Lots of things to get ready for - Fall is fast approaching!

here is what i've been working on the last few days.

picture #1 - this is an assemblage that i just started playing with. it is a cheese tray glass dome, a chintz plate, vintage ribbone and a nest. that is all i've done so far, but i see great things in its future!

picture #2, #3, & #4 - this is a retro frame from the flea market - kind of ugly. no glass, etc. so as i was doing bottle cap charms, i grabbed it to lay the bottle caps on to dry. as the selection grew, i thought it look really cool! so i made a centerpiece with an exlarge bottle cap and a soldered piece of glass and there you have it! i love this piece! and it was all by accident. i 'm going to make a smaller version on 2 pieces i got at a thrift store.

picture #5 - i really like this. it is just cool! i did a glass slide pendant, then cut with tin snips - a tin i had holding stickers into wings. did some weaving with "fun wire", used a rub on and then added some beads. now i just have to figure out what to do with it from here! any ideas?

I am in the process of doing 2 shows. the first one is Sept. 1st at Ocean Grove, NJ. I did this show the year before last and it was a lot of fun. very eclectic crowd. the next show i am doing is BLACK FRIDAY! i did this show last year and made $1600. so right now i am in work my ass off mode! need to produce lots of treasures.

also, in the works for my schedule is Artnsoul in October. I've started gathering my supplies (i'm taking classes every waking moment, so lots of supplies to cull.). then i've got Artfest coming up in April, which i am totally psyched for. i will be getting to see a lot of friends at this event and make more friends. my friend, Jan, from Texas is going and my friend, Lindsay from Tennessee (or maybe she is from there and lives elsewhere - i'm forgetting now!) also got the green light to go - YAY!!!!!!! and then my buddy, Kim, from Ohio, who i also met online and then face to face at Artiscape is going. She will have Julie with her and then others from her posse that i'm sure i will meet. Lindsay and i will try to get into the coveted "private" rooms. if we each don't get a private room, then we will share a room. uh-oh, what if lindsay gets a private room and not me and then i have to share with someone else? or vice versa? i think we might need a pre nup on this one! lol. kim, julie and her friends stay at a B&B and then Jan is bringing her beloved Frank with her, so they will stay in town as well.

so what else? for my birthday, (Sept. 19th - HINT HINT everyone!!!!!! - look i am a twin and always had to share my birthday, so as an adult i am a birthday hog! i can't help it, i like that to be my one very special day - does that make me sound like Forest Gump?) Why do you think i made that Miss Universe caliber tiara? anywho, i have decided to take a trip to Ohio to visit kim and julie! i've been promised lots of exciting shopping, thrifting, drinking, good food and fun - so how can i not go? COME ON!!!!!

October brings on Artnsoul, where i will meet my new BFF, Jan! she calls me little ninjja - so i love her! she is from Texas and just too cute! we spoke on the phone a few days ago for the first time (it is always email with us!) and it was really cool to here her voice! we will be exchanging "surprises" for each other and i can't wait! i'm almost finished with her "surprise". Also at Artnsoul, i've taken on some roomates. first will be Sammy who just needs a room for one night on thursday - glad to have her! then on fri, sat and sun, i will be hosting Lisa Myers Bulmash. can't wait to see them - probably right before bedtime!

Come Nov. I am to fly to Nevada for my father's 70th birthday to be held in Reno. I will be taking my son, Dillon. The event will be at some casino in Reno, can't remember which one. I am going because my dad asked that of me (which he doesn't make a lot of requests.....), but you must know that i absolutely DREAD going and get queasy thinking about it. Some of you know this of me, but many others don't: my older son, Tucker, who is 17, almost died in Reno. He was 16 months old and had to have some "elective" surgery for croup. the croup was not clearing up and was diagnosed by the ENT as "infectious trachyitus" or secondary infection to croup. Croup is a common childhood virus and it involves the trachea. yes, there was some concern, but it was never an emergency situation. The elective surgery involved traching tucker so that he could breathe through this tube in his neck, bypass the trachea and thus reduce the swelling. Tucker was the last case of the day and maybe the surgeoun rushed, but he used the wrong size trach on tucker. When he placed the trach, being the wrong size, he ripped a hole in tucker's espoghagus. after surgery, when tucker was hooked up to a ventilator to help him breathe, the air was pushing through that hole and going into his stomach (not his lungs). this created a collapse affect and stopped his heart. To have a nurse come up to you and say, "they are doing CPR on your son" do you have anyone to call? (i was alone.) was the most HORRIBLE thing imaginable. Tucker went without oxygen for approximately 10-15 minutes and was left severely brain injured.

So back to the present as i really did digress. I HATE Reno. When you fly into Reno, you fly right over the hospital where it happened. i have to close my eyes, it makes me sick. So you see, this is why i do not relish going there. Thankfully, i will have my beautiful child, Dillon, with me to act as a buffer.