Metals-n-Gems

Who Knew?

2012-01-19T10:58:00.010-05:00

Who knew that a couple of the pendants I purchased recently from Jade Scott contained colors in Pantone's 2012 Color Trends? What a co-inky-dink! Not that I live and breath for what designers say is in but I'll allow myself to feel like I have some kind of [false] validation. Is that so wrong?

Final Craft Show of the Year

2011-11-25T08:31:00.005-05:00

Getting ready for my last show of 2011. Hope to have a good showing at least tomorrow. I have a feeling that the Black Friday shoppers will be too tired to come out tonight...

If you're in the area, stop by and pop in to support the local artisans!
Happy shopping!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

2011-11-14T10:05:00.004-05:00

'Tis the season for supporting your local artists! Visit craft fairs in your area and get one-of-kind gifts for your friends and family.

I will be at two of the upcoming local art shows in my area. This weekend I will be at the Chenango Valley High School for their annual craft fair. Stop by and say hello!

Will Someone Please Turn Off the Faucet?

2011-09-08T17:56:00.021-04:00

Here is a glimpse of parts of the Southern Tier of New York state. Tropical Storm Lee was not too kind and dumped a lot of water on us the past couple of days. Many roads and businesses are closed due to the flooding. In many areas this is worse than it was in 2006 which had historic levels of flooding.

Pictured above is a nearby pub that we go to. The water is past the door handle. To the right is a shed used by the golf course (that is flooded in the background) that is tipped. The picture below that is the regular size pail I had on the back deck. It was full and overflowing this morning.

Here is the road that leads from our neighborhood (located up the hill in the background) to school. First day of school - canceled.

Here water is coming up from the Chenango River over Upper Front Street.

This is the parking lot of WalMart located in Vestal.

(Thanks to Daniele and Felicia for a couple of the photos.)

I wish a speedy recovery to those affected by the flood...

A Penchant for Pendants

2011-07-25T07:44:00.011-04:00

I looked through my stash the other day and saw how many pendants I have and realized I needed to stop hoarding and start using them. (Yes, I have a problem. I have a hard time letting go. Is it bad that I stare at my collections and coo "My pretties."? Please don't call the authorities. Yet...)

The necklace on the left came about from starting a bracelet using the same turquoise bead but that was about the only similarity. It features a beautiful pendant made by Nancy Schindler of Round Rabbit.

I always marvel at how you can start out making one thing and somewhere along the way you take a left turn and you have something completely different! Later on, I did end up making the bracelet I had initially planned.

This czech glass melon bead chain was perfect to complement the colors in Jade Scott's cute owl pendant. I have quite a few of both artists' pieces in my stash. I plan on using more of them in upcoming projects if I can deal with my pack rat tendencies...

Greene's Annual Arts & Crafts Festival

2011-07-22T16:28:00.003-04:00

I will be at Greene's Annual Arts & Crafts Festival once again this year. It is tomorrow, July 23th, from 9:00AM - 4:00PM. My tent will be in the same place as last year. (The map, above, shows a portion of the festival's layout and where I will be located: Booth 206.)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T10:20:00.002-04:00

Love Always Mom

2011-05-21T10:46:00.004-04:00

This is a link I made from Art Clay (silver clay) to honor my mother. I'll be including it into a bracelet. I had a stamp made of my mother's writing and made an impression for the back of the link. A "love" definition stamp was used for the front along with the shamrock to honor her Irish heritage. The plan is to make links for both my sisters so we all will have one for a bracelet or necklace. I'll be keeping this one for myself as it's a first try and not so perfect.

Charmed by Nature - GIVEAWAY!

2011-05-10T07:14:00.002-04:00

Lorelei Eurto has a great giveaway (again!). This time around it's this cute collection from Kylie Parry. Stop by their blogs and see what these talented, generous ladies have been up to and for links to their shops. Thank you!

I'll Trade Ya'!

2011-03-26T20:38:00.010-04:00

I had a booth at the Binghamton University Spring Craft Show on March 19th. My friend, Daniele, helped me out with the show. It's always nice to have someone with you to chat with when it's slow and help you out when you need to take a break.

