Jan Tanis Designs: Day 2 - Stroll the Shops for Christmas - Beth & De...

Jan Tanis Designs: Day 2 - Stroll the Shops for Christmas - Beth & De...: The Stroll is off to a Wonderful Start! Thanks to all of you who visited yesterday! *************** ON WITH THE STROLL!! ***************...

Moving Blog!!!

I have decided to simplify my life a bit and cut things down to one blog. I will be moving all my posts over to my other blog Glass Princess Tale. Please follow me over there and bookmark that blog. I will put updates for both of my Etsy shops on that blog along with all of my life babble! Thanks for all who have followed me thus far! I won't delete this blog for a while so that I can leave this message up for anyone looking for information on what I've been up to.  I still have two Etsy shops, Juniper Gems for finished pieces of artisan made jewelry and Principessa Glass for artisan made lampwork beads. Stop by and see what's new! Check out my blog for updates on what I am doing with both shops and my life in general.

New Bracelet Listings.. Featuring My Own Beads!!!!

Now this may not be as big of a thrill for the rest of you, but for me, whose been on this journey of exploration into hot glass fun, this is a major milestone! AND not only did I list bracelets today made with my own artisan made lampwork beads... I also listed beads for sale in my Principessa Glass shop!!! Yipee for me! I love how the beads on this bracelet turned out! They look pretty in the picture, but they are even prettier in your hand. It's hard to capture the subtle metallic shimmer some of the reactive glass gives to the beads. I had some Swarovski crystal I bought sometime ago, that have never been the right color for anything, until now! I think they are the perfect compliment to the color tones in the lampwork beads.

I will still have plenty of listings in  my shop that have beads made by the many other very talented artist out there. I have quite a stash to draw from still and I will likely still buy some from time to time, because what other people make is really pretty! There will of course be a large increase in items featuring my own beads over the next few months. It will take me time since I am not only making beads for my own personal use, but also making beads to sell. Right now that is a little like rubbing your tummy and patting your head. You can maybe be successful at it for a minute or two and then your whole house of cards comes tumbling down and you realize that your family REALLY does like to eat dinner, the laundry doesn't do itself, the dogs need to be feed everyday.. really everyday? I think I worked less when I had a job I went to each day, when I only did my part, not everything and then some!

I think it may take me awhile to get my juggling act down. I'd put the dogs on a self feeding plan, but the Aussie would end up overweight.. she's a bit of a piggie.. I haven't figured out how to get someone else to do the laundry without paying them, or living with what they ruin. My daughter is a teenager, so not feeding her isn't the end of the world, I just have to be willing to look the other way while she has chips for dinner... they have a vegetable in them right? I grew up with the Jettson's cartoon, I'd thought for sure by now we'd all have that robot and insta dinner thing... While I wait for that, please stop by my Etsy shop and see my new listings!

Cooper's Sale!

This is Cooper, My dear friend Nikki, of Bastille Bleu's 3 year old Golden retriever who recently came down with a severe case of rocky mountain spotted fever. He has been to the vet after showing signs of not feeling well and test confirmed that he did in fact have the above mentioned illness (too many words!!) They put him on what was the normal course of treatment and sent him home to get better. It seemed like he was doing better for a couple of days and then began to crash!

He was taken to an emergency vet hospital, which can also be called the bottomless pit of spending! It is wonderful that we have these places to take our beloved pets to, but the costs can rack up by the hour! The doctors were stumped as to what was causing Cooper to get worse. He had now started having seizures. As you can imagine, my poor friend was beside herself with worry. After running a myriad of costly tests and getting Cooper re-hydrated, they determined that he had been experiencing what amounted to the worst case scenario for an animal with rocky mountain spotted fever.  Most respond to the standard treatment which he had been given earlier in the week by their regular vet, but poor Cooper had to be special! 

He is finally back home now, having lost over 20lbs and still very weak. He'll be recovering for quite awhile as will his owners who now have an enormous vet bill! Nikki is running a one day sale in both of her shops, Bastille Bleu, for handmade artisan lampwork beads and Bastille Bleu Bijoux for jewelry made with her handmade lampwork beads. Some of the bead sets are up to 50% off, so I wouldn't wait!

Stop by Nikki's shops and take a look around, if you find something that appeals to you, your purchase will be supporting a much loved family member! It's kind of cool, since you'll get something and be giving at the same time! Thanks for your support!

Holiday Clearance Sale!

 Just a quick note to let you know I have placed all the Holiday bracelets and earrings in my Etsy shop on sale.






