Worst GABE Pawticipant EVER!

So, I'm finally done with the piece I gave away during GABE!... A YEAR AGO! Holy Carp Batman! I bet I'm banned this year!

I've been a bundle of excuses in finishing this piece... but it's been a traumatic year OK? I guess I shouldn't have done such an elaborate piece but... I had NO IDEA it would take this long!

I wanted to offer something different on this site and I was honestly thinking I would add these custom photo pieces to my fused glass line. But let's just take a look at what took me so long:

• The first one isn't all my fault...my winner took a few months to get me a photo.
• By May, my computer had died! My old laptop did not have enough memory to deal with the big files I had. 
• By the time I could afford a new big beastie, I was getting ready for a bead show and my kiln couldn't spare the 15 hours it would take to make this piece. 
• I got the photos sized and was all ready to print them on the decal paper...when another nightmare started. I was told to look for a type of printer...I called every print shop in town. I searched high and low every spare moment for weeks! I finally gave up and called the manufacturer. They told me it was a DESKTOP PRINTER!!! OMD! 
• It took me another month to find someone with the right  printer. I got them printed and fused onto the glass lickety split.
• I wrote the winner just before Christmas to ask her favorite color and verify her address. I fused the photo piece to a blue background... We're moving NOW! 
• And since Christmas, I've spent every spare minute looking for my bails! I've cleaned out the shop, all my jewelry tools, my teaching supplies... the bails were nowhere. 
• And I got a job... Another five weeks gone.
• My job ended and I was teaching fusing... I HAD TO HAVE BAILS! I searched and searched and realized all my files from fusing were gone. I think they were all stolen. Another $126 bucks to replace the bails and more for the files just in time for class. But...the happy accident part of this: I got some sterling PUPPY PAW bails! (Forgot to take a pic of the back! But I found one on Amazon... see ad below!)

Anyway, my little package is finally leaving for the Philippines tomorrow....Barring that I don't have a massive envelope disaster or tape shortage or lose my way to the post office! Geez...what a loser!