Still alive...

OK, I'm still alive ... only 8 days of classes left, and I'm too busy to think or do anything else. But I am still around!

DONE!!!

Well, my week of hell is over. I defended my thesis yesterday ~ it went well, I think. I planned on dazzling everyone with my cool migration videos such that they wouldn't have very many questions to ask... and it worked! Last night, a whole bunch of us went out for dinner, then convened at biopharm headquarters (3 biopharmers live together this year, so any parties and get-togethers usually end up starting and staying there). What a great night!! Drunken charades is hilarious! And then I caught up on some much needed sleep this morning. Thankfully, I only have one class on Mondays, and it's at 1:30.

Friday was the Biology formal, and I went with my boyfriend Pat (you can see his shoulder in the picture above) and two of my biopharm friends: Sharon (on the left) and Lina (in the middle). It was a lot of fun ~ the food was amazing!! The only complaints I have was that they didn't start serving us until 8, so we didn't finish dessert until 11!!! With the first buses heading back to campus at 11:45, it didn't give us much time to dance (we couldn't leave too early since we had to be at school for 9 AM the next morning for thesis defences... and Sharon presented first! Thankfully mine was on Sunday). The music wasn't great, but as you can see we did still get some dancing in! Not the most flattering picture, but do I ever look like I'm getting into it! Good times!!!!!

I also received a little surprise in the mail today:

My two little bunnies from Blossom Hill!! Aren't they adorable?? The large ceramic bunny with "fur" was an Easter gift from my mom last year. I think she's a suitable surrogate mother for these two sweeties!!

New Tags!

I just posted some new Easter bunny tags. After my impulsive rabbit purchases last night, I had to go make some of my own. Each bunny is hand drawn in my own design. Aren't these patterned papers gorgeous?!? Grab these up today before they're gone! They're perfect for all your spring and Easter gift-giving needs!!

More Etsy Purchases!

I don't have the money for this... could everyone please stop making such cute things? Especially adorable little bunnies that I can't resist??!? That little black bunny up there is Rosemary. She's technically mine, but since I can't have bunnies in my apartment, she's residing where she always has ... at my parents place in the middle of nowhere, Northern Ontario. My mom doesn't like that I call it the middle of nowhere, but when your closest neighbor is barely visible, and all you can see around you is field, and you don't even get cable, never mind city water and it's a 15 minute drive to the nearest town, which can barely be considered a town... it's the middle of nowhere.

But Rosemary... oh she is a sweetheart. That hole in the floor in front of her? Yep, she made / ate that. She gets cereal every morning, and come to the fridge every time you open the door. She'll even get up on her hind legs, begging for her favourite ~ broccoli. Her best friend, shown above was our awesome, 3-legged cat Pork Chop. He mysteriously went missing right after this passed Thanksgiving, and she mourned him for a good month. Poor Rosemary... but she's over it now. (update: I dreamed last night that Pork Chop came back after being gone for the winter... weird.)

Anyway, I just wanted to show where my obsession with bunnies has come from... And here are a few bunnies that will soon be mine:This cute plaid tote bag by betharoonie was just so sweet, I couldn't resist (hmmm... where have I heard that before?) ~ the pretty pink bunny just looks so adorable on the black, white and pink plaid. I can't wait to get it, and celebrate Easter with it!

I found that tote bag, and so many other charming bunnies, while searching for "felt bunny" on Etsy. One prominent shop that came up with that search was BlossomHill. Her little felt animals are absolutely enchanting. This one's name is Pippa, and she'll soon be residing on one of my shelves. Of course, she has so many endearing bunnies, I couldn't just settle on one. Pippa would be lonely without a friend, don't you agree? So I had to get Flossy as well. And you know I'll be keeping and eye out for any little black bunnies that might pop up at BlossomHill.. but not too soon, I hope, I really can't afford any more of these impulsive purchases!!! But, I keep telling myself, bunnies are necessary to celebrate Easter! Who needs chocolates if I'm surrounded by bunnies, right???

