Come to Wheeler Farm Boutique! Jan. 24, 2009

Start the New Year right and get a jump on Valentines Day gifts!

Best Friends Boutique has a once-a-month boutique at the Wheeler Farm. The first for 2009 will be January 24th. Check out these links and then plan to see us there.
http://www.bfboutique.spaces.live.com/

http://www.wheelerfarm.com/

All kinds of crafts, all kinds of fun at the farm for families!

I have a bunch of new jewelry made of recycled paper. I have recently used: Goodhousekeeping magazines, National Geographic Magazines, Bible Pages, Financial Statements, maps, Chemistry/Drug information sheets, old Christmas Wrapping paper, and the ever famous junk mail. Lots more varieties of security envelope jewelry and comic paper jewelry will be featured this month.

A ton of new cloth scraps have been donated and are being made into beads as we speak - all kinds of beautiful colors!

AND lots of pinks and reds with hearts for the Valentine in your life. (Why not special order a love note necklace for your loved one!)

Happy Birthday Sir Isaac Newton!

In honor of the most influential scientist of all time, Sir Isaac Newton. May all you apples fall down today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWE_aGqfUDs

The Shortest Day of the Year! Happy Winter Solstice!

I had to stay in pajamas all day because why waste time getting dressed when night was going to be here so soon! This is it, the turn-around day when we now start getting closer to summer, just as a winter storm warning is issued!
I spent the weekend making 10 special order necklaces. Friday night I cut all the paper, Saturday I rolled and dipped approximately 400 beads and strung them all into necklaces on Sunday and finished in time to watch "America's Funniest Video's"
Four necklaces are made for one gal - she wanted them made from scrapbooking paper she furnished me. Beautiful pastel papers: green, blue and pink. I made three single strand necklaces, one of each color and then put all the remainder pastel beads into a beautiful 6 foot long wrap necklace.
The other order was for 5 necklaces made from pages out of old "Good Housekeeping" magazines from the 1970's - what a hoot going through those magazines! We sure have improved on printing colors since the 70's. I had a hard time finding full page ads with interesting colors but finally made a red/black single strand with black swirl crystals, an orange-ish two strand, a lime green (I remember this was a linoleum ad) single strand, a brown and yellow long strand that can double wrap the neck and finally, a multi-pastel colored long strand with blue accents. ---Whew!
Oh, the 10th necklace... one out of a black/blue colored page I saw in a National Geographic magazine and had to see how it would turn out. I think it will be a great men's necklace.

Terry cooked a spectacular ham in his crock pot and we set out heating pads (on timer switches) for the cats to lay on in the window. The Metcalf's brought us homemade toffee so life is sweet! Let it snow!

What Have I Done? - I took the challenge!

What Have You Done?

To participate, just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. It's kind of fun!!

1. Started your own blog (see: bowenwright.blogspot.com)

2. Slept under the stars (more than once)

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower (not too good in the city but I watched!)

6. Given more than you can afford to charity (I'm a sucker for Sub-for-Santa)

7. Been to Disneyland (my first time was with Terry 30 years ago this Christmas)

8. Climbed a mountain (climbed to the top of a peak in the mountains to the west of Tooele, Utah. Thanks Jake for scaring the crap out of me!)

9. Held a praying mantis (Charlotte and I had to set it free!)

10. Sang a solo (I've been asked not to sing a solo!)

11. Bungee jumped - not now, not ever!

12. Visited Paris (1987 backpacking with three girl friends - bumped into Lynette again just last summer!)

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I was on the beach watching, does that count?)

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (Paper beads, etched glass)

15. Adopted a child (took custody of a step-son and am the pseudo-mom of Meghan!)

16. Had food poisoning (even had to go to the hospital - how embarrassing)

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (only saw it from an airplane)

18. Grown your own vegetables (superb squash at one time)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (I saw the Mona Lisa at the Smithsonian in NYC)

20. Slept on an overnight train (all the way from SLC to Las Vegas and Cusco to Machu Pichu)

21. Had a pillow fight (Just ask my sister Janet)

22. Hitch hiked - not trusting enough

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (had to finish reading a book!)

24. Built a snow fort (My older brother had a passion for these in Kearns)

25. Held a lamb (Petted a goat and got butted by a lamb)

26. Gone skinny dipping (only if having my swimsuit ripped off from a fall while water skiing at Lake Powell counts!)

27. Run a Marathon (ran 1.5 miles at police academy, that's my longest)

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (watched a gondola in Venice go down the canal)

29. Seen a total eclipse (it was close enough to say total by me!)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (nearly every day if I can)

31. Hit a home run (I should get credit for this because I tried soooo hard for sooo many years!)

32. Been on a cruise (does floating down through Cataract Canyon in a float tube count? But Terry and I did take a day cruise out of Seward, Alaska)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (I liked the Canada side the best)

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (America sites yes, but never been to British Isles)

35. Seen an Amish community (in Pennsylvania - survived a near tornado there)

36. Taught yourself a new language (Still struggling with Spanish)

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I like my life style)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (decided to wander in Rome instead)

39. Gone rock climbing (not officially with ropes and stuff)

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (so beautiful it made me cry)

41. Sung karaoke (our school's music department has one so us teachers tried it)

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (worked in the Tetons so have seen it many times)

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (Terry and I do that often)

44. Visited Africa (I tried for Kenya but never made it - don't think I'll ever go now)

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (St. Thomas)

46. Been transported in an ambulance (I've loaded people on one but never rode in one)

47. Had your portrait painted (does my grand nieces picture count?)

48. Gone deep sea fishing (for rock cod off of Marina Del Rey, Ca.)

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person (saw it once half-way restored and then again totaled restored)

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (magical! a gorgeous view of the city!)

