Moving Blog to Wordpress

Hi all, I'm in the process of moving my website and my blog to magicalbeadstalk.com/blog which is on Wordpress rather than Blogspot. I realize that it is better to have my blog linked to my website rather than Google (which owns Blogspot). So.....My blog is up and running on Worpress and I would love those of you who follow me here on Blogsppot to follow me there. Instead of a list of followers, on Wordpress you can click the RSS icon at the bottom left of the page and subscribe through Google reader or Google homepage. My next goal is to move my website onto Wordpress as well. Up until now I have been using a template through a web hosting company and I want more flexibility than I currently have. I believe that with Wordpress and the fabulous designer Carey Baker, this will happen. I will keep you up-to-date on the changes.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

This has been a wonderful long weekend here in Easthampton, MA. The weather has been perfect - mid 70's with no humidity and no rain. Glorious. I sometimes think how great it would be if the weather was like this all the time. But really, I think I would tire of it, missing the seasons changing, which is so wonderful in New England.

I have been spending my time changing all my tags on my jewelry to reflect that Magical Beadstalk is now a shared business of Terry & Sheryl's. I have a lot of jewelry and changing all the tags turned out to be a very big job. In between playing with Alya, who seems to be growing and changing on a daily basis, shopping for things for Alya, and checking out a lot of tag sales for great buys for Alya, I have been spending my time getting all my jewelry ready for the start of craft shows, which begins in two weeks.

I thought the summer would be a time for me to create lots of new pieces, learn and practice new techniques, and having lots of new creations photographed and up on the website. But really the summer has been about my granddaughter, Winde and Elaine, with the added pleasure of having my niece Lindsay coming for a visit. Glad to have had the time with no pressure of shows to get ready for.

It always seems to be more fun to go places when people are visiting. Lindsay's friend Mark is a basketball fanatic so we went to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. He had a blast. I was glad to go because Cold Stone Ice Cream is sold next door. We went to Yankee Candle, and Magic Wings which is like Butterfly World in Florida. The butterflies are all around and it's a beautiful place to see - the plants and flowers are lush and if you're lucky the butterflies land on you!

Fall is just around the corner, and it is my favorite time of year.

Wishing everyone a great weekend.

New Business Partner for Magical Beadstalk

Seems to be a time of great change for me. I feel my life has been forever changed with the birth of my first grandchild, Alya. It's amazing for me to notice how priorities can shift and change in ways that are not expected. I love how Alya's arrival into my family has brought Elaine, Winde and me to such a great place. What an amazing addition to my world.

I also made a big decision to bring a partner into my business. Sheryl Machat has been my beading buddy for quite some time and we work so well together that we decided to join forces. Her work is very different from mine, lots of bead weaving, and creative uses of wire, and her work complements mine well. She has now joined Magical Beadstalk and if you go to our website you will see some of her work. We haven't gotten much up as of yet, but more is to come shortly.

It's a great benefit to me, who has worked mostly in isolation, to have someone to talk things out with, problem solve with, and share costs of shows and supplies with. I am sure there will be some kinks to work out, but so far it's been a breeze!

It is a difficult time for jewelry artists. I know some have continued to do well, and bravo to them for their incredible marketing skills. But for many of us, a slow economy has meant less sales. As well, more artists are trying the craft show route, and the competition for jewelry spots has gotten even tighter.

I welcome Sheryl into my world and look forward to gaining from her creativity, and having someone as committed as I am to the art of jewelry making, and the development of a small business that we both believe in.

Here are a few pieces of Sheryl's work:

New Logo - The Importance of Branding

I finally bit the bullet and hired a graphic designer (Allison Biggs, http://www.amdesignworks.com) to design a logo for my business. I've used different elements over the years - some I liked, some not - and I finally came to understand the importance of "branding". What I mean by branding is that all the printed material I use from now on will have the same logo and colors, including business cards, earrings cards, sales tags, letterhead, and mailing labels. Allison did the blog header here, which I think looks amazing. I want it to be that my logo will appear on everything related to my business so that it will come to be recognized as Magical Beadstalk in and of itself.

I think that it's taken me five years to figure this out which seems like a very long time. I went from purchasing a template for my website which was very "cutesy" to having someone redesign it to make it look more polished and professional looking. That led to wanting to change my business card to match the site. Turns out the person who did the website disappeared and I didn't have access to her. So I played around with my limited ability in Photoshop to make decent business cards, but of course they didn't match anything.

Next was to tackle the banner on my Etsy site. I hired someone through Etsy who made a banner for me, which I loved, so then I hired her to design my business card as well. I found myself using the banner design, shrinking and stretching it as needed.

Brings me to today. Now I have a logo - based on the Bodhi Tree leaf, which is an image that speaks to me. I am planning on using this logo in everything I use from this point onward.

I am also planning on starting another business providing Reiki now that I've completed my training and have become a Reiki Master. I will use the same logo but in purple. How cool is that?

Here are some of the great designs:

She's Here - Alia Mae Whitaker - My First Grandchild!

It's difficult to articulate the experience I had today helping my daughter deliver her first baby, and my first grandchild. In fact I cannot think of what to say, so hopefully the pictures will say it for me. These pictures of Alia May Whitaker were taken within the first two hours of her life.

It was an incredible day for all those there - Me and Elaine, Hashi (father), and Jayne (sister).

Enjoy!

Time for a Break!

I seem to be on hold these days. I haven't created any jewelry in a week or two, nor have I updated my blog or website. Seems that I focused more on myself rather than my work.

I do go through periods of time when I'm super aware of my physical health, and the need to make some important changes. I've done different cleansings and fasts over the years so I guess it's not unusual that I am again feeling the need to cleanse. The reasons why are many - low energy, tire easily, joint aches, feeling bloated, etc. The list could go on. Maybe I'm just reacting to getting older....

So I've decided it's time to do a serious cleanse. I am off all food products that contain yeast, sugar, vinegar, all coffee and tea, no soda, no dairy. Sounds pretty frightening, doesn't it? Actually it's not so bad once I was through the first day. Seems that if I stay away from sugar I stop craving it. I love sugar......

I started this on Tuesday of this week and I must say I'm not feeling that great. I can feel the toxins leaving my body. But I know it will be great once I finish the first week. I've lost 6 pounds already. Weight loss is great but that's not my goal. I just want to feel better.

In my ideal life, I would stay away from foods with chemicals added - eating mostly fresh, raw foods. When life is busy that's difficult to do.

This is my wish for today - to stay mindful, focused and grounded with my goals.

Michael Jackson - The End of an Era

What a difficult day. I have many fond memories about Michael Jackson, his music and his dancing. I remember dancing the night away to his music, watching his performances, music videos, etc. His talent was an amazing gift.

At the same time over the years, I've felt ambivalence given the many allegations about inappropriate relationships with young boys, his ever-changing body, how he hid his children from the media, and his erratic behavior.

I seem able to separate the man from the artist. I don't condone the behavior of the man. He seemed like a tortured soul to me and I am not really surprised that he is gone. The complexity of this man was beyond comprehension, which I guess is somewhat typical for the highly creative.

He changed the face of music and dance and I will miss him.

I feel compassion and am saddened. I suspect his death is drug-related and I hope that those responsible will be held accountable. Add him to the list of tortured souls who died with the help of their "helpers", or as I would say, their enablers - Elvis Presley and Anna Nicole Smith - both their deaths are traceable to prescriptions provided by their Doctors. And so many other artists have died from illegal drug overdoses - the talent lost is profound.