A Balancing Act

Since my grandson was born last Friday it's been hard staying on top of things. I did finally paint some today! I will be mailing out that commission of 6 paintings either tomorrow or Saturday. Tomorrow & this weekend I will be concentrating on painting & try not to get sidetracked with yarn of any kind! I have noticed a big drop in sales since I haven't listed anything on auction at Ebay. I have to get back on that bus before everyone on Ebay forgets me and I lose my mojo there! I love Etsy more but unless you are spending a lot daily to list your things don't get seen. I listed a couple of prints of some Aura Angels yesterday on Etsy and some crocheted cuffs which by the way work great as coffee cup cozies - double duty! Slip one on your wrist in the morning, stop at your favorite coffee spot.... you'll be stylish & green! Yesterday I also worked on a new Zine but am having trouble getting it lined up perfectly to print out. I may end up taking it to the printers. It's about the sea and I wrote the poem for it. Those are fun to make but they are really time consuming.

I am considering being a moderator for an Altered Book subgroup of Swell Sisters, however, my biggest concern is the time factor. I've got my painting, all my other subgroups, computer groups, my blog, computer work, a new grandson, oh yes and the dreaded housework too. It will be a real balancing act and I don't know how I can pull it all off yet. Maybe just dive in and everything will balance itself out?? That I'm still debating. It will be August tomorrow and I am already stressing a little over what I will have in the art show in December. Aura Angels, Mermaids, still life, something else..... ????? Oils or acrylics or mixed media...???? What to do? What to do! We are having a speaker from a gallery at our next meeting so I am looking forward to that.

Little JJ is doing good but his blood levels still are not normal. I went with him to his first doctors appointment today. It broke my heart when they were trying to get blood and couldn't find the vein. He only cried while they were doing it, and stopped immediately after. He was an angel today. I could have held him all day and can't wait to see him again. Pictures just don't do him justice he's so cute!! I'm a proud gramma and who knows I may end up with one of the cheesey gramma brag books full of pictures to bore everyone I meet with! hahaha

Follow the Directions? Hum... Maybe....

I went to the printer, mailed out prints, then I loaded up on canvas today! Yippee! For some reason when I only have a few I can't seem to paint so I've been knitting instead making things for my new grandson. I used to make decisions for a living and now I can't decide on what I will do next. Go figure. Little JJ is still in the hospital. The kids had to leave him there and go home without him. I know how hard that is. I had to do that with both of my sons. He is doing better today and hopefully will be coming home tomorrow. I will be going over to hold him tomorrow or Wednesday. I miss him already. He's been in ICU so we couldn't hold him.

While in the waiting room awaiting his arrival, I knitted, pulled it out, knitted, pulled it out...probably about 5 times! At one point I had 1/2 of a scarf made, then pulled it out. I had no direction, no idea what I was doing. It passed the time. So I decided that I would make him something out of the "labor room" yarn and knitted him a little ear flap hat yesterday. It's big so he won't be able to wear it until winter time next year! I think it came out cute though. I still have to sew a loop & button on the little sweater (pattern is below) but I'll show you the picture without the button. I am putting a loop & button rather than the ties as shown. I have a hard time following a pattern to the T or a recipe for that matter!

Speaking of recipes... I'm usually pretty good at coming up with some tasty things on my own and some people say I'm a really good cook. I did come up with a doozey of an experiment the other day. Costco has the most wonderful bean salad - Paisley Farms. I just love it & love the brine that it's in. I can eat the whole gargantuan jar by myself! Not in one sitting, but I usually do end up being the only one that eats it. Isn't that sweet of my husband to pass on it! haha I also love pickled okra and have been craving it. I bought some at the farmers market and had what I thought was a brilliant idea, pickle some fresh okra in the brine left over from the bean salad. Well... don't try that, it's totally nasty! I think my craving is cured for the time being! I have been a subscriber to Gourmet magazine for about 15 years now. I get lots of inspiration but it's not too often that I actually try a recipe to the letter in there. I will, however, be trying the yellow squash recipe that's in this months issue! We don't fry a lot of foods, but this one will be worth it! I will post the recipe below in my recipe of the week section. Doesn't this look great!?!

