Although I’ve seemed relatively quiet these last few weeks, I haven’t been idle. Today’s book review is of Deidre Knight’s Red Fire, a paranormal romance involving Georgia and immortal Spartans. Really.

I’ve been taking a ton of photos while out and about, mostly of plants and flowers; here’s a sample:

Many of those photos are available as prints.

I’ve also been putting together (and posting at our etsy store) plenty of jewelry and beaded bookmarks. Of course what with the economic crisis this was exactly the wrong time to start such an endeavor—I hear even the long-time sellers at Etsy with large followings have made few sales in the past weeks—but I have patience. I can wait until things get better, and in the meantime I’ll build up our stock of lovely things. I’m getting much better at taking photos of items, thanks to a light box and lots of practice:

If you want to buy any of them, the photos at DeviantArt have links below them to their listings at Etsy, or you can go directly to our etsy store (errantdreams.etsy.com). There are a few items that are more expensive—usually jewelry sets—but there are also plenty of items that are under $10.

Plenty more things to come soon! I have some cookware to review, as well as a ton of books. I’m in the middle of reading Ad Hudler’s Man of the House, and we’re making recipes out of some cookbooks I haven’t reviewed yet. So stick around!

A while ago I spotted a church named “Christ Our Anchor” and ever since then I’ve found myself pronouncing it with certain… other… punctuation: “Christ! Our anchor!”

What can I say. I enjoy language humor.

New book reviews since the last time I posted them: Dr. Davis Liu’s Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely, on the US healthcare system and navigating it safely. Nalini Singh’s Hostage to Pleasure, which established for me exactly why so many people think so highly of her! And Laurel Anne Hill’s Heroes Arise, a fantasy novel that focuses on world-building. I’ve had a friend visiting all last week so I haven’t gotten as much done as usual, particularly in the realm of reading; it’s fun, though, because we’ve known each other since early college, which means I’ve now known her for literally half of my life.

In awesome news, we now have more than 40 items posted at our etsy store (errantdreams.etsy.com). That includes a great handful of beaded bookmarks—each one unique—as well as jewelry and a few trinket bags. Consider buying a beaded bookmark for a friend this holiday season! This weekend I also made some fun things like a garnet and silver filigree bracelet, so expect to see some of those soon.

We’ve also started posting our level 80 designs at cafepress! More to come soon!

At least, I have a magpie’s fascination with shiny objects. I don’t actually wear much jewelry at all; I’m a jeans and t-shirts gal. But that doesn’t mean I don’t drool over shiny things. So, it seems I’ve taken to beading rather naturally.

When I was a kid I loved little artsy-craftsy kits. But I also have a practical streak a mile wide, and didn’t have the patience for the kind of things they put out for kids—you know, crafts that come out looking big, blocky, and useless. The kind of things you give to your relatives at the holidays, and they smile with that fake, plastered-on smile that you reserve for ugly things your family gives you that you’ll never use but have to pretend to like anyway.

So, I stopped doing crafts. I picked up sewing briefly in the 90s, but tendonitis scrapped that and I stopped again.

Then I saw one friend of mine sewing beads onto trim for garb-making several weeks in a row, and another friend of mine happened to mention having a catalog for Fire Mountain Gems. The lure of potential shiny objects sent me to the website, and I was a goner.

Ever thought about doing something, and just KNEW it was the right thing to do? That’s how I felt when I looked at beading. It never even entered my mind that I’d make cruddy stuff or no one would want it—it just felt right. So I picked up a bunch of materials and set to work. I posted photos at DeviantArt. I’m thinking of opening an Etsy shop (just at a hobby level for the moment), but haven’t yet, and someone already asked if they could buy one of my pieces. I posted some photos for critique at Craftster and several people said they didn’t look like beginner pieces—they looked pro.

Yeah, I’m bragging. I’m really proud of that last bit. It’s slowed down my reviewing a little, but I AM still reading books for review, and making anywhere from one to eight pieces of jewelry at a time (24 done so far!). Who knows—it might or might not turn into a business later down the road, but right now it’s incredibly fun.

Not to mention shiny!

Book reviews posted since my last entry: Easy Beading from BeadStyle magazine; Ace is Wild by Penny McCall; Jinx by Jennifer Estep; and Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd.

*hack, cough, wheeeeeze* It took me a little while yesterday to realize this was more than just allergies. When you start hacking weird things up out of your lungs, though, that tends to be a good indication that you’ve moved on into the realm of a cold.

Yes, as predicted I am still able to find exercises on the wii fit that are fun and not too taxing when I’m sick. I just kept my exercise down to about 15 minutes total or so, and stuck with things from the balance games, yoga, and a couple of easy strength & aerobic bits.

I have three beading book reviews for you: Jean Campbell’s Getting Started Stringing Beads; Chris Franchetti Michaels’s Jewelry Making & Beading (from the ‘Teach Yourself Visually’ series); and Margie Deeb’s The Beader’s Guide to Color. Michaels’s book is top-notch, as is Deeb’s. I’d reserve Campbell’s for dabblers who don’t intend to go deep into the world of beading, or for beginners who get easily overwhelmed by detail. One more beading book review to go!

Found at Baby Got Books:

Okay, a bunch of things today.

1. After reading an entertaining texturizing tutorial, I started seeing textures in everything around me and couldn’t help taking photos galore. So if you’re looking for some free stock textures available for unrestricted use, I’ve made a bunch available through my DeviantArt account. More to come, I’m sure. Please do show me if you use them for anything cool!

2. The wii is freaking awesome. A couple of great friends of ours (the ones whose wii we tried in the first place, thus getting hooked) found a wii and called us to ask if we wanted them to grab it for us. Boy howdy! (Isn’t it good to have friends?!) We got it home late Sunday night, hooked it up last night, and promptly got hooked on doubles tennis. It’s amazing how much of a sweat you can work up playing a video game.

3. I’m pathetic. Today I tried out the wii sports fitness test, which gives you your ‘fitness age.’ Dare I admit that my fitness age is twice my physical age? I think I just did. *hangs head in shame*

4. We gave in and ordered a Little White Thing You Stand On (aka wii fit) through ebay. It should arrive tomorrow. This is where I have to admit that it was actually the parody ad that made me want the dang thing:

5. Today’s review is of the Reader’s Digest New Complete Guide to Sewing. It’s fantastic.

6. I seem to have suddenly re-discovered my old love of crafts, and went and bought some beading books. More cool stuff to review!

7. More book reviews soon!

So, my life is about as full as it can possibly get, but in a good way. What’s keeping you revved up?