What's up?

"God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things.
Right now I am so far behind that I will never die."
~ Bill Watterson 

I hear ya, Bill!

I know that I have been a bit MIA of late. This year has really beat me down.But I am determined to rise above it and keep on keeping on! 

I know that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. God must really be trusting me with a lot this year. There have been a lot of family focus from March to June in particular. So much that I feel like I am still stuck in February. But that is no fun. Because the weather right now is gorgeous!

Right now I am in the middle of our ball season. This is the best season of the year! My daughter still plays softball league but is also on a travel team. That team is headed to the National tournament in late July in St Louis. This past weekend was our home tournament. We took 3rd place, only losing one game to the team that won the entire tournament. I sold my Pop-a-Dot Magnetic Jewelry for a fundraiser for the team and it was a home run! I sold over $900 of the Dots and will be giving them a check for $375 this week. It was a great weekend!

My son plays for both the Junior and Senior Legion teams for our city. He has been playing almost non-stop since his high school ball ended earlier this month. Unfortunately, that means that I can't be in two places at once and so I have missed some of his games. But this weekend is our annual Firecracker tournament at home so I will be around to watch those games! Go Sixers!

Today I will be going down to the Gallery Q to put the finishing touches on the exhibit that is opening tomorrow called Brought to you by the Letter Q to celebrate our five years of local art. Today I have to work on the scavenger hunt to lead people to the artwork and get them to interact with it on an intimate level. We are giving away $500 in art bucks for the gallery to five lucky winners! If you would like to see a sneak peek at what I created for the show, please hop on over to the Art Bead Scene to read my post from last Friday for Inside the Studio. I am also giving away one of the necklaces I made for the show, so hurry over there and leave a comment! If you happen to be in the Stevens Point area, stop by for our opening birthday bash party on July 11th for a cake that will be made by a local bakery artist to look just like this poster!

Can I let you in on a little secret? 

I am flying to Ohio on Wednesday to film some segments of the television series
Beads, Baubles & Jewels with host Katie Hacker!
WOOHOO!

I am so excited about this opportunity! I am also so nervous! 

I still have to get my wardrobe set, get a manicure (what? They say right in there that you need to do that, so it is a legit expense! And if I am getting a manicure I should get a pedicure, too, right?), confirm the travel plans, contact my sister to make sure that she knows I am sleeping over before my flight out ;-), pack clothes and such, pack all the tools and materials to make on-camera step outs, write instructions, and oh yeah.... finish all the jewelry pieces I am bringing! 

Sneak peek alert! You will have to wait to see the whole thing until the segment is released!

Bracelets are my jewelry-making Kryptonite! I can't make them the right size ever, so I was really delighted to come up with this concept that is very wearable, reproducible and can work for all different styles, colors and tastes. I have been wearing my prototype for a week and I can tell you that it is a winner! People cannot stop asking me about it and when I take it off to show it to them they are even more wowed. I think I already have several orders pending for this new style! Of course, the show will not be airing until sometime in the fall, and we don't even get this program on our PBS station, but according to the website, segments are now available online. So I will keep you posted when I can share that! 

I bought myself a brand new iPhone 5S last week. So far it is great, but it makes me feel old. I feel like I am traveling in a different country where the people are very friendly and there is lots to do and see, but I cannot read the signs so I get lost a lot on the way! It is just enough different from my Galaxy S2 Android phone that it makes me frustrated. For example, all this weekend I was never getting any calls, but tons of messages. Apparently there is a little button on the side that got toggled that prevented my phone from making a peep! Luckily, someone pointed that out or I was headed back to the store to demand a refund (and how silly would that have seemed!). 

Okay! That should bring you up to date on some of what has been swirling around in my world. Since I will be on the road, I will have to focus on orders that are pending when I return (special bonuses for waiting so patiently!), I will try my best to get a 30 Words up while I am on the fly (literally!), and I will try to have a little fun in between all of this. 

Tell me, what do you have going on that you would like to share? Shout it out in the comments!