Ok Wednesday Wasn't It...Friday Is!

After 44 hours of labor my grandson finally arrives today beautiful and healthy! Mom & dad are doing fine! He is an 8 lb bundle of joy as they say!

Me and his other Grandmother, his 2 aunts and Grandfather were up for almost the entire duration in the waiting room! I came home this afternoon and slept for hours.

Thank you to many for your prayers!

Today's The Day!!

It's Wednesday already! Sorry I haven't blogged since Saturday! I've been in my own little whimsical world! I've been painting, knitting, crocheting and working on some new zine cards! I especially love the little baby sweater & how it came out. It was a lot of hours of work and I must say the pattern is great! I am going to get a cute button for it instead of ties, once done I will post the picture.

Vicky Howell of Knitty Gritty Show is writing a new book called "Craft Corps" and I sent in a profile to possibly be featured in this book! If you are a crafter you can also apply and get the details on her blog site: http://vickiehowell.blogspot.com/


Today's the day! My first grandbaby is on his way! Joe & Erin are just getting settled into their room and I will be going down shortly! They called to let us know when we were in Walmart picking out the button to go on the little sweater! I opted for just a plain button so that it would match everything. I guess I'll be sewing that on in the waiting room tonite!

Here's an amazing picture of a sand creation that my nephew sent me today...

Night or Day? I Can't Tell Anymore!

It's so dark in my living room now it looks like it's storming outside. You know I love the rain but this is making my time clock go wacky and making me feel tired. Weird. Too bad that soap opera Dark Shadows isn't still on tv, I'd be in the perfect setting to watch that! Ok I am aging myself now! I used to rush home from school to watch that with my mom and to this day I am afraid of vampires! hahaha I don't watch vampire movies either! Thank you Barnibus Jones! Anyway, we installed shade screens on the front of the house. My husband picked out the color and it's almost black. We have 5 very large windows in the front and in the afternoon with the sun glaring in it's hot and unbearable. I have noticed a huge difference in the heat but maybe the money we are saving will be a wash since I have to have the lights on to see in here during the day!

My husband's band played last night so I had the house to myself. I got a lot done yesterday! At one point had a cramp in my hand that wouldn't go away for awhile from knitting & crochet at warp light speed. Odorless non-greasy sports creme is the best thing ever! I started work on my painting commission and made some more cuffs. I also started knitting the cutest baby sweater hoodie. I am using soft yarn that looks like denim like I did on the little hat in the picture below. I got the free pattern at http://knittingpureandsimple.com/babycardi.html This website has really beautiful knit patterns! It's suppose to be simple but the directions seem a little complicated to me. Crossing my fingers I don't mess it up! My oldest son's baby is due any day now so I hope I can get it done before the baby gets here! I gave them the denim hat tonight and they loved it. I am going to donate the light blue one.

We had a bbq tonight. I wish I had taken a picture of my chicken & my oldest son's rice! It came out so good. I marinated the chicken yesterday morning, in lots of spices, lemon juice and tossed the lemons in too. Pollo asada. My husband cooked it perfectly too on the "big bertha",(his solid stainless steel monster grill). My son's rice was so delicious and it was so simple. He fried the uncooked rice in a little oil and butter with 4 cloves of garlic, not little cloves either, they were dinosaur cloves, then added water & chicken bouillon & 1 can of tomato paste, salt & pepper. It sounds simple & plain but boy was that great! I am totally stealing that recipe! I made a pico de gallo with a little twist. I finely chopped onion & rinsed it really well, then added chopped cilantro, lemon juice, salt, pepper and the twist was dried oregano & a tbsp of olive oil. That was so good on the chicken.That's one recipe I will write in my little kitchen notebook and do again. Give it a try!

Too Much Art Too Little Time!

I am tackling a long list of things to get done today. Preparing wood for painting commission, making my own clay plates for cuffs, finishing some card/book/zines. I knitted a new cuff this morning while having my coffee & watching the Today show.

