But honestly, yeah sure girls like clothes and fashion, but during the later years guys have climbed that ladder even further up and is closing in on us girls. They shop more than before, are more aware of the fashion thiss fall, winter, spring or summer. Sometimes even more aware of it then we girls are. But still we get the lables which says 'Shopaholic'. Just because we like to shop, and when we shop a lot we buy one or two things a time and go shopping more often. While the guys I know they go maybe once every three or four months and come home with a lot of things. Well, it's the same bloddy thing, sweethearts you just don't want to addmit you like shopping.

Sorry guys, but you have been caught. There is one more thing. Some guys says they love high heels but the soon as they see that you've bought a new pair of shoes they are like: 'What do you need them for, you already have 50 pairs of shoes?' But come on, addmit it, you LOVE those shoes no matter how much they cost, because they make your sweeties legs look fabulous. Just say that and you have made her day.

So happy shopping everyone... :)

After blurting out a curt “NO!” and sweating it out in silence for a while, I finally built up the courage to ask her why she wanted to wear thongs. She sweetly replied that she simply didn’t want her panty line showing... (!!!)

Well, after settling the kids and getting dinner out of the way at record speed, I couldn’t wait to logon to my favourite bingo hall and ask my trusted roomies and chat friends what to do! Online Bingo brings together people from all over the world, across many age groups, which is why it was interesting to take note of the diverse reactions and advice.

Well, after the online laughter and exclamations died down, the general consensus seemed to be that a thong was just another style of underwear that some find very comfortable, and that I’m a prude and worry wart and should seriously chill out and get a life.

Nice!

Not quite the support and understanding I expected from my trusted Online Bingo buddies! But it did give me a fresh perspective, and (lucky for my niece) a new insight.

Will I be buying her thongs in the near future?

The jury is still out.....

Yesterday brought Guo Long to ICA to make his access card... this card allow him to come into Singapore easier without any need to stamp his passport.  Actually i don't think there is a need to accompany him... but still haiz... what to do... i can't reject isn't it?  So i just go there with him yesterday... he did let me choose either yesterday or today... but i was thinking if i go out today, that will be out for consecutive 3 days (plus coming Fri & Sat)... so i just accompany him yesterday... haha!

After i finish my job, i went off first... since he is with his girlfriend, i don't think i should go shopping with them >.<!  And i doubt they want me to follow them as well... so after that i just went to do my own shopping... Travel to City Hall... Haha!  City Hall AGAIN! >.<!

I didn't really shop much... but i tried the tee i mention previously at Calvin Klein Jeans... it doesn't have the size i want anymore... i wonder why is it so fast selling!  Haha... But i still got the intention to buy it... maybe i shall go try it again the next outing with Shirley and let her gimme so opinion... haha!

By the time i reach home yesterday, is already 7pm... then i ate my dinner... was fried bee hoon ><!  After that at around 8pm, my mum and sister came into my room to watch 超級星光大道 together... this round our Singapore 黃靖倫 is graduated rank 6... actually through out the whole competition, he really improve a lot... but still unable to compete with the rest... they are really so much stronger... Actually i also don't find 賴聖恩 perform well this week... comparing bout vocal, 黃靖倫 wins him... Just that 賴聖恩 is a better performaer that's all... he got the visual but not the vocal... his vocal is a bit flat... Anyway next will be the final competition already... i know 徐佳瑩 won... SIANZATION! 林芯儀 No.2 and 黎礎寧 was No.3... (T_T)

Anyway i think that's all for me to update... tomorrow will be going for hanabi festival... yeah yeah!  HANABI! ;)  Hope tomorrow hanabi will be good!  So till here update again when i'm free... ^^

Luckily we needed to go shopping anyway but I hadn't been planning on taking six hours in doing it! We'd planned for lunch in town anyway, so we went to McDonalds and then I took the kids on a very long and tortuous (for them and for some extent me, as they arn't my ideal window shopping companions) bout of window shopping.