Located right behind me was Julie from Latherati Soap Foundry. I'm so glad she introduced herself to me. We chatted off and on during the show. As the show wound down, Julie came over to look at my jewelry. I guess she liked what she saw because she said, "Hey, wanna barter?!" She picked out one of my latest bracelets (above) and then
we set off to her booth to continue our wheeling and dealing.

All of her scents were fantastic but my favorite were Longbourn (figures as I love Pride and Prejudice) and Matchmaker. I was also able to get Daniele a body spray with patchouli in it which I knew she loves. Check out Julie's Etsy shop (click on the logo below) for some fabulous lotions, creams, soaps and more! I've fallen in love with them. Thanks Julie!!

Another Snow Day...

2011-03-07T06:41:00.002-05:00

Well, this was a surprise. It's not the fact that we got snow. It's the quantity!! Nineteen inches!! Really?!

This is the door I normally let our dog, Nola, out of but I had to use our other back door as this one had the snow packed right up against it. Nola didn't know what to do when she went out the door. She went down the stairs and immediately popped over to this door. She then hopped like a bunny out into the yard to do what dogs do.

The kids aren't as giddy as they usually are since all their snow days have been used up and are now using up future vacation days. And me? I'm not giddy at all.

Great Green Girl Studios Giveaway!

2011-02-20T09:58:00.004-05:00

Andrew Thornton is offering a chance to win this fantastic giveaway from his family's Green Girl Studios. Head on over to his blog for more information! Thank you Andrew and Green Girl Studios for this generous offer!

Just in time for Christmas!

2010-12-09T10:08:00.006-05:00

How would you like to win a $250 gift card to Best Buy? You can enter for a chance to win one through one of my favorite blog sites: FarmgirlFare. Check out Susan's blog for more information. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Smitten Kitchen: My Newest Blog Find

2010-11-05T15:30:00.004-04:00

I was just Googling "Ricotta Pizza" and came across this great blog, Smitten Kitchen. After reading over Deb's ricotta pizza recipe, I visited the current/main page of the blog and she has a recipe for spaghetti with chickpeas.

After reading her first paragraph I laughed out loud. It's as if I had written this blog entry while thinking of my friend, Daniele. If you are a runner you may like that recipe and any others who like to cook I'm sure will enjoy this blog.

Beads, Leather, Suede, Chain, Cabochons and More!

2010-10-26T10:34:00.006-04:00

This past weekend my friend, Daniele, and I took a trip up to Syracuse to go to the Innovative Beads Expo. With Daniele behind the wheel we were guaranteed a wild ride. (Has anyone heard of a "New Jersey sweep"?)

I've pictured the assortment of goodies I purchased. I'm hoping to get creative with these next week! I'm in love with the colors of suede I bought. There was a lot to choose from. I'm also in love with the chain I bought and I'm already wishing I had purchased more as I know part of it will be used for something for me! And what about those large holed beads?! I could have taken some of all they had if it wasn't for the pesky little thing called money.

Before the bead show, we also stopped by The Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market. This was the second year of the craft market and the organizers had a great collection of artists gathered in a neat old warehouse. I bought a couple of goodies; hand warmers from the Secret Lentil (my son called them hobo gloves but he's 14 and still has to be told when to brush his hair so hardly the one to be giving fashion input), some lavender sachets from Crude Crafts that I plan on using for stocking stuffers, a reusable cookie/treat bag by TerreMum for my other son's lunches and a set of Christmas cards from Pistachio Press that will go to my dog-loving friends.

While at the craft market, we visited with Nancy of RoundRabbit. Hopefully she had a good show even though someone stole one of her rings. (Why are people so crappy sometimes?! If they only knew how much work and time goes into the items people make...)

Pick Me!

2010-10-19T12:31:00.005-04:00

I had a nice surprise in my e-mail yesterday. It was a note from a fellow etsyan, choosingbeauty, stating that she picked one of my bracelets for her Daydream Believers Treasury. I don't know if it was ever chosen to be on the front page of Etsy (do you ever find out?) but it was nice to be included for this treasury nonetheless. Hope you have some nice surprises coming your way too.

(If you haven't noticed, my shop is seriously depleted - not my inventory - just my shop. Very sad indeed. I hope to have it stocked with some new items soon. I realized last week that the the shop was seriously lacking color with what I had in there. So my goal is to get some color in there!)

A Hunting We Will Go...