There is still a nice selection of bracelets and lots of earring choices to choose from. Everything on sale is 30% off and will remain that way until they are gone or I am tired of looking at the listings!

Thank you to everyone who supported my shop this holiday season! You made it my best season yet! I very much appreciate all of you who continue to come back and the new customers who have just discovered my shop and Etsy in general! It is truly a pleasure to be able to do what I do. I enjoy being able to create and I love the places this journey has taken me. My new Etsy shop, Principessa Glass, which will feature my own handmade lampwork beads will be actively selling sometime after the first of the year. If you go to the shop and save me in your favorites you will be able to see when I start listing. Also I have a blog associated with it called The Glass Princess Tale. You can check there for regular updates and my musing about glass in general.

I personally love shopping on Etsy! I love the individuality that comes from handmade items! It is so much fun to give a gift that is truly unique! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that this New Year is a year filled with hope and joy! Thanks again for all of the support!

Christmas Countdown!

There are 8 days left till Christmas! If you are shopping locally you have 7 days left to shop, if you are cyber shopping you have 5 days if you include today! I still have lots of great inventory in my Etsy shop to choose from.

 If you are concerned about getting things on time, I ship everything USPS Priority mail and have all my packages out the door usually in less than 24 hours. If you order by Monday, December 21st. BEFORE the post office closes here in central time, which I believe is 5pm, I will personally make sure you package gets to the post office that day! Please keep in mind that if you place an order at 4:45pm on the 21st, that doesn't leave me much time to package things up and drive to the post office before it closes. Any orders that come in late on the 21st will be taken to the post office first thing in the morning on the 22nd.

Not always being as organized as I would like to be,(good intentions only get you so far), I have been the girl standing in line at the post office hoping and praying that my packages would get to there destinations on time. Most of the time, I must say they have, despite my lack of planning! Now, I of course can make no guarantees that a package shipped on the 22nd will arrive on time, since once I drop it off, It is out of my control!

For anyone prone to being a super last minute shopper, I would be happy to give you a quote for express mail. No, it's not cheap, but you did wait until the last minutes to shop and the stores really don't have anything left, so you might have to make some concessions! I tend to be home and on-line most days, so if you have questions about any of the items in my shop just send me a covo or e-mail. I can make adjustments to most pieces in my shop, so if something isn't exactly to your liking, just ask.

I hope everyone is having a calm and enjoyable Holiday season! It is very easy to get all caught up and get stressed out about shopping and family and such. I will do my best here at Juniper Gems to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. If things get too bad, have an extra cookie, everyone needs a reason to make their New Years resolution's!

Totally cool!

http://www.starbucksloveproject.com/#/main/ This is a super cool video done by Starbucks for their Love Project aimed at raising awareness for AIDS in Africa. When you consider the aomount of technically work that had to go into putting all of these different voices together into one song, I think it turned out pretty amazing.

New Listings!

I've added a few new listings today to my Juniper Gems shop and should have more through out the week. I haven't been feeling that well, which has slowed me down a bit, but it doesn't take too much energy to just sit at the computer all day.

As you can see there are more Christmas trees to choose from, this batch has some of my smaller more petite trees. They are very cute, still sparkly and fun, just a little less of everything.

I have a lot more bracelets to list and more beads to make bracelets with than I have time to do so. I will eventually get around to it all. It is amazing how much moving can really mess up your life. You think you are settled, but there really are so many layers to get through.



 Hopefully I will feel better in the next day of two, too many more days and it will really oput me off my game for the holidays! I have lots of gifts to make, shopping to do and hopefully a little life to enjoy along the way!
Please stop by my Etys shop and take a peek at my new listings this week and if you haven't already visited my new blog or web site please check them out! I'd love it if you'd save me in your favorites on Etsy so you'll know when I start listing beads and such in my new shop!

Holiday Sale!

I have two special promotions to offer in my Etsy shop, Juniper Gems, during the holiday season! The first one is a progressive discount sale that will run until the end of the year! Basically the more you buy the more you save!

For purchases of 2-3 items you will receive a discount of 20%! Each listing counts as one item, even if the listing contains a set, or multiple items within the listing.

For purchases of 4 or more items (listings, See above for definition) you will receive a 30% discount!

