Wow, it has been absolutely forever since I have blogged.  The earrings pictured above we're made yesterday when I had some free time in my shop.  Something about them just makes me happy and brings a smile to my face.  Who knew scraps of leather, beads, and some jewelry findings could bring so much joy.  Hopefully whoever ends up purchasing them will feel the same amount of joy.  These are only a sampling of many pairs I created yesterday.

As I read over the last blog I had posted, it brought many emotions.  It has now been three years and nearly four months since my grandpa passed.  It still breaks my heart to not be able to share my life with him any longer.  I'm thankful I still have my Grana around to share everything with. 

I just added a new stamp to my collection.  It's a baseball stamp from https://www.thesupplyguy.us/, one of my favorite places to get my metal stamping supplies.  Not only are they great quality, but they are reasonably priced.  Plus, you always receive your items within a couple days of ordering.  If you do any metal stamping, be sure to check it out!

It's amazing how one stamp can inspire so many things.  I have so many ideas for using this stamp in my creations.  I've already made a few things with it.

Now that we are back to our regular hours in the shop, I'm trying to get adjusted to my schedule and fitting in enough time in my workshop.  It's a learning curve at first after getting used to having three solid days to work in the workshop each week and then dropping back off to one solid day.  I've learned to keep one day completely work free to spend with my family and to have down time.  It is so important.  

I hope everyone has a blessed weekend.  I'm off to create a few things in my workshop before I get ready to go open my storefront for the day.  

Creating through the Storms

It has been sooooo long since I kept up with a blog.  I decided it is time to get back at it.  So much has been going on in our lives the past two years.  One of my biggest dreams has come true, I opened my own storefront in March of 2013.  I resigned from teaching special education in June of 2013.  Close to Mother's Day 2013, my grandpa had his first stroke.  We have spent many, many hours in and out of the hospital over the past year and a half.  Grandpa has had a few other strokes, which has brought on many challenges not only for him, but for the rest of us as well.  Now looking back, it is evident to me that God had a plan in the midst of everything.  If I were still teaching, my schedule would not be as flexible as is it is today and I would not be able to be at home when I need to be to help with grandpa and spend precious moments with him and the rest of my family.  There are seven of us that live here in this old farm house I grew up in.  It takes all of us working together to keep things running smoothly and to provide constant care for my grandpa.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

As it always has been, creating is my catharsis.  There is something so therapeutic about making something from nothing and sharing it with the world.  People often ask where I get my ideas.  Some of them come simply from looking at a piece of silverware and gaining inspiration from its beauty.  Other times I just think of things when I'm laying in bed at night when I can't sleep or when we are driving around in the mountains.

There have been times in the past year and a half while we have gone through so many struggles and changes that I have felt like maybe I should just give up making jewelry and find something else to do.  It has been hard to be creative when I feel so numb.  Why feel numb?  I have always been grandpa's girl.  From the time I could move, I was always on grandpa's heels.  We took many thirteen or so hour hikes when I was a little girl, played chess and monopoly, and he taught me about life.  It has been so hard to watch him go through all that he has gone through the past year and a half and now for him to be on hospice care is one of the hardest things I have had to face.  There is just something so painful about watching a strong, independent, active man become so weak and not be able to care for himself or do the things he once loved.

It would be easy to get discouraged and just throw in the towel and shut down all things Gone Loopy.  However, I'm not the give up kind of woman.  My first name means, "a woman of resolute strength." I cannot tell you the amount of times that I've had to live up to that.  God knows just when to have that one customer online to send me a message and tell me how something I've made has touched them, or when to send a customer into my little shop and tell me how talented they think I am and how they are so glad that I have opened my shop.  I still struggle from time to time wondering if I'm going to make it when I have so much on my plate and at times don't get to produce as many pieces.  However, I know that God will make a way, just like he always does.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for your constant support.  You have no idea how much your encouragement and your orders mean to me.  Each order and each new piece of jewelry helps me to get through this tough season we are in.  It truly brings a level of peace and healing that I just can't explain.  I guess it is just a God thing. 

I hope that all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving.  I know that these holidays can be very hard for some and they are looked upon with great dread.  I pray that you will find peace and joy in the midst of the dread.

Many blessings,
Bridget 

How I became a flake....

Crazy title, I know.  For the last six, almost seven years I have had health problems and have made numerous visits to countless doctors and ER's.  Up until July 2011, I kept hitting brick walls.  That is when I saw my current neurologist for the first time and he was able to give me a name to go with the insanity that I had been dealing with over the years.  Myasthenia Gravis.  What does this mean?  Well, it literally means, "Grave muscle weakness."  I fall, have trouble breathing, at times walk as though I am drunk, have slurred speech, blurred/double vision, difficulty swallowing, drop things, and overall fatigue to top it off.  Basically I have felt like a major train wreck.

After finding out what on Earth was wrong with me my neurologist sent me to have a CT scan of my chest.  This is standard procedure for anyone with MG.  The results came back showing that my thymus is enlarged and has tumors on it.  My neurologist called me at work to give me the results and to tell me that I needed to have surgery as soon as I possibly could.  That was back in October of 2011.  I was referred to a local hospital where they set up surgery for the next week for a thymectomy.  That evening I was called and told that they needed me to come in to see their neurologist the next day.  Low and behold, the neurologist over there happened to be doing a research project on Seronegative MG, which is my diagnosis.  He cancelled my surgery and put me through thousands of dollars of not-so-fun testing.  I called my neurologist outraged at what was going on.  The stress of it all was causing my MG symptoms to flare badly and I was very weak and not doing well at all.  He was just as outraged as I was and called that particular hospital and gave them a piece of his mind.  He then called up a hospital that is two hours away to ensure that they were not going to give me the run around before he referred me.

