Well that’s everything. It’s been a weird week and it has been sooo hot and I’m about 5 different types of exhausted. Not too exhausted to go to the post office, however. Remember, if you missed out on anything this week or in the past, I still cheerfully accept made to orders for anything that doesn’t say OOAK (one of a kind) in the title, so shoot me a bing-bong if anything interests you. As of this writing, my made to order schedule is completely open and you can expect about 1 week or less for completion, depending on the size of your order. I almost hate to even say that because something dreadful and pressing is sure to come along BECAUSE I said that. And hopefully the superstitious addendum will ward it off.
Hi bead friends, just popping in here real quick to tell you about my next sale, which is this Sunday, June 26th 2022, at 5PM Central Time, in my shop. Sneak a peek – these AND MORE will be there Sunday! I hope you will too.
Sorry to be so brief, but I have much to do… I have a bit of hand-wringing and rushing about ahead of me because I’m a procrastinator extraordinaire. See you Sunday!
Here are the beads! Click here to get right to my shop, or the link below each photo for the individual listings. Before we do that, though, I have news: I AM NOW SHIPPING TO CANADA! HOORAY! If you buy one item, it will be shipped First Class International for $15. Vague tracking is available, but insurance is not. If you buy two items, you will pay an additional $15 and it will go Priority Mail International instead, which features slightly better tracking, it will get there faster, can be packed into a much better box + envelope, and has built in insurance for up to $200. We can add more insurance if we feel it is necessary. Just so you know, this is what these shipping services cost, I’m not tacking on any handling fees.
Welp, that’s that. I hope you’re having a happy Sunday, made happier with beads. I worked really hard on these. Not just the beads, but making sure I counted everything right, unlike last time. It didn’t seem to be a problem, but I’m such a goofus sometimes. I’ll get your mailing address right, though, I promise. Knock on wood.
BTW, I said I’d fill you in once I reached a verdict on Pirate Ship, the discounted shipping label service I mentioned giving a go several posts back, and I’ve been very pleased. They send you an automatic email with your tracking number, which is very helpful to me. They also make it easy to print two labels per page, and that saves paper, and I like that, too. So if you are in need of such a service, I say go for it.
First things first: GREAT stuff upcoming this Sunday, June 12, let’s say 4pm Central time, in my shop. I will, of course, update this blog thing Sunday when it’s time with all the pretty pictures and direct links. For now, have a looky at the group photos:
I have returned in an only slightly better mood than I was in last time we chatted, so I’m going to ramble at you a bit. Firstly, we will be referring to the boyfriend as Sprinkles from here forward because it fits a few different ways… except his level of intelligence. Mainly because it’s looking like he’s going to be around for a while and he needs a nickname a bit more suitable than just “boyfriend”. He’s much more than that, he’s been a surprisingly stabilizing force for me during this extremely effed up chunk of time, he’s been impossible to scare off (believe me I’ve tried), and has not only put literal rainbow sprinkles on his home-made white chocolate dipped Oreos, but he has also put figurative rainbow sprinkles on my life. I hope he understands that I’m not trying to dent his ego, I’m just trying to respect his privacy.
Anyway, a while back Sprinkles told me something that went kind of like “I know world events and politics are complicated and hard to stomach, but it’s important that you at least try to understand because if you don’t pay attention you won’t know what hit you.” Of course he said it so much more elegantly than that, with a much less ominous tone (hence Sprinkles) and of course, he is right. He also impressed upon me the value of YouTube, essentially free entertainment and education (from trustworthy sources only, and good luck sorting that out anymore). I’ve always mostly avoided it due to the pointless toxicity of the comments section, and stuck to watching a DIY video every 8 or 9 months. He showed me some interesting content I wouldn’t have stumbled onto otherwise. While he was at it, he filled me in on internet culture that is both frightening and amusing at the same time, which, I finally came to understand probably had a hand in leading to one of the biggest trolls on earth being elected into office as the President of the United States… who, thanks to unrelenting narcissistic delusion, is convinced that he still is. Good news is, a different troll by the name of Elon Musk is preparing Mars, hopefully for the Grand Troll Migration, and it can’t happen soon enough to please me. The rapture I pray for isn’t God descending from the sky, but that pudgy Alfred E Newman looking muggafug in an electric spaceship equipped with a frunk large enough to fit Twitter. Perhaps a second trip can be made to permanently relocate 4chan, and us reasonable folk can have some peace for a while. Meanwhile, we could all probably use some cheering up, yeah?
If you want to know some stuff but would rather have it summed up humorously, might I suggest Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I Love And Adore John Oliver. F-bombs and all (but always with warmth and kindness) so consider yourself warned. Last Week Tonight is on HBO, and he does these 20 minute newsdesk style exposees on current topics and sometimes obscure things you didn’t know you needed to know. He really digs in, and has stirred up some trouble a time or two by calling out despicable people. And he often ends these bits with a few words of hope and encouragement, sometimes a trailer for a made-up movie starring some very respectable actors, or even a big stinking middle finger aimed at an aforementioned despicable jerk wrapped in a grand musical act. You don’t have to subscribe to HBO to get such relevant information, because John Oliver, prince that he is, publishes these pieces on his Last Week Tonight YouTube channel. And he might even poke fun at you for hopping on your favorite free wi-fi and watching for free on YouTube, because the joke is there and I suppose he couldn’t help but make it.
Another Youtube thing I thoroughly enjoy is the Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural series with Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, where they explore aliens and haunted places. The ghost hunting (with Ryan as the believer and Shane as the skeptic) is my favorite, where they use a spirit box – and yes, a few f-bombs – to attempt to communicate with the deceased, and it’s oftentimes more hilarious than it is scary. Ryan and Shane have since struck out on their own with their Watcher channel featuring a wide selection of fun content, consisting of drunken ghost stories, food sampling, and this other wonderful thing Shane seems to be in charge of called Puppet History. Puppet History is a delight; mostly forgotten little snippets of time are acted out with hand puppets and uproariously clever songs. Guests are asked to guess the most likely happenstance in a multiple choice format, and jellybeans are the prize for the right answer. Don’t be fooled, this is for adults. You won’t regret checking it out. Shane designs and creates the puppets himself, which makes the whole thing that much better.
Ryan George has his own unique brand of humor. I especially like his “The First Guy” series. These short little sketches, where Ryan George plays all of the characters, depict what the thought processes of the “first guy to ever own a cat” and the “first guy to ever order food delivery” might have been, outlining every absurd detail about things we just do all the time without really giving their origins much thought.
—————————————————–
All of this YouTube stuff got me to thinking… since I can’t stand Facebook and feel pretty Meh about Instagram as far as promoting myself, I wonder if some youtube videos might allow me to get a bit more in-depth and talkative about my process and what I’ve been working on, and sometimes these things are easier to convey with some movement and fluid explanation. But that comments feature, though… eek. And I’m not sure too many of you here are all that interested in YouTube, but I could be wrong about that. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and hopefully I’ll see you Sunday!
the z-beads blog 