HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well I can finally show the necklace that I made for my Sister.  She opened it Christmas day at my Mother's house and although I wasn't there to see her expression she called later and said she liked it.  It was my favorite and I made several different necklaces.  It is made with fresh water pearls in the warm color they call chocolate..  I liked it so much I bought two other colors and want to make more now that the Christmas rush is over.  These are 10 mm. Pearls and just breathtaking with Chrystal beads as the focal. The over all length is about 18 inches, and each pearl is knotted on each end. They are fun to make.

World of Dreams and Make Believe

Well.....I had a lot of fun with that last post. Many people didn't read to the end to see that it was all a spoof. I know personally I hate that person...the perfect person.  The one that is always ahead of me with their shopping, wrapping and decorating.  Spotless house, perfect children. You know the type.....the Martha Stewart type...I on the other had was trying to gift wrap on the kitchen table that was loaded with this that and the other.  Shoving it from side to side instead of clearing it off first.

This really is our house.  My husband does it every year.  It seems to grow in the glow every year....bigger. He enjoys it and the whole town enjoys it so it is worth it. 

I hope everyone has a Blessed Christmas with family and friends..............spread alittle joy and kindness.  DIANE

How to Relax and Enjoy The Holiday

Yes I am finished with all my shopping.  Everything is wrapped with lovely little bows and glitter sprayed pine cones that I gathered while walking my three mile after Turkey Dinner walk.  The tree that my husband cut is lovely this year.  I like to change the theme every year and this year we choose green and gold. It means that I have to change all my decorations but I love starting fresh every year. Buying all the lovely ribbon and tying up over 100  6 inch bows to go with the new gold balls that are all glittery.  I have my cookie making stuff all fresh and will try a new recipe this year.  I haven't decided which six types I will use.  I always make six different kinds.  I am going to try a new fudge recipe too.  Found one that sounds fabulous with chopped cherries in it.  I love Christmas. I would love it more if I was Martha Stewart. If I had a staff of twelve or so......In my dreams all of the above would be true..still it is fun to fantasize...Hugs to all and I am sorry I have been gone for so long.  I lost my background and haven't had the time to find it. I have been busy making Jewelry and hope to publish it soon.         DIANE

Thankful

As the end of the year approaches I tend to reflect on my life.  The things that I have enjoyed, the people who have enriched my life. Growing another year older, the love of family. My aging parents and the troubles they are having almost daily it seems.  I think a lot about the loneliness's they each have, having lost their partners in the last few years, living alone. The unwillingness to change and downsize their homes.  The forgetfulness that comes with age and the memories of their childhood that become so strong. Stories that I have never heard are coming out.  The bike that they shared with their brothers.  One bike and three kids.  This week my mother-in-law locked herself out of her car with the groceries on the front seat. Today the locksmith comes to open the car..luckily she didn't by ice cream.  My mother got out of the hospital only to find that she couldn't get in her house.  The neighbor that so lovingly took her to the hospital, carefully locked my mothers purse and keys inside the house. Luckily my niece found a front door key.

Yes, it is the little things in life that we can be thankful for.  Family, friends and the creative moments.  Mostly our health I guess.  We don't always think about it until someone we know is going through ill health.  So I give thanks for all I have and I pray for the ill, the lonely, the out of work, the down and out and the hungry............DIANE

A Charming Swap

Lost in WEB land....................I had a post all written and somehow lost it out there. Anyway to make it short and sweet this time, here are the charms that I received from a group that I am in.. It was a fun swap and I'm glad I could fit it in......Have a beautiful Day.......DIANE

Just in time for Christmas

Tricky to photograph....these necklaces are long, and not real easy to photograph. I cleared off my mannequin to show the length. The last one is done with copper chain. They would look good worn with a plain chain or two of different sizes. I will list them on Etsy as soon as I get a chance. It is quite a process to photograph, up-load and re-size and then up-load to Etsy and do all the descriptions.....really sorta a pain...It goes against the artist in me to even sell my stuff...that's why my collection of stuff I have made is bulging to overflow. I did better selling my stuff local. It is a touchie/feelie type of thing.................Have a warm and fuzzy day................DIANE

Be Yourself

Be yourself......I always start my blog with the picture. That leads me to what I will write about. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes I don't have a lot to say, or a lot of time. Right now is one of those times when I feel I should be up doing something else that is on my long list of things to do today.

