Floyd the Doyd and his new pair of shoes.

What do you do when your dog will not leave the porch because he does not like the way the grass or dirt feels on his feet?Put pink booties on him, of course.Ok, so if that does not work, take him to the vet to get his thyroid tested. Apparently this strange behavior is indicative of other issues. Maybe. Either that or Floyd is just neurotic.

Last night we went to my mom's house for her birthday. She has this little swing set clubhouse that she just bought for my niece Elena. Elena loves it and insisted on wearing her bicycle gloves while riding her glider. I will most likely be pretty absent over the next week or so. I have a show coming up and quite a few custom orders to fill. Unless the procrastination gene kicks in, which it probably will, I will be in my basement for a while. We are also rehabbing our kitchen. We just got all new windows in our house, and we start demolition on the kitchen on Tuesday! I am so excited. We are knocking down a wall, putting up a wall, getting all new cabinets and flooring and we are getting all new appliances. We are also turning the pantry into a bathroom. Weird huh? But we don't have a bathroom on the first floor of our house. I will post before and afters when it is all said and done. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Dogs in a Row

Last night was my cousins, Heather & Ben's, 10th annual chili cook-off. It is always so much fun. The chili has gotten so good every year that it is nearly impossible to decide the winner. Always a good time and lots of delicious chili. Heather is an artist and she has been my go-to girl since I started even considering doing the art thing full time. I am always inspired by her studio and how close to perfection she has come with her organization and inventiveness.

We got a fireplace!
Now I am going to have to make some stockings and maybe one of those days of December garlands as done by Fiona at Hop Skip Jump. That is the cutest thing I have seen lately.

We finally got some pictures of Bob's brother whom we call "Bad Bob".
Not because he is bad--the first night he was here he had to be quarantined in the dining room. He jumped the fence about ten times before I finally just got out of bed and slept on the couch. He just wanted me around. After that he was fine staying in the dining room. Steve coined the name Bad Bob. For a while it was Bad Bob, and his brother Big Bob, but last night Steve and I were asking Frankie to "shake", you know, like shake paws. Mind you, Big Bob has not responded a lick to his name since we got him, but came running when we asked Frankie to shake. Obviously, we thought Big Bob wanted to shake, so we're like "good Big Bob, wanna shake". No shake. We were confused. And then I realized that his real name might rhyme with shake. Yes, Big Bob's real name is Jake. We figured it out. Now he comes every time we call and wags his tail when we say his name. I've never figured out a foster dogs real name.

Turns out Jake and his brother Bad Bob are the best of friends. They snuggle like Yin & Yang,

take treats together,

and even are nice enough to allow the two perma-dogs to partake in the treatfest.

I would really like to find one home for both of them if at all possible. I know that is a tall order, but I am willing to wait. They neeeeddd each other, I swear.

I create all day long.

About four years ago I wrote a children's book about a boy and his guitar. I am finally getting on designing it, and I am either going to publish myself, or have it published. I have never done anything like this before, so I am sure it will be a learning experience. As if I don't have enough to do right now. I figure I can make jewelry during the day, along with trips to the vet, going to rescue more dogs, etc. And then at night, I will work on my book. Except tonight I worked on jewelry, but now I am going to work on my book while I watch Heroes. Here is the character I came up with for the book. That is all you get until the book is published, and trust me, it could be years! I am going to paint and collage the whole thing. I am designing it on the computer and then I will paint and collage. I have been trying to do this for so long, but I kept losing the script. duh, duh. My dad always said, "you would lose your head if it wasn't attached" Ain't that the truth.

Tomorrow I will be going to get Bob's brother. I am totally out of my mind, and so is Steve for letting me, but he is going to be put to sleep on Thursday, and I just can't handle it. I am considering banning myself from going to the pound. Have you ever seen that movie Year of the Dog, with Molly Shannon. That's me. Except, I would like to consider myself a little less crazy. Also, I have never rescued more than one dog at a time from the pound, nor have I put anyone's furs in a tub full of water. I do really want to take them all from the pound though. If I had a farm, I would take them all, and accidently start my own rescue. Like, "whoops, honey, looks like we have to have a rescue now. I have all of these dogs. What are we going to do with them?" Hee hee. Steve would never fall for it. He would act like he fell for it, but he knows what this little brain is boiling on almost all of the time. He is very perceptive. Not that it takes perception when I'm like, "Please! Please! can we move to a farm and get horses and start our own rescue? Please!" I revert back to a child when I do that. I used to ask my parents things over and over and over again until they finally yelled, "YES!" And I would walk away sassy and satisfied, with a big old grin on my face. I was such a little snot. Anyway, wish me my sanity with four big dogs in the house.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families or whoever you chose to spend the weekend with. I will be posting pictures of jewelry soon, I promise. I have been so busy cranking in my basement that I haven't had time to take pictures. Plus it's cold outside and it is not as appealing to take a break from the jewelry to take pics anymore. But, here is one that I haven't posted I don't think. It has no tie ins to the blog, I just think it's pretty.

Trays of Organization

I got my trays and cases today! I love how the pieces look all clumped together in one velvety case. I love compartments. It makes me feel good to have things organized. I have been looking forward to organizing my jewelry since I ordered the trays a few weeks ago. I used to be like that when I was little. Every season I would organize my closet by clothing type, then color, then how often I wore it. If I could only get a little bit of that back. Reach back in the past and pull forward some of that organization. I think it will be my studio that will call me back to the enjoyment of organization. One of these days.

Meanwhile, I have been dying to take a picture of this wreath on my front door that I just painted green. The wreath was made by Sue Lombardo, who owns Recycled Rose. She makes the bests wreaths around. By the way, I also got that baby dress form from her shop. Isn't it great? I pondered on it for 6 months. Everytime I would go into her shop she would have this look of dread on her face, because she really did not want to sell it. That is why she had it priced at what she thought was high enough. I could not resist it though. It is perfect to display one special necklace at my shows. Three things come home with me at night from my shows. 1. my jewelry 2. my monies 3. my baby (dress form that is).

The necklace on this dress form is really special to me. My grandpa gave me this box of costume jewelry pieces, he had won at an auction, thinking I could make something out of them. He passed away a few months later while Steve and I were in Italy. There were some beautiful pieces in the box. I sat on them for over a year. Finally, I had the courage to make something of them. I have the hardest time creating with my favorites. I have decided to keep the piece for myself on the dress form. The one below was made out of one of the pieces from that auction box as well. Turns out they are two of my favorite pieces. It's probably because of their history, but they are calming to me. The necklace below is called "Lucky Lady".