Surprises Coming......No

Not this week but next week. Things behind the scenes seem to be coming together :) I've been working with a lot of clay and am feeling the need to get back behind the torch as I adjust to my new work schedule.

This last weekend I had my oldest son Dakota go with me on my Saturday morning run. He thought it was quite the adventure and I was very proud of how well he did. In fact with his help we shaved about 30 minutes off of my delivery time and he hopes to help out again in the future (weekends only during the school year). Jimmy helped with the Sunday delivery. I hate to say it but he wasn't as much fun, but a big help non the less. I think adults have a much harder time finding the adventure in it as kids do plus he's a huge fan of his own sleep time. Me, well I don't really mind it in the least. If I can come home and nap for an hour or two, I'm usually good to go for the rest of the day. A general observation about people doing this kind of work. Most have day jobs and the men are talkers. Does that sound odd?? I've always thought that women were the talkers, in most situations, but in the middle of the night men seem to be the ones who like to shoot the breeze. In fact I think my talk "center" is still asleep but everything else seems to be functioning just fine. This is nothing more than an interesting (I think) observation........

I've finished a few pieces of jewelry but haven't had the time to photograph them yet. I'm hoping to squeeze in some camera time before Halloween. Can you believe that October is almost over!? We have some spooky decorations hanging around, the boys had a ball decorating, but I highly recommend checking out this womans decorations, Notes From The Fae Side. Her decorations are the coolest!!!

I've posted a couple more pictures of ornaments up above and one of my lampwork tree goddess's. Just something to tide you over until I get to clicking with the camera again.

Enjoy your day!

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks to Cristina Amador,

The rules are as follows:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

7 facts about me...

1. I'm a huge Zelda fan. If I could get away with playing all the time I would, but because of guilt I play about twice a year. Just too many other important things to do. I'm secretly hoping for a Nintendo DS for Christmas.

2. My creativity started with sewing. I still have a room (literally) full of fabric and still get behind my Husqvarna now and then, but have pretty much moved on to glass, clay and wire for my creative outlets (see past blog posts). My hubby would love it if I would part with most of my fabric stash but hasn't he heard the rule "She who dies with the most fabric wins".

3. I shaved my head a couple of years ago after my Mom had brain surgery. It was a great "one" time experience, but I would do it again in a pinch for any of my close family in traumatic circumstances.

4. No one remembers me from high school (I was extremely shy back then) but I posted on classmates that I was an artist and have had a ton of hits (views) from those people who wouldn't know me from boo, even though we graduated together. Do you think those people will claim to remember me, if I go to my 30 year reunion?

5. I love tea and drink it all day long (black & green only). Favorites are Gevalia Jasmine (like a fine wine) and Trader Joe's Earl Gray. Flowering teas are wonderful for special occasions plus the bonus of being eye candy!

6. I'm pretty much a vegetarian living with a bunch of carnivores though I indulge in the occasional egg or tuna. I feel loads better since starting to eat this way plus the pounds have started disappearing, Yeah!

7. I dream of writing tutorials, articles or maybe even a book on creativity.

Here is my tag list!

1. Donna of Gailavira

2. Allison of Sunny Rising Leather

3. Rice of The Voodoo Cafe

4. Janelle of Pigeon Point Fiber and Glass

5. Notes from The Fae Side

6. Carla of Carla Kurt Art

7. H. Palleiko of H. Palleiko Designs

ZZZzzzzzzz

Pretty Flowers
Doing The Limbo
Loving My Grannie's
Another Cool Sale Item!

That's what I feel like doing right now. Just got Connor off to school and Jimmy is home for Columbus Day. I didn't have a clue that it was a holiday today.

I started a paper route today. We could use the extra income with Christmas just around the corner and it's perfect because I can be home for the kids and still work on my art. I'll be learning the route over the next couple of days and luckily it's not to far away. If needed I can nap at certain times during the day to get in a little extra zzzzzz's. Funny I had started to adjust my sleeping habits over the last couple of weeks and I think it will help a lot. I'm normally a night owl.

Friday night we went to a "Family" dance at the Elementary school. It was a lot of fun and as you can see Connor really enjoyed himself, Limbo Baby!!

Have I mentioned that I collect Granny glasses? I'm not that old but I do use them a lot in the work that I do. Especially for detail. This is just one of the cool pairs I own. I keep at least one pair in every area that I work in. And have more on hand just in case. Yes, they do end up breaking from whatever the miss hap may be, but that's why you can never have enough. Plus who wants to waist precious time looking for the only pair you own. Usually they don't turn up for at least 6 months and then you find they have fallen behind a cushion or maybe one of the kids tried to swipe them just because they look cool (like maybe a camouflage pair that I own).

