I*love*it!!

I have fallen in love with this necklace! I love the colors, shapes and feel of it. I will make myself one-one of these days...I guess the nice thing is if it doesn't sell I can keep it for me-lol.

Here's one of the necklaces I just finished up. The toggle is fused fine silver and the heart is moretti copper red/green. I love the color reactions that color gets! It's got that gorgeous copper patina color, some pinkish undertones that especially pop out from under the clear and a metallic sheen that pops out here and there. It tends to get a somewhat rustic look overall-pretty cool!

Almost

I've got 2 projects under way that are just*about*done. It's amazing-I started both and had them so close then kid stuff happens... I feel like I never can quite finish what I start around here anymore. Between nap schedules varying for 2 little ones (seems like when one goes down the other is waking-agh!) and trying to drag out and sort thru fall/winter clothes or Chloe would be going to school in shorts. It got darned chilly FAST here. So anyhow, I HOPE I can finish those up today and get some pictures taken soon. One necklace I am especially loving and will make one for myself like it......hehehe...

Our neighbor bought a necklace I had listed on Etsy for a friend who is moving and reported this morning that she loved it and had cried-aw-that is always great to hear :)

Over the weekend we celebrated Travis' birthday. One night was dinner with his mom and the next was the "September birthdays" party at my Aunt and Uncles on the lake. Those consist of my Dad, Step-mom, Uncle and Trav. Before grilling out we went on a pontoon ride around the lake. The weather was just perfect-the sky a little cloudy then the sun would burst from behind the cloud and blind you for a moment before going back under...He let each of the kids drive the boat and honk the horn-which of coarse is the highlight dontcha know?! It gave me flashbacks of being little and my Uncle giving each of us kids motorcycle rides thru the country when they lived out there and honking the bike horn and being sandwiched together on there together. How on earth did we fit that many on a motorcycle-safely? Who knows-lol. It brought tears to my eyes a couple of times sitting back thinking how fast times goes by and wondering if one day in their 30's they'll be thinking back to "remember riding Uncle Bud's boat and driving around all those bouy's and honking like crazy?"

Woohoooo!! :)

A huge woohooooo for my friends Kim and Mike who very much deserve the little one (or 'ones') growing in her belly...
Congrats guys!! I'm so excited for you!
~A

Another fun feature~

I was chosen this week to be featured on The Red Door blog-a blog devoted to showing artists' workspaces. I used the same photos I already used on here to do my studio tour so it's not anything you haven't already seen-but it's a very nice article. :) Thanks Kerry!!!
Here's the link if you want to check it out-

http://www.etsystudios.blogspot.com/

Ok Sesame Street fans...

What favorite song of Gabe's do you think we sang for an hour while making these? It's enough to drive a person mad when sung over and over-it's also the only way we get him to sit still for his inhaler as well-lol.

Let's see if this works for ya-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bj9aS0x2r4

Using his muscles to mix...

Thought he was being sneaky but I didn't mind today-

Little fingers figuring out where to place the dough-


We had a cookie picnic on the porch after they cooled-turns out he ate too much dough to enjoy them after they were cooked-lol.
In other news-I'm starting to feel a big difference in how I'm feeling today-no longer as crampy or as tired so that's good! Yea!

Progress being made

The paint has dried and the porch railing is (almost) complete. Complete enough to post the picture. Little things here and there to be added to connect the iron handrails along the steps and stuff like that...I think it looks GREAT and it feels soooooo nice to not have the "haunted house" this year at Halloween-LOL.

It's hard to believe that not long ago this is how it looked...

sigh........I love before and after pictures! It really shows how far you've come :)

fun fun funnnnnnnnnn

kidney.stones.suck.
surgery today.
enough said
sigh.........thank god this day is OVER.

How about a feature?

After being featured on a couple of other blogs I thought it might be fun to feature another etsy seller weekly on mine! Today I'd like to introduce Quiltish by Allisa Jacobs!




What is your etsy name and how did you come up with it?
My Etsy name is allisajacobs though my shop is 'quiltish,' a name born out of my quilting traditions & tendency to add '-ish' to the ends of most words


What is the medium you prefer to work with?
Fabric, fabric, fabric. I am obsessed with fabric. I really enjoy bright cotton prints and am getting into different textures & types.