I love perfume, however, most of the commercial perfumes on the market give me a headache, so several years ago I did a great deal of research, got lots of essential oils and like a little chemist (Nutty Professor! ) came up with several wonderful original blends. I gave some as gifts, sold a few bottles, but never really marketed it. Each perfume was a "girl" so to speak and if I say so myself the boxes are very cute! Basically set up an entire business but never took it anywhere. I was working and just wiped out tired when I got home, didn't have the energy for both jobs. I have Mermaid, Garden Girl, Tropical Girl, Bride to Be, Dance Hall Girl, Sweet Baby Girl, Indian Maiden, Queen of Denial, etc... I did the art work for each, made the boxes and made up a poem for each box. Mermaid is my personal favorite, surprise! haha It's a blend of 8 different oils with the top note being pikake an expensive Hawaiian Jasmine. Anyway... The other day I was thinking that these poems and art would make great cards/book/zines! So I am in the process of constructing those. So keep a weathered eye out for those! (love that saying from Pirates!)

The Swell Sister Society meeting was so much fun last night! We now have a website http://www.swellsister.com/ and we plan to make an impact in Sacramento! Our first art show is in December. I'm so blessed to be in this group of lovely women! We made paper wallets last night. It was like a kindergarten project but mine was pathetic - truly! A Swell Sister said I need to learn how to use tape! hahaha Actually that's so true! One thing I am not good at is wrapping presents with tape! I do wrap my art before I mail it and I must admit I could probably do a much better job. I just hope the pretty ribbon makes up for it! hahaha The paper wallet project did inspire me though. I'd love to make some with fabric. I just can't pull out my sewing machines right now or everything will go by the wayside!

Trendy Wednesday

I was busy shopping , making knit & crochet bracelet cuffs! Crochet & Knit back in fashion! Who would have thunk it? It makes me happy. I know when the 60's & 70's craze is over it may fade again. I'll enjoy it now while I can. The day flew by. The weeks are actually flying by! This year has flown by! I am finishing up some more knitting & crochet that I have started. The kids love the cuffs. The first thing Athina said was "I WANT THAT!" They think they are Emo/punk/rocker cool. So I listed a few on Etsy. They are getting some for gifts but don't know it yet. I may do some scarves with lots of metal plates on the bottom saying lots of different things to match.

I received a big commission for 6 Aura Angels and will be working on those for a few days. The person is giving some as gifts. I'm jealous that she's started on Christmas! Christmas will be here before we know it. I usually procrastinate and make myself utterly miserable. I don't like shopping much so that makes it worse. I think I will be making a lot of gifts or buying online this year.

I am in explore create mode more than a painting mode lately. I have been making card zines and have my head totally buried in the 3 large plastic bins I have full of yarn. I saw Vicky Howell (http://vickiehowell.com/2006/05/brimster-free-pattern-of-month_01.html )of the Knitty Gritty Show saying to donate your scrap yarn instead of saving it. Are you kidding me? No way could I do that! If you are feeling the need to clean out your yarn, you can donate it to me! Not that I'm against donating, I have donated several paintings for different causes, but yarn..... I don't think so! It seems like I always get in the knit/crochet mode this time of year for some reason. Maybe it's a good excuse to stay inside with the AC on!

Tonight is the Swell Sister meeting. I always look forward to that! Can't wait to find out what we are creating, seeing everyone, and hearing about the new changes to the Swell Sister Society!

Strung Out on Sriracha

If there was a meeting I'd have to sign up. I love all things hot & spicy but Sriracha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha )is my new drug of choice. It makes everything all right. Tonight I didn't feel like cooking so I pulled out a MichaelAngelo's "Gourmet" (right!) Pizza Snack & popped the carton in the microwave. It was dreadful, like fried cardboard with a microscopic bit of filling. I was about to throw it out, about to try to figure out a quick alternative, then it came to me...just put Sriracha on it and eat it! Not a very nutritious I know but I just couldn't talk myself into preparing anything else. It's one of those days when nothing sounds good. Well the Sriracha did make it edible, however, I could just as well put some sauce in a bowl and eaten that for dinner.
I started eating jalapenos when I was 12 and living in Tucson, AZ. My family & friends were in shock & awe that I could eat them like I did - a large pickled can at a time, carrots and all- and I must admit I liked shocking people but I truly like the peppers too. By the time I was 16 I was encouraged by many to go to the Rosamond, CA Chili Cookoff and participate in the jalapeno eating contest. I never did, I was too shy to do something like that, and why would I want people watching me stuff them in my mouth as fast as possible? Gross! But I know had I gone I would have given someone a run for the championship! Hot peppers don't effect me, if you know what I mean, like they do other people. I couldn't imagine life without hot sauce or hot peppers. I pretty much eat some kind of pepper or hot sauce everyday. They say they are suppose to raise your metabolism, let me tell you that's not true! There is only 1 sauce I have come across that I can't handle and that's Dave's Insanity Sauce. I use it in a spray bottle with water to spray on plants and decks to keep the bugs off! hahaha It works too! Last year I finished a collage cookbook entitled "One Hot Mama's Hot & Spicy Cookbook And Mama Don't Like Crybabies". I gave it to people for Christmas. It's a collection of my own hot sauce recipes, salsa recipes & hot & spicy dishes. My favorite being my "Don't be a Wienie" sauce. One day maybe I'll get up enough nerve to have it printed to sell.

