Saturday, November 29, 2008

Eternal Love

Here is the design i came up for my friend, Abbie. She gave me a picture of her great- grandparents and asked me to create a necklace from it to give to her mother and grandmother for Christmas. i can't wait for her to see them.






Thursday, November 27, 2008

Calgon take me away

Last night after finishing getting things ready for today, I decided to take a nice hot shower and lay down and watch some tv. i needed to chill and relax after hearing the news of my friend, Leeanne. But in this house, there isn't much time to be sad, let alone relax, as Dillon comes gets me a short time later and says, the dogs have been skunked. (yes, please roll your eyes with me) turns out it was just Gracie who got it. Yeah, I really want to be smelling and dealing with skunk at 11:30 at night. there is no rest for the weary. so a scrubby bath in the sink she got with bleach soap and hydrogen peroxide (boy is her coat white today). i think she really only got hit in the face, so today she doesn't smell too bad. to top it off, Tucker woke up sick this morning, so i've been with him since 4am. it is time for a nap before i finish cooking dinner.
Happy Thanksgiving !

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Sad news

( photo by Patricia J. Stark)
I'm sorry to post such sadness the day before Thanksgiving, but it is something i wanted to share awhile ago, but just never wanted to face it. My friend is dying. She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer 7 months ago and was given 6 months to live. I found the news shocking as she is my age, a non- smoker. i marveled at how courageous she faced this hideous disease and yet at the same time she would tell me i am the courageous one and how she was always inspired by the way i've dealt with my own personal tragedy.i'd shake my head and say, "we do what we have to do, don't we"? hospice has come to their home and she does not have much time left and i am sad. i'm grateful i got to see her one more time at Artnsoul and to have given her so many hugs. i didn't get to sign her special book while there, so i made darn sure i sent her a page to include in her book. i hope she loved it. i also surprised her on vendor night with a special necklace i made for her and i know she loved that - i loved surprising her with it.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

spoon jewelry - SOLD!


spoon jewelry, originally uploaded by keeshagirl4.

my baby loves her jewelry

new spoon jewelry (and a fork too!) to be added into my etsy shoppe within the next few days.

serving up the pie




here's a pendant i made from an old (small) pie server. it was really cool! it was one of the first things that sold on saturday.

Monday, November 24, 2008

snowman family


i've been quite busy getting ready for the holidays. busy making things and busy doing shows. i have about a weekish until my next show, so i'll try to make a few more things. i also have so many things to add into my etsy shoppe. i've been every negligent about that; since i despise going thru the process of listing items! for some reason it just drives me crazy. i made a little snowman family to represent my family. they are sitting out on a old sewing cabinet that is near the Christmas tree. the snowchick above is me as i always i find it quite stylish to wear a hat with a Christmas tree sticking out of it and a bird sitting on top (and of course the band has to be made of pearls!)
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this guy represents Dillon


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this is jeff and i; although, jeff's snowman is going to get a scrooge hat real soon


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and here's my little tuckey. do you like his wheelchair?

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and here's the family holiday photo!


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Thursday, November 20, 2008

1000markets.com


Have you heard of 1000markets yet? it is the same concept as etsy; but i have to tell it is so much user friendly than etsy.it also allows you to have a blog and is a social network at the same time (meaning my friends can leave me comments on my home page and communicate with me from inside the network. here is my banner for my new 1000markets shoppe which can be found at http://www.lemoncholys.1000markets.com/. keep in mind they are brand new, but i found the whole presentation more upscale and less busy than etsy. take a peek when you have a minute. Also, i'm in the process of working on a website, which is a bit daunting, but exciting at the same time. there isn't anything in it yet, but you can go see it at http://www.lemoncholys.com/

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

commissioned pieces

my friend, Abbie has asked me to make 2 necklaces for Christmas gifts for her mom and her grandma (aka "gommy"). she gave me this picture of her great grandparents and that's about it. she did mentioned "rhinestones" and told me a little bit about them - so i've been doing a little playing and have come up with some ideas which i'll share soon!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Happy Birthday to my dad!

