Searching for Inspiration Despite Chaos

I was so excited about getting in my craft room and getting to create yesterday. I've been forcing myself to complete some other busy-work for the past week or so to catch up with the business side of things and haven't let myself really make any jewelry. As such, I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on some beads. Yet, when I did get in there, I froze.

I think I've become overwhelmed by all the STUFF!
Don't get me wrong. I love all my supplies and tools, and I never thought too much stuff would be a problem. However, there's just SO MUCH of it that I don't know where to start most days. Lately, I've been turning to my sketchbook for ideas, but those tend to be general and not supply-specific. This means that I often have to run out to fetch more supplies for an idea I had. I've just about run out of places to store all of this. Between all the

Art beads, jars of buttons, trays of beads, tackle boxes of beads

New beads, found objects, button cards, thrifted jewelry

STUFF I'm just a tad lost.
Do you ever feel this way? How do you get your mind to center in on one project and away from all the stuff? Is it possible to find inspiration despite the chaos?

At least I've already got a back log of items made and ready for the shop. Here's the newest. It's already been reserved.

Unique Princess Necklace - RESERVED

Anyway, I'd love to hear any tips you have on my first world problem.
How do I let the beads speak to me when they're ALL clamoring for attention?

Birthday Review (and a Special Edition of Halloween MMSM)

What a very strange weekend it was . . .
LOML offered to take me out of town for dinner and a night at a hotel, but I chose to stay in town and watch college football instead. Fortunately - Alabama won. It was a nail-biter and an overall good game though. We tried to hook up with a few friends, but that never worked out. THEN, I got pissed at the place we went to watch some more football, because they changed the big TVs to games that held no interest (Iowa) and then to a UFC (fighting) thing. I was SO MAD!! We left early, me a bit downtrodden.
My spirits were raised on Sunday when we visited with my family. We carved pumpkins and ate gumbo. I got one of those AWESOME Margaritaville Blenders (frozen concotion maker) from my family. I can't wait to use it!! We also had a yummy Tirimisu cake that my mom ordered from New York. As soon as the cake was eaten, we got a call that a close family friend had passed. Seriously! LOML and I left soon after and went to see a movie before finally heading home.
It was a busy weekend, but definitely left my spirits dampened. Perhaps that's why I was having all those ill feelings about my birthday in the first place. It was destined to be. . .less than celebratory.
On the other hand, the outpouring of good wishes I received via twitter, Facebook, blog comments, and e-mail was overwhelming. A BIG HUG and THANK YOU to all of you for thinking of me, if only for a moment. It really meant a lot!!

The conclusion of my birthday, means one thing - the lead up to Halloween!!
I've saved a bunch of links from last year and a few this year to share this week.
Let's get this party started with some Halloween-Themed "Made Me Smile Monday"

• How about these owl cookies - they look good enough to, well, eat. They are also not completely Halloween specific and can totally be made any time of year.
  
• A gallery of Star Wars pumpkins
• Mmmmmm - vampire cookies!!
  
• Beer Fairy costume - LOVE IT!!

Lastly, does anyone have any great blended drink recipes for me to try in my NEW, AWESOME machine? I've got the bushwacker and margarita down pat (well, not for this machine, YET) and I can make a pretty mean smoothie. But, if you've got any other suggestions, recommendations, or if you wanna come over and try it out, lemmie know!! Ohhh - anything for Halloween perhaps???

Blogging Self-Pity

Geez, I must be pretty boring or a really bad host. After looking over my analytics program, I realize that I'm getting fewer and fewer visitors. The ones who actually visit are only staying for less than a minute.

I've got to find some way to get some more attention here. Flashing my boobs always worked for me in college. Yet, I'm not drunk enough to try THAT this morning. I'm also not really sure what to do to improve this standing either. Suggestions? - Wait, who am I kidding? If you guys aren't leaving comments, answering polls, or reading this BS for more than a minute, why would I expect you to give me some suggestions. . .

I'll continue to post here for my own selfish, misguided reasons, and I'll pretend that I'm getting more attention than you.

Aaaaaand, since I'm being selfish - I shall post a picture of my cat for me to enjoy!

After a long day of highlighting, Asia collapses in a spot of sunshine in the floor while still clutching the bright yellow tube.

Whine Rant and the iPhone

CAUTION - Whining Ahead
I REALLY wanted to post yesterday. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling so well, left work early, and vegged on the couch until LOML* took me for sushi. That made me feel better - until the dang TiVo didn't change channels to record Project Runway, and I had to wait an additional hour before Bravo re-aired it. Right now, it's the only show I look forward to all week. Earl (My Name is Earl) has actually come back on from its hiatus and Lost will be back on by the end of the month. So, there is more life to TV. Of course, I believe that there is more to life than TV. With the end of the reruns, I guess we need to move the exercise equipment back into the living room (dangit) since we moved it out for the ladies to come over several weeks ago. The whole idea of having that stuff in the living room was to promote us using it while our shows air. Yet, after a while, we forgot it was there. Maybe bringing it back out will inspire us to start using the equipment again. We can hope.
END OF WHINE

Besides the ball this past weekend, I got really excited because LOML* got an iPhone. He communicates with his co-workers mainly through IMs and e-mails and the iPhone works well for those apparently. He did research for several weeks to find a phone that would meet all his needs for work. We hoped he would find one on our current cell provider, but they didn't really have a phone with all the options he wanted. Now, we have to switch providers so we don't have two bills. We thought the contract was up on our current plan but apparently it's only up on his. Mine should be up in a few weeks. AND, he says he'll get me an iPhone too!!! I am super excited about this because it will make blogging a little easier. I saw a blog post from another crafter yesterday and she used her iPhone to take a picture, place it in her blog, and then post the blog. With an iPhone, I can capture all the smaller crafty projects I undertake so much easier. I am a bit worried because I am hard on electronics, especially phones. The iPhone is super easy to break so we'll have to check if they have insurance for it and a good protective case before I can get one. I've gotten to play with LOML's* and I like the ease of use. My current phone is simply used as a phone even though it also has a camera and games on it. The pictures are blah and I have a PSP and a Game Boy, so I don't really use those functions. Anyway, if you have an opinion on the iPhone, lemmie know!!

*LOML = Love of My LIfe