the beads are ready!

It’s 4PM CT and here they are, and here I am all bright-eyed and bushytailed. Lookit me go! Click here to get right to my shop and see everything all at once, or the link below each item.

Dot On A Stick Tabs in Candygarden – 11 elongated tabs + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/dot-on-a-stick-tabs-in-candygarden-11-elongated-tabs-bonus-spacers

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High Violets Toggles & Tabs – 7 Toggles + 2 Tabs + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/high-violets-toggles-tabs-7-toggles-2-tabs-bonus-spacers

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Violet & Harvest Gold Oblong Fizz Tabs – 7 tabs + a button + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/violet-harvest-gold-oblong-fizz-tabs-7-tabs-a-button-bonus-spacers

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Lipstick Flames Smooches – 5 smooches + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/lipstick-flames-smooches-5-smooches-bonus-spacers

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Lit Up Leaf Turn – 9 Fronds + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/lit-up-leaf-turn-9-fronds-bonus-spacers

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Peach Pie Shimmer Spike Trio – 3 Spikes and the usual 4 chunky spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/peach-pie-shimmer-spike-trio-3-spikes-and-the-usual-4-chunky-spacers

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Pink Doll Mirror Dot Mod Pods – 9 glitzy beads + mirror dot button + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/pink-doll-mirror-dot-mod-pods-9-glitzy-beads-mirror-dot-button-bonus-spacers

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Rainy Day Rainbow Lolly Smooches – 7 smooches + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/rainy-day-rainbow-lolly-smooches-7-smooches-bonus-spacers

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Crash Wanda’s Premium Peepers – 8 beads + a button + bonus spacers
http://zbeads.bigcartel.com/product/crash-wanda-s-premium-peepers-8-beads-a-button-bonus-spacers

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And that’s everything! I hope you like! It sure looks like I was in the mood for purple. I’m looking forward to packing up at least a couple of things while watching the NEW Frasier this evening!! Can you believe they brought him back!? It’s one of my all-time favorite shows, and I’m pleased as punch about it. I’m also looking forward to the premiere of Elsbeth (Elsbeth Tascioni, one of my tippy-top favorite characters from The Good Wife universe, played by Carrie Preston) but it appears I’ll have to wait a while on that one, they keep putting it off. If you haven’t watched The Good Wife (2009-2016), I highly recommend it, especially if you need a pick-me-up. As incredibly clever, captivating and empowering as The Good Wife is, the direct/immediate spin-off, The Good Fight (2017-2022), is even better, even in Juliana Margulies’ absence. It’s a bit more spicy and politically charged, probably because it’s streaming rather than on network primetime broadcast, but highly intelligent and entertaining, bringing an equally star-studded cast. If you do decide to watch, I hope you enjoy it!

Anyway, I’ll try not to be a stranger… it’s more pleasant bead making weather around these parts now, so it shouldn’t be too long! Thanks for having a look!

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YES! Beads on Monday, but earlier than 7

IN BRIEF:
the shop update is still on, but, earlier than my previously quoted 7PM Central* is probably better, so:
WHEN: Monday, October 16th 2023 at 4PM Central Time
WHAT: my first shop update since June, and I do apologize for any inconvenience that might result from my decision to change the time to earlier in the day
WHERE: my online shop (zbeads.bigcartel.com)
WHO: ALL BEADS THIS TIME! Smooches, Toggles, a variety of Tabs, AND, something special: all sets in this update will come with coordinating spacers!!!
HOW: oh how I’d love to see you there, yuk-yuk

yes, these guys, plus a few stragglers not pictured

*Duh me, I forgot to note the shop update was 7pm Central Time on Monday October 16, 2023 when I announced the other day. And the more I’ve thought about it, the more inclined I am to do all of this a bit earlier, more like 4PM, mainly so those of you on Eastern time wouldn’t be so close to bedtime, and I’d have a few more hours to pack up beads and get them on their way on Tuesday. Mom and I have fancy plans on Tuesday, and I can get most everything that gets claimed Monday night and Tuesday morning to the PO before we do our stuff in the afternoon. I’m still so stuck in my nightowl ways, hence the evening schedule I keep mindlessly reaching for. But also, I’m still operating in 15 years ago mode, as if this isn’t a time in history when nearly everyone who buys anything online very likely has a device in their pocket that is capable of being used to place an order for almost anything they want, anywhere, anytime. Even if they’re at work and not exactly supposed to be doing that sort of thing, making it all the more delicious to sneakily steal away and nab some silly glass beads from this goofball. I’ll catch up eventually, perhaps when I stop being so nose-to-grindstone and nostalgic for simpler times.

anyway, it’s nice to know cats are predictable in all settings

Thanks for reading, I hope to see you again Monday!!!

