Heidi Ho!

Last night was the first night, either Steve or I did not have to sleep on the couch to keep Heidi from running around in a frantic mess barking for someone to come keep her company. It was awesome! She slept through the night, no accidents!!! Here are some photos of this sweetie. If you are interested in adopting her, please visit Gateway Pet Guardians. She is such a docile, sweet little girl. I am falling in love with her already, even though she put me through hell for the first couple of days.

Floyd has been feeling a little neglected with all of the other dogs getting so much attention. He pulled one of those, I'll just put my front paws on you so you can pet me better and slide my hind legs on up there and you will never notice that all 85 lbs. of myself are on top of you. He is such a baby, mama's boy.

Jewelry Schmulery

I have been sick since Sunday. It started on Sunday and I thought, I will just lay around on Monday and be better on Tuesday. And then Tuesday came, and I thought, if I just lay around one more day, then I will be better for the rest of the week. I better not exert myself too much. That went on for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, I went to East St. Louis with a lady named P.J. who has gone to East St. Louis every single day since 2001 to feed and care for the stray doggies out there. It was quite an experience. I could not resist taking a dog off of the cold streets. She jumped in the car, I took her home. She is a tiny Rottweiler mix. At a year and a half old, she is only about 50 lbs. She is not used to the home life as she has lived on the streets for most of her days. Except maybe those few days where she lived with someone who forgot to feed her, cut her tail off, and abused her with inanimate objects. She is scared to death of Steve and anything he is carrying. But, she will still come to him. I will get some pics of her soon. She is a little scraggly right now. I am going to make her a sweater to help her in the cold. She does not have a lot of hair because of malnutrition. I know she sounds like a mess, and well she is. And, I am a mess because I have been sick all week, dealing with a pacing, itchy, attachment disordered dog who can't sleep alone. And the puppies, whom we now call Uno & Dos, are doing great, although a lot of work, they are growing like mad. All of the things that come along with their growth is growing too. Like their messes, and their food intake. The only thing that hasn't grown is their nap time. It is shrinking.


It snowed like mad yesterday. My photo does not really do it justice, but cut me some slack, I was almost passed out on cold medicine when I took this picture from our back door window. Are you jealous of our rotten garage paneling. It's on the list of to dos for the spring. Can't wait for spring. Can't wait to make the back yard pretty.

Instead of making jewelry this week, I painted. It is a little less exertion than jewelry. I cannot lie though. I have been working on this painting for a while. It was going to be Steve's birthday gift, but then I thought it was weird to give someone a painting of themselves. I took this photo in New York a couple of days before we got engaged. We went to this little breakfast nook down the street from our hotel. All the waitresses were really skinny, had big hair and wore a lot of makeup. It was awesome. I loved the photo so much that I painted it. Obviously.

I promise some new pieces of jewelry next week. I have a ton of ideas floating around in my head, and I cannot wait to execute.

Puppy anyone?

These pups were taken from someone who had a lady chihuahua. After 3 weeks of nursing, apparently the family got sick of the pups and called a local animal hospital saying that if they did not come get them he was going to shoot them. A nice girl at the hospital nursed them with bottles until yesterday when I came and got them to foster until they are adopted. They are now 5 weeks old. Itty bitty little ladies. A tad bigger than my hand. They are super sweet and are just getting their bearings with the ground. It tricks them sometimes and turns them upside down.

I'm freakin' out

and I don't want to freak everyone else out, but really this is the best outlet I have for venting and maybe getting a few people who relate. I just heard a story here in St. Louis about two dogs who were thrown 30 feet from a bridge by a person. There is a reward to find the person who did it. One of the dogs ran off and has yet to be found, and the other's injuries were so bad that it had to be put to sleep. I haven't stopped crying since I heard the story. And it's not necessarily about those dogs, I mean it is, but I just do not understand the horror that exists. How can someone, a human being with the same biological makeup as myself and you be so cruel. What makes anyone want to hurt something or someone else, for fun? Do they enjoy seeing others suffer. I am reading this book A Peoples history of the United States. It is not like I did not realize that most of what we learn in our history classes is a big fat lie, but I just did not realize the extent of the lie. And how cruel our heroes were. Our foundation was built on murder, slavery and criminals. I have never said this before, and I don't really mean it, but I am starting to think that people are innately bad. I mean, I live in my happy little bubble with my sweet dogs and my wonderful fiance and there is so much going on that is out of our control, that we are not required to think about on a daily basis. It just really hit me in the face this time. Thanks for listening and I promise I will not have these sad posts very often.

