Act of Courage beads are extra special.  The kids get them when they have to undergo an especially hard procedure.  These are the handmade glass artisan beads.

Right now, they are desperately short on these beads.  So, here is my offer…

Send in 20 handmade artisan beads to the Beads of Courage headquarters by 3/31/2012.  For each 20 beads sent in, I will throw your name in a hat to get a $50.00 gift certificate to Mountain Glass Arts.  So, send in 40 and get 2 chances, etc etc.

Please put a comment here showing me a pic of the beads or the box ready to be mailed.

How to Donate Beads

Mail donations to:

Beads of Courage
10501 E. Seven Generations Way
Suite 161
Tucson, AZ 85747

Print and fill out bead donation form and send with your beads.

• Please do not send or directly deliver your beads to member hospitals.All beads must be inspected, logged and packaged at Beads of Courage headquarters.
• Print and fill out bead donation form and send with your beads. (link to pdf form)
• Please be sure to package securely!

Kale is like a superfood.  Check it out!

Here is what you need:

• One bunch of raw  kale (organic or local preferably)
• Garlic cloves
• Soy sauce (gluten free for me)
• Sesame seeds
• Sesame seed oil

I “debone” the kale.

I chop the kale up into smaller pieces, easily picked up by a fork.  Or my fingers, because I am bad like that.

Then, I use a garlic press on my garlic cloves and add them to the chopped kale.

After adding the garlic and shaking in some sesame seeds.  I add in some soy sauce.  I do not follow recipes per-se.  I add to taste.  Enough to coat the leaves.

Then, I ad a few dashes of sesame seed oil.  Not too much, just a few dashes.  This makes it uber yummy, IMO.  But you can leave it out, if you want.

Then, put it in a bowl, put on the lid and “bruise” the leaves by shaking it vigorously.  Viola! Done.  Put in the fridge to chill.  Or eat it all.  Your choice!

Yummmmmmmmmmmmm

So, I found Zentangles! I love the different designs with no “set” rules.  It allows me to meander around on a page and produce a pretty piece of “art”. It is a way to de-stress, even when I cannot torch.

Here are a set of tiles I did for an exchange.

I sent off 8 of them, and will receive 8 in return to make a new ensemble.  YAY!

So now…I have chickens!!  WOOT!

I live in the city.  I am now an urban farmer.  How do you like them apples?  LOL

Last year we put in a multi-level garden.

This year, it’s chickens.  I like eggs.  My family loves eggs.  I hate the inhumane treatment of chickens in battery farms.  My husband has first hand knowledge of that since he grew up working on one.  50,000 chickens.  I could not imagine.  Of course, they had their beaks cut off and never saw the sun in their entire short egg-laying lives.

My girls have already learned the yumminess of fresh veggies, cooked rice and barley, mealworms  (I didn’t prepare those).   I can’t wait until they move out of the back bedroom into their new digs.

I am expecting my first omelet about September.  Yum!  Can’t wait.

My husband did a fabulous job on the coop.  He is an amazing carpenter.  I will be painting it red as soon as it dries up outside.  We followed directions from here:

http://www.thegardencoop.com/

And the chickies!

What fun!

I stopped in yesterday for the first time.  I am going to have to make it my personal mission to make sure they stay open!  They have COOKIES!  And muffins, bread, pies, and I hear they are going to have pizza dough soon!!!!  Yipppiiiee.

Greensboro peeps, if you want some yummy homemade treats that you don’t have to make yourself head on over!  2823 Spring Garden St., Suite C. Greensboro, NC 27403  Even you gluten eaters.  Their treats are higher in protein and healthier than “typical” treats.  So you can justify eating them easier!  WOOT!

And I read on Lindy’s about me page that in her spare time she likes making beaded jewelry…Hmmm maybe a bribe is in order…

I am thankful that I have a job, even though it is extremely stressful.  And it is almost impossible to explain how stressful.  But basically, I am responsible for administering 10′s of millions of dollars worth of data (assets) for a large corporation.  One simple mistake or miss-key and *poof*.  OK, so that doesn’t sound thankful enough, but honestly, I love what I do.  I just have to be very mindful while doing it.  LOL

I am thankful for my family.  I have a wonderful husband who tolerates my “oddness”.   I have two teenage boys who are really young men.  I have an adult step daughter who is now on her own.  I am thankful that I can honestly say, I am not a perfect parent, but I try my very best to be a good and honest parent.  And someday, hopefully the children will say that about themselves and their own children. 