The other Promo I have is this…. If you sign up for my mailing list which can be located on the right hand side of the page, AND make a purchase sometime during the months of October, November or December, I will give you free First Class shipping on that purchase. This offer is good on only ONE purchase, not repeated purchases. I will confirm that you have signed up for the mailing list prior to giving the discount. Just put “Mailing List” in notes to seller and I will look you up and give you your discount! You do not need to be purchasing multiple items to qualify for this Promo!

Please note that my normal method of shipping is USPS Priority mail. First class mail is the postal service’s slightly less expensive, slower shipping method. If you desire to still receive your package via Priority mail, I will refund you the difference between the two shipping costs.

For both Sale Promos, you will receive your discount in the form of a PayPal refund, within 24 hours of purchase, usually less!

If you have any questions about my Promotional offers or any questions about items in my shop, just send me a convo! I can also be reached via e-mail listed at the bottom of this message.

I have many traditional and non-traditional holiday pieces this year, and as always, a large selection of jewelry pieces suitable for anytime. The listing are added to almost daily, so check back frequently. The best way to catch the updates is to save me in your favoites, then it's just a click away to come back and check out what it is new.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend! Ours will be a little different this year having just moved. I must admit with temps still in the 70's most days and all the leaves still on the trees, it doesn't really look or feel like Thanksgiving me. We do have many things to be thankful for this year, a healthy, happy family all around, which is most important, and a good job, which is why we made this move in the first place. Enjoy your day, don't over eat! You can always eat left overs all weekend long! That is my plan! Who wants to cook again anyway!

I Have A New Blog...

Don't worry, this one isn't going anywhere(not that I think THAT many people actually read it!). I decided that I needed some where to express my ramblings about my experiences in bead making. It doesn't mean I'll never talk about that here, but I wanted a place that was dedicated to my glass work and beads, so I started A Glass Princess Tale... You'll have to go check it out!

In typical fashion, at least for me, it took in inordinate amount of time to put together. I am never satisfied with standard formats, so I find cool blog templates online and upload those, that part isn't so complicated anymore, I've done it a couple of times now, and made enough mistakes in the process that I finally have it down. Altering a template you get from somewhere else, well, that's another story all together. I am not a computer genius, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with my computer. I have learned a lot more than I thought I would ever know about them in the past year since I started selling online, but I have miles to go to actually feel like I KNOW what I am doing.

I will eventually have my up coming bead listings there and use it as a place to talk about bead making and glass in general. Just like here, you may find post about how I feel about the weather, or that someone nearly ran me off the road and acted like it was my fault, general "my life" stuff.

I have listed some new items in my Juniper Gems shop, so go by and take a peek. I have lots more to come, I just need to conquer my new photo editing software, and figure out the right place to take pictures here. It has been a challenge since we move to find the right spot. I am not really satisfied yet, it's still a work in progress.

Please jump over to my new blog and give it a look!

Back in the Saddle!

After what seems like an eternity I am finally back to torching at home! While the garage is not all the way put together, it enough so that I can do my thing without having to stumble over a mountain of stuff just to get in and out of there. I even have the added benefit of being able to easily access the refrigerator out there and find a muffin pan should I need one, that of course being for a different use, not torching.

I am finding that the time off from my torch has actually proven to be a good thing and has helped me be better now. Sometimes a break from things came help make us better, doesn’t usually feel like that in the interim, your just aching to be back at it, but somehow, it helps refine things without doing anything. My best example would be my yoga practice, something I has severely neglected since we moved and need to get back on track with. I have found that there are time when you are introduce to a new pose and your body just doesn’t want to go there, so you stop doing it, six month later you try it again and you are more successful now than you were the first time you tried it. You haven’t been practicing this pose, so why can you now do it? Chances are you’ve been working towards it in other areas without being aware of it, be it physically or mentally, you are now ready for it.

Last night I went out, fired up my new GTT Cricket torch and sat down to make a bead on it for the first time. I will admit I was a little intimidated by it in the beginning, I am not used to this much power and heat! I just made basic beads for quite a while until I felt I had my feet back under me and I had begun to make friends with my new torch. I think we are going to get along very well, Cricket and I. I worked on a minor in my lampworking class last weekend, but have to say I think this little guy blows the minor away! Everyone has different reason for the torch they choose and the minor is a great torch, I wouldn’t regret having one at all. That said, I am so glad I made the choice I did and went with the Cricket! It’s the right one for me!

My beads from last night turned out pretty well, some better than I thought they would. I will be torching my little heart out for years to come I am certain. There is so much more to learn, explore and experience!

O Tannenbaum!!!!

