A Sigh Of Relief........

Our puppy made out good from Santa!

All the decorations are down (except for the cool live wreath) and things are returning to normal. Christmas was a lot of fun and the kids got to make Gingerbread cookies which was a total blast. The last minute rush is what gets to me the most and I'm so relieved when it's over.......I know, that if I didn't wait until the last minute it wouldn't be that way......next year......I will plan better.......

Zack is home from the hospital and doing much better although a complete recovery is going to take a few weeks. Having been a very active kid before the infection that is probably going to be the hardest thing for him, staying off of his feet for awhile.

I haven't had a chance to get back to the torch yet but, hope to within the next couple of days. More rings are in the works. Both glass and metal. I also got some new metal smithing toys for Christmas, and am chomping at the bit to try those out.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to the coming New Year. We have already started our new years (life) resolutions early. We just didn't see any reason to wait until then, since it's for the better.

All done!

Prayers For Zack

My friends son has a bacterial infection that's so bad it put him in the hospital. He's going to be in for at least the rest of the week while they try and figure out which antibiotic to put him on and make sure it doesn't come back. What started as a pain in his ankle (thought it was a sprain), turned into a fever and vomiting (thought it was the flu) and then him screaming about the pain in his leg. At his second Dr. appointment they finally told the parents to take him to the ER. I took her other 2 (kids) for the day and night. She has great kids who happen to be great friends with my boys. And I think She and I are kindred spirits. She has been run through the ringer and the ringer isn't over yet. The scariest part about all of this, is that they just don't know how these kinds of infections get started. The aren't contagious and just seem to happen at random and they are serious enough to kill someone. Zack we are praying for you to get better soon!!

I did squeeze in a little time at the torch this afternoon. The boys started Winter break with a half day today but it didn't take long for them to interrupt me a half dozen times while I was torching. That cut my session short, while I looked for the duck tape (kidding). The chilly pouring rain and wind didn't help. They are getting pretty excited as we approach the home stretch of the Christmas countdown (EEEEEK!!!). I'm still not quite ready but I'm working on it.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to head out with my Mom but we haven't confirmed it yet. Maybe I'll be able to finish up...........

A couple of pictures of auctions starting tomorrow night.

Have a good one!

The Stress

Of Christms coming is really kind of funny. The kids look forward to it and most of the adults can hardly wait for it to get over (me included). This year I'm a little less stressed, even though we have less money (thanks to my ex) but I'm really excited for the kids. We bought a couple of cool things that they are really going to love, so I think getting a little less this year won't be noticed.

I braved the crowds today to get a tumbler that I've needed for quite a while. Harbor Freight has them on sale and I have to say that while it's not my favorite store to go to. It does have lots of goodies for artists of all kinds. I have 2 butterfly necklaces that I have been holding off selling for a few months because I think that they could use a little tumble to harden the silver a little and shine things up. I'm rather proud of these two pieces and entered one of the in the FMG contest but unfortunately I missed the deadline (have I mentioned that I procrastinate a bit sometimes?). They have a new contest going but I don't know if I want to try and enter is again. I'll see how I feel after a good tumble. I did, however, forget to get stainless steel shot for it so that will have to wait until later in the week.

I have 8 glass rings waiting to be cleaned. I'm really liking them. Especially the frogs. They are a lot of fun to make. The ladies are too but there's just something about those little froggies. I also tried to do a man ring too. I think he turned out pretty well, right down to his.......hmmm......jewels.

The ornaments I'm going to continue making throughout the year. The are fun and not particularly Christmas themed. I think they would work great for Spring too, because of the flowers.

The boys have a day and a half of school to go and then they are out for a 2 week winter break. I always look forward to this because is means we are almost half way through the school year. Boy is time flying!!

That's it for now.

A Note.....

I was going to start this out with a rant/note on deadbeat Dads........but I think that in the end Karma will catch up with them.........moving on.........

Rings have been a thing for me for as long as I can remember. I love rings in general but particularly unique, cool, out of the ordinary rings. I have gone back to lampworking rings and boy did I forget what fun I've been missing out on. Frogs and the female form. Maybe a flower or two. The down side is that I need to get more mandrels. I only have 4 and they range in size from 6 to 11-1/2. I'm going to have to pick up a few more after Christmas. In the meantime I try to make 4 a day which is difficult with Christmas fast on my *ss. I'm still perfecting things so of the 4 usually two are worth putting up for sale. Still I can't complain it's really a blast and I love the attention I get when I wear a frog ring.

I started Christmas shopping today. I told my Mom that I was getting a "jump" on things and she reminded me that getting a jump on things would have been a month ago.....oh well. I hope to be done before the end of next week, if not sooner.