I also needed to get some new shoes having definitely wrecked my pink summer shoes last week (they lasted two months which is bad, specially considering they were Clarks but I can't blame Clarks for the weather unfortunately). So back to my beloved fall back, Converses, I am a Converses freak, I am extremely fussy about my shoes having pes cavus (high arches basically) so I demand that my shoes be comfortable plus also not driving and thus walking everywhere they have to last, so many 'cheap' shoes in the shops wouldn't last on my feet for a month (literally, I went through a stage of buying cheap as I could get shoes and that was how long they lasted, including one pair so bad the nail that held the sole of the boot on literally wore through into the shoe, I only realised that this was happening on this particular pair of shoes after I'd hobbled into town thinking "What on earth is wrong with my shoe?", I threw myself on a bench once in town, looked in the shoe and was horrified to find a nail sticking out of my shoe going into my foot. So I had no choice but to hop into the nearest shoe shop and buy a pair of trainers so I could walk home again!). Anyway Converses long ago passed my comfortable and  well made test with the added benefit they look good! I get through on average a pair of Converses in 6 months before the sole starts getting worn away but at £30 for six months pretty much continuous wear that's not bad. Before my extended shopping trip yesterday I had done a spot of online research and this is the pair I really desperately wanted,

How gorgeous are those? Unfortunately I didn't find them, I wasn't really expecting to find them really, it tends to be more conventional converses in my neck of the woods, so I got these instead,

After the new shoes it was off to the book shops, I'm still on the look out for my next Booker longlist attempt. I tried Waterstones first, absolutely nothing! Then I tried Borders and I found Netherland, which I'm definitely not going to read after hearing too many bad reviews and it's not my sort of book anyway, cricket, yuck! I also found The Secret Scripture and A Fraction of the Whole but I was disappointed I couldn't find any of the rest of the list. I'd have thought something like the Booker longlist would have prompted these books to be stocked! I was tempted by A Fraction of the Whole but then got put off by the price, I still have quite a too be read backlog and a couple of new fiction books being published in the next few months I'm desperate to get my hands on and at the moment I'd rather spend the cash I have on something guaranteed (in my mind at least) to be good. After being disappointed by The Enchantress of Florence and hearing the bad reviews of Netherland I'm thinking are the Booker judges really the people I want dictating my book purchases?

We did find two new books to add to our collective family wishlist though, they've released (and it's only August sigh) a whole load of 2009 children's annuals (eek is it that year already?) and the kids landed like vultures on the Charlie and Lola one. We have this year's one (of course) and I remember being rather disappointed that both stories in it were ones we already had but the 2009 annual has three stories and we don't have any of them. So that's a stocking present for Girl Lacer sorted then, I'll buy it soon (when she's not around) as Waterstones currently have them at £2 off. I think Boy Lacer would also love the annual (he reads the 2008 annual more than Girl Lacer does) but he'll have to settle for the In the Night Garden annual, which he also liked the look of.

So, after the bookshops, a trip round Cath Kidston for a new wallet more suited to my new cash based existence (and at £6 not a bad price, although Mr. Lacer saw it and said it looked like it was 50p).

Then supermarket and then still about two and a half hours to kill and the kids to be fed their tea at some point, so we went to a children's cafe with a good play area, sigh it would almost have been cheaper to have called out a locksmith! The cafe is nice but their food was already expensive but they've put their prices up (understandable I know with the food price rises) but I think they're in danger of pricing themselves out of the market, we were the only people I could see actually eating there that day. We stayed there as long as we could (until they turned the music off!) and then went home. I still wasn't convinced Mr. Lacer would actually be there, so we stopped off in Sainsbury's where they had some garden game kits for £1.99, we brought a cricket set (I know, I said I hated cricket) with the idea of playing it in the front garden whilst we waited but when we got home Mr. Lacer had beaten us to it by 5 minutes!

So, a busy day and a tiring one, so I needed a nice tea to pick me up as I sat down that night in the play room that is my living room. Jamie Oliver's Peach, Prosciutto and Mozzarella salad, Mr. Lacer watched me make it and went "That looks an expensive salad" and yes it was a bit, but I needed a treat and it was still cheaper than eating at the cafe I fed the kids in!

From Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef days again (The Return of the Naked Chef), this salad is delicious. I tried to make it once before, back in my naive 20s, I was staying at my dad's for Christmas and I insisted on doing the starter and this was going to be it, except it was Norfolk, in December, in the 90s (?), of course they didn't have fresh peaches, I'm not even sure they had prosciutto, I think the salad turned out rather different! Anyway, that was the last time I tried to make it, so I never got to find out exactly how delicious peach and prosciutto together actually is, it is gorgeous, forget the old melon combo, prosciutto and peach it is! Recipe here, courtesy of the Food Network (takes a while to load).