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (St. Thomas and this was the scene of my one and only panic attack- there is scary stuff down there in the ocean!)

52. Kissed in the rain (St. Augustine, Fl. - first time I ever saw it rain a deluge!)

53. Played in the mud (I made the best mud cookies!)

54. Gone to a drive-in theater (even snuck into one with my little brother)

55. Been in a movie (does a Junior High "meet your teachers" movie count?)

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business (Bowenwright Crafts, LC)

58. Taken a martial arts class (learned some at the Police Academy)

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen (St. Vincent D'Paul in SLC - humbling!)

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (bought a billion of them)

62. Gone whale watching (with Terry on a cruise in Kenai Fjords out of Seward, Al)

63. Got flowers for no reason (my stepson picked me a bunch of wild flowers while we were backpacking in the Uintah's)

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (Many times until I got cancer - they no longer want mine!)

65. Gone sky diving (not in this life!)

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check (I didn't known funds hadn't been transferred yet and thank goodness my sister worked at the bank!)

68. Flown in a helicopter (and was dropped off on top of a ridge to fight a fire)

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I have my very first Troll doll and still have my bubble-hair Barbie in her black/white stripped swimsuit)

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (Best at night with the lights on it!)

71. Eaten Caviar (Yuck, too salty - on a first class fight I think to Peru)

72. Pieced a quilt (took cut quilt blocks of my grandma Fryer's and sewed them into a throw quilt)

73. Stood in Times Square (Back in 1984 or'85 and it was not in very good condition then - stinky and a lot of bars and porn shops)

74. Toured the Everglades (with Terry and it was interesting)

75. Been fired from a job (Laid off, yes. Fired, no)

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (no, dang it)

77. Broken a bone (broke my left arm on my Grandpa's teeter-tooter a few minutes after my sister broke her right arm on the same teeter-tooter! 1960)

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (yes, my own 2003 Heritage Softail of course)

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (both North and South side and saw it from my motorcycle also!)

80. Published a book (maybe one day!)

81. Visited the Vatican (loved Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica)

82. Bought a brand new car (First new car was a 1977 MGB - white with black interior)

83. Walked in Jerusalem (wouldn't dare now)

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (something from Elementary school, but heck, I've been on TV - see archived bowenwright.blogspot.com)

85. Read the entire Bible (pretty darn near the whole thing!)

86. Visited the White House (only saw it from the outside, however)

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (duh, I'm from Utah! Cut up many a deer)

88. Had chickenpox (Still have a cute scar above my butt cleavage)

89. Saved someone’s life (maybe, he fell off a motorcycle and we found him hours later)

90. Sat on a jury (made it almost through the questioning to become one - but thrown out when I admitted I was once a cop)

91. Met someone famous (does Mary Nichols count?)

92. Joined a book club (several but I'm not a real book club kind of gal)

93. Lost a loved one (too many)

94. Had a baby (never been pregnant)

95. Seen the Alamo in person (still on my list of places to go, always wanted to see San Antonio)

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (I actually have many times - we used to go there when kids with my parents. The worst is having to drive home with the salt drying on your skin)

97. Been involved in a law suit (was sued by a former tenant- but it started a whole new career for my hubby as a PI!)

98. Owned a cell phone (I may not use it well, but I own one)

99. Been stung by a bee (Stepped on many as a kid)

100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person (yes, it was beautiful )

101. Learned to play an instrument (I play the piano)

Quite a Hectic Ordering Season! but still some time left!

I have had a successful Christmas special order season. I'm glad I did not sign up for any Christmas festivals this year! With still working a full time job and doing paper beads on the side, I'm BUSY. Next year will be much different - hopefully (if the economy doesn't do a 100mph nosedive!) I will retire from my full time job in June of 2009!

So for this year I have had the great pleasure of these special orders:

1. Necklace sets (5 total) made of topographical maps of Southern Utah for a group of ladies who love to backpack in Utah's canyonlands Nat'l Parks.

2. Several bracelets made of Salt Lake's Soccer team, REAL brochures. These were spectacular in the way the logo of the team, team colors and shots of the playing field showed up so wonderfully on the beads!

3. A muscial notes necklace set made of material that looked like a sheet of paper music. The cloth here was a better choice than real sheet music because of the aged look and golden sparkles in the cloth.

4. Several "security envelop" necklaces have been mailed out like the one pictured here

AND

5. the ever increasingly popular "Sunday Comics" paper beads necklaces! Thanks to everyone who donates their Sunday Comics and old security envelopes to me!