Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday my sweet wonderful husband!
You're still a kid~~

Extreme Cuteness Warning

Ain't she cute? My granddaughter Allessa is 17 months old. And wonderful~

Hope your week is full of child-like joy and simple happiness!

He is Born!

Today we celebrated His birth. With family, feasting, laughing and napping. I hope that you have had a blessed day~~~Peace and Joy to all my blog friends!

Angels Are On Their Way!

Christmas is coming~~~I LOVE the mere word "Christmas"...since my name is "Chris", I've felt my whole life that Christmas is really special for me...the self-centered-ness of a child! lol

We didn't have much spare money when I was growing up, but we had an imaginative and loving Mom who baked and loved and encouraged the five of us kids. I'll never live up to how special she made Christmastime for me! Even now she spends months making lovely crocheted snowflake ornaments for all of us kids and grandkids. I'm so blessed by her~~~

Here's the ornament that I just finished for my women's Bible study Christmas party tomorrow night. The lovely stamped and verdegris-ed nickel on the back was a swap from Phillipa. She stamped and patinaed four squares of nickel in exchange for some brass sheet. I got the better deal, if I do say so myself. And her generosity inspired this piece. I hope that one of my Christian sisters enjoys this!

May your preparations for this beloved time go smoothly and keep pointing you to Him. To His peace, love, joy. Bless you all!

Share Love

"Share Love" is the latest piece I've put in the gallery. Copper and Brass sheet, Labradorite and Silver wire. And so fun to string the beads to finish the piece~~

I'm a tired gal....but wanted to encourage you and me to "Share Love". I know you will!
Have a blessed Friday~

Peace and Joy my friends~~~are you crazy busy like we are? too many parties and errands? May He bring you peace and rest. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen!

Clarity and Wisdom~

Clarity and Wisdom...don't we all wish for these qualities? This necklace was inspired by my friend Kate, who attends my Bible study group. When we present our prayer requests to our friends, she frequently asks for clarity and wisdom.

I was going to take this necklace to Studio 41 to sell. Kate purchased it for herself. What a blessing! When friends wear your jewelry it is so meaningful.

See the new letter stamps from Beaducation? Way cool.

Have a blessed weekend, friends. May the Christmas preparations be manageable!

Scenes from a Wonderful Thanksgiving

A wonderful day at my DD's house in Elk Grove, CA. Kitchen prep, barbecuing, shining silver, last-minute trips to the grocery store for forgotten items, holding hands and saying grace, sitting down for a feast~~~how blessed it all was!!!!

Happy Birthday Son!

My son is 26 today! Here's a recent picture of him with his daughter Allessa~~who is looking mighty cute in her Halloween costume. :-)
Robert has impressed me with his love and caring toward her. And he works hard at his temp agency job. May this coming year bring him good and steady employment with benefits! (and I KNOW I'm not the only mother sending up this prayer!)


I LOVE turquoise, carnelian and copper, don't you? The colors just pop out and make you smile~~

May you have a solidly good week. As we recover from Thanksgiving feasting, family visits and travel, may you feel His presence and anticipate the celebration of His birth!

Thank You God

Father God thank You for this day! It's early now, and soon I'll be immersed in the hustle of Thanksgiving with a big family. Thank you so for my kids. I may not get to be with them all today, but you know that I'll be thinking of them...and enjoying the ones who could be with us.

Thank you for my husband. And his good health this year after the kidney and prostate surgeries of last year. It's been so good. Quietly and wonderfully good.

Thank you for my job. It may give me buckets of stress and challenges, but I'm glad to have it, and am so grateful for my coworkers.

Thank you for my country. May this next year be one of healing and strengthening.

Thak you for my church family! They continue to support me, bolster me, help me focus on You.

Thank you for my home. So many people have lost their homes. One of my patients last week worked for the mortgage industry. She's lost her job and house. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to pay her apartment rent this month. Be with her and all who are in similar situations.

Thank you for my friends~~~and I've been blessed with so many! Especially since I've started blogging. This medium shows me that we love to reach out and encourage. I know that You reach so many this way. I thank You. And praise You!!!

In Jesus' strong and holy name, I pray. Amen.

