NO MORE PUPPY MILLS.

If any one reading this knows someone looking for a specific breed of dog at any age, please educate them on how to find their perfect dog. The videos below show a raid of one mill in TN. These horrific puppy mills are all over our country. There are rescues all over the United States that will have THE breed of puppy or dog that you want. There is NO need to go out and buy one from a store, or a breeder. It is such a small thing and YOU can make the difference for these dogs. If no one purchases dogs from the puppy mills, then they will no longer have a reason to do what they do. Please spread the word. Watch these short videos to find out what you are supporting by purchasing a dog from a store or puppy mill breeder. Please rescue your dogs! And if you are having trouble locating the specific breed at the age that you are looking for, please contact me. I will be more than happy to help. Click on the videos below to see the puppy mill rescue in TN.

AND I pulled that German Wiredhaired Pointer from Jefferson County Pound today, now known as Herman. I officially have too many dogs. He is the sweetest guy. I will post pictures when he feels like letting me take them. His bones hurt and he wants to lay in his kennel because the Clarence monster scares the bejeezus out of him. He is skin and bones, a senior dog at 10 years old with some hind leg issues. And he has a cataract. I have not had an elderly dog in my house since Bailey. I have a great affection for the old guys. Thank you to German Wiredhaired Pointer Rescue of Kansas for funding the rescue of Herman!

Rescue Me

I call these earrings rescue me. It is stamped on the back. I think it is fitting.
This is Steve's car. He picked me up on our first date in what we now affectionately have coined 'Blue Thunder'. He was lucky I liked him so much, because when he pulled up, I had to bite my tongue to not say, "What possessed you to buy this car?" I didn't and so he asked me out on another date. Now that we are married, I need a mini van for my art shows. We had the option to either sell my brand new Yaris that gets 40 mpg, or Steve's turbo blue thunder that gets, not a bad, 25 mpg. That's no 40. I was ok with either I swear. Steve chose to sell blue thunder all on his own, I swear. Ahh, married life, trading the sports cars in for mini vans already. So, I don't know who is sending out the S.O.S; me from the get go of having to ride around in the sporty, ground affects, huge spoiler car we call blue thunder, or Steve who after only 1 month of marriage has to sell his blue baby. I think it might be Steve. I dedicate these earrings to you, honey. Soon, you will have your motorcycle, and you will feel rescued. I promise.

Front Page, so pretty.

Thanks jennreese7!

Pointless Picture

This is the chair I was supposed to be sitting in to take a picture of myself wearing the necklace below.
I call this necklace Teach & Grow. You can put your own meaning behind it.

I am getting ready to go out to the Jefferson County Animal Control to take photos of a cute 8 year old German Wired Haired Pointer. Trying to get a specific rescue to take the poor guy. He just looks so miserable. I will post pictures of him when I get home. He is probably going to be euthanized tomorrow if someone does not rescue. It is the same for all of the animals there. Always in danger of being put down. It is so sad. And people put their animals in this position. There are so many owner surrenders to this place where they know their dog or cat will be killed. I just don't get it. I will show you this cutie when I get home.

Fling, Flang, Flung

Flang is not a conjugation of fling.
I just flung toothpaste in my eye. There was no one else to tell about it besides the dogs, and it burns really bad. I flushed with water, so I think I will be ok. I used to wear contacts, and had to use eye drops all of the time. One time in high school before the Switch dance (is that what it was called?...girl invites boy), I accidentally put ear drops in one eye. Only one eye, trust me. It hurt so bad. My ma wanted to take me to the emergency room, but I just HAD to go to my dance. My aunt Colleen had made this cute, sparkly, gold dress, and I could not pass up the chance to wear it. So, I flushed and danced the night away. What all this has to do with that cute lady bug up there, I have no idea. I was just in my garden and there she was. I thought she was pretty, so I ran in and got the camera. I set the camera on the patio table after I was finished and then turned the sprinkler on. Almost lost another camera. If you remember, Steve jumped in the ocean with our camera on our honeymoon.

You're scaring me a little bit, little puppy, please don't kill me.

Oh, wait, I'm bigger than you.

Actually that was Frankie yawning. But, she is a little scared of the puppy. As are all of the big dogs. They don't get it. I try to tell them that they were all once little pups, but they don't believe me.

