I've been meaning to do this for some time....and I am finally getting around to listing all the data here for some books I want to sell off. These are jewelry-making books.

All for of these books will fit in one flat-rate box for USPS. If you buy all four books and the three magazines, I'll pay shipping.

If you're new(er) to reading my blog, check other posts under the Destash tag and you can pick up some beads to use with these books.

Terms: I prefer PayPal (it's so fast!) but will accept Money Orders as well. Items will be shipped when money is received (or MO cleared). Shipping costs will be as accurate as I can get them and errors will be my problem. I'll probably use USPS Priority flat-rate boxesas much as I can stuff in one box for $8.95, so buy as much as you want. Please! *smile* Please query for international shipping. Contact me by email tinker at galacticlore dot com or leave a comment.

	Title: 100 Beaded Jewelry Designs: Easy-to-Bead Necklaces, Bracelets, Brooches, and More (Paperback) Amazon price: 14.93 Will sell for: 11.50 + Shipping
	Title: Complete Beading: Jewelry & Accessories (Spiral-bound) Amazon price: 18.96 Will sell for: 14.50 + Shipping
	Title: Stringing Style: 50+ Fresh Bead Designs for Jewelry (Paperback) Amazon price: 11.53 Will sell for: 9.50
	Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beading, Illustrated (The Complete Idiot's Guide) (Paperback) Amazon price: 12.89 Will sell for: 9.50 + Shipping

I also have three magazines: BeadStyle Jan 2006, Beadwork Dec2005/Jan2006, Beading Basics: Color (this is a special issue from Bead&Button and BeadStyle magazines). They sold for $5.95, $5.99, and $6.95. I'll sell all three for $8 + shipping or each for 1/2 off + shipping.

I just found a....eh, pamphlet? No, it's more like a pattern booklet (19 pgs with cardstock cover), called "Great Beading Projects from Beginner to Advanced!" It's by Dawn Marvin and Deb Bergs and has "Simply Beading" across the top. I count 21 projects detailed inside. The outside covers show these projects in color. The inside covers show them in black-and-white and point to the page for the instructions. I'll toss this in free to the person who takes it all!

I found a really nifty store yesterday, over in Beaufort. It's mostly a scrapbooker's paradise (not my thing), but there's some beading supplies and a small selection of beads. I say small because I've been to Beads Galore in Tempe, Arizona. Still, this store was neat.

Nick acquired a turtle stamp (it's one of his favorite creatures and an off-and-on nickname for him) and an ink pad (in purple, of course!). Randy found some neat paper-distressing inks. Those will be great for the maps and other artifacts he creates for our roleplaying sessions---he's really good at that! He also got several sheets of vellum, probably for a similar purpose. Very cool.

Meanwhile, I found a nice selection of millifiori beads, plus some stunning colors of Swarovski crystals. I also found some inexpensive files---that will help clean up the ends of wires (and I might find them useful for cleaning up mini-figs as well). I picked up some copper-core silver wire for making some stitch markers with. Silver is so variable in price and I'm trying to keep the costs down, so I can keep my stitch marker sets at a reasonable price.

Randy treated me to a Beadsmith beading trap with a lap-pillow bottom. The tray comes off the bottom and can lay on my desk---which it did all night last night, while I played with beads.

I've sorted out beads into sets and just need to wire them up to complete them. I plan to get one of each style made and up on Etsy, then I can make the rest as I need them. The hardest part of listing each set is getting a good photo of them. I'm just not talented at all in that department.

I'll try to post some photos here as I get new sets made. I usually make them in sets of 5+1: five regular markers with one row marker. I can always make custom sets in any quantity desired. I'm also hoping to get some individual row markers up on Etsy as well. I've talked to Nick about learning to make the markers with me and earning a cut of the income---risky, if nothing sells, but potentially lucrative if my markers are popular. *grin*

After the stop at Carolina Stamper (on 203 Carteret Street in Beaufort, for those readers who might be within driving distance), we headed up to Tanger 2 outlets to hit "Le Gourmet Chef", for a tea-ball. I got one of the last two they had! It's made by Tovolo. We walked in for a $10.00 (wow, I didn't realize it was that pricey!) teaball and walked out with quite a bit more....and then returned with a 20% off coupon for a Cuisinart coffee maker!

After the first trip to "Le Gourmet Chef", we hit Harry and David. Randy got some sauce that can be combined with cream cheese to make a great dip. I went straight for the chocolate truffles, of course. *grin*

Then, a quick dinner at the Cornerstone Grill and onto the island to Barnes and Noble. I managed to get the July 2007 issues of Simply Knitting and three of the books that were on my wish lists.

