Mother’s Day 2013
Sunday, Love and I went up to Mom’s house to have a family lunch as a combination Mother’s Day/My birthday. My sister, her husband, my Nanny and my Aunt were all there too. Since my birthday is on a Thursday (the 16th) and we were all getting together the Sunday before my birthday for Mother’s Day anyway, just made sense to do both together.
As always, click any photo for larger!
All of Mom’s flowers on her dining table!
Nanny showing off one of her Mother’s Day cards. (Nanny is 96!)
My Aunt’s dog, Honey, is very interested in the squirrel in the tree.
Me with my birthday presents! (My sister took this shot.)
My sister’s husband, my sister and our step-dad laughing about something.
My mom showing off the Lion shirt I got her for Mother’s Day. (She’s a Leo and loves lions!)
We had a nice afternoon though complete with food and a birthday cake (it had pineapple in it – yum!)
Hard to believe that my birthday is the day after tomorrow! Holy cow.
King of the Jungle
Today was an unseasonably beautiful day with temps in the mid-70′s. (It’s normally well into the mid-80′s by now with feels-like temps into the 90′s.) And, having worked my butt off getting 8 orders made on Sunday, packed and shipped today (hopefully) in time for Mother’s Day, I rewarded myself with an afternoon romp around Busch Gardens Tampa. It was just too pretty to be indoors today!
I was fortunate enough to arrive at the lions just at feeding time so I was able to get some really excellent shots of them. Here’s two of the male lion I quite liked.
It was really quite enjoyable to just walk around the park, take in the sights, take a bunch of photos and just spend a few hours doing whatever I wanted. I often say I’m going to run out for photos and such, but in reality I just never actually do it. Today, I did. And it was great! And, I even got to pet a kangaroo. So you know, can’t hate on that.
It was just the kind of lovely day I needed and I am still smiling from my enjoyable day out.
Win a Opalite Moonstone Full Moon Tree
I’m so honored to report I’ve reached 1,000 sales in my etsy shop!! Thank you to everyone who’s supported me in reaching this milestone. It amazes me to see how far I’ve come in the year and a half since my surgery and the hardest experience of my life. Just goes to show that good things can happen even in the face of your greatest hardship.
Contest!
In thanks, I’m giving away an Opalite Rainbow Moonstone Full Moon Tree of Life pendant in your choice of wire color! This is one of my most popular pieces. It retails for $50 but one lucky winner will get it free!
Enter to win a free opalite moonstone full moon tree of life by PhoenixFire Designs!
Want a chance to win? Simply LIKE PhoenixFire Designs FB Page, comment and SHARE the contest image for a chance to win! I will pick a random winner on Friday, May 3rd. One entry per person please.
Discount Coupon Code!
Can’t wait? Want to buy something now? Save 10% this week only on ANY purchase in the shop with code 1000SALES.
Thank you for your continued support!
PhoenixFire Designs at The Wellness Center
I’m very excited to announce that a selection of PhoenixFire Designs tree of life and bird nest pendants are available for purchase at The Wellness Center in Key West Plaza in Palm Harbor!
Located in Suite 708 on the third floor.
Co-owned by a dear friend of mine, Shelly Moye, LMT & CLT, The Wellness Center offers a range of amazing health and well-being treatments including massive, facials, hydrotherapy and more. With a focus on natural treatments, my nature-inspired pieces are a perfect compliment!
The lobby/waiting area is really lovely and beautifully appointed.
You may recall I did a review of Shelly’s new studio back in September 2009 and it’s grown even more since then!
My “tree” display featuring a selection of PhoenixFire Designs tree of life pendants and bird nest pendants on display for purchase in the lobby!
The Wellness Center is beautifully appointed with a spa aesthetic and I’m delighted to feature my handmade, gemstone jewelry for purchase here. A larger selection and custom orders will of course continue to be available at my etsy shop, but this is a wonderful expansion of my “brand” and allows those in the Tampa Bay Area a chance to see pieces in person and take them home right then and there!
Handmade gemstone tree pendants and bird nest jewelry is available for immediate purchase!
You can find The Wellness Center, Shelly Moye and PhoenixFire Designs pendants here:
View Larger Map
2708 Alternate 19
Suite 708
Palm Harbor, Florida 34683
(727) 432-0644
I highly recommend the services offered AND the selection of truly unique, hand crafted and artisan retail items available for sale!
