Craft Show Tomorrow!

I know! I've been so bad with posting. I hope to improve drastically as soon as tomorrow (and the next day) pass on by. What's happening tomorrow, you say?

Tomorrow my mom and I will be running a booth at the Shakerag Festival in Peachtree City, Georgia, selling my handcrafted jewelry and my mom's vintage-style aprons. We have a lot of other items as well, including 2 afghans I crocheted, comfy cuddles, (which are heating packs, great for aches and pains) crocheted slippers, and crocheted pincushions. :D It's a fun booth! We did a mock set-up today in our carport and it looked great. I can't wait for tomorrow! (even though I will be getting up at 5:45 AM, as we have an hour's drive there...) :P



Please be praying that our merchandise sells well. It would be a huge blessing for our family. :) And if you're in the area, I'd love to see you! Feel free to stop on by! :D


Hugs,

Oh Sew Stylish giveaway!

My sweet friend Lindsay is giving away a bag of your choice from her etsy shop!

Lindsay is a very talented seamstress and her purses and bags are simply *Adorable*!! I'd love to have one of these! The winner will be drawn at random on August 20th, (2010) so hurry on over to enter! :D


There, now that I've shared that wonderful event with you, I thought you might like to see some of the pictures I've been taking with my new camera, which is an Olympus PEN E-PL1.


I've really been enjoying the "Art Modes", especially:

Grainy Black-&-White

 Me... a self portrait. (That is my bookcase behind me and you can just see the corner of my jewelry worktable on the left.)

Pop Art:

Wild blueberries. (one of my earliest shots... the focus here is not perfect)

And...

Soft Focus:

Look at the background... see how soft and dreamy it looks?

I also liked...

Gentle Sepia:

Daddy on the porch.

Pinhole: (darkened edges)

And the Macro is impressive! Look at this picture:

I call it "The Unfortunate Tomato". Lol!

More next time!

~Julia~

Warfare By Duct Tape FREEBIE!

Hi Blog Readers!

I have some REALLY exciting news. My two younger brothers Mark and Steven have launched their own business with a brand new website! Warfare by Duct Tape now has an online home at WWW.WARFAREBYDUCTTAPE.COM!

Now, I know most of my blog readers are girls like myself, but how many of you have brothers? They would LOVE this, I promise! My brothers make their own medieval-style weapons (including swords, spears, battle-axes, and throwing axes) from simple materials easily found at your local hardware store like PVC pipe, foam padding, and of course - Duct Tape! :D

I designed and built the website *modest little cough* ;) and my mom and I worked really hard on getting all the files for the e-books uploaded.

Oh yes, the exciting part...

For one week, August 9-14 2010, We are giving away A FREEBIE! It's an excerpt from THE BATTLE BOOK, a tutorial booklet on how to make Shields and Bucklers! You can find this awesome freebie at: http://warfarebyducttape.com/freebiepage.html

And for a limited time, our BATTLE BOOK and ARMORED GLOVE BOOK are both on sale at a big discount! So if I were you I'd head on over there and take a look.

Do tell me what you all think of the website too... I put a lot of work into that thing and would love to hear your comments & suggestions.

*Oh, and I know I haven't posted anything in forever, I am so sorry. I miss you all! And yes, I am OK. Just extremely busy. I do plan on posting sometime soon about everything I've been working on. (hint: Jewelry, Crochet, New Camera, Upcoming Craft Show, The roller-coaster emotions involved in Building Websites... etc.)

*Also, what do you think of the new blog look? :D

Exquisite Bracelets

Today I was playing with the new things I received in my jewelry order, which came the other day. I'd happened to order some stunning spacer bars that evoked a victorian feel with antiqued silver and swarovski crystals adding a little sparkle. I had an inspiration, dived right in, and ended up designing 8 bracelets! I've never made so many 2-strand bracelets before in one day, so it was a new record for me... and I decided it was blog-worthy! :D So, whipping out my little camera, I snapped a few pictures for you.

Aren't they beautiful?

The bracelets are not complete yet, just strung on the Accu-Flex wire, but you get the idea. :)

Looking at these just makes me all happy inside! :) I was also quite pleased to get so much done today. Creativity comes in wild bursts for me... so I've learned to go with the flow and 'make hay while the sun shines'! :D

I actually do this pretty often. Snap a random self-portrait, that is. I rarely share them in blog-world, however. :D Here I am thinking, "hmm, will this angle work, or cut off half my face?"

