back home, but not for long

I am home. got in tonight around 6:30. what a long day! i've unpacked, did my laundry and then repacked again because i leave on Wed. for Artnsoul in Virgina, where i am selling at vendor night. after i return home, whatever jewelry did not sell i will be adding to my new website (finally)! seriously, between the laptop crash, this show and going to cali, i just haven't had the time to work on my website. but it is my # 1 goal upon returning (that and working on some online classes). i received an exciting email while i was away saying my submission to Belle Amoire jewelry had been accepted and will be in the September 2009 issue - yay, clap, clap! (i'm excited)

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here is a class picture from this weekend, hijacked from my new friend and classmate, Julie Prichard. it was a really great group of girls, very laid back, no drama, lots of sharing and caring. we had good food and the company of sweet Gigi who received so much attention. i believe we wore Gigi out! i took so many pictures of Gigi - i feel like a stalker. but every pose Gigi made was adorable, so i couldn't help it. i'm a sucker for cutie patooties! i found it interesting that 4 of the women there (including myself) have special needs children. one of the gals was really cool. her name is Lisa and i overheard her mentioning something, so i called her over and began grilling her. it turns out that Lisa decided to quit her job, get rid of most of her possessions and start living an artful life. she's traveling her car where she sleeps at campgrounds. Suzi's class was the first stop on her interesting adventure. i just think that sounds so fun. i invited her to New Jersey and do hope she takes me up on it. So did anyone see me on the streaming live video that Suzi had going during class? Deidra emailed me and said she saw me when i was wearing my blue mermaid wig!

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after class was over on the 2nd day, anyone who wasn't hitting the road headed to the beach, which was beautiful. perfect conditions: warm, no wind, sunny - it was lovely. from there my cute little friend, Kelly Snelling, called. we had made dinner plans with her and Ruth Rae, so me, Becci and Julie met them for sushi. it was a lovely dinner and the perfect way to end my time in San Diego.

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Patti and i channel our inner mermaids. (i'm a hollywood mermaid with the glam glasses) i made that crown with real shells and it was heavy!

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here is my piece from class. i still have some work to finish up on it. i wasn't getting the whole "shading" concept very well, so need to do more shading on her face before i beeswax the whole surface. oh, and i have to add my words too. i have so many more pictures, but for tonight, i'll leave you with this one of Gigi:

Lemoncholy's Easter Swap photos

I invited 16 of my friends to participate in an Easter ornament swap. it was alot of fun and i love how different everyone's ornaments are. mine have been hung on my tree and now we are just waiting on the Easter bunny.

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fabric collage by me

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polymer clay frame by Laurel Steven

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paper mache lamb by Pamela Huntington

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soldered charm by Amy Huff

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wire nest "home" by Kim Boehm

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recycled lid frame with clay flower by Denise Mares

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collaged egg with flowers by Allegra Smith
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"Blessed" by Danielle Green

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fuzzy chick in egg by Vivian Neroni
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hollowed egg with bunny inside by Lori Guerin

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Easter egg hunt basket by Melissa Merrill

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fuzzy chick sitting in crepe paper basket by Heather Bluhm

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fabric egg by Keli Hansen

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paper bunny inside flower by Zhulia Abrok

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faux scrimshaw by Brenda Bliss

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sewn little blue bird by Lonnie Jenck

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sewn bird with fabric dyed like an Easter egg by Joanne Thieme-Huffman

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here is miss lilly helping me with the packages.

On Vacation!

I'm in Baco, Florida visiting my friend, Pam. I flew in yesterday (wed.). i spent mon and tues. in bed after a bout of 24 hour horribleness. (i'll spare you the details). i'm feeling better, but still a bit fatiqued and my stomach is still very queasy and wonky. might be on the plain foods/broth diet for a few more days to get this thing settled. it was rough flight with thunderstorms (perfect for the already upset stomach!) and my poor seatmate was terrified. i finally reached for her hand and said, "are you all right? i told her we would be fine and tried to send calming energy to her (that sounds dorky!) but i felt really bad for the terror she was feeling. she began to relax and told me as we were debarking, that just having someone acknowledge her fear made her feel less alone and much better. job well done then!
it rained most of the day yesterday, so pam and i went and got much needed pedicures, which was very relaxing. then we came to her beautiful home and did, what else, but art! i forgot my camera battery, so we will need to go out and find one so that i can take some photos while here.

