Weirdly ill

I've been ill.  I had lovely red lumps show up on my eyelids, legs, feet and hands.  And fevers.  And sore joints.   For nearly two weeks now.  Not fun.

Look at those attractive eyelids!  NOT a pretty sight.   

I've been off work, visiting the doctor and staying home eating broths & fruit & vegetables & herb tea.  Every morning I've drug my sore body out of bed and done my yoga exercises, doing my best to praise and trust God.

My dear friends and family have been praying for healing and encouraging me.  Blessings! 

I've had plenty of time this holiday to appreciate little things, like good health, the love and care of friends and family, and the devotion and care of an amazing husband.

Here I am today.  I visited the doctor and got a good report.  Most of my red bumps have faded.  No fevers for three days.  Sore joints getting better.  Thank you Jesus!  

The doctors are still not sure what caused all the weird symptoms, and are amazed at how quickly I've been improving with no medications.  But I know why.  And I'm so grateful.

I didn't get much done on these days off.  When the fevers took hold, I just wanted to sit on the couch bundled in quilts and layers of jammies and socks.   But I did manage to finish stringing necklaces and making earrings for my lovely sister.   And the package went out today!  So look out for it sis!

So this Christmas season 2010 has been quite different than I'd expected.  I've been given a gift of perspective, a gift of seeing how truly blessed I am every "normal" day.  I've been given the gift of appreciating good health, and the humble realization that it could have gone either way:  health or illness.  None of us are promised ease and an absence of challenges.  We are just promised that He will walk with us as we travel through the valleys and climb mountains.  May your Christmas be blessed.   May you feel the joy and faith that comes with the birth of a Savior.  My love to you all!

Deck the Halls~~Fa la la

Woo Hoo!  Got my tree decorated!  I'm never ever this early.  Sooo Coool!

 DH got his Christmas Village up....first time in a few years~  This is wonderful!

 Sweet Granddaughter visited last night.  She decorated my face with stickers and we read books together.  Talk about fun!

Yes, she's dang cute.  She just is.   Try to get me to change my opinion.  Just try!

Did Thanksgiving break speed by like a lightning bolt?   Tomorrow, back to work.  Bless you all!

Thanksgiving Heart

My Daily Bible Verse:

Thank the Lord!  Praise his name!  Tell the world what he has done.  Oh, how mighty he is!  Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things.  Make known his praise around the world."     Isaiah 12: 4-5  NLT

As I sit here, early in the day before the traveling to my daughter, before the cooking, KP, eating, laughing, loving, talking, sharing, I thank Him.  I thank God for my good life.

I can use my wrists!  I can work again!  I can play at my jewelry bench---oh I do thank Him for that!   I have such a loving husband, lovely complex family, dear coworkers, sweet church family.   What a rich life.  I'm very blessed and will try to count them all today.

Thank you all, all of my blog and internet friends.  You bless me.   May this Thanksgiving be joyful.  I send you my love.

I've Been Busy! Copper Earrings Day

I've been busy today!  This pair was lots and lots of sawing.  I started them last week and finally got to patina them yesterday.  I LOVE the way they turned out!  And they kinda resemble Christmas ornaments, right?  Perfect for Christmas parties~~:-)

 These hearts make me smile~~I drew them on the copper with a very fine point Sharpie.   Hearts...I just love 'em!    And I wanted the copper circles to frame them.  The turquoise was a last-minute decision.  Originally I was going to use abalone beads, but the turquoise called out to me.  Yep, called my name! lol

Copper, Citrine, Prehnite and Copper chain.  Fun and light to wear.

OK, all I need to do now is get out of my jammies (2:43 PM Pacific Standard Time...for shame!), brush my hair and teeth and run to Studio 41.  

I'm so very thankful for you all.   Thank you for reading my blog and sharing your thoughts.  You are important to me and I wish you the best Thanksgiving and lots of blessings as we head into the Christmas season.   Mmmmmmwah~!

Giveaway at Love My Art Jewelry

Psssst!  Hey, over here!  There's a cool giveaway at
Love My Art Jewelry
A wonderful necklace created by Mary Jane Dodd is being given away, and all you have to do is comment on the blog.   Go on over!  Take a look!

The Case of the Missing Shawl

Here I am with my niece.  We are getting ready for her little brother's baptism last week.  I was wearing a wonderful Irish woven shawl that my DH got for me at the Scottish Games.  I love it!

