Cassie Donlen: Lampwork Beads, Lampworking, Glass Beads, Jewelry and Supplies

This is the July 2009 Archive Page

July 30th: Wow, It has been crazy busy here since I last posted. Keegan had a fantastic birthday party. The boys were all so well behaved and the weather made it perfect to keep them all outside till bedtime so they were able to run around and be as crazy as they wanted. Then the following day we went on a family vacation with relatives to Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri and hit Silver Dollar City for a few days. It was an incredible week and we had so much fun. We giggled and laughed and had the best time.

Yesterday was Keegan's actual 11th birthday and he had a more low key day. Lots of fun treats and special treatment and he is in hog heaven with his gift from my parents. They got him one of those mini refrigerators for his bedroom. The boys always want cold water bottles at bedtime in their room and I'm way too lazy to go trucking downstairs to get them one every night. So now they all have access to cold drinks. Who knows what else he will try to sneak inside it.

Life is just jammed packed with activities right now and I haven't been working on anything new. Just trying to keep on top of orders and another head's up... the office will be closed again for a week starting next Saturday, August 8th until August 15th. Then school starts on August 18th and official summer is over and I will be so sad. They always go by so fast but we have had a great summer and jam packed it with activities.

July 17th: Utter Chaos is about to begin in about 15 minutes! Keegan (he is turning 11) is having a sleep over birthday party and we will have about 10 boys over for the night. Yee Haw yes I'm crazy but they always have so much fun. Hubby and I have some games and structure so I'm hoping that will help keep them all sorted. Plus the weather is incredible and about 80 degrees. That just doesn't seem possible for this time of year.

I also wanted to give a heads up that both Glassbeadle and Tickle Me Beads.com will be closed from Sunday, July 19th until Thursday, July 23. No shipping will occur during this time frame. We will open back up on the 24th and be back to a normal schedule. So this means that no shipping will take place until the 24th.

July 13th: Time is flying by now. I feel like we gotta make the most of each day since school will be starting before we know it! It is still over a month away but as they say, time flies when you are having fun. As excited as I am to have my youngest starting full day kindergarten I am also very sad that he is growing up and my last baby is no longer a baby. He is so funny and at such a great stage right now. I will miss these days.

Hubby and I had a great date night Saturday night. We went to the St. Louis Jazz Cafe (awesome place!) to listen to my good friend's husband Tim Cunningham play. All I have to say is Oh my gosh! Tim and his band are incredible. He is a saxaphonist and boy does he know how to play. A description that I read about him says something like "If you are a fan of sultry, smooth, cool yet funky music then Tim will be your top choice. You can find his CD's here at CD Baby

A made a new bracelet a week or so ago using big disc beads. Some have the big holes in the center. I wire wrapped up each disc and used seed beads to help hide the wire and added embellisments on the tops of each bead. It turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself!

July 9th: I'm starting to get spoiled with this summer sleeping in and not running around like crazy getting the kids ready for school. I'll be sad when school starts back next month!

The next Harry Potter movie is coming out in a few more days. I'm so excited! I've been listening to a really good audio book called Help. It is on the best sellers list I think and I just downloaded it off of audible.com. I found myself going to bed last night with my ipod because I didn't want to be done listening to the story!

Here is a pic of a bracelet I made to match the Twisted Necklace on my boutique page. It follows the same exact pattern with leather cording on one side and disc beads slipped on a silver chain on the opposite side. (there are those cute dot beads that Kerry Bogert came up with in the design)It looks so cute on the wrist!

July 6th: Hope you all had a great 4th! We went over to my parents for our traditional celebration with them and my brother's family. It is always a fun time. We are all going on a Disney cruise next year and my mom made up games with cruise prizes for us adults! We won fun prizes like free drink of the day, $10 to spend at the gift shop, 1 free day of parking at the cruise terminal (which costs $15 a day). Mom had made up loads of these prizes and we all had a ball playing the games.

I've been busy trying to add some new items to my Etsy store. Most everything listed is at a special price. I'm getting ready to add a fun lampwork bead set to the Etsy listing also. So keep tuned while I keep listing items. I have a $700 Vet bill to pay. (for the darn dog that we got at Christmas time as he sits here 5 feet away destroying a paper bowl into 20 pieces!).

July 2: I've got the Lampwork Bead Set for $30 and the mini kit which includes all the silver and lampwork beads to make the Whimsical Bangle Bracelet for $53 in the Summer 2009 issue of Step By Step Wire Magazine posted over at www.ticklemebeads.com.

And the actual bracelet featured in the magazine, the mini kit, or lampwork bead set is also available on this website on the "Boutique" page.

Whew! I'm so glad that is all finally posted. If you need any of the tools to make the bracelet, you can also find these over at Tickle Me.

July 1st: Happy July! I know everyone always says this but man is time flying!! It doesn't help that we seem to have activities every day but it is an easy way to keep the kids entertained. It was a bit cooler yesterday so I took the kids to the zoo. I have never seen it so crowded. The St. Louis Zoo has a new Sting Ray Cove that opened up a month ago. It is a pretty large exhibit where you get to put your hands in the water and touch the Sting Rays. The boys really loved it. Except I was very cranky as I had misplaced an envelope of checks that was meant to be deposited in the bank. I had it in my car and could not find it anywhere. I was certain that it was lost forever or thrown away. It was a lot of money and I was sick to my stomach the entire day. Thank goodness when we got home, I put on the rubber gloves and started going through the trash bags. I found the envelope in the trash! I almost threw away a lot of money. I felt like a 1,000 lb weight was lifted from my shoulder. I took the kids straight to the bank and then we went to the gas station to buy treats to celebrate!

It looks like the Summer Issue 2009 of Step By Step Wire is slowly starting to be released on the stands. I haven't gotten my copy yet. I'm in the middle of getting a shopping cart ready here on the boutique page and at TickleMeBeads.com to order the lampwork beads and the supplies to make the Whimsical Wrapped Bangle featured on page 16 of the magazine. I also have the original bracelet in the article that will be listed for sale in the boutique. I'll get this all ready some time today and post links here for the Tickle Me page. (BTW, the rings on the cover are Kerry's! Cool Aren't they?)

June 28th: Hey if you missed getting my project on how to make the Summer Garden Bracelet that was featured on the Cover Issue of Step by Step Wire Summer Preview issue of 2008, here is your chance. It was added to the Interweave Store about 3 weeks ago. It is in a pdf downloadable format and the cost is $4. The article covers exactly how to make the bracelet INCLUDING how to make the silver stamped rings. They are very easy and fun to make. It just takes fine silver and a small easy to use butane torch!

Just click here to go to the Interweave Store

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