2010-08-18T07:48:00.004-04:00

I'm excited for this weekend! It looks like my sisters and I may actually make it to Bouckville for their HUGE antique show. We went many years ago and when we got there it started lightning so decided to turn around and go home. I hope to find something I can add to my home. Do I need anything?! No, but that's not the point! I love the thrill of the hunt, wondering what some things are and what they were used for and especially finding something that you had totally forgotten about from your childhood. We haven't figured out which day we'll be going. Hopefully there will be no rain or lightning. When I asked my husband, "You didn't want to go, did you?", his reply was, "No, I'd rather have hot needles poked under my fingernails.". I just don't understand. What's wrong with him?!

Vacation in the Adirondacks

2010-08-16T08:29:00.008-04:00

Oh, Adirondack chair, do you miss me? I miss you, the smell of the pine trees, the calm water in the morning. Sigh... We had a great couple of weeks at Brantingham Lake which is near my hometown of Lowville (the "Low" part is pronounced like you would pronounce "Cow" which actually makes sense as there are more cows than people there).

My husband, Bob, and I kayaking. (My shoulders were tired!)

The boys both enjoyed tubing. Here's Ethan having a bouncy ride. Thank you Sue and Jeff for taking us out on the lake!

Here is Sean making friends with the local black ducks. (Actually, he was chasing after them with the paddle boat but that doesn't make for such a nice story now does it?) My father was nice enough to buy a paddle boat for all of us to use. The camp we rented the second week was so cute. Just as you would expect an Adirondack camp to be.

Greene's Annual Arts & Crafts Festival

2010-07-17T11:52:00.008-04:00

I will be at the Greene's Annual Arts & Crafts Festival again this year. It is next Saturday, July 24th from 9:00AM - 4:00PM. My tent will be in the same place as well. (The map, above, shows a portion of the festival's layout and where I will be located: Booth 206.) I hope to have a flag made for the outside of my tent to make it stand out a little more. We'll see if I actually get that done. As usual, many things to do before next Saturday.

My friend, Daniele, of Thistle Farm will be my neighbor again in booth 207. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather. Hope to see you there!

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

2010-07-05T18:38:00.005-04:00

Settle down, I'm talking about ribs. I hate cigarettes! Bleh!! My sons and I got my husband a smoker for Father's Day. Bob finally got his smoker assembled for the 4th of July. We bought hickory chips and two racks of spare ribs for our foray into the smoking world (or into the world of Dinosaur BBQ as Bob would like to believe).

The experiment was a huge success. We debated on a couple of things we might do differently next time. Our house sure smelled like we walked into Dino BBQ and that's a GOOD thing! Next time I think it will be a whole chicken with apple wood chips/smoke. Yum! (I hope...)

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T09:32:00.006-04:00

I thought I'd blog some of my favorite quotes from our founding fathers as a reminder of why we, in the U.S., celebrate today. Amazing people who laid down the groundwork for this nation and for those who are now protecting these principles. Thank you to those who are in the armed services, the families of these brave people, our veterans and those who have lost their lives in protecting our freedoms.

**********************************

It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.
George Washington

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
Thomas Paine

But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.
Thomas Paine

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?
Benjamin Franklin

(That last quote is for all you talented people out there...)

The Many Faces of a Coneflower

2010-06-22T09:47:00.005-04:00

While my youngest son and I were waiting for the bus this morning, I noticed the various states of bloom my coneflower was in. None of them are in full bloom quite yet but I think they're beautiful none the less.

Allergies and the Muppets

2010-06-17T09:33:00.003-04:00

You might be wondering what in the world do allergies and the Muppets have to do with one another. Take a good look at the guy on the left. This is the way my eyes feel and sort of look like due to my lovely seasonal allergies. Just thought I'd share this and hopefully give you a laugh at the mental image. What is my bag?! That would be eye bags.

Lorelei's Gotta Giveaway!

2010-06-05T15:18:00.002-04:00

Lorelei Eurto is having yet another great giveaway on her blog. Visit, leave a comment and you're in for a chance to win some beautiful beads donated by Nan of Spirited Earth!

A Little Help Please...