Once we got home, I spent the remainder of my evening creating sets of markers---like I said before, they're bagged into sets, I just need actually make them now. Which is what I'm off to do....unless I get distracted with the socks I'm knitting with No Remorse!

Christmas I can't seem to get into the mood for the holidays. When did "getting into the mood" become such a chore? Randy helped a little tonight when I asked for a "pre-approved spending limit". As long as I keep my spending under that amount (and all together on that one card), I can have a blast. The hard part now is this: what do I buy for the most amazing man ever, who has a pathetic-looking wish-list? I want to come up with something that he wouldn't think of buying himself. We've decided to wait on the brewing set until after we return to Arizona because of the 3 glass carboys in the system. We've wanted to set him up to brew for 15+ years; we can wait a while longer.

Jewelry I added a new topic category tonight (can't believe I didn't do it sooner!) because I finally have a decent photo of a piece of jewelry I made!

This was for my Secret Santa in my local SnB group. She's away on her honeymoon, so she hasn't seen it yet! (And I don't think she knows about this blog either.)

Writing I have been listening to a lot of Disturbed lately. I love the lyrics and the sounds of this group. There's something... I don't know if "primal" is the word I want or if it's what it makes me feel/think. Everytime I listen to the Ten Thousand Fists album, my mind starts thinking on this werewolf novel I want to write. I really need to find the wireless headphones that Randy said I could borrow from him because when I write, I really rock out and living in a townhouse in "conservative central" is not the place to rock out without headphones.

I'm still mulling over this werewolf idea. It's not quite a full concept yet. I feel like I have a background/backdrop for the story to be told against, I feel like I have a cultural setting for the werewolves to come from and I think I have a main character and some of her back-story laid out. Now what I need is the thread of the story to weave into this tapestry. As Dr. Cook used to say in class, "What is the blip on the lifeline?" I don't know yet. I think it has to do with her origins, but what?

As for the mechanics of writing... I'm trying not to be a superstitious twit, but I feel like something in Arizona clicked my muse and my talent together and made the writing happen. Yes, I still had to put the time in at the keyboard. Yes, I still had to read, re-read, edit, re-write and so forth. But that initial thrust had within it a life of its own; even in the rough stages, it breathed. So, I'm trying not to fall for this concept and believe in myself that all that happened in Arizona was that I believed in my writing enough to create.

Is it coincidence that I've not written anything that has had that same life to it since Arizona? Or is it since I didn't get accepted to Clarion West 2005? Did that shake my faith more than I've had a chance to accept?

See, the timeline went like this:

As this table might show, I wasn't very focused on my writing after Clarion West passed me over. To be clear: I'm not "bitter". I really don't think I am. I just question my faith in my talent/skill and the industry. I had been taking some writing classes at ASU with Dr. Cook. He really shook up my preconceptions about authors and publishers, about the market and the money. I can pour my blood, sweat and tears into the best novel. I can send it out to the publishers who work in the genre.

While I don't mind competition, I do mind having to compete against the crap some established authors are putting out because they (and their publishers) know anything with their name on it will sell. My novel has to fight through a smaller market these days, past internist slush readers who probably haven't read the genre very widely or deeply. If I'm lucky/talented enough to get accepted, I'll see maybe $5,000 on that novel. It will take 18 months to go from acceptance to stores. Very few authors hit that magical juxtaposition of planets/fates to be a "J K Rowling" or "Stephen King". So, realistically, if my first novel does reasonably well, I might be able to sell books 2 and 3 for the same price.

Do I think my work could stand against what is being sold in bookstores right now? My answer is a resounding yes. Do I have a chance to get seen by the right publisher? Do I want to work that hard? Is it really "that hard"? I just don't know.

Now, present-day, I think I'm finally starting to turn my creative wheels again. I've not been thinking so much about "will I get published"; I've been zoning out thinking about "what's her story?"

Has my faith returned? That's where the whole "superstition" of this thing comes into play. If I can sit down and hit that zone where magic happens, then I'd say yes. If not, then I'm more likely to exhibit some superstition and say, "It'll come back when I get back to Arizona." And that, my friends, will not be a pleasant discovery.

I don't know about other bloggers, since I'm kinda new to the blogsphere, but I sometimes work things out as I type them out. This rambly post has solidified my resolve to keep trying to crank that engine. I'll check the spark plugs, oil the gears, whatever I've gotta do to sit down in my chair and transport myself to the Federalax (my sci-fi universe) or my urban fantasy Earth.

Whew. I'm ready for a knitting break after that navel-lint analysis!