This card was made for a swap I am in. Wish I could do more swaps but this is a busy time of year for me at work. This was the first card I made and I had a hard time letting her go. But it will be fun to see who's work I get in return. Have a creative day, work or play........DIANE

My little treat

I tried to get this picture of our little dog in her Halloween costume loaded on the 31st. but the system must have been on overload or something I just couldn't get it. Anyway here is Tilly. She has been dressing up for the children for nine years now so she is a pro at it. We have a parade of grade school kids all in their costumes and they always delight in seeing her dressed up. This year I wasn't much in the mood for it but at the last minute went to her past costumes and put her in her very first one so no one would remember. She was way too little for it then but it was fun. Anyway I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. The time is just flying for me...........Hope you have a beautiful day. DIANE

A Charming Life

A friend always graces us with her homemade sugar cookies. Last Christmas I hoarded them and was a little embarrassed....But they are so good I just didn't want to share. Shame on me.

This is another shot of a day we had in Oregon...It was so beautiful and I always feel renewed when I go to the Ocean. The Sea, the sand and the air.

Just had to share another picture of our new fence and the fall colors of our Snowball Bush.

And some Art...Charms that I made to trade with a group of friends on line. I made ten different charms out of scrabble tiles. Can't wait to get mine from ten other artist. Well I am off to work and if I don't dry my hair soon I will look like a bed head....uggg. Have a beautiful day. Breath in the fall colors, put on a pot of beans or bake something sweet......Hugs, Diane

Oregon Coast

We had a wonderful visit with our son and daughter-in-law. The Grand kids are growing and changing so fast. We got to watch our grandson TJ play a football game. I didn't know they started them so early. He is 10 yrs. old. The little 2 yr. old is a ball of fire. Always on the go and very independent. We had a fun trip home along the coast of Oregon in all its fall beauty. The weather was wonderful and 65 and sunny. This is the place we stayed at on the beach. Would love to stay there again it was great. Have a great weekend...DIANE

Good Wishes

This quote has been sitting on my desk for a year. Yes I have little piles of paper stacked up on my desk next to my computer, and some of them have been here a long time. Call it my filing system if you wish......anyway it some how worked its way to the top of a pile and I wanted to share it with all of you. The problem is I don't know who wrote it or even where I found it (before it came to the top of a little pile). If any of you know the origin or the author please let me know.



GOOD WISHES GREET THEE
GOOD FORTUNE SPEED THEE
AND HAPPINESS CROWN THY LOT.

I just love it.

Here are the SKINNY'S I made. They are called skinny(3"x6") because they are smaller than
a postcard (4"x6")and not as wide
as a CHUNKY which is 4"x4".
The theme was "These are my Peeps" or bird people.
A very fun theme.

Have a happy weekend...........DIANE

For The Love Of It

The latest necklace's that I have made were shorter and lighter in theme. I am still using the lovely background which is a beautiful box that is also used to store the finished product.

I have once again broken down my studio and put away most of my beading stuff. Then I realised that I
had joined a charm swap in a altered art group that I am in. Luckily everything is still pretty handy so I didn't have much to do to find the things that would be used in my charms. It was fun to get out my scrabble tiles again. More on that later.

I was really missing my friends on
the site and the fun of trading so...
against my better judgment I joined
a few more swaps. One is a postcard
challenge. Just one card so that
won't be too much and the other is a
Swap of five SKINNY'S. A skinny is
smaller than a postcard 3"x5". The
theme is a fun one and I will keep that
to myself until later. I will share the finished
project later.

Have a creative Sunday and don't forget
the Creator............

A Much Needed Vacation

Finally ready to get back in the swing of things. We had a wonderful 10 days away from work. It is always hard to get back in the groove. We stayed at my Mom's house and helped her with odd jobs that needed to be done, went out to dinner. My sister and her boyfriend came over, they cooked us dinner. My brother and his wife had us over for brunch. If it is starting to sound like all we did was eat you just about got it.
Yesterday was my Dad's birthday and while we were down there we took him out for lunch...........get the picture.