2010-05-30T10:05:00.004-04:00

I needed some help with my PMC work and also wanted to learn a couple of new techniques. Who to turn to?! Erin from Dragonfly Beads in Manlius, of course! I've taken a few courses from Erin now and it's always a pleasure to go to her shop and pick her brain. It was her shop that I got all the beautiful turquoise from at a trunk sale she had.

Here is the lentil bead that Erin helped me make. I just finished sanding it this morning. It's so pretty and fun! Now the decision is whether to antique it. I think I will in order to highlight the flowers. I can always sand it all off again (ugh).

What about the ring? Well, I made this a while ago however it looked quite different then. To be frank, it was downright ugly. It had the garnet in the middle but a different surround that I had textured and three round pieces on either side. I had also antiqued it. It looked like some goth piece of poo.

It's not perfect but it is miles better than it was. I talked to Erin at her trunk show about what we could do with it and she gave me a couple of options: add a couple more embellishments or saw off what I didn't like. Guess which option I chose. Erin was too nice to say the original was ugly but I know she was just being nice.

Erin is a great teacher. She taught me a few tricks and made me realize that I knew more about working with PMC than I thought I did. She even asked me if I had bought the ring blank. Nope, made it my very self, first time too. (Yes, that was a very blatant pat on the back.)

For the Love of Turquoise!

2010-05-16T11:07:00.003-04:00

Take a gander at my latest purchases! Aren't these beauties?! I went to a trunk sale yesterday and sold my first born son in order to get these. (Okay, so I exaggerate. It just took my left arm.) A guy from the Southwest stops in at various bead stores, as well as bead shows I believe, and opens up boxes and boxes and boxes of bead strands to sell.

The top left and center picture show all four strands that I bought. Starting with the upper right-hand picture and going clockwise are green pebble/potato turquoise beads I think he said these were from Arizona (it was really hard to keep them all straight as I was asking about a lot of different strands), Kingman turquoise pebbles and a strand of chunky, graduated beads from China. These are unbelievable! They're all about 4-5mm thick and range from 13-21cm wide. I think I'm going to have to sell at least 1/2 of this strand in order to get part of my left arm back. There is also a strand of uniform rondelle/disk beads that are from Arizona and are similar to Carico Lake turquoise (in the picture of all the strands). All of these beads have been stabilized and are natural color!!

This guy was really interesting to talk to. He talked about a mask that had been found in Mexico that contained turquoise from Kingman, AZ. He also told me about some ancient digging sticks found in an unearthed section of the Kingman mine. Truth or lore, who knows. It was entertaining to listen to. Well, that was my adventure for this weekend. Now to make something with all my pretties...

Dino BBQ - Yum!

2010-04-30T09:41:00.007-04:00

Last Saturday was my husband's birthday and the one thing he really wanted was to go up to Syracuse for lunch at Dinosaur BBQ. Who was I to refuse such a simple request? Yes, I'd have to choke down some delicious food in a neat restaurant enjoying the company of my family but I was willing to make the sacrifice. So, up to Syracuse we went where we met my sister and father. We had a great lunch and terrific service in a fun atmosphere. If you haven't been able to make it to a Dino BBQ before and you live within driving distance to Syracuse, Rochester or Manhattan, you MUST go. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

No Fooling Around This Thursday!

2010-04-01T11:56:00.009-04:00

This is one of the latest necklaces I've made and I have a problem with it. I don't know whether to keep it or sell it!! I really like it even though I'm not a huge wearer of necklaces. (I know, what's up with that?! I make jewelry!) It features an adorable letter pendant by Jade Scott.

I also made another necklace featuring an owl pendant by my friend, Daniele, of Thistle Farm. I was going to add a string of chrysoprase chips with some black and brass beads to complement the green glaze on the owl. I held the string of beads I had next to it and really preferred it in this simpler presentation. I'm going to add an extender to this and list it later today.

A Sneak Peek...

2010-03-25T10:02:00.004-04:00

This sneak peek was supposed to have been posted last night but my computer had other plans. It's still not too cooperative this morning. Anyway, here is what I was working on this week. I finally got some smaller mandrels to fire these filigree beads. The bead on the left has white enamel on it. I think it looks so neat. It reminds me of snowflake obisidian stones. The chartreuse green is one of my favorites too. It's amazing how the enamel changes color in its cooling process. Who thought this bead that was the color of baby poop would turn into this cool shade of green?! The copper headpins were a little tricky. I had made these to use with resin (those will be making an appearance soon) and thought "Why not try some in enamel?". My technique with these needs some refinement. One of them went "Poof!" like I was doing a magic trick.