And here I was thinking "Oh wow, it works!" :) I also love the close-up of the beads... all that shimmer and glitter is nearly overpowering my "sparkle radar". Oooh! SO gorgeous! :D

So what do you think? Did you spy a favorite color amongst my jewelry pieces? (hopefully! I usually just have to guess what people like when I'm ordering beads... sometimes my instincts flop, but most of the time they're pretty accurate) Let me know if you're interested in purchasing one of the completed pieces. These will all eventually be for sale. ;)

Love & Hugs,

Color Combination Happiness

So I was cleaning my room and noticed four shirts lying on my easy chair. They each had an equal amount of space on the chair where they were displaying their various colors. I had to stop and stare - the colors looked so beautiful together! I gathered them all up in my arms and marveled.

Then, I plopped down at my desk and tried to re-create the shades on my computer so I wouldn't forget about this color combination. It was too pretty not to share.

So I had to share it with you! What do you think?

Do you like these colors together too, or is it just me?

Also... While I was playing around, I decided to show ya'll my color scheme for my future kitchen. I've wanted my kitchen to be a soft purple and sunny yellow ever since I first found a picture of a purple kitchen in a magazine.

Isn't that cute?? :D I've already collected some kitchen supplies in the right shades of purple and yellow. (Seriously, it is not easy to find kitchen accessories in these colors) So far, among other things, I have a purple skillet and a yellow colander (strainer). :D

Also, someday, I would Love, Love, LOVE a master bedroom in these soothing colors:

And I would love to crochet a king-size afghan in these colors too. Wouldn't that look nice?

What is your favorite color combination? Do you like pink and gray, or orange and baby blue? Tell me what colors work for you. :)

The late-updating, vacuum-fighting, re-shrinking me

Okaaaay, so after that somewhat (all right, rather... very...) unusual post title, I have an even more interesting post! It could be a little mixed-up, but this is the real Julia, at 10:00 pm with all the wonderful sugar from a vanilla waffle ice cream cone topped with strawberry jam racing through her system. *grins*

Yes, you wanted to see pictures of the homeschool convention. No, they will not be appearing in this post. I'm sorry.  I did not download them yet - they're on my mom's camera and I am unfamiliar with the shiny silver little device. I will share them with you when they are downloaded. But I do have the news!  I sold half my jewelry inventory at the booth, and my brothers sold all but 4 spears and 2 throwing axes. It was wonderful and we are definitely going back next year! :D

Oh, and ehrm... the hotel pool was about 2 feet wide and 6 feet long. I kid you not. Very unimpressive.
The rest of the hotel was really cool! ...But they should have skipped the pool.

And now, we interrupt our regularly scheduled blogposting to bring you... The Beautiful Blogger Award!

Thank you Joanna!! I'm touched. What a sweet thing for you to do! :D

- Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.


- Copy the award and paste it to your blog.

- Tell us seven interesting facts about yourself.

- Pass this award on to 15 fantastic bloggers you have discovered.

- Contact your nominations and let them know they’ve won.



1. Today, I started crocheting a RUG! Oh so cute. I must post pictures soon.

2. Tomorrow, we are going strawberry picking - oh joy! I love strawberries, especially freshly-picked!

3. Next week, we are having a Yard Sale at our house and wow did we ever have too much stuff squirreled away that we are (hopefully) getting rid of.

4. Yesterday I had a battle royale with the vacuum cleaner and whipped it into submission, emerging victorious with a spotlessly clean bedroom carpet. This really deserves its own blog post, but I'm squeezing it in here... You see, the vacuum broke a while ago, and so I had to use the 'pet brush' tool on the hose to clean my whole floor. This means I was down on my hands and knees, pushing this ridiculously small tube (attached to the machine with a stretchy hose) across the floor. I was an easy mark for the base, which kept getting tugged when I extended the stretchy hose, and falling over on top of me! Ouch! *grrr.*

5.Remember my "Incredible shrinking Julia" post? Well... I sort of 'un-shrunk', so now I'm re-shrinking! Yay! Already lost 3 pounds. :D
 
6. Mama made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, and we bought waffle cones to make ice cream cones at the store today, so 'shrinking' has been very difficult for me lately! (Tell me I don't need to be eating ice cream.)
 
7. The other day, I actually got a blister from playing a toy accordion. (See? I told you this blog post was going to be weird!) Apparently I was concentrating so hard on trying to pick out the melody of 'Amazing Grace' that I didn't realize I was getting a blister from the strap, which was too small. *facepalm*
 
And now, to award somone else.
 
Rachel. My sweet blogging friend! Rachel's latest post on our devotional blog, Meditations of His love, was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment, and I was in awe of the way God used her to speak to me. My dear, I am awarding you with this award for being the beautifully clear example of God's love that has so inspired me. God bless you!
 
I hope the rest of you will not mind that I didn't do the required 15 awardees. I wanted to do something special for Rachel. :)
 
Time for me to be signing off. Have a lovely weekend, ya'll!
 
Love & Hugs,

In Short...

