Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Mid-Afternoon Update



I decided I didn't have enough projects going so I'm starting on a necklace I've had in my mind for a while. This pic shows the madness that is my desk this afternoon. Clearly I thrive in chaos! :) My new favorite thing is peeking through which is my sigg bottle. This one is my favorite for home. I've really tried to give up the bottled water and filtered water in these bottles is actually pretty yummy.

I had to run an errand this morning and was able to listen to the Diane Rehm show. Today's show was about a guy who raised Akitas in Japan. As the owner of an akita I was hooked! This book sounds awesome and it's definitely being sent in the next round of Amazon purchases. Checkout her show online if you've got a chance. I've included a pic of Maya in case you need some inspiration. She's just too sweet - I'm not bias at all!


In Progress



This is my studio work top as it stands at 1:01 am (cst) and I'm considering trying to sleep again but it's probably hopeless. I've reached the tired but not sleepy stage and these couple of projects are helping my mind to race since they clearly need something but I'm not sure what and I can't move on to all the jewelry projects I want to work on until I clear at least a little space.

I am, however, thrilled to have found a product called "bangle bling" in the $1.00 bin at Michaels. I picked up about 7 packages: gold, silver and mixed colors. They're tiny sequin like things that I think have the perfect vintagey sparkly bling quality (similar to vintage swaravoski but nowhere near as pricey) that I'm convinced all pieces need. All was not well at Michaels as I was horrified to discover that they don't carry crepe paper. This is inconceivable (yes, this word means exactly what I think it does!) to me so that's my quest for tomorrow.

My other comfort, besides bizarre craft finds, is Abby who is never very far away. She's such a sweet girl, to me anyway, and is just a giant snuggle bug - except to the UPS guy (another cutie!) who she's convinced is storming the house with every delivery and requires her to go into full attack mode. He delivered something fairly late last week and we happened to be home. Abby got away from me and made it to the porch. He smiled the biggest smile and said he'd always wondered what she looked like since she always "talked to him" when he had something to drop off. Seriously, how cute is that? She sounds like a 500 pound ferocious beast with her hackles up and the "don't mess with my house" growl and bark but he just looks at as chatting. That is clearly a sign of the holiday spirit at work people.

Tomorrow, I hope to have pics of all the german dolls Rolland and I finally got settled. We did a little bit of eBay craziness and I think I've cornered the market on vintage white german dolls. I do become slightly obsessed with the idea that if I love something I need to have hundreds of that thing just in case catastrophe strikes and they're no longer available. Yes, this is a storage problem and I'm seeking help; mostly at IKEA. :)

Sunday, December 28, 2008

New Year ... almost

We've made it back from our Missouri road trip in time to head north once again. This time to visit my fam in Kansas and ring in the New Year with them. Luckily, I've taken the week off to get packed and then rest up but Rolland has to work Monday and Tuesday so we're not heading out until the crack of dawn on Weds. so not much change from our typical routine. :)

I've got my to do list already for tomorrow and have slotted in lots of art time to get some fun things started. I've also started working on a goals sheet for next year (it's in excel and everything! Not sure when I became that girl but nonetheless I'm risking total nerdom & keeping it). So far it seems doable and not overly ambitious but we'll see how it goes come Jan. 15th!

I hope Santa was good to you and everyone's ready for the New Year whether it's a book, bath and early bedtime (my idea of heaven any day of the week) or a huge blowout bash be sure to make the most of those last minutes of 2008!

P.S. for all the other sci-fi/fantasy readers out there I've been devouring the Nightside series by Simon Green and can't get enough! I'm seriously ticked that I've been blowing off the Amazon recommendation for years on this one! After this I do feel like I need to do some "spinach reading". Any recommendations on books I should checkout that are good for me? :)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Wow, Christmas is almost here!



This year has really gotten away from me. I mean, I am totally wheels off in my shopping, wrapping, decorating, etc. We didn't even put up the big tree! I do have baby trees scattered throughout the house and two in the studio but the big tree just seemed like a lot to bother with when it's just us. I finished up shopping for gifts I had to give today... uhm, this morning! Seriously, I don't know what it is with this year but it definitely got the best of me. I  have big plans for next year though!

In the meantime, I've had some gorgeous girlies enter my life and just had to share. The lovely bottle beauty was made by the fabulous and lovely Maija and she is going to be the queen of the doll head collection I've got going on the shelf by my work desk. The other lovely little girl was made for me by Kecia in an exchange we did a while back. I just love this piece! Kecia creates pieces with these dolls like no one else!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Finally, pics are here!







We've been incredibly busy lately but we've had requests for photos of the new patio. If you're related to us and want to see every tiny detail you can check out the complete set of pics here. Otherwise, I've just included some highlights. :)


Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Woo hoo, Christmas is here!

I know because the annual 12 Days of Christmas exchange has officially started the countdown. Check out the lovely pressies all wrapped and just ready to open! Alas, a few more days until the paper can fly. :)