Stayed away in droves

Well, the party was not all I had hoped for .....
The only people there were the people who had been to my home before and one who had not. The rest of the almost 50 people I invited, all stayed away. It was very disappointing, however, I didn't shed tears over it until Sunday and I am sincerely and truly grateful for the six who did show up. We did repair some vintage pieces and some fun and some meaningful stuff was put back into day-to-day circulation. I got a few pieces for custom repairs which I am excited about. It was a wonderful experience as the women who did show up are wonderful women and I love them all dearly for so many reasons. For right now, I'm blaming it on the Atlanta expressway repair work that has keep the weekend traffic at a standstill all summer long. I questioned if I should even continue trying to make this a viable business but those doubts and fears did not last long so I'll just keep, keeping on and try to be more successful with the next party. We'll see....
More later....

Blah Pictures

I took pictures of the ring and bangle bracelet I made this past weekend. They are absolutely awful. This will have to be a later item.....
Still getting ready for my party this weekend and haven't obsessed totally over it. I spoke with my friend, Kathy, who I have done many beautiful things for and she's bringing them on Saturday. TG.
Now just to get the house ready and not to panic. I know, just breathe, just breathe, just breathe.....
More later.......

Where did it go or where did it went?

The weekend has come and gone;it's Monday and I'm tired! Since Friday afternoon I have been on the go. I had grocery shopping and cooking to do Friday night and then went out to eat with the hubby and mother-in-law Friday evening to my favorite place - Romano's Macaroni Grill. Saturday I was at a seminar and met my friend Carey before it got started at 10:00 to do some catch up, as in, "what have you been doing" time. Then we saw lots of friends we hadn't seen in a while, caught the first hour seminar, and then went out to eat at a great place, Sweet Tomato. Carey, Erica (a new friend, I hope) and I had a great lunch and took 2 hours doing it. Lots of fun, fun, fun.
After an afternoon session I went to my mother-in-law's to visit with visiting family and especially to see my niece who was visiting. Then I went home and just died.
Back up early the next morning to finish more cooking and to the Down The Street Bead Show to take 2 classes with Kim St. Jean - she's like my favorite teacher. I made a bangle bracelet and a funky ring and learned lots of new techniques. I'll have pictures tomorrow. I always have fun at bead shows but they a killer on my pocketbook.
Then after my last class, ended at 3:00 or so, I went back to the mother-in-law's to help the rest of the family begin packing a lifetime of dishes for shipping to other relatives or the Dunwoody Holiday Festival. My mother-in-law is being very proactive about finding new circumstances for herself and is actively seeking a new community that will provide her with an environment that won't have stairs. She has a little knee trouble and wants to make sure she can get around OK at all times. We can't keep up with her schedule now.
We packed until about 7:30 then had dinner and I got home about 9:00 unpacked my goodies and that was it until this morning. The alarm went off the first time and I said, no. The alarm went off the second time, I said no. The alarm went off again and I said - I have to. So, I'm off and running again.
I'll be preparing for the jewelry repair party on Saturday every evening this week. Lucky me, my friend Colleen is going to help me on Friday to get the house in order and then during the party on Saturday. Busy, Busy, Busy,
More later......

Tweaking

Today I have pictures. I treaked this necklace from the last time you saw it. Here are two pictures. I've added a tag that I made for this one so it's ready for the party next week. Yeah!
I finished organized my shelves in the studio this morning and now I'm in the final stages of organizing the rest. That's a relief. Hubby says it doesn't make him claustrophobic any more. That's a good thing.
I'm at my "day job" and have only a minute.
More later......

OMG

It's been way too long since I've written here and I have no real "pretties" to show for myself. I have been organizing my studio for my upcoming party. I'm not done yet but boy am I making progress.
I have a new Grand Niece, Frances Riley, who arrived July 7 at a whopping 9 pounds. I have only seen pictures and I can't wait to meet her. Her mother and father live about an hour or so away in Columbus and I haven't ventured over there yet. My dear niece has had a terrible time with this pregnancy and I'm sure she's glad the wait is over. I guess I'm waiting for everyone to get a little settled and have a visitor lull before I venture over there. It's difficult to get everyone's schedule to agree. There's my schedule, the hubby's schedule, each member of the other family's schedule, even the kids have schedules these days. It's what happens when you live your life I think.
The hubby had some major dental surgery (4 hours)and I had a bout with my chronic rhinitis that kept me in the bed for four days after the fourth. I did go to a wonderful picnic with some friends over the holiday and we spent a fun afternoon and evening together. Much eating, socializing, fireworks, and getting better acquainted. The hubby is able to eat solid food again but it's still not an easy road for him and to top it off he got so stressed he had major back pain that put on the chiropractic table.
My friend, Colleen, had a neighborhood sale last weekend and I was invited to join her but I was at my calendar maximum.
My party is in a week and a half and I'm going through all the pre-party jitters - will anyone show up, will they like my stuff, am I prepared, blah, blah, blah......
If you are coming, I can't wait to see you and if you aren't sure yet, hope you can.
More later......

