Things we do in Loveland, Colorado

We left from Des Moines, IA and drove 10 hours to Colorado.

During the trip, we stopped by Mall on the Bluff in Council Bluff, IA. They have HyVee, a local grocery stores where they have a lot of ready food to go, including sandwiches, pizza, Asian food, salad... you name it. They server also was very nice, genuinely nice.
We try to eat healthier during the trip, so this store really gave a lot of option of healthier food.

We had dinner at TJ Bummer, Sterling, CO. It has a nice atmosphere, local favorite place to eat. They provide american food including burger. The food was OK.

We stayed at Fairfild Inn Loveland. I like modern decor and amenities. Best, I really like the location. It's about 1 hr from Estes Park rocky mountain park. 20 min from Fort Collins, less that an hour from Boulder. The room is pretty standard 2 queen bed. They offered continental breakfast including make yourself waffle. They also provided microwavable Jimmy Dean's cheese, bacon biscuit.

We went to the Rocky Mountain and stop by Estes Park, which is about 8000 ft elevation. The visitor center really helps points out point of interests. They pointed alluvial fan (happened because a dam failed and created flood), highest elevation paved road (pictured) and continental divide. If you watch The Shining movie, they shot at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

We drove up to the rocky mountain park and reached about 12000 ft above sea level. The view is breathtaking... but I couldn't really enjoy it because I was breathing hard.

In case you are curios, mountain sickness happens because the oxygen is very thin. I felt my heart beating faster, breath heavier to get the oxygen my body needed and felt nausea and light headed. I learned drinking a lot of water or being in a tip top condition would help.

We spent all day in the Rocky Mountain. It's truly an amazing place to be.

First stop, West Valley Inn, Des Moines, IA

In the next few weeks, I 'm going to share my travel experience from WI to CO driving with small children. We decided to go during Memorial Day weekend. We left of Friday after school and head to our first stop, Des Moines, IA.

Armed with cooler, DVD player, CD, Nintendo, snacks and juice, we head our 6 hours drive to IA. I packed dinner, Japanese Omisubi. It's easy to eat and compact. We take turns driving and eating so we can eat in the car so we won't loose our driving time.

What we needed was a hotel or motel that is close to highway, where we could have a rest and go.

We stayed at Valley West Inn with 2 queen bed. The hotel fits the bill. I'm not too crazy with green hallway with redish carpet and I think they need to replace stairs carpet

Despite of the carpet, I'm surprise to find the room is pretty spacious for 2 queen bed, the bed and pillow is very nice for sleeping.Although they don't provide free breakfast, they provided microwave and refrigerator. It was fine with us because we have some left over dinner.

I had a good rest and ready to head to Loveland, Colorado.

How to tighten jump rings

Just like cars or any items, jewelry may sometimes needs a little maintenance.

Some jewelry comes with open jump rings. There is a gap in the round ring that probably has your charm, pendant or anything connected on it. It may be fine now, but you have the risk of loosing your charm or pendant.

Here is few simple steps to help prevent it from happening. You will need two pliers. It could be either chain nose or flat nose pliers or both. I recommend smooth jaw pliers so it won't mar your jewelry. If you don't have one, you can tape the jaws or dip it in tool magic.

Open the rings by pushing it apart NOT by pulling it open.


Push both ends until it overlap.

Using a little bit force, bring both ends together.


Ring should connects as if it's one continuous circle.

If you want to take a step further, you can solder this. If not, this would be good enough for keeping your charm or pendant stays or other chain stays together.

Oobleck Recipe For A Fun Summer Activity

During Meadowbrook Science week, teachers showed children some simple science.
My daughter came home and told me about "Oobleck". Oobleck I remember was a story from Dr. Seuss, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck".

She told me the teacher made one and she got the recipe.
With my curiosity, we decided to make oolbeck. This is one great activity for summer too...

Here is the recipe:
1 1/2 to 2 cups corn starch
1 cup water
food coloring (optional)

It looks and feels liquid but if you give a pressure, it turns solid. Of course, the baby wants to play with it. Well.... I have to admit I played with it too... I think I played it when I was little, but I think it was called something different.

I recommend playing it the deck as you can hose it down when it gets messy.
Sounds like you're ready to be a scientist...

Find Bigib Gallery Ten Door County

New this year....

Gallery Ten at Door County is representing Bigib piece this year. You can find Bigib magnetic bookmarks at the gallery.

Pictures show is just a few... So do stop by Gallery Ten when you are in Door County.

Pliers you need to make or fix jewelry

Pliers... may look a like but they all are made for different purposes. If you need pliers to fix jewelry, perhaps tightening jump rings, I would suggest to start with these pliers.

Flat nose is great for folding wire to make basic loops. Chain nose is great for making wire wrap loops. This two can be used to tighten jump rings.

If you need to make loops, chain nose pliers is great. And of course for cutting, you will need cutting pliers.

Good quality pliers is essential. I got mine from jewelry store. It has lasted since I started making jewelry.

Please make sure they have smooth jaws. If they don't you could cover with a tape or tool magic solution to prevent from marring jewelry. I covered mine with tool magic solution. It may look "gunky" but it's serve the purpose.

Cube in cube...anArchitecture inpired piece

"Is that a tesseract" one of my friend commented on this piece.

Not really... It's another Architecture inspired design... cube in cube. In structural engineering, there is a "tube" system which is used in Chicago Sears/Willis Tower.

Borrowing this idea, I design this necklace. It's made from sterling silver wire, formed, soldered. The smaller cube is connected with a jump ring, which allows some movement in the pendant.

It's surely a conversation starter... Great gift idea for mathematician or architect...

What do you think?

To learn more about similar piece, please visit my Etsy store