It's been a while ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!! I made a true effort to actually get things done in time to sit back and actually relax on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and on the 26th. It felt good!

I've been such a bad blogger!!! I only posted once this month before this evening. December is such a busy month for all of us, hopefully, you had lots better things to do then bemoan my MIA status. (I know I certainly did! - Have better things to do, that is.)

There were all the usual holiday demands like putting up the tree, making gifts and dipping lots and lots of chocolates. If you've followed through any past Christmases or Easters, you may recall I'm the official family candy maker. This year, I made only about 35 lbs. of dipped candies, less than half my normal volume. I just didn't have the stamina for it this time around. I keep telling the next generation I need an apprentice or two but they really do prefer eating the candy as opposed to making candy!


I did get almost all the gifts I intended to make done. The only exception was a needlepoint Barbie boutique made on plastic canvas. I actually started that one back in September but quickly got behind on the production. If you were here last year, you heard about the fiasco of Barbie's music room and I did not want a repeat this time around. By Thanksgiving, it was clear I was not going to get it done without working around the clock or dropping everything else in my life so I scratched the idea of finishing it for Christmas. I went with another much easier project for K. I hope to finish the room in the Spring. I'll keep you posted.

The Big Guy keeps joking that K will outgrow playing with Barbies before it's done. BUT - I have a fallback position on that. We have 4 more little girls in the family that have not yet reached Barbie age! The youngest is only 6 months old. I'm bound to get it done before we run out of little girls!

So, what did I get made for gifts? Painted clothing and wine glasses for some of the adults, some entire outfits with accessories for some of the children, several shopping bags of hair accessories for some of the school-age girls on my list, three black board tables, some painted kitchen decor pieces for some of the young adults and a few more odds and ends.

On top of having all those gifts to make, household holiday preps and candy making, we had houseguests, family commitments and more to take up my time - and then, there were sales. I had a steady, solid flow of sales for my business this season !

That kept me quite busy. I had not expected to be so busy producing merchandise as I didn't do any regular craft shows or boutique sales this year. I was quite surprised at how many past clients sought me out to place orders. It felt very very good but it was exhausting keeping up!!

I hope to get back to posting on a regular basis now. I was going to wait until New Year's Day but really got the urge to jump in here tonight. I've truly missed blogging. I haven't even had time to read many blogs this month!

It seems every time I get things flowing on an even keel, I get a curve ball thrown at me or hit a speed bump or something. I kept drafting posts all month but then either needed to do some editing or add the illustrations or something and then just didn't get it done so I never hit the "publish" button. I was really proud of some of those pieces and put some real thought and effort into them. I've actually considered going ahead and "back-posting" those drafted posts with their original dates on them and leaving it up to my readers as to whether they wanted to go back and read them. For now though, I just wanted to pop in and touch base with all of you.

It felt good to sit down and have this little chat tonight. Hopefully, I'll see y'all again tomorrow, too.

25 Days Till Christmas!!!!!!

December 1st !!!!!

Christmas is roaring toward us like a freight train! I don't know about you, but I haven't even begun to decorate. I think I'm looking at a few all-nighters coming my way!


Then, of course, I made this silly pledge to myself to post EVERY day till Christmas. Easier said than done! I'm taking the easy way out tonight and re-running a post from the past.

I'm not just really proud of my aunt who made this jewelry tree (and many others like it), it also makes for a fantastic project and a really eye-catching, conversation starting decoration for the season. (I believe if I report this enough, for enough years, I'll get around to making one myself. I already have a bunch of pieces put away to get started with.)

A number of years ago, my aunt made what I thought was a really unique and spectacular holiday decoration for her home. She used to get it out and hang it in early November and leave it up through about mid-January (sometimes later). She now lives in a retirement apartment complex and it hangs on her living room wall year round.

She made this absolutely stunning Christmas tree from various pieces of bright, sparkly costume jewelry! This first of her trees (She's made quite a few since then.), was made using various pieces of jewelry with a family history.

Some people are "clothes horses", well, my grandmother (her M-I-L) was a "jewelry horse." She particularly loved huge, heavy earrings. (She had very large ear lobes. We all believe the weight of the earrings stretched them out!) When my grandmother passed and her belongings were distributed among the family, no one really wanted to wear those humongous earrings. Aunt M. put quite a few of them into this tree. There were other jewelry "remnants" floating about and they, too, found their way into this tree. The bigger and brighter the better!

