She's At It Again...

As you may have noticed, I changed the aesthetics of my blog again. The dark purple was just to oppressing to me.

I promise I will try to stick with this one. It's much cleaner and lighter, don't you agree?

My Coral Reef

I have been wanting to get some pictures up of my saltwater coral tank for some time. Well, as I was feeding the fish tonight and they were zipping around the tank, I grabbed my camera. (the floating white stuff is their shrimp.) If you click on the picture, you can enjoy a larger image.

Prince William (royal gamma)
***yes, I name my fish!***

Tiny (pajama cardinal)
Her mate is currently hiding behind this rock brooding fry in his mouth, so he couldn't
come out to play :)

Specs:
72 gallon bowfront tank
15 gallon under tank sump refugium
Metal Halide lighting
65 pounds live rock
60 pounds live sand

Thinking Thursday -----> Google Analytics

So, I am thinking.......I look at my Google Analytics every couple of days. Why? You know, I'm really not sure. I guess to see how many visits my Etsy shop, blog and website got. That's about it. Seriously.

So I'm thinking....there's got to be a way I can analyze those results to find out things such as:
---What impact did listing 3 things on a certain day have on amount of visits to my shop.
---What impact did featuring another seller have on my blog impact traffic to the blog.

How can I take what I see on the Analytics screen and use it for further analytics to see what is working and what is not working for my business.

Any suggestions? Websites? Blogs that explain this?

Wordless Wednesday...Well, Kind Of...

Ever feel like this????

This was supposed to be a Wordless Wednesday post and was originally posted as such. However, I could not contain my excitement and had to edit this post to show my gratitude for EntreCard FINALLY fixing the EC Toolbar to work with FireFox 3.6. Just for poops and giggles, I went to the EC blog to try to re-install the toolbar.....Lo and Behold, IT WORKS!

Now I can resume my dropping and blog hopping! I am so happy. I really missed visiting my favorite blogs, but without the toolbar, it was just way too time consuming in my busy schedule.

Cheers for EntreCard!

Cute. Like a Button.

Fabulous! I am in another treasury. However, Firefox 3.6 hasn't been letting me use Screengrab! to capture screenshots -- for about the last month or so. Therefore, I have had to forego posting any treasuries since then. I am fighting back!

The above bracelet made it into another button treasury. Please visit the treasury HERE. Sorry for the lack of picture of this well put together treasury. Be sure to visit the link above to see the real deal! Clicky-clickies increase the chance of it hitting the Front Page!!!

Shopping Sunday...

I have this weird love for primitive black dolls. Is it because I live so close to an underground railroad area? Is it because they just look so different? Who knows. All I know is I love them and have started a collection several years ago. So far, I only have one doll and one black cat, but I plan on adding to them every year for my birthday. So, enjoy some great Etsy finds I found on my Sunday Window Shopping trip:

Primitive Black Ragged Anne
$59.95

Primitive Folk Art Black Doll
$35

Extreme Primitive Black Cat Purffy
$8.95

Primitive Fall Maude Addie with Goose Doll
$25.95

A New Addition...

Angie

My daughter Tina (well, she's my step-daughter, but she'll always be my daughter) has moved in for a little while as she rebuilds her life for herself and her daughter (my grand-daughter). They will be here with us for a month or so....but in the mean time, I get to enjoy my Angie-bunny! It's so fun having a little one around the house again :)

Coral, Anyone?

'Tis the time of year I begin longing for summer. In turn, my tastes in the color "coral" emerge. I love designing with coral colors, however, this color is so hard to come by in beads and such presently, one has to usually turn to vintage stock which is a little harder to come by :(

And there will be no "genuine" coral in my house. I don't condone stripping coral reefs for the beautiful creatures that inhabit them. The only real corals coming into my house are the one's going into my saltwater coral reef tank! Which reminds me, I need to do some work on it over the weekend...perhaps pictures of my little slice of coral heaven will grace my blog next week!

Here are some great "coral" finds I have been eyeing on Etsy:

Coral Plastic Rose Cabachons
MKSupplies

Opaque Coral Faceted FirePolished Rondelles
beadsnsupplies

Vintage Glass Flower Cabachon
BumpershootSupplies

Coral Ginko Fabric
frumafar

Coral Daisy Bouquet Cameos
cmyk

It's Back to Work...

and can I just say how happy I am? I'm still a little sick, lungs are still not to full capacity, and it really took a little talking to with my husband. He refuses to let me do anything until I get better. Believe it or not, but he has been handling dinner and housework. What a lucky girl, huh? I do miss it though. He agreed to let me work as long as I do it on the couch while resting.

So, I headed to the studio this morning and grabbed my beads, wire, findings and string. After dragging them all downstairs, I set to work creating a french country piece quite similar to this piece:

I know the picture isn't much (sun didn't cooperate with me that day), but it truly was a stunning piece. I actually feel like I accomplished something. The kids are gone at their dad's until Friday as they are off on winter break, so I have all week to try to catch up!

Life is good and it's good to be back! Thank you so much for your well-wishing and prayers :)

Video for your enjoyment...

Yup...we are still sick here. Jacy is working on day 15 - still with a fever. I am working on day 10, of course, still with a fever. Tayelor just started last Thursday...boy, does she have so much to look forward to. This is simply the worst virus we have ever seen. To make matters worse, I am kicking off my show season this weekend...sick :(

So, while we continue to get better, here is a video for you to watch. Back in 1948, this seemed pretty far-fetched. Just watch.

I'm Still Here....

However, I was unfortunate enough to catch my son's cold. Achy, fever, chills, lungs hurt, runny nose, headache....

I never really got his asthma under control until Friday of last week. This is even with steroids that he started on Tuesday. Oh, Casto...that mechanical machine thingie is a nebulizer...Jacy needs one like your brother did. Regular albuterol inhalers don't work for him, his asthma is so severe. I did think he was going to have to be hospitalized on Friday, until his peak flow meter readings finally shot up. It has never taken him three days for the steroids to kick in before. Did your brother outgrow it? I wish Jacy would! Wow, this is a nasty little bug. May it pass by your house :)

I will have to take a few days off to recover. In fact, I'm crawling back into bed with my laptop and a steaming hot cup of peppermint tea (Stash's White Christmas, to be exact) and try to get caught up on some computer stuff. I hope you all have a great week until I see you again.