Mercury Designs

My new friend from Norway makes beautiful purses and things. I was impressed by both her artistic vision and her craftswomanship. She is saving up for a trip to England. If you are able, please go visit her live-journal pages where you can see some of what she does. Prices are very reasonable for one of a kind articles that cannot be found anywhere else. And if you are unable to buy anything, show her some love and encouragement in her comment section.

Spread the word. http://mercury-design.livejournal.com/
Thanks,
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Disclaimer: sapphoq reviews received no monetary or other compensation for this ad/review. sapphoq reviews supports independent artists wherever they may be found.

The Best of Bead & Button Magazine: Get Started Beading, compiled by Julia Gerlach

My friend Joy who I visited in Scottsdale Arizona is a prolific beader. She makes stunning rope necklaces and more. Her projects are truly works of art, demonstrating both craftswomanship and an eye for color which cannot be taught. Inspired, I decided to learn more beading techniques and that led to the purchase of beading magazines and this book.

Get Started Beading includes a few pages explaining the tools and materials needed along with the basic stringing techniques; a gallery; and 52 projects. All are accompanied by colorful pictures. Among the projects are ones dealing with necklaces, bracelets, earrings, lariats, and cuffs. There is something in these pages sure to please everyone. Besides beading on string, the book also covers wireworking and beginning stitching.

Highly recommended.

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THE KING'S RANSOM 5/6/07

Folks planning to visit Sedona Arizona should consider staying at the King's Ransom [Quality Inn] on Highway 179. The prices to stay are reasonable, the pool is heated, the whirlpool spa is open-air but under a roof and has night lights, the grounds are beautifully landscaped. There is a K store downstreet and it is a short walk to Hillside where one can pick up the Sedona Road Runner which stops at several downtown locations. Internet access and two computers are available at the lobby [although a sign informs that access to MySpace dot com is blocked].

Over the lobby is a restaurant providing breakfast [yummy] and dinner [pricey] and a cafe providing lunch [yummy]. Art galleries for those disinclined to journey further downtown and two other restaurants are within walking distance. Marge's Draw, a trail which leads to Snoopy Rock, has a trailhead also just downstreet.

Sedona is part of an initiative to provide hooded traffic lights and NO streetlights so that way residents "can always see the stars at night." Anyone planning to stay at the King's Ransom should bring a flashlight for any night walking.

Rated: B+

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TEEVEE WEB 4/30/07

I am sitting here at the business center of a hotel in Phoenix paying for internet access when the advertisement for the hotel claim to have internet access in every room. Why is that? Because the teevee web service at $9.95 per 24 hours bites. The keyboard is wireless. If one types at a speed of more than 2 words a minute-- in the words of Tony Soprano or someone I vaguely remember from my childhood perhaps-- "Ferget about it!" The thing freezes up with regularity and suddenly a decent working computer at the business center [for 50 cents a minute after the first 10 minutes for 5 bucks] looks like a bargain. As for the internet connection, the hotel is hot to sell ya their wifi card but no internet support staff exists. They are not interested. In expensive San Francisco, the hotel there had a nifty little wire one could use to connect up via laptop. That avenue is much preferred.

The hotel otherwise is alright. Right on features include the pool and whirlpool outdoors with shedding hibiscus flowers resembling alien roses; and the free breakfast. The laundry room makes it very easy to wash clothes-- 2.50 or 3 bucks-- and to dry clothes at 2.50. Lack of a trade dollars for quarters machine hurts as did the failing to dispense laundry detergent machine experience of my first day here.

The grill is a bar with the complimentary breakfast and some cheap dinners. Food in Phoenix is affordable and there are several options for dinner. The prime rib special on Friday and Saturday nights [yummy at under 15 bucks] is an affordable option.

Left out features include internet support-- even the Holiday Inn in San Diego had that-- a concierge, and courtesy cab phone calls. The staff is mostly friendly if business-like. Lack of a real restaurant certainly hurts.

Best thing has to be the busstop right across the street which brings one to the Metrocenter. Once there, a huge mall can be found along with buses to everywhere anyone could want to goto in Phoenix. With a Medicare card, discounted busfares can be had by anyone-- a definite plus.

Would I stay at this hotel again? [Psssst: the Ramada Inn at Metrocenter.] Yeah sure. The maid service is efficient and no yellow scorpions graced my bed at night or fell out of my clothing by day.

Phoenix is a [Sonoran] desert after all.

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TRAIN FOOD 4/22/07

Amtrak has some adventures for those of us interested in getting to know our country from the [rather dirty] windows of their scenic view train routes. For those of us who have paid the exorbitant rate to upgrade to a sleeper of any variety, meals are included. For those of us who haven't, we can buy our meals at the dining room, buy off of the snack stand, or bring our own.

I was advised by a friend who also has sleep apnea that I really did need to upgrade to sleepers for my trip. Consequently, my presence was expected in the dining room for several meals so far-- two breakfasts, a lunch, and two dinners.

The best things on the menus are the iced tea with lemon, chocolate bundt cake, and cheesecake with either chocolate syrup or strawberries.
The most salty things include the quiche, the vegetarian veggies, and damn near anything else they serve ya. The safest breakfast is oatmeal or cereal with fruit. The safest dinner is one half of a chicken baked. Anything else is at your peril.

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