Communiqués de presse, e-commerce.

Les stickers haut de gamme de stickmyhome.com

Des stickers ardoises aux stickers "diamond", chacun pourra trouver le sticker qui lui convient.

Plus de 1000 modèles et des nouveautés régulières crées par nos designers.

Vous pourrez décorer facilement toutes les pièces de votre maison, véhicules, électroménagers, ordinateurs, surfaces vitrées...

L’avantage de notre boutique de stickers est le choix des dimensions au centimètre près afin que nos produits s'adaptent totalement à vos volumes.

C'est aussi plus de 21 couleurs, plusieurs matières (ardoises, brillants..) et surtout ce sont des stickers qui sont réalisés dans le meilleur vinyle du marché.

La finition est manuelle et la découpe est réalisée à la forme sans débord, faisant de nos stickers la référence haut de gamme du marché.

Fort de son expérience de plus de 10 ans sur le design web et la décoration, la société SMEDIA se consacre ces dernières années plus à création et à la fabrication d'éléments de décoration sur mesure et innovantes.

A Propos de stickmyhome.com :

L'équipe de stickmyhome.com vous propose un très grand choix d'autocollants déco originaux, stickers muraux personnalisables, adhésifs décoratifs en ligne pour recréer et harmoniser votre décoration intérieure.

Contact Presse :

Email : media@stickmyhome.com

Téléphone : 06 33 34 59 26

Mentions Légales :

Société S MEDIA

RCS Lorient :490 401 973 RCS

68 rue de la villeneuve

56100

Lorient

Communiqué de presse pour : Stickers, stickmyhome.com

Communiqués de presse, e-commerce.

Les stickers haut de gamme de stickmyhome.com

Des stickers ardoises aux stickers "diamond", chacun pourra trouver le sticker qui lui convient.

Plus de 1000 modèles et des nouveautés régulières crées par nos designers.

Vous pourrez décorer facilement toutes les pièces de votre maison, véhicules, électroménagers, ordinateurs, surfaces vitrées...

L’avantage de notre boutique de stickers est le choix des dimensions au centimètre près afin que nos produits s'adaptent totalement à vos volumes.

C'est aussi plus de 21 couleurs, plusieurs matières (ardoises, brillants..) et surtout ce sont des stickers qui sont réalisés dans le meilleur vinyle du marché.

La finition est manuelle et la découpe est réalisée à la forme sans débord, faisant de nos stickers la référence haut de gamme du marché.

Fort de son expérience de plus de 10 ans sur le design web et la décoration, la société SMEDIA se consacre ces dernières années plus à création et à la fabrication d'éléments de décoration sur mesure et innovantes.

A Propos de stickmyhome.com :

L'équipe de stickmyhome.com vous propose un très grand choix d'autocollants déco originaux, stickers muraux personnalisables, adhésifs décoratifs en ligne pour recréer et harmoniser votre décoration intérieure.

Contact Presse :

Email : media@stickmyhome.com

Téléphone : 06 33 34 59 26

Mentions Légales :

Société S MEDIA

RCS Lorient :490 401 973 RCS

68 rue de la villeneuve

56100

Lorient

Communiqué de presse pour : Stickers, stickmyhome.com

shoe store in darling harbour

it's a no-brainer, really.

Following that, I was so elated at being in town that I dragged the Husband from Tangs to Wistma to Takashimaya and back to Tangs again. Of course, at 11.30 in the morning there was no one and the underpass the walkways were all mine! Well as much mine as could be in Singapore. There were still people miling around but definitely with walking space. Traffic on the other hand was a whole other story. An annoying one too. We looked at expensive kitchen ware at Tangs and Takashimaya, looked at clothes at Wistma (Hula! Forever21! Cotton On!), Looked at more clothes at Takashimaya (Ted Baker!) and more expensive kitchen ware. I would have loved to go on a shopping spree but The Husband took one look at the dresses I tried on at Hula and Forever21 and refused to let me spend money on them. Grah, men.

So what do we have in news today. For one, Ricky Martin is a father. Yes, a father. Like, you know, the guy who would change your diapers and give you a bath and play with food with you at dinner time or occasionally delivers a spanking while mom is busy trying NOT to laugh at your calling a random lady at the shopping center fat? That guy. So Ricky Martin is one of them now. Wow. And to twins too! Man, the guy's got guts.