I'm having a lot of fun with this torch enamel stuff and I'm working on a necklace incorporating one of these filigree beads. Which one of them will I choose? Hmmm...

A challenge?! How dare she?!

2010-03-18T21:12:00.003-04:00

My friend, Daniele, of Thistle Farm presented me with a challenge a couple of days ago. Each Thursday, we are to blog about a creative accomplishment we achieved during the week. I agreed. What was I thinking?!

It's 9:15PM and I got nothin'. I know. I know. A very lame start to be sure. I'm hoping to have something to post for tomorrow. I've had many ideas swirling around in my head and it's time to produce these imaginations. This will certainly be a challenge as my desk is covered with new beads, works-in-progress, papers... and that's just the top layer. Also, I'll have the kids and my husband at home as everyone has the day off.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have found my desktop and been able to transform an idea into a lovely piece of jewelry. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

Is this mine?

2010-03-09T11:02:00.003-05:00

Meet one of my four cats, Taz (aka: "Naughty Man", "Bad Boy", "Big Boy Bad Boy" and many other nicknames). He's found a new place to claim as his own. This is a six drawer chest I bought at an auction last week. It has shallow drawers so I was thinking I could use it in my "studio" (which is actually my former living room that was rarely used and now more accurately should be called a drop-off zone). I'm not sure if this will end up being used to help me organize my studio or to help me organize another area of my home but one thing is for sure, Taz and I both like it.

Watchya' been doin'?

2010-03-03T14:55:00.004-05:00

This is my latest adventure - torch-fired enameling. I had read Barbara Lewis' article in "Belle Armoire Jewelry" and then bought a bead pulling station from her etsy website. On the right are headpins I had made with copper wire that I balled the ends of. From there I heated and added different colors of enamel for this cool layered look. It was a good idea to start with headpins as the beads are a little more tricky. Getting the beads where you need them in the whole process will take a bit more practice but I'm happy with how these first tries turned out. I've been digging through my beads, scrap and anything else I can think of to start throwing them in the flame! Thank you Barbara for my new obsession!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

2010-02-16T10:53:00.010-05:00

It's Mardis Gras time! This is the King Cake that my son, Ethan, and I made yesterday. His French class will be celebrating Fat Tuesday today with all kinds of French/New Orleans food. It's the first time I've made one of these. I found this recipe on www.epicurious.com (although I used a different glaze recipe). There are a bunch of recipes out there but this one had the most flavoring added to it. I have no idea what's traditional.

Here is a picture of some of the steps: raw dough after being braided, baked dough (an egg wash made it shiny - not sure why I did this as it ends up getting covered by the glaze) and the final baked product.

Summers Studio Giveaway!

2010-02-06T20:11:00.005-05:00

LeAnn of Summers Studios is giving everyone a chance to win a BOWL FULL OF BEADS! Don't miss out on this opportunity. I know I'm not! Good luck!

GoD and DoG

2010-01-26T07:00:00.005-05:00

My aunt (extreme animal lover) sent me a Windows Media Video from this website. Anyone dog lover/owner will appreciate (and agree with) this. Enjoy! (www.WendyFrancisco.com)

Photos from the Martha Stewart Show

2010-01-10T11:12:00.002-05:00

It's almost been a month since I was at the Martha Stewart Show but I didn't get a chance to post these photos until now. Above is the view from our seats. Yes, we got the "back of the bus" seats and were in the last row. Now you know why so many people are looking at the monitors when they go to live shots of the audience. We can't see what's going on!
Here's Martha getting a touch up between segments. (Viewed from a monitor).
Here's one of the audience giveaways for that show. A set of two Riedel Champagne crystal glasses or tumblers. They're so light! Maybe since they're not so tall and not on a stemmed based I will be less likely to knock them over...
I think Martha has a professional photographer take pictures of her with the guests she has each day. This was a shot after the end of the show. From left to right: Bertha Gonzales of Casa Dragones (makes a mucho expensive sipping tequila - sorry no giveaways there!), Bronson Van Wyke (event planner), Emeril Lagasse, Martha Stewart, Danny Meyer (book giveaway "Mix Shake Stir"), and Jen Sgobbo (bartender).