Speaking of celebrating Easter, it's early enough this year that I won't be in the middle of exams. That means I'll be able to go home!! I haven't been since Christmas and this little guy's first birthday:
He's walking around now, and saying "uh oh!" to everything! I can't wait!! (update: my mom just told me he's now saying "mama", "dada", "up" and "hi"... adorable!)

But first ... 2 midterms this week, my thesis defense this weekend and a 45 minute presentation (on BiDil, a heart failure medication prescribed specifically to African Americans) on the 13th, among other "less important" things. Yikes.

New items!

I've been having such a great week! I've been really crafty and have gotten quite a bit of school work done. Not enough, but with the amount of work and reading I have to do, I think it's impossible to finish it all. Luckily, there are only 6 weeks left. Well... I say luckily in a melancholy sort of way. I don't know if I'm really ready to be done school ~ I feel my education is not complete, there's so much more to learn! Which I why I'm going back to do my Master's (and why I'm reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking... amazing book, but it takes me a while to grasp some of the concepts. Special relativity is easy enough to understand, but the general theory of relativity is really, really complex). But it isn't going to be the same... once we graduate, we're all going to scatter, and that makes me sad. I'm going to miss the biopharmers ~ after spending 3 years with the same 18 people in such an intense program, you get pretty close.
Anyway, I've posted a few new notebooks ~ why don't you check them out? Up top is a set of 3 mini notebooks. These are incredibly useful ~ small enough to fit in your pocket, purse or bag and perfect for jotting down ideas, to-do or grocery lists, phone numbers and messages, and pretty much anything you can think of! And the patterns of the covering paper is just so cute and spring-y! I also made another large sketch-note-scrap-book with recycled paper. I use some paper that I've printed on ~ thesis, scientific papers, figures, and other stuff ~ and mix in some blank white, linen resume, graph and lined paper, as well as some coloured heavier card. The large size is perfect for sketching in, and making collages or scrapbooking. I like using some printed pages in my notebooks because you can pick out a cool figure or some words and build your collage around it. It's like a book pre-packaged with inspiration!

I mentioned below about my recent trades, but I've also made a few purchases in the past 2 days. First off, scroll down to my feature on StudioMarcy.. see that mug of green beer and the ninja bunny? Yep, they're mine now. I couldn't resist the bunny (have I mentioned my love for bunnies? Just wait and see!), and I have a friend who's birthday is coming up... she was telling me about how excited she was for St. Patty's Day, so I thought a necklace with the green beer would be perfect!

Bunny rabbits... they make the best pets! Our Rosemary is so tame and cute. I wish she wasn't at home instead of here with me in Hamilton. But I'm not allowed bunnies in my apartment... so I've resorted to the next best thing: buying bunny things on Etsy. I just bought this lovely necklace from LiiLii ~ I've had my eye on it for a long time, and it was on sale when I checked yesterday! I couldn't resist.

Speaking of not being able to resist ~ look at this card. How could I not?? Since I'll be going home for Easter, I'll be able to give it to my mom (mom, if you're reading this, act surprised!). This card was made by jtcreations, which is just full of wonderful cards. Plus, the creator behind the gorgeous paper products, Jessica, is really nice (and a Canadian!) ~ a great seller with which to do business! I know I'll be back in store come birthday season (Does anyone else have such a season? Where at least 1/2 of your whole family and extended relatives have their birthday all around the same time? Ours are in Aug-Sept and December..).

Alright, I'm almost done with this long, long post. I just have one more purchase (of 2 items) to show you. I've been looking for a simple gold ring for a while now. I have a gold promise ring from Pat that I always wear, and I wanted another one that I could wear almost all the time (without the clashing silver). But most thin gold rings are a little out of my price range, though gorgeous. But then, luckily, I came across this great shop, wiregems. There were some amazing sales, so I picked up 2 rings: one for my pinky (the flattened peak one), and one for my ring/forefinger (the lightning bolt one). I can't wait to get them!

