Assembley Line

A couple of weeks ago I finally started working through some of the piles I had made on my desk and turned them into actual jewelry. It was fun to use all the bits I had collected and the hubby was especially excited since it didn't require a visit to the bead store, Michael's or Home Depot.

I've been gathering up the metal pieces as I find them and the little saints medal was leftover from a project I did at Silver Bella. I love the delicate brass chain even if it tends to tangle.



I had wanted to add this charm to turquoise and coral beaded chain but decided I really liked the simplicity of the simple chain. Luckily I have a few of these deers so I might experiment with these.



This necklace was super easy and made with leftover chain with beads and center charm purchased at Michael's with the super awesome 40% off Blue Moon Bead coupons... I really stock up when I get those!



The pieces parts for the above necklace.



Plan to see if I can find some super cool things this weekend. Added a few bead stores and fun shops to the list to visit. I'm not sure if I'll get a blog in before getting back in to town but I'll tweet to keep up with the doings (saying from my Grandpa that I'm not sure I really understand).

Have a great weekend!

Silver Bella Pics

I didn't take as many pics as usual but I did snap a few with the iPhone. Instead, I had a great time and was caught up in actually enjoying the festivities forgetting to take my camera out of the bag!

Silver Bella Day 3

Ok, I skipped day two since I was swept away in the awesomeness that was vendor's night. I've had the most amazing time. It was the perfect weekend to get away, create and recharge. I promise pics and links in the next post. For now, I'm heading to bed early and making my way back to Big D on the early flight out. Ready to be home with hubby and puppies.

Hope everyone's weekend is also greatness.

Silver Bella day 1

I'm loving Omaha & Silver Bella. We had our reception, dinner & group project tonight which was greatness. Stephanie Haliman (?) from Fiskars led our group project and we ended up with a lot of goodies. I've also managed an initial trip to Second Chance antiques so lots of super cool stuff purchased. I'm slightly worried about getting it all home but I refuse to get bogged downin pesky logistics! Now, book & bed since tommorrow is a big day of Gorky goodness including the Vendor Faire. See not worried a bit.

I get to go to Silver Bella ...

And this is what Rolland will be doing while I'm gone.




I figured if I get to have a girly weekend he should be able to have some weekend fun as well. This meant the new Call of Duty game, including night vision goggles, and getting to sleep late.

Happily, I've also got most of my projects wrapped up so I can head off to Omaha guilt free. These are the 12 Days gifts all wrapped up and heading out across the globe.

More and More Marie Pages

I knew the Marie swap had the potential to get out of control so I've been mailing my pages all along. I did take advantage of a couple of extended deadlines to squeeze in a fewer other projects but now they're almost done! These are two that have been in progress and I've got a couple more in different stages of drying. It's been super fun to spread out and try new things. I feel a little conflicted since I think the idea was to be super romantic and frilly but I've been loving Teesha Moore's stuff more and more so some of these pages just seemed like the perfect place to try some of the graphical elements that are so prevelant in her journals. If you like her work, follow her blog to see some of her awesome videos of her how tos.

I hope everyone's having an awesome weekend and getting in some outside time with this gorgeous fall. In a couple of hours I'll be lunching on the patio with Bo and then hitting Sur la Table for pies & tarts class. Next week is Omaha and Silver Bella! Woo hooo!

New Day New Post

I'm feeling much better about the world and my general state of well-being. Well, except for the part where I whacked myself in the head with the car door while trying to load the puppies in the car for doggie day care - seriously, clumsiest person on the planet. But even that doesn't have me down. Today's the last day of work before the holiday week and I plan to spend tomorrow with the puppies in the new studio. I've got tons of pics to show of the new construction on the patio, arty goodness and finally Silver Bella updates, whew! Big plans people, big plans!

But, in the mean time, I wanted to share a quick link with you in case you've been looking for a special way to give for the holidays. Kelly Rae Roberts has an incredibly inspiring story on her blog today. Check it out and if you have the means, give a little something to start the holiday season.

Drawer of Bling

I'm back from Omaha and get settled into daily living again. I had a great time at Silver Bella and loved meeting all the ladies. The event really helped get me into the spirit of the holidays. I'm thinking there could be decorations going up pre-Thanksgiving! One of the best things about the Bella event was it's location in a hotel directly across the street from the Old Market downtown. it didn't take long for all of us to hit the streets and stock up on the goodies.

I found the Second Chance antique store on day one and visited 3 times! This accounts for my new drawer of bling. This store was awesome with a little bit of everything! I added to my lusterware collection, picked up a ton of old photos and, of course, I stocked up on all things that sparkle! These are going to make some really lovely new pieces. I know what I'm working this weekend!