And also, this. The town cannot understand what the principal did wrong? Well ok, allow me to explain it then. And pardon any stray expletives. One, it is ok to believe that homosexuality is a sin. Because its ultimately your own damn beliefs. But what is not ok is to  victimise a student like that because she happens to be different from the beliefs of you and your town. Just because almost everyone in the town believes that homosexuality is wrong does not make it condonable (is there even such a word?) to treat someone that way. So I say, piss off with your thing about how the whole town believes that homosexuality is wrong and therefore the principal did nothing wrong. And if you still cannot get it into your head that just because you're in the majority doesn't mean that you are allowed to victimise the minority, allow me to slap that idea into your head or heads with a big rubber chicken. I'm very fond of rubber chickens these days, the are very useful for smacking common sense into people.

Would you like it in hooker or in pimp?

Also in progress, a review on Benefit's Bad Gal Lash Mascara. Yes, I did buy a tube of mascara at full prices despites Cheryl's kind offer to help me get it at a discount. Mainly because I'm only gonna be at Tangs today and no other day and I really didn't want to disturb her in the middle of a work morning for a tube of mascara. But I am HAPPY because I didn't get to buy ANYTHING ELSE. *AHEM*

Did I also mention that I was up until 1 a.m. last night playing Fantasy Stock Exchange on facebook? Yeah, I shorted a bunch of shares from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and somehow made money. Who knew? A financial idiot like me can make money on fantasy stock exchange. Its such an addictive thing to play though.You really do learn something new everyday.

This is done because turtles live to great age and it is believed that by making such offering worshippers may extend the length of their lives. It is an important merit-making festival.

Ouch! Smukke, men dødbringende accessories. Tjek disse glasserede orkideer til håret. Anna, som har Pulp Art, er utrolig service-minded. Jeg har købt et slør til ansigtet og en af hendes "mærkelige frugter".

Jag hade det förr, i min ungdom.

Nu när jag har blivit gammal och luttrad ser jag turerna i köpcentrat som en plåga. Något man kunde använde i straffsyfte till typer med lättare kriminell bakgrund.

Alternativt som utbildande av chefer i strategiskt tänkande…

Ju mer jag tänker på det desto mer lysande är det!

Jag kanske skulle starta upp en kurs för presumtiva chefer som känner att det här med strategi och framförhållning är kämpigt.

Tro mig, en plan för hur man ska gå tillväga är av yttersta vikt för att överhuvudtaget ro ett dylikt projekt i hand.

Jag har gjort ett mindre överslag om vad som behövs:

4 par byxor/barn

6 långärmade tröjor/barn

5 T-shirt/barn

10 strumpor/barn

10 underkläder/barn

2 joggingställ/barn

Således pratar vi 16 byxor, 24 tröjor, 20 t-shirts, 40 strumpor, 40 underkläder, 8 joggingställ.

Vad som bör tas i beaktande är även att barnen ska följa med för att ha möjlighet att välja.

Som chef ges du möjlighet att analysera, planera, beräkna och förutsäga framtida behov. Du kommer att få erfarenhet av multitasking, arbete under stress, kundbemötande.

Jag undrar rent av om vi inte hade kunnat använda oss av SWOT. Du hade fått bedöma dagslägets styrkor, svagheter, möjligheter och eventuella hot.

Man kan ju se det hela lite som en praktik, alternativt en workshop…

Ja, das Erstehen neuer Schuhe kann wahre Glücksgefühle bei uns Frauen erzeugen, vom ergattern der neuesten Handtasche ganz zu schweigen. Stolz wird die Beute präsentiert, die Körperhaltung zeigt Anmut und Eleganz. Man sieht einer Frau an, wenn sie ihrer Handtaschen- und Schuhsammlung neue Exemplare hinzugefügt hat. Frauen merken es anderen Frauen an, Männer merken es -manchmal zum Glück- nicht. Zumindest nicht die "eigenen" Männer, dass spart der Frau Grundsatzdiskussionen über die Wichtigkeit der  Handtasche und der farblich darauf abgestimmten High Heels.

