Whoohoo Wednesday!

Today in Notl:  A little cloudy, a little humid, a little cool, with a high today of 68F/20C.

 Well, so much happens so quickly around here.  For years, I have known that Deb is intuitive and have urged her to read for people.  She rarely does, I suspect partly from a desire not to compete with me and partly from the challenge of seeing herself as reader.  She has done readings at parties, etc, and both with me and for me on occasion, and she is very good.  I always felt that she just needed to find her niche, the particular way in which her gift would receive expression.

Well, an odd thing happened today.  I've been seeing Deb create the beautiful angel pendants she makes and heard her say things like, "This one wants to be a cellphone charm; it likes to have fun" or 'This one wants to be close to its person; I think I'll make it a necklace."

Finally, today, it hit me:  THIS is Deb's niche.  She works with the Angels as she makes each pendant, then she listens to them as she decides how to use them...I asked her if she could use the pendants to get information from Angels, and she got quiet, and - bingo!

She was a little surprised, but yup, she hears the angels speak through the pendants.  "Yes, but what is it I'm doing?" she asked.  "It's not the same as the readings you do, where people bring their questions and so on..."

We got quiet and invited the Angels to give us more information and they did.  Deborah's niche is Angel Amulet Readings.  The word 'amulet' comes from the Latin and means something that gives protection, and Angels certainly do that.  In a flash, we understood.  Clients will choose their angel, then in a short, 15-minute reading Deborah will share the message that angel brings them.  The client will receive the angel they chose on a simple black cord knot so they can wear it or hang it in their homes or cars.  Cost is $45 and includes the blessed amulet and cord.
Like my readings, Angel Amulet readings will be available by phone.

Rainy Tuesday

Today in NOTL:  Raining, with the 11 a.m. temp a chilly 59F/15C.  It should get to a still-cool 66F/19C.

The news is filled with stories of people being really nasty, crimes and scandals and who knows, and that can make it hard to keep a happy outlook.  And then, sometimes, you run across a story like this one.  What a lovely story!

Today I will be working on the Etsy shop, I think.  Got to upload pendants...maybe a few aceos.  Step one: download the photos Deb took!  She took over a hundred shots of angel pendants, watercolour pendants, and bracelets - now to work with them!

Some People!

Today in NOTL:  Gorgeous day!  At noon, we're just about at our high of 63F/17C, with breeezes and clouds.  Rain later...and showers of yellow leaves till then!

Some people ... are just too sweet for words!  Yesterday, someone posted a rude comment to something I'd said online.  I hadn't realized that, as I'd left the site to do other work. This happens occasionally; the worldwide web is a biiiiig place and you get all kinds, and some are 'trolls' who seemingly delight in being ugly, rather like bullies who are spoiling for a fight.

Suddenly, my yahoo Instant Messenger popped up: a friend was concerned.  Then the telephone rang: it was another friend, calling long distance to make sure I was ok.  When I went to the site, there was a private message waiting for me, expressing sympathy for the rudeness directed toward me, and other messages doing the same.  

I was bowled away by it all.  How fortunate am I, that people who've never met me in person care enough to go out of their way to express their affection and concern for me!  Amazing!

I guess it all goes to show that even the ugly parts of life bring us a gift, if we will only see it.

Yay!

Today in NOTL:  A cloudy, chilly morning, with 10:30 a.m. temps of 63C/17F, though we're told it will warm up to an outrageous 77F/25C, but I am not convinced.

A shower of small yellow leaves drifted past my window just now.  I love Autumn in Niagara!

So I finished the books I enjoyed and plowed through a couple that were less delightful.  I don't know, as soon as I read something like, "Rowan Stilthurst Mountebank, Viscount Hartsleigh tossed the document scornfully to the floor and glared at the young woman standing before him," well, I just want to start banging my head against the wall.  Sigh.  I have very little patience for historical romance, bodice-rippers and such. 

