Big brave boy

I am so proud of that little booger. He did so good today when they pulled his teeth! Oh-and the remainder of yesterday was better than expected-was scared they'd bother him or hurt but he did ok...

So today-they strapped him onto a board that's got some straight-jacket thing attached to it. They strapped him in and numbed his gums w/ goo. Then came the numbing shots-which he fought against and cried. He had to lay for about 10 minutes for it to take full effect and we talked and looked at toys as he cried then calmed down then cried over and over again. Once the dentist was able to pull them out (ring side view-*gag*choke*wah!) he gave him a couple stitches and up he popped to pick out toys...They all said he did much better than most they've seen. I'll get some pictures of that toothless grin once his top lip shrinks back down-he looks like a platapus still!-lol.

Tomorrow I need to get all of the jewelry run over to the art association. Today I am getting business cards, price tags and pricing finished up and boxed and ready to go...Yea! Now I can sit back and breathe and start thinking about the holidays...

I've got the queasies...

And lots of tears as well. Poor Gabe fell down a portion of the stairs this morning right onto his face. Correction-right onto his front teeth-which are now pointed backwards towards the middle of his tongue. I've never quite seen anything like it and I promise I will spare you the pictures-(of coarse I had to take a few just to have them-but they literally made me sick to see them afterwards-so no picture post today)

I am in mourning for his adorable little chicklet teeth already. I can't beleive the tooth fairy will have to pay him a visit this young! How much you wanna bet Chloe will point out that he since he doesn't sleep w/ a pillow yet where will the tooth fairy leave him his money? lol

The ped dentist said to come back tomorrow to have them pulled so in the meantime he gets to walk around w/ his mouth hanging open and blood streaming out (nice visual,huh?) He cannot close his mouth-his bottom teeth hit the uppers and push them towards the roof of his mouth. My foyer looked like a murder scene this am and his beloved froggie-COVERED in blood. Luckliy with some peroxide and oxiclean and a good bath in the washer he looks good as new-whew (pretty traumatizing for a 2 yr old to see his best bud bathed in blood)...

Now that he's sleeping I can hopefully get my tears to dry up and get some things finished up around here-a ton on my list to do...

Can't I wait until the last minute?

I hate pricing stuff and getting ready for this show. I hate it. Haaaaaaaate it. Miss Whiney Procrastinator here who has nothing better to do than sit here and b*%&$. Ok...back to work-sigh...

Deep thought of the day~

The past couple of days has me thinking about my life before kids and how it will be until they are in school and beyond...

Having been a hairstylist for 16 years-my schedule had always been 10am-8pm (sometimes later) and including Sat's. Once I opened a salon in our home I was packed-so busy I could hardly eat lunch. It was very profitable and fulfilling but very busy and time consuming-with little to no time left over for myself, my needs, our home, etc.

Once Chloe came along my priorities shifted big time. I went part time, then I went to every other Saturday-family time was more important to me. Laundry had doubled and dinner earlier than 9am became a necessity.

Then here comes Gabe. We discussed and decided not to send him to daycare and to try to keep a few clients around. It was difficult. It ended up good that we didn't send him to daycare since he was a very sickly baby and picking up every germ he could. If he went to daycare I cringe to think of the $ spent sending him there only to be nursing him better at home...

So here I am with Sawyer and Gabe both at home. I have had a few clients call and have made it work. I digress-this is getting long and I need to get to the point...

So I have this friend/client-She was a high school music teacher for years who quit when she had her 2cd child. While home with him she still had her "foot in the door" so to speak-with music and making a living-just not all day full time teacher stuff...She started a show choir for kids from the whole school district to come try out and they travel evenings and weekends to perform at senior centers,other schools,etc. Neat that she created this whole other life w/ her love of music and what she was educated in.

Secondly a lady who runs a veryyy popular chili parlor here in town is calling it quits. She's sold off her family business that she's spent her whole life in (from what I know) BUT the way she's keeping her foot in the door is by still keeping her spices for her famous chili a secret and it going to package them and sell them back to the parlor and other resteraunts out of state...

SO my point is-I feel like I should be doing something with my life-to help our household-somehow-by what I know-but not by doing it. Does that make a darned bit of sense??LOL- NO I know it doesn't.

*If you're still reading*~~~~~So here I am asking for comments, suggestions, thoughts-anything. I know ya'll are visiting me-I see you on my feedjit (lol) so shoot me your thoughts. What on earth could one do w/ a hairstyling background to allow themselves to stay at home still- yet not on my feet for 8 hrs w/ crying babies underfoot covered in hair!?

