Seabeadz Etsy Shop

You know how I've said before that I can be a terrible procrastinator?  Add to that my lack of confidence that people would actually be interested in what I make and what do you get?  An empty Etsy store...for almost 4 years!!!!  Yes, it has taken me almost four years to get around to stocking my shop. Rather than call myself a couple of names that come to mind, I'm just going to release that sentiment and start fresh.

So, soon I will be inviting you to the opening of my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Seabeadz  

Putting it out there will help me to follow through. Feel free to nag if it doesn't happen in the next couple of weeks. My husband sure enough will be, lol.  He's a great believer in deadlines and nagging, support.

Enjoy!

Deb

Depression and Essential Oils

Speaking of peri-menopause...well, I wasn't directly, but I mentioned it in my last post and anyone who is in it knows it is basically the root of all the evil in the world ; ), so speaking of...

One of the most unpredictable and special features of peri can be mood swings. Up one minute, and inexplicably down the next, with a general feeling of hopelessness and anxiety just hanging out for the party.  For many, sudden bursts of anger get thrown in there too, but luckily not me...yet?!?

I am by nature usually a pretty positive upbeat person, always ready to laugh, often at myself and for good reason, but oh my goshness, lately, I've been the queen of blue.  For example, just this morning, I've swung form blah whatever, to tears, to happy happy, joy joy, I'm in overdrive. It is exhausting just keeping up with my moods.  Anyone else experience this ride?

So what do I do about it?  Sometimes nothing, just ride it out if it is not extreme, but today, measures needed to be taken. There's a hint here somewhere.

Yep, essential oils to the rescue, but not the one named Joy, strangely enough.  Like being unpredictable is a new thing for me?  I used RC, Purification and a mix of lemon, clove, ginger, peppermint and orange. All guaranteed to lift your spirits and clear your breathing while they're at it. As always, with essential oils, use the one that you are drawn to at any given time, as that is most  likely the one to which your body will respond.

Oils are wonderful, magical essences without which life would be much less calm.  Sigh!!  Get some and experience the bliss for yourself.  You'll thank me, I promise.  Yes, really. : )

Enjoy!

A New Year - A New Diet...NOT!

I've either rebelled, or come to my senses!!  I'm in peri-menopause, it is my right!

In the past six months, I changed diets so many times that I recently stood in the grocery store in complete confusion about which plan I should follow and what I should, or shouldn't eat. That was my moment of clarity, my beginning of catharsis.

I realized was in a revolving door of diet, lose, binge, gain, new diet, lose, binge, gain. Sheesh!!! If that isn't the very definition of insanity, I sure don't know what is.  No offense meant to those struggling with other mental challenges, but really, the diet mentality is an unstable state.

So, at still 50 lbs heavier than I know is healthy and comfortable for my 5'2" frame, now what?  The solution, the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel came in the form of a forum thread called Intuitive Eating at www.3fatchicks.com .  Diet brain said "Hey, we haven't tried that one yet, let's check it out" Insert evil cackle, lol...mwaaahhh!!

Well, whaddya know?  It isn't a diet, so much as the way a child naturally eats. No, not mac 'n cheese and apple juice, but when, how much, what they want at any given time. If we as control freak parents (hey, I was one) let them, that is.

The point is, how many chronic dieters truly know anymore whether they are tummy hungry, or head hungry? Satisfied or stuffed? Stuffing feelings, or just the cheesecake because it is amaaaaazingly good?  Do you want that banana because it is good, or because you've low-carbed yourself into banana fantasies?

I don't have a clue and that, my dears, is part of my food issues and explains why no diet will ever work to truly change, for life, a situation that has less to do with what you eat, than why you eat and why you stop eating.  Hmmmm?  Retraining body and mind to eat more consciously, huh?  Okay, I'm in my 50's, but I can learn something new that's actually old.  Not being one for intensive introspection...I'm more the don't over think, just get on with it and we'll figure it out as we go type, so we'll see where this leads.