We did great at the convention! :D I'm thrilled! We weren't able to use the internet in the hotel, so that's why no updates have come from me during the weekend. Currently, my whole family (especially me) is fried. (very tired, in other words) So I'm off to rest! But more details and pictures are coming soon, so stay tuned! ;)

Hugs,

Leaving for the 2010 GHEA convention!

Hi Readers!

My family and I are packed and ready for our departure tomorrow afternoon. We're going to the 2010 Georgia Home Educators Association convention in Atlanta! I am SO excited. This trip will be a lot of fun for my family, as we're staying in a hotel up there for the duration of the convention. In a suite. With indoor pool. *oh yeah*. :D

The primary reason we are going is because we are running booth 105 in the exhibit hall! I am selling my handcrafted fine glass and swarovski crystal jewelry, and my two brothers Mark and Steven are selling their padded, duct tape swords, spears, battle axes, and a completely enthralling e-book with instructions on how to make each item! Woohoo! We are so excited. The jewelry takes up most of the booth, but the boys will have a square table in the corner. Mama and the boys and I created some eye-catching fabric signs to hang on the wall behind us. The boys' is brown, with duct tape letters saying "WARFARE BY DUCT TAPE" and mine is a light pink with darker pink fabric letters saying "Jewels by Julia". I will be taking my camera and hope to post pictures of the booth from the hotel room. :D So check back for that!

But before I sign off, I have one plea. Could you please pray for us? We hope that our merchandise will sell very well, because it would be such a blessing for our family, and all the hard work we've put into this effort will be worth it. :) Thank you.

Blessings!

Flower Photos

Rain is pouring outside my window as I sit here typing at my desk. Thunder rolls, lightning crashes. It's a gloomy day! But I have sunshine in my heart, and I know the storm shall soon pass away.

And so, just for fun, I uploaded a TON of flower and butterfly and garden pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them! :)

These pictures were taken at Callaway Gardens on the first Sunday of April.

Beautiful sun-kissed pansies

Peach blossoms. Oh yes.

Blooming peach trees.

This is either Eidelweiss, or snowdrops. I'm not sure.

A frilly Hibiscus flower

The fiery heart of a tulip

A slightly ragged, yet still gorgeous butterfly.

A blue butterfly resting in peace.

A small orange and brown butterfly, brilliantly illuminated by the sun

An owl butterfly reposing in a shady spot of the garden.

Crisp, oh-so-Dutch red and white tulips.

A bright profusion of double daffodils and pink tulips

Soft pink cherry blossoms

One of my most favorite spots in Callaway- petunia baskets float above a bubbling fountain 

Bright pink hyacinths pop against the dark green leafy background in this picture.

Cascading hollyhocks with open, spotted throats.

Pure, lovely, white easter lilies.

Delicate tendrils emerge from the heart of this white orchid.

Creamy yellow orchids glow with a pearlescent sheen

Tangy orange tulips, peach and yellow jonquils, ah! This is life. ;)

Light pink tulips dance in this bright sunshine.

Back at my house, I took a few pictures of these gorgeous irises with butter yellow tops and drooping violet petals.

Think that was pretty? Wait until you see...

The inside.

These peppermint azaleas also look good enough to eat! They're one of my favorite plants in our yard.

I hope you liked the pictures! Leave me a comment letting me know which was your favorite.

Just me having a little chat.

So yeah, I turned 19 last Saturday. I don't feel a bit older, although I may joke about being 'so old'. :D What was I worried about? Mama jokes that she and Daddy made my childhood so wonderful that I didn't want to leave it. ;) It's partially true - I had an amazingly enjoyable, wonderful, incredible and happy childhood growing up 10 minutes from the beach, climbing our huge carrotwood trees, swimming in our pool, riding my bike up and down our quiet dead-end street and playing for hours on end with my two younger brothers and the little girl who lived across the street. It was truly idyllic. (well, except for the occasional surfeit of mosquito bites.) :D

Childhood, with all it's happinesses, also carried a lot of 'growing pains', so to speak. It wasn't all easy! Learning life lessons is tough! While I am by no means done learning, and I'll always be God's child, it's nice to look back and see all I've come through. Being an adult, instead of a child, will mean a lot more responsibility, it's true. But it'll also hold some of the sweetest joys imaginable. :)

Today I took a brisk walk, going twice down and up our quarter-mile driveway. I was trying to work some of the kinks out of my stiff muscles - although the walks 'up' were quite a lot less brisk than the walk 'down'... we have a rather steep gravel driveway, so in parts it's more like a hike. :D