Are you singing the song in your head right now? I am! That wasn't the goal of this post, but somehow music has a powerful way of getting into our heads. Like the annoying TV commercial jingle you can't stop replaying in your mind over and over again!


I will admit that I do find the holidays come just a bit too early in a retail sense anymore and every year they seem to come sooner. That being said, when one deals in a retail market you can only protest so much. Wait too long and you've missed the window of sales opportunity all together. This would be why you see holiday items posted here and listed in my Etsy shop.


You won't find me listing Christmas/ Holiday items in July, I just can't! But I have to come over to the dark side just a little and start selling holiday stuff before Thanksgiving, even if it does grind me just a bit that retail has to keep pushing the envelope on this one especially.


This is just a sampling of the selection of holiday earrings I will have to offer this year. I may have gone a bit overboard, but my husband doesn't call me "Little Miss Moderation" for nothing. I am more of a something for everyone type of a gal, rather than the one size fits all approach.


I have a limited supply of materials this year and won't be getting more, partially do to the fact that these parts become virtually impossible to get the closer you get to the holidays. You have to order in the summer if you want a good selection! Some versions I have several pairs of, some only one. I do have a few different size options as well.


Stop by my Etsy shop or my Artfire shop and see what I have listed. Each shop may have a different selection, especially where these earrings are concerned. I will also have some Snowmen earrings as well, just as soon as I get them photographed and listed. Feel free to contact me with any questions either here or through my shops.

A Firey Weekend!

I spent the entire weekend taking bead making classes at Wired Designs here in San Antonio, Texas. I originally signed up to take one class now and one in January, but they had so many open slots for the class on Sunday I decided to jump over to that class. It was an awesome experience and I learned a lot! There were quite a few areas I was struggling with and this really help fill in the blank and straighten me out on several issues. I am a very visual learner, so seeing it done, then having the opportunity to do it myself, plus get pointers and corrections along the way are immensely helpful. You can learn to do a lot of things on your own, but I figure this really cuts down on the learning curve, spares you a considerable amount of frustration, provides a lot of great tips that only years of practice can bring and saves you from wasting pounds of glass!

I will still need to spend hours and hours practicing, but I feel like I have a very good foundation in which to build upon now. Combining this with the classes I took back in the spring have really helped to make sense of a lot of core concepts. I am a firm believer that you must get the foundational stuff down first, then anything you do after that will just be adding on to that. If you don't have a good foundation, you will continually be frustrated. I have two more classes I am signed up to take in January and February. They will have more classes come this spring and summer that I am sure will entice me into another one or two!

They offer a really cool teen artist program, which I have Emily signed up to take glass fusing classes in. She'll be taking both the one and two class back to back. I think she's really going to enjoy this studio and working with kids her age. She already did some fusing in her art class last year in High School. This should just build upon that knowledge and give her more skills and confidence. If she really enjoys doing it, I told her she can sell her pieces in my shop where I will be selling my beads, once that is up and running. She rather liked the idea of making money. I'm not sure she fully grasps the concept of subtracting costs from the price before she gets paid, but we'll get there. She might still think that materials are free.

The instructor for our class was Nina "Sam" Hibbler, and she was an excellent teacher. I really enjoyed her focus on getting the basics right! She had a great, simple way of explaining things that made it easy to understand how to put it into practice, did excellent demos that were informative, but didn't take up the bulk of the class. She's a bit feisty which I love, and has a great passion for art in general. If you live in the San Antonio area and are looking for lampworking classes at any level I would highly recommend this studio!

I am going to put a good deal of effort into getting more things listed in my Etsy shop this week. Last week was plagued by headaches and a whole bunch of mishaps! I hope to be much more efficient this week! Stop by my Etsy shop as the week progresses and see what new listings are now available!

Conquering The Garage!

It is pretty much the last frontier left in the move. The Garage! I do still have an over flow of stuff in the spare bed room, kind of the "what in the heck am I going to do with this", pile which is just really waiting for there to be shelves in which to take up residence upon out in the garage.

I have made some good progress over the past few days, I can even see some floor now! I have built, with the help of Bob, a bunch of the racks and am now unpacking boxes. It is amazing what you find as you unpack them. Quite a number of things you wished you would have gotten rid of at the other end. Did we really need to move this? But one only has so much time and energy, I could only go to the Goodwill so many times and the garage sale I had was already a monumental undertaking! I just keep telling myself they have a Goodwill here, so I can take stuff to them!