I finished the mermaid commission I was working on and will be getting all my paintings mailed out tomorrow. Then it's off to Michael's! I'll walk off those pizza snacks! I still have some money left on my birthday gift card so while I'm out I'm gonna go see what I can get into & what I can't live without!

My First Zine!

What's a Zine you say? It's a tiny 8 page magazine, card or book made from 1 piece of paper. This was so much fun!! I did a Old Fashioned Bee theme and have listed some for sale on Etsy. I had to come up with all the things to put on the page, then it was hours of frustration trying to get it to print out right! I used 110lb card stock. When I finally got it right, I added ribbon, antiqued the edges and added glitter to the bees wings. I have some other themes in mind to do. These are cool cards but are little gifts in & of themselves. Little tags, gift cards or notes could be stuffed into the open edges on a few of the pages. These would be great for altered art !
I need a bone folder asap! I love folding paper! When I was little and lived in Japan I was an origami geek! I had origami paper all over my room! I have forgotten most of it but I still can make cranes!

Feeding My Southern Soul

My husband fell asleep in his chair this afternoon with a baseball game on, so I put my flip flops on, quietly opened the door, went out and picked 4 of his green tomatoes! I had them just about fried before he woke up. He probably woke up from the delicious smell. I couldn't resist them just gleaming at me out there! If I had told him I was gonna pick those he most likely would have poo pooed that idea, however, when I handed him his plate that put a big smile on his face. I call them his tomatoes because as I said before I don't water anything! You can see my recipe down below. I don't really measure anything out much but this is as close as I could get it!

Last night the kids stayed over and watched National Treasure II. I was watching and knitting at the same time. I watched DIY's Knitty Gritty the other day and they made the cutest baby hat. With a grandson on the way I decided to give it a try. It's a very simple pattern. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_4826209,00.html I made a small baby blue one just like the pattern and a larger denim blue. I enlarged the pattern on the denim blue one which is probably a more appropriate size come winter time. Each one only took about an hour to do.

Yesterday I finished up a few paintings that I was working on & a Swell Sister stopped by to give me my last Indi collage project. This one is going to be a tough one! I know that 1 person still has to work on it and there is little room now for me. I am stumped. I looked at it and looked at it and really have no ideas or a direction to go on it! I have until Thursday which seems like plenty of time but I'm freaked out! That's only 3 days & I'll need to think about it at least another 2! I listed the following mermaid angel on Etsy & Ebay.

Tomorrow I will be working on a commission, mailing paintings and working on some new greeting cards for Etsy. I was really disappointed in my sales on Ebay this week. Not sure if it's Ebay's new best match thing, my art, the time of year or maybe time to find other outlets to sell. The art that I sold will only pay my listing fees, so I made no money. Ebay's fees are so expensive which makes it difficult because you have to pay dearly to even be seen. Ebay buyers tend to want original art for thrift store prices and Ebay does nothing to promote the artists or original art that is sold there. I did check through the art listings and it doesn't look like I was the only one who is having a bad week there. So enough of my Ebay rant! Hopefully this week will bring many blessings for everyone, including you!

