Cancer Bracelets Amongst Other Things...

Wow! It's been quite some time since I've posted! We've had a lot going on recently, including family being in town, and my husband's birthday, plus father's day to contend with! But finally, things have (hopefully) slowed down to a normal pace again, and other than dealing with the summer heat I should be all set and ready to spend some more (much needed) time with TPD!

So, by now you should know I've been working on some Cancer Bracelets for Sandy's office. After a LOT of thought (More than I should have spent, but for some reason my brain wasn't working right..) I've come up with a look, feel, and cost that I'm comfortable with.

I'll sell these pretties for $5.00; they are made mostly out of plastic and pewter, and are strung on an elastic cord. They supply that less expensive option that was lacking from the supply out there, while still looking nice enough to wear with almost any outfit. I'm also working on some Chinese Crystal bracelets that will run between $10.00 and $15.00, and those are the ones I'm going to be able to offer a donation from.

While I'm originally only making these for the cancer patients at Sandy's office... Look forward to the option to purchase these (and many other) awareness bracelets on the webpage, soon!

Also, don't forget to friend us on Facebook, or if you're reading this from Facebook, make an account and join us on here! It always makes it easier to keep up with projects when you know someone is paying attention. :D For those of you on Twitter, we also have an account @ThePrismDragon! (And to give you a hint on my OCD Perfectionism... I seriously just spent the past 10 minutes trying to come up with a way to fill this space so that my blog post wouldn't look so weird under this picture. No wonder these bracelets took so long to come up with!! In other news: Hah! Mission Accomplished. :D hahaha)

International Gem and Jewelry Show

Last Weekend, Lanine and I had a horde of family come in and invade my brother-in-law & sister-in-law's home. Yes, we really did brave the rain and wind and cold and head down to Larkspur to the Colorado Renaissance Festival. At one point we could see our breath as the temperature plummented before noon. The sun tried valiantly to push through several times but the clouds won in the end. It wasn't muddy until later in the day. I ended up with a new hat to help keep the water off my head halfway through the day but tucked the feathers away for later. Like Lanine said little weather couldn't stop a family tradition. We had a blast.

So back on topic for this post. Lanine and I are headed to the International Gem and Jewelry Show today. We are going to look for some more beads and findings for our old and new projects. One of our new ones is way more expensive than I had planned so we are looking for the best options without being low quality. Who knows, we might even attend a beading class as we will have no tagalongs with us. Of course we will probably have a bizillion phone calls asking "aren't you done yet?" unless I confiscate my daughter's phone. hehehe In March I found a great deal on some beads that are angel wings and dragonfly wings.
I will have some time in July to do some more organizing of my items so I can get them online for you to purchase. Last week, I found some of my gemstones, leather goods, and assorted other items while unpacking clothes for the renaissance faire. More and more goodies will be appearing on our website so be sure to check back at least once a week in July. We will be certain to announce them here as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

So, for now we are off and running to the gem & jewelry show! We'll be sure to share the treasures we have found! After all, I promised to share my photographing techniques .... which reminds me .... what did I do with that silver colored, satin piece of cloth/drape/sheet I bought a few weeks ago ........

Colorado Renaissance Festival!

That's right... this weekend is the opening weekend for the Colorado Renaissance Festival. (Does anyone else stumble over renaissance when trying to spell it?! I always want to put two N's in as well as two S's.... haha) My family (and extended family) attend almost every year, rain or shine (and thankfully this weekend looks like it's going to be rainy. Yay!) and this year is no different. Of course, the birth of my cousin's first born makes this year a little different, because we finally get to meet her and her mommy, but for the most part it's still the same. The same shops that have been there since I attended the first time (that I remember) at age 11, some of the same shows even!

But we don't just go for the Steak on a Steak, and the entertainment. We also go for IDEAS. Not that we'll be stealing anyone's jewelry ideas, especially since we tend to avoid those shops due to their overpriced manners... but everything around you can give you an idea. The ribbons, and flowers, and colors, and designs. Leather, bone, fur and silver studs for the biker gangs barely disguised as Vikings. Satin, Canvas and Tapestry for the nobility, floating around like Galleons awash in a sea of tourists; A red rose with a black lace ribbon upon their breast to show that they are staff and not to be approached by the scummy underlings like us, who can't tell the different between a Gunne Sax hippie wedding dress, and a full Tudor period dress complete with all 7-15 layers of costuming designed in as accurate of a manner as possible to the real thing. A smattering of black, red, and gold.. and some rotted bone thrown in for Pirates and their wenches. Bells and coins and the sheerest of silk for the scantily clad, and oft overweight, "Gypsies" (who are really nothing more than over glorified East Indian belly dancers). Glitter, gauze and shimmering wings, and not to forget the flowers, for the little fairies who act touched in the head in order to attract a larger crowd to their odd behaviors and tricks. The shiniest of metals, and colored coat of arms for the brave knights who bash each other theatrically for the joust (3 times a day!). The rainbows caused by misters constantly spraying water under decorative lattices woven with silk flowers to cool off weary travelers who have started to feel the particular exhaustion caused by heat and nothing but beer to sup on, since water costs $5 for a 10 oz bottle.