Doch zurück zum Thema Sex. Alle 8 Sekunden an männliche Geschlechtsteile, diverse Sexstellungen und Orgasmen zu denken ist für eine Frau unvorstellbar. Es sei denn, sie ist von Natur aus Sexsüchtig. Vielmehr kommt es vor, dass Frauen während des Sex an Schuhe und Handtaschen denken, oder in Gedanken ganze Einkaufspassagen durchwandern. Und die Männer sind fest im Glauben, sie seien der Grund für das schnurren und seufzen während des Vorspiels, sollte es etwas länger  dauern, denn auch dort sind manche Männer im 8 Sekunden Modus getaktet.  Es ist wie es ist, wir Frauen müssen mit dem 8 Sekunden Takt der Männer leben und die Männer mit den Schuhen und Handtaschen der Frauen.

Direktlänk till rabattkoden: Ny rabattkod för Dell XPS och Inspirion

We were in the Delhi’s famous Palika Bazaar in the Connaught Place, the underground shopping place in Delhi. 

I liked a leather purse; I thought I will buy it for my Aai (mom) as a gift from Delhi. 

I asked the price of it to the shop owner and he calmly replied 1200 rupees. 

I moved on, I was carrying 500 rupees in all with me for the entire tour, how could I afford to buy a 1200 rupee purse?

The shop owner followed me, and asked me how much am I interested to pay for it? 

I was actually embarrassed, how could I tell him that I cannot afford it. 

To my amusement he kept following me, I got irritated with it, and to get rid of him I told him I will not pay him a rupee over 100, for the purse. He smiled, and put the purse in my hand, took hundred rupees and fled away. 

I was happy for a moment, but then I was disappointed too, I thought if I would have told him 70- or 50/- or even 10/- I had a chance… 

I just loved it, the bargaining thing, and on the entire trip of Delhi-Agra-Mathura-Gwalior

I did a lot of a shopping (read bargaining) I got a T-Shirt for my dad, an eye shade for my younger brother, Agra kay mashoor pethas and still saved 100 rupees. J 

But that was it, as I grew up, I started a disliking towards bargaining, I preferred going to one good shop, select an item, pay and get out.  

I started getting embarrassed going to shop, with people who liked bargaining. 

They just go to a shop, see at least a hundred of kind, and ask the price, bargain, and get out of the shop without actually buying anything, and on top of it, they will tell the shop owner, we will buy it from the next shop, or the previous shopkeeper was selling the same stuff at half the price. 

Recently, I went out with my family to buy some furniture. 

First we went to one of the biggest furniture shop, in my city, as it was running a 50% flat discount on furniture. 

We spent at least an hour in the 6 floor shop and came out empty handed. 

Then we went to 4 small retail shops and factories, where the furniture is actually made. 

My wife and my mother bargained a lot. 

And finally we got what we wanted. Better quality furniture at an amazing price, nearly half of the price we saw at the 50% flat discount, biggest shop. J

I was irritated and was sulking when my wife and mom were bargaining at all the shops, but finally I was very happy bloke and wallet was still a heavy entity. J 

Still, I would prefer to go to a “No Bargain” shop, call it my laziness to go to, too many shops, or my embarrassment to bargain.

The biggest disadvantage of bargaining is, you are never happy with the bargain, when you come out of the shop you think you could have got it at a lesser price.

Bargaining is an art, is a skill, some people are good at it, while some stay away. 

What would you do? 

Yeah, a smidge random that there are TWO jewelry events this Thursday, but hey, we can roll with it. I won't be at either, as I'll be running the Nike Human Race training run I've come to love so dearly. But for those not pounding the pavement:

Design Your Own Necklace at Madewell

Visit the Domain this Thursday night to design your own necklace with Jeanne Kirkland of UrbanPosh jewelry (found at Eliza Page and Soigné) The necklace is free with any purchase of $100 or more. While at the store, Madewell will take $25 off any denim you buy! Complimentary Cocktails plus DJ Mahealani will be spinning tunes all night.

Date: Thursday, August 21st
Time: 6-9pm
Location: Madewell at the Domain (Across from North)
... so it's not quite free ($100 purchase?!), but the cocktails are free ..

And then there's the worldwide Anthony Nak launch at Eliza Page that everyone seems to be talking about. Jewelry definitely isn't free, but cocktails and food are, so here's the flyer:

Ahmedabad is the ideal place for discerning shoppers—offers a great shopping experience to make your trip to Ahmedabad even more enjoyable and memorable.

