Findings and Stuff

There's a new category of items in the store: Findings and Stuff. In this category, you'll find lots of great deals on stuff I bought as part of overzealous projects which never came to be. When I first started beading, I bought a lot of supplies in bulk before realizing that I prefer to make only one of each creation. They all use the same basic, time tested techniques, and in some cases, related color schemes, but everything made in the past year is one of a kind.

You may have heard of the Fly Lady. (For those who haven't, it's basically free help for escaping CHAOS- "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome" via baby steps.) I discovered the Fly Lady when I was pregnant and nesting like an obsessive-compulsive crazy woman. The clutter in the house was weighing me down. I took at least 5 car loads of stuff to Goodwill. Do you fly? Leave a comment!

So anyway, I realized that I have more beading supplies than I know what do do with at the moment, and decided to have an online garage sale of sorts. Why? Haha, so I can go buy more beads. Shhhhh... don't tell the boys!


Technorati Profile

Black Friday Specials

Although I love shopping, I hate holiday shopping. The closer it gets to Christmas, the grouchier and more desperate my fellow shoppers become. So anyway, most of my holiday shopping is done online these days... and as a "Thank you" to anyone who decides to shop Simply Leilani on Etsy this weekend, we're going to send a free pair of Christmas earrings with every order AND offer a rebate for free shipping on orders over $20.

Also, in an attempt to declutter my beading corner, we're going to start listing some findings and other goodies from my personal stash. As much as I love to bead, even I have to admit that having two full tackle boxes is probably a bit excessive. :) There will be some great deals for my crafty friends who want to save some cash this Christmas by making presents.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has a great weekend, surrounded by friends and family! We'll be off island for the day, but will be running some Black Friday specials in the Etsy shop! The best part, especially for you non-Hawaii folks, is that they won't start popping up until I actually wake up on Friday morning... which will probably be about noon, East Coast time.

Caps for Connor

Yes, yes, I also sew. Anyway, I have a soft spot for kids with cancer because when I was about 7-8 years old, one of my best friends had leukemia. So, when I heard about a young man suffering from a rare type of brain cancer, and that his friends were going to shave their heads in the dead of winter to keep him company, I couldn't help it. Anyway, I can't knit a stitch, but I did manage to sew up 11 fleece hats. Of course, my son wanted one, so we're only sending 10. Don't ask me what the kid thinks he's going to do with a fleece hat in Hawaii, but I guess it's a good sign that he thinks mom makes cool stuff!

You can read about Connor's Caps here. Connor's school is having a hat day in December, so any donations would have to be in the mail this week. However, you can always donate hats and other things to The Ship's Project. I will never forget being deployed to the Gulf and having a box of knit hats, booties, and mittens arrive. The guys in my department were ALL OVER that box, even though it was something like 120 degrees out on the flight deck. Why? Because, believe it or not, it gets cold in the winter. REALLY cold. I took a hat (even though I didn't think I needed one) because the guys told me to. OH MY GOODNESS. I never would've imagined it could get THAT cold!

Who's that girl?

You may have noticed some subtle changes around here... like a completely new name up at the top? Anyway, I'm in the process of overhauling my Etsy shop, to include a more eye catching storefront and some other things.

So, who's Leilani? She's my baby girl! We asked her Tutu (grandma) Evie to help us pick out a middle name. When she suggested Leilani, Dad and Grandpa Steve locked on to it like Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun. Why? Because of a little barefooted girl running around in an old John Wayne movie called Donovan's Reef. It was filmed on Kauai in the 1960's, and my dad actually remembers being on a flight with Lee Marvin following filming. (He was a kid at the time, returning from a baseball tournament.) Personally, I think the movie is completely misleading about life on a tropical island AND dreadfully BORING, but what do *I* know?

Here's a trailer for the morbidly curious:


Lest you think we're totally crazy, the baby's first name is Audrey... after Audrey Hepburn. Actually, if you knew us, you'd know we're crazy. But you know, that's just part of the fun!

Even more stitch markers

Just listed a few more sets of these on Etsy since it seems the only showcase you can buy slots for is the knitting showcase. If these don't sell, then I suppose I can convert these into stemware markers.

More Stitch Markers

I had so much fun wrapping wire for the last pair of stitch markers that I pulled apart a couple pairs of earrings I had for sale on ETSY (don't worry, I still have Frosty Earrings) and made them into another set of stitch markers. The Christmas Tree is made of Swarovski crystal, the snowmen have Swarovski hats and Czech Druk bodies. Everything else is sterling silver.

Something new...

I got a special request last week from a friend of mine who knits... she wanted to know if I could make up some stitch markers for her. Since I don't knit, the thought never occurred to me, so thank you for the idea! They were fairly easy to make once I figured out how to make the loop at the top the right size. They needed to be big enough to go over the knitting needles, but not too big. So anyway, here's the result!

Please visit her awesome knitting blog here!

Lanyards

Maybe it's schizophrenic to attempt to make a bizillion different types of things via beading, but here's a little something for those who need to wear ID badges, whistles, pens, someplace to hang reading glasses, whatever...

Each lanyard is approximately 30 inches long, which should be more than long enough to swipe badges while still being short enough to keep whatever you're hanging on the lanyard above waist level. The beadwire used to string these lanyards is tested to 44lbs, so you could hang keys on the swivel and still be okay. I tried to get my fiance to test one out with a whistle while refereeing a soccer game, but he wouldn't be caught dead with one of these! :) However, I'm sure a female ref could appreciate the artistry. The swivels are silver plated, to keep the "jewelry" look. Each lanyard is crimped twice, for extra durability. After all, what's the point of having something like this if you can't take it out year after year?

NaNoWriMo

Did you know that November is National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo)? The short of it is that during the month of November, aspiring novelists attempt to write a 50,000 word novel. Although there's no quality control tied to being a "winner," (all you have to do is write a novel of 50,000 words) it's still a LOT harder than it sounds.

This year, NaNoWriMo celebrates its 10th anniversary. So, to anyone who's ever said, "One day, I'm going to write a book," maybe that day should be today...