Anyway, I think I'm just rambling on right now. I hope you are enjoying your Holiday or just your Monday. It's rather rainy and a little chilly right now but I'm not minding it.

SALE, SALE, SALE!!!

How could I forget to mention that I'm having a sale over at my Art Etsy. 30-50% off all of the jewelry listed in my store. This is an excellent deal for the month of October. Pictures above are samples of what's waiting for you! Get em while there Hot! Excellent Christmas, Birthday or Just Because you deserve it! This sale only applies to my jewelry items and ends at midnight October 31st (Halloween).

Ok, that was my "Shameless Promotion" for the day :) Now I need to saw some copper and sculpt some clay. My one "free" day that happens every 2 weeks when Connor goes for the full day on Friday (every other one), which is actually a short day since the school district implemented personal growth day, last year, every Friday and they get out 2 hours early. The teachers are supposed to work on improved teaching skills and other ways to educate the children on the last 2 hours of the day. I guess it worked so well last year that they are doing it again this year. Personally I don't mind it and of course, neither do the kids (imagine that).

Off to accomplish some stuff while the gettin's good!
TGIF!

Clay And Woodburning

Ornaments & Woodburning
Ornament Bowls
Jewelry Ideas


So I've completed a couple of ornaments and have also been working on potential jewelry pieces. Polymer clay is truly wonderful! Along with the ornaments have come the tragedy of dropping a couple which produced a new idea for glass bowls. I should have a couple of those up on Etsy in a week or so.

Along with that I have a small collection of these cool wood tea boxes. After sanding off the labels they make an excellent canvas for some wood burning art. The box shown above was my first one and I won't be using food color dye to color again. As you can see it smears/runs when sealed even after it has dried. Oh well, it was a learning experience. I'll have another in the works soon.

Do you like my Friesen inspired pony pendant? The other 3 pendants are coral and a couple of stones accented with polymer clay. Can you tell I'm having a little fun? ;)

I made a couple of glass beads a couple of days ago but my muse for the glass has been missing in action. Hopefully she'll be back next week :D

I have book club tonight. We didn't have one all Summer and yet I still didn't get the book read that I was supposed to (Change Your Brain, Change Your Life), turns out I wasn't the only one, but we're still going to get together just to visit. Very cool! The book it turns out wasn't what my Mom thought it was going to be and it was her choice. She said she didn't finish it because it leads you to believe that you can improve illness, and the like, by changing your eating habits but that most of the book is case studies that they end up treating with medication. I've watched his show on KCTS and if that's the case his show is misleading, to me anyway.

You'll notice some changes to my blog. I'm updating some things and will work toward making myself a bit more prominent on the internet. Stay tuned!

We got it done!

Past Polymer Images


The carpet that is! Spent Saturday re-carpeting the living room and I'm still putting it back together. We may also be doing a bedroom next weekend (or the one after) since my daughter is moving out. She's going to be rooming in a house with several other people and has decided that it's more feasible than living at home since the rent is cheaper. Yes, I charge my daughter rent. It's a long story but has a lot to do with financial responsibility and accountability. I love her dearly but it's time (at the age of almost 20) for her to try it on her own.

I'm back into working with polymer but still have tons of stuff to photograph and post. Yesterday I ended up having to run to the school when my littlest (Connor) threw up on the bus. He was fine, just a little car sick but I had to take him a change of clothes, the poor little guy! He's loving school and the teacher is really appealing to his crafty side (she said he asks everyday if they are doing a craft) by incorporating crafts and learning together. Both he and Duncan (my middle boy) have teachers that are the perfect fit this year.

I'm finding that my 3 hours of "Art" time is usually not so artistic and more catch up time than anything else, though I'm trying to be insistent (with myself) to spend at least 2 of those days lampworking. Oh well, life is moving along as it should no matter what I have planned.

At the top I've posted some of my past polymer projects (1-2 years). If I remember right the mask took 2nd or 3rd in a group contest on Ebay. This gives you a bit of an idea of what my style is. I should have at least 2 ornaments up on Etsy by the end of the week.

Have a great day!

The Mornings Fly.....

New Dragonfly Bangle Bracelet
Butterfly Branch Bead
Fall Pumpkin

by.......Not that the rest of the day doesn't do the same, but the mornings seem to be the quickest. Here is a sample of what my weekday morning is like:

5:30 AM get first boy up, make lunch for him while signing into email.