Happy Birthday Mika
Today we celebrate my tabby cat Mika’s adoption day as her birthday. Mika was adopted ten years ago and is now approximately 13 years old.
Happy Birthday to my tabby girl and wishes for many more!
Your Daily Cat
Ok, not literally daily but I do find myself taking a lot of pics of my girls. First, because they’re always around. LOL And second, because dammit, I think they’re adorable. Plus, cats are a great way to practice photography because they move a lot, they’re quick, you have to really get a good lock on them to get the sharpness you want, etc. Which all just means I have a lot of pics of my cats that I think look nice and so I post them. Hey, it’s my blog, if I want it full of cats, well then it will be like the rest of the internet! 
I love getting shots of Mika on the balcony. Always get great light out there and you can see her beautiful eyes and coloring.
The Little one, Gracie, is always harder to shoot because she just doesn’t sit still for very long!
Come on, with faces like that how can I not take pics of them? 
For those curious about that kind of thing, both shots were taken with my 60mm f/2.8 macro lens. I use it normally for my jewelry but I’ve recently found it good in other situations as well.
New at PhoenixFire Designs
Been busy behind the scenes this past week working on restocking the shop with previously sold out pieces as well as a few new ones.
I’m getting very close to my 1,000th sale milestone in my etsy shop. An amazing accomplishment given that I started it as a part-time hobby and turned it into my full-time job after my hysterectomy October 2011. I’m so excited, honored and amazed at the support I’ve received and the wonderful friends and customers I’ve made along this journey. I’m truly thankful for the ability to not only come back from my major health crisis but to be thriving and doing so well at my jewelry business as well. It’s really such a great feeling to be in control of your own future and to walk the path YOU want to take and in so many ways, though my surgery was such a massive and terrifying (not to mention painful!) experience in my life, I feel like I’ve grown so much as a person from having endured it.
Anyway, in light of trying to reach my 1,000 sale milestone, I’ve been busy trying to restock the shop. Here’s what I’ve been working on. Click any to get more details, additional photos and purchase information as well.
Apple Tree pendant with peridot and ruby red jade
Watermelon Tourmaline Tree of Life Pendant
Tundra (Tunduru) Sapphire Autumn Colors Tree of Life
Handmade Tanzanite Tree of Life Pendant
“Tree of Hope” Pink Topaz Tree of Life Pendant
Orange Red Carnelian Tree of Life Pendant
Natural Multi Opal (Moss Opal, Blue Opal) Tree of Life Pendant in Silver
Natural Green Opal Tree Jewelry Tree of Life Pendant
As always, there’s much more at the shop and custom orders are always welcome!
By the way, when I reach my 1,000th sale (I’m currently at 991 at the time of this writing!) I will be holding a contest and giving away a prize or two in thanks for helping me get this far. So keep an eye out here or on PhoenixFire Designs Facebook page for that announcement once I reach the goal! (Hopefully soon!)
Flower and Garden Festival
Saturday, Love and I spent a few hours at Epcot for the Flower and Garden Festival. I didn’t get as many pics as I wanted so we’ll have to go back, but here’s a few.
Pretty purple flower
I loved the colors and texture in this flower.
As I was taking macro flower shots, the monorail went by and I snagged this quick shot.
The butterfly garden is one of my favorite parts of the Festival.
It threatened to rain all afternoon but never did. Though it was partly cloudy most of the afternoon. The whole park is done up with flowers, topiaries and other pretty plant life. It’s always nice to check out.
A Lesson in Bureaucracy
The only thing worse then dealing with one postal service is dealing with two.
I mailed an item to a custom in Canada back on February 26th. USPS.com shows it cleared Canadian customs on March 3rd. If you go the Canada Post website, you can see it made it as far as Edmonton on March 7th. Then…nothing.
The buyer contacted me because when she called about it, they told her the shipper needed to initial an inquiry. So I called Canada Post. It was last seen in Edmonton and going to a Canada address so it seemed the logical choice. That was my first incorrect assumption.
Canada Post said they couldn’t initiate a track directly. That since the package originated in the US, the USPS needed to forward the request Canada Post start an inquiry. So I called USPS. They said that they couldn’t do a trace because the package is an “LZ” class package. (First class, or Priority Mail Envelope) That there is limited information provided on “LZ” class packages.
