Look - A Car that you can steer!!!

We couldn't afford it, but we had to do it. Our trusty old Minivan was getting about 25 miles to a quart of steering fluid. The parts were back ordered and there was just no fixing her. DH didn't want to put any more money into it. but he also didin't want higher car payments. There just wasn't much else we could do. So, we spent the entire day buying a "new" car. It's new to us and the mileage was low. Unfortunately, the payments are twice what we were paying. We had one stinkin' payment left on the old car. Do they KNOW when to break down or what?

We could use a few prayers sent our way. It's going to be very hard to make the new payments. Something else is going to have to go. We just haven't figured out what yet. Oh, how I hate having to own a car!

Candy Corn Earrings - Win These!

Just in time for the upcomming Autumn season. Win these cute little hand beaded earrings.

These yummy little gems are glued to gold plated posts and come with gold plated backs.

Here is how you can enter. Do one, do them all, the more you enter, the greater your chances of winning.

1. Leave a comment to this post.

2. Twitter about this post. Include @forbesfarm so I see it.

3. Post a link to this post on your Facebook or other social networking page and let me know.

4. Go to either of my Etsy pages and come back here and let me know your favorite item. The Earring Boutique or Forbes Farm Gifts

I will pick a winner next Sunday, August 6th. I use random.org to pick my winners. I won't be able to send out the prize until Tuesday because of our Labor Day holiday.

Fall and Winter Colors

Here are the colors that Fire Mountain Beads say will be "in" for the coming season. I've often wondered just who sits down and decides what colors we should wear. Is is some mystical "they" people are always referring to? Is is some pannel of judges in the fashion world? Who knows. Personally, I think we should be able to decide for ourselves. There are colors in the chart above I wouldn't be caught dead in. AND - Who names the colors? The exact same color will have half a dozen names or more. I think they should stick to the names Crayola gives to their crayons myself.

There, my rant is over. Now down to business. I would like some input into what colors you really like to wear during the Fall and Winter in the Northern Hemisphere. I tend towards the browns and golds, with a splash of red for some pazazz. At least that is what is running through my brain at the moment. I may be way out in left field, so I'm asking for your input. What colors make you feel pretty when it's freezing outside or when you Snowbirds are basing in the Florida sunshine while the rest of us freeze?

Surprize! It's Halloween at Forbes Farm

When I was little Mom would make me fancy costumes out of crape paper and I even won a few contests at the fire hall. I just had to pray it didn't rain because crape paper runs! When my kids were little, we made them costumes out of what we could find around the house, or borrow from others. Great gobs of money never went into it, and still they had fun.

These days it seems Halloween is as popular as Christmas. I must admit, I don't see the attraction. Oh, I don't mind the cute stuff but I don't like the demons and spooky parts that seem to thrill others. I'll stick to cute cats and cute ghosts like Casper.

With that in mind, I set out to fulfill a request for Halloween earrings. Once I found my seldom used orange beads, I got busy yesterday and created these 4 pair. The Jack-O-Lantern and the candy corn are original designs. The cats are from a pattern I got years ago that has evolved over time and has more or less become my own. Sometimes I just don't like the way the originals turn out so I tweak them until I am happy with the look.

All 4 pair can be seen on my Etsy page. The Earring Boutique

Dichroic Glass Necklace

Going through my stash yesterday, I came across this lovely dicroic pendant I had purchased at least a year ago. I intended to wire wrap it, but after doing that with a similar piece I decided not to cover any of it's beauty this time.

As luck would have it, I also had some glass beads with much the same effect as the pendant. They almost look like they were made for each other. Truth is, I purchased them in two different cities several hundred miles apart, so I doubt the same person made them.

The black beads are rescued beads. They were headed for the land fill on a very ugly, broken, old pices of jewelry. I try to find these treasures every time I come across a garage sale or flea market. I used to find tons of it but these days flea market vendors want retail prices, so much of it stays with them.

It's another dark, dreary day here. I still have to sew the backing on the Native American style choker I'm making. It's so tedious. I also discovered I don't have everything I need to finish it, so the stitching has come to a stand-still. I really need someone to light a stick of dynamite under me or something. Just can't get my rear in gear as they say.

Hope you all have a great day. The sale offered yesterday is still good.

Here is the link to today's necklace.

Dichoric Glass Necklace

Another SALE at Forbes Farm

I am having another sale . My despiration is your gain. I need to liquidate some of my inventory ASAP so here goes....

Buy one pair of earrings and get a second of equal or lesser value for 1/2 off on my earring site.

The Earring Boutique

OR - for my blog friends only - Get 30% off anything on my general jewelry site. Offer expires 8/28/09

Forbes Farm Gifts

Just convo me at either site to let me know you want the speical prices. I will send you an adjusted invoice, so wait to pay.

Here is the sob story behind the sale. I was sort on funds to pay the existing bills this month, so of course the car broke down. DH is driving it, but the steering fluid is leaking as fast as we put it in. He had to put it in twice this morning for a 30 mile trip! Now, the Good Lord felt that wasn't enough of a test. Yesterday my tractor wouldn't start. I depend on that poor old thing to help me get the grunt work done here. I mow with it, haul with it, etc. My DH is a loving, well meaning man, but he doesn't know the 1st thing about anything with a motor. Needless to say, we need cash to pay someone who does for both vehicles.

There it is, in a nutshell. It's a whole lot easier to enjoy life when you have money! Or, maybe it would be easier to enjoy life if I just gave up trying to have money and resigned myself to the fact that I don't!

Dainty Cat Eye Bracelet

I first made this bracelet in a child's size. It turned out so pretty I just had to make one for us grown-ups to wear. Sometimes you just want to feel pretty and adding this to your wardrobe sure wouldn't hurt.

Most of yesterday was consumed with mowing the grass before the predicted rain came. The strangest thing happened. I would be interested in hearing from anyone else it might have happened to. There were rain clouds way to the North of us, but here it was sunny and there were just a few puffy white clouds over head. While I was mowing, it started raining. I kept looking for the culprit cloud, but I couldn't find any. No rainbow either. Weird. I'd like to think of it as God's way of saying "I'm still here", so don't spoil it with any weather phenomenon explanations. Just let me know if you've ever experienced it too.

Here's the link to the bracelet.

Cat Eye and Faux Pearl Bracelet