My cool, exciting new business!!

Ever looking for my next activity, I have decided to launch a new business! I am so excited about it, because it involves jewelry:-). I love jewelry: I love to make it, wear it, style it...just have fun with it. So...one day, while wasting endless time on Facebook, I saw an ad on the right side of my screen for a necklace that I just HAD to have...lovely, enamel flowers, bright gold chain, yummm. I clicked on the link, and lo and behold, it is a new direct marketing company called Stella & Dot.

Well, I have done direct marketing before with Arbonne. I was really quite successful with that company, and the products were, and still are, wonderful. But I wanted something simpler than Arbonne (over 450 products with ingredients!!), so jewelry seemed like a good fit. I tried marketing my own little productions on Etsy, but boy, is that time-consuming!! And, I must say, if you don't craft and market your craft full-time, you won't make a penny.

So anyway, I visited the Stella & Dot website. And after rather extensive research, viewing everything I could find in the media and on the internet about the company and their products, I have decided to jump in!!

The designs are amazing...and they have top jewelry designers who have created items for such chic retailers as Fred Segal in LA and Banana Republic, and the founder of Stella & Dot was also the founder of weddingchannel.com. So, I think she kinda knows what she is doing!

Check my FB page for more information, but I just wanted to share my big news! Now...what else can I add to my plate....

Let's all Do a Craft!! C'mon kids, its fun:-)

Have some extra game tiles laying around? Or perhaps a glass tile?? Or looking for a new thing to make in all your spare time? Here is an easy project to create your own unique necklace.

Let's specifically talk about a nice glass picture pendant. You will need the following: (I buy my supplies from Sun and Moon Crafts on Etsy...link is on the bottom of my page here)

1 Glass tile
1 really small picture, or just a nice piece of paper (I love the Japanese Chiyogami paper that is used for Origami). For this project I actually used some text from the back of my Twilight Book!!
1 tube of glaze...(you can use 3-D Crystal Lacquer, or Sun and Moon sells their own glaze)
1 Aarnaku Bail
1 chain, leather cord, or stringing material of choice (I like the ball chains...they are inexpensive and cute)
1 small tube of E6000 glue (DON'T sniff it...and use in an open area)
a toothpick (you will see what its for later!) and some waxed paper, and a damp paper towel

Take your picture/paper and trim it to the size of the glass tile...I actually like to trim it just a bit smaller than the glass. On the FLAT side of the glass, place a drop of the glaze and spread it all around with the toothpick, getting to all the edges. Place your picture/paper, printed side down, on top of the glaze and smooth it out with your finger, so there are no air bubbles under it. Let it sit for a few minutes. The glaze is acting like a glue, and it will dry quickly, so be sure your picture/paper is positioned properly. After a few minutes have passed, you want to glaze over the entire picture/paper. DO NOT shake your glaze tube...(will create air bubbles). Squeeze the first dot of glaze out of the tube onto the waxed paper, as this will bring the initial air bubble out. Then, start squeezing your glaze onto the tile, over the picture/paper. You will go around the edges first, and then keep going around, filling in until the entire thing is covered. The idea is to not pick up the glaze tube, but to keep going in one continuous cycle. Once this is done, set your tile aside on a flat surface, and allow to dry at least overnight.

Once the tile is "cured", you can add your bail. Take the bail, and dot it on the back with the E6000, and place it in the center of the back of your pendant. Hold it there for a few seconds, and then set it aside again, and allow to dry for at least a few hours.

As you can see by the picture, I also added a crystal charm - but we can talk about that later!!

Thread your chain, cord, whatever thru the bail, and Voila!!! Your new necklace is complete!!

"PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY"...

Um, what?? yeah, ok. I have been lawyering for about 14 years now. I hesitate to say "practice", because you know what I feel that implies. After all, would you want someone to represent you that needed to practice?? In any event, I have seen and heard a lot of things over those 14 some-odd years. I have learned a few things too. And sometimes, things make me laugh, or make me just sit back and go, hmmmm. Like the time I dealt with an attorney in Israel, and found out that in Israel, they call attorneys "Dr. so and so". I like that one. When I am feeling all self-important, I refer to myself as Dr., and then I laugh.

So, a few days ago, a person-who-might-become-a-client showed me a rather threatening letter from an attorney in Florida. The last line of the letter said, (just like this, by the way), PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY. Well, call me the gal who just crawled out from under a rock, but I have never heard that before. How pompous! And who, exactly, is this lawyer, telling someone to "govern themselves accordingly"?? And, what exactly, does it mean to govern oneself accordingly?? Is this guy Stalin? God incarnate?

Really, I had to laugh. Lawyers get a bad rap as it is, but boy, does that statement, or command add highly powerful explosives to the fire. What unmitigated gall! What chutzpah! I wanted to call him out of principal and ask, hey buddy, do YOU govern yourself accordingly??