The tree is fairly heavy and is mounted on a piece of plywood covered in velvet. I believe she used a jeweler's glue to secure the stones. Many friends and acquaintances have come to her and asked for help in making a tree to display some of their family jewels, too.

Along the way, she has made quite a few as gifts or to sell at various bazaars and such. The best places to find such jewels are yard sales, church bazaars with white elephant tables and flea markets.(Those old-fashioned brooches are true finds with this project in mind!)


Of course, you should start with the jewelry box you've been stashing those orphaned earrings in!

Fun With Oyster Shells

I've been terribly neglectful of this blog lately. Life has just gotten in the way and some things had to give here and there.

I find writing here therapeutic and, boy, have I missed being here. Tomorrow starts a new month and a fast countdown to Christmas. The "Busy Season" for most of us. I'll need therapy to get through the next 25 days, believe me! So, I'm pledging, here and now, to post each and every day until Christmas. Please hold me to it. Push me, pull me, cajole me into posting. Send me notes, etc., whatever it takes. I need you, all of you!!


Well, we've now worked through most of the Thanksgiving leftovers. (Which in our case is pretty good as we didn't do our turkey dinner here until Monday! We go to another family member's home on the true holiday.) One of the "leftovers" I had from Thursday was a box of empty oyster shells. (It's a Maryland thing - raw oysters for appetizers!) So, what's a creative painting gal to do?!?

Start painting!! The shells have a natural flow with ridges and lumps and natural lines to follow. Each is different of course. I kind of let each one speak to me and tell me what it is. (Okay, a few glasses of wine helped that creative flow along a bit. I'll admit it.) Suddenly, I was surrounded by Santa faces and more.


Some shells wanted to be so much more than just the Jolly Guy's face, some wanted to include his body, some wanted to stick him in the center of a wreath, or be his sleigh. One shell aspired to be a tree and one, I think it was female, wanted to be an angel. I gave each one some leeway to become what they wanted to be.


I think the results were quite rewarding. I added some ribbon loops and am working at giving each a listing of their own in my shop tonight. Well, sort of. some are going there in pairs - you know, the old two-by-two thing!

I'm thinking of playing with some sand dollars tomorrow!

Still have that "charcoaled turkey" smell in the air at your house? Okay, so it was a little well done.)

So, did ole' Tom stay in the oven just a little (or a lot) too long? Were your local firefighters unexpected guests at your meal yesterday? (Hey, there IS a reason why they work on holidays, isn't there?)

There is a silver lining to burning the bird, honest. Check out these twelve reasons to be thankful your bird was, well, let's just say, incinerated!

* Salmonella won't be a concern.

*No one will overeat.

*Everyone will think it's Cajun Blackened.

*Uninvited guests will think twice next year.

*Your cheese broccoli lima bean casserole will gain
new found appreciation.

*Pets won't pester for scraps.

*The smoke alarm was due for a test.

*Carving the bird will provide a good cardiovascular workout.

*After dinner, the guys can take the bird out to the yard
and play football.

*The less turkey Uncle George eats, the less likely he will be to walk
around with his pants unbuttoned.

*You'll get to dessert quicker.

* You won't be eating turkey sandwiches for the next three weeks.

So, simply grit your teeth, smile, and go shopping!! Shopping cures most ills!! (or so it seems!)

** Yeah, I did run this one last year but I really do think it makes you smile!!

Happy Thanksgiving to All !!!

"...No one will remember the perfect Thanksgiving anyway. Five and ten years from now, family and friends will be laughing over the time the turkey burned and you had to order in Chinese food. Or the impossibly hard biscuits Aunt Beth insisted on making every year. All the perfect food will be long forgotten. ...relax and enjoy [yourself]. It's the mishaps and the funny incidents that create the best memories --Sophie"

So says Krista Davis in The Diva Runs Out of Thyme

As you rush about today, doing all those last minute preps for the big meal, keep these words in mind. They are, oh, so true. Go ahead and ask your family about their most memorable Thanksgivings (if you dare). I'm sure the ones that stand out will be the "imperfect" events. A bonus of doing this is the laughs you'll all share as a family reliving those unique memories.

