Monday, May 31, 2010

A New Business!







Check out my husband's new shop on Etsy! He makes beautiful handcrafted game bird calls. The link to his shop is: www.pacificnwwoods.etsy.com. He can take any of the ones he has listed and change out the reed inside to a different bird call.

I think they're gorgeous. Take a look!

Friday, March 12, 2010

I've been snookered!



You would think at my age, I would know better! I had someone come to my Etsy shop and want me to make five more bracelets like one in my shop for her bridesmaids in her wedding this summer. I said, "Yes" and well......., got ahead of myself and had the beads made by a lampwork friend of mine and bought the silver beads to go with them. I put them all together and sent an email to the buyer with pictures. She loved them! She said she couldn't pay until the end of the month (that was February). I have since sent her several emails, but have not received any answers. Boy, did I get burned! I just trusted that she would keep her word. I should know better...... Well, I'm not going to let it get me down. I learned a very valuable lesson. Wait until the money's in the bank before starting any custom work. It's time to move on....... a wiser person now. I'm putting in pictures of those bracelets.... They're beautiful!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

A visit to San Antonio



Last Thursday evening I arrived in San Antonio, Texas to visit my daughter, Audrey, son-in-law, Bob, and granddaughter, Emily. They just moved there last August for Bob's new position as an ER nurse at So. Texas Regional Med. Center. My luggage didn't make it past Denver until 7:00pm the next evening! Had a great time shopping and talking and looking at the beautiful lampwork beads my daughter creates.

My granddaughter, Emily, will be 16 this coming weekend. She'll be getting a bouquet of tulips for her birthday from Papa and me. I started the tradition with our oldest granddaughter and have just kept on with it. I have one more granddaughter who will be 16 in a few years and three grandsons after her (don't know what I'll do for the boys).

We visited with my nephew, John and his daughter, Grace (named after my mom). Had a great time with them. Audrey made cookies with Grace and Emily painted her face and had her blowing bubbles in the backyard. They don't spoil her at all when she comes over to visit. It was so good to see them and hug their necks!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Two Lovely Days at the Beach






We had some cousins come to visit us from Michigan this past week. Since the weather report was for some nice weather on the Oregon coast, we decided to take them to Newport, Oregon for an overnight stay. The weather was awesome! Sunny, warm (65-70 degrees), no wind...... We walked on the beach, shopped, ate and just had a wonderful time. We saw an eagle sitting out on the rocks near Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and a Peregrin Falcon sitting in the trees. It was awesome! Could have stayed a few more days if we had had the time.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Are Diamonds a Girl's Best Friend?

About three weeks ago, while changing the sheets on my bed, I realized that I had lost the main diamond in my wedding ring. Now I have had that diamond for almost 50 years so I'm a little emotionally attached to it. We looked everywhere, crawled on hands and knees looking for the darn thing. So far, we haven't found it yet. I'm 95% sure it's in the house somewhere.

Well, anyway, I did have a diamond I could use as a replacement. It just happened to be in my grandmother's engagement ring that I had inherited. Of course, I had promised my youngest daughter she could have that ring when I passed on. And, my wedding ring was to go to my oldest daughter.

Now my kerfuffle (I learned that word from my dear friend, Terry, who is from New York) is that the two rings have merged. We just returned from the jewelers and my grandmother's diamond is now the center diamond in my wedding ring! It's gorgeous! I love it! And it's back on my left ring finger where it belongs! Looks like my girls will have to work out how to handle the ring after I'm gone.

The jeweler told me I should have the points on my rings checked every six months..... I don't think I have had any of them checked for six years. So do yourself a favor and stop by the jewelers and have the points on your rings checked. It's free at most jewelry shops!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Fabritopia.com





















My daughter-in-law has a wonderful website called http://www.fabritopia.com/ where she sells fabric, patterns, quiliting magazines and much more. She has such an eye for color and puts together the most beautiful and interesting combinations. She also has a blog at http://www.jonag.typepad.com/ where she has great ideas, great pictures (even some of my darling grandchildren) and even some instructions on how to make binding, scarves, and more. I'm putting a few of her pictures in this post. The Shop Girl apron pattern is her newest addition. I think I'll make one of those. That darling little boy is our youngest grandson!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

A New Bracelet in My Shop












I haven't done much in my shop lately. My artistic spark just took a vacation. But I did do a cute little bracelet in turquoise and carnelian, not realizing that I had made another one very similar to it last month. So I have two very pretty, southwestern looking turquoise bracelets in my shop right now. I love both of them! What do you think?