That is where I am now.  The other hospital treated me like a human being and not a lab rat.  The surgeon said that all my past medical history as well as my CT scan and current symptoms were all confirmation of the disease and that the thymus gland HAD to come out.  On Wednesday, January 25th, I had IVIg therapy to prepare for surgery.  Basically, it is to boost up my immune system so that I can handle the surgery.  I go in on Tuesday, January 31st to have the surgery done FINALLY!

The first two days after IVIg I felt horrible.  I ached all over, had migraines, and got sick.  I expected all that however, because I had done my research.  Today I feel absolutely amazing!!  The best I have felt in years.  The hope of the surgery is to put my MG symptoms into remission.  Lets hope so!  The muscle weakness has made it very difficult to make jewelry, which is my catharsis.  It helps me to get through the rough spots in life.  That is why I had a harder time initially dealing with all of this, because I wasn't able to hide away and make jewelry like I used to.   The Mestinon that the doctor put me on helped, but my hands still get very fatigued and I haven't been able to do a lot of wire work like I used to.  Whatever happens, remission or not, I am going to continue to do the best that I can and will create with whatever strength that I have. 

I'm also in the process of moving back home to my grandparent's house where I grew up.  They have a large farm house and a big yard, both of which have become too hard for them to take care of.  My family and I are moving out there to help them and we are planning to do a little homesteading.  We plan to grow a big garden this year and raise goats and chickens.   We are all very excited about all the changes that are taking place and hopeful of the future. 

Many blessings!

Jewelry Therapy

Ahhh the joys of having teenagers!!  Lately I have had more than my share of stress between running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting everyone where they need to be, and dealing with teenager drama.  I completely understand why my grandma coined the statement, "rotten teenagers".  That statement used to irritate me to no end and as a teenager I took great offense to it.  WOW, do I ever understand now.  With all the insanity that has been my life lately, I am immensely looking forward to this weekend.  There will be very little running around and I will be partaking in some much needed jewelry therapy.

There is just something about making jewelry that is very therapeutic to me.  I usually go to my studio, turn on some music, and completely engross myself in what I am creating while forgetting about the rest of the world.  When I am frazzled my grandma can always tell and she usually says, "You need to go make something."  She knows me well.  It has definitely been my catharsis.  Massive amounts of weight is always lifted from my shoulders while making jewelry and I walk away feeling refreshed and renewed.  It is even more rewarding to see the joy that each piece of jewelry brings to other individuals.  Never do I fail to be amazed by someone finding such awe and happiness in some little thing that I have created.  I will be eternally grateful for the blessing of my gift of creativity. 

By the time the weekend is over, I hope to have loads of new things to show you and to add to my Etsy shop.  I hope that everyone has a relaxing, enjoyable weekend!

more new stuff

As I looked through my files on my computer this evening, I realized that I had not posted a couple of things that I have made recently. One of which was a ring I like to call, "Green with Envy". One is a tree that I custom made for someone. It has a different tree on each side of the green stone. The blue ring is one of the first ones that I made when I began making the "Bling-Bling Sarah Rings" and it is a horrible picture. Here are the things that I left out earlier today:

Etsy success!

My daughter and I had a wonderful time in Gatlinburg, TN. We did plenty of dreaming about what it would be like to move there and to open up our own little jewelry shop. I guess you could say that opening a shop some day is on my "bucket list". On that note....I made my first Etsy sale!!! I was so excited I could have turned a cartwheel. Someone ordered my "White Wedding Bling-Bling Sarah ring". Here's the finished product:

I've also made a few other things. One of which was a very cute spring bracelet that was made from ceramic beads that look like robin's eggs. I made it one night and the next morning it sold right away at work. It's a good thing I have more of those beads. However, they were being clearanced out where I purchased them, so when I run out of them that is it, unless I can find more online. I'm hoping to be able to build up more inventory in the very near future. My children have been keeping my husband and I very busy running from one softball game or practice to another. Plus traveling to visit family and such has slowed me down as well. Here are a few of the other things that I have created recently:

Hopefully within the next few days or so I will have more to share with everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Bling-Bling Sarah Rings

These are pictures of one of my latest Bling-Bling Sarah rings that a co-worker ordered to wear to a wedding. It is one of my favorites so far. Why do I call them Bling-Bling Sarah rings you ask? Well, it all started when a co-worker of mine, Sarah, came back from a vacation trip to Hawaii and presented me with a design idea. She had seen rings with large crystals on her trip and wondered if I could recreate something like them. When she was describing them to me she referenced the "Bling-Bling Jelly Rings" that were given away to our students at our school for selling items for the school fundraiser last year.

Since that day, I have created many of these rings and have coined them as, "Bling-Bling Sarah Rings." I enjoy making them to see what the finished product is going to look like. They are so much fun. The beads catch the light and sparkle and shine. They have a lot of movement as well. It is amazing how different each one looks with just a few color mixtures. They have become a real hit at my work. As a matter of fact, the Principal is planning on having an exclusive fundraiser at our school this fall featuring my jewelry. I must say I was very excited to hear the news!

I will be headed to Gatlinburg, TN Thursday for the weekend. Once I come back I will be creating more pieces. Check back soon! If you would like to order one feel free to do so at www.etsy.com/shop/goneloopy