Want to read some tales of Thanksgiving meals gone wrong? Check out this thread on the Etsy Forum. There's everything from a turkey flying off the tray across the kitchen and right into the dining room, to flour covering the cat just as the doorbell rings, to a miraculous diving catch of mashed potatoes. Some of these will make your worst story sound pretty good.


Now, go ahead and get that pie in the oven, today!

Then, sit down and have a glass of wine while you contemplate all the rest of that work.

ENJOY !!!

Our Fall 2011 "Southern Tour" (in pics)

Could you ask for a prettier day for a road trip?












One of those landmarks that tells us "We're almost there!" (Time to get excited!)










For this Big City gal, our arrival in our destination town was like a step back in time!




Who needs pumpkins when you get greeted by this Halloween Sweetie?!?











The Big Guy auditioned a new partner for his attempt to get on Dancing With The Stars. He might want to get her some higher heels!






The colors in the Great Smoky Mountains (Maggie Valley, NC) were at absolute peak that day. We were on our way up the mountain to Cherokee, NC.









Strange looking "cloud" hanging over the mountain!








Hmmm, our suspicions were right. That IS snow on the ground - in North Carolina in October!! (Okay, so we were pretty high up in the mountains BUT it is the South and it WAS October!!!)





Lots of great food, loud music and loads of fun at the Oktoberfest in Valhalla, SC. (It was super crowded ! I didn't quite expect all those people at an event in such a small town ... and it was competing with a home game at Clemson, just down the road!!)

**Incidentally, Clemson won.




Everybody did a little toe-tapping at the Oktoberfest, even the scarecrow!!














Just one of the reasons to hate running out of time on this visit! (Although an even better reason to return soon!!)



While still colorful, some areas along the Blue Ridge Mountains had already passed their peak on our return trip.





The Tennessee Visitor's Center atop the mountain gave a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains (any direction you looked!) Trees of every color formed a true Autumn palette of color.



Had an interesting lunch at a diner about mid-way up I-81 in Virginia - an "open-face chili burger"! I really liked this one!! Basically they laid the roll out flat and placed an average-sized burger on each half and piled lots of spicy chili on top, topping it off with shredded cheddar and chopped onions. (A blob of sour cream was optional.)




The trees in Harper's Ferry, W still had a lot of changing to do!!







And that brings us back to home!!

Bits 'n' Pieces

I make lots of notes when watching TV - quotes, comments, funny lines and even interesting terms that strike my fancy. Here's a few I've come across lately:



Alexis Stewart (Martha's daughter) says she "was raised with a glue gun to her head."
As a crafty woman myself, I've got to ask if that's really a bad thing. Shouldn't we encourage creativity in our children?



Commenting on noticing attractive women despite his long and solidly happy marriage, Tom Selleck said, "Just because you're on a diet, doesn't mean you can't look at the menu !"
I remember my dad referring to it as "window shopping" when sitting on the porch of our hotel and watching the girls stroll by on the boardwalk at the ocean resort.


"That Girl", Marlo Thomas, is playing a Golden Girl type character on Broadway !!! Who'd a thunk it !!
Whatever happened to that sweet young girl who tried to take over the Big City way back when? Did it really take all these years for her to get her name on Broadway?

Paula Deen announced she's coming out with her own clothing line. They're still in the process of lining up outlets. Most of what she's wearing on her book tour are from this new line.
I hope she lines up Target or Sears or such. (For better or worse, my figure identifies with Paula's. Must be her recipes I keep trying!)


Today's college grads are part of the NINJA generation according to Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) in Wall Street Money Never Sleeps.
NINJA = No income, No jobs, and no Assets
Hmmm, pessimistic view or truth-sayer?

"Mantiques" = collectibles that appeal to men (Sister Pickers)


Kelly Ripa, commenting on a gal with attitude, "Stop being a 'Jersey Girl' ! "
Kelly can get away with this 'cuz she IS a Jersey Girl (for real) - born and raised!!




Suzy Orman, giving advice on cutting out frivolous, unnecessary spending - "Don't spend money you don't have to impress people you don't know or even like !"