Artwork the Gift worth Giving and Getting

Every year our loved ones ask us what we want for xmas and every year I want less and less or things with more meaning then monetary. I think the season is about giving to those who are less fortunate. I think it is ridiculous to give a gift just to give a gift. That's why this year I decided I wanted a painting done by a childhood friend who is a true inspiration. Give art this year!

Charm/Trinket making project

I am gearing up to have a little table set up at one of the nearby schools so I have been working on my new concepts for my necklaces. I have sketched up several different styles but have decided to include one single element and that is these charm type pieces that I am going to work into and with chain and ribbons. In order to get a bunch of necklaces ready I need a bunch of these so I have started cranking them out, once you get in the swing of things you really get going. I love all the colors and textures, stay tuned for more updates and soon some finished pieces.

Here is a teaser of some upcoming necklaces

Mushroom Hunting in the Garden

As I was watering and weeding this morning I noticed there were a few mushrooms that had sprouted up over night. So I decided to hunt through garden and found that there were several. Fungi has always been intriguing to me. It has all sorts of different textures from slimy to powdery. The arrays of colors that they are is quite amazing as well. Here are a few shots I took of the mushrooms I found today that I thought were interesting...

Outdoor Studio Work is the Best

As I am often times most creative in the morning I grabbed a few supplies to continue work on Project Bedroom Artwork and brought it outside to enjoy the lovely breeze! However, not too good of an idea working with paper in the wind, but what can I say I love a challenge! Here is what I am working on today. I would love your feedback and comments.

Curtains have been Created...with only a few hiccups!

Yesterday afternoon when all my curtain assembling materials were obtained, I moved on to measuring and cutting. Every time I cut fabric I wish that I would have cut it at the store where I could get a straight line, until I realized that my awesome collapsible ikea table would serve the purpose for a straight guide for my scissors.


Then I moved on to pinning the sides and also ironing a crease to hold a nice straight edge for sewing. I did this to both curtains and then spent several trips into the steamy attic to look for the sewing machine. On my third sweep through the attic I decided I was going to go rubbermaid by rubbermaid until I found the damn thing. At one point I threatened to buy another one, until I found it at the bottom of a laundry bin...


I get everything all set up, get the tunes going, have the bobbin in place and start to sew. Well, for about a second, when the bobbin kept effing off (for the lack of a better term) over and over and over. Usually I am able to get it going for a bit but this was getting ridiculous, I could have been done by now...


So I headed over to our lovely walmart and bought this new Project Runway addition sewing machine. Pretty funny huh? I bring it home check out the manual and fire this puppy up. The bobbin system is so much easier to deal with because you can see what is going on and the stitch is unbelievable. I zipped through these curtains in now time flat.


Stella enjoying the sun poking through her new curtains.


Overall this was a successful project! The fabric was a super good price, nice thickness and an easy pattern to work with. It was super easy to have both of the curtains matching without having an excess of leftover fabric.

Today, I am off to get some knobs, a better tie back solution, and some ideas for framing the artwork for the walls.

The Weather has been amazing!

The weather has been really exciting in New England this summer, I feel as if I have transported back to Minnesota. These are pictures of a storm that barely missed us, this was a wall of clouds that was shooting lightening back and forth from cloud to cloud. I was lucky enough to catch a few of the amazing flashes that we viewed that evening!

Unfinished Piece

I really like the chain portion of this necklace, there are 5 different kinds which gives it some interesting depth.


I think I need to add some chunky wire to the ribbon part of the necklace to create a bit of contrast.

Duran Duran and Experimental Necklace Making

I just finished making this necklace and I am wondering what you all think? It's a new type of design that I am experimenting with, while watching Artist Main: Duran Duran on VH1

Time to get Creative

I am finishing up my contract job and have my house is immaculate so now I have time to get to work on more necklaces. A new Michaels just opened up and I have been meaning to check it out, it is huge as it was a former circuit city and packed with great craft ideas. I only explored the bead and chain section as I didn't want to empty out the checking account! Here is a snap shot of my work area and yes my mannequin is wearing a bra!

Don't forget Halloween

Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays of ever!!! We love to go over board for the kids however we don't get many tricker treaters I think we maybe got 12 this past year! Below you will find the carvings of my husband!





As you can see in the background there are a bunch of pumpkin guts! Bill makes the best pumpkin salsa ever!

Facebook Flash Games are Addicting

I don't know about you but there are some really addicting games on facebook my favorite ones are by Playfish games especially the Restaurant City, I can hardly tare myself away I suggest you check it out if you have a facebook account because it can make your work day go so much faster!

Philly for a week!

The first week of August I had the luxury of going to Philly with my husband as he had business there for the week. He worked long hours as I strolled all over Philly. We stayed near Love Park where I spent many hours reading the in the hot hot sun. The restaurants were fabulous and very well priced compared to Boston. I had been to Philly and had the 10 cent tour from my in laws as they grew up there.

The one afternoon that my husband had off we spent walking around, eating and visiting the penitentiary. This place was amazing and also had a local artist who did a cat installation throughout the prison. To wrap up our trip we went to go visit his grandfather who is doing remarkably well for his age and still remembers Latin where he learned as an alter boy in the catholic church.

So Hard to Blog in the Summer

The last few weeks have been super, a nice mixture of work and play. We celebrated my husbands birthday for a week full of twists and turns and lots of surprises. Gotta love the fun. His birthday was on a wednesday so we just cruised around to a couple of places and ate a bunch then later we drank a bunch at a few neighborhood bars with friends. Then I surprised him with us going to check out the Harpoon brewery, without him knowing a friend was going to show up the night before, while us 3 were at the brewery a small crowd gathered out in the back yard for some hot dog grillin'.

Do you know how hard it was to get him to go out back? Normally not hard, this particular day, YES!

To fill some of my time and earn back some of the money we spent on the week long birthday extravaganza I decided it would be fun to partake in a focus group, food surveys and testing different hearing devices, I think for pilots. I have enjoyed all aspect of these crazy adventures. I have met some interesting people and made a little cash. All of this filled the end of July.