Paypal Donations Problems

I was starting to wonder what was up when I realized that I had gotten virtually no donations since the beginning of July. I thought I'd better check to see if there was a problem with PayPal. It turns out that PayPal updated the donation page in July and it has some issues. First of all, I am no longer able to access the donations page at all from my ancient Windows XP computer. Thankfully, I have an Android tablet where I was able to open that page to see what was going on there. I don't have any Mac devices but I assume that the new donation page works pretty much the same on them.

Besides the access issue on Windows XP, I found another issue which I think is the main reason for the lack of donations in the past month and a half. It appears that there is no way to enter a dollar amount and at first glance I thought that the page was broken. If you try to highlight and delete the zeros that are there by default, nothing happens. After trying a few things to try and get it work, I stumbled upon the secret. You should see a flashing cursor bar to the far right of the $0.00 (see the screenshot below). If you are on a computer, simply start typing a dollar amount and it will replace the zeros. If you are using a phone or tablet, click on the $0.00 to bring up the keyboard and begin typing the amount that you want to donate.

After buying a new Android tablet last month, I noticed another issue that might be preventing people from making donations on my blog. If you are using the Chrome browser, my blog should appear correctly by default with a side bar on the right side of the page. That's where the Donate button is as well as the links to all of my free beading patterns and other useful links. In that browser, there is an option to view my blog as a "Desktop site". This makes the page fit better on the screen with slightly larger text. I have circled that option in the settings for Chrome below. Make sure that the box is checked for this mode.

However, if you are using Firefox my blog will display all wrong by default. The side bar will be missing and everything will look really bad. What you need to do is scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "View web version" (see the screenshot below where I have circled that option). By default it is set to "View mobile version".

Here is how my blog will look once you switch to web view:

 

 

Peyote & Brick Stitch Empress Earrings - Aqua & Dark Gold

PEYOTE & BRICK STITCH EMPRESS EARRINGS

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Dark Gold" (4203)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Dark Gold" (DB1833)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Opaque Turquoise Green Luster" (DB217)
• 4mm Chinese bicones "Opaque Aqua" (no longer available)

Read THIS post for more information about Bronze Pony's video tutorial for making these earrings.

Below you can see a sample of this colorway made with black thread on the left and one of today's earrings, which was made with gold thread, on the right.

Save

Peyote & Brick Stitch Empress Earrings - Pink & Pewter

PEYOTE & BRICK STITCH EMPRESS EARRINGS

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Light Pewter" (4221)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Galvanized Light Pewter" (DB1850)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Opaque Dyed Lychee" (DB2113)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Opaque Rosanine"

I blogged about this colorway once before HERE. As I mentioned in that post, I wasn't happy with the shape of those earrings so I remade them. This time instead of using black thread, I used some grayish blue thread which I think makes them look nicer.

This time I was more careful to keep my beadwork slightly relaxed which kept the sides looking straighter and neater. Here is the photo of the earrings with black thread and wonky sides from my other post for comparison:

Read my earlier post HERE for more information about THIS video tutorial by Bronze Pony.   

Save

Peyote & Brick Stitch Empress Earrings - Mistletoe & Gold

PEYOTE & BRICK STITCH EMPRESS EARRINGS

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Gold" (DB1832)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Silver Lined Matte Dyed Mistletoe" (DB2190)
• 4mm Chinese bicones "Seafoam AB" (no longer available)

Back in May, I blogged HERE about a sample earring in a similar colorway. For this pair, I used different bicones and a different color of Delica beads. I actually made this colorway twice. The first time I used black thread but later decided that I should have used gold thread with these gold beads. I went ahead and took photos of both pairs so that you can see them side-by-side. The earrings made with gold thread have a cleaner appearance and the difference is more obvious in real life. The pair above was made with gold thread and below you can see the pair with black thread.

In the photo below, the earrings with gold thread are on the left and the ones with black thread are on the right:

 

Watch THIS video by Bronze Pony to learn how to make these earrings.
 

SaveSave

Peyote & Brick Stitch Empress Earrings - White & Gold

PEYOTE & BRICK STITCH EMPRESS EARRINGS

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Gold" (DB1832)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Opaque White Luster" (DB201)
• 4mm Chinese bicones "White AB"

I made several pairs of these Empress earrings in different colorways recently and I accidentally took photos of this pair again yesterday along with the others. Oops! I was able to edit the photos better this time and that the colors look closer reality so I decided to post them today anyway. Click HERE to see my original post and photos.

Read THIS post for more information about THIS video tutorial by Bronze Pony.

Save

Peyote & Brick Stitch Empress Earrings - Pink & Pewter

PEYOTE & BRICK STITCH EMPRESS EARRINGS

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Light Pewter" (4221)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Galvanized Light Pewter" (DB1850)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Opaque Dyed Lychee" (DB2113)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Opaque Rosanine"

Read my earlier post HERE for more information about THIS video tutorial by Bronze Pony. I may remake these earrings because I'm not happy with the shape of them. For some reason there is a curve along the top right side of both earrings. I didn't have this issue with the earrings that I posted yesterday which makes me wonder if the pewter Delicas had something to do with it. That doesn't seem likely but it's very odd that both earrings have one side that is curved and the other three sides are nice and straight.

I bought these Czech bicones from THIS eBay shop a few years ago. You'll find this color HERE.

The two samples below are colorways that I have decided not to use. I plan to make a couple of similar colorways when I have a chance.

• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Nickel Plated" (DB21)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Matte Opaque Blue Grey" (DB792)
• 4mm druks "Baby Blue Luster"

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Metallic Light Bronze" (DB22L)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Dyed Opaque Eucalyptus" (DB2131)
• 4mm Chinese bicones "Aqua AB" (no longer available)

Save

Peyote & Brick Stitch Empress Earrings - White & Gold

PEYOTE & BRICK STITCH EMPRESS EARRINGS

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Gold" (DB1832)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Opaque White Luster" (DB201)
• 4mm Chinese bicones "White AB"

Read my previous post HERE for more information about THIS video tutorial by Bronze Pony. Although I did flatten these earrings under some heavy books, I haven't yet brushed nail polish on the back. That's why they look a bit wavy.

• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Dark Gold" (4203)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Dark Gold" (DB1833)
• 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Opaque Eggshell Luster" (DB203)

The sample above is a slightly different colorway and I made it without the center bicone. I also left off the brick stitch on the ends. I have decided not to make a pair of these but I thought you might like to see it.

SaveSave