One of my very favorite vacations. Ever.

I love to travel. And perhaps more than the trip itself, I love the planning of the trip. I spend much of the winter months (okay, Northern Michigan winter months, which can include October through May) planning where I would go if I could. Or how much it would cost to have a second home in the Turks and Caicos. Um, yeah, that would be too much.

I do a lot of checking on VRBO and Luxury Link and Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Hey, I've got good taste.

But one of the best vacations I've ever been on was on a small boat with 9 people I didn't know in the rain and cold of Alaska.

(It's the one in the middle)

My mother-in-law gifted us a trip to the Inside Passage of Alaska from Juneau to Sitka. Before we left our summer had consisted of rain and cold and then more rain. And a little more cold for good measure. When I looked on the weather reports that it would rain and be cold in Alaska in August I was a bit disappointed, but geared up to go and see and do everything.

It was grey, but magical. And because of all the rain we saw twenty times the waterfalls than the crew had seen the week before. Because of the rain, we awoke to thousands of moon jellyfish mating in the cove where we spent the night. Don't worry. It was very G-rated.

This trip happened to be with The Boat Company, a wonderful group of people trying to save the Tongass forest of Southeast Alaska and promote conservation. Were money no object, I would take that trip every year of my life. After spending the winter in the Caribbean, of course.

Bead Focus

Lately I've been focusing on making beads to sell rather than using them in my own designs. I'm never sure which approach is the better one or the more profitable one and sometimes these little decisions lead to bigger ones like, Should I start a new Etsy shop focused strictly on beads? And keep one strictly jewelry?

See the kinds of questions that keep me up at night?

Here are some recent sets. All available right now on Etsy.

Where Have You Been, Missy?

I'm not even going to go into all the things that have or have not been going on in my life that have prevented any postings from happening. Suffice it to say dogs and kids and parents and holidays and work have made extra time nonexistent. Hopefully things are turning around and wonderful happenings are on the horizon.

Presently I'm restocking my Etsy shop with pretty little items like these:

With more to come! I'd love to have you check out the shop over the next few weeks to see what's new.

Still Thinking about Halloween and the Homemade Costumes Yet To Be Made and MadeByMelissa on Etsy

I realize that one of the things in the title of this post is not like the others. At least at first glance. But my fellow Etsyblogger, Made by Melissa, has a great shop full of Halloween items that might just make your holiday that much more festive.

Like this Happy Skull Halloween Charm Necklace.

Or these cute Giggly Ghouls Ghostly Charm Earrings, which are much more my cowardly Halloween speed.

Melissa, however, has many skills and apparently not an idle moment. You can find whimsical jewelry in her shop:

Beautiful, crocheted babies' blankets:

and my personal favorite, Penny the Pink Elephant:

With her mad skills, I'll bet Melissa could have Jimmie's Toxic Waste costume done in a matter of minutes.

Make sure to check out Melissa's blog as well: madebymelissa.blogspot.com

Thinking Halloween

I'm not much for scary. Never have been. I think my imagination is too big and out of control for my rational mind to reign in. My imagination is like a Pamplona bull.

I never go to scary movies. I went to The Silence of the Lambs and had to leave the movie theatre. Then I checked my closets and ceilings (because of the elevator scene) and under my bed for years. Years, I tell you.

I even make my husband change the channel for previews of scary movies.

I do love watching my kids dress up for Halloween, however, especially in the last few years when the store-bought Bionicle costume has made way for the thunderstorm or bush or present costumes. I'll be writing more about that on Cluck and Tweet later this week. I guarantee you won't want to miss that. There will be mystery and intrigue and bows.

Anyhoo, I have no big plans for Halloween. I've been thinking about it since late August when Jimmie mentioned that I should make some monsters for my Etsy shop. This was a self-serving request because the monsters that don't make the cut go to him and his sister.

But he had a great idea which I ran with and now I have these guys hanging around my shop.

They are so not scary.

Just how I like it.

Evil. Devitrifying. Purple.

Evil Devitrifying Purple will strike fear in many beadmakers because, surprise!, this glass will devitrify which basically mean it will turn chalky or even make the adjacent glass look chalky rather than shiny. Etching a bead removes this finish, of course, giving the entire bead a matte finish. These are my latest set on Etsy using EDP:

But this glass is capable of so much more. Look at its effect on the above beads... beautiful little works of art created by Debra Jennings of Frogsong Studio. Simply amazing.

Newest Set on Etsy. I LOVE Double Helix. Too Bad I'm Married.