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Rather a bit of this tale was posted on facebook as it was happening, but different folk there, so maybe not everyone knows.  Maybe not everyone cares, but hey, nobody will force you to read it.  It's behind a cut.  This is about my medical misadventure last month.  It's somewhat detailed, occasionally graphic, sometimes funny, but more often... not.

( See, about three weeks ago, I ended up in the hospital.Collapse )

I gave up working a bead show I would normally be doing this weekend, not physically able to do the work required.  and isn't that a strange feeling. But I expect to be fine for the one in the fall, so we'll see.  I'm going to try to do some shows this summer (which means I need to figure out how to do jewelry work without hurting myself) and well... we'll see.  I hate feeling this week and useless, but as one friend said, 'they cut you open like a melon and scooped out your some of your innards, give yourself a break.'

LisaGems Jewelry Design has launched an Indigogo crowdfunding campaign. I'm hoping to raise funds to get LisaGems up an running as a brand, spanking new, Small Business!

Help an independent artist get a strong start!

The campaign is rapidly drawing to a close, but there are still great perks available for contributors!  Come take a look!

http://igg.me/at/lisagems-jewelry/x/219341

There are only two more weeks for the LisaGems Jewelry Design, Indigogo Campaign!  There's a long way to go yet, but I know that every contribution helps, and even if I don't make my goal, what's been raised will go a long way towards getting this business moving forward.

My sweetie, stormdog, is often complimented on his choice of accessory (which just so happens to be the perk for a $100 contribution!).



Help if you can, even if it's by passing the word! http://igg.me/at/lisagems-jewelry/x/219341

At the art show for the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, Chicon 7, I introduced a new line of jewelry art I've been making.  It was pretty well received.  I sold a number of pieces, and have continued to sell, slowly.

I am weaving colorerd wired into bracelet.  I've been using several sources for inspiration, including my own fervid, little brain, but also, X-Men, Sailor Moon, Hetalia, and mostly, My Little Pony.

Yep.  My Little Pony.  And with very good reason.  There is a huuuuge range of color combinations, forcing me to work outside my own pallette, my own little color comfort zone.  Some of the results make me wince (but have made others smile) some are just simply beautiful.

I've been working hard to get what I make posted to my deviantArt account - http://lisagems.deviantart.com/
and also to my etsy account:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisasgems


I'm a bit behind in photographing, and have about 30 new bracelets to photograph (color correct) and post.  I'm very much hoping that I've found my niche with these.  They're pretty exciting.

Last weekstormdog and I went to Kalamazoo, because that's the closest place to Chicago to go hottubbing.  Weird, isn't it?  Well, if you want to do single gender hottubbing there are spas and if you don't mind spending a ridiculous amount of money there is Sybaris, but it was actually cheaper to drive to K'zoo, spend the night in a cheap hotel then drive back then it would have been to spend a few hours in one of the two Sybaris suites that has a hottub big enough for two fannish sized people to share.

Oasis was really nice.  Haven't been there in over 20 years, they've expanded.  It was good and for a time, absolutely *nothing* hurt.  sigh.  But then, there we were in Kalamazoo, a town I haven't been in for several years, and it's changed.  a lot.  I would never have thought the Bilbo's Pizza just off campus could ever close.  I'm mean that was THE student hangout.  There is a new location, out on Stadium Dr., and we had lunch there.  The smell of a Bilbo's pizza hasn't changed, and the new place had a similar feel, but it was really not the same.  There are a lot of places I remember in Kalamazoo that are gone.  I mean really gone, the buildings torn down and in some cases nothing even built there.  It felt really strange driving around there.
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Spent the night in Sawyer, about 1/4 the way back to Chicago, with the intent of wandering around the lakefront the next day.  This would have worked out if I hadn't managed to drop the power supply to the Toshiba in the changing room at Oasis.  sigh.  Anyway, we managed to find a little park just south of Benton Harbor to go sit and watch the sunset.  Well, I sat, the Puppy photographed.  Got some really pretty shots, too.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormdog42/6682298505/in/photostream

Morning saw us headed back to rescue my powersupply, which lead to a little more exploring of the changes in K'zoo.  Then headed out eastbound on 43, back to the lake.  Nice drive.  Interesting discovery.  There was a story in the blogosphere about a giant metal chicken, named by the (somewhat insane) blogger Beyonce'.  I think I may have found Beyonce's hometown.  Or retirement home.  Somewhere out on 43, east of Gene the Pumpkin Man is an old (and closed at the time) antique shop.  Well, pictures.












I think we counted 10 chickens altogether.  Then there were the metal moose, frogs, and pelicans.  And turtles.
and that's really the whole point of posting all this.  Giant metal chickens.