Random Facts Post

Sue, my dear friend from work, has posted on her blog for me to divulge seven random facts about myself. OK, everyone go to sleep right now!! I am so not exciting.

1. I'm half Polish (my Mom) and half Czech (my Dad).

2. I hate corn on the cob.

3. I talk to myself frequently. And answer myself. But I never argue with myself!

4. I'm a faithful flosser. ( I told you I'm way way boring!)

5. I weight train and my biceps are pretty durn impressive for a 51-year-old bookworm.

6. I'm proficient in building a fire in our woodstove.

7. I can make my dogs do almost anything for peanut butter spread on dog biscuits.

Now that was SOOOO fascinating! You may all wake up now and promise me you will have a great weekend. OK?

Beloved~~

A resin pendant that is now at Studio 41 Galleryand I hope that it will be a special gift for someone this Christmas. I really pondered for days what three words I wanted featured on this pendant. Words are powerful. I wanted to use them to inspire and lift up.

We saw the movie "Twilight" today! Since I'm a big fan of the books, I followed along with no problem and I loved it. My husband, who had read 6 chapters in the book said that he had no problem following it, but he preferred the James Bond movie we saw last week~lol! He did enjoy Twilight, just not enough secret agents and bombs!

May you all have the most wonderful Thanksgiving week, my friends. I have so much to be thankful for. I pray that you do too.

Dr S Visit

Dr. S is my endocrinologist. She's an amazing Dr who listens to me and has worked with me to fight my Graves disease~~a hyperthyroid disorder. She's been letting me take medicine for 4 years to calm it down, and recently encouraged me to go off of the meds to see if my thyroid could handle things on its own...3 months ago! So far, so good. Woo hooo!!!

Dr. S likes my earrings, so every visit I bring her a new pair. It's the least I can do for a great doctor.

I hope you all have great doctor(s) in your lives~~and may this weekend be a weekend of renewal as we get ready for the Thanksgiving feast. Bless you all!

Have a Blessed Week~

May you "Dream" and "Wish" this week and see miracles occur!

Peace and joy to you all~

Happy Bday Earrings

My niece Allie had a birthday this week! Hope she likes this present~~~

Have a blessed weekend, my friends. I'm getting my mammogram on Saturday~~woo hoo!

May You Be....

Hello All!
Had the bestest time at Studio 41Open House Friday night. Sold two pieces (!) and talked and laughed and had fun all evening~~what a blessing.

Here's the latest pendant, inspired by Cindy Forrester. I know it's not the same as the pieces she makes, but her fearless way of soldering organic quirky jewelry inspires me to "move out of my box" a bit. And I had fun with this. The inscription around the jasper rectangle reads "May You Be The Song In My Heart" and that was inspired by a favorite Tim Hughes song, "When the Tears Fall".

Here are the words to that song:

I've had questions, without answers
I've known sorrow, I have known pain
But there's one thing, that I'll cling to
Your are faithful, Jesus You're true

When hope is lost, I'll call You Savior
When pain surrounds, I'll call You healer
When silence falls, You'll be the song within my heart

In the lone hour of my sorrow
Through the darkest night of my soul
You surround me and sustain me
My defender, forevermore

I will praise You, I will praise You
When the tears fall, still I will sing to You
I will praise You Jesus praise You
Through the suffering still I will sing.

Beautiful song. Beautiful words. May your week be blessed~~~~

Two Lunches~~

I've had a full fun day today! My friend Kate and I went to the Carnelian Tea Room in Benicia and had a delicious early lunch~~Butternut Squash soup and Ginger Peach tea! Oh yeah~~

Then I went to Applebees to have a later lunch with my friend Dianne~~I'M STUFFED!

Boy was that fun~~~!

Here's a pair of earrings that I made for the gallery~~~

If anyone here is in Benicia, CA tommorrow night from 6-9 PM, stop by Studio 41and say hi to me, OK???

I hope you all are enjoying good fall weather~~already November 6 and time is flying by! God bless you~~

Awesome Saturday

We had an wonderful Saturday! First, we worked at the church work party. Here's a pic of our Fellowship Hall with my DH and his friend high high high up on ladders taking down a heavy speaker. Gulp. It all went OK, thank you Jesus!

