New Work!

I love making headpieces from nature themes. This Etsy BridalDreamTeam
headpiece was from our Bacchanalia Challenge in March. I named this
headpiece Ambrosia, which was the food of the gods.

My inspiration was the acres and acres of lush grapevines that
grow along Lake Erie's shoreline. Just 40 miles from Erie
was the home of Welch's grape juice! Now, a lot of these
vinyards are for small wineries. In the fall, when the
grapes come into season, the smell in the air of grapes is
so intense! It is like smelling the chocolate in the air
in Hershey, PA!






The next theme for the June BridalDreamTeam Challenge
is Beach Weddings! Ah, I have been looking forward to
this one all year!

I love the beach. My husband and I have spent many hours
beachcombing the shores of Assateague Island, Virginia.
The beaches are wild there. One does not have to walk
very far before "the people run out". The tide lines
are rich with limpets, welks of all sizes, wampum,
sand dollars, moonshells, and fragments of shells that
all in their own have great beauty. My mother found
these bits and pieces inspiring for her own jewelry.
My husband is an avid collector of Beach Glass, which
he allows me to use in my jewelry, and now, my first
Bridal Tiara, "Sea Goddess". Mom would have loved
this headpiece.

Life Moves Ahead

Its been 6 weeks now since my mother passed away.
This has been quite a year so far. Paul is still
looking for work, the job market is pretty grim.

Yet, the world is still turning. Time has not
stood still. Its not like one can decide that
you can stop living your own life in difficult times.
Although I have to admit I have been spending a lot
of time in voluntary seclusion.

But that is not working for me, and allowing the
healing to happen. Summer is beginning to arrive
in Erie. Our weather is beginning to warm, and with
the longer days, comes sunshine and warmth. Around
here, we need to take advantage of as much sunlight as
possible! My husband has the right idea. He is on
the beach taking a walk everyday, sometimes twice a day.

The good news is, we have two new additions to our family.
Our dear friend, Maria, needed to find a home for her
Chihuahuas, Blu and Emma. Those little dearies have
already spent a lot of time here, visiting when Maria has
had to be away from her home. So it was a natural move
for them to come and live with us forever. They
are quite happy little girls. Blu is a little cuddle bug,
and competes with Abbie for the best "cuddle up with
Mommy" spots around my neck. Emma and Abbie are
great playmates. They love to chew bones together and
chase after their favorite squeaky toys. Our cat,
Pearl, has been quite forgiving. Of course, their
"Daddy", Paul, is a big part of their lives too.
Everybody wants to be in his lap!

Curveballs

My Etsy design team has been hit with a lot of curveballs lately. Eliat's mother is ill in Israel. Eliat will travel halfway across the world to be with her soon. Marie just lost her father - in- law. Other members have been ill. We carry on, and work together as a team, supporting each other, lending an ear, a message, a cyber arm around the shoulders as we can to let each other know that we are there.

My husband was laid off from his job today. We did not see this coming, even with the economy stinking as bad as what it is. Paul is the only one doing the job that he does for his company/division. But wouldn't you know it, the company that own's Paul's foundry has decided to outsource Paul's to outside shops. Doing so makes that part of the job more expensive, but then they are not paying salary and benefits. This becomes our 4th layoff since November 2001, which occured just two weeks after I had my first brain surgery. At least I don't have any major surgeries that I know of planned for this year (although my back needs to be fused, but I am putting that off).

We thought, that after four years, we were safe. That we could settle. We could breathe. We were finallygetting back on our feet from the last round of layoffs. And here we are again. In utter shock and disbelief.Paul is 56, back on the job market again on Monday.

We are putting our faith in God that he will sustain us during this time, and build up our strength. That He will not let us stumble, and will carry us when we are weak. But I am human. And I worry. This is all too much for me to handle, so I appreciate your thoughts and prayers too.



Thanks a lot, my artisan friends and sisters...

Elizabeth

Love In Bloom

Ah, what female does not love to receive two dozen roses, ANY color, from her beloved on a special occasion? That was my inspiration for the February design challenge for the Etsy BridalDreamTeam "Favorite Things".

I had purchased three different styles of handmade glass roses almost two years ago,
but had not known what to do with them for all of this time, except make two pairs of earrings and a necklace. The little dearies had not spoken to me until a few days before the challenge deadline that this tiara was what they were meant to be.

