Butterfly Brooch

I finished the next brooch & am pretty happy with the way it came out. I beaded it pretty simply since the butterfly cab on its own is beautiful!. This one is also available in my shop.

Otherwise, I'm pretty busy with a custom order at the moment-an order for 6 rose corsages like this one. I am also anxiously awaiting some more beads!

Back to Oil Painting!

My oil painting class is starting up again today! I really enjoy painting but seldom find the time at home to just sit & paint! Between the busy year of an 11th grade child (you've probably heard me moan about this enough!) and trying to keep my Etsy shop stocked, and well, I do have to clean once in awhile. I'm sticking to my exercise regime, too! I'm proud of myself...most days, 20 minutes on the elliptical plus about 30 minutes using the Wii Fit.

The rose sampler box above is my newest creation. I hope to have some oil painting to show you soon!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Cna yuo raed tihs?

I know it's corny, but after the morning I had, this is the best I can do for today! So....


Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.



i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

I Want Spring Back!

The wind is howling here in Upstate NY & the temperature is only 23 degrees. Oh where, oh where is that Spring-like weather that we had just a week ago? It's not that I mind the cold so much, it is the changing back & forth that gets to me. These bones just do not take change well.

To top off another less than perfect start of a day, my daughter's alarm didn't go off. She managed to make the bus; but when I opened the refrigerator to get milk for my tea, I saw her lunch bag sitting there. So now I am on lunch run stand-by. I'm waiting for the message that tells me where & when I can drop off said lunch.

I hope the rest of my day goes better. I'm planning to make a big pot of macaroni (pasta) gravy (sauce). We'll have some for dinner tonight & I freeze the rest--this way I only have to make it once a month or so. In between doing that I plan to get some beaded flowers started or maybe another brooch like the one above. This one is available in my Etsy shop--you can see some of the others in papernclay's Etsy shop.

Happy Spring!

Just wanted to say Happy Spring!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, too!

Creative Challenge #118

For the newcomers to my blog I will briefly explain what the Creative Challenge is. This is a BI-weekly challenge on Etsy to create something to fit a particular theme suggested by the challenge master, Jewelstreet or her partner in this, CindyCreativeCrochet! Participating in the challenges has helped me immensely, particularly when I am out of inspiration &/or ideas! Jewelstreet challenges us to "think outside the box" and come up with a new idea. I know this has worked for me because I have sold nearly every challenge piece I have made!

This week's challenge is to create something involving opposites. Here is the post. I took the easy challenge road since I make french beaded flowers--I created two irises with opposite colors.
They are available in my Etsy shop.

Why not get creative and join us? You don't have to have a shop to participate--you can provide a flickr link.

I Am Blue

No not in the emotional sense! I took a color quiz over at QuizMeme and found out my color is BLUE. Here's what it had to say:

"You give your love and friendship unconditionally. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive."


So...What color are you?
Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

Have a happy Wednesday!

The third brooch

It is a beautiful, sunny day in Upstate New York, 40 degrees, on its way to warmer!
I've done my 20 minutes on the elliptical & 30 minutes with the Wii Fit, and I feel wonderful!

Before I head out to replenish the food supplies, I wanted to share with you the third brooch that I completed. See this original post to get the whole story & see the "before" photo. I am really pleased & have now sent them out to their owner. I hope she likes them!

Yesterday's News

Today, I'm just going to share a little good news with y'all! Sorry about the accent...I had lunch with my Southern (Alabama) friend yesterday & I always come away with a bit of a twang! Btw, it's her daughter that just had the baby.

Anyway, earlier in the morning I had a check up at the Drs to make sure some pills were doing their job. They were. But the really good news is that in 3 months I took 20 points off my cholesterol which I am proud to say is below 200, and I lost 5 pounds! Surely it's a combination, but I attribute most of the dropped pounds to the Wii Fit which I have been using at least 5 times a week for about 2 months now. I still do 20 minutes on the elliptical, too, so you can understand why I was frustrated that I wasn't losing anything! It seems my thyroid was a little underactive & the pills have given my metabolism the needed jump start. Another bonus is that my back pain has almost disappeared. I should probably enter the disclaimer here and say this is not meant as medical advice & these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, FBI, CIA or any other agency ending in a vowel.

To top off a perfect day, we went to our daughter's school choral concert. She is in the concert choir which is a step above the regular chorus. Well, they were last on and afterwards there wasn't a dry eye in the house. They performed several movements from Mozart's Requiem which if you are not familiar with it, is basically a funeral mass-and a very difficult piece for high school choruses to perform. Turns out the guest conductor's (the band teacher) grandfather had just passed away & he had a student read an "eulogy" of sorts. The choir's performance was excellent, and they were backed up by the top musicians past and present from the school as well as all the adults in the music department & adults from the community music store. Her choir teacher, another chorus teacher from the middle school & 2 professionals performed the solos. I was never more moved by music in my life! Needless to say they got a standing ovation.