We're Off to See Martha!

2009-12-15T18:56:00.002-05:00

My partner in crime, Daniele, surprised me by getting tickets to see Martha this week. How nice is she?! A while ago we had talked about whether we should take a trip this week but that plan fizzled and we left it alone... or so I thought!

We're leaving tomorrow to shop at the outlets in Tannersville. Hopefully I can finish up a lot of Christmas shopping. We'll stay overnight in Secaucus and then zoom through the Lincoln Tunnel to get to Martha's studio for the taping of the live Thursday show! The show is about holiday parties so we were instructed to wear either a cocktail dress (sorry, don't go to many soirees) or some black pants and a solid color dressy top. Needless to say, since I stay at home, I don't have many nice clothes and therefore had to purchase some. Hopefully the outfit will pass inspection. I was excited to find out that one of the guests on the show will be Emeril Lagasse!

Hopefully we'll have some time after the show to see some of the sites of NYC at Christmas. I'd at least like to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I'll post some pictures later in the week if I get any worth showing. One thing is for sure, we're lucky to have husbands who look after the kids and animals while we go on these short excursions every once in a while. (The last one was October 2008?)

2009 Holiday Open House

2009-12-15T18:15:00.002-05:00

My friend, Daniele of Thistle Farm, and I had an open house at my home this past Thursday evening and Saturday. In addition to my jewelry and Daniele's pottery, we both made cookies for cookie platters: linzer cookies, kolachki, snickerdoodles, pecan tassies, chocolate dipped shortbread, snowballs, and three kinds of biscotti - amaretto, almond chocolate chip and cappuccino. (There were more but my mind's a little fuzzy tonight.) Daniele also made her infamous cinnamon rolls.

Thank you to our friends who were able to stop in. We appreciate you doing some of your Christmas shopping with us!! We enjoyed chatting and having some wine/coffee/eggnog with you and catching up. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Now Showcasing...

2009-12-05T08:56:00.004-05:00

I bought a "showcase" spot on Etsy for today so I was busy all day yesterday adding items to my store. I remembered why I am really bad about putting stuff on-line. It takes so long! Maybe it's just me, I don't know. It didn't help that my computer was acting like an old lady. I also have some gripes about Etsy's user interface for all of this but I guess that's my past career butting in.

Anyway... long story short. I've got new things in my store!! Yeah! I hope to be adding more this week so stay tuned and thank you for checking in. (I promise, my next blog won't be so whiny!)

Pheasant Under Grass

2009-11-22T13:41:00.007-05:00

This site is a new one in our neighborhood. A few weeks ago my husband and I saw this guy right at the side of the road and we stopped and gawked at him while he ignored us and pecked at the ground. Unfortunately, I had no camera that day. I had never seen one before and was astounded at the many vibrant colors he had. I don't think I've ever seen white that bright.

On Friday, I had to go to my son's school for a recognition ceremony and on the way down the hill I saw him again peeking out from some tall grass. This time I had my camera! I backed up the car and snapped a few quick pictures. They don't do him justice however.

Sweet Bead Studio Giveaway!

2009-10-21T09:02:00.003-04:00

Help Cindy celebrate being published in the latest edition of Easy Wire magazine by visiting her blog and entering her generous giveaway!

Endicott Teachers' Association Fall Craft Show

2009-10-07T15:55:00.003-04:00

Just a note to let you all know that I'll be at the U-E craft show this November 7th from 9AM - 3PM. I will be located in the gym at the LWW (Linnaeus W. West) school. In the spot behind me will be my cohort in crime, Daniele Vick of Thistle Farm.

It will be the first time I have showed at this event. I hope it will be a good show and there will be plenty of shoppers trying to get jump on their holiday purchases!

Save the date and I hope to see you there!

It's Fall Y'all!

2009-09-25T10:49:00.007-04:00

I wrote a poem a few years ago after seeing two leaves swirling in my yard as I was driving up the street. I don't know why this image struck me so. Perhaps it was because there were leaves all over the place yet only the two leaves were in this updraft. Anyway, I finally figured out a way to incorporate this poem in with a quilted mixed media wall hanging. It's my first project of this kind and I was happy with how it turned out!

