Happy Turkey Day!

I hope all of those who celebrate Turkey Day have eaten their fill, surrounded by family and friends. I am at home with bronchitis. Hubby took the kids to his parents for the start of a two day mania that strikes annually.
So, I've used this time to upload a bunch of items in my etsy shop.

And a few more... why not take a peek?!
Thanks for looking!

America - GO and VOTE!!!!

What an exciting day for us Americans. We will either have an African American President Elect or a Female Vice President elect! It is great to see people out there waiting in line to go and vote. I hope all of you in the US take part in this historical election. As for me, I will be going out later with my girls and letting them watch me vote. Then, we'll be off to the library! In the meantime, I will leave you with a story of two hapless folk from the Nogwood Forest.....

Bertha is late... She's in her Coven finery and even managed to find the big hatted hat she wears every 4 years. No, she isn't off to the monthly Witches's Cauldron, but she is flying off to her voting polling place!

However, her broom and her have had a fundamental difference with the candidates, and it seems to want to take off without her.... Bertha sticks out her tongue in concentration as she gets a leg onto the broom. The whole time, she's wondering why she ate ALL the Halloween candy.... It's all gone to her butt and making it even harder to mount the wayward broom....
Will Bertha make it? I sure hope so!

Peter was once a young man who never listened to his mother. She always told him to not eat so many pumpkin seeds, because pumpkins would grow out of his ears. He laughed at her and said, "I'm Peter. Peter Pumpkin Eater. Nothing will happen." But it did... And at the worst time too! He needs a picture ID at his voting place, and he hasn't had time to change his Driver's License. Let's face it - it's almost impossible to drive with a pumpkin head!

Will Peter Punkin' Head vote? I have faith he will!

The question is-- Will you?

It's a Birthday a BOGO!!

I've been eating junk food, drinking diet soda and eating chips and sour cream all day!

Hubby bought me one of those coolio Acer teeny tiny laptops that I will be playing with once he sets up my wifi....

Otherwise, I'm listing stuff in my Etsy shop since I'm doing a Birthday BOGO sale...

Buy One get One Free (I decide which one you get free... It may be the higher priced item!)
Free Shipping
Put BDAY BOGO in the comments section and I'll send a modified invoice....
Birthday BOGO runs until 10/26

I will keep adding things while the sale is going on so you can shop to your hearts content!

[link]

How Cool!

I've been trying to list every day in my Etsy shop, and today, I listed some of my glow in the dark ghosts. (I sure do LOVE glow in the dark clay!!!) I got a convo from swirlyarts, letting me know I was FEATURED on Cuteable today! How freaking cool!!!

I am doing a happy dance!

I am on a Halloween kick this week and have listed lots of goodies there, as well as my skull beads... If you take a gander, let me know what you think....

It's been WAY too long!

....Again... I've been blogging in my head....again....
The kids are back in school and I've gotten a tune up on the old knee, so I am raring to go!
As a matter of fact, I've been busy creating ALL sorts of things for this Saturday, September 6th. I will be doing a show at the ArtWay Studio in Damascus, MD! It's been a few years since I've done one and it took a bit of time to unearth my supplies and such in the basement.
This year, I signed up with ProPay and I will be able to take credit cards... So come on out and spend, spend, spend!!! LOL
I won't be the only person there though... There will be nine other artists from the Etsy CREST team. Here's the flyer:


So, if you are in the area, please drop by and visit!

August EBWC Art Deco Challenge

August EBWC Mosaic
Originally uploaded by wMarlaine

Once again, the Etsy Bead Weavers have done an AMAZING job with this month's challenge. I decided to join the fray too... I can tell I am so out of my league with all these talented artisans!
Please take a closer look on the blog and vote for your favorite!
http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

201 Hearts!!

I am SO excited! I went to my Etsy store and decided to peek at how many hearts I had, and I have 201! Way better than just 200...LOL! I was shocked when I hit 100, so to double it is just fantastic! Thank you to all that have hearted me!

In other news, my computer is on the fritz. First it was the keyboard. I had my IT guy (so impressive sounding... It's my hubby who does this kind of stuff for a living....) and he ungunked it, even soaking it in alcohol to make it squeaky clean! Once that was done, my kids wanted to go on WEbkinz (UGH!), but then I noticed that my power was always on battery, although I had the power cord in. I told my IT guy to buy me a new cable, and he scoffed at me.... "Why spend $20 on a power cord? You know I can fix it." So he cut the power cord in half and is working on that problem. In the meantime, I'm on his laptop (fancier and WAY faster!), and I'm at a loss withouth all my icons and programs I use everyday.

Why do I tell you all these things you ask? I don't know... But then again, why are you still reading... LOL!!!
(Yep, I'm a brat!)

Here's What Happened in Week 3...

The girls and I had a blast making critters. We made some canes and then used them for turtle shells. I think they came out pretty cool, if I do say so myself!
Jenny and Olivia went on to make some cows, frogs and polar bears. They are just so talented!