What other kinds of art have you explored?
Does popsicle stick dollhouse furniture count? That was my gig in 2nd grade. Since then I've explored watercolor, collage, woodworking, embroidery, and crochet.


How long have you been doing what you do/how long on etsy?
I've been sewing for ages. Ever since my first pillowcase in elementary school. I took a hiatus from that after breaking my mom's sewing machine but began designing & creating handbags almost 3 years ago. I only discovered Etsy a few months back and am kicking myself for not joining sooner.



If you have a day job -what do you do?
My day and night job is being a mama to 8 month old baby Jack. Before motherhood I was a special education teacher.


Everyone likes to know about other’s workspaces-tell us about yours.
Well, my workspace was the nursery, but then Jack came. Now, I'm fortunate enough to have a husband who doesn't mind (at least out loud) that I've taken over half of the house. Someday soon I'm hoping to have my own studio in back of our house.


Any certain challenges you’ve encountered with your artwork?Only that I have millions of ideas but am limited to whenever Jack naps.


What’s your favorite part about what you do? I love the fact that my designs will end up in another part of the world, whether it's just across town or across a few oceans. Plus, I am so thankful that it allows me to stay at home with my son, that's got to be the best.

(*aren't these cowboy washclothes adorable?)



Where else can your work be seen besides etsy?
We're just starting to branch out into the world of shops & boutiques. Quiltish can be found at The Fig Tree in Chicago, soon at Milagros in Portland, Oregon...and a few other spots we've got our eyes on. Folks can also keep an eye on the quiltish journey at quiltish.blogspot.com.

You can visit this shop at www.allisajacobs.etsy.com

Chloe's dream house

OK seriously-how freakin awesome would it be to have one of these suckers in your backyard?! I think even I would be spending time playing out there if we had one of these!!



When I first saw this amazing woman's designs on hgtv a few years back I told Trav we MUST do something like this someday! The colors are so much fun too...



Chloe has picked these 2 off of her website and has let Trav know she wants a combo of these 2. She loves the castle feel w/ the stage so she can put on shows and concerts with the neighbor kids (lol-love it!) but likes the playhouse/tower and mokeybar aspect of the other...It may be a challenge to come up w/ something to her specifications but I think it will be fun nonetheless. I hope to make this next summer's OPAM-ha!!

Here's the website-go check it out-awesome!!
www.barbarabutler.com

New experiences

Ackkk!!! Today was Chloe's first day as a busrider. She got up earlier than her alarm and was sooooo excited-I've never seen her get dressed and ready so quick in the morning-lol. I am scared to death-sigh. Ever since some kid got on the wrong bus and dropped off miles from home last year-I've got myself convinced she'll get confused and get on the wrong bus. I ended up writing her teacher a letter asking her to help her out after school-I just don't want her lost in the shuffle with them assuming she knows where to go and what to do. I need to remember she's in 2cd grade and not preK...she will be ok.**(eek)** lol

In the last post-it's a bookmark. :) The leather strip is about 10 inches long w/ one of my beads dangling off the end of it w/ a cluster of little dagger and droplet beads-kinda fun, huh? I made a bunch of bookmarks last year for the Holiday Hall and as gifts (great teacher gift!!!) I changed up the style this year-I hope they go over well. :)

What do you think?

Any guesses as to what this is?

In other news-holding my breath for Kim during her 2 week wait......

A gift for a friend...

I made this for Chloe's buddy Sydney for her 7th birthday. Her mom-my friend Lindsey, had mentioned how upset Sydney was that her first "real" necklace was damaged a couple of weeks ago so I made this hoping it would make up for it and she'd have another "real" necklace to wear. :)

Eye candy

I have 4 things made especially for the Holiday Hall so far. This sweet flower pin is one of them. I had thought about making the bead (it's over an inch wide) into a necklace in some way, shape or form but I'd go back and forth holding it in front of my neck then over on my shirt-and on my shirt won out. The colors are cheerful and make me feel good. I fit doesn't sell I'll keep it for myself. :)

Check back-I'll post pics of other goodies as I finish them up...Have a great day-it's gorgeous out there!!!

Good eats

Our neighbor told us they'd been making homemade pizzas on the grill-it sounded so good we decided we HAD to try it.