I love designing with floral motifs. Whether it is making silk roses, like those that I have used on several wedding gown projects or headpieces, or making flowers from gemstones, pearls and Swarovski crystals. This must be an influence from my mother, since our home always had a floral arrangement on the table, for any occasion, not just special ones. Mom does beautiful arrangements, even now in her 80's. But no flowered wallpaper. That is just too much. That is another story.

A Day in History

Did you watch the innaugeration on TV today? It was breath taking! I have never wanted to see an innaugeration so much, or found one more meaningful. It was exciting to see history being made today. To realize, that in the USA,anything is possible. The innaugeral speech was amazing. I really loved how Pres. Obama is holding all of us accountable, not just the government, for the future of the USA. The news coverage has been really interesting. The invocation and benediction by the pastors was wonderful too.

And watching the family, to see Michelle and Barack's interaction with those two lively little girls, that was so endearing. There was a picture of the littlest one, giving her dad a thumbs up. What an amazing day this has been. The interviews of the crowd of bystanders has been so interesting. Everyone there has been so excited to witness history. To have a have their own place in this day of history, to be able to tell their children, "I was there when the first African American man became President". Today was a day, when race did not exhist. We are all Americans. Not just white Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans, and the list goes on. We are United Americans. Ah, God Bless America!

Feathers and snow...

There are feathers everywhere. The carpet of course all around my work area.
I think my poodle has been snorting them. They are caught in her fur. The feathers are on my clothes, my tray, a few have even made it to my bedroom!

They are fun! Michele tried to convince me several years ago to use ostrich feathers. I said it would never "fly". Oh my. Was I wrong! They are beautiful, and I enjoy creating with them. They are beautiful for this winter theme, for the BridalDreamTeam Winter Magic Challenge. I have heard that other artists in our group are using them too, so I can't wait to see what else is represented! Feathers add such a sense of playfulness, glamour and drama all at the same time. I see now, why my mother enjoyed making feathered hats. I remember the pheasant feathers that she would have arcing off the side of her hat towards the back.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to designing more headpieces with feathers in the coming weeks. Our local television station even said they were fashionable this year. Even Erie, with our record setting year of snow, is catching up to fashion!
My back yard looks like is the downy white feathers of pillows that have lost the fight. And the blue spruce along the fense are elegant, with the snow laying on top of the branches like ostrich wing feathers.

So, now it is time to get ready for the next challenge. But shhh....! It is a secret! At least I have something to do until we are dug out from all this snow!

New Beading Area

Its done! My new beading area is finally set up! I have been reorganizing for the past few days, and I finally have everything set up just about the way I like it. Maria wondered if it would stay this nice, and I do think it will. My beads were never that messy, and had always stayed organized. It was just that there was no lace for everything else.

I was going to take before pictures. BUT...while Paul was working on the new shelves, he decided to use the big "pounding commander" an antique wooden block hammer that sits on top of the filing cabinet behind the tub where the beads were sitting, to pound in the wooden tabs that covered the screws. Well, he DROPPED the block hammer on the beads. Two of the containers shattered, the top jars, and crystals went FLYING everywhere. Paul was just horrified. Literally. I remained calm. It was only two containers of beads that had spilled. I have done much worse. I told him that he just needed to pick everthing up, since I couldn't get on the floor. And so he did. He put the beads in a container, and even put the broken bits of plastic on my tray. I don't know what he thought I was going to do with the pieces of
plastic...

Anyway...these shelves are great. The assembly was so easy. The shelves just simply fold down! There were wooden plugs to go over screw holes. I was able to bring almost everything in from the front room, except for a few things from the hutch where the beads had been stored. Yippee! Then, in the front room, I moved my books from the shelving unit, which had these awful shelves that were very hostile to books, over to the hutch. All my books just fit. Then my yarns went up on the shelf, from the bags that were on the floor, and into the bottom of the hutch. Ok, now I can really see just what my yarn stash is now! Uh oh. Its there for all the world to see. Well, at least it can be organized. And compared to a lot of knitters, it is a very small stash. When I told Maria about an upcoming sale, she said "Resist, Resist!

So, above, is a picture of my revised beading area. Next project is to clean off the coffee table, and find it! There are a lot of books, magazines and projects on it. I knit on the couch, and bead in the beading area. And sew in the front room. Photography in the diningroom, drill glass in the kitchen. Office is also in the family room. The mannequin is in the guestroom. Ha ha, very little
of this house is untouched by my endeavors. The beads have taken over.