today is my dad's birthday - he lives in Nevada where he retired from the Navy. i don't get to see him often, but i sure wish i did. love you dad!



here's dad as a little guy
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dad and my stepmom, Angie, on a visit to NJ. he and jeff put up this fence, arbor and gate (they painted it white)
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dad and my niece, Erika, when she was little
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dad helping dillon out with some math homework (it is common knowledge that i am horrible at math)
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dad and angie at the dog beach in Manasquan, NJ

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Monday, November 17, 2008

decorating is done

the past few years it seems like we have rushed to get our tree, hurried to get it up and then next thing you know, Christmas was over and it was time to take the tree down. well this year, i decided to decorate early so that we had time to enjoy it. i spent a few hours here and there last week putting things out and then yesterday, me, dillon and Samantha spent the afternoon trimming the tree (jeff made cookies and cut bezels for me while we decorated).
last year after i spent an afternoon putting lights on the tree, i thought to myself, i am really not enjoying this. i was tired of the keeping a real tree alive, watering it, the smelly water, needles everywhere - so in that moment, i declared "we are getting a fake tree next year". there was alot of grumbling about it, but hey, i'm the one doing most of the work and i'm tired of it! so a fake tree was found last year at Costco and stored away until this year. it is a beautiful tree, prelit and easy to put up. i simply said, "jeff could you bring in the tree?" and we were ready to go. easy peezee! the tree looks little in the picture, but it is big, around 7'.5". we filled it up with every possible ornament and i have to say, it is really beautiful. i enjoy looking at it and i enjoy it more knowing i don't have to worry if it is dying or not. (like 2 years ago when my tree was brittle before Christmas even arrived.)
here is my lovely angel ornament sitting on the tree


Saturday, November 15, 2008

army of angels




so here are the angel ornaments i've been working on using the German porcelain dolls, vintage fabric, fibers, etc. they are for sale, so if you are interested drop me an email at keeshagirl4@aol.com. i will be adding them to my etsy shoppe after my show next weekend.Posted by Picasa

Friday, November 14, 2008

pee-uuu!




i spilled some hot liver of sulphur in my studio - gross! can you say headache?


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here's a cute picture of Kirby taken the other night during Tucker's party. she was feeling all giddy and playful. she's very happy.


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and here's one of miss lilly doing her early morning yoga

Thursday, November 13, 2008

dolly in the hot tub

i 'm making some christmas ornaments with some of my German dolls and was tea dying her skirt.


Monday, November 10, 2008

tucker's party






tucker really enjoys it when we sing happy birthday. he doesn't see well - he is very auditory - so this is his favorite. he gets this wide eyed look because we are all singing to him and then he starts cracking up.





treasury feature

Nanette of The Sparrows nest
added me to a treasury she got a few days ago. and what was really nice was that she took the time to convo me and let me know so i could see it. i've always missed the treasuries i've been in, so i thougth that was cool. thanks Nanette!

Happy Birthday Tucker!






tucker is 19 today

Sunday, November 9, 2008

"Made for you" show in Red Bank, NJ - Nov. 22

My next show will be in Red Bank, NJ on Nov. 22 from 1:00-4:00 at The Two River Theater.

me and abbie at Om Baby


Handmade @ Om Baby5, originally uploaded by copabananas.

booth photo from Om Baby


IMG_4562, originally uploaded by CreationsByDanielle.

another picture of my booth, taken by Danielle.

Om Baby craft show featuring Etsynj artists


IMG_4566, originally uploaded by CreationsByDanielle.

Saturday the NJ etsy street team gathered together for a show held at Om Baby in Pt. Pleasant. it was a wonderful day and lots of fun. i enjoyed spending time with such a great company of people. thanks Danielle for taking some pics for me, since, GASP, i forgot my camera!

Autum at my house
















Wednesday, November 5, 2008

old world bottles with Cindy


after our intense day of jewelry making on saturday, it was nice to settle into a relaxing day where we had fun decorating old bottles. i found this very relaxing (whereas jewelry always gets me a little insane!). basically Cindy showed us some techniques she uses for her bottles and then put us to work.

these are the bottles i made during class
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i've made these bottles since i've been home
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slide show!