Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Focal


I set out tonight to make only the focal for the piece I'm putting together for Maria Grimes' Designer's Challenge, but it came out so well (I know, I'm so modest), that I got all excited and ended up finishing the entire necklace. Now, I'm sitting here too late at night, while my eyes slowly cross. On the other hand, this was one of the five pieces I'm supposed to finish before the end of the month, so it feels good to get something done, finally (except for photographs, which I will take tomorrow). I can't show you the necklace until the Challenge closes, at the end of the month, but I have to say that it really is one of the more unusual necklaces I've made (at least, the focal is unusual), so I hope you'll come back again to see it.

Many thanks for all the good wishes for the Short One's recovery. Obviously, this was a pretty minor procedure as these things go, but I tend to fret over stuff like this. The SO, on the other hand, is continuing to take the situation in stride. It was all I could do not to guffaw yesterday, when the podiatrist told us that we would have to apply warm compresses to the SO's feet, twice a day for twenty minutes each time. The SO tends not to sit still for more than five minutes at a time and then only if there's a particularly gripping episode of Sesame Street playing. However, much to my surprise, he sat still very nicely for his compresses today (and he was otherwise reasonably active - his toes do not seem to be hindering his ability to get into things). Of course, as a precautionary measure, I did go out to the local party store this evening to stock up on stickers and coloring books, since we have to follow this procedure for a full week. The SO is, after all, a toddler with a toddler's instincts. (I figure that the Husband and I will learn to come to grips with his toddlerhood sometime within the next ten years, at which point it will be far too late to do us any good.) On the whole, though, his toes don't seem to be bothering him at all, despite how they look right now, for which I'm quite grateful.

On other fronts, I received good news in the email box today. I have had my first project accepted by Simply Beads Magazine. It is a holiday-themed necklace and will appear in the December 2008 issue.

Okay, I must go be bed before I fall asleep on the table. Have a great day, everyone.

ps. The photo is of another focal I did last year - this was one the first bezels I ever made from PMC. The "shells" in the bezel are actually ceramic beads from Earthenwood Studio.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear that the SO is doing great after his ordeal.Kids seem to handle these things much better than us grown ups.Us mums are all the same and would rather have these things done ourselves than watch our children go through them.Congrats on your success also.

Christina J. said...

I'm glad he's continuing to do well. Is that something he'll have to have done periodically or will it not grow back now that it's been removed?

Luckily, N. should be all done with tubes. He had chronic ear infections. I was so worried about the surgery after reading things on the internet (sometimes that's a bad idea!) but it ended up being the best thing. While he had tubes he didn't have ear infections. He hasn't had one in quite some time (knock on wood!).

Good luck keep SO sitting still for compresses! :)

Soochal said...

i am drooling on my keyboard over this shell necklace! stunning!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear your son came out of everything fine. I couldn't imagine getting one of my boys to sit still for any reason when they were toddlers!

I double check myself with other mom's from time to time because I feel like maybe all my worries and overprotection is bordering on MENTAL, but I've been assured we all do this and really never outgrow it.

Jenn
Hollister, CA

Melissa J. Lee said...

Gladys - I think you're absolutely right! I was happy that the hospital let me enter the OR with him so he wasn't as frightened as he otherwise would have been, though. I understand that not all hospitals allow this.

Christina, I'm glad that N. is past his ear infections. We were lucky and the SO has never suffered from them (knock on wood, as you say), but I understand that they can be pretty pernicious. The SO's nails should not need to be treated again, thankfully. Once they are cut back, they shouldn't become ingrown again. We're quite happy about that!

Thank you, shoochal! It's still one of my favorite pieces, too. The full necklace will be in the Gallery section of BeadStyle in July, if you are interested in seeing it!

Hey, Jenn! For whatever reason, the SO actually seems to like the compresses. The salt water actually stings the cuts in my fingers (I always have cuts in my fingers these days, for some reason), but he seems to find it relaxing. Thank goodness. It's good to know that I'm not alone with all of the worrying. I know I drove the SO's pediatrician (a woman and mother of three) bonkers the first three months after the SO was born, I called her so often...