Taking The Long Way Home

I've been a sort-of vegetarian for over 30 years, and have recently taken the leap into Vegan Land. It was time, for lots of reasons. I won't go into the negativity of the animal raising industry today. We're here to party! But I will say that eliminating meat from our diets is the single easiest way to increase our overall health, heal our ailing planet, and feed the hungry people of the world. If you're even a little bit interested, do some research. I'll post a few links at the bottom of this post. I promise you, you do not "need" meat. And I have been heard to say on more than one occasion that a life without cheese would not be worth living. I was right... A life without cheese is actually worth celebrating ! I made my first attempt at vegan cupcakes yesterday. Cake is important. There are some great books on vegan baking out there, which I will be collecting, but I wanted to jump right in and do some spur of the moment baking on a snowy April day,...

I'm having a Very Big Sale in the BeadShop Now through Sunday, everything is 25% off with the Discount Code "BLOOM".  Time for you to stock up, and for me to clean house and pay some bills! 

Do you know Michele Goldstein ? She's a wonderful beadmaker, dearly loved throughout the bead community, and she's going through some particularly tough and sad times. Some of her friends have pulled together to organize an auction on eBay to help her out, and you just have to see the gorgeous goods being offered. I sent in my donation several weeks ago. If you thought you'd never have a shot at one of these, here's your chance! I want to see the price go through the roof on this beauty. Now off you go! Start bidding! Michele Goldstein Auction

Sorry for the delay in choosing a winner for the March Bead Abundance Giveaway! I got distracted... Drum roll.... and the winner is... PA (Polly Anna)!!!!!!!! You have until Friday, April 9 to claim your prize. Since nobody claimed the February prize (I tried twice), it's now the March prize. (Sorry February winners. You snoozed...) It's a very beautiful ring. Keep it for yourself, or give it as a gift to make someone else feel abundant! Will I do this again in April? I don't know yet... Now, do you want to know what's been distracting me? Besides spring winds that threaten almost daily to lift my humble studio (tent) off the ground and hurtle it across the state line? BUTTONS!!! I've been thinking about them for a while now, but I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted to construct them. Good engineering is important, particularly when a beautiful object also has a utilitarian purpose. I knew I didn't need to reinvent the wheel, so I looke...