Friday, November 30, 2007

Hibiscus Ornament



Clay is cool!!! No special equipment required. Just your hands and your imagination. I still haven't decided what to use as far as color goes but I'm going to start experimenting tomorrow. More polymer ornaments to come.
I have to say that in the aftermath of the monster. I think my niece will make a fine recovery. The adults, however, may suffer for the rest of their lives. Sometimes we forget how resilient children are and that, for the most part, they tend to just want to move ahead. She will need counseling and lots of understanding but she is a bright and precocious girl and I'm pretty sure that because of how young she is she will make a full recovery. To my sister who is dealing with it.....WE ARE THERE FOR YOU!!!!
Art is a wonderful stress reliever (wine too, but not necessarily for the better). Art is my preferred. I'm loving the glass too these days, and have a hard time not jumping from one to the other. I do sometimes consider that maybe, I should go and get help to focus (could I be a victim of ADD?) but for the most part I think that with 4 kids (3, kinda since the oldest is almost 19) my attention gets spread pretty thin so jumping around feels "normal". Next year, when my youngest starts school, I will get to see if I can actually get to focus for more than an hour at a time. Until then I'll take what I can get and go with the flow.
All my boys are home this weekend and I'm happy about that!!! I haven't heard from my ex on taking my other 2 (boys) out and if I don't hear from him I don't go (too many let downs in the past) . They are happy to be home too, because the forecast is calling for snow, (I won't believe it until I see it) and we have some nice hills for sledding.
Hope you're having a relaxing Friday. Take care!!!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Brrrrrrr!! Snow Talk??

Seems a little early but they are talking snow already. The kids are hoping. If it does they are saying it will be Saturday, at least I won't have to go out.

I made a really cool ornament today out of polymer clay. I just haven't decided how I'm going to color it since it's made out of white clay.

We'll probably start decorating this weekend. Saturday is the 1st and I have a thing about waiting until December to put up decorations. The kids can hardly wait!!

I'm off to bed. I hope you all had a good day. Yeah, for TGIF tomorrow!!!

Sweet Dreams zzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Monsters Are Alive & Well




More about the Monster at the end of this post.....


My son Dakota, is an artist in his own right. The picture here is his Pipe Cleaner Band. Including both a piano, drums and 3 electric guitars. These are all his ideas & creations. I was floored when I saw the piano and drums plus the little guys playing them. He's been asking me to teach him to lampworking. Maybe this Spring, when I'm sure his grades are going to hold out for the rest of the year.

The Christmas rush is on. I'm already looking forward to December 26th. It's like the tension builds until Christmas and then we all explode in relief/happiness when it's over for another year.

I'm now thoroughly engrossed in a mix of wire, glass and polymer clay. I don't have any particular favorites at the moment. They are all equally FUN!! I'm really thinking about trying my hand at tutorials but have been so wrapped up with the creative part that they are on the backburner for now. My inspiration is Eni Oken and another artist on Etsy, I can't recall her name but she's fabulous too.

Unfortunately the Monster he was a member of our family (by marriage). A sick individual who has changed a child's life forever and we are hoping will suffer the worse consequence possible. In this day though they are usually put back on the street within a matter of years, months, sometimes even weeks and told to "register". My opinion is that they can NEVER be rehabilitated and should be put to death immediately after conviction. It would save the taxpayers and future victims so much money, time, trouble & pain............moving on now......

Saturday, November 24, 2007

We Spent Thanksgiving Doing......




Home repair. It started with a leak under the kitchen sink and ended up being, that leak, plus one under the house....arrrrrrgh!! Since then I have been without cold water in the kitchen. All of the hardware stores were closed on Thanksgiving and Jimmy had to work yesterday and today too. So we won't be able to complete the repairs until tonight/tomorrow. The biggest issue is that we are in an older mobile home and all the pipes are different from regular houses which makes tracking down the right size a little tougher.

I also got hooked on an older Zelda game (Windwalker). I really don't spend much time playing video games (I'm sure I mentioned that before). It can, literally, eat up hours/days/weeks of time and I really don't need to be doing that right now.