As for me, I FINALLY finished this cuff! Can you believe it? I listed it on Etsy

Proud of My Pockets

I am an artisan that is basically scared of my sewing machine... Well, more like scared that one of my kids will put there hand by the needle and puncture themselves (or me...) So, I usually hand sew everything. It isn't always pretty, but it gets the job done...
Now, my darling hubby has a pair of black shorts that are his favorites and have been for at least 15 yrs... They have been in my mending pile many times over the years and finally, the pockets gave out. He wanted new pockets.... Sheesh!
So, today, I rummaged through my fabric scraps, and made a template and sewed them on. Miracles of miracles, he's got pockets again...
I am so proud of myself!
Just thought I'd share....

I am WAY behind!

We had the second week of classes and we thought we'd try some micro-macrame... But, then we decided that these classes are supposed to be fun, not frustrating! Sheesh! I applaud ANYONE who can do the micro-macrame! I tried to do an earring for over four hours, and they came out hideous!
So, we opted for the lark's head bracelets in leather... That was frustrating enough... LOL

Once they were finished, Robin made a really pretty bracelet with the SLON thread and some crystal beads. (Of course, I didn't get a pic of it....) Jenny decided she wanted to make some dangly earrings... Here's what she came up with:


Then, I showed her how to make the polar bears I make, and here is her version... How cute is he?

So Busy!

I hope everyone is enjoying June... The first two weeks are always hectic here. First the Twins turned (EEK) 7, and then school let out... So I am finally catching my breath....
I was able to make a couple of things in the process!
First, a druzy necklace:

And for a friend (who I hope likes it...) a beaded seahorse:


On Tuesday, I taught a class for a group of girls I have the pleasure of teaching each summer. This is what they made...



I love how they take an idea I had and really run with it! Next week, we are doing macrame and beading... That's gonna be fun!

Have a great day!
and if you haven't had enough of my puppy... here's the latest shot....

Memorial Day

The weather couldn't have been better this weekend and my hubby got out his grill to christen the unofficial start of the summer with his trusted Weber grill. However, the grill had seen better days and one of the legs rusted through.
Would that stop him? NO WAY! He is a man of many talents and grilling is just one!
Out came the cinder blocks...

Then came more cinder blocks... (The dog looks worried, but I wasn't...)

And Voila! He fashioned us a little BBQ grill that was able to make us a wonderful meal.


He made 5 ears of corn, 5 potatoes, two squash, a whole chicken, one large vidalia onion and when the veggies were done, he did four shish ka bobs to boot!
I told you the Man can grill!
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and for those who are remembering lost soldiers, my heart is with you.

Busy, Busy....

I was going to title this post WIP Wednesday, but since it's now Friday, I didn't think that would be a good idea...
The sun is finally out, so I was able to take pix of the new beads and such that I will be posting soon...
Glad the mud is dried up, since after five minutes outside, Samantha looked liked this:

My creativity has been slumping, but I have been workijng on a few projects...
This one is a commission piece that was a Mill Hill purse kit, but she wants it in different colors.  I haven't cross stitched in awhile, so it's been a nice change.  I've already started the beading part, so as soon as I get a bit further, I will take another picture.

This is for a customer that had these amber beads on another necklace, but decided to use her gold chain and have it re-done.  It's been a bit nerve wracking cutting her chain, but this is where we are so far.  We may take off the turquoise though....

Last, but not least, is a cuff I've been trying to finish up, but it's been fighting me....

Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Lookie! PCAGOE Bead Swap

So, you already saw the beads that Linda sent me... So, here's what I made from these beads.

Pretty isn't it?!  I love wearing it and I get lots of compliments on it too!
A couple of days later, I got these beads from Beadworx... I have a few ideas and you'll have to wait and see what I come up with.  (Of course, I am open to all suggestions!)

Here's what I sent Linda:

Here's what I sent Bettina (Beadworx):
 I sure hope they love their beads as much as I do mine!
Happy Beading!

OH Happy (Yester)Day!!!

After MANY days of yukky old rain, the sun broke through and we had some nice weather... If that wasn't enough, I walk down to the mailbox and see this....

Two, I was expecting, and one I'd forgotten about... The box contained this lampwork bead from
http://giapet.etsy.com.... http://image0.etsy.com/il_430xN.15274212.jpg


The one I'd forgotten about is from the PCGOE bead swap... This is from Linda Hartman... Aren't they great?!

The last one is from a friend of mine - Gladys.... I sent her some $$ and she sent me a goodie box...
I think I made out in the deal, cuz besides all these goodies.....

I got THIS!!!!


I SO love this!  See, it's on my wrist, and that's where it's staying!  
The sun is out today, so I am off to play!

Spring is Here! well...sorta....

So I spent Friday and Saturday afternoon outside with the kids and the dogs soaking up the sunshine and feeling happy. This morning, it's 40 degrees, windy and raining... sigh... I just can't believe it's over half way through March and Easter is next week! Where does the time go? I've been a bit more creative as of late, but not much. I listed a few goodies in my Etsy shop...



Our puppy is growing up fast and in two weeks, will graduate from puppy school! Here's a recent picture...


Last, but not least, I couldn't resist showing off my new kid watching device....


JUST KIDDING!!! We moved Samantha up to a new (bigger) crate and the kids were just having a bit of fun.... I didn't leave them in there (for too long anyway... LOL)