Oh but the highlight of our trip was the children. They change so much between visits.
My Sister's two youngest came to see us as they are
both in their twenty's with jobs and partners. We were
so pleased that they would take the time to be with us.
We didn't get to see her oldest son who has a 10 yr. old
and a two year old. Missed them.

My brother's oldest daughter has just
had her forth and it was the first time
we got to see her. She is getting ready to
crawl..Next time we see her she will be
walking and talking.....It is so sad to only get
to see them once or twice a year. Their beautiful
red headed daughter came over to see us too.
She had just returned from a trip to Washington state.

My brother's son and his wife just had
their second baby and and we were
lucky enough to see him when he was
brand new. And boy is he cute.

These pictures were taken around
my Mom's home. It is a beautiful
place to just sit and do nothing.

Abby a Gift From the Sea

A gift from the sea, the earth and me.

In my quest

to make lots of jewelry

I have found that the most beautiful things come from Mother Earth. Sea and stone and butterfly's. Have a beautiful weekend.

And lets not forget the tragic day eight years ago when our country was under attack. The lives that were lost and the Hero's that saved so many. And those today that serve our Country in distant places so that we can remain a free nation under God. DIANE

Lazy Afternoon

I have been on a Jewelry Kick lately. My old art light burnt out and I had to buy a new one. I up graded to a bigger model with a nice big magnifying glass attached. It took me a while to get the hang of it. You know how your work space is set up and everything has a place. Well this light has a larger base and a bigger (longer) light head. So after bumping my head a few times I moved everything around and set it on my right instead of in front of me. I am learning to move the magnifying glass to suit my back. I still catch myself looking over it but all in all it is much better. Really helps on the beading.

The bottom picture is a collage I did of my grandmother. I took a lot of pictures to see which set-up compliments the jewelry and which detracts. I probably took 100 pictures of several pieces of jewelry I made. Thank goodness for digital pictures.

Last time we were in town I bought a external hard drive to store all my pictures on. Get this......It is one tera bite. I had never heard of it either. Can't really understand how much a gig is...Tee...don't you just love talking computer language??? Anyway 1 TB is equal to 1000 GB. Lucky for us BEST BUY has very helpful young people that will talk slow and try and get you to understand...The boxes are also giving more information. This one tells me it will hold 285,000 JPG's...LOTS OF PICTURES.

I haven't decided if I want to remove from my computer all the files. Might speed up my pc a little or take a chance on loosing all my pictures if my pc crashes. Humm.....I almost never back up my files. baddddd.

Well I guess I will get with my lazy day and throw in a load of wash and head for my messy art table and sort out some beads that have been getting stirred up with a big stick or some Mad Artist.....................Have a creative day. DIANE

Fall is in the Air

Fall is in the air this morning and the temperature is down to about 40. I love when the weather starts changing. We had a wonderful summer, very pleasant temperatures not too hot. Mostly I guess we just appreciate it more after all the smoke last summer and the fires. I feel bad about the So. California fires. Hopefully they will get a little cooler temp. today and maybe even a little moisture.

The flowers here were purchased from the little flower shop here in town. My friend owns it and does such lovely work. I love having flowers in my house, so every now and then I have her make me something. She knows my moods and I told her I wanted something WILD, FREE AND COLORFUL. I think she captured my mood well.

These are the two quilts I bought at the QUILT AUCTION. The one below is called the Underground Railroad, the work is perfection. All the points match and there are many of them. The machine quilting is so fine and detailed.

Have a beautiful first day of September.........DIANE

Caught in a Road Block

On the way to visit our Grandson's last weekend, there was a road block for the construction along our road to town. We caught it just right and only had to wait about ten minutes. I put my window down and saw this face on the side of the hill. Of course I had my Nikon Coolpix S60 handy so I quickly took a picture of it. I wasn't sure if it would show up or not and the traffic started moving. Later that day I pulled it up on the screen and there he was. The Indian Chief.

We all need to slow down a little on the highway of life and take some memories. This week is our County Fair. I am looking forward to being off work on Saturday and taking some time to just sit and visit with friends, watch the Quilt Auction and eat some junk food....................Have a fun weekend. DIANE