Black Friday & Cyber Monday Specials!

Muy Caliente - Hot Cherry Pepper Coral and Turquoise Nugget Necklace

I'm having specials in both of my shops for Black Friday & Cyber Monday - all 4 days! So what are the specials?

Rocki's Rock 'n Beads: 20% off my entire shop or 25% any item with the color RED in it! Ahem... like the hot piece above (read the description and you'll see why I call it Muy Caliente!

Rocki's Supplies: Free Shipping! Sorry, due to the International mailing process this is for US only. BUT for my International customers you will receive a very nice bonus gift instead!

Oxidized Wild West - Artisan Handcrafted Sterling Silver Ear Wires

Above is another new addition to my Etsy supply shop. I've actually added a couple other new ones, but just haven't been able to post them. I'll be introducing another new item next week.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday festivities. Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you all next week!

☼ Rocki

Go Elf Yourself!

It's been a rather busy few weeks and I just want to pay a note of thanks before we head out for our holiday vacation:

Many thanks to:
My boys, Jeremy & Jason - for being the BEST kids ever! You made it VERY easy being your mom while growing up and still today. You both are loved unconditionally and I'm so very proud of you guys!

Mark - my soul mate, best friend, life long partner, husband and more. You stand by me during my ups and downs, sickness and good health, encourage me beyond my wildest dreams. I love you with all my heart - you are the love of my life.

Dad - you taught me good morals, such as to believe in myself and in all people just the way they are no matter the color of skin, religion, their beliefs, and so forth. You've worked so hard raising all us kids and it's time for you to take a break. I love you Dad!

Siblings - Laura, Chris & David - we've had some crazy times growing up, but hey, show me a family that ISN'T dysfunctional in some sort of way! Thanks for making my life, well, very entertaining! Love you guys!

Lauren, my "daughter-in-law" - Jas & Lauren have been together so long that I consider her my DIL. She is the sweetest & kindest person I know, works very hard for what she wants and just love her to pieces!

My 'adopted' family, Sharon, D & Joshie - I'm so happy that our lives have connected and I look forward to many years of growing closer together - as long as you don't mind my crazy family! ;) Love you guys!

To ALL my friends, fellow bloggers, fellow etsians and to those I meet, I thank you all. Each and everyone of you have touched my life in some way or another and I appreciate you all.

So, now you all are probably wondering why I titled this post "Go Elf Yourself", right? Click on the link below and you'll find out why. Oh, and yes that is me in all my tinsel teeth glory!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/7Ry5pOKGpHtcu0cB

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Love & Peace,
Rocki

Behold Becky's Beautiful Beads

I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason - whether it be good, bad or indifferent. In this case, meeting Becky Mason on Etsy was a VERY good thing. More on this later.

Above is one of the most gorgeous lampwork beads I have ever seen. It is called "SEA TURTLE SANCTUARY" and this is what brought me to Becky. I found it in a Treasury that my good friend Sharon had made. I was immediately drawn to it - like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I found myself drawn to her shop and immediately hearted it. Even Mark was in awe of her amazing talent. After reading her Profile, I sent her a message of how much I admire her work. Becky replied... more on this later.

Oh, the Sea Turtle Sanctuary bead has since sold, but you must check it out to see the rest of the details of this beautiful piece of art.

Above is Becky's "PREHISTORIC OCEANIC HISTORY - 3 - a handmade lampwork focal bead with fish bones and barnacles" and I am in LOVE with it!

Becky Mason is Lampwork Artist & Jewelry Designer and comes from a very talented family. She was selling on Ebay for about 5 years until Diane, her talented Lampwork Artist sister who already had an Etsy shop, suggested that Becky set up her own Etsy shop as well. I suggest you read Becky's Profile to find out more about this very talented artist. It is very impressive and will make you that much more of a fan.

This lovely piece is titled "WILD MUSE" and a must see! I just can't explain enough how truly amazed I am by Becky's talented hands. She simply amazes me. Truly she does. In fact, it would be a lot easier for you to just run on over to her shop, or her website to see for yourself. Also check out her sold items - WOW!