Hopefully I will have my lampworking bench all set up by the end of the weekend! I am taking a class all day on Saturday, so I will be itching to get home and melt glass in my own space with my own torch after that! I will be very glad when all the boxes in the garage are unpacked and put away! It'll be nice to be able to find a muffin pan if I should need one, I know they are out there some where, and I did discover the waffle iron today, so we could be having waffles his weekend I am thinking!!

I have put a few more items in my Etsy shop over the past couple days, and will get more in there daily if possible. Somedays, I don't get to it, but I try not to go more than a day or two with out putting something in there!

Día de los Muertos...

As part of my daughters high school art class they had a big project to do this semester for Día de los Muertos, (Day of the Dead). Emily choose to do her project on her Great Grandmother, Grace Durland. She was able to spend a lot of time with her Great Grandmother up until she passed away a few years ago and has very fond memories of her.


She used a lot of creative materials to make all the items in the "House" she built. The couch was made from Popsicle sticks and upholstered with fabric and cotton balls. The table and chairs were made out of balsa wood, with the tableware coming from the miniatures section of the craft store(this was allowed). She made the basket for the balls of yarn out of fimo sculpting clay, made the knitting needles and rolled all the balls of yarn herself. She used a small gift box to create her television and even found a picture of Sesame Street on the internet to put inside, since that is what she would have been watching while Granny lived in this house.

She used sculpting clay to make the table lamp, made the remote control for the T.V. and included a copy, handmade of course, of a crossword puzzle on the coffee table. It was something Granny did everyday! The stairs and the fireplace were made from both wood and cardboard, then painted. She even found a picture of a fire for the fireplace to make it look authentic. All in all, it was a very accurate representation of My Grandmothers house. It is amazing all the details Emily remembered all on her own. I don't think she asked for any help on what to put in the house. The only help I gave was with finding construction materials to make some of the items, but she built everything all by herself.

I went to the school to see her finished project along with the other items done by her classmates. It was very interesting the array of subjects that were chosen to be honored. Grandparents were very well represented, as were pets, followed by celebrities such as Patrick Swayze, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, but by far the best represented celebrity/musician was Kurt Cobain. I was somewhat surprised by this. There must have been 6-8 different kids doing a piece in his honor.

I think Emily really enjoyed this experience and the opportunity to remember her Great Grandmother in a special and unique way.

Something New!

I've decided to give ArtFire a try! I've opened a shop under the same name, Juniper Gems. It will only ever have a dozen or so items listed over there while I test things out. One of the really cool features they offer is their Rapid cart which you can see off to the left. You don't even have to go to another website to purchase, you can just click on the items right there and purchase directly... Pretty cool! A lot of people have been saying good things abut Artfire, so here goes nothing! Stop by and check it out!

It's Christmas Time!!!

While for most of us it's not REALLY Christmas time, if you've stopped by any retail store you'll know what I mean. It's Christmas time in retail! Actually I've seen Christmas stuff in stores since early September. I LOVE Christmas, anyone who know me will attest to the fact that I am a Christmas freak, but I can't look at Christmas stuff that early! Even if I take a glance, I won't even consider buying until late October or the beginning of November. I also hold stead fast to my rule that I will NOT decorate for Christmas, not one little bit, until the day after Thanksgiving. I think That holiday deserves it's time!


Since it is officially November I have started listing some of my Christmas/Holiday offerings for this year. Some of the items shown here are already in my Etsy shop, others will be soon. If you see something here that isn't in the shop, and you are interested, feel free to send me message, e-mail, or a convo through my Etsy shop. I can always put up a reserved listing for you for one of the items I haven't gotten around to listing yet.


I have several more pieces planned for this year and will also be offering a large selection of my Swarovski crystal Christmas Tree earrings again this year in both traditional color themes and non-traditional. Personally my favorite are the less traditional colors!


I am still waiting for some really cute holiday beads to arrive in the mail. These are going to make some super cute, non-traditional colored holiday pieces. I have a limited supply of holiday beads this year and most of the artist making them have stated they won't be making more made to order sets of this type, so if you see something you like, don't delay, it's quite likely I won't be able to make another just like it!


It's November 1st, sunny and 72 degrees here in Texas. Having just moved here, this is a bit strange for me, not unwelcome, just strange. The really odd thing is that while most of the rest of the country talks about falling leaves and autumn colors, not a thing in my world has changed! The trees are all still green as can be and full of leaves, and these aren't pine trees! My flowers are still blooming, grass is still growing and needs to be mowed. While I am glad it is no longer 100 degrees on a daily basis, it doesn't feel like any kind of fall I have ever really experienced! Thanks for stopping by! I will have more listing trickling in through out the week, both holiday and non-holiday, so stop by my Etsy shop and take a peek!

