I Inspire!

Kat over at Candles, Crafts and Whatnot bestowed this award on me and many others a few weeks ago and this time I wanted to get to it sooner rather than later. I have to say that this is a really cool award and much appreciated Kat. Of course, now the hard part is who to give it to since I think I've seen it given to most of the blogs I would have given it too already. To be honest all the blogs I visit regularly inspire me in some way, shape or form. So I'll have to be lazy and say ... if you haven't received it already from someone else and you stop by here regularly then consider yourself my inspiration!



Now to our trip. If you haven't been to New York City recently then let me tell you that the hotel operators there obviously don't realize what the economy is like. Luckily for us, we only paid for one of three nights hotels since we won a night at a LaQuinta and had accrued enough nights at Hotels.com that we had earned a free night. It's amazing how much extra you have to pay just to have your own bathroom!! The photo above of the Empire State Building was from the second hotel from our room. Sadly, when we got in the room it was a mess and they ended up moving us but I did manage to snap this shot before we moved since the next room had a view of a brick wall. One thing I will say is you CAN actually do NYC for cheap as far as eating at least for breakfast. There are loads of guys on the corners selling bagels with cream cheese for $1.50. We stopped by those and that fills you up pretty good for a while.



This is me with my freshly dyed hair in front of Giants Stadium on Friday morning. We had General Admission tickets and you had to get there by 1pm to get a wristband to get in the "pit". Being in the pit means you are closest to the stage which of course means being nearer to Bruce. The husband did manage to give him a tap on the back on Friday night and touch him on Saturday night! Friday night we had more energy and were dancing a lot. At one point I happened to notice a very conservative looking guy next to us and I looked harder and realized it was Brian Williams the anchor for the NBC Nightly News. If I had known he was a Bruce fan I might have actually watched the news a bit more....lol.

All in all we managed to have a good time fairly cheaply in New York which is pretty difficult but can be done. The only complaints were the airlines but I won't even bore you with that since I am sure everyone else has their airline horror stories lately. Worst part of traveling is the "getting there".

Meeting with The Boss....

in the swamps of Jersey aka Giants Stadium. If you've read my blog for a bit then you will be able to figure that one out! So, I won't be posting or doing any Entrecard drops until Monday. On that note, I have decided to leave you with some eye candy until I get back. These are a few new items I've been working on lately. Funny thing about the first pair of earrings is when I showed them to the husband he says "They aren't very even". Ummm yeah that was kinda the point. They are meant to be random swirls of silver and rose wire.

More rose wire with a 4mm rose Swarovski bicone dangling at the bottom.

Lucite flower earrings in red with a handmade ear wire in sterling silver.

Hammered copper wire swirls.


I'm planning on adding quite a few items to my Artfire shop since they are having a promotion during the month of October for anyone who has a Basic Account, you can list as many items as you'd like over the normal 12 you are allowed. For FREE! I figure I'll take advantage even though I haven't sold a thing on there yet maybe if I add more items then I'll have more of a chance. I know that lately I've read over on the Etsy forums that a lot of people are closing their shops on Artfire because of lack of sales. It's worth giving it a few weeks and if still nothing then I can always list/relist over on Etsy.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll see ya Monday!

A Treasury On Etsy

Yesterday I was sitting there and thought I'd see how close it was to getting a Treasury over on Etsy.....as you sometimes do. Well, it was just about to open and as I was sitting there waiting I suddenly thought to myself "OK, I'm waiting but what theme do I want to do?". I had just done one a few weeks ago that was for the EJDSS Team. There were so many already with color themes and I couldn't think of a good color or name for one so I decided to go for a personal and kinda silly theme....Bruce. It's actually amazing how many items there are on Etsy if you do a search for Bruce Springsteen. I know it won't make it to the Front Page or anything but it was fun for me. In case, you want to stop by and check it out in person, here is the link. If you read my blog regularly then you'll know I'm a bit Bruce obsessed....and if you didn't know before then you do now! Hope everyone has a great weekend, especially if you have Monday off for Labor Day.

