Jewelry-making Bug

Years ago I used to make jewelry.  A co-worker introduced me to it and I've been hooked on it ever since.  I've sold quite a few of my jewelry at the office and it has since dwindled down in recent years.  I've even sold a few pieces at a boutique shop.  Then recently, like in the past week, I've been having the desire to make more jewelry.  I think it started with making my owl-pendant necklace seen below.

I went to Michael's today and found some elastic cording (less than $3) which I've stayed away from, until now.  I grabbed one.  I then made a few bracelets using the gems/beads I had. 

This bracelet has smoky quartz and Swarovski crystals.

This one also with Swarovski crystals and metal findings.

This bracelet has quartz, moonstone, carnelian and freshwater pearls.

I really had fun with this.  And now totally have the bug!



Pain and suffering

I had a sweet visit with an old friend of mine recently.  She is a dear sister in Christ, a mentor to me in my life and such an amazing example of what a woman of God should be like.  Having recently gone through a miscarriage, she shared with me a story she heard on Focus on the Family.  It was a story about David and Nancy Guthrie who suffered the loss of two of their three children.  You can check out her website here.  They had one child who was healthy and normal.  Their second child was diagnosed with a rare genetic abnormality where the child does not live longer than six months.  They chose to have this child and loved and celebrated this child every single day of her life.  She lived 199 days.  After the painful loss and suffering they endured, they knew they didn't want to go through it again and made sure surgically that pregnancy would not happen.  Only one and a half years later, Nancy found out that she was pregnant.  Tests again showed that this child also carried that same genetic abnormality.  Their son lived 183 days and like their daughter, they loved and celebrated his days on earth as much as they could.  How can a couple who has gone through losing two of their children move on.  Only the Lord Jesus Christ can help us with that pain and with that suffering.  They used it as a way to minister to other couples who have lost children. They have what is called Respite Retreats for couples who have suffered losses, they have written books, their story was shared worldwide even in secular magazines.  The pain is there yet they are still putting their trust in the Lord and continue to put their trust in Him and use their experience to minister to others.  What an amazing story.

Tiered dessert stand!

I was looking for a cake stand/dessert stand at the stores and although they were reasonable in price, I just didn't want to spend the money for it.  So, I decided to DIY it.  I found these inspirations from Pinterest.

I got two plates from the dollar store in different sizes plus a candle holder, attached them with Gorilla Glue and here's the result.