It has been freezing here too which keeps the beasties/kids in doors which can be a little distracting.

The elephant picture at the top is of some polymer beads I made several years ago. I'm still itching to dig into the clay and have lots to work with. The other two glass items are my most recent glass work.

I'm really trying hard to post regularly so check back when you can for updates.

Hope your having a great "leftover" Saturday!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I Had To Use........



another browser to upload my pictures. I don't know what's up with windows these days but I have had more problems with it lately than ever before.

Anyway here's the pics for ya!! I have to run.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Eve!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Is Your Turkey Thawing??

Mine is but I think I'm still going to have to get up at 4AM Thursday to get it in the oven. I was looking for a small turkey but was totally out of luck. Tomorrow I'm heading out to track down a spiral ham. Costco has yummy ones for a decent price but I think just about everyone has them on sale right now.

I'm trying to upload pictures for ya but now Blogger seems to be having some issues. I have two rings to show you and a dragon egg bracelet. All are up for auction on my Art Ebay if you can't wait to see them. I have been having a ball with the copper & have a wonderful assortment of pearls and various other stones that I've collected over the last few months.

I'm really in the mood to do a lot of creating lately but the Holidays are not cooperating, as in things are getting busier (go figure ;). I know if will slow a little at the tail end of the year but I'm really looking forward to Christmas for the kids. We got one of the gaming systems that I have been wanting right along with the kids (bet you can't/can guess which one it is). I'm not going to say on my site, just in case little eyes are looking. I'll fill you in the day after Christmas. On that note I spend very little time playing video games, they fill me with guilt because they are such a "time waster" and it's not like I don't have enough to do already....BUT boy are they FUN!!!

I'm meeting a friend for coffee in the morning and then finishing up Thanksgiving shopping so I'll try again to post pictures tomorrow.

Enjoy your evening!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

It's So Quiet...

When the other kids are gone. Are you making your last minute prep's for Thanksgiving??

I haven't gotten the pictures of that ring yet but I do have another one almost done so I should have pictures of 2 on Monday. Tomorrow is the bead show with my Mom. It'll be fun!! We always have a good time together........Speaking of my Mom, my hair is almost halfway back. It's been a year since the big head shave and I thought I wouldn't consider doing it again but now that I'm at this point of regrowth I would consider it again for a good cause (like my Mom). You probably want to see a picture so I'll get one up when I can, in a pair of my groovy granny glasses (have I mentioned that I collect grannies, glasses that is).

I got a little lampworking done today & I think I have a new bead. It's along the tassle line of thinking. We'll see what comes out of the kiln tomorrow.

Time to go catch up on my DVR's of The Practice. Enjoy your Saturday!!

Friday, November 16, 2007

It's Friday!!!



Do you ever get tired of hearing about how I've been working on cleaning/clearing my house? I was going to start this post off with that but decided I'll save it for another time.....maybe with pictures.


This morning I was going to put in a session at the torch, but the more I thought about how much time I have before I need to run off to the school, I decided that it was best if I wait and maybe save it for tomorrow. Jim is taking Duncan to school today for Dad's & Donuts. A neat little thing the school has for spending a little time with their Dad (Father figure). They also do Mom's & Muffins later in the year. Pretty cool!


Speaking of Dads. The boys are off to their Dads again this weekend. I would say this is a good thing however if the past is an indication of things to come........well, lets just say that if I go into a tirade over my ex I'll be sitting here for awhile venting, so I'll just let it go for now. At least the boys are having fun for the moment.


I just finished another ring. This one is totally different from what I've been doing & follows in the footsteps of Eni again. I love her creative side!! I should have pictures of it tomorrow or Sunday. I'm starting another one this morning since lampworking is not going to happen.


Sunday is the bead show with my Mom & I'm really on the look out for some cool stones! Those are always fun!


Time to get on with my day! Enjoy your Friday!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I Taught A Class!!




If you consider one person a class. It was fun & I have a few things I need to work on but I don't think it went too badly.