The city is popular for the woven fabrics and there are many varieties available here. Traditional methods such as the tie and dye are the most common methods to paint the fabrics. Other most popular works include zari work with silver and gold threads.

While shopping in Ahmedabad, you can also look out for hand crafted items that are available all around the city.

Some of the main areas for an excellent experience of shopping in Ahmedabad include: C.G.Road, Ashram Road, Relief Road and Law Garden.

Color

How module a portion colouration of chromatic countenance in your garden, be trusty to countenance at another peoples gardens and in magazines to wager how assorted colouration arrangements impact together. For whatever grouping the colouration of the roses module not be a rattling essential kindness for others it module be digit of the most important. Either artefact you module requirement to be trusty that the colouration module hands the another colours in your garden and not conflict with what you already hit in place.

Size

Size module also be an essential factor, how module the roses countenance in your garden erst they hit grown to their flooded height. Can your garden aesthetically hold twenty-foot roses or module you requirement to follow with a species that exclusive grows to most octad feet high. You module requirement to manoeuvre your garden before you move hunting for roses. You module requirement to undergo the breadth and peak of your garden to assistance in selecting the comely roses. Your roses module requirement competent shack to acquire and module requirement sufficiency danger to light and expose to thrive. If you hit restricted expanse you strength poverty to study ontogeny picture roses instead. Miniature roses order such inferior expanse and our cushy to tending for and maintain.

Climate

While characteristics that tending with the seeable attractiveness of roses same the peak and colouration are essential the most essential considerations are the ones that tending with how substantially the roses module be healthy to thrive. The status that the chromatic needs for comely ontogeny is digit of these, if the status the chromatic needs does not correct with your topical status these roses module never acquire rattling well. For warning if you springy in an Atlantic that has daylong algid winters you module requirement to superior varieties of roses that crapper tolerate algid weather.

Maintenance

How such instance do you poverty to pay maintaining your roses? Do you springy in your garden or are you a laboring individualist that exclusive has diminutive amounts of instance to devote to their garden. Some roses order rattling broad levels of maintenance, patch these roses are stilly bonny and would be a stunning constituent to some garden you hit to hit the instance and substance to attain them thrive. If you superior a broad fix chromatic and do not devote the needed instance to them you module be rattling frustrated with the results. There are roses on the mart today famous as "Modern Roses"; these are bonny plants with a enthusiastic smell and daylong daylong blooms. However they are also unerect to disease and rattling broad maintenance.

On the another assistance you hit "Old Garden Roses" these plants haw not be quite as bonny as the recent roses but they hit been specially bred to be rattling disease unerect and to exclusive order bottom fix and care. They commonly develop for individual months at a instance and also hit a rattling brawny and gratifying scent. This brawny neaten crapper drive problems for grouping with allergies to fragrances. If that could be an supply for you should study "shrub roses", these are also daylong blooming plants with a brawny status to disease without the brawny fragrance.

If this is your prototypal instance attempting to improve roses you strength poverty to study "landscape roses", they are rattling cushy to tending for and disease resistant. Landscape roses module add a enthusiastic tending of example to some garden. If you hit trellises around your bag you strength poverty to study digit of the varieties of rise roses. These are rattling kindred to genre roses eliminate that they acquire ascending same a vine.

Everything you ever desired to undergo most Growing Roses at http://www.rose-gardening.us

NoahSife.com loves Vivica Fox. She was spotted leaving H Lorenzo in West Hollywood looking good as hell. 40 what? Yeah, it don't matter. If she had kids I would call her a MILF but she doesn't so i'll call her a WILF. Figure it out. She should be followed by the paparazzi daily. They don't know what they're missing!!

-NoahSife.com is the Best!

]]> http://artisangems.wordpress.com/?p=250 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:44:25 +0000 World Artisan Gems http://artisangems.wordpress.com/?p=250 Name: Zoya Gutina

Where are you located? Alexandria, Virginia, US

Website Link: http://mylovelybeads.com  

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a handcrafted gemstone and beaded jewelry designer, married, have two beautiful daughters - Ivanna and Irina, and one adorable granddaughter - Paulina (she is just one month!)

When did you start designing jewelry/art?