Making jewelry is expensive. It's doubley expensive when it doesn't sell...Of coarse I am hopeful the Holiday Hall goes well but with the economy these days I'm just not too optimistic. I am convinced that unless you are published it's difficult to really get anywhere in this biz. I love sitting at the torch and creating-it's fulfilling but had also turned into a luxury since it's few and far between that I can have a solid block of time to do this in during naptime-IF I can get them to both cooperate. Which isn't very often. But I DO intend to continue making beads and jewelry...

So please-if anyone has any ideas throw them my way. Sorry for the babble. My mind just feels cluttered today...

Crackin myself up here...

So on a neighbor's facebook page he had this fun yearbook site-I died laughing looking at his different pictures he did of himself. Before I realised you uploaded your picture I was thinking "gee, John had a really weird haircut in high school!!" LOL.

Anyhow...since I'm usually the one behind the camera I played around w/ a picture of Chloe and one of Trav. Here's the photo I used...

And here he is in "1970" (I think)
LOLLLLLLLL.
You've gotta go to that site and upload some pix and check it out. I gave Chloe a Farrah Faucet do...

Saturday

I just thought this picture was so cute of all of them lined up watching the game. Chloe's getting SO good at soccer. It's taken awhile for her to get aggressive and not shy away from the ball anymore.

There is nothing new to report here-it's been fairly boring. Think I'm finished with the pieces I'm sending over to the Holiday Hall. I still need to tweak the toggle necklace-thinking a round toggle may be in order........er. I hate when I picture something in my head and it doesn't turn out how I want.

I have a commissioned piece that I need to find a finding for which is driving me berserk and a birthday necklace to whip up BUT the beads I had made and set aside for it have disappeared! It's just been one of those weeks...Now I have to sit myself down and figure out business cards and price tags and get it all priced and ready to go. Funnnnn times.

My little artist...

We had our neighborhood fall festival yesterday (which happened to fall on our anniversay-eek-12 years already?) There was lots of pumpkin decorating, face painting, kids games, a firetruck visit and a chili cookoff finished up with smores by the firepit...The kids all had a blast. I started face painting then there was a lull so I wandered off. When I came back by the table I found Chloe with a line of little girls and she was busy as can be...

Gabe's so funny-when he concentrates his little tongue sticks out of his mouth...
Here's my brave (stupid?) husband attempting to ride the neighbor's unicycle...You'd think he'd have learned from his skateboarding adventure a few years ago when he shattered his elbow. Nope! Not him! Luckily there was no ER visit for our anniversary-lol. He's now even talking about wanting to buy one...God help me.

Wanna play?

As I struggled against yawning at the school board meeting the other night I found my eyes wandering around the room. I had never noticed all of the children's art projects decorating the walls before...


When I saw these "playground paper scultures" I thought 'what a cute project for Chloe!' So yesterday after homework was done and reading minutes recorded we got to work on our playgrounds!

Gabe is having so much fun with it-who knew!? I drew a stick figure on a strip of paper and he makes it walk all around "doo doo do doooooo" (gotta have the sound effects) and makes him swing and go down the slide-lol. It's so cute! Chloe ended up taking hers in today to give to her teacher :)

A Walk to Remember

Here are a few photos to share from the walk on Saturday. It was a beautiful day.

Our group of balloons we sent up. Blake's is the blue one, the other 3 are for our friends Kim and Mike and their daughter Isabel and their twins.

Chloe- writing a message to her brother

Gabe spinning the pinwheel that we plant in the "field of dreams"

Balloon launch-all of ours stayed together for a long time-you can see them in the center...

Gabe-facinated by the amount of balloons above him

Time

It really does fly...I can't believe he's already 4 months old. We've really been blessed-he's such a good baby! This new finger sucking thing is just cracking me up. Chloe and Gabe both took binkies but Sawyer is all about those fingers! :)

Show and tell

Here's another I finished up last week. I feel like it needs tweaking to make it lay right so I'll be fiddling with that...I love glass toggles!

Yesterday was a long emotion filled day. We went to the yearly Walk to Remember at our park. It's put on by the Share program in memory of babies who have passed away. It's near and dear to our heart since we lost our son in 2002 when I was 5 months pregnant. It's a nice time for rememberance each October. We also received the Angel of Hope statue in our park! That's a HUGE deal and the dedication was yesterday after the walk. Chloe and I visited this morning since yesterday so so packed we weren't able to get up and read the plaques w/ names on them. Of coarse I get there and my camera battery was dead since I left it on yesterday-sigh...

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.