I took Xena: Warrior Princess to the vet to investigate a few problems. The sores on her foot and tail are from her sitting in her own feces for an unthinkable amount of time. Who leaves a puppy sitting in her own feces long enough for it to eat through her skin? This is a prime example of why I need to start the animal rescue people education camp I spoke about in this blog entry. Not only do a ton of animals need saving, but a TON of people need some teaching as well. I thought I would document the process of beginning the rescue camp in this blog. Eventually I will start an entire new blog devoted to the camp, but for now, events should be far enough in between that I will talk about it here. Currently, I am reading this very exciting book. It would be quite the snore if I was not so excited about doing this. As soon as I get through this, we will begin writing our articles, file to incorporate, and then file as a 501(C)(3), tax exempt charity. Woo! I think I got all that right. I am still learning. I have been looking for land too. LOTS of land. We are going to have to raise the money to purchase the land, so it may be a little bit of time, but I know we have our first donors. I am looking at 150 acres in Marthasville. I would prefer to do it somewhere a little more touristy, like Ste. Genevieve, but land is quite a bit more out there. If you have any suggestions where I can find 150 or more acres, near St. Louis, please let me know.

Xena: Warrior Princess

Look how vicious she is. She is a 5 week old Akita mix (we think). She terrorizes my 80 lb dogs and has no fear of any two legged creatures in the house, including my 6'6" husband. Our cries of pain from her little sharp puppy teeth do not seem to bother her either. I pulled her from the Ladue pound. She has horrific sores on her tail and leg. They have healed quite a bit, but I am surprised they did not amputate her tail, with the looks of it now, "healed". I also think she might be blind in one eye. She has a cloudy spot where it looks like she was poked. I have been trying to test her, but she doesn't really pay much attention to me anyway, so it's hard to tell. Who ever had her partly shaved her too. Weird. Why would anyone shave a puppy? This is her being cute. Which is how she normally looks. Luckily she is young enough to still be turned into a lovable dog.

I am in love all over again

Just now I was reading one of my favorite blogs, and came across her mention of the band She & Him Volume One with M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel. You know, that hot chica from Elf. I immediately went to iTunes and downloaded the entire album. The song that Alicia had on her site is what made me decide to download the entire thing without listening. I am listening as we speak, and I think it might be my favorite album since I first heard The Cowboy Junkies The Trinity Sessions. And that is HUGE! Holy Cow! This is huge.

Why not start a rescue?

Have you ever stepped back and taken a look at what you are doing and said, "humm, what else?" It is something I probably do too often. Not always in a philanthropic way, for me, but sometimes. This is one of those times. Unfortunately, the Chesterfield show this weekend was quite a drag. There was not even anyone to ignore my cute booth. I at least would prefer for some potential ignorers. So, I sat for a long time thinking about what to do. This is not a reflection on how I feel about the jewelry I am currently making, nor on art in general, but more like I had too much time on my hands to think. It always gets me stirring, and gets me onto other things. I am not sure how many of you know that I started, and did not finish, a masters degree in Social Work at Wash U, here in St. Louis, two years ago. So, there, I tied it all together, that is what I am about to tell you. You know I foster, you know I love art, and now you know that I have a strong desire to work in some sort of social bettering element. So, the story goes that I was sitting alone with my free glass of white wine (the only thing that compensated for the deadness of the show), and all I could think about was opening a wildlife, farm and domestic animal sanctuary. It will be a camp for children, to teach compassion for all living things, a rehabilitation center for the animals. I think a week of animals might not be enough diverse curriculum for an entire week, so it will offer art classes, music classes, yoga, and maybe even an organic gardening lesson or two. I believe that what a lot of our schools are lacking and cannot afford to offer children are most likely some of the most important things that we can give. So, if you were wondering where the "saving the world, one necklace at a time", came in I think I finally nailed it. It is a multi-multi million dollar daunting undertaking, but I am reading a "how to start a non-profit" book, and I am pretty sure that by page 230, I will be an expert, and will have 30 mill sitting on my door step. I will keep you posted. The Doyd has already donated a dollar.

Chesterfield Art in the Parking Lot This Weekend!

Well, it started last night. Again, my tent almost blew away. I guess I didn't tell you about last weekend. There were crazy rainy winds that came through Art & Air. For some reason I stayed in my tent. I think it was because it was raining too hard to run the two feet to the car. I am glad I stayed because I caught my tent mid air. I had weights, but they are not good enough. Apparently, I did not learn my lesson, because I did not bother to get new weights. Out of site, out of mind. So, yesterday, I was caught in the same position of holding down my tent with all of my might. By the next show I WILL have stabilizing bars and better weights. I am going to lose my tent one of these times if I do not figure it out. It is all such a matter of trial and error. I see artists that have been doing this for 40 years, and they really have it down pat. I hope to catch on faster than 40 years from now. Speaking of artists who have been doing this for 40 years, I met the most wonderful couple at Art & Air this past weekend. Richard Gruchalla & Carrin Rosetti make the most beautiful pottery. And, to top it off they are the sweetest couple who travels doing their art all year. They adopted Winnie, the most wonderful small dog ever. So hard to give her up, but it is reassuring to know what a loving family they are and how much love and attention she is going to get in her lifetime now.