Then we went to the Post Office to order our passports. One of my DH's daughters lives in Alcala, Spain, which is near Madrid. She's been asking us to visit her for 5 years, and we get the chance this spring! wooo hooo! I've never been any farther away than Mexico, so this is big. Except I found out that my birth certificate isn't legal for a passport~~~rats!!! So we have to order another one from North Carolina! Yep, my Dad was a Marine at Camp Lejeune when I was born. Anyway, wish me luck that we get everything in time!! We already bought our tickets for Spain!!


Later we had a wonderful dinner at Fresh Choice~~yummy salad and more place.



Wait a second! Who are these boorish louts?? Disgusting! Revolting!! I'm calling the management...oh wait, that's my DD and SIL!! They are a bit nutty~ They had dinner with us--how fun!





A wonderful Saturday, if I do say so myself!
May your week be blessed by He who we love and follow. And be sure to VOTE!

Ammonite Fossil Pendant

Happy Thursday All!!!

Here's a front and back photo of my latest "playing around-trying new techniques" piece. The ammonite fossil was picked up at a gem and mineral shop in Sonoma, along with the quartz crystal. I've been influenced by a wonderful jewelry artist Cindy Forresterand wanted to try something a little different. This is definitely different LOL! Yes, I can see several mistakes and things I'd do differently, but I'm happy that I tried.

May you have a blessed day and rest of this week~~~

I've been tagged~

Here's some earrings I made a couple weekends back during my "jewelry binge" in my jammies. Copper cut with my disc cutter (I heart my disk cutter!), hammered and hole-punched. Added some glass beads for dangles...fun!

OK, Tammy at Tammy's Treasure Chest tagged me, so I'm supposed to tell y'all 7 random not-so-well known facts about myself....here goes:

1. I have three brothers and one sister, all younger than me.

2. I LOVE blace licorice. So I stay away from it!

3. I belonged to the 4-H club when I was a kid. And I won a few blue and red ribbons for my baking and sewing~~woo hoo!

4. I can get weird when I'm reading a good book. I can't hear others speak and am totally in my "own world". You should have seen me reading the Twilight series last month....zombie gal! LOL!

5. The above does not apply to books of learning.

6. I weighed 175 in high school in the early 70's, when everyone was slender. I was called a "dog" and worse! I'm SO glad not to be in high school~LOL!

7. I wear size 10 to 10 and a half shoes. Big foot!

OK enough of random unimportant stuff...I sure do hope you all had the best Tuesday! And may the rest of the week be blessed and stress-free! God be with you!

Prehnite earrings

Stamped Silver and textured and antiqued copper earrings with prehnite drops~


Ahhhh early Saturday morning. No one is stirring yet. The dogs are in their kennels. The kitties are on their sleep pads in the garage. My DH is dreaming in our bed. I love this time! Too early on a Saturday to be expected to accomplish much. My time to do what I please...Thank you Father!!

Today we drive one hour to Sacramento to help our goddaughter pack and move. It will be a long day, but a satisfying one. Whenever I help someone move I thank God that I'm not the one moving! I'm so grateful to stay in my little home.

Whatever you are doing this day, may it be satisfying and full of inner calm. Bless you all!

Energy Pendant

Wednesday evening~~woo hoo! I have tomorrow off to do errands and maybe work a bit on my jewelry...and I should do some housework~yuk.

I just don't enjoy housework! And I don't enjoy wading through the stacks of junk mail we receive, or clearing the clutter that adds up each day. Or vacuuming the dog hair-cat hair-you name it! But the truth is that I'm so FORTUNATE to have a vacuum cleaner, dogs, clutter, cats, and a house. And if I can focus on that truth, I can tap into gratitude and have more joy....what an amazing life I could have!

Bless you all. And I'm sending you a big cyber-hug.

Oh! The pendant above was created on Saturday during my jewelry binge in my jammies. "Energy" is something I always could use more of...anyone relate? LOL!

Grace Apple Earrings

A FABULOUS WEEKEND!!! I sat in my pajamas in my studio all Saturday making jewelry~~~heaven! Except now my neck hurts from hunching over too much and my house was left a mess. So not real heaven...just as close as I can get here on earth! lol!

Now tomorrow the weekly craziness starts once again~~Lord please be with us. Please calm and comfort us and keep us focused on You when the alligators start nipping at our heels!