Favorites For Friday

I almost forgot it was Friday until I was writing the title for this post. Kinda catchy I think. Well, I have to be honest in that I haven't been in the mood to make anything. Over the past week or so the lack of employment and our general situation has gotten me very down. So since I have nothing new to share at the moment I decided to show off a few of my favorites from Etsy. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

A Brighter Golden Gate Photo
Matt Allen Photography


London Calling British phone booth bracelet (I love The Clash too)
insanejellyfish designs

The Boss T-Shirt (of course it's a fave!)

Communitea Graphics

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (I have the plain chocolate and it is YUMMY!)
Lisa's Hillside Bakery

Wild Raspberry Strawberry Jam (Just like Mom made...nah...MUCH better!)
Mirasol Farm

Rainbow Anodized Niobium Jump Rings
CandTDesigns


Have a great weekend!

Tramps Like Us....

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Kansas City, MO Aug 24/08
Originally uploaded by SlyMarton

I was recently tagged by Pink Pooch Designs (great blog and gorgeous jewelry) with a Kreativ Blogger Award. Basically you have to list 7 things you love. I decided that I would focus on one thing I love because it is relevant right now (for me at least). I've always loved music and it's always been something very important to me. Some of my best memories of my teenage years was sitting in my bedroom listening to all my records. Most of you who have read some of my posts know that I'm unemployed and so many of Bruce's songs are about feeling desperate or in a bind (so to speak) which right now actually makes me feel better to listen to.

Last Friday, my husband and I drove down to Glendale (Phoenix), Arizona to go and see Bruce and the E Street Band. Yes, the bills and rent were paid and I've been eating a lot of soup and noodles just so we could go (sacrifices must be made). That is how important it is for me to see The Boss. They have this system for people who have general admission tickets, you get to the arena between 2-5pm and get a wristband with a number on it. At about 5.30 you line up and a guy tells you how many are allowed in the "pit" for that nights show. Friday it was 400 and then they call a number and the first 400 after that number get in. The number was 161 and our numbers were 315 and 316 so we were in. Ok, so we weren't as close as we were in the above pic but still pretty darn close. That is why I used that photo. It was taken last year in Kansas City and if you look at the bottom where the Security guy is, to the right is a redhead and a guy in a black t-shirt....that's us. Now, I may never get that close again but I'm sure as heck gonna try every chance I get.

Without music in my life I probably would never have done the things I've done or become the person that I am or I might very well have not even been here at all. This is why I love music so much and why it has meant what it has to me throughout my life...it has made me feel alive. So as Bruce would say......

IS THERE ANYBODY ALIVE OUT THERE?????

Tagged for Life

So, I just noticed that I have actually been tagged 3 times. I guess I should play and at least it gives me something to write about! Here are the rules regarding tag:

1. Each blogger has to reveal 7(8 according to some) random facts about his or herself.
2. People who are tagged have to post the rules.
3. At the end, I have to choose 7(or 8) people to tag.
4. I then need to leave a comment for each person who has been tagged, telling them that they are "it".
5. The "taggee" needs to then leave a comment for the person who tagged them to read your list.

Here are my random facts about me:

1. I love Indian food - tandoori chicken, aloo gobi. I could probably eat it most days. Mexican food on the others.
2. I'm a BIG Boss fan, as in Bruce Springsteen. We travel all over to see him and went to 7 shows on the last tour and none were home shows in Las Vegas (he didn't play here).
3. Despite growing up about an hour from San Francisco I did not go to my first Giants Baseball game until I was in my 20's.
4. My wedding was at 9am on a Saturday morning in Newcastle, England and at 3pm we were at St. James' Park to watch a soccer (football) game.
5. I am most vain with regards to my teeth. I could go bald and buy a wig but I never want to lose my teeth.
6. I was a punk in High School (still am really). Complete with varying shades of hair color from week to week.
7. I DO NOT like Chick Flicks, give me Pulp Fiction any day.

Now, on to who I shall tag. I hope a few decide to play.

1. Strawberry Anarchy
2. Chez Chani
3. Dragons Fire Chainmaille Designs
4. Rojagato Designs
5. Jude McConkey
6. Red Books & Chairs
7. Timeless Designs

So have fun and don't forget to let me know so I can see your random facts.