Creative Bead Chat Group Supplies Swap

I was a lucky girl and got to participate in the Creative Bead Chat Group on Facebook supplies swap.  I was randomly partnered with Shelly Graham Turner.  Gosh I am so glad that I was partnered with her.  She is such an awesome person and has really helped me a ton in the short time I have known her regarding things such as business cards and Etsy.  Not only is she helpful but she is generous as well!  Below are some of the items that I received from Shelley.

Polymer Clay Beauties Made By Shelley

Black Velvet Ribbon with some Earring Cards

Assortment of Beads and Crystals

Another Assortment of Beads

Another Assortment of Beads including Shell

Seed Beads on Strands

Beautiful Copper Findings

Sweet Gum Balls and Shells from Shelley's home

Polymer Clay Wine Charms Made by Shelley

I just love the Wine Charms!

I told ya I was lucky!  I was going to make something using one of the Polymer Clay Beads that Shelley sent but due to real life and work I ran out of time :(  Soooo sad but I will make sure I post the piece once I finish it.  If you would like a set of these wonderful Charms for yourself you can purchase them at Shelley's Etsy Shop; Tori Sophia by clicking Here.

If you would like to see what I sent Shelley in return you can visit her blog Fabric of My Life by clicking Here.  It was such fun to do this and I really enjoyed getting to know Shelley.  If you have never participated in a Blog Hop I highly recommend that you do.  Not only does it inspire you to create outside of your comfort zone you also get to make some really great friends as well.

Peace and <3

Shelley's Dream

I just wanted to share my latest piece with everyone!  This is called "Shelley's Dream" after the lovely Lady that commissioned it. 

I am just so pleased with it I just had to share :)

Peace and <3

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

Fantastic news everyone! 

I sent in this photo to Interweave:

This was made by me using the pattern in Beadwork April/May 2012 by Cristie Prince of Glassy Jewels.

Well I was contacted today by Michelle Mach, yes THE Michelle Mach, and they want me to send in my bracelet for them to photograph and put it in the WORD section of Beadwork October/November Issue!  I am tickled pink!  As you can tell I am super excited!  I just had to share!  Woo Hoo!

Peace and <3

P.S  I have a giveaway coming in June!  :)

Tool Lady

A post on the Creative Bead Chat Group on Facebook recently got me to thinking about women in the "Tool World."  You see I just happen to work in that world and it truly is a different kind place.  I am the Merchandising Manager at Harbor Freight Tools in my hometown.

I have worked there almost a year now and I wanted to share a few things I have learned.  One thing I wanted to point out is that it really is a "Man's World."  The majority of our customers are men and sadly most of them still believe that a woman is not going to know anything about tools!  I have even had several male customers ask me outright if there was a man they could talk to!

Grrrrrrr!

I have to admit I knew almost nothing about tools when I started and while I have learned a lot I still have a long way to go. One of the things that I would most like to point out is the "Tool Culture."  I know what you are thinking, "How can tools have a culture?"  But they do!  Tools have several different names for example.  Or Tool Slang as I like to call it.  For example this is a Shop Crane:

2 Ton Foldable Shop Crane

Now this one item has so many different names it is crazy!  The most common one that I have heard is called a "Cherry Picker".  Some also call it a "Boom Lift", a "Basket Lift", even a "HydraLadder"!  When I first started in the "tool world" and someone asked me for a cherry picker I was a bit lost, because HFT refers to this as a shop crane.  See what I mean?   It can be kind of confusing!

I have recently been expanding the list of tools that I want to purchase because I want to try my hand at metalworking in jewelry thanks to inspiration from Melinda Orr.  So I have been slowly adding things to my tools like tin snips and sanding blocks and steel wool.  And don't forget the trusty Ball Pein Hammer lol!

I am finding that in the tool world it is a very intimidating place sometimes for women.  I have seen women ask male employees for help and watched the males attitude really become condescending.  It seems to me from my experience that when it comes to tools a woman would still rather have a man help them if they are not very comfortable in what they are talking about.  Which really surprises me!  So it is not just the men that have that sexist attitude towards women in tools but also women as well!

