do), then I need to keep track of where I purchased all my supplies, down to each individual bead!  My head is swimming...

So if you have any advice or words of wisdom in regards to this topic, I would greatly appreciate it.  I'm really not interested in spending hundreds of dollars on inventory software, so at this point, that's not an option I want to explore.  But any other tips would be great!  Thanks so much!

Crazy About Copper!

Perhaps it's the time of year now with many shades of copper that inspires me...

Or maybe it's the ridiculously high cost of silver that warrants the need to work with other metals.  This graph is simple to understand, all you need to do is look at the line that is rising...that's the cost of silver!

Graph from Nina Designs Blog

Or could it be that my Bead Soup partner Christa Murphy introduced me to copper at just the right time for interrupting my beader's block?

"Fall A Flutter" from the recent Bead Soup Blog Hog

I guess it's a combination of all those things, but lately I am INTO copper!  

"Prairie Pioneer"

"Forest Finds" with green stone

"Forest Finds" with beige stone

"Captured Copper"

Courage

"Courage"

True courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to proceed in spite of it.

[anonymous]

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

For 20 years, I've known Jeané H.  She is a good friend of mine from college days.  This weekend another friend and I traveled up to PA to surprise Jeané H. at her, ahem, birthday party of a significant year.

I also had the privilege of surprising another Jeané (Jeané M.) who happens to be friends with Jeané H.  I've only "known" Jeané M. for a short while.  You see, I've never met her in person, but I've read her blog for a while now.  She was at Jeané H.'s party and didn't know I was coming.  What fun that was to surprise Jeané M. too!  She writes the most hilarious, but thought provoking blog posts over at The Coffee Cottage.

And here are both Jeané's sharing a laugh together!

Kudos to this man, Lyle, who is Jeané H.'s husband.  He threw a most excellent party!

What fun it was to be nearly all reunited with my Hillside Honeys once again (Jul, we missed you)!