OK, I think that's it for now. But why don't you go check out these great shops ~ and mine too!

Featuring: StudioMarcy

Today I'm featuring the lovely shop StudioMarcy. Marcy makes the cutest, most amazing lampwork focal beads!! I couldn't just pick a couple to show, they're all so pretty! So, instead, I'm going to show a collection of spring beads to get you in the mood!

First up, the cutest little bee. Her name's Camelia and she loves honey. And this pretty cardinal doesn't have a name, but is looking for a loving home. Preferably one with bird feeders...

Isn't St. Patrick's Day fast approaching? My 1/4 Irish blood tells me it is. Of course, I celebrate more because my boyfriend's name is Patrick.. hehe. But you can be prepared for St. Patty's Day too with this mug of green beer. Although whoever poured it sure needs to learn how to do it properly...

Alright, I think I've mentioned my love of all things bunny... ever since we got our own little black rabbit, I've been in love with them. In fact, I'll blog about a couple of bunny purchases I've recently made... but back to StudioMarcy and her darling jack rabbit. Don't you think, by the expression on his face, that he's just hoping that you'll give him a warm and loving home? I think so.

And why not get some easter egg-looking spring smiling beads while you're at it? The spring colours are sure to brighten up your next beading project!

And last but not least ~ don't be scared now ~ is a ninja!!! If this Easter ninja bunny doesn't make you smile every time you look at him... well, there must be something wrong with your face muscles!!! He's so incredibly adorable, I can't help but giggle with glee when I look at him. He's infectious ~ in such a good way!!

Oh yeah ~ and there's always FREE shipping for orders over $40... which would be an easy goal to reach considering the wide selection of beautiful beads! Don't forget to hop on over to her blog after you're done browsing StudioMarcy!

Busy busy!

Even I am shocked... four new posts in one day?? Is it possible?!! I guess I'm not as busy as I thought... actually, I am. I'm just really good at procrastinating! First off, I posted a new bracelet! This one is so stunning ~ it is sure to get tons of compliments!
Then I happened upon a trade thread in the forums. It's been a while since I've traded anything, so I browsed the wonderful shops and sent out a few convos. My first trade was with CrazyGirlBoutique ~ a really unique shop. I just love these little gift tins I got ~ they're so cute!!

Next, I traded for some jewelry ~ this cha-cha set is adorable! Though it was really hard to choose a favourite in jennysjewels. This is going to go so well with so much of my wardrobe... I wonder if there's any chance it will be here in time for my formal next Friday? It would be a perfect addition to my little navy dress!And my last trade was with Sheltie19. She make lovely lampwork beads, and I scored this gray swirl set. They are definitely going to make a lovely bracelet!! So that was my busy night. Now I'm really excited to get all my trades! I love getting mail!!! I am off to bed now so that I can (hopefully) get some more work done tomorrow!

New earrings!!

OK, I really need to get back to work now. But I've been having such a great day ~ so very productive! I recently purchased some brass filigree chandelier dangly things, but didn't have any other brass components to work with them. Then I found CigarboxSupplies (what are the odds that this shop name is so similar to the one I just featured!?). The most perfect item was offered ~ a set of kidney ear wires, bead caps, headpins and jump rings, all in brass. A sort of starter kit for anyone interested in trying brass out, without having to get oodles of supplies. It turned out quite nicely for me!
I haven't figured out a nice design for the chandelier dangles, but I did play around with some bead caps and made these gorgeous dew drop earrings! I used some great iolite rondelles ~ they're mostly clear, but pick up greens and purples, depending on the light. I was very tempted to keep them for myself, but I have other ideas for that!!

Oh yeah, keep an eye out ~ I've been working on a new accordion memory notebook and it's going to be very spring / Easter-y!!!