Heavy Heart

I have such a rough couple of days and it seems like today just took the emotional dial down to empty.
For 4 weeks I have watched a litter of feral kittens and their mama cat at my husband's office. The mother was very thin and mal nourished but seemed to be sweet and attentive. People had taken to feeding her but she never seemed to gain any weight. Well we thought the culprit was a slew of feral cats (the colony is about 50 large) stealing her rations. But there was another thief, raccoons, they came in the same way the cats were getting in.

Yesterday I went to check on the family and the mother cat was no where to be seen, I could hear her babies crying their eyes out and for about 25 minutes I waited and nothing. I had to be in the office for a couple hours and when I returned 4 raccoons came out from the place where the cat family had been. Still no sign of the mommy cat and the babies were crying louder than ever! I was then scared for them and not thinking about anything I took them home last night, they were hungry and my fear was that the raccoons had attacked the mother and worse killed her.

This morning I went back with the kittens and waited for another 20-30 mins and even in daylight the cry of her kittens did not bring her out if she was hiding. I had to make the tough decision on what I was going to do. I had called every rescue person I could think of and none of them could or would take them knowing they had been exposed to raccoons. I went to animal control where they told me that the 3 females had lung infections and that since the mother could not be found to test for rabies the babies would have to be put down. I offered to take them back home and nurse them with kitten formula but they would not let me since it posed a health risk.

It is just hard to have to do something that seems so senseless and heartless but I surrendered them and left with a heavy heart. I was told that if I could find the mother cat and bring her in dead or alive they would wait for a rabies test to come back before putting the kittens down but I had to find her today and when I went back she was no where and there were dozens of raccoon tracks on the ground.

I know that they were happy for but a brief time with me and my Son and that even though it has ended so tragically I have to trust that it was for a reason- they may have been sick and made a person or child ill. I just hope that whatever they felt it wasn't pain and fear but love and peace. Here is a picture of the little furbabies that I got to love for a little while

Top 10 Challenge Prizes!

So as many of you know the Divas and I are participating in a challege for the best Etsy Street Team! We are asking all of our fans, friends and family and anyone else who would love to enter to win some great prizes to come out and show the Divas your love and support!

I will personally be offering 3 prizes to 3 of my lucky fans who click on the voting poll in my side bar and vote for the beads (not just mine but the whole teams!!) and then clicks the like button for facebook or tweets or adds the poll to their own social media page! Simply leave me a comment on SunDoorBeads Fan Page HERE If you do not "like" me yet on Facebook do that first then you can leave a comment to be included in the random drawing.

The prizes I will be offering will be handmade sterling silver earrings using my silver glass pebbles (1st & 2nd prize) and my frit pebbles (3rd prize). Here is a sampling of the beads that I will be using to make the earrings. They are not the ones listed on the list but are ones I thought my fans would enjoy having jewelry made out of!!

Thank you all again for your support and love for me and the Divas!!!

GO TEAM DIVAS!

So the Divas and I are in a really cool "race" this time competing for the spot of Handmadeology Top 10 Etsy Team Challenge!

The Fire Divas are off and running! For the next two weeks the members of the Divas will be in a sort of Handmade Marathon. We are competing in Handmadeology's Handmade Top 10 Etsy Team Challenge. The prize for the team with the most points in the judging categories will win $450.00 worth of marketing advertising! We love a good race and competition and showing all of our fans what the Divas are made of!

Starting today, we will be adding our creative works of glass art to our official "Fire Divas Team" Handmade Top 10 List HERE. We will continue to add listings every day until the end of the challenge period. So you the fans will serve as the Divas Cheerleaders! Your mission: vote, vote, vote! And in appreciation for your time and support, there will be special prizes awarded at the end of the two weeks to FIVE (5) of our lucky fans!!!! You can be entered in a random drawing for one of these prizes by:

1) Leaving one comment entry after this post for each day that you've voted for our team listings (only ONE comment PER day for voting, no matter how many times you've voted during that day), and

2) Leaving a separate comment for doing any of these functions to help spread the word: putting the Fire Divas Team List link (http://handmadetop10.com/#/Lists/66ofcjn94) on your blog, Facebook, fan page, Twitter, or website. Please make sure to include the link to your site to show where you helped promote our list in with your comment. For doing any of these things, you need to enter them as separate comments (and thus, increase your chances of winning!). But please only post ONE comment PER function, even if, for example, you've posted to your Facebook page several times during the competition.

You can vote as often as you like and even multiple times for the same items on the same day (using the "next" button to scroll through all our listings), and we hope you think all our entries are "10s"?! *Ü* And the more you vote and post about us through social media sites, the more chances you'll get to win some super prizes from the Fire Divas! Simply click on the orange title bar below to start voting.

This is the time to get out your Pom-Poms and show the Divas how much love you have for our awesome team of glass girls!!!!

Fantasy Shopping From Kathleen

I just love the Fantasy Shopping that our Diva Kathleen does. Here eye for style and detail is second to none!!! Here is the link to this great collection of beads she chose featuring the Diva's great glass work!
Fire Divas Fantasy Shopping!
While you are on the Divas Blog don't for get to vote for the monthly challenge "Fairy Tales" pick your favorite glass fairy tale rendition!!!

Bead Of The Day!

Hey everyone my bead Zoria made Bead of The Day over on the Fire Divas Blog

So through the weekend enjoy 10% off this great bead over on My Etsy

Here is a little eye candy to drool over :)

As Promised! Fairy Tale Challenge From The Fire Divas!

Here as promised is the much flashier version of our wonderful challenge posted on the Fire Divas Blog. Stop by the Fire Divas Blog and vote for your favorite glass goodie.


It's time for another fabulous Monthly Challenge from the Fire Divas! (Last month was dedicated to raising money and donations to the Beads of Courage program that strives to put a smile on the face of very little girl and boy undergoing cancer.) The theme of this month's June challenge will be "Fairy Tales!" Below are entries from the Divas and, as I'm sure you can tell, it's going to one tough pick.

Because we so greatly value our loyal fans and customers, we would love for YOU to choose your favorite piece by voting in our special poll. After you're done voting, make sure to leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a great prize from one of the Fire Divas! 

*** The poll closes on Monday, June 20th, and the winning bead and blog comment post will be announced that following Tuesday. ***

You can click on any of these photos to see a larger, detailed view of these beautiful pieces. The voting poll is located at the upper right corner of our blog page and you're more than welcome to help us spread the word about this fun event!

Fairy Tale Challenge From The Divas!

I love the challenges that the Fire Divas do! For those of you just joining my blog or don't know I am a member of an awesome group of glass girls that call themselves the Fire Divas. We have a lot of fun promoting the art of glass and each other. So this month we have a new challenge that I am a part of! The challenge theme is "Fairy Tales" so come on over and check out the amazing work that myself and other Divas have submitted. Vote for your favorite piece and also make sure to leave a comment! There will be a winner chosen at random from the comment list to win a fabulous prize! Come on over and vote now!!!
Here is the link to the blog entry and I am working on getting the code so I can show you guys some REAL eye candy!
Fairy Tale Fire Divas Challenge