Things I miss!

There are certain things you begin to miss when you move a considerable distance. People of course are one of those things, but with all of the modern technologies available to us, we can talk to, hear from and even see, via video chats, these people dear to us daily if we so desire. It’s the places and such that you can’t really connect with or expect a visit from. So this is my list of things and places I miss….

Currently topping my list is Trader Joes! I live in one of the biggest states in the US and there is not one Trader Joes in the whole stinking state!!! I am thinking about sending them a little letter to let them know that there are people in Texas that would LOVE a Trader Joes, and that they should start by putting one in San Antonio!

Papa Haydn/Jo bar Raspberry Lemon Drop Martini, If they could ship them, I’d be ordering them in gallons!

The Decorette Shop, The best little hole in the wall cake decorating, chocolate selling, sprinkle peddlers ever!

Fred Meyers! Yes, we have Super Target, but it’s just not the same… I miss Fred Meyers! H.E.B is nice, but it’s not Fred Meyers! If you’ve spent most of your life shopping at one, you’ll know what I mean…

Burgerville Chocolate Milkshakes! I will allow that I haven’t lived here long enough to discover if there is anything here comparable, but so far… nope!

My hair stylist Linda Carlson!!! I am in need of a haircut, haven’t had one since we moved. I do have a few gals who have said they have a good one for me to try and they all do look good, so it’s hopeful, but I LOVED Linda! Emily was even trying to figure out how we could get her to move to Texas!

New Seasons Market… They had the best selection of cheese! I could always find something different and yummy! The only natural food store here is Whole Foods and it is quite a ways away. I am sure I will make a trek over there on of these days, but for now….

Artisan bakeries! You can find a Mexican bakery on just about any corner, but I want crusty European style artisan made bread! What you get at Super Target or H.E.B really doesn’t cut it! I want Grand Central bakery or Kens artisan bread!!!

St. Honore Bakery.. A real French croissant, made by a Frenchman! Don’t even get me started on the quiche!

Saint Cupcake… The yummiest indulgence!

Pasta Works! Fresh pasta! The real thing… this isn’t grocery store stuff! Amazing cheese selection and artisan salami!

Papa Haydn! Yes, I know I mentioned them above, but they were always my favorite place to go and eat! Didn’t matter if it was with Bob and or girlfriends’, it was the best place and never got boring. You can’t find a better more decadent dessert in all of Portland!

Kink radio! I have been listening to the same station since I was 18! It defies a single genre, stays current and interesting without ever becoming predictable. I love that the music spans the 40 years that they have been on the air without sounding like an oldies station or a top 40’s station. Thankfully they have a live stream I can listen to on-line (which is what I am doing right now!). I don’t mind the stations here, but have yet to find anything I like besides a couple country stations. They are fine for a while, but run top 40’s so it gets repetitious after awhile.

I am sure if I sat here long enough I could make quite a list, but these are the ones that top my thoughts currently. I am sure that I will find “MY” places here eventually, but for now, I can’t help but think of the things I miss a little. Too bad you can’t bring them with you!

Happy Halloween!

I'll admit that I NEVER thought I would put a costume on one of my animals, but with a good bit of prodding from my teenage daughter we came home from Target with this bargain model! I must say she looks kind of cute and was rather unaffected by having it on! She occasionally shook her head making her hat go off center, but other than that, I think she may have liked playing dress-up! Quinn wore a bandanna, his version of a cowboy outfit! One little kid asked where his hat was, but we explained he didn't want to wear a hat!

Something I can Support...

I added the link below because it is a company I have supported for several years now. The owner of this company is an awesome woman who has worked very hard to make an on-line business work in a very competitive market. I have long been inspired by her drive, ethics and overall business savvy. For me, putting up this link isn't about whether or not I sell cosmetics, it's about anyone who takes the time to handcraft items and sell them as their own. It's about protecting being an artisan, no matter what your market may be. For the lampworking world it is a constant struggle to educate consumers about what true artisan made lampwork beads are and how to tell the difference between quality and cheaply made imports. Different items, same struggles!

Even if you aren't interested in reading the entire link I posted, if you wear make-up, I highly recommend Aromaleigh Mineral Make-up! I've been wearing it for years, my 15 year old daughter wears it, as does my mother!