YUM! Let me say I am all for convenience food-so making my own from scratch whole wheat pizza crust was interesting...lol. I was shocked the dough rose...

Chloe and Gabe liked "decorating" their own pizzas after the dough had been grilled-and the grill added such a good flavor-You should try it sometime!! :)

My space.

It looks like we're going to have lots of rain and dreariness over the next few days-leftovers from Hurricane Gustav. Bummer since I was meaning to take a few pictures of things I've been working on- but w/o the sun to help me out the pics will look crappy-sooooo...the next few days I'm going to blog about stuff we've done recently, etc. Today's I think will be showing my workspace since I cleaned and took pictures last week... :)



I just love this room-and even more-I love that Travis finished this space with me in mind. It's in a bump out area that overlooks the front porch and yard. It gets gorgeous morning sun (I wish I could find morning time to work in there!) is right off the living room-so I am always connected to the kids. Gabe's new train track has made it's way to the opposite end of the sunroom down by our desk area-but I'm not showing that end of the room-it's not finished the way I'd like it-yet!



On the left is my lampworking area where you see my torch and kiln. I am running off of natural gas and an oxygen concentrator-(under the desk)

The cabinet on the left holds all of my hazardous liquids,etc that need to be locked up from little fingers-the cabinets on the left hold leftover glass supply and all my glass tools-tweezers, dental picks, didy glasses, marvers,etc... The tall cabinet houses all my bead organizers, sterling stock, some painting supplies and all of my heavier tools like my dapping block and dappers, disk cutter,etc.


On the right is my metals workbench and currently where I put everything together as well (hopefully once a new desk is built at the office end I can move down there to spread out to put everything together!) I've got my soldering iron and torch, pickle pot, all my wire wrapping tools, bead and supply organizer Trav just gave me from the garage and the big paper pile is my idea notebooks and scraps of paper I've doodled on when I wake up in the middle of the night w/ an idea...

All my stamping tools, hammers, files,etc are in the Ikea drawers underneath. On top of it is my tumbler. The kids' easel stands to the right for when they feel like getting creative too.

Hope you enjoyed your tour. Better wrap this up before Gabe hits another button and makes me start this over for the 3rd time-lol...

Time is flying...

My gawwwwd-how can it be September already? Jeez...I can't believe it...

This weekend we had a family dinner for Gabe's 2cd birthday. That was fun and Gabe was so cute trying to figure out why this was all for him?! All he really knows or cares about is that "birthday" means "Caaaaaaaaake" (as he says)


He's so excited about his Thomas the Train set he got and has been busy bringing me the packages still set on the table to open-sesame street dvd,cd,rain boots,little people set,books,singing scooter-he's in hog heaven!


School started last week-like I had said before-I cried like a baby that morning when we dropped her off. You'd have thought it was me starting a new school! All these thoughts swirling around-did we make the right choice? Will the kids be nice to her? Will she miss her old friends,school,teachers...? Will she be challenged? Will she like her teacher? OMG how can I leave her at this school we don't know-I'm just leaving her here! aghhhhhh. So now you can see where the tears came from...

So far she's doing just fine and it sounds like homework will start up full force this week. Between school, soccer and trying to cram in as much outdoor playtime in before cold starts to set in she's pretty much a little whirlwind. Of coarse my kid's probably the only girl w/ a Star Wars backpack...She's obsessed w/ Star Wars (just like her dad-hmmmmm-think he's trying to warp her eh?) Oh well, only one girl asked her why she's got a boy backpack...

Now that she's back in school I've gotta get my butt in gear and get some stuff MADE for the Holiday Hall!! Yesterday I whipped up a cute little bookmark, a start to a necklace (just need a great bead for a pendant...) and a personalized necklace for Chloe's friend who's birthday is this Saturday. I'm already starting to feel pressure from Halloween to get costumes started as well. Chloe and Gabe's costumes are planned-I just need to make them happen-ya know? I know I have time but next thing you know it's gonna be last minute and I'll be panicking-just like every year-lol. Just you watch.

A little something for ME...

