I declare 2007 to be my Year of Bling

So here I sit, 4:00 in the morning, should be writing but I'm not, nothing new there. This is my view:


Hug me? Or type? Come on, the choice really isn't that hard.

While Ford provides his patented and surprisingly effective volley of distraction techniques, I have an abstract due by 11:59 pm Thursday night (they seem awfully adamant about the cutoff time, and the website might even be automated, so I don't think I want to push my luck on this one). I told my supervisor, Lady S, that the Next Written Thing (NWT) on the Big D proposal would be to her on June 1, which in case you don't feel like doing the math, is this Friday. Anyone want to bet on the odds of me actually handing her something on Friday?

Didn't think so. Abstract deadline trumps my self-imposed blood oath to Lady S, I'm afraid.

The spring/summer sinus headaches (which are oh so different from the fall/winter ones, dontchaknow) are killing me. Even when I want to work, like today, I can't. Reading hurts. Moving my eyes hurts. Blinking hurts. Sinutab works, but only for a little while, and I hate popping pills for every ailment. My left eye feels like it's going to 'splode. I never had sinus problems until the allergy/asthma combination crept up on me a few years back, and now I can't remember what it feels like to not have a sinus headache, or one that I know is just boiling beneath the surface.

In the meantime, in lieu of working, I have pictures. I'll save sharing the SCA-related goodies for a post later in the summer, except to say that there are some Big Things in preparation for Pennsic. Instead I'll concentrate on the little things that have been brightening my everyday. I discovered some time ago, while getting ready for a band concert, that there was a definite lack of bling in my life. The last time I bought a piece of jewelry was, I think, my wedding ring. Through a set of coincidences too long to detail, and maybe a little bit too much web surfing, I found EliseM, who makes the most fantastic jewelry and has been more than happy to remedy this problem. My mother, who has lately taken up her own mother's mantel of spoiling people (not that I'm complaining, mind you), has significantly contributed to my cause. 2007, it seems, is shaping up to be my Year of Bling.

Early in the year, I got Speak it in Light, (thanks, Mom!) - A couple more pictures of it being modeled by its creator are here. Now, while I love and adore this necklace and wear it often, it is not something I want to wear every day, with every thing. And then Elise had a sale in April, and I couldn't resist Randy's Haunted Gumball Palace, which had been in her inventory a few months and did I mention it was on sale? Her pictures give a good idea of how long and interesting it is, but it's hard to see the detail. I primarily bought it because it looked cool, was something I could wear a lot, and Was On Sale, but I admit I was completely unprepared for it's total kick-assedness upon arrival. Here are some close-up pictures so that you can get a better idea of the awesomeness:


I particularly love the lower righthand wrapped wire section in this pic, which includes a piece of found metal that she worked in. However, I'm hard-pressed to decide what my favourite beads are. That lime green chip in the top wrapped wire part? The round blue/green/yellow bead three over from the top wire wrap?


Next section. Favourite bits here: all the dark green bits. The wire wrap and the two tiny blue stripe beads inside it. More of those swirly things.

And finally, the last section:

Ghostly faces!! A skull! That explains the "haunted" part. I didn't know these were there until it came. Love. Them. This wire wrap contains a pearl slab. I also particularly like the frosty, flat, forest-green bead near the top left (and yes, that is Ford's fur you see creeping in on that corner. He was "helping").

I also got a few pendants from her, and several of them are crying out for their very own necklaces right now, so I will post those as I make them, which will not be for a bit yet.

Because now, I have to write.

Yes.

Right Now.