From my observation, the writers of this kind of fiction have a great struggle before them: how to make their heroes both swoon-worthy and desirable despite their forceful disregard of milady's wishes.  I don't know, such books are full of this kind of thing: 'His strong body blocked the door, her one means of escape.  Evelyn tried to get past him, but he caught her arm in a crushing hold and pulled her body against his.  She struggled to free herself, but he grabbed her hair, forcing her head back.  "I will have you," he growled. "Your stubborn refusal will only make things go the harder for you."  She twisted in his hold, but his hungry mouth found hers and plundered it mercilessly....'  I dunno, I read that and think, 'Good grief, that's assault." 

But women buy it and so do some men, go figure.  Anyway, I have a raft of these to read, so who knows?  Maybe I'll end up writing a bodice-ripper of my own. 

What I **did** love and love a lot was the first book in the Jan Karon Mitford series.  Rats, that there was only the one in the box.  I am anxious to get the rest of the series - along with everything Jan Karon ever wrote.

In other news, Deb is taking pics today of the pendants, hooray!  I'll post as soon as I get them.

Where did the week go??

Today in NOTL:  The perfect, for me, Autumn day:  chilly, with a high of 18C/64F, grey, and rainy!  Just gorgeous!!!

You know it's chilly when Deb says, 'It's sweater weather out there!'  I have been trimming and cutting individual watercolour papers for pendants and it is a time consuming process.  It is a help, though, to have a ready supply of blanks for painting instead of cutting as I go, so it's worth the fiddly trouble.  It sure would be a help to be able to buy precut 15x21 mm pieces of paper - that's just about 5/8 x 7/8 inch. 

I notice, too, that working on a group of minis is surprisingly tiring.  You'd think, being so teeny, they'd paint up in a flash. They don't, though.  Because the details are so very small, it is more painstaking than a larger, ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5 inches) piece.  I try not to hunch over the workspace, but it's hard not to - you need to get up close and personal when you're working so tiny! - so I feel it in my shoulders and neck. 

Eyestrain can be a problem, I suspect, so I try to remember to keep resting my eyes and do some far-point focusing often.  Having the window beside me is a help.  The birds and view keep me looking up from my work.

It just occurred to me that the Vespa pendant didn't sell.  What's up with that???  I **love** that piece!!!  I'll be putting that one onto Etsy, I think.  It's just too adorable to languish on the wonderful pendant display I made!

Happy!

Today in NOTL:  Gorgeous, sunny day with noontime temps of 72F/22C and a sweet breeze outside.  What a day!

Jewellery party was a lot of fun, Deb says, and both her bracelets and my pendants sold!  Whoohoo!  It was a huge affirmation of our work.  Today we'll be uploading to the Etsy shop and I'll post more pictures. 

The Angels tell us that whatever gives us joy is our channel to spread Love to the world.  We take them at their word, so everything we create goes out with blessings.  The idea of our joys being our vehicles for spreading love is not one I was taught in church school.  There, I heard a lot more about how God was pleased when I offered my sufferings as a gift - and how my happiness was irrelevant. 

That has never made sense to me; I wouldn't be pleased by someone's pain and I'm only a human with human love.  If I want my loved ones to have joy, how much more does Creator want us to experience joy? 
Hope your day is filled with joy!

Necklaces and Bracelets and Parties, Oh My!

Today in NOTL:  Chilly day!  At nearly-1 p.m., it's only 61F/16C, with a projected high of only 64F/18C with a little rain possible later today.  Passers-by are wearing light jackets and sweaters, so it must be Autumn!

Working hard today getting ready for Deb's party on Sunday.  I have been promising pictures of the necklaces, but it's been a a comedy of errors, lol.

First, Deb had to find the time to take them!  Then she had to upload them, which took more time.

Then she had to send them to me, which she did.  That's where the errors come in, lol.  I am not the puter-savviest lady around...so I saved them, as I had to do in order to upload them here.

Then I lost them, so Deb had to resend them, so I could reupload them and now show them to you!  Here they are!!!  Whew!