Greene Arts & Crafts Show

2009-07-27T07:27:00.008-04:00

This was my booth setup for the Greene show this past Saturday. Overall I think the show was a success. I received many compliments on my jewelry and that was really nice to hear. Sometimes you wonder if you're headed in the right direction...

Now I have to get busy making more of the fall decorations I sold and replenish my jewelry supply. I have a lot of ideas swimming in my head. Which one will get realized first, I wonder.

(I have to give credit for the copper necklace display to Lorelei. I saw her jewelry setup in her blog and thought it was such a great idea, I asked my husband if he could whip one of them up. So, thank you Lorelei and I hope you don't mind... :) )

Where's Waldo?

2009-07-06T08:16:00.004-04:00

This is a partial map (click on the map to see a larger view) of the layout for the Greene Arts & Craft Show being held Saturday, July 25th, in Greene, NY. I will be located at booth (tent) 206 which is on the right-hand side of the library. My friend, Daniele, of Thistle Farms Arts will be right next door at booth 207. Make sure to stop by, browse, purchase(?) and say hello!

Bugs!

2009-07-01T20:39:00.005-04:00

After finding a huge, gross, scary, and juicy spider (a moment of silence for the spider please) in my laundry room the other day I was happy to take a look at this leaf (?) bug. My son, Ethan, held it while I snapped a few pictures. In the middle picture, he seems to be saying, "What are you looking at?!" Anyone know what kind of bug this is?

Generous Giveaway from Cindy Wimmer!!

2009-06-30T14:22:00.008-04:00

Cindy Wimmer is offering 3 different giveaways (items pictured above) on her blog! For anyone who designs or likes jewelry, check it out! (Sweet Bead Studio Blog Giveaway)

Why Are Baby Animals So Cute?!

2009-06-29T09:34:00.010-04:00

My husband, Bob, was mowing the yard last night and luckily this little guy hopped out of the way. Knowing how much I love furry animals, Bob came in to let me know of his find. I tried to get as close as I could. I eventually scared him away... Look at those little ears!!

(This was certainly much better than when he had me come outside to see a snake eating a toad! Gross!! I think he now knows to never show me that again.)

Wicked!

2009-05-22T09:46:00.004-04:00

We're off to NYC! This is the first time we'll be staying over night for a sight-seeing mini vacation. (Although considering the prices, it doesn't seem like a mini vacation.) I've only been for quick trips in to see a taping of the Martha Stewart show (with Daniele who is Martha without the money). What awaits us besides a Broadway show? Hmmm... Rockefeller Center and observation deck, Toys-R-Us, FAO Schwartz, South Street Seaport, Statue of Liberty, Little Italy (gotta get a cannoli!!). Who knows what we'll end up seeing but one thing's for sure, we'll have a great time!!

Etching Away...

2009-05-09T10:59:00.008-04:00

I took an etching class lets see... maybe two or three years ago at the local communiy college. I'd played around a little with it after that class but recently found some more interesting findings to work with. Here are a few samples that I will be lising on etsy soon.

Ooh-la-la! C'est francais! Je ne parle pas le francais. Peut-etre un peu mais tres mal!

(I've decided to take out the chain between the two blue glass beads. I think it will look much better...)

PMC Results

2009-05-08T07:22:00.016-04:00

Last week I had posted pictures of some PMC work I had done before it was fired in the kiln. Well, here are some of the results!

I had found this really cute chick button that I made a mold out of and had a great idea to make a pendant for those ultra-confident women out there - or for those people who want to bust on someone they know! I think it's funny... I added a handmade sterling silver tag with "Hot" on it and a little ruby for color.

Here's another PMC pendant I made. The heart shapes were made using a pencil eraser that I had carved a heart shape into. I then drew in the stems and leaves and voila!

I found another cute button that had all these hearts on it and had to make a mold of that too. Great for someone special.

Open House and PMC

2009-04-30T12:00:00.004-04:00

This Sunday, my friend, Daniele (Dani to some), of Thistle Farm and I will be hosting an Open House at my home. We have done this in the past although not regularly. People seem to like having this convenient opportunity to shop for Mother's Day (for their mothers or for themselves - hey, who are we to judge?!). Daniele and I also enjoy this laid back event to see our friends, have some coffee and cookies, and catch up on things.