I fell into a rut years ago by buying things for our home instead of myself...then it turned into buying clothes for the kids instead of myself (ok really-how many cute outfits does a kid need when they're gonna grow out of them? On the other hand-poor mom has NO clothes...) I don't go for mani/pedi's or highlights (why would I? I've been a hairstylist for what-16 yrs? I do it all myself!!!) Here I make all this jewelry for others to sell or as gifts-do I ever make anything for myself? Noooo...

So I decided it was time. I just whipped the pendant on an old chain I have-I'll restring eventually on something different when I figure out what I want. I thought it turned out pretty cute. It was my first time really riviting-hated it with the tubing but may try w/ wire next time-I think it would be easier (maybe?)

Anyhow....tell me what you think?

A whole bunch of nothin

I've got tons to blabber about but no good pictures to go along with any of it...

Gabe's hitting the terrible 2's-just in time for his 2cd bday this weekend. At least it's held off until now-lol. I should've known better than to brag that Sawyer was sleeping thru the night. That came to an abrupt end. Chloe started school this week-guess where? Yep-she got into that charter school-they called at the last minute and offered the spot. Couldn't believe it-what was even weirder was that when I told her we got the call she was totally FINE and was like okey dokey. *Gasp* I was shocked at how great she took it. I actually cried after I talked to them-worried how she'd take it. I hope we don't regret the change.
My dad had hernia surgery last week. He sounds like he's doing better-uncomfortable but better every day I think. Hopefully this will be the last of the medical stuff for him for awhile.
It rained last week and the kids were all out front making mud pies-it was disgusting. Here's a shot-

Been thinking a bunch about that OPAM stuff....I've got this long mental list going that I have had tucked away for when Chloe started school. Now it's here and I'm like ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-gotta get busy! It includes purging the attic, organizing under the stair alcove, making a piece of jewelry for MYSELF for once and getting all the things made for the Holiday Hall at the Art Association-those are due in by Halloween...I do have a finished necklace I just need to get a picture taken-maybe later today...
The porch looks awesome! The railing is up and just needs the cap installed (tonite) and little odds and ends like mouldimg around the columns and some paint. Will show a pic when all wrapped up.

Got a sick one here

Gabe started with a runny nose yesterday-but with how he's been shoving his fingers in his mouth (as many as he can fit!) I assumed his 2 year molars were the cause...It's now a full blown cold I think. He's just a mess. He's awful when he's sick-and that is quite often. He's been thru the gammet of doctors trying to figure out why he gets sick so often and when he does it's bad. Pnuemonia MANY times-I've lost count-5? He's not even 2 yet. Poor guy!

This am he woke at 7:30 and was conked out next to me on the couch by 9. Looks like we have to drag the nebulizer out earlier than I had hoped this year. Been getting lots of OJ down, vitamins and albuterol...

AND...Poor Chloe may have her first black eye just in time for the first day of school!!!! After her first soccer practice of the season Tues night she was playing on the playground and cracked her temple-big goose egg came up and now a bruise is inching across her eyelid as well as a bullseye looking bruise on her temple. :(

The GOOD news tho-is Sawyer decided 2 nights ago to try sleeping thru the night! He's going from 10pm-7am-woohoooooo! Let's hope this keeps up. I like my sleep.

I made some BIG honkin beads yesterday. My favorite cracked before hitting the kiln but I decided to put it in anyway since I wanted to see how the colors turned out and figured I could use it around the house-glue it on something (lol) and it's held together pretty good-crack isn't all the way thru-just can't sell it that way. I've got a few ideas cooking up...

stressed OUT

So I just found out that Chloe is now moved from #5 to #2 on the waiting list for the school we really wanted her at last year but didn't get in. It's a charter school and they have a lotto to get in. It's a great school so it's exciting that she is so close but--and it's a big but-- Chloe is really upset about it. I admit I am really torn and wouldn't know what to do if they called me today. She started bawling last night and said she'd walk in and stamp her feet and tell them to send her home so they would think she's a brat and send her home.
She really loves the school she was in last year for first grade and doesn't want to leave her friends she made there. This is the tough part of being a parent...one one side-the charter school she could be bussed(which would make it tons easier on me w/ loading 2 extra little ones in the middle of winter and her school now has almost NO parking-it's awful) and the charter school offers spanish class which she doesn't get now. Oh-it also goes up to 8th grade-so no switching schools for middle school and Gabe and Sawyer would get automatic sibling preference to get in and they'd be at the same school at once.....
On the other side of the coin-(thinking back) we moved here from South Carolina when I was 10 after 4th grade. I HATED my parents for making us leave. Friends,school,our house-you name it. I know what it's like to change schools and it sucks. Now granted-she could still get togther w/ old friends from there...sigh. Now you can see why I'm spazzed out.
Maybe they won't call......then I wouldn't have to be the meanie...
Sorry just had to blab and get this off my chest.