Happy Wednesday guys! It's almost the weekend and gorgeous pre-winter weather (hopefully!).

Silver Bella

I made it! Silver Bella registration and name tag are in hand and I've finally got a list of my classes. I guessed mostly right. :)

Downtown Omaha is lovely and they have two independent bookstores that I've managed to find! There are lots of fun little shops and a couple of super cool galleries. Strangely, one of my favorite purchases from the gallery is a pair of socks. They are really cute.

It was kind of rainy and overcast this afternoon so it was perfect for the coffee shop I found tucked away in... wait for it, a bank. Yep, it's a combo bank and coffee house. I did hesitate for fear hot chocolate had now reached the point of requiring loan papers but no problems. Cozied up in a chair and waited out the rain with a book perfect afternoon!

I would also like to encourage antique and vintage clothing lovers to visit Second Chance. The store was ready for the Silver Bella ladies with tons of paper products, gorgeous rhinestones and everything else our heart desired. I even found a few things I had know idea I needed until now. But a few new lusterware pieces are mind. Suitcase logistics are to be worried about later.

Now, I'm off in search of food. It was beer braised pot roast for lunch with an incredibly tasty smoked gouda soup. Now I'm thinking a sandwich and chili would make my night!

Packing, Packing and more Packing

I finally got all of my presents wrapped and packaged ready for mailing. The ugly doll pretty much sums up how I've felt this week. It's been insanely busy at work and I've just now started packing for my Silver Bella trip which has been made remarkably more challenging by the lack of class list. It didn't occur to me to keep my list that I made when I signed up thinking I would get a confirmation, registration information or something but nope nothing. I'm packing based on the classes I think I signed up for with a little extra stuff. I'll see how it goes.

I've been incredibly unprepared and not really ready for this getaway. I've somehow missed that there was a blog with all kinds of cool updates and didn't really start hoarding the supplies like I normally do. I had an anxiety attack Monday night thinking it would be like going to school with a 24 pack (or the dreaded 16 pack) of crayons when everyone else has the 48. I know about the 64+ but just felt like that was too much. Even then I had my limits.

The husband has been awesome and we went tonight and got some super cute aprons at Anthropologie. This one and this one. He's fully prepared to deal with my particular freak outs and craziness. At the moment, he's searching the garage for large clips. Seriously cute. Worse comes to worse he's assured me I can hole up in the hotel with my millions of books and magazines and just relax for 3 days and that could potentially make all the difference in the world in my mindset. Yep, he's a keeper. I think he might be ready for my trip and a slight break for him and the puppies. I'm betting he's planning what to watch and meals that require no consideration for anyone else. I think there's steak and a million action movies involved. :) We may hit the new James Bond on Sunday on the way back from the airport.

That's it for the rambling. I'm taking a blog break while in Omaha since I refuse to carry the laptop if I don't have to but I will be twittering from the road so those updates post in the right nav or follow directly on twitter.

Have a great week guys!

Hitting the road

It's almost time for the boys and I to hit the road again. This time we're heading for Omaha to Silver Bella. Hopefully I'll be able to wrangle all my supplies and clothes into one suitcase since it's just me and the animals. Rolland's staying home with the puppies since an over the top girlie weekend is not really his ideal trip. :)

Otherwise, it's been fairly quiet in the Lone Star state. We've enjoyed gorgeous fall weather but I'm ready for winter. Omaha and cold weather will be awesome! I can fully enjoy my Uggs and sweaters. I tried to pull it off here one day last week when it was in the 60's but ended up more than toasty and drove home in my tank top and socks to cool off! Clearly I'm a cold weather kind of girl.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Fall in Texas

It's almost fall here I can feel it! Well, mostly I'm trying to will it into fall so I'm taking the 70 degree high as a sign to wear boots and sweaters. This week I was supposed to go to LA for a class but work has been crazy since my return and I can't really justify heading out for another 3 days but I'm already thinking of my goodies for Silver Bella! I can't wait for all the girlie fun.

Instead, we're going to do some housekeeping this weekend - I like to fall clean instead of spring clean - and hit the farmer's market. We've been doing pretty well about eating at home since getting back from the trip. All the restaurants were super tasty but I think we have a little bit of restaurant burnout. If it really is fall temps, we're opening the windows and putting on the vegetable soup!

p.s. In case you were wondering about the odd photo, my Pegasus pic is being used on this guide. Not a big deal but I thought it was kind of fun.