After the baptism, I visited the church restroom, and before I "did my business", I took off my long shawl and draped it over the restroom door.  Apparently, when my back was turned, the shawl was taken.  When I realized it was gone, I rushed out and no one was in the room.  I saw my DD out in the hallway and I laughed because I thought she'd played a little prank on me.   But she hadn't.   We both walked quickly around the church, searching, asking...no shawl.  I was getting quite discouraged when my goddaughter found it in the church narthex, quite a distance from the restroom!   Smiles, relief, but how did this happen?  My favorite theory is that a child that was in the restroom when I first entered grabbed the shawl and trailed it like a favorite blankie to the narthex.   Then her mommy saw it and put it on the table.   Or my shawl crawled away by itself, trying to escape!  :-)   Anyway, I love a happy ending!  And I've learned to never be so foolish with my possessions. 

Happy Weekend all!  I don't know about you, but I can't really believe that it's Thanksgiving next week!  Wish I could slow down time....:-)

New Earrings: Copper & Brass, Etched & Hammered, Quartz & Onyx

Pair of earrings ready for Studio 41 in Benicia.  Etching brass or copper is such a satisfying process.  You write on your metal with a Sharpie, suspend it in ferric chloride and tah dah!  Etched & textured to your specifications.  My kind of fun!

Women of Faith conference in Sacramento.  Could only attend Friday...but wow!  Sheila Walsh's story and encouragement brought me to tears of joy, tears of breaking open to God's love.   Amazin' day.   Effects still lingering in my heart and thoughts.

Saturday~fun family day when my newest nephew Kevin was baptized.  Lots of laughs and too much delicious Mexican food.  We are a blessed family!

Monday tomorrow....may we all sail smoothly into our weekly duties.  I'm prayin'!  Hugs to you all~~~

Cold Connection Encouragement~Citrine, Heliador, Copper and Brass

 That's what my workbench looked like last week.  I was riveting another "Encouragement Pendant".  See my cute little clamps?  They really help.  And the painter's tape helps keep marks away~~

Tah Dah!!!  It's finished today.  I get to test-wear it to Women of Faith conference in Sacramento on Friday.   I'm so looking forward to an amazing time with friends and a bunch of other Christian women.  How lucky I am~ How blessed I am.

And here's a present for a lovely niece.  She'll get this Saturday.  I hope she likes them!  She specified "small and hearts"....OK!
Have a wonderful Thursday, all.  Veteran's Day.  Thank you, every Veteran.  Thank you for protecting my wonderful country.  God bless you.

In-My-Jammies Saturday~

 Awesome Saturday mornin' all!  Here I am sipping my nonfat latte~~still in my jammies and obviously no hair or makeup attention.  Scarey!  But it's a quiet day today.

 Fakey smile time~I'm just so naturally glamorous!
 My sweet DH is away at my little brother's ranch for a "guys weekend".  Branding cattle, shooting rifles at targets, eating steak and beans, cutting and loading firewood.  I've been sending up some prayers that he doesn't strain or injure any body parts.  The doggies went too, so they're having the funnest time running free over 81 acres.

Here's the latest book I'm reading snippet by snippet.  Got laundry, bills to pay and a lovely citrine-and-heliador etched copper and bronze encouragement pendant to keep me busy.  I'm so very lucky.  I'll keep thanking the Lord and wish you all a lovely weekend, no matter what you are doing.  Thank you all for stopping by.  :-)

"Always be joyful.  Keep on praying.  No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
                                                                             First Thessalonians 5:16-17

I am blessed.   So much beauty, so much good surrounds me in this life.  May I always appreciate.  May I always exhibit gratitude. 

Hugs to you all!

Healing Halloween

 Sunday night was a special night for me.  No, not because it was Halloween.  Our Halloweens are very low-key with the kids all grown.  No decorating, we never get trick-or-treaters.   Quiet.  We like it that way.  This Halloween was special because my Mom and Dad finally met their first great-grandchild. 

 Circumstances have made it difficult for Mom and Dad to see my Punkin' Granddaughter, but I was grateful to God for this opportunity on Halloween night.  I've been longing for this to happen, and it did.  And it went smoothly.  God is good!

My Mom bought a Disney princess book for Great-granddaughter.  She LOVED it.  She explained about the princesses and their outfits and the castle.  I'll always treasure this evening deep in my heart.  A little hole there has healed.  I'm so grateful~~~

Have a blessed Wednesday, my friends.  I'm going to clean house, work on a pendant and run an errand or two~~bliss!

Jackson California & Bead Scores

.

 Jackson, California is an old Gold Country town.  My DH and I visit it a couple of times a year and tramp around the antique shops, trading post, fabulous used book store and the bead shop.

Oh yeah....to a beadaholic, this is a score.  Drool, happiness and ideas abound!

Morning from my backyard

It's going to be a lovely day~~

"Trust, like joy, is an attitude we can choose.  It's a habit of thinking - and one that is worth cultivation if we want to recapture a childlike optimism and expectancy in our lives." Thomas Kinkade

I'm gonna work on trusting God today~~

 I finished this Cold Connection Encouragement Necklace~~

 I've been holding onto this great piece of labradorite for a while...doesn't it glow?  It's time for it to grace someone's neck.