I'm still looking forward to Christmas but, I'm trying to simplify it and not get so stressed over the whole thing (dead beat Dads do not help with this). No matter what, the kids are always happy and have a wonderful time. So I'm trying to "flow downstream" which helps a lot but is also a new learning experience. Remember the book I told you about....Ask & It Is Given (Jerry & Esther Hicks).....if you read it you'll understand. It helps a ton, in that, I don't lay awake at night worrying about everything but I still have a lot of work to do to reach the desired goal.

Anyway enough for tonight. Check out some new auctions (Rings) on Ebay and I finally got those ornaments listed.

Enjoy your night!

A Couple Of Ornaments.....

Should be up for auction later today. The one I did in white I ended up chalking and I'm not really pleased with the results. That one will end up on my tree. But I do have 2 that I think turned out quite nicely and those will be up for auction later today. I still have a few more in the works but those are my night time projects. I've been messing with the glass during the morning hours and will be listing some cool frog rings and a few more beadies either today or tomorrow.

Lots to do today. Have a good one & stay warm!!!

And More Snow.......

We are being hit again with the white stuff. It's just a light dusting right now & looks to be slowing down. I'm hoping that will be it for the day. With only a little over a week until Winter Break I'm hoping we don't get enough to keep them out of school. Alternate bus routes also keep them home but those days they don't have to make up at the end of the year. Since we are on a hill it's not possible for me to drive them to the alternate stop when the roads are snowy/icy.

I've been working a little here and there on lampwork, ornaments & jewelry. Yesterday I worked mostly on getting a spot cleared for the Christmas Tree. The boys can hardly wait! They picked out the tree yesterday and it's now waiting on our deck for it's esteemed spot in the house and to be decorated.

Christmas is quickly sneaking up, with only a couple of more weeks to go. You can feel the tension/excitement in the kids mounting by the day. I still have a bit of shopping to do, but have lists to work off of, which helps a lot.

Do you like the sampling of ornaments?

Enjoy your Sunday!

Hibiscus & A Ring

My flower bloomed. Isn't it pretty! I love hibiscus and have a couple of ornaments made with a hibiscus theme. I also finished another ring. This one with peruvian opal and lavender pearls. I really like the copper but I do have some sterling around and might try a couple in that, maybe with some bone faces.

Tonight is book club. The book we read is The Skeeter Daddle Diaries~Reflections of a South End Nettle Farmer. A funny book with bits and pieces of one of the local (Camano Island) artist. This is a hard to find book if you decide to look for it. The author is Jack Archibald. A good read and my copy is autographed, Thanks Auntie!!!

Today I started making room for a Christmas Tree. We are going to be getting one this weekend. This is probably the last year we will buy a real tree. I'm ready to go with a "fakie" for convience, time, $$ and the hoard of pine needles that don't shed all over the floor. We will be checking those clearance sales after the 25th.

I'm really looking forward to the end of the week. It seemed to be a long one.......

Stormy Weather.......And More

Stormy weather. So far, so good, we haven't lost power & things seem to be calming down a little but I hear another round is coming. School was normal so the kids were bummed, plus the snow was, pretty much, completely gone since it was 54 degrees this morning and actually stayed pretty mild all day.

Happy Birthday to Brandy today. She's 19. I can hardly believe it!

A couple of Tassel Ladies up on Ebay too. I didn't have a chance to list anything else yet but hopefully I won't have any running around to do tomorrow, outside of the house that is.

I hope you're all having a great Monday!!

See ya tomorrow!

Snow!!!

What a way to start December. We got about 6 inches of snow!! It's a slushy mess now but the kids thought it was fun while it lasted. They are now hoping that they will have a delayed school day tomorrow but I told them not to get their hopes up because it looks like the snow will be mostly gone by tomorrow and then a wind storm is moving in, happy day (not). I would almost prefer the snow over the wind but I'm happy if the power doesn't go out for a long period of time. I really am a modern day girl who prefers electricity to darkness. We do have a wonderful wood stove for heat though so that makes things much nicer in the Winter.

I'm chalking my ornament and am really pleased with the results. I now have to figure out how to seal it and not get the sealer on the glass. I'm working on some more for Ebay & Etsy. I don't know what it is about Hibiscus but I really love them. Since I don't live in a tropical area but I would love to, if the opportunity ever comes along. I keep a plant in my bedroom and it does wonderfully because of all the light. I'll take a picture of the next flower that blooms, which should be in a day or two.

I also have some of my Tassel Babes ready to go up for auction. I don't know what people will think but I love them!!! I haven't seen anything quite like them and it's always cool to think that I might have come up with a totally original design.

Time for bed. Have a relaxing Sunday evening.

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!!!

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

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......

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!

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!

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!

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!!

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!

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!!

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!!

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