Made It Through Wednesday!

Here's a pair of earrings I made a while back. Aquamarine and copper accents. I just played around and this is what happened. The funny part is that a lady saw these at the gallery and was very impressed with my interpretation of lightning and rain~~~which goes to show you that the interpretation of things is all in the eye of the beholder!

Good day today. I believe I really helped a few patients. The cranky radiologist was relatively pleasant. And the day flew by!! Yay!

Bless you all this evening. May your Thursday be Jesus-filled!

Happy Tuesday!

Well, last night our doggies took a walk with my brother in law. They were in the hills, off-leash, when they tried to make a new friend. A skunk. Peuuuuwwww!!! So last night was a round of baths, baking soda, and a smelly household. My DD was here from Sacramento with her husband and she jumped right in with the doggie bath duties. What a blessing!

May your evening smell nicer than ours did last night! Bless you all.

Cattle Drive

When we were at Poso Flats near Bakersfield, we got to see a cattle drive! My DH ran into the thick of it to take pictures.

The cattle had to cross a creek to get onto my brother's property.


This cowgirl kept them thar dogies in line, yessir...(embarrassing attempt to sound "cowboy" is now over. You may stop grimacing.)
It was a fun addition to our trip, and my brother said he spared no expense to make our visit really special...LOL!

May you have a cow-poop free Tuesday! And bless you all, my friends.

"Renew"

Blessed Sunday all!
"Renew" is my latest resin pendant. Copper, brass, nickel, silver, garnet and peridot are all included in this piece.

A beautiful day in Northern California~~86 degrees so far. I pray that this week is full of kindnesses and joy, with several grins and a few shared laughs thrown in daily. A hug to you all!

Yay Friday!

Happy Friday All!!!!
Here's a funny resin pendant that I made yesterday. Leftover resin, a circle of copper, a wire cross I made a long time ago, and teeny seed beads. Voila!

Hope your weekend is amazing~~ God bless you all.

Doggie Vacation

Dakota and Sierra had so much fun on this trip. They got to play in the water. Many times. Occasionally they were tossed into the water after they rolled in cow poop. Yep, cow poop. Apparently it's a great doggie body lotion and a yummy snack.


They got to hang out with horses. And the horses did their best to ignore them.


Still, I get the sneaking suspicion that my DH loves the dogs more than me...


Now where would I get that impression? I don't know.... And I promise not once did I roll in cow poop and I never never ate it. Ever....

God bless you, all my friends. Our week is winding down. May you be a blessing to someone else~

Bakersfield~Poso Flats Adventure

Dakota the Lab and Sierra the Border Collie/Lab did OK on the 6 and 1/2 hour trip to Poso Flats this last weekend. They didn't enjoy being in their crates, but we did stop frequently and take them on potty and water breaks. Here they're hangin' with my DH at a rest stop.


Here's my little brother's barn at Poso Flats! They also have a living quarters there, so there are bathrooms and a place to sleep. Isn't it cute? My DH is envious!

It's so pretty here! Lots of oak trees and granite rocks and horsies...


And here's the "Party Meadow" where the birthday festivities will occur...no, the little house is NOT an outhouse! It's a well house. If you have to go potty, walk back to the barn, OK?

Hey, we all made it through Wednesday!! Woo hoo! Bless you all and keep looking at Him. He loves you so much.

More earrings for family

Two more pairs of earrings for my family. First pair was for my niece, who turned 20~~ I tried to do something a bit more "trendy" and copied the big round shape that I've seen worn by the young adults at our office. The second pair is my favorite. I LOVE lapis! And I was almost hoping that this SIL wouldn't like them and I'd be forced to take them back (oh yeah baby!). Didn't happen. Rats. :-)

My cold is lessening it's grip. No more fever and less coughing. My brain still feels full of cotton. I'm gonna return to work tomorrow and see how I do.

I had a great day at home. Lots of laundry and a bit of jewelry work AND my sister called from Oregon. How fun to talk with one of my favorite people. :-D

May your week be joyful, and if it isn't, may God surround you with his care!