Bless you all, my friends.

Thanking Prayer

Happy Friday~~~
Here is exerpts from a prayer sent to me by my dear friend Sue~~~I love these words!

DEAR GOD:

I want to thank You for all you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until get promoted at work or until I get the job; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now.

I am thanking you because I am alive.

I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties.

I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.

I'm thankinng you because FATHER, YOU haven't given up on me.

In Jesus' strong and holy name I pray~~AMEN!

Hello All!

Happy Sunday my blogger friends!
I've been lying low a bit. My husband has needed the computer the most, and I've felt too overwhelmed by life to post on my blog at all~~LOL! So here's a commission piece for my friend Melinda---shhhhh! her husband ordered this and will surprise her with it on her birthday Thursday. I procrastinated so long on this piece that I feel 20 pounds lighter that it's done...it was a booger. 10 hours of work. I kept redoing parts that weren't perfect. Trying to make myself crazy. You know how that goes.. :-) !!!
May you all have a blessed week. You are all over the country---may your weather be fall-ish and crisp wherever you are~~~

"Breathe"

My head is empty~~~but my heart is full! Some of my work is being shown at Studio 41and I'm thrilled to be included in this lovely gallery~~~The necklace above is one of the pieces that's there on consignment.

My head is really empty! Can't think of any clever blog-quality thoughts or musings. I do love and appreciate my blog friends. I am so enriched by your thoughts, comments and love!

May this week be productive and encouraging. May all who are facing challenges feel His strength and love...bless you all!

Praise Him! Making Earring Charms

Praise Him! What else can I say? Praise Him even when things seem cruddy. This is one lesson that I keep learning again and again, over and over. I must praise Him even when I want to say "Why??? Why me? Why this? What am I to do?" He'll lead me through. He'll lead you too.

I'm making charms for jewelry. These will eventually be earrings. They are brass that I cut, punched the holes and used my wonderful metal stamps and super cool brass hammer to decorate. Fun. I am so very blessed.

I pray you are all well in Blogland...and may my friends who've had to deal with Hurricane Ike be encouraged. And given help and energy~~

11 Years Ago....

11 years ago I married this guy~~~Would I do it again? In the blink of an eye...Or faster! LOL!

I love you so much. I thank God for our years together. And I pray for more. More smiles, more tears, more life together. How blessed we are~

Funkified Peruvian Opal Necklace

New pendant on Etsy...a chunk of Peruvian Opal, some stamped and soldered copper, leather and a sterling and copper clasp. Fun and it's so very lovely to get a chance to be creative again!!

It's been a full Thursday and I still have laundry calling my name. Don't you hate it when that happens! LOL!

May your Friday be a joy. And ease you into a blessed weekend.

"The Woods"

Every year our church has a camping trip to "Westminster Woods" in Occidental, CA in the redwoods. It is soooo peaceful and soooo beautiful. This is "camping lite". We have bathrooms, showers and a chow hall that created fabulously delicious meals for us. We were definitely not "roughing it" by any means. And the sounds, smells and sights of nature made this a weekend full of His peace.


Here's the "Kerr Casa"...isn't this a GREAT tent? Big enough to stand up in, which really helps when you are trying to put your jeans on. No crouching for me, uh uh! And look at the little camping table and folding rocking chair, reclining chair and upright chair. After this shot my DH put up the canopy and we even had little lights strung up around the top! LOL! NOT "real" camping. Not by a long shot.


Saturday morning is the hike to the cross. This wooden cross is located way at the top of a steep little trail. When you're out of shape it's a true challenge (huff puff wheeze!) but we all made it. And the view! We all said a prayer together and kept urging the kids to stay away from the cliff edges.


Later that day we played some games led by Pastor Bill.


I held my annual "Beading Workshop" that went soooo well! These beaders and others created fabulous necklaces and bracelets~~21 in all! I'm spending this week crimping them all to give back to their owners all finished and ready to wear.

I feel my mind and soul are rested, renewed. I don't want to return to work tomorrow, LOL!!, But ya gotta do what ya gotta do. And I don't play the lottery, so I can't possibly win it!! :-D

Bless you all, my blog friends. May your week be just what it is, but may you be able to see it all through the lens of God's peace and reassurance. Amen.