Post Surgery

Hello to Everyone from Home,

God is sooooo Good!  I was able to come home last evening.  Special thanks to Joanne Graves for driving and staying as well as to her husband, Doug for making other arrangements for transportation while Joanne had the car. Special Thanks to my Sister Chris for taking off work and spending the day with me and our mom.  You were a great blessing!  To mom thank you for everything!  To my dad for taking care of Keith for the day.  It would have been horrible for him to have sat at the hospital the whole day.  Thank you so much.

As for me everything went well.  We arrived just before 6:30 am and I sat waiting for almost 3 hours before actually having “the procedure”.  All of the staff and nurses and doctors including anesthesia, respiratory etc. they were all great. I praise the Lord that he worked out each detail perfectly.  Not that I expected anything different, He always does even in the chaos.  They had to set up a second room for me as the first was set up backwards so the person who was the second case of the day went first and I went second while the set up another room for me.  My pacemaker was on the right side due to my transplant on the left where they typically place pacemakers.  So, that’s why the room was backwards.  After waiting so long it was good to get to it.

The procedure itself went very smoothly without any problems, Praise the Lord!  Those of you who know me well know that things are not always so textbook for me.  Then after having to lay flat for 4 hours, which really is the hardest part, I was allowed to get up and walk around before getting dressed and coming home.  We arrived home just before 7:30pm and were able to watch one of my favorite shows NCIS although I fell asleep 15 or 20 minutes before it is was over.

So here I am this morning a little sore and not allowed to do anything for 3 days (ha ha ha!)  and then being limited for 3 more weeks but the worst is over and I already know it is better now than it was before even with the soreness.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and well wishes.  The Lord answered all your prayers.  Many Blessings to you all for your faithfulness to me and my family!

Love,

Lori

Surgery

Hello Everyone,

I’m sorry that I have been gone so long.  It has been a crazy couple of months.  I’m preparing for shows, displays and yes, surgery.

I’m sorry for this email’s lack of personal touch, but as you know I need to get this information out quickly to many people, so please forgive me.

Most of you already know that I need surgery to remove the pacemaker.  Well tomorrow, Tuesday October 23rd I will be having surgery at Hahnemann University Hospital. Doctor Kutalek will be doing the extraction procedure.  He is a well-known Specialist (on the east coast) in the removal of Pacemakers and wires.  I am in the best of physical and spiritual hands.  Praise the Lord!

I am confident that this surgery will go smoothly.  It is expected to take only (about) 2 hours though they will insist on keeping me overnight to monitor me because “I am so special”(Ha ha ha).

Please keep me and my family  in your prayers tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday as there will be a lot of traveling back and forth to Philadelphia (1.5-2.0 hours travel time) as well as the uncertainty of yet another surgery.

Also, please feel free to pass this request on to others as we can use all the prayers we can get.

Thank you all so very much for your support.

Much Love to you all,

~ Lori

Fun Fall Colors Are Here!

New Green & Clear AB Crystal Circle Pendant with Center Dangle

Hello Everyone,

Did you have a good week?  I have to admit that this has been a very difficult week for me.  Monday I had to go to Philadelphia (two hours south) to a doctor appointment which went well but getting there was quite a challenge.  Then Tuesday I was totally exhausted.  Wednesday well you don’t really want to know all this stuff so suffice it to say it has been a long week…

Matching Green & Clear AB Crystal Earrings

In spite of it all I was able to make these pretty necklaces and earrings.  Some are Crystal and some are Glass.  There are all different colors from green to red, yellow and orange to Aqua blue.  I am really enjoying these and plan to sell them at the upcoming bazaars (details to follow).

Aqua Glass Bicone & Teardrop Circle Pendant with Center Glass Dangle

I would love your reaction.  What do you think?  They measure about 1 and 1/4 inches across and the earrings are about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, without the earring wire.

Two Tone Green Crystal Circular Pendant with Matching Earrings

I think these are a fun twist on an old favorite.  I can make them in birthstone colors for any birthday or school colors for a little fun this new school year.  What’s your favorite color?

Lovely Mix of Fall Colors in a Circular Pendant with Matching Earrings

Have A Great Weekend!  Fall is coming!

~ Lori

Wordless Wednesday

The Newest Fall Necklace & Earrings in Pale Green, Yellow, Orange & Red Glass Bicones. Also Available in Swarovski Crystal

The Newest Fall Necklace & Earrings in Pale Green, Yellow, Orange & Red Glass Bicones. Also Available in Swarovski Crystal

A Friend of Mine…Pam Sani Part 2

For you my Friends,

Well, I promised to fill you in on Pam’s Jewelry Show.  Pam did well  though not as well as I had hoped.   I had been so excited and wanted Pam to do Super, Fantastic.   She passed on some insights that she learned through the process of this show and I thought I would pass them on to you.