Incidentally, on my way home from work today, some dopey-head cut me off. And, instead of my customary rude, digital gesture, guess what he got? "yo, can't you govern yourself accordingly???!!!???" no wonder he looked at me like I had three heads...

Wizards, Weasley and Wheezy

I am paying brief homage to JK Rowling this morning, or as her fans so lovingly call her, Jo. I am a fan of Jo...she is a bit of an idol to me. A woman with an incredibly fascinating mind, who persued a dream against certain odds, and really came out on top. A mother too...and I love mothers. They are bang-up people if they love their children.

But, let me not digress too far...Last night, I was reading a bit of the 7th Harry Potter book. Having finished book 6 (in preparation for the movie release next week), I figured, why the heck not just finish the series (again!). So, I got down and dirty into my little wizarding world locale...only to be interrupted.

Let me backtrack. Thing Two has been sick for a few days. He is a wonderfully enchanting little fellow of 4...content to play endlessly with his dinosaurs and sing little Backyardigans ditties while doing so, for hours on end. But...when children are sick, they retreat to another place. It is not fever, nor the snifflies that determine how sick they are, but really their actions (or inactions). However, often, and during the day, symptoms ease, and we grow complacent.

It is at night that things often turn for the worse. I really have not slept well in three days (nor has my other half), because the Wheezy comes out at night. I hate the Wheezy...a small creature that I really want to banish to great depths somewhere - sort of like a nastly little house elf for you Potter-ites. I hate it even more when the Wheezy is accompanied by his henchman, the Croupie. Oh, then we really have a situation on our hands, and I wish Jo, in all her knowledge, could come up with a spell to alleviate or obliviate those villains.

The past three nights have been occupied by the Wheezy and sometimes the Croupie. Oftentimes, the normal rememdies (a steamy bathroom, some decongestant, fluids, etc) just don't seem to help my poor little Thing Two. He is a fevery kid to boot.

I think today, finally at day three, things are easing a bit. I think that we have defeated the Wheezy...and perhaps tonight, when I curl up with Jo, I might actually be able to read without hearing that teary little voice call "Mommy"?? as he barks a cough. Be Gone, Wheezy!! (said as I wave my mommy magic wand...), and thanks Jo, for giving me a place to escape to!

Welcome to my world...world.

Well, here I am, finally blogging. wow, I cannot believe it has taken me this long, but I have a lot to say, so perhaps this might be my new form of relaxation. I am not as technologically saavy as lots of other bloggers, but I am sure I will get there in my own due time.

However, I must say, this is difficult to do while channel surfing, trying to catch up on Harry Potter book 7 (just finished book 6 so I can mentally prepare for the movie next week), keeping up with child number 1, who, being female and age 10, shall hereinafter be referred to as "Thing One".

Yeah, as for that "hereinafter"...I know I need to lose that too if anyone is going to read this. There are just some things about the practice of law that cannot be eliminated from life in general. One such thing is language. Even us attorneys have been warned by our peers, in efforts to educate us, that we need to speak in plain language. Where is the fun in that? What did I spend all that time and money for with law school? My legalese is sometimes the only thing that alerts people to the fact that I am part of the profession. Yes, well, more about that later.

So, again, here I am. I have two children (Thing One hereinabove discussed) and Thing Two. Thing Two is my little boy...he is four, and very, incredibly very, adorable. They are my life, my raison d'etre, etc. Then, I spend a little time every day in an office..."practicing" law. If I am so good at it, why do I have to "practice"? I love that...but yes, 20+ hours per week traveling the Trusts-and-Estates journey through life. It has its good moments, plus I get to wear decent clothes. And...it is also an excuse to put on heels. I love shoes...(I will interject that into every post at some point, of that you can be sure). In my spare time, I craft...yep, anything. I knit, crochet, create jewelry, decoupage, decoupage jewelry (like game tiles), hand-dye fabrics and wearables, and just get into my own dream state deciding what to embellish next. I am also a news channel addict. And yes, I like Fox News...but don't let that turn your stomach. I have lots of liberal friends who not only tolerate me, but love me more than life. I am that loveable.

I also try to be a wife...and do things that wives/mommies do. I cook, and I like it. I clean my own home. And boy, I have a mean golf swing. I volunteer as much as I can at school, because I think it is very important to be involved in my children's lives...plus, I need the 411 on everything that goes on, and that is the best way to get it. I have found that the parents of my daughter's friends have become some of my best friends.

I recently turned 40...and there is a lot of fodder there for future posts. For now, I shall refrain. This is my intro post...and I don't want anyone to run away screaming just yet.

So, this has been fun. I am sure I will be back. And maybe, just maybe, someone ELSE will be reading!!
Cheers!!