Next time, if I want further information, I should bypass the $8 first class postage and pay the $20-and-up Priority rate (but not Priority Envelope!) and they can look into it further at that point. Apparently $8 just isn’t enough in expense for them to give a crap. (Even though of course, all the USPS has to do is say, “Hey Canada. Can you see what happened to this package?” and have Canada actually do the all the work. USPS has to do nothing but ask and they won’t because I didn’t pay them enough.)
So, to sum: A package is somewhere in Canada. But Canada Post won’t investigate because USPS has to request the investigation. USPS won’t request the investigation because it’s “only” a First Class package. Meanwhile, I have a customer in Canada who’s been patiently waiting since February for her order and I have diddly squat to tell her. USPS says it might arrive tomorrow or in two weeks or in another month or not at all. Sorry, they don’t know and can’t ask for any further updates for me either. Pay more for postage next time.
I only wish this were an April Fool’s joke, but sadly this is the reality of dealing with not one but TWO government bureaucracies!
Steampunk
I’ve long been a fan of the Steampunk aesthetic. Gears, clockwork, copper, leather; that neo-Victorian style combined with some H.G. Wells and a bit of what if? imagination. But it’s not something I’ve ever participated in personally. Until earlier this year I kinda decided to start seeing if I could put together an outfit.
Then Saturday, March 23rd was Steampunk Invasion at the Bay Area Renaissance Festival and I wanted to finally make the outfit a reality.
My first ever attempt at putting together a steampunk outfit! (Click for larger)
How’d I do it?
Most women in steampunk wear corsets and skirts/dresses, often with a bustle or pickups. It’s a cool look but man it just looks wildly uncomfortable to me. I know it’s based on a Victorian influence (hence the skirts/dresses) BUT, why limit yourself? I decided to go for a more “liberated” look and opt for pants.
Slowly over a few months, I scrounged GoodWill, ebay and such and pieced together some items that I thought achieved the look I wanted. I found a ruffle blouse, a wool vest and some “sailor” pants with buttons all for super cheap which all worked together. I had a pair of old brown boots that would work and I got some accessories like a top hat, a pair of welding goggles from amazon and a Nerf gun to repurpose and transform.
My Nerf started off like this:
Nerf Maverick gun before modifying it to be a Steampunk ray gun.
I read a lot of info on the net about taking it apart and spray painting it but I got as far as removing two of the microscopically small screws….and couldn’t get the rest. So I just decided to hell with it, I was going to try to paint it without taking it apart. I scuffed the whole thing with sandpaper then sprayed the entire thing with several coats of an “oil rubbed bronze” color spray paint trying to get in as many nooks and crannies as I could. I figured it was only $10 Nerf so I wasn’t too worried about ruining it and wasting money. Surprisingly, the base coat looked and worked great!
I then used Rub ‘n Buff (which I actually found in my local Micheal’s) in “Antique Gold” and “Silver Leaf” with my (gloved) finger and just went to town on it. I did various layers working it until I liked how it looked. I also went back in with some gunmetal acrylic (by Martha Stewart in her “multi surface” paint) and copper which both worked surprisingly well on the plastic. I finished it with some matte Mod Podge (I didn’t have any spray sealer) to help keep it from rubbing off. Few bits of jewelry findings finished the look.
Came out like this:
My modified steampunk Nerf Maverick gun finished! It even still shoots!
I did the same thing with my welding goggles: a combination of the Antique Gold and the Silver Leaf Rub ‘n Buff took it from this:
My welding goggles before I modified them
To this…
My modified steampunk goggles painted and accented with tiny watch gears
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My completed top hat and painted steampunk goggles!
I know I need more accessories – I painted and modified my gun and my goggles on FRIDAY and went to the festival SATURDAY so for putting it together the day before, I was pretty proud – but it’s not hard if you think about modifying things rather than needing to make from scratch. And, like the pants I bought are a real, regular pair of pants (not costume-specific) but when you pair it with an outfit, they suddenly look different.
I also wore Opalite Rainbow Moonstone Full Moon Tree of Life Pendant in copper wire:
Opalite Rainbow Moonstone Full Moon Tree of Life pendant in Copper by PhoenixFire Designs
I went to the Steampunk Costume Contest (though I didn’t enter) and talked to a several of the people. They were all really friendly and very encouraging and complimentary on my new costume. So that was really nice. A few people asked to take my picture too which means I must have been doing something right AND I had several people ask me about what the theme was and what “steampunk” was so it was nice to be able to help too.