If you are stuck in January's annual diet frenzy, get over to the above mentioned forum and seek out Intuitive Eating and/or search for books on the subject. There's a surprising number considering how little press this gets.  Learn how you too can be part of taking down the diet industry, lol.

Enjoy!

Shiny New UV Resin Love

UV resin isn't new of course, just new to me and I LOVE it. After using regular "Oh my gosh, that stuff stinks and gives me a headache" two part resin, and glossy enhancers that don't dome, the Lisa Pavelka UV resin I just tried is amaaaaazing.  Clear, quick, nice dome and almost instant gratification - my kind of product.

The last few days I've been messing with polymer clay, so tried in on a piece that had been stamped and dusted with Pearlex and  it came out well in just a few minutes in the sun. I threw some gold flakes in a hair pin bezel cup and filled it with the UV resin and it cured very quickly too, just in direct sun outside.  Love that it is odorless and needs no other equipment on a sunny southern fall day.  We'll see how it does in winter.

See the doming? In contrast, the Glossy Accents that I also love from Ranger Products sinks down into the polymer clay grooves which is a great look for mosaics. It gives that tactile, old time tin ceiling effect.

On the blonde side of using UV resin, I gotta tell you. I was touching one piece up outside when I noticed the resin coming out of the tube tip rather slowly. Yep, I was standing in the sun. Doh!  Blonde to the roots!!!  LOL.

Bead Embroidery on Fleece

So, why is it that you can only see the glaring mistakes in a piece once you have finished it and put it out for people to see? By finished, I not only mean completed, but mostly, I mean never want to work on again, lol. This is why I only create one offs; the idea of production work makes me tremble with fear.

Anyway, here's my latest piece which is now firmly attached to a fleece sweatshirt where a grumpy character used to reside. At 50+, while the idea of proclaiming to the world that I am indeed sometimes grumpy, it is probably obvious from my own face and not required in duplicate from a children's movie character - yes, that grumpy character - think short people.

Why did I have said grumpy fleece in the first place, you ask?  My darling husband who at 6'2" finds short comments amusing, also wanted to recognize my entry into peri-meno by warning passersby by way of my sweater. Sigh!!! Retraining hasn't worked yet and I can't trade him in, there are stranger ones out there. Advice willingly taken, though not necessarily adhered to. ; ) 

Love the changes that food made in this young woman's life:

Study of Weight and Vegans

Check it out! There's more support for a plant based diet. Today's query: Why is there gelatin in some cereals? It's in the icing on mini shredded wheats and pop tarts, not that anyone should be eating pop-tarts.

Update on Way of Eating Results

At just under one week into my new way of eating, Mrs. Impatience wants fast results and I can say I have a couple. First, I haven't strayed much from the plan which is amazing for me. No cravings, no extreme hunger and no horrible cheats, just a couple of minor ones. The butter remains untouched...a minor miracle in itself, especially as popcorn was consumed.

This next part applies, hang with me a minute. I detest gardening, detest getting my hands dirty, especially my nails and manage to slay most anything I try to grow, so see little point in having a garden. Unfortunately, the late owner of our home was a master gardener (a what?), so there's an abundance of plant life that refuses to give up the ghost on my watch. She must have imbued them with super plant immunity or something. Anyway, after letting the grass and weeds have their way during the stifling humid southern summer, I finally took charge today and got down on my knees to pull the invaders from their victory.

Normally, I would have wriggled and moaned in an effort to get comfortable on my knees in the dirt...well, okay on a towel in the dirt, but I just realized that I didn't need to do that today. I just knelt down and got to work for several hours, no constant shifting required. On top of that, my knees are not (perhaps yet) sore, whereas previously, they would have been swollen and stiff. This means that the inflammation is under control.

So, while I will still continue to do as little gardening as possible, my knees won't be the hindrance.

This way of eating is so doable.  Read my last post for the details. 

Eating for Health

For the last mmm, maybe almost a year I guess, I've been seeking a solution to mid-life weight gain and declining health. Turning 50 increased the seriousness of my search on these issues.

