Design of the Month (October)

Pink Ribbon Fairy Pendant

This little Fairy comes ready to hang on your favorite chain.

Sterling Silver Findings - Swarovski Crystals

18mm high (Fairy Bead)
You can place your order HERE

A PORTION OF EACH SALE WILL BE DONATED TO

THE SUSAN B. KOMEN FOUNDATION

Please note-
I have shipping set for 7-10 days because I'll be in and out of town a lot this month.
But it may not take that long.
xo

48 hours

Soon the weather will be turning cold.
Maybe even snowy (depending on where you live)
We here on the West coast are having a heatwave, so to help it feel a little cooler I'll be
offering my Rosie the Snowgirl tutorial for 50% off the regular price! How cool is that!
But, only for 48 hours...

You can order it here.
xo

Buried Treasure

While digging in the dirt, I found something.
Something small, made of metal. So I washed it off...

It brought back lots of memories.
Fifteen years ago when we were building our house, Anthony spent many many hours amusing himself. Mostly playing with his toy cars.
I'm not sure if it was the 15 years buried or the many car crashes this poor car went through, but I'd like to know where are the wheels?
xo

saying bye bye to Summer

We have hot Summers here where I live. Luckily I love Zinnias (which love the heat)
I planted so many this year I was able to have a fresh bouquet of them all Summer long.


Last month while driving through Gilroy, CA I saw this field of sunflowers ...

Such happy flowers.

Yesterday I noticed my local nursery just got in pansies...my favorite Fall flower.
What's your favorite Fall flower?
xo

The anniversary prize giveaway!

But first, I want to say thank you for your kind comments and emails I've received about my mom. She seems to be improving a little each day, which is great news!


SPOILER ALERT (Patti, if you want to be surprise when your beads arrive, do not continue with this post)


A couple of weeks ago I had a ONE WORD anniversary giveaway and the winner was Patti.
Her one word was "Nature"

If Patti thought it was hard to come up with just one word, believe me it was just as hard for me too (I really wanted her to be happy with her beads) so I asked for a little more info like:
Do you like organic or cutesy style beads? Do you have a favorite color/colors?

Here was her response:

organic
turquoise, aqua
mossy, fern-y greens

coral (the peachy-colored kind)

bittersweet

creamy vanilla

cocoa brown
dusty purple

And this is what I came up with...

I hope Patti will like them.
xo

A long week

It's been a long week to say the least.
Last week my mom had back surgery, with what was to be a two night stay in the hospital.
Long story short, things did not go well.
She has lost all feeling in her legs (from the waist down)
Next week they are moving her to rehab for physical therapy.
She is in good spirits and is determined to get better.
Please keep her in your thoughts...
xo

Ideas

My sister is flying out here in a few weeks. We are planning a little side trip to San Francisco for a couple days. I'm trying to plan some fun things we can do...like...places to eat, fun things to do, even a place to stay.

For food, I like finding the places the locals go that serve tasty things. I also love sweets (especially chocolate & cupcakes)

For things to do, we won't have a lot of time. So things that won't take up a whole day would probably be best.

For places to stay, this will probably be the hardest.
Let's just say Motel 6 is like camping to me. I am far from being a Ritz snob, but I like my room to be really clean. So I could really use some help for this one, as I'm on budget too.

Do you have any ideas you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them...
xo

I did it!

A few months ago I told Kurt & Anthony (my son) that I had a goal for my upcoming 50th birthday, I wanted to do something I have always wanted to do, I wanted to climb Half Dome in Yosemite. This was a huge goal for me, over 16 miles of hiking (half of those up a mountain) then climbing the cables at the end ( have I mentioned I have a huge fear of heights)

So over the last few months to get ready for my goal, I've packed the steps on my pedometer, hiking every weekend, yes every weekend. Anthony drove the 2 hours home every weekend (he's in college) to take me hiking. I could not have done this without my guys. Telling my "you can do this" when I really did not think I could!

Because the cables on Half Dome come down in early October due to weather, we decided to give ourselves plenty of chances to try it before the cables came down. I was going to go every weekend until I made it to the top! So yesterday we went for it.

The view of Half Dome after about 6 miles of hiking.

You can see people on the cables (that line in the middle of the photo) they look like ants.

At this point I really wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it up the cables. It was a lot steeper than I thought. Seriously straight up and I didn't bring a harness! 

The weather was great yesterday, not a cloud in the sky.