Oh. About the "more later part". I'll make this short because this blog feature isn't about me, but I wanted to tell you how my new addition came about. Becky wanted longer & heavier gauge headpins and strongly suggested I make them for my shop as well. So I did.

Like they say: "if you build it, they will come." Bada Boom, Bada Bang! Thank you Becky, you ROCK!

Happy Creating Monday!

Rocki

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today, Mark & I celebrate our 14th wedding Anniversary! I was would have had some old pics of us, including our little wedding picture, but my main PC was on the blink yesterday. I may follow up with those later on. The above pic, in all our glory, is one of my favorites. It was after my first official group ride (Memorial Day Ride). Even though we were all hot and sweaty (from the ride!) and exhausted, there's just something about this picture that I love. Maybe because it screams "we're in love".

If I explain how deeply in love we STILL are, how we met, how we became best friends first & still are today, how we worked together at 2 different offices, the way we got married, how we still hold hands everywhere we go, how we always say "I love you" throughout the day, and many other details of our lives, this blog would turn into a novel. So I will just tell you a few tidbits that you may or may not know about us.

The pic above was from one of our Anniversaries. It was Mark's turn to make the plans. Every year we took turns planning our Anniversary gift, whether it be a simple dinner & movie or a trip near or far, we always kept it a surprise until that day. This trip was a train ride up to the Grand Canyon for the weekend. It was SO much fun, but it was SOOOO cold & snowy. Good snuggle weather.

We've had many adventures and have many more yet to come. When we both started riding, it was a whole other world. We met a lot of people, made some good friends and have TONS of photos! The pic above was from our very first Toy Run and that was a blast!

Did you know that between the two of us we have 4 boys with the same names and 2 share the same middle name? Yep. Two Jeremy's & 2 Jason's. If we had girls with our ex's, mine was going to be Jessica Mae & Mark's Jessica Lynn. So since we couldn't have kids of our own, we named our first little 4 legged girl "Maelyn". We have LOTS in common and were destined to be together. We are true soul mates and will always find each other life after life.

Awe, the Laughlin Run! Fun times! I can honestly say that besides being with my boys & family, being with Mark truly completes me. We enjoy each other's company whether it's just sitting on the porch enjoying the weather, plopped on the couch watching a movie or doing some other activity. Mark is my best friend, my rock, sounding board, partner, husband, soul mate and the love of my life.

It's been 14 years since we said "I do". We tell each other this all the time, but there are days when it feels like it was just yesterday when we got married, yet it also feels like we've been together forever.

I love you honey. Always have. Always will. In this life and the next, and the next...

Happy Anniversary!

Rocki - your wife :)

Did someone say... COOKIE?!

This past weekend was truly enjoyable! It started out on Friday afternoon when my son Jason stopped by. We played Wii and had a blast. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed his visit!

Saturday I only worked a few hours in the morning and then Mark & I were off and about the rest of the day. We had a fabulous day.

Sunday I was craving chocolate chip cookies - homemade. You know, soft, warm and oozing with chocolate chips right out of the oven kind of cookie. Even though I have to make them a little different due to wheat & dairy allergies, they still come out just like a chocolate chip cookie should.

Well, I didn't get around to making them until late afternoon when Mark reminded me about the cookies. It was only a fleeting thought of not making them due to how late it was. I must admit that I made them in record time!

The aroma of the baking cookies filled the house with memories of baking cookies with my boys when they were little. We would all grab a spoon at the end and scrape the bowl clean!

Mark could hardly wait to have one. That's not true. It was me. As soon as the first batch came out, I was all over those cookies!

I would offer you all one, but right after this photo I stuffed them all into a container and hid them. Not really. I let Mark keep the half eaten one in his hand.

May the cookie not crumble in your milk,

Rocki

Yum!

The weather is getting cooler now. Okay, so maybe 70 plus degrees isn't THAT much cooler, but here in Arizona it is.