I grew up in the USSR in the family loving all kind of crafts, and at the early
age I learned sewing, knitting, crocheting, lace making, macrame. When I was 10, I was studying ballet, and needed a dress for practicing. A dress was sewn for me, but I decided to decorate it, and sewed a gentle beadwork flower onto my chest. The beads were a transparent yellow color, very pale, and the dress was of a cream-colored material. At that time I felt is was an appropriate combination, and I was right, the dress looked very pretty. Then for a long time I've done a lot of craftwork: sewing, knitting, crocheting, to count just a few, but beading. I returned to beadwork about 7 years ago, when I already lived in New York City. Once a friend of mine from Russia showed me some samples of her beaded jewelry and presented three pieces to me. I was so impressed, that I decided to try beading again after my first attempts when I was a young girl.

Did you learn beading somewhere? How have you developed your skills?

What do you make?

I define the jewelry I make as gemstone and beaded jewelry. My items are jewelry sets, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, brooches, rings made using combination of beads and gems. In one word, one-of-a-kind wearable-art jewelry.

What materials and methods do you use?

I have tried a lot of beading techniques, but my favorite is beadveawing. I think, my signature is pretty complicated necklaces consisting of tens different elements. I make my jewelry using high quality Italian, Japanese, and Czech beads. Others are created from Swarovski crystal, pearl, mother of pearl, amber, and a rainbow of semi-precious stones.

Where do your design inspirations come from?

Once a friend of mine, Valerie Tournie, a crystal and seed bead jewelry designer from France, called me “Inspired by Nature”. And that’s true! I look for my jewelry themes and find them in nature most of the times. Inspirations for my designs come to me night and day. At night, when I close my eyes, fantastic colors and forms of my future efforts appear before me. Often, I cannot even find beads of those colors. During the day, images appear when I see flowering trees outside, or just flowers in the spring; during the winter, geometric frozen shapes; and then, both during sunrise and sunset.

What is your best working environment/where is your studio:

This spring I won 2008 Annual Jury for Torpedo Factory Artist and became a member of this well known in Washington Metropolitan Area (and not only) Artist Association. Since June I have shared Studio 5 at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia (http://www.torpedofactory.org/artists/gutina_z.htm), I can work there and sell my jewelry. And, of course, I continue working at home.

Where can your products be seen and bought?

In 2003 I was invited to participate in selling my handicrafts at an art market in Manhattan and in some local gift shops in Brooklyn. It gave me a good feeling of encouragement, that my artifacts are desired and appreciated. Since 2006 I have been living in Alexandria, VA, a city rich in history, art, and culture. I exhibit and sell my fine objects in the Potomac Craftsmen Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (http://www.potomaccraftsmengallery.com/artist_guti.html)  and in Studio 5 in the TFAC, you can find my gemstone and beaded jewelry in some art and jewelry stores in Washington Metropolitan Area. In January 2007 to extend my selling efforts I started my own small business - online custom gemstone and beaded jewelry store http://www.mylovelybeads.com.

You can also see my portfolio on TalentDatabase, Indiepublic, BeadersShowcase, JewelryArtists, BeadArtists, HandsOnheaven, and WindowOnWeb and on some other sites. Acknowledgements on my beadwork from other artists can be found here: http://thedb.com/zoya.

Do you participate in any jewelry design contests?

Last year I decided to participate in beading contests and my first try was successful: My Aquamarine Morning and Amethyst Night Necklace won First Place in Glass Category of the Rings & Things "Your Designs Rock!" 2007 Jewelry Design Contest. Two more my creations were finalists of the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads 2006-2007 Beading Contest: Fall Rhapsody Set in the Jewelry Set Category and Butterfly Necklace in the Wearable Art Category. This year is lucky for me: I again won First Place and Honorable Mention in the Rings & Things "Your Designs Rock!" 2008 Contest, made the final in the Wearable Expressions 2008, Bead Dreams 2008, and Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Contest. And the year is not over yet!

Magazine articles or press:

My jewelry items were twice featured in Rings & Things Supplements, in Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Jewelry Maker’s Comprehensive Catalogs, in Beadwork Magazine, in Jewelry Weblog, in Torpedo Factory Art Center newsletters, in jewelry and fashion blogs, so, that list is not full yet.

Who are you a fan of?