I am thankful for my feathered and furred kids too.  They all bring me joy and happiness in their own way.  And I am thankful that I get the opportunity to help other feathered friends find forever homes.

I am thankful that I have the means to make beautiful things with glass.  I do not have time or the desire to sell very much of it, but I use my talent to raise money for worthy causes.  That is enough.  It brings funds and happiness to someone who needs it, and I am thankful to have been given the opportunity.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I do have days where my diet (vegetarian, celiac, lactose intolerant, tree nut allergies, fermented food allergies) causes me to feel frustrated.  But I am very very thankful to have finally found out WHY I was sick.  And if going without yummy stuff means feeling OK and being able to BREATHE normally I am thankful for that!!

So, in closing, I am thankful for many things (many more than I can post here) and I hope everyone takes a moment to think of what they are thankful for too.

Instead of being able to spend my time doing that as much as I would like, I, along with 29 other hard-working, HONEST beadmakers have to deal with  Ullja Kuntze.  She is a very annoying irritation.

She has a hobby.  She is now  filing malicious lawsuits.  It is sad, really.  She even admits that she is using the legal system to teach us a lesson.  *insert eye roll here*

She is incorrect in thinking that she WON the lawsuit that was brought against her.  When a lawsuit is dismissed by the plaintiffs the defendant did not win anything.  The Plaintiffs in the case got the information that they wanted.  That she, Ullja Kuntze, was the author of the defamatory website that I will not name here.  And frankly, we had better things to do with our time than deal with her constant delays and refusals to depose.  I wonder why she would not depose?  Hmmmmm

And the entire reason for all of this? Ullja was caught selling other artisan’s beads as her own.

In 2008 Ullja Kuntze (id: Beads4U) and her mother (ebay id gerbera28) bought beads through ebay and directly from the websites of many artisans.
Ullja then turned around and resold those beads as being created by her in her studio in Italy. Selling someone else’s intellectual property and mis-labeling it is against Etsy TOS.

Artisan’s, following Etsy’s TOS filed infringement cases against Ullja’s Beads4U store. Etsy found the claims to be valid and closed her store.
Ullja did have recourse to challenge the infringement claim per Etsy’s TOS

No one forced Ullja to infringe. Etsy chose to enforce their TOS as well they should.

An entire community is now being stalked and punished because Ullja was not following the rules.

You can read the history of the sad tale at ulljas.com

Anyway,If you would like to donate to the cause of making this irritation go away, please do!!

AGLF!

Come…walk with me.

We have aisle after aisle..

So, let’s see what we have.

Oh! Aloe Soda, sounds interesting. Might actually be good?

Oh! what’s this? MILK SODA! MMMMM *urp*

Seaweed chips! Poor guy looks like his mouth is hot..

Moving on..Ahhh now this is interesting.. Do you fry them? Eat them like candy?

OMG, I can JUST imagine the smell when you open THIS can…

Onto the frozen and refrigerated.

You Killed Squidward! You bastards! Poor Spongebob..

Then, you have the “Common Octopus”..soup anyone? *shudder*

Gallon O’Shrimp ?

“Wild Caught?” I wonder if they were hard to catch?

Honey, my peanut butter and jelly tastes kind of fishy!

And for the rest…Wow. That’s all..

(You know what pizzle is right? Hint, it sits on the body next to the picture after…)

Umm I think I threw up in mouth..

OK, after coming to the whole pigs head for $13.00 I was done.

It is an interesting place….

Then, there’s the “dark side”.  There are predators and people who are, perhaps, unbalanced.  Like Ullja Kuntze, a person who has been cyberstalking beadmakers for the better part of a year now.   She is now using Paypal to purchase from people using sockpuppet email id’s and the Paypal account of Bead4U.  She purchases from people for the sole purpose of getting their personal information.  She seems to then enjoy calling all manner of authorities to stir up trouble.  

There is a legal fund set up to stop her. 

Thanks for supporting honest, hardworking and talented artisans.  Stop the FRAUD of Ullja!

First up BetsyMn.  Her beads are adorable and she is an awesome totally great member of the lampwork community.  Just look at those beads!!

Then there’s Lydia Muell.  Her and I have met a few times and she is a total doll.  She is very giving with her lampwork knowledge and creates unbelievable work.  Check her out.

I love being part of the lampworking community.  As artists, we band together and help each other out in the worst of times and celebrate the best of times.

Thank you to all the TRUE artisans out there!