Too many beads?

Good luck with the cleaning, Tina.

Have you read the FlyLady? I think it might be a bit of inspiration, I was hopeless with clutter but slowly I used some of her principles to help clear everything away and on a boat that's vital. I still have clutter in the dining room but that's all and it's amazing how much better life is when you feel that sense of 'YES, I did it!'

How wonderful it is when everything turns green, it must be even more special for you as it comes so late compared to others who live in more temperate areas.

-Su

Where can I read the FlyLady?

Hah! It's heading into winter here (Ostraya). I LOVE winter!

Sapphire blue skies, fluffy white clouds, sunny days....

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It's worth the visit.

-Su

We've been taking baby steps with flylady - about all we manage so far is to keep the sink clear. However, what a difference that makes, mentally!

I've also scaled back bead-buying - I couldn't see the forest for the trees, either.

Happy spring cleaning, Tina and I hope Spring arrives quickly for you!

Barbara

Just having a clean sink made a difference to us too, it was the first step and we're not totally free of CHAOS but if someone comes to visit the boat doesn't look like the Titanic after it sank.

-Su

I've been trying to scale back on my lampwork and seed bead buying, and have been focusing on buying gemstones that I know will go with beads I already have. It's amazing, how many necklaces I've been making these days because of it.

Of course, I'm being frugal with my gemstone bead buying. I'm still saving up for that car, after all, and I've been sticking to easily affordable stones like agate and all the various jaspers that are available these days.

-Amber.

I've been on the lookout for stone cabs, large for beading. I find stone is good to work around, inspires my color choices. I've also been mainly buying various opaque glass beads, opals and givres. They go nice with stone and with eachother, that makes it a little easier to keep track of everything. Really only applies to pressed glass rather than lampwork though. I also divide my bead drawers into finishes and that makes it easier to find what works together and remember what I have as opposed to organizing them by color.

Ingrid

It's amazing how fast everything turns green. May 1 there was enough snow gone that I could begin burning. Ten days ago we began having a little rain, though it was still freezing at night, and with the rain, the buds came alive. In the last 5 days, tiny birch leaves came out, and the hillside is lightly greened over. In another couple weeks ALL the leaves will be out and the grass will be up. It happens so fast.

The light changes fast too. We were gaining about 8 minutes of daylight daily around Equinox. It's down to 7 minutes gained now, with 24 hours visible light, no stars for several months, and almost 20 hours of sun above the horizon.

I took a look at Flylady. Too formulaic for me, and it doesn't take into account my lower energy level. I thought it was odd that the site was so cluttered!

Tina

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with this dilemma. I know that what I really should be buying now is silver.

Tina

I still think there's no such thing as too many beads. I seem to go through "collecting" phases and creating phases.

I took a look at Flylady. Too formulaic for me, and it doesn't take into account my lower energy level. I thought it was odd that the site was so cluttered! .....................................................................

I was thinking the same thing, her site confused me, but then I lean toward depressed, confused and messy. I have decided that this might just just be how I am hardwired to be.

Stephanie

"took a look at Flylady. Too formulaic for me, and it doesn't take into account my lower energy level"

Well, it can't be all things to all people, the point of the site is to motivate people into doing things for themselves.

-Su

yeah..with silver going up in price, I'm already seeing some sellers start to up their prices for bali silver. which is bad for me, because I go through bali silver spacers like crazy, and I'll have to raise my own prices to make up for it. I'm sure my customers will understand, though, because I can't undercharge on anything.

-Amber.

Lol, thanks for the warning! I won't be signing up for that anytime soon.

Ingrid

"after a couple of weeks of three-times-a-day emails telling me to put my shoes on, shine my sink and scrub my front door, I felt like killing people. "

Hi Stephanie,

I'm not sure what you mean by Depression, but part of the description of it my psychologist gave me is "over-stimulation". And they're finding that the organic component of it involves a receptacle in the hippocampus not emptying itself normally, quickly enough.

I have the best mental health I've ever had (strength of self, clarity, etc), in spite of, or even because of, disabling Depression. I get mentally tired; my brain gets too full and stuff "falls out". So it's like being an amputee, but a strong and healthy one.

And unfortunately, yeah, I think it's a matter of being hard wired. I did the psychological work, but the hard wiring, the physical condition, remains.

The thing that saves me, makes life livable and ,even better, enjoyable is that I put my energy into my real needs. I need that damn dead wood burnt up in the next 10 days or so, so that's the only thing I have to do. We can eat hot dogs and have a dirty floor (really dirty, with all the wood debris that gets dragged in). And I need adequate sleep, a sense of humor, mutual support with my very wonderful husband.

Shiny sink? That's OK, but.... I think the FlyLady routines would interfere with my must do's, including the resting my head. That extra urging, for me as a depressive, would just function as noise that uses up my brain. The whole point of the cleaning I'm trying to do is to simplify so my eyes don't light on stuff (visual data) that I have to process.

And the site really is a dis-recommendation of the program to me. That's the kind of distractedness I'm trying to clean up.

Tina

LOL.

Well, don't subscribe! I avoided that particular nagging. I just liked the fact that someone knew that I had a problem with being Betty Crocker, I was more like her evil twin Skippy.

-Su

When I determine my prices, rather that double or triple (or whatever) my cost of beads, I base the price on replacement cost. I charge replacement cost on beads, and add more if the design is especially nice. Usually that means I charge about three times what I pay for beads, because that's what it would cost to replace silver or glass at the LBS, or what it would cost to have a lampwork beads replaced. I use that replacement cost because if I had to make something over (like add another pair of matching earring, etc), I could at least not lose money.

Tina