About Me
Beaded Jewelry By Susan features earrings and necklaces with unusual, vintage, and handmade beads in unique designs at affordable prices, with free domestic shipping. There are more than 300 items to choose from, in a wide range of styles: for special occasions, such as holidays, weddings, parties, or going out on the town, as well as for everyday wear, at work, on weekends, anytime.
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My Blog
From May to September
Posted on September 5, 2010 | 12:39 am
Remember the line from that old song . . . "it's a long long way, from May to September"? Well, now it's officially September, and despite blasting days of seemingly endless heat and humidity, we had to shut the windows tonight (and not because the air-conditioning is on). Yup, down to 45 F it is predicted. Of course, it will warm up again before the summer's totally over, but, hey, this is Labor Day weekend after all -- end of the park district pools, the summer camps, the festivals and...
Fiction Corner
Posted on August 31, 2010 | 5:35 pm
These hot muggy days it's sometimes a pleasure just to sit in your air-conditioned house and read a book, isn't it? The last couple of novels I read were the authors' second books, and both were very good. Jennifer Vanderbes wrote a novel a while back called Easter Island.It was one of those novels that tell two intertwined stories from different times. It was fascinating and ...
Read the Latest!
Posted on August 20, 2010 | 1:54 pm
Susan is in the news! Well, sort of. I'm featured in a very nice interview done by Emily Orpin on Handmade Spark. It's a good mix of information about personal stuff, jewelry making, and Etsy selling. Use this link to read it.Also, I just published a new article on Spark about what I ...
Butterflies Are All Around!
Posted on August 17, 2010 | 5:51 pm
It's been difficult to do much in the garden lately with the heat advisories we've had in east central Illinois. Our helpers have added mulch to the raised beds on the east side and mulched the paths. I'm not sure how they did even that without collasping with heatstroke! Some of the annuals, especially the vinca and the salvia, are bravely blooming like crazy in their...
The Mind behind the Book
Posted on July 30, 2010 | 10:58 pm
I've always been of the opinion that reading foreign literature (especially in the original, but even in a reasonable translation) was not only a cheap and safe form of world travel, but an opportunity to get a glimpse of what I like to call "national character" for want of a better phrase. I'm talking about something that is more personal, more linked to the nature of an individual -- and in this case to a nation -- than the term "culture" usually represents. So it is that the Bryson memoir of ...
An Appreciation
Posted on July 27, 2010 | 11:34 pm
A quick glance at the current news articles confirms anyone's guess that there are people in this world whose greed for money and power and special interest is making other people miserable in uncountable ways. But what about the everyday kindnesses of ordinary people to one another? That doesn't make the headlines nor, perhaps, does it change history. But maybe the overall effects afforded by those smallest acts serves as a balance to all the rest, one that has prevented civilization from...
New Article on Spark!
Posted on July 27, 2010 | 2:20 pm
Hey! My new article "What's Design Got to Do with It?" just published: http://www.handmadespark.com/blog/author/susan-campanini/
Container Plantings
Posted on July 13, 2010 | 1:07 am
I've always liked container plantings. They allow you to place sunny or shady annuals right where you want them to complement whatever is blooming in nearby beds. They are also nice along walks, next to bird baths and seating areas, and just here and there as well.Garden centers are starting to sell already made-up pots of mixed annuals, which are handy for people...
Daylilies
Posted on July 2, 2010 | 2:22 pm
After a long period of heat indexes over 100, the weather turned wonderful here in east central Illinois. We've had sunny days with gentle breezes and cool nights without thunderstorms. Yeah! So it was time again to go out in the garden take some photos.This is the peak time for daylilies to be in bloom, and they are glorious. Daylilies (Hemerocallis, from the...
Body Butter
Posted on June 18, 2010 | 8:48 pm
It's been much too hot and humid here in east central Illinois to take any more garden pictures lately. Also, Susan' blog is meant to have a range of topics, not all gardening related. So far, I've avoided controversial topics involving the takeover of our democracy by the corporate elite, the need to see the oil spill as a horrendous warning about climate change, the urgency of reform on all levels, the desperate need for balance in this unbalanced world of wealth and poverty, power and...