6:15 first boy leaves for school. I now have about 20-30 minutes to look through and answer or open said email. Emails usually end up with me being on another artistic site. There are several that I like to check daily (gotta stop doing that).

6:45 second boy is up, packing another lunch, visit with him for a bit before he leaves for school (first boy isn't as friendly in the morning).

7:35 second boy leaves for school. Now I continue with email, listing, creating, photographing and whatever else seems to be pertinent at the moment. Sometimes it seems like I spend so much time bouncing from one thing to the next that I haven't really accomplished anything.

My last boy gets up, usually, between 8-9 and then we continue with breakfast, some play time, a quick post maybe, and the like until we leave here at 11:15 to walk up to the bus stop.

Most mornings it seems like I blink, and that's it, the afternoon has arrived and my first boy is home.

Somehow I had bigger visions for my 3 hours of free time in the afternoon, which I usually end up torching with. Sometimes it's wire or polymer clay but the torch is the one thing that needs my full attention, preferably, without distractions. Can you imagine how fast 3 hours goes when you are trying to accomplish something??

Anyway, I really have no complaints about how my days go, I just need to be a little more organized when it comes to my work, and as for the internet. I need to pick one day a week to do my "surfing" on, like say Sunday.

A quick note, I have begun working on ornaments. I should start listing them on Etsy next week sometime. A couple of Halloween theme ones and some florals. Keep your eye out!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

On The Verge Of Fall

Fall Garden
Shells for Pandora, Troll or Biagi Chains
Bird Nest Ring


The weather has finally taken a turn to the cooler side. It looks like Fall is here. I've begun to work on ornaments along with a new jewelry idea that I'm really excited about. Unfortunately it takes a couple of days to prepare the materials properly before I'm able to work with them.

This weekend we are going to be laying some carpet, Jimmy brought home from work, that's new (used) from a remodel he's doing. It still has that that new carpet smell. Cocoa being sick, was kind of the last straw for our current living room carpet.

I'm still missing Cocoa a lot. Especially when the kids are at school. We'll wait and see what furry family member comes our way in the near future.

Enjoy your Friday!

New Creations

I've got some new glass and jewelry up! Finally, things are starting to get back to somewhat of a routine :) I'm trying to squeeze some lampwork in, about 4 days a week, even if I only play around with making a couple of beads. I've been making a lot of viking knit chains to incorporate into some of my jewelry. It's a great thing to do (like regular knitting) when you have to wait on something (pictures loading for example).

Jimmy got our shop cleaned up so I'm going to start working on some wood ideas I have for jewelry. We may even collaborate on some things, who knows. He's going to set up an area in there just for me. I would move my lampwork down there but sawdust and flames DO NOT mix. So I'll stay put on that. Plus I enjoy the work space I have, though I need to de-clutter it too!

The weather is unseasonably warm right now, upper 70's, low 80's. It looks like it's supposed to start cooling down in the next couple of days. I've been enjoying it after our early Fall preview a couple of weeks ago and know this isn't going to last too long before we'll be forced to turn on the heater or light a fire. In the meantime it's nice!

Halloween is fast approaching and the kids are thrilled. I don't know why but I'm kind of looking forward to it myself and while we live in a rural area that doesn't get Trick-or-Treaters I'm thinking we'll be putting up some scary decorations just for the fun of it. Check out this cool site for scary paper crafts http://ravensblight.com/papertoys.html The kids will love it!!

We Are Healing

It's been a couple of days and we still have that hole. Which will be for quite a while. We made a trip to the local animal shelter today. The boys loved seeing all the dogs and cats. I'm finding that I lean towards the older dogs, a little under or over a year. They are much calmer and seem to have a little more sense than the puppies. I love puppies but feel like I don't have the patience for them like I used to. I found myself drifting towards the dogs who were receptive towards attention (scratches) and orders (sit!), than the little, hyper puppies.

We didn't come home with a new family member today. The kids are wanting a puppy but I have been talking to them about rescuing an older dog. I'm the one who will be spending the most time with it and while I understand and respect what the kids are feeling, I also feel that it is more worthwhile to "rescue" a dog that actually might be put down in the end. Labs seem to be favored. I noticed a couple of older labs/retriever type dogs that had been adopted right away. I REALLY lean towards Shepard mixes. Cocoa, was a mix, and the dog I had before her was a husky mix. There is something about the markings that I can't resist! Be sure that I pay attention to how they behave towards people, children, & others dogs, so....... no worries! I'm thinking it will be about a month (or more) before we get the next dog. Stay tuned!!

More art sometime next week!

In Loving Memory

In Loving Memory Of Cocoa

January 1st, 2003-September 11th, 2008

A true & loyal friend, companion, playmate & guardian.