 It's time to encourage someone with a hidden message.  We all should be calm in our hearts!

Thanks for taking a look at this piece...

I sure hope your week went well~~If you faced sorrows, may they be lessened.  If you felt joy, I hope you shared it!

Tomorrow my DH and I will travel to the Gold Country in California~~about 1and 1/2 hours away.  We'll peruse a huge used bookstore.  I'll immerse myself in a bead store and a trading post for jewelry goodies.  Then we'll eat a lovely lunch, walk through antique shops and drive home with smiles.  Wish you could all join us! 
Have fun my friends~

Copper Etched Labradorite Pendant Pics for Rina

 Rina, jewelry-making friend, asked me to post pics of the back of the piece I just posted...so here you go Rina!   This is the back of the top plate (I call this the "bead plate")

 Here is the front of the brass plate.  After I wire the quartz crystal onto the bead plate, I'm going to rivet that bead  plate onto this brass plate.

This is kinda how it will look~~then I'll curl the strip on top to make a bail.  Voila!!! tah dah!!!  There will be 5 rivets, so that may take some time.  Gotta work a little at a time so my gimpy wrist doesn't ache.   AND so I get some laundry and other things done on my day off~~~or we will live in clutter and dog hair.  :-)

Have a super Wednesday!

Etched Copper and Labradorite Work In Progress~WIP

Just wired the labradorite onto the etched copper.  Slowly and surely this encouragement pendant is coming together!   Second time I wired the labradorite.  First time I attached it then carefully cut the wire in the wrong place!   Said a semi-bad word and put it down.   Waited 2 days.   Today~~~success!  Next I must wire on the quartz crystal.

It's pretty this morning in Vallejo, CA.  Northern California is going to be cool-ish and clear.  I took a great pic of the morning sky from my backyard, but I can't upload it for some reason....hmmmmm....computers and I don't always live in perfect harmony~~

I Heart my Jeweler's Saw

I really love my jeweler's saw...honest!  I know many jewelry makers hate the saw.  It's slow and can be difficult and "sticky" to use with copper and brass sheet.  I used to hate mine until I tore the ligaments in my right wrist.  Even after surgery, I can't use the metal shears without pain....soooooooo I'm getting so proficient with my saw.  And the attractive shelving cushion stuff that I rubber-banded on the handle just makes it easier for my hand and wrist.   lol~~high-tech!   Anyway, Susan Lenart Kazmer has a great video on how to use the jeweler's saw:  http://objectsandelements.com/shop/instructional-videos-br-page-3

I'm so grateful to be able to work on some new pendants.  I call them "cold-connection encouragement pendants" and I'm making a couple for Studio 41 in Benicia, CA.   They're gonna be cool.  I'll keep you updated~~

Love is Patient

I surely hope you have been blessed by Love~~

Rainy Sunday Kitty Day

Rainy Sunday in Vallejo,CA....wonderful worship service at Community Presbyterian church. Amazing sermon by Pastor Jon that encouraged and inspired me and many others.
The orange marmalade kitty Button is hanging out on the dog bed....the dogs don't know because they are outside. :-)

Since I am trying to dig out the clutter in my house, wash loads of laundry and work on two new pendants, I wish for "Balance". I wish that for you, my dear readers. May your week be full of balance, joy, peace and the knowledge that you are moving toward your dreams.

Friday wish

It's Friday! May your day "sing" with ease~good spirits~joyfullness~~~or at least the grateful realization that you made it through another week----Praise God!

Been a While~Copper Message Pendant

Sorry to be so absent from the blog world~
I've been working on a project that I'll talk about later---maybe even a few months from now. Just know that I'm tired and fried but content. And I must shovel out my clutter and mess all over the house!
May you all smile today and feel joy. May your eyes crinkle with laughter and your teeth sparkle as you erupt with happiness. If you are experiencing a sad time, may you be comforted and hugged.
Bless you all~

Sing the Dreams of Your Heart

New piece!
Chrysocola and labradorite on etched brass riveted to copper. The idea for this piece had been rattling in my head and telling me it wanted to be created for a while. I love it! The necklace includes beads of abalone, fluorite, copper, brass, glass and leather~~fun stuff goin' on here. Comfortable to wear too~~

I love the message on the back! It's a fun challenge to think of encouraging messages.



Etched brass and abalone earrings.


Scottish Games in Pleasanton Ca this weekend. Oh, the bagpipes, the kilts, the crowds and vendors. The silly t-shirts with the funny sayings! My DH worked his volunteer position in operations. He worked hard and loved it~~

Well, another Labor Day almost over. The official start of "back to normal". Need to savor every single day~~they are speeding by so rapidly.
Bless you all.