What Great Times

I've been busy and I think I have gone a bit metal crazy but I have been having a good time. My friend, Colleen, spent the weekend getting her son off to school in Florida. My friend, Kathy, spent time with her son who is staying in Atlanta for the summer. My friend, Margaret, is spending a week with her son who is visiting. My friend, Amy, is spending a month with her son and going through the driver's ed experience. It's a beautiful thing. I must be content to spend the time with hubby and the animals ~ and I am! We finished the exterior renovations on our home on Friday with the addition of hand rails for the front porch. I am so pleased.
On Saturday, Lisa, who gave me the opportunity to help her with her wedding jewelry tied the knot. Here's a picture she sent me last week with the flower girls in their dresses and the necklaces I made. Their dresses are beautiful and are the same hue as the dress of the bride. I can't wait to see the bride's pictures.
I made several necklaces this weekend but the one here is one of my favorites. It's cinnabar, quartz, and carnelian with lots of antique gold chain. It's a stunner!
More later.....

It's Good News

I got into a show I have been wanting to do. It's the Holiday Festival at Dunwoody United Methodist Church. All the money made by the church is used to fund their Habitat for Humanity Houses. It's a big festival so I'm pretty excited. I'll be selling wind chimes and mobiles for that show. It's in November so I'll be in production mode during the summer months. I'm very excited! It's a juried show so I'm very grateful to have made the cut. Look for me there!

Sunday's Show

HOT! That's what it was yesterday...... It was almost 100 degrees yesterday at the Spring Fling show. Colleen and I nearly sweated away. Luckily, we had a fan and a canopy or we could not have made it through the day. We arrived about 11:00 and starting setting up for a 12:00 startup time. I did OK but I did learn a lot and will be better prepared. The primary thing being to wear my swimming suit so I can take a dip in the pool when it gets too hot. Colleen and I will be updating our items for the next show to make sure that we can take turns giving each other breaks. We have very different stuff and work independently but we enjoy each other's company so much we like doing this sort of thing together. I met some of the people that my husband knows and I think I have a new name "David's Wife". I've been called worse. It was fun and a friend of David and me, Angela, shared the booth. Her stuff was very different, too, so we had a good selection for people to choose from. I will be working this week and next to get organized for the show on the 21st. I love the creating but the job of running a business can be hard when I'd much rather be putting metal to metal or making something that sparkles...
More later......

I've Been Busy

In getting ready for the show on Sunday, I created a few new items.

What a Great Weekend!

I spent the weekend with the family - The Lord, Moseley, and McLeod family reunion was held in the North Georgia town of Blue Ridge. We had three cabins. One for the younger generation and one for the older generation. There was one very small cabin that David and I stayed in Saturday night. We called in the HoneyMoon cabin. We had cool weather - in the 70s the entire time. It stormed Sunday and we were unable to go on a planned pantoon boat ride but we still had a wonderful visit together. I did get some beading done. The necklace I'm wearing in the picture with David is the one I put together while on this trip. (This is what I look like on the second day of vacation and the rain has set in.) My first creation in a week. I was starting to Jones.
More later.....

It's Almost the Weekend

All the necklaces I made last week sold except for one. The one I didn't think would be the one I would come home with. I had plans for the rutilated quartz but my dear friend, Barbara, scooped that one up right away. She also took the one that looks very elegant. Jane got the one with the chain and all the other beautiful baubles and wants earrings before she heads to Alaska on a cruise next week. Elaine got the beautiful and surprising white and black with the crosses. What a wonderful gift to have homes with such nice people. I haven't had time to create this week and I'm in my down time. Not by choice. My body has decided that it no longer wants to get up at the time I usually get up so I've been sleeping til 6:00 everyday but today. I got up at 5:00 to be at the regular job at 6:00. I got in around 6:30 and started in. The good news is that I'll be leaving about 2:30 to go home and pack for the weekend and preparing to go see Sweeny Todd at the Fox with my wonderful hubby and dear, sweet Carey. Then in the a.m. it's up to the mountains and I'm taking some projects to work on so hopefully will have pics next week!
More later.......

Early Mornings with the Artist

I finished 5 necklaces. Here are pictures of them. I'm so pleased.
So far, since Sunday: I repaired a pearl necklace. Shopped like a maniac for findings. Repaired a mobile. Made a rose-scented bead and pearl bracelet. Worked my regular job. Cleaned up my work desk. AND - it's only Thursday morning. I get up between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. every day so by 9 p.m. I'm no longer much good to anyone.
Being an early riser gives me time to work in my studio each day usually undisturbed. Occasionally, Moriarity, my cat, who sits under my desk and when I'm working with a wire he plays catch with it and startles me. Other than that, it's rather quiet and my creative juices really get to flow.