You will be greatly missed!

Rolling Right Along.......

Cocoa is slowly improving. Very slowly. She's still not eating on her own but I keep at her & she is putting up a fight so I know she's regaining her strength. She's also able to move more easily.

So far the week it going fairly smooth. The kids and I are adjusting to the back to school routine nicely and I actually lampworked two days in a row (Woo Hoo!). It's more of a warm up but it's amazing to be able to sit in front of my torch for 2-3 hours without a single interruption. While I torch I listen to books on my mp3 player. I'm on the 3rd book of a Nora Roberts series (Born In) and have more waiting. I used to listen to music but I have found that listening to books is much more entertaining and boy does the time fly (not that it doesn't already when I'm torching). She is my current favorite. I'm waiting on some Orson Scott Card too. I listened to Ender's Game a few weeks ago and that is a long series of books. He's a great Sci-Fi writer! However there's a wait list for the second book (Speaker for the Dead) on mp3 from the library.

Hopefully I should have new stuff to show at the end of the week. Stay tuned!

A New Week

Cocoa seems to be slowly improving. She's still not eating on her own but she is much more coherent, moving around more and fighting me when it comes to force feeding her. Makes it a pain to feed her but at least she has the energy to resist, which I consider a good thing. I will have to steam clean the living room and office when this is finally over from her accidents and the like but I had been meaning to do that for awhile so, I'm glad I put it off.

There's still a lot of stress in the house but I'll work through that. The kids will be in school for their first full week this week and I'm hoping to get some serious lampworking in. Of course the weather is warming back up again, which I think is par for the course when it comes to September, but there is still a Fall nip in the air in the morning.

Right now I'm just muddling through everything right now knowing that tomorrow is a new day. The best part of all of this is that my boys are excited to be going to school.

A couple of more pictures of things I have yet to list......

What A Week It's Been

The kids are back to school but still not quite in the swing of things. Dakota's eye is back to good and he has a follow up appointment tomorrow. Duncan is loving his new teacher, who happens to be a man, and is the first male teacher any of my kids have had in elementary school. Connor can hardly wait to get to kindergarten each day and is absolutely loving it! I met him at school on the first day and I have to admit that my heart made a little pang over seeing him finally there, but he was just fine with me leaving and has no problems with getting on the bus and heading off to school. This is a totally new adventure for him.

On a difficult note. Cocoa is REALLY sick and right now it's touch and go. I took her to the vet yesterday morning, first thing, after getting the older kids off to school. It looks like she's got a serious infection and they have her on a powerful (and expensive) antibiotic. I didn't think she was going to make it through the night last night and my daughter was beside herself (the boys were asleep). This morning she was still breathing, much to my relief, and seemed a bit better this afternoon. I have to force feed her both yesterday and today and she seems to understand that we are trying to help her. I'm holding my breath tonight and hoping she will show more visible improvement tomorrow, after being on the medicine for a couple of days. At this point I'm exhausted but not giving up the battle. She is a wonderful dog and we are hoping and praying that she will pull out of it SOON.

I've done very little creating lately. Lampworking is out of the question at this point and I've been really busy with everything else that by the time evening comes along all I want to do is rest. My mind is barely functioning for wire work but I'm trying to create a little something every night.

This evening I'm working on getting a couple of things listed. I added some things from a couple of weeks ago to my Just Beads and am hoping to get a couple more goodies up on Ebay.......we'll see where I'm at when the kids are in bed.

In the meantime I'll post a couple pictures to give you an idea of what I was, and will be working on.

Enjoy your evening.

Sick Kids....

2 out of 4 of my kids are sick.....ok, so one of those sick kids is fluffy. That's ok, cause it's just like one of your regular kids. The furry one (Cocoa) has seem to come down with some kind of flu. As of tonight she is doing better. I gauge my animals like children and she is drinking water and peeing (as long as we follow her out) like the kids. She has no desire to be alone, that was my first clue that she was sick. We'll see what the morning brings.

The other is Dakota (my 13 yo) got himself hit in the eye with the barrel of an air soft gun. Had he been wearing eye gear like he was supposed to.....this would have never happened! As that goes he has a bruised eyeball and retina. That could change at any time. If the retina proves to be more than a bruise they will have to do surgery. We will be keeping a close eye (no pun intended) on him for the next week.

In general my kids have been really healthy for the last 8 years with the exceptions of shots. I have now been into the Dr.'s more time in the last 4 months than I have been in the last 8 years. Infections, injuries and the like.......geeze......could this be a boy thing? I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

First day of school is next Wednesday! I have some new lampwork that is being cleaned and ready to go! It's different from my past work so I'm going to give it a little lag time. The Goddesses are the coolest yet!! I love them!!

