Stress

I'm here for the moment, sharing some news with you all that I'm sure you can relate to. Last week I found myself sitting in a doctors office looking at the charts and pictures of hearts on the wall. I thought to myself "Am I really here, seriously, a cardiologist"? I laughed out loud right before the doctor walked in, (something I do when I'm nervous!) and she, yes a SHE, thank goodness, another female that can relate, she was nice and comforting and wanted to hear what I had to say.

This all started back in December when I went to my doctor for a head cold I couldn't get rid of. My doctor took one look at me and said "Uh, Ok, what's going on with you"? I told her I had a cold of course, that I couldn't get rid of, "Nope, that's not all, you look tired and well, if you don't mind my frankness...just plain worn out"! Thank goodness for her "Frankness", my EKG was "off", my blood pressure, which always registers so low that they wonder if I'm alive, was up...unusually up. So, I wore something called an event monitor for the entire month of January, 24/7 I had that stupid thing on, I phoned in all the "events" I had. Then the call came from doctor that the cardiologist had personally called her, which always means bad news, yep, that's what she told me over the phone....gesh, I'm so thankful for her frankness! So there I was last week, wondering what was going to happen. I have a stress test scheduled for next week and if they recommend surgery I'm doing it. Doesn't sound so good, heart surgery, couldn't it be something else like carpal tunnel? I've learned to have a sense of humor about this all. Anyway, I'm tyring not to "stress". I found out what I have is common in women, we all experience it from time to time, only difference for me is that it never goes away. It's in the upper chambers of my heart which is a positive, it's easier to fix. It will all be ok, i just want to get through this so I can move on. The surgery, my nurse friend tells me, is a walk in the park. So I'm holding her to that!

That's alot to lay on all of YOU! So there you go....life happens even when we're not planning it! Is it any wonder? As I type this, my brand new computer, less than a month old already has issues, I'm listening to the "On Hold" musac for my IT people. But you know what? I'm not stressing about it....I have bigger birds to cook! I'm taking it one day at a time :-)



BEADS and other stuff::

On top of all the above, I'm still building a new website. My new logo has been decided and now it's just down to choosing colors. All the fun stuff starts next, uploading everything! Really though, I'm looking forward to getting through it all and sharing it all with you!

Beads, yes, I have beads! Very pretty ones! I'm going to be sharing them this week, my pictures are still giving me a fit but I'll work it out soon.

Thanks for hanging in there with me!


Hugs to you all!!

Picture problems

Ok, not what I really wanted to be telling you today since I've had nothing but problems since my computer crashed, but my Adobe Photoshop software has a "hiccup". I purchased this software online and downloaded it online, when my computer crashed it took out my email that had the download file in it, I sound like a broken record heh? Anyway, I think I'm going to to take my new computer back to Staples to have them try and look at it. It's getting stuck on the "Upload" process and won't load any pictures from my disk. I'll keep you posted, I might have to wait until Monday to list my new sets.....sorry!

Email

I wanted to let you all know that I haven't been able to recover my emails. Sorry! I had a few customers that had requested special things and sold out sets, so if I haven't responded, please email me again. What a pain it's all been.

On a brighter note....we have sunshine today, and plenty of it! I'm still planning on listing new things tomorrow too!

See you all soon!

Getting there

It's been a slow process the last week, reloading my software onto the new computer, trying to recover lost data files and picture files, but the hardest thing has been remembering exactly what I had and where! Eyeee!!! I need to eat more blueberries, my memory is going!!! It has all been a learning experience for sure, I feel like I could write a book at this point, but I'm getting there slowly. I've also decided to change my email host after losing it all. I think it's a really wise idea as a business to have a host that's Internet based like Yahoo or Gmail, something you can always access and not have to change if you decide you want to go with someone different. I've been using Verizon as my host but am switching to gmail. Transferring an email account that I've had for 3 years is time consuming, all of the vendor and sales accounts I have are set up with that email address, so I'm working on it a little each day. If you're emailing me at afterhours11(@)verizon.net, that address is going away soon. It will be shannonwestmeyer(@)gmail.com. You know, in the middle of all this I've been working on a new website. We are designing a new logo right now, so hopefully once we're past that everything will be down hill from there!

Onto to beady stuff! I have been working on new designs but orders have been keeping me very busy! The Silver Thistle Charm has been selling like hotcakes, I've even had a "famous" person buy one in my store, but I'm going to sit tight and hope that I get a picture of her wearing it. I'll give you a clue though.....The Blind Side! Is that cool or what? I was blown away! I also have a few new charms that are ready to go I just have to figure out my new photo software.....I have to retake all of those pictures unfortunately. I had 2 versions of Photoshop on my old computer, I knew the older version backwards and forwards and used it the most even though the newer version had many upgrades. So now I'm forced to learn it! I'm trying to look at this computer crashing stuff as an opportunity, an opportunity to improve what I have and learn some new things! I have to tell you all, if you do not operate on the new version of Windows 7...... it's incredible!! It uses something new called libraries to keep you organized, you can view things on a split screen and work in several programs at the same time without having to toggle back and forth. You can also tag files so they are all grouped together when you need to find something. Aye...I'm talking computer again!! Sorry! Ok, Beads. I'll be posting new things on FRIDAY. I have another cute set of Valentine Beads, it was a last minute thought inspired by something my MIL gave me this weekend. I'm going to have a few more organic sets. If there's a color combo you'd like me to give a try.....let me know! You all know I'm always up for the challenge!