Whirly Bird

That's me today! A whirly bird. One of my favorite Beatles songs is Black Bird. Until recently I never knew that it was about a girl. duh. And I won't even tell you how old I am! Paul McCartney explained the song and said that in England they call girls "Birds"! In the US we call girls Chicks! strange. I have so many things whirling around in my head that I want to create & try today and not enough time to do everything! I was requested to do another commission & sold several prints the past few days! So I feel blessed.

A Swell Sister came over this morning, we had coffee, a nice visit and she dropped off a new collaborative project to work on. It feels like I am getting a present every time we exchange! I already had in mind something I was going to do but ended up doing something else besides my initial thought. I boiled eggs yesterday and saved the shells. I used the shells as a mosaic path. You have to take the membrane out from the inside. I laid the glue down and put a piece of shell and then pushed into the glue. It makes a lovely cracking noise and breaks into little pieces that are stuck. I did a wooden box like that once and it came out pretty cool. I decided to use the eggshells because of the birds in the picture. I added some bushes, a fence, the eggshells & painted in the fabric. I wanted to keep the spirit of the original fabric canvas. To me it feels like a garden! I can't tell you how much fun this Indi collaborative project is! It's sure is nice getting to know the Swell Sisters. Yesterday I met a Sister and passed on the altered book. I had a nice time chatting with her & found that we had a few things in common. And I got a sneak peek at mine and it is so awesome!! I have the perfect spot for it when it's done. Here's the project I got today, before & after my changes. You can click on the picture to see it larger.

You Could Fry An Egg!

It's gonna be hot hot hot here! That crackly dry hot kind of a day. Ever actually tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk? My brother and I did, but to our dismay it didn't work out. It just made a big mess. Just like the ole Lemonade stand, we didn't make a hundred dollars as planned. hahaha We had a fun time trying it though. I'm sure it was worth the couple of dollars from our mom to get us out of the house and no fighting! hahaha

My youngest son and his girlfriend were so fascinated with my Josephine Baker piece & the things that I told them about her that they wanted to see a movie about her! So last night my son found one and we stayed up late to watched it. It was the one starring Lynn Whitfield. It was ok but reading about her was better. My son thought the movie made her come across as spoiled and selfish. Maybe she was, maybe that's what it takes. Actually I don't think she could have accomplished all that she did if she wasn't. Well it's inspired me to paint her anyway, so I may start working on that today. I won't be working on an "angel" painting that's for sure! hahahaha

As promised, here are my list of nominees for the passing of the Brillante Weblog Award.. Thank you again Bee for nominating me!

1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.
So my 7 Nominees are......

Bee at http://witchetty.typepad.com/,
http://www.dzfantasy.blogspot.com/
http://www.compassmoon.blogspot.com/
http://crescenthilldesigns.blogspot.com/
http://rogalaca.blogspot.com/
http://opheliasflowersartbytj.blogspot.com/
http://dazedandfused.com/
http://whimsicalworldoffairies.blogspot.com/

I enjoy visiting all of these blogs! A truly talented group! There are so many more I wish I could have put all my favorites in there!

My first Blog Award!

How nice it was to log on tonight and find that Bee at http://witchetty.typepad.com/ nominated me for a blog award! Please take a moment to check out her whimsical art on her blog & her Etsy shop. Tomorrow I will be posting 7 of my nominations and passing it along! Thanks so much Bee that is such a great surprise and honor!

Today I barely got anything done but the dishes. I was a bit under the weather. No Zip in my Zippity Doo Da , no Doo Da either. The smoke is back in the valley and just awful. The news said that it is very unhealthy where I live . I could smell it in the house when I woke up and for the remainder of the day. E U We need rain! I need rain! I miss it. I am wearing out my rain and babbling brook tape!

I removed 2 mermaids that I had listed. I had done them on commission but never recieved the money for them so I listed them. I had been waiting a month for payment. I had sent several emails. Well today I recieved a check for them. Ut Oh. One has a bid on it so I will have to paint another after the check clears. I wish she had sent me a heads up that the check was mailed. She did included 2 extra dollars than we had agreed on so I'm not out all that much for the listings. So tomorrow I am getting my bushes wet and gettin' busy!

Ooo La La !