Here we go...
At one point (about half way up the cables) I thought "I'm not sure if I can do this or not"
My fear of heights started to kick in (remember I did not bring a harness) and yes, people have fallen off the cables before, you don't survive if you do...

But we made it! The view was amazing too...

Lots of cairns...

This was the part that was terrifying (remember my fear of heights)...going down the cables.
It is straight down. Why, why why didn't I bring a harness so I could clip myself on the cable?
I kept thinking I was going to pass out and fall off.

But we made it!
And I could not be more happy!
I set a goal, I worked really really hard and I climbed Half dome! I really did it!

And I have the tee-shirt to prove it!

Again, I want to thank Kurt and Anthony for making my dream come true
xxoo

Today

(photo by Anthony Grimes)

Today is the day!
Wish me luck...
xo

Birthday Wishes

Birthday wishes to my nuttier better half...
xo

Alaska and the WINNER

(photos by Anthony Grimes)

For Anthony's college graduation gift, my dad gave him a trip anywhere he'd like to go (for him & his girlfriend)
Although his girlfriend was hoping he'd pick Paris, Anthony chose to go to Alaska.
Anthony's passion is photography and an Alaska cruise was right up his alley. They actually went on the same cruise Kurt & I took a couple years ago.
They just got back last week and as I'm going through his photos, I hope one day we'll get to return...it's a beautiful place.

Anniversary Bead Giveaway Winner
Thank you for all the nice comments, you guys are the best! I can honestly say I have the best job in the world and all the people I've met along the way are the icing on the cake.

I went to Random.org to get the number for our winner...And the winner is #67, who left this comment:

Congratulations! Such a fun giveaway!! Count me in! Patti

Congrats Patti!!!!
Please contact me at gardenpathbeads@gmail.com with your ONE WORD.

I can't wait to find out what word she picks...as soon as I do, I'll let you know. Then I'll show you the beads I came up with!

Thanks again everyone, I'll have another giveaway soon, maybe for my 500th post which is coming up soon...
xo
update- Patti's word is "NATURE" this is going to be fun!

Last call

This weekend I'll be making the last of the orders for The Design Of The Month.
So if you'd like a pair, this is your last chance to order them...before they are gone forever.

Plus, there are a couple more days to enter the giveaway for the set of custom beads made just for you! The winner will be picked on Monday! Good Luck Everyone!

Have a wonderful weekend xo

Beachcombing and a GIVEAWAY

Summer is far from over here in California...
In fact, we are in a mini heat wave right now with the temps in the 100's at my house.
If you are daydreaming of long walks on the beach (like me) I listed some Tide Pool Pendants here.


Winner's Choice
Giveaway
This August marks my 8th year of making lampwork beads and I thought a giveaway was is order!
Not just any giveaway, but a giveaway where you pick your beads!
If you are the winner, I'll ask you to give me one word, but just one!
It can be any word you wish...maybe your favorite color? A holiday? A animal? Anything you want...
I will then make a set of 5-beads in the "theme" of your one word.
How fun is that!

How do you enter? Just leave a comment on this post.
Plus, to increase your chances, if you post about the giveaway on Facebook, your Blog or become a follower of my blog, that will give you extra chances.
(just leave separate comments letting me know)
please, if you post "anonymous" please leave your name in your comment

The winner will be picked by random.com on Monday August 30th.
xo

My class

Last Saturday I took a class with Toni Lutman at Grace Studio in Gilroy, CA. Grace, our host was the best! She feed us breakfast and lunch (very yummy) And made sure we wanted for nothing. She even served us smoothies for an afternoon snack, I'm not use to being so pampered. It was great. Grace even took pics though out the day (above) I'm the one wearing a white shirt. My friend, Julie also took the class (she's in the peach shirt) We had a lot of fun! xo

Who knew?

Yesterday after hiking, we come back to our car to see that the car next to us was broken into. Not by humans, but by a bear.
When you enter Yosemite, you are made aware NOT to leave coolers or food of any kind in your car. Bears are smart and know that coolers hold yummy treats.

As I looked at the report left on the damaged car by the ranger, I was surprised to see the bear did not do all that damage to get to a left behind cooler, but he was going for the toothpaste. Who knew? Toothpaste.

Most parking lots in the park have bear proof metal boxes for you can store your food/coolers in while you are out exploring. But I had no idea you should also be putting your toothpaste in them to.

Have a great Monday!
xo