Earrings for Family

Ahh, back from Bakersfield with a monster cold! But it was beautiful~~Poso Flats. Oak trees, granite rocks, cows, horses and my family.

Here's two pairs of the earrings I created for two of my SILs. The sheet is nickel, the beads are Swarovski. My SILs said thank you! I have the bestest sisters-in-law in the universe. Honest. They aren't paying me to say that.

I hope your weekend was blessed and you've slid into your week with grace. May God guide you and the Holy Spirit fill you!

Off to Bakersfield!

We're off! Bless all you guys and see ya later!

"Miracle" Resin pendant

Here's the other pendant I was working on while my husband was playing with his chainsaw. "Miracle" has a pic of my son Robert. He's 25 now, so he looks a bit older. Honest!

We are preparing for a long weekend in Bakersfield. It's about 5 hours from here, but we'll be taking the Lab and the Lab-Border-Collie pup. So potty breaks will be important! And I must make 4 pairs of earrings tonight and tomorrow~~my 3 SILs and my niece all have birthdays this month. So I better get to work :-)

Blessed Thursday to you all!

Tuesday and time to "Play"

Happy Tuesday All! Here's a resin pendant that I worked on during the "Tree Eradication by the Studly Lumberjack" on Saturday and Sunday. Hope you enjoy it and may your week be blessed. Way blessed, OK?

Monday Crazy Winds

It's blowin' in them thar hills!!! The wind was crazy today and is still going strong. I'll hunker inside...yes...in my jammies.

Here's a pic of one of my favorite pendants. I wear this necklace a lot. It's simple: labradorite, aquamarine and lodalite crystal.

May your Tuesday be joyful. With more smiling! Bless you, my friends.

My Husband Didn't Kill Himself!! Yay~

Ok, I know I haven't blogged since Thursday...we've been preparing for the big eucalyptus tree removal in our backyard. Me mentally, my DH physically. He really wanted to tackle the big old trees himself. They are dangerous, brittle trees. I tried to convince him that we needed to hire a service to take them down. He really wanted to do it himself~~~yikes!!! So here's what I've been seeing all weekend and praying hard about! Every "crash" left me a stress mess! I did work on jewelry to calm my nerves and I'll post them later. But PRAISE GOD he and his son, who was an enormous help, did not get hurt. Thank you Lord!

One of the trees was too close to our neighbor's property, so we will have to hire a service to take it down. Then we'll plant some sturdier trees...and this project will become a memory.

May you all have a blessed week, my friends. God is good!

Solderin' fool

I think I'm getting this soldering thing down more and more each time I try!!! Woo hoo!!! I don't have pics-- my Bible study group will be HERE at my HOUSE in 1 hour and I'm not ready yet. Hey, I'm so not Martha Stewart..LOL!

Bless you all! And may your Friday be a joy.

California Drivin' Wednesday

Had an interesting experience on my commute home this evening. The off ramp from the freeway makes a sharp left hand turn, so sharp that a sign is there to advise 15 mph as the recommended speed. The off ramp is joined on the right by speedier traffic exiting from another freeway.

As I turned slowly turned left, I heard a loud horn blast to my right. A middle-aged woman scowled at me and waved her middle finger! I'm assuming that she thought I was going to veer into her lane, but since I was traveling slowly and had not even touched the middle line between our lanes, I don't know exactly why she was so furious with me. I'd been singing along to a Newsboy song as I turned, but now was quiet.

First I was angry, then I said a prayer to forgive her and for her to be freed from hostility. Three minutes later I was angry again and had to "give it to Jesus" again. Do you ever do this? Give a problem to God and then find yourself chewing over it later? Even three minutes later~LOL! Then I got home and shared it with my DH. He smiled at me and reassured me. I rode my exercise bike and elliptical trainer and felt better and better.

There are some angry people on the freeway, and other places. I'm grateful to my Lord that He gave me the prayer for this woman, one of His children. He had to handle angrier people than I...even to the death. May you all be given peace and strength from Him to deal with your own daily challenges. Bless you!