I spent all day on the collaborative book project and finally finished & it's ready to pass on. Remember my room yesterday.....well it's worse today! I went with a Josephine Baker/Paris theme. She was quite a fascinating person ! I put a little accordion pop out piece that tells a little about her on one page. I stumbled upon her story a few months ago while looking at pictures of the 20's & 30's. Of course I had heard of her prior to that but never really read anything about her. There was a movie done about her and I'd love to see it, but will have to buy it to see it, as they don't have it at my nearest video store. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker.

I had a lot of fun doing this book! It really gets your art on ! As you can see my 2 pages are completely different from one day to the next! You can click on the pictures to see them larger. My son came in at 2:30 this afternoon and I had a cold cup of coffee, still in my pajamas thinking it was about 11 & time for another cup! The day just flew by. My son & his girlfriend even cooked dinner! I think I'll keep the mess a few more days and work on some journal covers with some of my angels on the front. If you haven't tried altered art yet what are waiting for? Get out your scissors & glue! Let your imagination take you away! You might end up somewhere you never dreamed of!

Ripped, Rubbed, Painted, Glued & Glittered!

Wow! I got a lot done today! I listed lots of things on Ebay today (new works are in my slideshow) and I started working on my collaborative Indi project which is an altered book. I did 2 pages and I am going to be doing 2 more. Hopefully I can get it done tonight. I'll have the house to myself & I'll be up late! There is lots of room in the book and only 2 more people to work on it. I cut a hole in one page, so I figured I would go ahead & do the pages that have the little something that shows through the hole. Besides the pages that I just finished are a bit busy & cutesy, a little childish, I guess because there are children on it and yes... I used glitter! The next 2 pages will be much more mature. Doing altered art or collage is so messy for me! I have boxes & boxes of things spread out all over. I told you I cut things out of magazines! Now you can see a portion of what I'm talking about! I am posting this picture of my coffee table to show what it took for me create 2 pages, for your enjoyment, or disgust! hahaha It would be nice if someone could put it all away for me! Any volunteers?No? None around here either! hahaha It's hard for me to start with a firm idea. It just evolves and so does my coffee table.

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you are having a relaxing 4th of July! I am. I haven't really done anything today but talk on the phone! The 4th of July for most is full of great childhood memories. I don't have a lot of childhood memories of the 4th. The best that I have are memories I made as an adult and with my children. My father was in a car accident and died on the 4th of July when I was very little, so it was never a fun day for my mother & because of that, not much fun around our house, we were always reminded, and she didn't like us to go anywhere. You know the saying...If mama ain't happy..... Funny how when you're young you swear you won't be like your parents, then as an adult you find yourself doing some of the same things that they did! My husband's band is playing today and I have been having fleeting moments of worry about him driving around. I know it's silly, and what are the odds of me losing my husband the same way my mother did anyway?!

My sister, my real sister, not a Swell Sister, just opened an Etsy shop yesterday! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6012892 She is finally going to sell some of her beautiful photography! Contrary to me, she loves to garden and take pictures of nature.

Speaking of Swell Sister's I gave my first little class last night. Another Swell Sister was suppose to teach the knitting part but couldn't come so I taught both. I have taught lots of people to crochet & knit but always one on one. It was at a Swell Sister's house in Sacramento. She does beautiful glass work. My husband would have gone nuts at her house! It was decorated in all kinds of music memorabilia. The bathroom was done in a Beatles theme & Yellow Submarine. I admire her creativeness. With him being a musician and Beatle fan I'd probably have a hard time getting him to leave! Anyway, I was really proud of everyone. They picked it up faster than I thought they would. Crochet & Knitting is kind of difficult to learn but once you find your groove it's really easy & fun.

Needles & Nice Notices

I am blogging early today! Usually I am blogging just before midnight. Then I start reading blogs and get to bed around 2 am most nights lately!

Today I was notified that I was featured in another Etsy Treasury by Soapyblessings, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5901553. So sweet of her to include me! I listed the coral beach angel, shown in yesterday's blog, for the time being on Etsy today. You can now see a better picture in my slide show & in my Etsy shop. I am going to go paint after this post and will be listing more items tomorrow. I have been kicking around the idea of selling iron-on transfers of some of my angels so that people can put them on whatever they want!