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back at it, and a shop update is coming

first things first: a sizeable z-beads shop update will happen, most likely next Monday, October 16, at 7pm, unless something weird happens. If you subscribe to my blog, you’ll get an email notification when they’re ready for you. It’s gonna be a real banger, here’s a quick peek:

Come meet all of us on Monday!

I know it’s been a few months, but woe is me. Every year I’m already wilted by mid July, but by the end of August I’m a slimy wad of stems by the garbage. I havent made it all the way into the garbage yet because my people have faith I’ll be revived once mid September comes around. This summer has been particularly bad and lasted longer than usual, and you’ve probably heard it’s been the hottest one on record, ever, for everyone. So here we are, early October, and it’s marginally better, and after literal months of forced time off, I’ve been able to spend several days on the burner over the last few weeks.

busy beads = messy bench

One little adjustment I’ve made recently is what time of day I’ve been working. I’ve always been a staunch night owl, forever insisting that working at night is better (and I still do). I normally found it preferable to use the earlier half of the day for physical labor and errands and then start on the beads around 10pm, generally due to the cooler temperature at night. But these days, I must rise a bit earlier due to my job, and my days off are often spent cleaning up my various messes because I’m too tired and harried to clean them up on my workdays. By 2am, when I’d normally be in the bead room, I’m tired and getting ready for bed.

LollyMonster necklace

But I’m noticing during the warmer months, it’s actually cooler in the bead room during the afternoon, and on the occasions this summer when I’ve been able to get any torch work done, it had to be earlier in the day for whatever scheduling reason. And I realized I had better mental and physical energy to get everything prepared and done. The only drawback is, and always has been, the daytime noise: phone calls, uninvited randos knocking on my door, and blue jays screaming at naughty stray cats just outside the window.

squirrels, opossums and birds are mysteriously absent in this story

Meanwhile, I’ve done a little bit of insignificant creative this and that, but I suppose I’ve had time to think about stuff I might not have normally had the brain space to ponder, because it was normally being used strictly for bead work. Not working at the torch – wanting to but not being able to thanks to the excessive heat we’ve all been experiencing – has been frustrating, but I try to see the best in things, including forced time off.

oddly, this fortune slipped itself into my switchblade and caused a temporary malfunction

Off and on I’ve wondered why I feel so quiet on this blog these last several years… why I can’t seem to recapture the fanciful ramblings many of you have enjoyed reading in the past. I recall a couple of entertaining years-old posts, one expressing my disappointment in pb&j poptarts, another, my alarm at a cryptic message that popped up while I was using Adobe photoshop. I also recall those instances being while I rarely left the house, and maybe had conversations with one or two people on average, and those people were strictly immediate family. I came by that honestly, I guess. I liked to work, and I worked from home, so there you go. I’ve never been much of a party animal or a people person – I’ve always been happier at home, doing piddly creative things. I’ve never relied much on an active social life to feel fulfilled.

party animal Nelson

And I’m inclined to think that’s it: I’m in a position where I’m socializing more over the last several years, as introverted as I may be, and let’s be honest, bored with my own thoughts and perspectives by now and I assume you probably are too. This job has been exactly what I needed to jerk me out of a somewhat complicated rut I’ve been in for who knows how long, really. I had so many worries at first, but I’ve adjusted surprisingly well. It could be because I’m approaching it with a mindset that perhaps only middle-age can bring… a healthy devil-may-care attitude that certain things just don’t matter. The occasional awkward silence, the raunchy joke that makes you blush a little too rose, the mild screw-up that everyone is likely to forget about by tomorrow. I’m not sure I could have dealt with it as well in my 20s or 30s.

being around these funny earrings has made me start wearing them

So, that’s what’s happening over here. You’ll hear from me again if an update is necessary, and definitely when the beads are ready. I look forward to seeing you there! Thanks for reading!

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