Free of Debt Bracelet

Yesterday I was looking for something in my dresser drawer and I saw my old credit card holder. There were over 20 OLD credit cards in it. I haven't used the credit cards for 10+ years and some of them even had my previous name of Linda Tubbs on them. I noticed what a colorful array of them I had as I was cutting them up for the trash. I decided they would make a very unique and colorful charm bracelet. So, here is the photo of it. The bracelet only cost pennies and a little time while I was watching TV last night. This will not be for sale on my website, but if you have some old credit cards and you would like a piece of jewelry, contact me.

Good Idea, Bad Idea?

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night thinking about a GREAT idea for a project? I was looking at some of my beading magazines last night before I went to bed. They always inspire me. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with this really terrific idea for some necklaces. I was going to use silver wire and make just outlines of different things -- a tee shirt, a girl's head, horse head, etc. -- and add one Swarovski Crystal on each one as an accent, then put them on a black leather cord for a simple necklace. My head was swirling with ideas! I wanted to get right out of bed and start making my silver wire outlines. But, I stayed in bed. Then, I started thinking about what I was going to call these necklaces -- Linda's Loopy Designs, Linda's Coloring Book Designs, Linda's Outlines. I imagined myself walking into the Neiman Marcus jewelry department, wearing one of my outline necklaces and the sales ladies going gaga over it! I heard Bob's alarm clock go off at 6 a.m., so I got up shortly afterwards and went right in to my "beading studio", a.k.a. our dining room table, and I made this silver wire outline of a tee shirt. I was going to secure it to a black leather cord, but then I decided to scrap the whole idea. Maybe it is too simple? I doubt that Neiman Marcus or anyone else would buy it. On to the next Big Idea!

From My Afternoon Walk

I decided that I needed to take a walk and clear my head of some negative thoughts. They say that exercising boosts the endorphins that make you feel good. I needed some of that today. On my walk, I found a golf ball in what used to be the Hank Haney Driving Range across the street from our apartment. I occasionally walk through the grass there to take a short cut to our apartment if I have had enough walking. I look at the ground a lot these days when I'm walking, as I have fallen a few times and this area is very lumpy. Bob says I'm not the most balanced "little filly". I also look at the ground for "found objects" to use in my bead work. I see these unique pieces of jewelry with "found objects" and I think it would be fun to make a piece with some "found objects" of my own. Well, I did make a bracelet with some of these "found objects" when I was looking through a box of some of Cavan's items I have. You can see the bracelet and read about it on my blog dated June 23, 2009, "In Memory of Cavan". Anyway, back to the golf ball, I see that is says "Limited Range" on it. I Googled that and it says it is made to travel less distance than an average golf ball. I suppose I should throw it in the trash then. I don't play golf, but Bob does and I'm sure he won't want to use a ball with "limited range". Maybe when I take my walk tomorrow I will find something more useful.

Walk On Turtle Creek Boulevard

I have been trying to get outside to walk every day now that the Dallas weather is so nice. I would rather walk outside than stay inside and walk on the treadmill in our fitness room. I will have to use the treadmill none too soon when it gets too hot to walk outdoors. I try to vary my walk each day. Since we moved to our new apartment, we haven't walked on Turtle Creek Boulevard yet, so I decided today I would take my walk there. My friend Dennett and I used to walk on Turtle Creek in the late 90's. I was a bit uncomfortable walking there today, however, as I didn't see many other people. I saw squirrels, birds and a homeless man lying in the middle of the sidewalk talking to himself. It is a beautiful area and I plan to take more walks there, but I think I will wait for Bob to walk with me next time. I will keep my daytime walks to the West Village area where I feel comfortable and safe for now.

Miss McGillicutty Necklace

My March 13th blog was about my Goodwill Store jewelry purchases and my March 17th blog was about the story of my necklace I named Miss O'Flarity. The photo of the necklace on the left shows another remake of a piece of jewelry that I bought at the Goodwill store on March 13th. The pendant on this necklace that I named Miss McGillicutty, was half of a pair of earrings. The other half I sent to my sister to use to make a piece of jewelry. Since I named one of my necklaces Miss O'Flarity, I thought it was only fair to name this one Miss McGillicutty.

From Earrings to Necklace AND Earrings

On Sunday at church when we shared the peace, Emily shook my hand and then she told me that she had a challenge for me in her purse. I figured it was a beading project she was talking about. After the service, we were in the fellowship hall for coffee and goodies and Emily pulled out these earrings that her daughter-in-law had given to Emily for her birthday. Her daughter-in-law had purchased the earrings from an online website and at the time she didn't realize that the earrings were so long. Emily told me that the earrings weren't exactly "her" and could I fix them to something more wearable. I told her that I could shorten them and use the parts left over for a matching necklace. On the left, you can see the original earring. On the right are the shortened earrings and the matching necklace. I hope Emily will like my creation. If not, I'll buy them from her and put them for sale on my website.

New Cell Phone - Finally!

Bob and I decided to get into the 21st Century! We bought a "new" car, a 2007 Mercedes E350 and traded in our 1991 Mercedes. Then, I decided I needed a new cell phone. My old Sprint cell phone was purchased when we moved to Sarasota in 2001. Well, I guess that is in this century, but it was certainly out-dated. And, the screen was very scratched and faded and I could hardly read it to make a phone call. Sometimes it was like playing Russian Roulette to see whom I ended up calling! I told Bob that since I had been with Sprint for so long, I felt like I was being disloyal if I changed to another carrier. He looked online and found this Samsung Sprint phone for me. I love it! I now can do texting, emailing, accessing Google and taking photos, among other applications. Bob and I were walking on the Katy Trail a couple weeks ago and I said I wanted to get a pedometer to keep track of my steps. He said, "There is an app for that!" He downloaded Cardio Trainer on my cell phone that keeps track of my steps. My phone does a lot of things that I doubt I'll ever use, such as make chirping sounds that sound like crickets! And it has a flashlight and a level. But, now you can send me a text! Try it out! I'd love to hear from you!