The reason I was stiff was that the day before yesterday, Sunday, my family and I went to a get-together for some homechurches in our area. We had a wonderful time, and I was thrilled to play a game of Ultimate Frisbee with friends old and new. :D Since it was the first game I'd played in months, and I relentlessly pushed myself to the limit of my endurance, I was stiff and sore all over for the next couple days. :D But it was so worth it! I'm really competitive - always have been - and my favorite way to play Ultimate Frisbee is to race out as soon as the frisbee is thrown off, and to play the middle of the field, staying in the middle of the action whenever possible. :D So you can see why I might be a bit tired afterwards. :D

As for upcoming news, I'm going to be running a booth in the vendor hall at the GHEA convention this year for both days - consequently, I may not be on my computer for a while. (I only have about 2 weeks left to prepare!) I'm selling my handmade jewelry, featuring my all-time favorite jewelry elements... Swarovksi crystals, pearls, and fine glass beads. I'd love to see you there! :)

Back to Cyberspace Once More!

Hello, my dear sweet blog readers! :) It's been ages since I've done anything on my poor desolate little blog here, and I regret it very much. The truth is, I've been neglecting my computer sorely for the past 2 months or so. In a way, it's a good thing. I used to constantly be on the computer, working away at different projects and things, checking my email every hour, but this wasn't a healthy way of life because it ate up far too much of my time. For some reason, it's taken a wild swing in the other direction for me and I've been focusing on my crochet and jewelry making and reading, and the computer work has fallen by the wayside! Hopefully I can adjust back to a balanced middle ground and incorporate some computer into my life again. :D

Now, for your regular weather update: ;)
I don't know about you, but where I live in Georgia the air has been filled with pollen for the past couple of days. A few rainstorms yesterday cleared the atmosphere a little bit, but there's still plenty of the yellow dust left. What surprised me very much though, was the sudden and miraculous greening of all the trees and plants roundabouts! In a matter of days every twig and branch in the woods in which my log home is nestled were sporting lovely new green foliage - that elusive shade that's only seen when the leaves first make their appearance. Beautiful! :) I'm looking forward to the profusion of blooming flowers that, hopefully, will come out soon.

My grandmother and great-aunt Barbara were able to come for a visit over Easter weekend and we had a wonderful time with them. Some highlights of their stay were giving my grandmother her first computer lesson, (in preparation to getting her a computer of her own) showing my aunt Barbara how to crochet (Ah, what fun! I love crocheting!) and attending the Easter Sunrise Service at Callaway Gardens, spending a gorgeous day exploring the gardens and visiting the butterfly house.

Yesterday, my darling wonderful dear friend Allison H. came with us on a shopping trip to celebrate my 19th birthday, and we had such a blast! Before we left Allison presented me with a GORGEOUS journal with a cover that had been ribbon-embroidered by her. It was so beautiful! :) We stopped by Bath & Body works, and got matching bottles of fragrance mist, browsed the incredibly awesome store of Ross (where I always find something I absolutely love!!) in this case, finding some lovely skirts and a few picture collage frames (among other things). We went out for lunch at Stevie B's pizza and I was able to experience the astonishingly wonderful baked potato pizza... seriously folks, you gotta try some of that... :) Anyway, we came home loaded with goods from our shopping spree. Allison joined my family as we went out for dinner at a charming little Greek/Italian restaurant in my small home town and I had the most delicious Greek chicken salad ever. Oh. Wow. :)

Then, on top of that, Allison got to spend the night! I haven't had a sleepover since I was .... let's not think back how many years, shall we... And this one must have been the best yet. :D Allison and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning whispering and trying to stuff our giggles into pillows so that we wouldn't wake anybody else. We ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep, making me take a nap this afternoon to catch up on some rest. :) This morning we watched Sense and Sensibility, which Allison had never seen before... She told me she loved it! Yeah! Score one for the Jane Austen fans! :)

Yes. You did read that fact correctly up there. (That is, if you're paying attention) I did say "My 19th birthday". It's tomorrow, actually, (April 10th) and I have a beautiful cake planned out that I will bake... involving fresh strawberries and vanilla and strawberry cake. :D I've felt so many mixed emotions about this birthday that I've finally decided it's time to stop trying to analyze my feelings and just go with the flow, enjoying the happy moments. :) On one hand, I am thrilled to be another step closer to being a full-fledged 'adult'... but on the other, something in me mourns the passing of childhood. I realize this MUST seem melodramatic to my friends who are already in their 20's... but that's how I've been feeling for the past month or so. 19 seems so much older to me - am I really finished being 18? ;) Like there's really anything I can do about it anyway! :D I am excited about what this new year will bring across my path.

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed dipping my toes into the pool of blogging once more. Hopefully it will be followed by a big splash as I dive back in! :D

Oh yes - did anybody notice the new blog look? What do you think?

Much love, hugs, and many blessings to you, my friends!