There's a picture of my latest ring at the top of this post. SOLD (Thanks Debbie!), and I've really been into making these fantasy lilies and my little aromatherapy flowers. There are more rings to come soon.

One week until Thanksgiving. Are you ready for Turkey (or Ham)?? I love turkey & stuffing. We'll be staying home this year since Jimmy has to work. The kids really enjoy all the food & zoning all day.

The weather is cool & windy today. Doesn't look like rain, just overcast. Stay toasty today!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Good Morning!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We didn't get an extra day to sleep in but it was worth the appointment for my oldest son for his side ache. We ended up going down to Children's Hospital in Seattle. Wow, what a great place!! I was very impressed with the nurse practioner that saw him. She asked a lot of questions I'm pretty sure that we have the cause narrowed down and a lot of fiber and some extra therapy should take care of things but it's going to take a few months to get things back to normal.

I've finished one of the rings. I really like this one. It has a big heart shaped rose quartz with just a touch of beading. I should have some pictures tomorrow. I was going to put charms on it but changed my mind because I thought it would take away from the shape of the stone. I'm also in the middle of something different as far as rings go. I was inspired by Eni again and this one has a fushia turquoise stone in it. It's not quite done but should be finished tonight.

I'll be heading off to a gem show this weekend with my Mom. I love looking at and being inspired by all the goodies they have!

Today is a listing day for me and maybe I'll get the kiln going later.

Enjoy your Tuesday!!

Friday, November 09, 2007

New Vacuum




I haven't had a new vacuum in years. It's a bag less that you only need to replace the filter once a year, which will mean I'll probably need to replace it at least 3 times a year with all the kid/pet traffic. I used it for the first time yesterday and it really is nice. It definitely has more sucking power than anything else I've ever owned and a couple of the filters are rinsable, that's why they don't need to be replaced as often. It's called a Eureka EZ Kleen.


So I spent most of yesterday picking up and was only able to work on a couple of rings last night. I'm really looking forward to the weekend. We had a lot of school functions this week.


On the tea front Starbucks has their holiday tea out. It's called Joy and if you're really into good tea, I highly recommend it. It's one of my favorites & they only sell it for a limited time around the holidays. Stock up while you can.

A few more glass items above. I'm going to wire wrap the mushroom girl. Should be interesting.

TGIF

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Rush, Rush






Sorry about the rushed post the other day. I didn't realize how close it was for us to leave for the concert, which was great, btw.


I spent almost all of yesterday posting things to all but a new Etsy. I haven't gotten a link for it up yet either. This Etsy will be called YourCreativeSide and will have all of the art & craft items I've accumulated over the years & have finally decided to get rid of. Lots of books, patterns, fabric & the like.


In the meantime I'll post a few pictures of what is currently up. Today will be a pick up the house day & possibly some lampworking. I also have several larger size (8-10) rings in the works by special request. Sorry, to those who are waiting. The time factor on rings and various jewelry varies.


Last week was slow but this one is proving to be much faster.....is it Thursday already??

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

First Big Concert!!



I actually have a couple of pictures for you tonight. They're most'ly of Halloween but I'm going to throw in a couple of up coming auctions too. But it could also be Etsy or Just Beads....I'm working on that......just haven't made up my mind yet. seee pictures.....
Mostly of the little gouls.....I have to run to the concert.....more tomorrow....
Take care!!

Friday, November 02, 2007

Happy After Halloween!!!

Halloween was a raging success!!! The kids got lots of goodies & the grown-ups got good conversation. Now Christmas is hot on the trail (EEEEEEKKKKKK!!!) I think that's scarrier than Halloween......

Two of my boys are gone for the weekend. With their Dad that they haven't seen in months....GRRRRRRRR......that's a whole other story. I just hope they have a good time while they're gone.

I have pictures to show you in my camera but they'll have to wait till tomorrow. My little guy is waiting for me to "sit" with him so he can touch my warm velour sweater. What can I say the little guy likes soft fuzzy things.

I'll chat at ya tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your evening.