Here is a picture of some of the PMC items I've been working on. This is before they have been fired in the kiln. They need some cleaning up before they'll be loaded in the kiln later today. It's always exciting to see how they turn out! They'll be incorporated into necklaces or bracelets for this Sunday's Open House.

These Hamsters Got Soul!

2009-04-08T20:08:00.012-04:00

This is my favorite commercial right now. I happen to love hamsters. When I was in grad school I missed my cat and dog so much I went out and bought "Spike". Do I have hamsters now? No. I have four cats. I don't think those are odds any hamster would like to face. Click here to see the version I like on YouTube.

If you want to see another funny YouTube video check out Sparta ("The Mean Kitty Song").

Woman Plays with Fire!

2009-04-07T15:21:00.016-04:00

I took a short soldering class a little while ago and made these hand-formed hoops. I then texturized them and gave them a little patina. I almost left the earrings all silver but in the end I had to add some color. What do you think?

Wordle!

2009-03-19T15:48:00.005-04:00

My son, Ethan, came home today and told me about a website that he learned about in Social Studies. It's pretty neat and addicting! It's www.wordle.net. We made this arrangement using pet names and nicknames.

A Little Help From My Friends...

2009-03-18T09:20:00.004-04:00

Here is one of my helper's, Taz. (Yes, at times he lives up to his name.) Is he fixing a typo or does he think his grammatical skills are more advanced? How can you toss something this cute off your desk? (Well, it's easy if he decides to start playing with something.) Three of the four cats (yes, I said four) like to visit me at the computer. I guess it's their one-on-one time. And I wonder why I don't get anything accomplished?!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-16T12:09:00.005-04:00

We celebrated a little early this year by having our St. Patrick's Day dinner this past weekend (in the photo). My father and one of my sister's came down for the weekend. It wasn't quite traditional as I served Polish pierogies (from St. Michael's church, yum!) with the corned beef. Hey, one had potatoes and the other had cabbage. Mix it all up and you have some form of colcannon. My sister cooked the brussel sprouts (gag! everyone else liked them). At least there was Guinness for Bob!

2009-03-13T09:14:00.003-04:00

How pretty!! This great springy PMC ring is being offered as a giveaway on Chocolate and Steel's blog (chocolateandsteel.blogspot.com). Lots of entries already! Who will win?! (Please, oh please...)

The Birds!

2009-03-12T11:29:00.006-04:00

Thought you might like to see the view from my back door today. I feed the birds I think just to see the skittish cardinals. Quiz for the day: can you guess which of these birds is my husband's favorite? (Hint: the answer lies in the bird's name.)

I'm Hep to this Blogging Thing!

2009-03-11T21:09:00.004-04:00

A year later...really. That's quite pathetic now isn't it? I guess I'm just not one to put it all out there? It's not necessarily a privacy thing with me. It's more like I'm thinking, "Who the hell cares, Michelle?!".

So a lot has happened in the past year. One thing new is that I decided to create a different etsy site for just my jewelry. I didn't want to distract from my jewelry by having seasonal craft items listed with it. So, are you ready? Here it is...(does anyone hear a drum roll besides me?) MetalsNGems.etsy.com !!

I'm going to try to update this blog more than once a year. (No, really!) I do have to get better at promoting myself and what better place to start? So here goes...

Etsy Shop

2008-03-04T10:59:00.000-05:00

For anyone interested, my Etsy shop is: www.HodgePodgeCreations.etsy.com. I hope to be adding more items soon.

CEO of Mischief

2008-03-04T10:52:00.001-05:00

I love my animals. I have two cats and a dog. I find that's a nice number although I'd love to have more. When the animals aren't making me mutter nasty things about them under my breath, they sure make me laugh. I walked into my office one day to find my cat, Eve (a.k.a. "Miss Naughty Pants"), picking up where I left off...

Jewelry Samples

2008-03-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

Having updated my profile to state that I make jewelry, I thought I would post a few of my favorite creations:

Ready, Set, Go!

2008-03-03T17:29:00.000-05:00

So I've finally figured out all my settings for this blog and here I am typing in my first blah-blah-blog. I don't know that I have much to say but I'll make a go of it.

This isn't an interesting start at all but I have to leave now and I'll be back!