Trip to the zoo

We took an impromptu trip to St Louis Zoo on Sunday. We hadn't been there since Chloe was Gabe's age so we thought it was time to go back. The weather was gorgeous-they were calling for 78 degrees-it was definately warmer than that but it was still nice.

Gabe on a frog~

Chloe peeking thru the railing by the train station~

Now you knowwwww it was begging for her to do this...

I have no clue how-but Chloe's feet are like dirt MAGNETS-all summer they're like this-no matter what shoes she wears...Here is her dirty foot next to a monkey footprint~

Someone fed the giraffe a leaf-I can't believe how close it came to Chloe-inches from her face~

Seems like overnight Sawyer grew long eyelashes :)

After the zoo we were driving thru Forest Park right before dusk-it was about 75 degrees and PERFECT out-so we ran thru for some fast food and went back, spread out the quilt and had a picnic and let the kids climb around this funky little area we found-was a great end to a great day!

Guess who got herself a new camera? :)

I thought this one was sweet of Chloe and my dad. He happened to stop by as I was messing around w/ the camera the day we got it.




Classic Gabe-wearing my tennis shoes, carrying froggie and playing the kazoo.



I'd like to know how an 8 wk old can have dirty fingernails?



Here-this is for Kim and Mary. Still need to send in my 10 inches I had chopped off...that's the new cam! :) (note: the nice fingerprint Gabe had just put on the lens and I didn't see til afterwards-oh well...

Neat find....

I ran across this idea on another beadmaker's blog today (sorry I can't remember who) but I did bookmark it for future reference. I think it's pretty nifty but who knows if I'd ever find the time to try it out... Who'd have thought-cereal boxes! I've got tons of those! Cool packaging for art fairs huh?????



Here is the link to the site with the pattern.

I have now discovered what I believe is a baby einstein cd shoved in the disk drive of the laptop and can't get it to close all the way. NO idea how I'm going to get this sucker out.

We got our new camera! I've been too busy to learn how to use it very well. There are a zillion buttons and gadgets to figure out-eek! Lots of reading to do.

I made a necklace today! It's similar to one Kerry Bogert made but I changed it around a little. I still need to fiddle around w/ the loop closure for the clasp and it's done! I will attempt to get a picture on here tomorrow. Have I ever mentioned that I hate working w/ seed beads? If not- now I have!

Mosaic idea inspired by Em's blog that I frequent from time to time...

If you try one yourself, leave me the link to your post in the comments.

Here´s how you do it...

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search, using only the first page, choose your favorite image, copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows).

Now, I canot for the life of me make mine any bigger-agh! I really am computer illiterate. Anyhow, if you click on it you can see it better-I think mine turned out pretty good! :)



1. Ophelia's Mother, 2. reflections-thai, 3. Sad Angel, 4. garnet, 5. 246-Sean Connory, 6. Nut Pretzel Danish, 7. Sunset is served!, 8. delight, 9. iStock_000002897292Medium, 10. Product Of Our Parents, 11. بــحـط قــلـبـي بــيـن يــديـنـك هــديـه, 12. he loves me/he loves me not.

The questions:
1. What is your first name? Amanda
2. What is your favorite food? Thai
3. What high school did you attend? Glenwood
4. What is your favorite color? Garnet red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Sean Connory
6. Favorite drink? Iced Cappacino
7. Dream vacation? Santorini
8. Favorite dessert? Cherry Delite
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy, healthy and content
10.What do you love most in life? My kids
11. One word to describe you. Mom
12. Your Flickr name. BellaRhys

Early day & July's OPAM

I'm not usually up this early in the summer. I'm bored. I'm watching Saved by the Bell the college years. UGH.

I COULD be making something but just placed a big wire order yesterday and really need it before I dig my heals in and get started. If I had thought about it earlier I could have fired up the kiln and been doing something constructive-instead I'm watching Zach and Screech in class w/ a chimpanzee that does sign language...

