A Little R+R.....

Hubby and I are headed out the door for a little camping trip with the family. Back on Saturday.

Meanwhile, have you checked out my eBay auctions?

Busy as a bee............

These photos should give you some idea of what I've been up to. We've finished the home improvement projects for now. We may add a small deck on the front of the house before winter. The circular tree planting in the front yard that I was planning to redo will wait till next spring. I'm not sure what we will replace the landscaping logs with. Probably more of the stone that's containing the garden area on the left. Anyway, we love how it's turned out. All new windows, storm door, exterior paint, exterior lighting, and some upgraded landscaping. It looks so much better. A big, big thanks to our son's for the work they did for us. It was really appreciated and if it wasn't for them we would still be hard at it!
I spent some time with Linkoln yesterday. He is such a sweetie! Our family is going to spend next weekend camping together. Should be lots of fun and I can't wait!
I've also got a couple Ebay auctions starting this evening, (7 pm Pacific). It's been awhile for the Ebay thing. I almost forgot how....And, I've been getting ready for the next local juried art show which is next month. My entry is a necklace called "Row Boss". It fits pretty well with the "Farms, Fields, and Foliage" theme, I think....I hope!

Candy Corn

I know we need the rain but make it stop! The weatherman says clear skys are on the way. Why do I always run out of propane when it's pouring?

I've just agreed to do an art show in September that will be associated with our annual "Harvest Jubilee" Festival held in Stanwood, Washington, on the 18th, 19th, and 20th. I will be one of four artist's chosen to represent Seagrass Gallery in an event that is brand new, and, is meant to connect area art with the community farm festival that's growing in popularity every year. There will be a juried section with cash prizes awarded, (I was excited about this part!). So, I will remind you, as time approaches, to save the date.

Meanwhile, I've been thinking about Halloween. My contribution...a witch's hat pendant.

The thing about creativity......

There are some days when I sit down at my torch and I simply have no idea what to make. I had intended to make a large, colorful set yesterday, with a few different focal beads that I could perhaps, offer for auction on Ebay. Maybe something similar but not exactly like a couple of sets I've made in the past. I chose the glass colors and set the rods on the rack in front of me. I always work from a photo. Usually a photo of my own beads or maybe a swatch of fabric or something from a magazine. I just sat there.... nothing would come. When I finally managed to apply some glass to the mandrel I wasn't happy with the way it looked so I would put the bead in the water bucket with the rest of the mistakes and not-so-great test beads. I did this several times before giving up. I returned to my office and sat at my jewelry station and stared at all the different plastic bins, jars, drawers, bowls, and trays of beads and components, looking for my muse. This is usually where I find her and yesterday was no exception. I have a tray, it's actually a frozen dinner tray, full of lampwork beads that I didn't have a use for at the time I made them. Maybe I made more than I needed or the color didn't go with what I was making or the bead was the wrong size. Lots and lots of different shapes, sizes, and styles all bunched up together. Well, I started playing around with different combinations. Trying this and that, and finally found some beads and components that I was pleased with. So then, I was able to make a list of beads to create for this project and when I went back out to the studio, in a short time, I had whipped all the beads I needed in the kiln.

Creativity can be a fleeting thing at times. At least it is for me. Sort of like writer's block, I guess. It always returns...thankfully.

"Outside The Box" bracelet and earrings in my Etsy store.

Havin' a heat wave!

This quote was taken from our local news station's website.......

"All time record heat suffocated most of western Washington on Wednesday. It was an historic day weather-wise. SeaTac hit 103 - the hottest day ever recorded since records were kept starting at the Federal Building downtown in 1891 - 118 years! Other all time records that fell were: 96 degrees in Bellingham; Vancouver 107, Olympia tied its all time record of 104. Schoolnet sites were even warmer: Winlock reported 110, and Sammamish, Redmond and Monroe all recorded highs of 107."

It's a bit cooler today, thank goodness! This is the first day I've worn makeup all week. There really was no point in seeing a middle aged woman with makeup melting down her face... We hit the pool yesterday afternoon and it was a life saver. Another saving grace is AC in the bedroom. Wish we had it all through the house but we would only need it a few days a year. Most people around here don't have it at all. And if it was your plan to purchase an AC unit after the heat wave hit....forget it!

I did manage to get a few beads made this week. They are in my Etsy store, (unless they've been sold).

4 months old almost.....

Linkoln Log. That's the nickname he's been given. It will probably stick with him the rest of his life. The things we do to our kids. (I didn't have anything to do with it :-).....)
What a Sweetie he is.

SO THANKFUL.....

My house is painted, and, for having amazing, talented sons who come when I call.... Thanks Guys!

My husband and are are the type of folk who don't pay people to do things for us that we can do for ourselves. I'm talking about home projects. We enjoy home maintenance and gardening and my husband is obsessed with lawns, (but that's a different story). It seems we always have a project going. Well, I think I mentioned painting my house in an earlier post. I decided to paint the house with a brush. Yep, I know. What the heck was I thinking! I've done all the painting on the inside of my house. Every room, (but not all at once). I guess I thought it would be just like painting the inside....NOT!!!! It took 4 days to paint one side of the house and a week to paint our tiny little golf cart shed. Hubby and I decided it was time to enlist some help. On Monday morning I called my youngest son and asked him if he would spray my house for me. He said "sure! Is it ready to go today?" When I told him it was he said that he would be over as soon as he finished up what he had to do for the day. He works for a drywall company and business is slow right now with the poor economy. Well, he showed up at 12:30 and was finished painting my house at 5:00. That's 4-1/2 hours to paint an entire house, (minus one side), and that included masking and taping everything off and the cleanup afterwards! I am so grateful that all I had left to paint was the trim and I now can put that project behind me. My son made a few extra bucks from Mom and Dad and saved me weeks of work.
One of the other projects on my husbands list was repairing a rotten facia board on the side of our house. He fretted and fretted over how to fix this board because it was sort of an awkward situation. He even discussed it with the guys on the cul-de-sac but I don't think they were much help. He finally decided to call our middle son, a carpenter-framer-all around build-it kind of guy, (who is out of work currently, also because of the poor economy), and pay him to do the job. After all the fretting my husband did it only took my son about 20 minutes to fix it. When all else fails, hire a professional! I have a third son, the oldest who is also in the construction business, and very good at what he does. It will be his turn for the next project. He is trying to stay busy building decks for people.

Now, to get back to the business of beads and jewelry. I've got a few in the kiln right now and I'm making some more tomorrow. Actually, I'm going to try to be at the torch for the rest of the week but with the temperatures soaring into the 90's, (and possibly 100's according to the
weatherman), that may be a challenge......