Off to work...it's a busy day here!!

Hugs!!

C.R.A.S.H

Life has been quite painful and chaotic here since Saturday. Long story short, my computer crashed on Saturday at 7:30 pm. I then spent the next 3 days trying to salvage a hard drive that was beyond repair due to a "worm" that had been eating away my operating files since June 2009. I have cried many tears the last couple of days. My life is so dependant on the tower under my desk, I never realized how much until this happened. Needless to say I needed a new computer and was on the fence about purchasing my first Mac, but I ended up going with a top of the line HP instead and am slowly falling in love with it. Windows 7 is completely different then what I'm used to and I hate being on a learning curve with so much to catch up on now but it's all working itself out. Before I forget, I have to tell you how totally awesome the guys at Staples Tech department are! They have held my hand through this entire ordeal and are performing CPR on my old computer trying to salvage part of the hard drive, the part that has 10,000 pictures on it. I've been calling everyday checking on it and will hopefully know today whether or not it worked. I also decided to purchase an external hard drive for my new computer, it's going to back up my files each week and give me a little piece of mind going forward. I wanted to share with you how this all started, hopefully you'll learn from my mistakes, and although I'm pretty "quick" when it comes to computer stuff, I wasn't "quick" enough.

My hard drive was infected with a worm, one that I more than likely acquired at FACEBOOK or through an email attachment. Facebook is becoming more and more vulatile with hackers breaking into users accounts all the time. I received a message from Hallie's teacher that said "Look at my new pictures! I learned how to POLE DANCE"! Hello! Like that didn't get my attention and I WASN'T going to pull it up...right! If Hallie's teacher is pole dancing I'd like to know about it! Anway, I had turned my windows "automatic update" off when it had downloaded a new version of IE rendering my computer a vegetable lol! Well, I forgot to turn it back on so it didn't download the virus update that would have recognized it. That's it in a nutshell. The rest you know. Automatic Updates are our friends! No matter how much they slow us down!

I finally got back on line yesterday for the first time in 4 days. It was overwhelming to see all the work I had this week and all that I was behind on. I shipped a couple dozen orders out yesterday and will continue to do so each day until I'm caught up. I'm sorting through my email and will be sending out invoices today for all the CUSTOM orders. Thank you all for your patience as I work through all this :-)

NEW CHARMS::

I will be listing those charms today or tomorrow! I have to retake their pictures and reload all of my photo editing software onto the new computer, so I'm not sure what time it will be, but I'm hoping you all love them!

I won't be listing new beads tomorrow. I'm regrouping the rest of the week and will list everything next week, along with another group of Organic beads and few other new surprises!


Ok, I'm off to finish charms!

Hugs to you all!

NEW Beads!

Good morning everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that I'll be listing new beads later today. I have quite a few OOAK sets and a few focals, I haven't been able to stop making these little beads, they are just fabulous! I also did a couple of Valentine Day sets and some Organic Hearts that turned out beautifully. If there is a heart that you'd like to see in a different color or style please drop me a note, I'd be happy to make it for you, I've just been in an "Organic" frame of mind these days!

I am finishing up the new Charms I have later today, so I don't think I'll be listing them until this weekend. They are larger then anything I've done in the past and I'm particularly proud of the flaming heart pendant! It has quite a story and is very unusual for the era it dates back to. It's very romantic looking too. It pictures olive branches with a crown atop a flaming heart in the center, I wish it could talk and tell me it's history, who made it and for what special reason. I know it would be quite the conversation piece for whoever wears it! One more note, the Love pendants I'll be offering this weekend all have the option to add a Tundra Sapphire or Red Garnet Coin. I purchased these lovely rough stones 4 years ago and was waiting for a special reason to use them, I thought I'd share them with you in hopes that you to see the natural beauty I see in them. I only have 10 or so to share with you so please take advantage of it while you can!

I'll see you all later! I'm aiming for 4:00 or 5:00 today!

Hugs,
Shannon

Cold morning......

It's a cold morning here! I'm sharing some pictures I took, one of my goals this year is to become a better photographer. I've shared my frustrations with you all over the years and now I want to know what YOUR challenges are! Lighting? Background colors? Clarity? Let me know! I'll try and help! I'm starting a new segment here on my blog, I haven't decided what to name it yet, but it will be a behind the scenes look at what goes on here. I hope it helps all the designers I sell to, as well as other lampworkers. If there's a topic you'd like me to cover, please let me know!

One more thing before I tackle my emails.....the organic sets I'll be posting on Friday are BEAUTIFUL! I love experimenting!