Goofing Around

Here's some pics of some little copper charms I made a while back. I LOVE making charms. It's almost like doodling on metal. You choose your stamp, pound with your hammer...if it wasn't so noisy, it'd be hypnotic.

Bless you all! I pray your Tuesday was a good day. And may Wednesday be fine too!

Hidden Jewels

I had an interesting patient visit my mammography room today. An elderly Asian lady crept in slowly for her afternoon appointment. She was wearing scuffed sandals, faded sweatpants and an old baggy T-shirt with some company's logo. I stepped out to let her change into one of our gowns, and when I returned I saw the necklace that she was wearing under the old t-shirt. It was an exquisite jeweled heart, bigger than a half dollar. And as I turned the pendant to her back, to move it from the mammogram area, I saw the back inscribed with "I Love You".

I took all of the images needed for the exam, and then asked her, "Who gave you that heart?"

She smiled shyly and said, "My daughter."

It tickled me so! A hidden treasure masked by a humble appearance. And made me think that we all have a hidden treasure~~~Jesus' love. His immense and unbelievable love. And I smile as I think of my beautiful treasure from Him.

Bless you all, my friends.

"Beloved" Resin Pendant

I've had SO MUCH FUN and a little frustration with this new pendant. My second foray into soldering and resin~~ This piece was inspired by Stephanie Lee, the amazing found object jewelry maker and author.

I started out by cutting copper pipe to 1/4 inch thick. And sliced my hand a bit. Not bad, just enough to annoy you because the bandage gets in your way. Warning: if you use a pipe cutter, be careful! Sharp metal can cut (duh). After bandaging, I cut and stamped a piece of copper sheet.

Then I played with solder. The first picture is another solder explosion. I used a soldering gun first. Didn't work well and the join wasn't stable. When I was cleaning it it fell apart~~heartbreak! And that just fired my determination to fire up my little butane torch. Which worked better, until I ran out of butane. LOL!

Then cleaning, painting the join, antiquing and Krylon-coating the metal. Oh, I punched some holes sometime too.

Next came trying to figure out what I wanted to put into my pendant. I tried little pieces of metal, little charms in my "odds & ends" drawer. I found this copy of an old pic of my Polish Grandma, and it all started to come together after that.

As soon as this cures completely I'm going to wear it and see how it lays, wears, works. And I'm going to hang it on hand-dyed silk ribbon~~ooo la la! As soon as I find some, that is. :-)

God is so good. It's been lovely making this and then running to clean the bathroom, do the laundry and vacuum. A wonderful weekend of productivity! My friend Kristy from Wisconsin is visiting this afternoon after church service. Thank you Lord! I'm so richly blessed.

May you feel richly blessed too. Or if you don't, may you feel the Holy Spirit comforting your heart and holding you close. I love you all!

Friday Free Spirit

Yay! It's Friday! I'm going to a Pampered Chef get-together tonight at a friend's house. The funny part is that I don't cook! No, you envious ladies, my DH cooks amazing meals and I'm spoiled rotten rotten rotten! Of course, with just the two of us during the work week we just eat salads or cereal. But on the weekends~ salmon, chicken, whole grain pasta, tuna, YUM! OK, now you hate me. Sorry, you can't have him! LOL! I do bake great cookies, but that's it. Something is wrong with me!

These are some earrings I made last year called "Free Spirit". They are big and fun. May your weekend be big and fun too. Bless you all.

Earrings for the "Breathe" Necklace

Happy Thursday All! These earrings were made to go with the "Breathe" necklace from a few posts back. I took the whole kit & caboodle to Sonoma today~~what a drive! Springtime in Northern California is beautiful!

May your Friday we smooth. If it isn't easy, may it be handle-able. I don't think that's actually a word! LOL!
God keep you all so close!

Tiara Tuesday

A quiet day at work. A quiet evening at home~LOVELY!

Here's a picture of the tiara I made for my DD when she got married in 2005. She was beautiful, of course! Swarovski crystals, pearls, glass and sterling silver. A labor of love.

May your Wednesday shine and may you feel like a princess! God bless you all!