Now do not get me wrong, not all men, or women for that matter, have that kind of attitude regarding women and tools but it does happen more often than not.  On the other hand I really get a kick out of it when a man asks me for an item and he thinks I am going to be clueless and I happen to know more about that item than he does.  So I guess I am helping to change the culture of tools, one man at a time.  Ha!

Oh and for you folks that want to know about the quality of HFT Tools......

Well to be honest you win some (more often than not) and you lose some but the prices cannot be beat.  The employees there will always be happy to give you their opinion on the product before you buy it.  And we do have a very liberal return policy as long as you have a receipt (90 Days).  We also offer replacement (covers everything but loss or theft) plans on most items that extend that up to two years!  And yes pretty much everything we carry is made in China, which I have to admit I am not crazy about but it does seem to be the norm these days :(  Oh and please for no reason what-so-ever should you ever purchase anything from HFT without one of these babies:

It works on Sale prices too!

Which you can find almost anywhere on the web including the Digital Savings Page on HFT's Facebook Page!  These coupons change every month and always check your expiration date on them!

So to wrap this up, one thing to keep in mind is that some people will always be more knowledgeable about certain types of tools than others regardless of sex.  For example if you ask me about what tools are needed to work on cars....well.....I am pretty clueless on that.  However just from learning from our customers if you ask me about a fork you need for your Tie Rods than I am going to know that you need one of these:

 
I just may not know how to use it!  So if you go tool shopping just tell the salesperson what you are wanting to do and if that person cannot help you just ask if someone is there that is more knowledgeable about what you are looking for!  Do not allow all the different tools to overwhelm you!  Remember Knowledge is Power! 

I do love my job!  I do like working in what most consider a "Man's World."  I want to put a footnote in saying I do not know what HFT's policy is regarding using the images (copyright) from their website or my opinions on it.  But I DO NOT want to lose my job over this post lol.  Thanks so much for joining me on this post.  I hope you are able to take away something from it.  And if you ever have any questions about tools know that I am here to help!

Peace and <3

P.S.  Lori Anderson's wonderful ebook about blogging called "Follow the Path"  really helped me with this post!  So Thank You Lori!

"Designing Woman"

Do you remember that TV show Designing Women?  Man I used to love that show when I was younger, ok a lot younger.  I really connected to it. 

I think a lot of it was that I am born and raised mostly in the South.  You just cannot get more southern than Mississippi.  I love it here I have to admit.  While I have lived all over the U.S this is the one place that I call home.  Things here really are slower and calm.  Sweet Tea is the drink of choice and it is very common to meet up with your friends on your front porch swing just sharing life. 

 

Southern expressions and colloquialisms are slowly dieing here and that makes me really sad!  Us Southern Women really have a way with coining a phrase and I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.  

Don't count your chickens until they hatch.

 He couldn't carry a tune if he had a bucket with a lid on it.

 It happened faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.

 I'm feeling as low as a toad in a dry well.

 Madder than a wet hen.

 Rode hard and put up wet.

 You ain't got the sense God gave an ant.

 I'll knock a knot on your head Oral Roberts cain't take off.

 I’m so southern I’m related to myself.

 Shit far (fire) and save the matches!

More nervous than a long-tail cat in a room full of rockin' chairs.

  

I'm older than I look, 'cause every time I did something wrong as a kid momma would knock me into next week.

Caint (can't) never could do a damn thing!

He's as crooked as a barrel of snakes.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

I'm sweatin like a whore in a church!

Now there is also a few simple truths that all Southerns should know:

 

The differences between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and trailer trash.
 
True Southerners know instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. (If the trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin'.)

True Southerners make friends standing in lines. We don't do "queues," we do "lines." And when we're in line, we talk to everybody.

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it --- we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk


And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 on the freeway - you just say, "Bless her heart" and go your way.

Ya'll come back ya hear!