Airship Navigator Lady M armed and ready for adventure! 
I am really excited about it now and already planning on ways to expand my outfit and improve on it for next time. I was really encouraged and got good feedback and it was a lot of fun to do something different like this! I can’t wait to keep going with it and really make it even better.
In Like A Lion
…out like a meerkat. Or something like that anyway. Here’s a few animal photos I took this afternoon at Busch Gardens. As usual, click any image for larger!
Lioness on the rocks
Giraffe taking a stroll
Cheetah cat nap
Meerkat sitting pretty
It’s so much fun to be able to run to a park for an hour and get to photograph amazing subjects like this. It’s one of the best parts about living in this area for sure.
Three Years
To my dear friend…
Deeply missed
Never forgotten
Rand
July 30, 1967 – March 13, 2010
Awesome Customer Service
I have a Crock Pot. My Mom gave it to us many years back and it’s a damned useful thing to have. I don’t use it all the time but things I do tend to use it for I only make in that way. Such as a pot roast. The only way I cook pot roast is in my Crock Pot.
It’s in good shape; the crock is perfect, the stainless casing is not scratched up and of course, it works exactly as it should. The only problem is that out of nowhere, my lid handle snapped right off. The glass lid wasn’t damaged at all. And in fact, the screw that held the handle on the lid was still screwed down in the glass as well. But the plastic handle itself? Eroded away and broke into several pieces.
It’s pretty much impossible to pick the lid up without the handle and I was upset that the failure of the plastic was leaving me without a way to use my Crock Pot. I started Googling to see if you could buy a replacement handle. I found some replacement lids but they weren’t the right shape. So I emailed customer service at Crock Pot. I asked if there was anyway to order a replacement handle. I still had the glass and screw but the handle broke.
Within a day, I had a reply. Not only were they going to send me a new handle, they were sending me an entirely new lid. They shipped it out to me, free of charge. The customer service agent even apologized that they couldn’t guarantee the color. That made me laugh. You’re sending me a lid, free of charge. I’m really not too worried if the handle is black or white!
My new replacement Crock Pot lid with my old, broken one.
Today, I had errands to run and when I came home there was a notice I missed a delivery from UPS and the package was waiting for me in the apartment office. Packed in a mass of bubble wrap in a large box, was my new lid. Seven days after I contacted customer service asking about purchasing a replacement handle.
Thank you Crock Pot! Your customer support is greatly appreciated and I am really thrilled to find a company in this day and age still standing by their products and so eager to help. I would gladly have bought the new lid but the fact that you immediately sent me a replacement free of charge was so nice I wanted to commend you publicly. 
Now I think I need to make a pot roast this week to celebrate!
Where Did February Go?
Here we are and it’s already March. And I realize my intentions to actually sit down and write out a blog entry in my oh-so-neglected blog last month not only never came to pass, but I didn’t even come close. Handful of photo posts….and that’s about it. Sheesh. Just seems like I’ve been so busy with so many other things since late last year that time to actually blog on my blog has been totally lost to the “meant to do” pile indefinitely.
So here’s a smidge of a look back at “recent” events with perhaps a hint of blogging thrown in for good measure. *chuckles* I just don’t see a lot of time to sit down and write out huge entries any time soon but I promise to continue to at least share photos and such as time permits around here. I find that to be something I enjoy – and thus make time for – with much greater frequency than writing these days. Still, I’m here now so let’s see what I can tackle.
Christmas 2012 – I was SO busy with my shop over the holidays that I worked nearly non-stop for several weeks. Until I got to the point where I literally couldn’t even move my right arm, I had so overdone it. It was, by far, the absolute best month I ever had in sales and it helped fuel a lovely holiday season.
New Year’s 2013 – We decided to go crazy and face the sold-out crowds of Magic Kingdom for NYE because oh, why the heck not? We had done it once before and it was insanity but this time we got there late (like 7pm) and specifically went in knowing we wouldn’t be doing much. We had fun and it was nice to get out of the house for once. Some pics here.
January 2013 – We had a nice spell of cooler weather here for a bit in January and we wound up heading out to Animal Kingdom twice in the month to get some animal photos. I hadn’t been since I got my DSLR and being able to use that and my telephoto 55-250mm lens made for some great photos. (Pics can be seen Here, here, and here.