Level of Preparedness:

1) To have a Great Show you need to be well prepared…from business cards to pricing.  You need plenty of stock, plenty of promotion and plenty of smiles.

2) Be honest with yourself about how much effort is required to: create your items, prepare them for sale, and to promote your event PLUS your level of willingness to do it .  If you are not up for it either get some help or reschedule, because it’s a lot of work!

3) Shift your focus from what you want, to what your customer needs:  from what you create, to pricing, to presentation it’s all about your customers.  So, make it attractive to them in every way.

4)  Once you’re prepared and everything is in order, enjoy your customers!  Have fun and those perfect customers will come to you!   AND Finally…

 5) Don’t give up!  All the hard work pays off.

These ideas have been very helpful to me as I am preparing for my own fall shows.  There is still a lot of work ahead so keep your chin up and just do the next thing!

Have a Great Week!

~Lori

Happy Friday!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you had a great week!  I’ve been busy, busy, busy working on making jewelry for my up coming jewelry shows/bizarre(s).  Here is a picture of my latest creation.  It is a twist on an old favorite.  Let me know what you think.  I have some fun ideas for personalizing them too.  Choose the dangle in the center from any number of fun items from Initials to little characters to beads like the one shown here.

This Fall Glass Circular Pendant has a little dangle in the center that could be your initial, a little character or a bead or beads of your choice. Pick your own colors too. You can also order this one in Swarovski Crystal for added sparkle.

This Fall Glass Circular Pendant has a little dangle in the center that could be your initial, a little character or a bead or beads of your choice. Pick your own colors too. You can also order this one in Swarovski Crystal for added sparkle.

Please send me your opinion.  I would love to hear what you think and even what you would buy as a gift or just for yourself.  This one is Glass but I am working on a Swarovski Crystal version too.

Looking forward to hearing from you…

Have a Great Weekend!

~Lori

Wordless Wednesday

Frosted Dark Teal & Clear/Silver Glass Earrings

A Friend of Mine…Pam Sani

Hi All, Happy Monday!

I know, I know!  I’m really just trying to get myself into a good mind-set to face another week.  How do you prepare yourself for the new week?

I have told you about my friend Pam before.  She is a brave soul!  Last Friday she had a jewelry show in her home.  She worked  so hard preparing for it.   I hope she got a really good return on all her hard work.  She has a good core group of people who come just to see what she makes and they buy from her too.  Can you imagine?  Imagine having repeat business…what a dream.  Just starting out I don’t even have a mailing list.  I would just send an invitation to everyone I know.  That’s about 6 people, ha ha ha.  She has had shows before so it is not as big of deal for her as it is for me but still there is a lot of work that goes into something like that and I know she wants to have good sales as well as a good time.

I’m scared to death to take on something like that, but as you know, anything I’m scared of I wind up walking right into eventually.  So, there is a fall fund-raiser at my church each year called “The Holly & the Ivy”.  I have looked into possibly setting up a table and selling my jewelry there in October.  We will see what happens and if I can pull this off.  It would be a great way just to get my jewelry out there to be seen in the community.

I’ll Keep you posted.

As for Pam…She’s a veteran jewelry show seller  and after having to take some time off she is just getting back into her groove.  I can’t wait to hear how well she did!  I’ll be sure to let you know too.

Have a Great Week!

~ Lori

Exciting News…A Good Dilemma!

Hey,

I hope your week has gone well.  I have some exciting news to share with you.  There is a corner store about 0.5 mile from my house.  It has been closed for 3 or 4 years but just reopened a couple of weeks ago.  It is a little quick shop/deli.  They sell milk, bread, eggs, cold drinks, sandwiches and such.  I was curious and decided to stop in and see what they had done with the place.   So, I stopped in the other day.  They redid the floors, painted and opened up the space for the deli counter.  It all looks really nice.  Of course I got into a conversation with the woman who turned out to be the owner, and in our conversation we talked about small business and trying to make a go of it in this economy.

I told her about my jewelry and she agreed to let me put a little display on her counter!  I am excited and overwhelmed as now I have committed myself to yet more work.  So, I’m on the hunt for a display and this is what I found so far.

It is generic and will hold plenty of earrings, bracelets and necklaces.  I think it is a good start.  What do you think?

Now how to pay for it…?

Have a Great Weekend!

~Lori

Wordless Wednesday

Clear Glass Diamond Shape, Baby Blue Glass Medium Bicone & Silver Glass Small Bicone