my friend, Z, got her Christmas present today. I was going to make her put it under the tree, but she sounded so excited that i told her to go ahead and open it. this is what i made for her. i think she was quite happy!

necklace swap

my friends, Kim, Maija and i decided to do a necklace swap. Since Kim and i got to see each other at Valley Ridge, she gave me my necklace while i was there. i just love it! i've sent kim her necklace and will be sending Maija's out real soon. i'll post pictures of what i made after Maija gets hers. this is what kim gave me. i'm a lucky girl to have so many talented friends who create such beauty to share with moi.

new piece and Chicago

this was something i painted on the wall in Z's studio.

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here's a necklace i finished before i left. i haven't been able to load pictures onto blogger for the last few days, but now i can. the base is a piece of sea glass, but it is an intact top of a bottle - in perfect shape; nice and smooth from it's time in the ocean. i found the bottle top on the dog beach in Manasquan. it's quite an impressive piece when worn as it is heavy and chunky.

i arrived in chicago fine and dandy; although a bit late. even though our flight was "on time", we ended up sitting on the runway for a half hour while we waited for the 20 planes ahead of us to take off. i seemed to be sitting in the smelly BO and no AC section. also my seat was broken so it wouldn't tilt back at all. there was a larger size man in the middle row who was encroaching on my space and if you've paid attention to any of the many quirks i've shared about myself, you'll remember that i am VERY claustrophic, especially in a situation like that. i ended up going to the back of the airplane for awhile.

Zhulia was there to pick me up, so after gathering my luggage we headed up to Labarge street to the Jackson Square antique center (well, where else would we go?). we found some great goodies and i'll have to say, i found their prices very reasonable. from there we had a bite to eat at Noodles, but their fare seemed to be upsetting my stomach, so i switched my meal midstream to chicken noodle soup and a roll to quell my tummy ache. from there we hit a thrift store, where i picked items as well.

we got to her house and were greeted by the cutest doggie, Chip. I think Tigger would have been a better name for him as he is very springy, bouncey and sprongy. (yes, you can find all those words in the dictionary)

tomorrow we will shop for groceries and do a little art and then we leave for wisconsin (valley ridge art studio) on thursday after picking up our friend, Jean, from the airport. can't wait to also get to see my buddy, Kim and Julie.

kind words...

the universe must be thinking of me since (and i haven't admitted this), but i 've been feeling a little down. i'm having sad pangs of my younger son, Dillon, getting older. he's 15 and seems so grown up. he's at that age where he has a girlfriend, wants to be with his friends ALL the time and seems to relate more to his dad (being a male and all)- so it is kind of tough on me. i've been having to learn to let go, which has been hard. given the differences between tuck and dillon, all that i missed with tucker, i threw into dillon. the whole thought of my children getting older makes me sad. i miss those little guys. so to have to sit by the sidelines is a new experience. i keep thinking how fast it is all going. he'll be a sophmore next year and then pretty soon it is off to college! but any way, i digress.

i was referring to the universe because today i recevied this nice award from terri ventura. yesterday i received an RAK from fellow charmsters, Laurel. it was a little birdie and she thought of me. i will add it with my other charms that i get from the bird charm swap i am hosting with the charmsters. i am waiting for a few more charms and then i can start sorting them. and then on saturday i received some earrings from Amy Hanna. I met Amy at that Artnest retreat where she was teaching us how to take our treasures and turn them into jewelery. she definitely got me started in my new jewelry direction (although my first piece was quite challenging and took FOREVER to create). anyway, when Amy was getting ready to teach, she was overwhelmed by all the eager students who wanted to buy her jewelry. things got really hectic and i could tell that she needed a little help. so i jumped in and helped out where i could. i've been in those situations before and i just thought, she needs some help! she emailed me after i let her know they had arrived and said the sweetest thing to me:

Keesha, I am glad you recieved your earrings. I just wanted to thank you again for being such a sweet heart and helping me. You have a beautiful spirit and I just wanted you to know that I noticed it. I hope our paths cross again in the future. May god bless you and your family!! love,amy

wasnt' that nice? i really took it to heart that she would tell me something so kind. it is nice to be appreciated like that. here is a picture of my lovely earrings. i will be passing on the award to Kim, Cindy, Zhulia, Jan, Joanne, Michelle and Sandra