Earlier in the month, I also went down to the beach and got some photos which you can see here if you missed them.
Mom also was dealing with health issues in January. Her slip and fall right before New Year’s meant she spent NYE in the hospital. She also turned out to have a fracture in her right arm and from the stress of her injury coupled with her autoimmune issues, she also developed shingles on her back so she was on quarantine for a couple weeks. Poor Mom. 2013 did NOT start off on the right foot – nor the right arm! – for her.
February 2013 – February is always a busy month since Love’s Mom’s birthday is the end of January, his Dad’s birthday is the beginning of February and Love’s is the 18th. Plus, Valentine’s Day is the 14th. So we were down at his family’s two weekends for family dinners/birthday parties for his parents and then he took off two days to make a 4 day weekend for his own birthday.
Love got me a star for Valentine’s Day. He named a star for me in the Taurus constellation (I’m a Taurus) and printed and framed up the certificate and star chart and such. He also put the sweetest saying on the form too. It made me cry it was so nice.
I got him a vintage pair of Converse (his favorite style that’s long discontinued but I found new with tags on ebay after much searching) for Valentine’s Day and he got a funny Tesla tee and V for Vendetta POP! figure for his birthday as little gifts. His big gift was tickets to see his favorite hockey team, the Boston Bruins come play here in Tampa for their one-and-only game down here this season. I was able to get us some great seats. I posted a few pics here if you missed it.
The day before his birthday, I found out that Barenaked Ladies was going to be playing at Busch Gardens so we were able to take advantage of Florida discounts and for $26 for us both we picked up passes and headed out. It was a super fun show despite having super cold weather that day. (It was only a high of about 58F which is VERY cold for a high here in Tampa!) There are pics here if you missed them.
Shop – I’ve still continued to be busy with my shop. It’s been my full-time business since November 2011. I actually made about 2.5x what I did at my last part-time job (the assholes who laid me off while recovering from surgery) doing this versus that job I hated so win-win!! I list new things or relist sold out items almost constantly and I’ve been very busy on custom orders and work too.
I created and designed www.TreeofLifePendants.com to help showcase my work and give people another way to find me. I also added some items to the Custom Order page to help people see some of the various things I’ve made in the past and help give ideas for what I could make for them as well.
Here are a handful of more recent items available for purchase in my shop. Click any image to get more info.
Of course, this is just a tiny bit of the ever-changing stock for sale and of course, does not include custom pieces I’ve made lately, so please feel free to check out all the options or contact me if you want something customized. The store is my business but also my passion and I really work hard at it every single day.
Facebook – Much as I am loathe to admit it, I spend time each day on Facebook. In fact, I have several ways you can interact with me there.
My personal page is Miss M. Turner.
I also run a page for my business: PhoenixFire Designs. Please feel free to “like” it because I often show what I’m working on, pics of custom orders, and even offer FB-only discounts and coupons.
Hysterectomy – Tomorrow is 17 months since my surgery on October 5, 2011. I’m doing really great. I actually wanted to do a post last month about where I’m at in the healing timeline for my hysterectomy but I never quite got around to it. Maybe by next month when I’m at 1 1/2 years I will finally get a chance to write out a much longer and more detailed entry about what long-term prognosis and healing looks like (for me anyway.) My most read posts are still about my experiences healing and what I experienced and such so I know that is helpful information for people. I would like to give another, more detailed look at the year+ range as well. So that’s on the schedule for later this month. (Sometimes, I stand in the shower and compose entries in my head but unfortunately, rarely do they make it to the actual typing stage. This is one of those things but I really think it’s important so I am really going to try to do a comprehensive entry about it soon.)
Wrap-Up – Ok, now that I’ve been at this for like an hour and written up a massive wall-o-text, 1322 words and counting!) I think I’ll finish this up here. At least I feel like I’ve touched on a few things that have been going on these past couple months and even though it’s not the most detailed day-by-day look, it’s certainly more then just a photo entry!
If you got through this all, you deserve a cookie. I don’t have a little smilie for a cookie though, so have a wedge of cheese instead: 
(Don’t say I never gave you anything!) Thanks for reading!
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My grandmother, aunt and sister are all breast cancer survivors. Please do self-exams, get yearly mammograms and help the fight to find a cure.
National Breast Cancer Foundation
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