You'd think, to hear me talk about it, that I wouldn't bother going anymore, since I obviously don't enjoy it. But really, that's not true. While my appreciation of the entire thing has definitely morphed into a more cynical eyed view, I still enjoy dressing up in my (as accurate as possible, and just as painful to wear) Tudor period gown that I bought for my wedding day (and never got around to wearing in that capacity, since we never had an official wedding ceremony) and carting my husband and son around to see all of the acts, and ye olde shops. I go to pick up hints of glitter and subtle design, and let my brain work them all into a whole that I can later turn into a piece of jewelry, or a bookthong, or a short story in the back of my head. I go to see family, those who I only get to see once or twice a year. And I go to escape the often times over whelmingly mundane lifestyle I lead. When I have money I do some light shopping, and when I don't I window shop and plan for the next year that I do. I put on all of my jewelry, no matter how gaudy, and I flaunt the wares that I've made and am proud of.

But really? I go for the Steak on a Steak.

My Goofball family in 2006.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"..About that time two young and lovely girls just happened by
And one says to the other with a twinkle in her eye
See yon sleeping Scotsman so strong and handsome built
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt.."

Organizing stuff

This weekend, I'm staying at my brother-in-law's house. I forgot my beading stuff and asked Lanine to bring it to me when she brought her hubby and son down for the day (read late afternoon/evening). The best time for me to work on it is when we have a family gathering as there are more hands to help sort as we buy stuff in the bulk. Lanine always shows everything neat and tidy in the white plastic bins. I decided that you needed to see the chaos that is always going on at my house. I'm not nearly as organized but can pack it up quickly and take it almost anywhere without mixing it all back together. Here are some pictures of my sister-in-law's table with the plastic beads we are currently organizing.

I'll post more later when I have more time and I am at home with my "fail" and "success" photographs. This way, I'm also no longer the silent partner/funding only. After all, this *is* a mother and daughter business *and* we've both been really busy this last week with family things (and me with my other job). My hubby and his brother are wanting me to finish making the lasagne.

And while you're at it, please do your job.......what's that you ask? Create a login to blogger so that we know we have more than 2 followers. If you have a Gmail/Google entity/email, just use it or Real I.D. (even Yahoo has that). Thank you to all of you that have joined/liked our Facebook page too!

{*hugs*}

Sandy

}¡{

A Mascot is Born.....

Before we started a webpage, Sandy and I sat down (in Y!M) and talked about names, logos, color scheme, website design.... and a mascot. Not happy with anything in the clip art section, or any of my previous creations... I sat down and penciled a dragon. I spent at least two days working on him, making sure he looked just the way I wanted him to... and then I scanned him in, loaded him into photoshop to "ink" his lines... and then I promptly gave up. He was a mess. Smudge lines everywhere, and no easy way to color his lines in without losing too much detail and spending at least another day cleaning him up. So... he sat in a folder, alone, waiting for the day when I might get around to coloring him. I opened him up a couple of times.. dusted him off... but still didn't feel confident enough to make him look the way I wanted him to.... so I always put him back and let him alone until a better time.

But then we got a domain! (*yay!*) And I really needed something more than that little clip art dragon that used to be in the corner of the webpage.... and so I pulled our little prism dragon out again, and got to work, and finally, after several hours of work.... he was inked.. and colored, and ready to be placed on the webpage!

Which is, of course, when everything went down hill. I then spent the next two days working on code, and trying to get the measurements right, and the frames to work, and ARG STAB ARG! until... FINALLY... on the morning of the third day... I threw everything out the window, and started over. haha And it was glorious... and now you too can see the glory of the Prism Dragon that I spent so long working over. Or maybe you can't.... because Internet Explorer makes me stabby, and refuses to leave my frames alone. So the coding may be a little wonky for you.... and if you have a resolution less than 1280x1024, I'm sorry... his wing might not show up as well as it should. But again... IE makes me a little stabby, and I can't figure out how to fix it right now... so for now that's what you get (until I can figure out a better method!). But rejoice! For you can see him in all of his glory, here, so you aren't missing anything that anyone else is seeing. :D

Please welcome our new Mascot... the Prism Dragon.... and know that he will eat anyone that displeases him. >:D

Exciting New News!

Guess what! Guess what! We are now hosted! Change your bookmarks, because we can now be found at http://www.theprismdragon.com/!!!! Yaaaaay!

Bear with me a couple of days... I need to fix a couple of links and pages... but the site should be fully functional, otherwise. :D

Perfectionist.

So I'm having a perfectionist moment. Or maybe it's Artist's Block. My muse has abandoned me for more interesting people. Or maybe... yeah, probably just a perfectionist moment.

I have created and torn apart at least 3 awareness bracelets this morning. I don't like the colors, I don't like the beads, I don't like how scratchy it is... take your pick! They just don't... look... RIGHT. I wouldn't sell these to a 5 year old with a quarter. And the worst part about it? I can't figure out how to make them BETTER. Maybe it will come to me tomorrow... or the next day. Or maybe I should just give it up and sell subpar stuff. Maybe I should let you decide? Maybe I should be more dramatic about it, and I'll get a more dramatic response from my psyche? (*snicker*)

This is the only one that's survived this morning, and even it is destined for the chopping block because the elastic I used is too tight, so it scrunches up. I'm not very happy with the different shades of pink, and the silver findings just don't look right with the rest of the compilation. But... I can't come up with anything better that will cost 5$ or less, and not be scratchy. (*pulls hair out*)! Not Happy, Bob. Not. Happy.

P.S. I told you you would be seeing more of my little new hand. :D

P.P.S. If you don't know what the Not Happy quote is from, watch The Incredibles. Then let your 2-4 year old watch The Incredibles. Now count the seconds until your 2-4 year old picks up "NOT HAPPY!!!"