I have more stories about last weekend to share, and I am sure that there will be plenty more from this weekend. It is always an adventure. But, now I have to get ready to go. I hope to see you all at the Chesterfield Art in the Parking Lot!

Oh, and above is a close up of my new booth. I have it set up differently this weekend, so I will take a good over all photo today. The material you see is by Anna Maria Horner. Check out her website. She makes the best material, kitchen towels, aprons, paintings and her house is an inspiration. I have never been, but I sneak peaks of it on her blog. Have a great weekend and a wonderful Father's Day!

Art & Air this weekend!

I hope to see you at Art & Air this weekend. I am so excited to have my first show of the season. It has been a little delayed because of the wedding/honeymoon. This show always has a great array of artist. There is some real talent that comes from all over the country. It is my favorite show that I have done.

The art shows are not the only projects that were delayed because of the wedding. If you remember, last year we had to put straw down in the backyard, because The Bobs tore up the grass with all of their huge playfulness. Steve tilled up the entire back yard and we laid seed. I made my food garden. It is huge! I will take proud pictures when all of the seeds begin to sprout. Right now, it just looks like a bunch of labeled piles of mud. As far as you know, I could have just put those cute little signs out there and planted nothing. The following weekend I bought all kinds of native plants, and made my little native garden. A native garden can be a good choice for less maintenance. They are a little easier on the environment since they don't require as much water as those plants that do not naturally grow here in Missouri. Those blooms are Poppy Mallow. I think they are so pretty. It is the first flower that bloomed for me in the combined Simmons' household.

So, I really shouldn't be sitting on the couch, procrastinating, talking to you. I should be getting ready for the big show. Talking to you is so much more fun than getting ready. I hope you have a great weekend, and if you can, I would love to chat it up at Art & Air.

Amie who?

Oh my. It has been so long. I have missed you pretty bad. Please let me explain. First, I got married, and then we went on our honeymoon. And then, that guy I married jumped into the ocean with the digital camera in his pocket. And then, I lost the little attachment screw on thingy that holds my camera on my tripod. And now, I have my first show of the season this weekend, and not that it is a very good excuse to take such a long hiatus from you, but there they are; weak, but true. 

I have all kinds of jewelry to show you that I still have not photographed, so I will get on that soon. That is, unless I sell it first and am too busy or lazy to photograph. But, I have all of my gear back in place. Check, check. The dining room table is ready for my little photograph tent and such. It gets quite neglected as a food table because of all of my art stuffs that takes over. I am a piles person. It drives me crazy. My piles are insane. Piles here, piles there. I get so mad because I think that I am a neater person than Steve. I look at the piles, and say to myself, "Ahrg, I wish he would clean up his piles." And then, upon further inspection, lo and behold, it is all of my crap. Touch it once, isn't that the rule? 

The wedding was wonderful. Everything was yellow and gorgeous. If you would like to see a quick slide show, click here. Will Jackson was our photographer, and I don't think we could have found a photographer who suited our idea of how the pictures should look better than him. Oh, how I love those pictures. There are a total of 450. If you really want to see them all, just email me. I have only looked at them in their entirety, about five or six times. Oh, maybe more. 

Our honey moon was supers fabulous. The place was ridiculous. I felt silly being waited on like that, but now would like to have it back. 

And then the dogs. I caught the tail end of that repeat Oprah show on my first day back. You know the one about the puppy mills. I cried my eyes out, and then immediately got on the petfinder site of the most heart breaking animal control shelter that I know of in MO. Found a couple of dogs I thought I could find homes for and went to work. My wonderful friend Sarah Kalish took one of the Jack Russells that was going to get put down. She already adopted it out to her neighbors. They sound fabulous. I would really like to go back for this Beagle too. Any takers? 

In the mean time, someone dumped Winnie, this adorable Terrier in my vet's backyard. He thought his dogs had a rabbit when he looked out the window, but it was this little girl. He asked me if I would foster her, and I couldn't refuse. She is so cute, and Dr. Diesel has done so much for our rescue. I think he is the best vet around. Anyway, Winnie is all healed, and I think I have found a home for her. She is a sweet little lap dog with very little baggage for what she has been through. 

I promise I will be back soon with jewelry. Jewelry blog, right?