Tonight I am giving a crochet & knitting class. One of my Swell Sisters that was going to teach the knitting part of the meet up can't attend so I will be teaching both, not just crochet. I am looking forward to getting everyone started so they can make a world of things! I am just teaching the basics today, not giving them a big project. I have noticed lots of new jewelery designs incorporating crochet! Some I have seen on blogs & some in Etsy shops. It's exciting to me to see that crochet making a comeback so to speak, not that it ever went away, it just wasn't that popular. Do you think we owe thanks to Jessica Simpson and her ponchos? hahaha

Not so Wordy Wednesday

Paint Paint Paint that's what I did today. I got alot accomplished but I am still working on another beach angel. They usually take me a few days to do one. This one I started a few days ago. I finished up another tree. The one on the right is currently listed on Etsy. The one on the left I believe I will be listing there as well, haven't decided yet. Etsy is very slow. I am trying to make a living at this so it's nice to know that at least I will have a completed listing on Ebay in several days. I tried to take the photo in low light so you could see the beautiful sparkle in the trees, but that didn't work out well, and sorry it's a bit blurry. The beach angel that I am listing tomorrow has a beautiful coral colored background and made the background shells like the ones in her hair. I like the new color. They are all kind of the same so adding a new color was refreshing. She hasn't told me her name yet! I will take better pictures tomorrow and you will be able to view them on my slide show.

It Hurts To Say Goodbye

My favorite paint brush is dying, it's on it's last leg. We only have a short time left together. That's got me bummed. I always have 1 or 2 favorites and when they are off to the "bad bin" it's always sad. It's not that I don't like new brushes, I do, but when I have a favorite that I seem to be able to do anything with it's hard to let go! haha Like when your favorite pen runs out of ink, you replace the cartridge, but it never feels the same until that cartridge almost gone. This might be better left for the psychologist's couch, but I feel the same way about jars! Not all jars, just glass jars. I have a really hard time throwing them out. I have a cabinet dedicated to jars. Should I really be sharing this? hahaha Every once in a while I'll find my jar cabinet looking a little sparse but my husband usually has no idea where they've gone! hahaha That's ok as long as I wasn't the one to do the deed. I do use the jars sometimes. I have no problem throwing it away when it's full of used cooking oil, they are great for that! Leftovers often fit in them and don't take up much space in the frig. Really it's just 2 things I have a problem with. Jars and magazines. I love magazines. I love the ads, the pictures and the articles, which is why I am slowly becoming addicted to blogs! I can't throw away a magazine until I have cut out all the pictures I like or think I can use in some way. It's only then that we can part ways. I have spiral notebooks full of magazine pictures of decorating I like, shoe boxes full of pictures of... oh let's see, ...well all kinds of things really. I actually have several shoe boxes full. My son's big size 14 shoe boxes! One is full of gardening pictures (kind of hysterical because I don't garden but keep the pictures if I like the design), one is full pictures of food (came in handy when I made a collage cookbook), words or sayings, odd pictures I could use for crafts, things that inspired me or could inspire me for a painting, etc... I must say in my defense that this fetish/or sickness came in quite handy when I started doing altered books and collage! I feel a bit of a kinship to wine bottles as well but politely put them in the recycle bin. After seeing this photo of Airlie Garden in Wilmington on Flickr, I hope that it won't be a problem depositing them there in the future! If one friend of mine is reading this she's probably squirming right now, thinking... "let me over there, let me over there! I'll throw them away for ya!" hahaha She doesn't save things or feel attachments to many things. Constantly organizing, getting rid of the old to make way for the new. I wish I could be more like that!

I did organize my paints today and I got some painting done on a new beach angel and I think she will be really pretty when she's finished. I also finished up another tree and aura angel. I will be listing those before the holiday weekend. I try to have my listings end on Sunday nights, but I may not do that, as it seems that 7 day listings on Ebay do a little better than 5 day listings. I mailed out sales today and sold 2 large prints on Etsy. My husband & I met a Swell Sister in Folsom this evening and traded collaborative projects. It was nice to spend time with her and get to know her a little. I can't wait to start on the next one! The one she gave me is for someone else & it's just sitting here torturing me!