Thanks for letting me share my Thursday with you. I hope you have a great day today and a beautiful weekend.

And the Winner is.....

I don't have that whole copy, paste, etc. thing down yet, but I used Random.org to pick the winner of my giveaway. As you can see, the winner is #20!


valerie2350 said...

very cute!
happy sits day!

March 10, 2009 7:21 PM

Congratulations, Valerie2350!

My Very First Blog Giveaway!

Today, I am doing my very first blog giveaway-in conjunction with Spring Fling over at SITS. See all the fun stuff you can win here.
My giveaway is the handmade beaded art doll shown above. Her name is Daisy, and she is ready for Spring! She can be pinned on a curtain, coat or pillow. Hang her on some cord as a unique pendant or hang her in a sunny window & watch her shine!

To win all you have to do is the following:
1)Leave me a thoughtful comment
2)For 1 additional entry, follow my blog. Leave a second response saying you are following. (I will so very sad if you stop following after the contest btw!)

The winner will be picked by random.org & will be announced sometime tomorrow.

Good Luck! Oh, if you would like to see more of these, especially some unique animal ones with polymer clay parts--they reside in my artfire shop.

#2 Brooch

I finished the second brooch, shown above. It was rather large & bold, so I beaded it rather simply. What do you think? Here is my original post about the pieces, and her is the post about the first one I beaded.

Not a lot going on today, but be sure to visit my blog tomorrow as I will be having my very first blog giveaway! I am doing it in conjunction with SITS Spring Fling.

Another piece of exciting news...our close friend's daughter is having her first baby today, and we cannot wait! She's a week overdue & they decided to induce her today. Back with the news later!

PS: It's a Boy! Carter Jamieson 8 lbs l oz! Saw a picture already & he has adorable chubby cheeks!

Swaps are Fun!

I recently participated in Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap and was paired up with the lovely Jen aka Blogmama. It was so much fun shopping for my favorite things from her, and I received the coolest stuff from her which I will tell you about in a moment. First, click on this button to learn more about the swap--Mamarazzi is doing another one in April! Go here for more information and to see all the swaps. (I had some trouble grabbing the new button--but I will try again!)Now on to the fun stuff!

Just look how nicely all my goodies came packaged! Each one had a little note attached to it, too. How did she know that I love dragonflies, too?

Along with a nice handwritten letter came the following: notepad with quotes, pens-which I can tell you will become my favorites soon-they're so nice!, a silver bracelet and several beautifully handmade note cards!

Also, some hand wash in a vanilla scent-which happens to be my favorite scent, beer bread mix that looks yummy, orbit gum, Dove chocolates with fun sayings on them and a really nice insulated cup that she personalized with handmade dragonfly paper from her wedding--did I mention I love dragonflies, too? Or that purple is my favorite color?

I felt so special receiving this and appreciate all the thought and effort that my swap partner put into this!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am working on the second brooch and hope to have it up to show you on Monday.

Love Quilting?

Just had to tell you about this neat giveaway from "I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts". Ryan is giving away a fabulous quilted mouse pad! Yes, you heard that right--a mouse pad! What a terrific idea. Go here to enter.

One down, two to go!

Well, the snow wasn't too bad after all. It stayed light & fluffy so it wasn't too hard to plow with the snowblower either. And why were we using the snowblower as a plow? Glad you asked...because the stupid *%@# belt came off again! I think we are going to have to resort to getting out the manual and reading the directions! Oh, NO!

I finished beading the first glass cab for papernclay. I'm really happy with how it came out. It's hard to tell from the photo, but if you tilt the piece it has a lovely aqua shine to it.

Thought I'd share some fun news...Want to win a Wii Fit? Well check out this post over at the "Cool Mom Guide to Fitness"! I already have one as you know, so I won't be entering-get yourself over there, what have you got to lose, except pounds!

Also, Spring Fling is coming up on March 10 over at SITS, in case you haven't already heard about it. Sounds like a lot of fun-chances to win hourly & you also get a chance to have your own blog giveaway at the same time! I'm planning to take part & will give away something I've made. Check it out here!

Have a great Tuesday!

I have the urge to sing...

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! The snow is snowing, the wind is blowing, it is only 18 degrees and yes, school is closed yet again! Surely this must be the last of the days they built in to the school calendar. We were supposed to go to a meeting at the school this morning for Junior parents, about college application procedures, etc, but that was canceled, too.

We have at least 8" of snow already and it ain't over yet! Fortunately, we fixed the belts on the snow blower on Saturday! We've been so spoiled with warmer weather lately, it is humbling to remember that we can actually have big snowstorms right up into April. No wonder I can never get a decent garden going!

I 3/4 done with the first pin I am beading & will hopefully have it up tomorrow. Today will be filled with ironing, making soup and challenging my daughter to some rousing games of Wii Tennis and Bowling!

Hope you're not snowed in like me! Have a great day!