I also have an Owl named Coral (A necklace) that is ready to go, but I haven't gotten her photographed yet. She is a fun piece! There may be some more wood pieces in the future.....we'll seee!

Messing With My Page....

So I had to post.

I'm getting back into the swing of things for Fall. The weather even has a Fall feel to it. The last few days have been down in the 60's with a mix of rain, sun and some thunder.

Got up early both yesterday & this morning and will be hitting the torch again today. I'm trying to motivate for torching in the afternoon, though I'm doing my thing in the morning. My energy level seems to take a dive right around 2-3PM. I'll have to see if I can work around that.

I'll be taking the boys out Friday to get there school shopping done. They are all excited to be going back, or starting. Connor used the worked psyched, yesterday to describe his feelings about starting school. Funny!!

It's always amazing when Summer comes to a close because it seems like you just blinked and that's it, it's done, the kids are another grade older & bigger. Dakota passed me up in height this Summer too. I knew that was going to happen because the kid has probably grown no less than 6" this last year. Every time I walk by him I wonder what happened and how the heck did he get so big, all of a sudden??

I'm adding a picture of who will be my daily companion now, when the kids are away. Cocoa is my constant companion most days, when she's in the house, anyway, and tends to be at my feet or back depending on what I'm doing. She's a great dog!!

Enjoy your day!

The Count Down Begins......

So it looks like my youngest is going to be in afternoon kindergarten. I have to say that I'm a bit bummed about it since morning is my best creative time when it comes to glass. I have 2 weeks to re-think my thinking. Morning will have to be jewelry & wire, with my boy, and afternoons will be devoted to lampwork. If I had given it any thought I would have realized that all the kids were in afternoon kindy due to the bus route we're on but, of course, thinking is not one of my top priorities these days.

I haven't been able to get near my torch for the last couple of weeks with the count down on but maybe I'll be able to squeeze some time in before school starts.

I'm back to sorting through "stuff" and have listed some patterns on both Etsy (Your Creative Side) and my Other Ebay. You wouldn't have believed the huge amount that I ended up having to trash. Boy, was that hard to do! The rest with a few tucked away for........something, I haven't figured out yet, have gone up for auction or sale. All of these are in "uncut" condition. I think at some point I had a serious addiction to patterns........ohhh WAIT!! That would be in combination with the "she who dies with the most fabric wins" addiction. Hopefully I'll get to listing fabric within the next few months....ackkkk!

The only real creativity I've been tied up in lately has been wire. No pictures to show for my efforts but I have been keeping a creative log of my designs so I don't forget them. Bracelets & rings seem to hold my fascination at the moment but tomorrow it could be pendants & earrings.

That's it for now. I will do my best to starting posting more consistently. I know, you've heard that before!!

Enjoy your evening!

Computer Issues....

kept me off the computer yesterday. Today I have loads of things that I have to get to. Will try to post more later.

Enjoy your day!

I'm just too boring.....

Ok......so I've been watching to see who comes to visit and it looks like, maybe........, I need to add a little more to my life. Daily would be great but I need to get into the swing of things.......Probably should be that I update first thing in the morning but sometimes my brain is just too foggy to get going. Got to have my green tea, then Earl Gray! Then I will try to post! In the mean time , check out my latest profile. This will give you a more up-to-date profile.

A Lot Has Been Going On....

With school just around the corner. Things have been busy to say the least. My brother's wedding was wonderful. Probably the coolest wedding I've been too. I didn't get to see the brides ring but my brother had the coolest stainless steel ring I had seen yet.

People, if you are going to get married, DO NOT, feed the diamond industry, instead go for something other than gold and diamonds. If you haven't realized it yet the gold & diamond industry is what has been dictating the industry for the last 20 years or so. Go with something DIFFERENT!! My personal favorites are sterling and emeralds along with amethyst and garnets (do you see my children in there somewhere??). Diamonds are my least favorite on the list unless they are black (colored) or otherwise.

I don't have any good pictures of the wedding, sorry! Maybe I can get someone to forward some cool ones to me.

This has been a great Summer for the boys and Jimmy took them out for one last weekend before he heads off on a hike with his cousin. I would have to say that this has been one of the best Summers as far as the kids go!!

Visiting with his cousins wife, last weekend, left me with a few more things to do. Since she has one of the best bead stores right around the corner from where they live. More on that to come in the future!

I hope you're enjoying one of the last weekends of Summer!!
Take care!!