So the other day I was in Trader Joe's... oh my son Jason & Lauren ( basically my 'daughter-in-law') work at TJ's . Jas has been there for over 10 years and is working on becoming a Fire Fighter. My son Jeremy works at Starbucks (over 8 years now) and is working on becoming an American Sign Language Interpreter. I have it made ;)

Anyway, I was picking up some groceries and spotted a box of Sweet Potato Bisque. I've seen it many times before, but never bought any. Let me tell you, this is to die for!

We had the bisque a couple nights with our meal and at one point Mark asked if we should just get a straw. I actually thought about it, but wanted to savor each and every spoonful.

If you want a yummy bisque to have with you meal or just by itself with maybe a little cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg, I highly recommend this one. Plus, I can have it because it is wheat/dairy free!

Oh, I'm sure they sell straws there too.

Enjoy!

Rocki

Elated & Outraged!

This morning I'm mixed with the overwhelming joy of our new President Obama, and the gut wrenching outrage of the Arizona Proposition 102 passing!
Yesterday it was all about the Polls. I've never watched the Polls before. In fact it was usually movie time or some other activity to stay away from the T.V. stations. But not yesterday. We even ate dinner in front of the T.V., hoping and awaiting news of Barack Obama becoming our President. We even stayed up and watched his acceptance speech.

I've never voted before either. I know. I hear the gasping sounds already. I'm just not very political as it does not interest me. However, this year was different. Could my one little vote really make that much of a difference. Yes it can. Will others like me stand up and vote? Yes they will. I even wondered if I should do it or not, but then kept hearing "Yes we can." I voted. I voted for Obama and it felt good.

So why am I so outraged about Prop 102 passing? This is what is about: "This initiative would amend the Constitution to define marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. Supporters say a constitutional provision would protect the sanctity of marriage by preventing judges from overturning the existing state law prohibiting same-sex marriages."

Nobody has the right to say who you can marry, date or have sex with. Who's business is it anyway? Is it really going to hurt you (those opposed) to see two people of the same sex married? Is it going to ruin your day? If so, you need to get a life. You also need to take a long hard look in the mirror and realize that you're a human being just like EVERYONE else is and we ALL have the same rights.

A family is NOT just a "wife, husband & child" as all the commercials to promote this ridiculous Proposition exclaims. A family is a group of people, large or small, living together, raising one or more children with love, guidance, peace and happiness. Who are those to judge what a family is? This just sickens me to no end and I'm ashamed of those ignorant Arizona voters who passed this. All I can say to you is Karma.

My dad taught us that everyone is equal and I taught my boys the same. I have friends from all walks of life. I've had gay friends all my life, past and present, and one of my very best friends is my son Jeremy (my son Jason is my friend too, not meaning to exclude him). I don't introduce my boys as "this is my straight son & this is my gay son" - these are my boys and I'm very proud of them both! I only state this because the other day when I was talking with Jeremy about this, I was fuming. It takes a lot to get me angry, but this one got me. I told him that I may blog about this, he said go for it!

If and when the time comes, I want my son to be able to marry without fear, prejudice, ignorant laws and so forth. Jeremy and all the GLBT community deserve the SAME rights as everyone else. "We the People" need to stand up and make this happen. I will be doing my part to see this through. Will you?

Happiness, Peace & Love to ALL,

Rocki

More New Additions...

I planned on blogging about something else this morning, but got a late start and am running out of time, so thought I would just share some more new additions that I have added to my shop.

Above are my new Oxidized Brass Long Ovals. I've been trying different methods of oxidizing Brass and I think I've found my favorite one :)


These little hotties I call "Sexy French". What can I say? That's the first thing that came to my mind.

I know, nothing exciting about headpins, but I'm slowly adding a variety of gauges and below, obviously, are my 20 gauge headpins for larger beads.


Well that's it. Just another quickie and now I'm off to get some orders filled. I'll be back later on to visit all my buddies blogs :)

(added note: Hop on over to my buddy's blog "Heart of a Cowgirl" to read the awesome feature she did of me this morning - plus look around, her blog rocks! Thank you B!)

Happiness to all,
Rocki