Has It Really Been That Long

It's hard to believe it's been since the 1st that I've posted here. I've done a show and trying to get ready to do another one. On the 8th of June I'm doing a show at Ridgeview in Marietta, Ga. It's their annual Spring Fling. It's going to be a lot of fun. Fortunately, my friend Colleen will be doing the show with me so that will make it even more fun. We've been creating up a storm!
Colleen works with fur and animal skins. She's very creative and has come up with some unusual designs that are quite impressive using animal skins in jewelry.
I'm still working on getting pictures to add to this blog but not being a good camera person, I shake even when I don't think I'm shaking. It makes for blurry pictures that aren't for aesthetically pleasing.
I am making some custom pieces for a friend who wants something in black and white or black and clear. So far, after shopping this past weekend, I've got a selection of 4 necklaces for her to choose from with another on the board to be completed soon and wouldn't you know it, two of the ladies I work with at my "day job" are wearing black and white today. It's definitely a trend!
More later....(Hopefully not so much later!)

It's Almost the Weekend! Yeah!

I have another show this weekend at a Psychic Fair/Spring Fling in Alpharetta, Georgia. It's at InnerQuest, a metaphysical Christian church. Very interesting and everyone is very nice. It should be fun and hope it doesn't rain on us. It's not expected to rain until late in the day. Hopefully, it won't. Then My Baby (my husband) and I are supposed to go to a picnic. I'll bake brownies for the picnic.



Tonight the Atlanta Bead Society meets and we'll be learning a technique for a seed bead bracelet. These are always fun to learn and inspire new ideas. I'm also working on new ideas for my web site with the help of Diana Norman who I meet in the About Beading Forum. She is calming me down from all my apprehensions about what I want to do to my website. I'll be introducing a new line soon and I want to be able to have some place for people to look at this stuff. I have also been concentrating on my wind chimes and mobiles and will be adding to that a lot in the coming months. It's going to be a great summer!





My husband and I have been renovating the house and finished the interior 2 years ago this August. It took 3 years, 1 month, and 1 week. We began the outside in March or late February and it should be done - at least 90% of it, by the end of next week. The other 10% will just be dressing what's been done up. It's a huge difference. We even have insulation which my old Victorian never had before.

Also, BeBe is back home!



More later......

I had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday, l did the festival with my good friend Colleen and her friend Terry was there as well. Terry had furtniture and vintage dresses. Colleen didn't have nearly half her stuff out but she couldn't focus on the event because her beautiful cat, Bebe, is missing. I'm very sad about BeBe, too, because she's the mother of my wonderful cat, Moriarty. Moriarty took a journey and was gone about two weeks. Until he tells us exactly what he did and where he went, he's on house restriction. Enough about that dark period. Suffice to say, I know what Colleen is going through. It did rain on us about 2 and we had shelter of a canopy for our persons and stuff. I sold mainly jewelry but did sell a windchime and generated interest in them. Fun Stuff!. I still don't have a computer at home and the weekend was so busy I didn't get any new pictures of the show, or any of my stuff, YET.
Sunday was Homecoming at my husband's church, Martha Brown Methodist. This is the same church he went to as a child and he's now rejoined. The church celebrated it's 115th year in existence. Pretty impressive. I then had my Atlanta Polymer Clay Guild meeting so there you go. The weekend was done. I have a ladies group that meets at my home every Sunday night so I was very ready to get to sleep by the end of the evening. It was a great weekend.
More later.......

All by Myself -Or- Up before Dawn

I'm an early riser. I was up this a.m. about 3:30 and started working on getting all my wind chimes, mobiles, and jewelry ready for the Inman Park Festival this weekend. I got the wind chimes and mobiles ready and did some earrings but then the next thing I knew it was 6:00 and I had to start getting ready for my "day" job. I will have items from $1.00 up. I am thrilled to be doing this because I love what I do and I'll be with a dear friend so that makes it even more special. A couple of other friends, and I hope new friends, will be showing up as well so that makes it even more wonderful. I've got my camera repaired so expect some pictures here soon as well.
Wish me good sales!
More later.......

I'm getting ready for a festival this weekend. It's the Inman Park Festival here in Atlanta and so far the weekend is looking perfect for it. I will be at the corner of McClendon and Clinton at my dear friends', David and Colleen, house. We will have a lot of wonderful things for sale in the front of her house and in the back of it. I have windchimes and mobiles not to mention my beautiful jewelry. My art is so different than anything I've ever seen. I hope people like it - and buy and enjoy it. I'll spend each night this week preparing for the event.

Then on May 3rd I'll be in Alpharetta for a Psychic Fair at Inner Quest Metaphysical Church. That should be a lot of fun, too.

The next thing I'll be doing is the Spring Fling at Ridgeview in Marietta on June 8th. I'll be introducing a new line at that show and I'm very excited about unveiling it there.

I don't have any new pictures to show because my camera is being repaired. I should have it back very soon and then you will be able to see what I am so excited about.

More later.....

My First Time

This is my first blog and I am very excited, nervous, and wondering what it is exactly that I am doing. I make jewelry, mobiles, wind chimes, and more. That's what my website says and that's what I do. I also have a regular job. I love my job but my creations are my passion.

I've spent the last couple of years learning how to do my craft. I continue to learn. The experience of of creating is very spiritual for me and I try to do some everyday. I am also experiencing great agony in trying to organize my studio into workable and usable space.

The studio makes my husband claustrophobic but I've gotten to the stage where he can actually walk into the room and not have a panic attack. Progress not perfection is my goal.

More later.....