OK-so on to July's OPAM. The porch is not finished. It's damn close though! He does have the columns 1/2 constructed in the garage so this weekend they'll be going up! :) Railing shortly after and I dropped the ball and didn't find a mailbox and house numbers-but love my furniture! Funny to try and do this project for a month thing and the next thing you know the month just flies by! OH! We DID create the shape for the landscaping out front and some out back and had 3 truckloads of mulch put down. It makes it look so much better already-even without plants yet. Here's a pic of how it's looking.....



I'm going tonite for a REAL haircut! How exciting-lol. Concidering I'm a hairstylist I tend to just chop at my own hair but since I'm going shorter I'll have Renee do it for me this time. We worked together years ago. Here's the pic I'm taking in-

I borrowed a neighbor's camera yesterday (thanks Shannon!) so I could take a few pictures for stuff to put on Craigslist and shot a few of Sawyer while I was at it.



Feels like he's hit a growth spurt all of a sudden- moving into 3-6 mo clothes and isn't fitting in my arm the same as he did last week. Since I didn't want to change the settings on her camera or use the flash they are pretty dark-doesn't help that it was gloomy and rainy out. Oh well-I still think they're cute-can see him flappin his arms like a little bird and grinning...



So this morning I go to open the new box of Cheerios and there is a Batman movie action figure in there. I pull it out and it's the Joker. Now is it just me-or is pulling Heath Ledger's likeness out of my cereal box a little disturbing?

Oh ya! So last night Trav went to the neighborhood association meeting and they were selecting new officers-including the new association president since ours moved. He comes home and says welp, guess who is the new president and grinned sheepishly. I laughed and said so does that make me a first lady??? lol-crack myself up...

This was taken on Chloe's bday a couple weeks ago in the Walmart parking lot. (lol) It bugs me not to add pics with each post so I thought I'd just put one up-just cos it makes me smile-what a goof.

Gabe~


*Upon enlarging that pic and looking more closely at it-it would appear that he has a very sinister idea cooking up in his head...I can almost hear a cackle and him rubbing his hands together -mwu-hahahahaaaaaaa!!!

It's been awhile-why? I have no camera-agh! The stinkin thing bit the dust and it's driving me crazy! We had already been looking into a new camera-what timing. Trav wondered if I broke this one on purpose-ha. We've sat and researched and I think we've settled on the new Canon coming out next week-the Canon XS. woohoo! I can't WAIT!!

The porch looks great. The columns and railing aren't done- but we've been enjoying our new porch furniture! If I had a camera I'd show you-lol. It's so comfy.

Chloe's got her first sleepover tonite at a neighbor's house. She's the only girl-lol. I think they'll play w/ pokemon cards all night is how it's sounding...

In jewelry news-I received an invite last week for the annual Holiday Hall at the Art Association. I've got a few ideas of things I'd like to whip up for it for this year...I'll post pics as I get it made- assuming I have a new camera by then :)

Trip to the zoo

We ran to the zoo yesterday with our neighbors. It was Gabe's first trip that he'd remember so he really liked seeing the animals. He was a little nervous, I think, about being in close proximity of the goats while he fed them but ended up doing ok-lol. Man was it HOT out! blecchhhh...



Chloe has a new project she is antsy to get working on. There is now a HUGE box in our garage-so big we can't fit it thru any door to bring inside. (our new porch furniture arrived in it) She's cooking up designs for it. I went to find old gallons of paint for her to paint it with but we can't find what we're looking for and truthfully I'd love to wait til the weather is a little cooler out!

The porch project: the floor is now stained and looks pretty good. I was having a hard time finding stain that matched the ceiling stain color-(long story) but I think we got it! The porch furniture arrived and I LOVE it! It looks awesome and we're both excited to get it out there. I think on Sunday he'll start wrapping the columns and measure for railing. I still need to look for a doormat and flower pots. I'm narrowing down what I'd like to do landscaping-wise out front but we're needing to haul in dirt to build it up a bit...I mentioned this to a neighbor and luck has it-they have alot of dirt to get RID of! (digging down for new patio) woohoooooooo! Good timing. So hopefully the yard will start taking shape soon too :)