If you've read my blog over this period you have seen a post, or few, about different ways to eat, from the SAD - standard American diet through low carb, on to juicing, then raw food and so on.  It really has been a learning experience with all the bookmarked links to show for it.

Let's start at the beginning with SAD, aka BAD (basic American diet)...that should answer that question. That's how I got 60lbs overweight with the beginnings of chronic health conditions.

Low Carb:  Works at first with quick weight loss, but I never felt healthy on it. I missed fruit and grains.  My husband loved it as it is his preferred way of eating if you add fried potatoes. Ugh!

Juicing:  Love it!  The downside was that I was always hungry and it is expensive. Finding organic produce in any selection in the small town south is not easy, so limiting. Not sustainable.

Raw Food:  Now here's where you meet the most interesting folks.  They are passionate about their way of eating, shall we say? Again, for the same reasons as juicing, it won't work for me.

Then, I found a book I had seen before the low carb trial, but dismissed, Joel Fuhrman's "Eat to Live".  That led to the movie "Forks over Knives",  which introduces T. Colin Campbell's work, and Caldwell Esselstyn's work on heart disease, as well as Doug Lisle's "The Pleasure Trap" and John McDougall's Starch Solution  and Jeff Novick's work.  Wow!

There are many commonalities in each presentation, so don't get caught up in the tiny differences between them. See this:  Don't sweat the 2%   One says "No Oil" and another says tiny amounts of nut or veggie oils are okay.  The BIG KEY is remove animal products from your food choices.

If all that doesn't sway you, maybe http://www.processedpeople.com/ will?

I won't link to any of the factory farming documentaries because while I think any adult should be aware of how the animals are treated and where the meat and milk products come from, they are VERY disturbing and should bring you to tears. You're an adult, you can find them if you want to know.  Then, you have to choose whether to take action, or turn a blind eye to what our government thinks are suitable conditions for living creatures.

So, where did I land? The disclaimer here is that what works for me may not be right for you, but it might just be.  I landed on a Vegetarian, leaning to a Vegan way of eating, something I have played with before, but didn't have enough information about how to do it in a healthy way. This time, I'm armed with tools to succeed.

For me, that means a plant based diet with only some butter, my daily coffee 2 tbsp of half and half and the occasional free-range egg.  Butter is probably my biggest animal product addiction and margarine is not an option. Avocado might work in most situations with coconut or olive oil in others.  For the 1/2 and 1/2 I'm working on using coconut or almond milk instead, but right now...they're a bit yukky in coffee. I may have to use non-dairy powdered creamer for that. Have a little plastic in your day, lol.  Not at all worried about the 2 tbsp there.

Update 10/12/2011:  Still struggling a bit with butter, but did find Earth Balance Vegan spread which is just okay and mostly, I'd rather have nothing.  I have transitioned completely off cream and am now using either rice, coconut or almond milk for everything.

Anyway, watch the video links above or check out the sites and see what you think.

Enjoy!

Essential Oils Beat the Crud Again

That's what I love so much about essential oils, they can help your body conquer the little immunity irritations we encounter.  I work with kids at church most Sundays and get lots of hugs from these notorious little germ carriers, lol.

Due to an overactive immune response, the stuff that your immune system knows is not worth waking up to fight, will make my responses go into overdrive. Why? I don't know. There are two possible reasons. First,  I was a very premature baby (3lbs 15 oz) and my immune system didn't have time to mature. Second, I was born into a home of two heavy smoker parents.  Not a good start.

Anyway, not the point. The point is that by using essential oils, I can ward off the full blown reaction by attacking the initial sore throat, swollen glands and fatigue that is my clue to the invader. Yesterday, I used Melaleuca, Theives, Oregano and Lemon and woke up this morning feeling tons better. I'll follow that up the same way today to kick any last resistance out of my body.

So, if you have an immune system that tells you it is under attack too frequently, think about using essential oils  and see if they work for you like they do for  me.  Not feeling icky every week is priceless.