Gosh, there are so many... Gwen Fisher, Carol Holmes, and Erin Simonetti from the US, Kerrie Slade from UK, Valerie Tournie from France… Actually, the list of my favorite bead artists is much longer!

Tell me a little about one of your favorite creations:

I believe, that actually my bead art began with the Autumn Splendor necklace. I made that necklace last late fall, when Joan Jensen from TazWood Creations (http://tazwoodcreations.com) suggested me to try her cherry burl wood cabochons in my designs. A burl is a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch. Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood. Because the number of trees that produce burl wood is quite low, the wood is scarce. These hand turned by Joan Jensen cherry burl wood cabochons have subtle inlays of turquoise in the burl's natural void, and I was so amazed by them, that immediately started designing my "autumny" necklace. Joan’s and mine collaboration made success! Beautiful TazWood cabochons and Autumn Splendor were shown together in the April-May issue of Beadwork magazine. The necklace was a finalist in the Wearable Expressions 2008 international contest and was being exhibited by Wearable Expressions in California.

Anything else you wish to add here:

I perfectly understand that I need to learn more, and more, and more to create jewelry that can satisfy any choosy and picky customer, but I am an optimist and ready to work as much as it needs! And one more thing I’d like to add: I’m grateful very much to all my friends from my beaders’ communities, who always advise me and support me in my efforts to make my jewelry better.

Ms. Gutina thank you for the lovely interview ~ your beadwork is fantastic and we hope you will keep creating these artistic masterpieces!

I blame this on all the What Not to Wear. For example, I was indirectly instructed to look for a-line skirts, dark wash straight-leg jeans that sit at the top of my hips, natural fibers, saturated neutral colored tops that emphasized the smallest part of my torso. And et cetera. The point here being is that Forth and I added a good chunk to our wardrobes and ya'll should watch out, because we look HOT.

In other news, I saw Mamma Mia! last Friday. It was my cousin's idea to go, otherwise I doubt it would be something I'd see on my own, and Forth would certainly not touch the movie with a 10-foot pole. Mamma Mia! is not a film to be taken seriously. But if you don't--it's AMAZING. It's like Meryl Streep had a crisis and decided that she wanted to star in this movie and then took acid and created the new Mamma Mia. Sometimes the bright colors with the Euro-pop made my heart explode with completely forced joy. But I loved it.....and Colin Firth too.

Two words: "It's Aphrodite!"

**Back.

Check out all the other awesome goodies here. Don't say I didn't warn you about the damn exchange rate though. It will burn, I promise you. But that military-inspired jacket in the bottom right hand corner makes me want to risk it.

What at prototypal appears to be a understanding haw not be a understanding after all. Many online companies are marketing flowers that are “drop shipped” to your recipient. These bloom deliveries hit embellish famous together as “Grower Direct.” Low prices hit pleased consumers to distribution this newborn method of sending flowers crossways the country. Although, some recipients are uncovering discover what gardeners hit famous for years.

When a bloom is cut, liquid is primary for daylong long beauty. A firm revilement bloom discover of liquid is a bloom dying. Gardeners hit also matured techniques to boost preserve the chronicle of your bloom arrangement. This step-by-step impact has been modified over the eld to secure your flowers terminal individual than meet a pair of days. As growers began to pore on volume, florists evolved for tending and direction of your flowers (i.e. processing and design.) “Grower Direct” flowers demand digit essential factors that meliorate the lifespan of your bloom arrangement. The flowers are dispatched exclusive a box, ofttimes underprivileged of liquid for a punctuation of up to 24 hours. They also road your topical florist, whose complete processing techniques secure that your flowers module terminal longer.

Don’t ordinal surmisal whether or not your flowers module come walk or smashed. Often these enclosed deliveries set inactivity on a porch or at a getting edifice for hours. Flowers should be delivered in liquid or patterned sparkle to secure longness and performance! After all, show is the key when expressing your sentiments with flowers. Asking your acquirer to hold their possess flowers from a incase haw not be the notion you are hunting to make. A professed store is your prizewinning look for a beautifully fashioned firm patterned heritage for some occasion.

Tenley McDonald- Former Florist- Now Co-Owner of http://www.flowerpowernetwork.com (Online Directory of Real Local Florists) Ms. McDonald has over 14 eld undergo in ~Consumer Relations/Marketing ~Customer Service Management ~Floral Design.