The show circuit

This was my fancy annoying dinner for last week. I burned my hand, broke a bunch of stuff, I think I hit my head on something, and I burned the pecans for the Butternut Squash Polenta Cake topping. There were three different Polenta cakes: Mango salsa and shrimp, Bruschetta, and as mentioned above Butternut squash. They were recipes I made up that are probably too in depth to try and write for you. But, if you really want to make one or all of them, feel free to email me. They were fun to eat and really delicious if I might say so. Totally worth the trouble...maybe. They would actually be pretty easy if you only made one. I love the extravagance though.

I have been so busy applying to shows, mailing packages, and trying to make jewelry that I am not sure which way is up. When I do not have any of those things to do, I don't know what to do with myself. I stare blankley at my computer waiting for it to tell me to do something. The most difficult part of being an artist is getting into the shows. They are all juried, cost to apply to and hardly accept anyone. Typically there is about a 9 to 13 percent chance of getting into the good ones. For the not as popular ones the odds go up to 30%. I can hang (sometimes) with the 30%, but have yet to be lucky enough to get into any of the more competitive ones. Hopefully this will be my year. It is disheartening when the rejection letters start rolling in. The couple of acceptances, somehow are enough to keep me motivated and financially ok throughout the year. This is my first full year of doing the art/jewelry thing, so we will see how it goes. Wish me luck. If any of you reading have any experience with making art for a living, I would love to hear your stories, if you do not mind sharing.

I Heart A Place to Bark

To the right on your screen, you will see a donation badge for an animal rescue called A Place to Bark. The rescue is run by a woman named Bernie Berlin. I have been reading her blog for about a year now, and what she does is absolutely amazing. She has entered a contest to win a fair amount of money for her rescue. This money will allow her to build an indoor facility for the animals that she takes in. It is not about how much money she raises, but about how many donations she gets. The minimum amount to donate is $10. So, if you plan to donate more than that, do multiple $10, so that she can win and get a facility for the rescued animals. For more details, click on her sight, but if you can spare $10, please do so. She really deserves it!

My Hood

I live in a neighborhood called Clifton Heights. A very small neighborhood, well known for the beautiful pond up the street and the gorgeous Victorian houses perched on the hill surrounding the pond. When we tell people we live in Clifton Heights, we get one of two reactions. Huh?, or oohhhh! Our reaction to the latter is, "Oh no, we live down the street from the nice houses." See, there are three different parts to Clifton Heights. The nice part, the middle part and the crappy. For such a tiny little municipality it is quite diverse. I love it! Our house is falling apart, and needs a lot of TLC, including new ceilings, which have been water damaged. But, I have become quite attached to our neighbors and the area. I get to walk to the fancy area with the pond and that's good enough for me. The only thing that our neighborhood is lacking is the coffee shop, market, deli, etc., that make a neighborhood cozy. Part of this has been taken care of as of January 2nd. A place called Off The Vine opened. It is a winery bistro. Steve and I went there for dinner last night. While we were enjoying our wine and small plates, I relished the fact that I was most likely surrounded by people who live in my hood. I love that sense of community. Steve and I then woke up this morning and took another trip to Off the Vine. We walked the dogs for a treacherous trip home with coffee and pastries and dogs tugging and trying to dump the breakfast out of our hands. But we made it, oh sweet delicious blueberry muffin, we made it.
Last weekend I went to Indiana with my sis' in law Sarah and my niece Elena. We visited our friend Nicole who has two little ones. Here is a picture of my niece and Nicole's son playing in the sink. I love their little pajama diaper butts.
And last but not least, I was featured on this blog. The community of bloggers is such an amazing thing. It is an honor to be recognized. It really does mean a lot. I would like to thank Liana from Mixed Plate for featuring my work. Her blog is really great. You should definitely check it out.

I leave you with my latest commissioned piece, which is similar to something I have made in the past. It is a photo that I hang in my booth at shows, and every once in a while I get someone who needs it. I really like how this one turned out. Thanks Anne Marie for the commission!

I must now go clean the blueberries off of my hands.

Make Lemonade

I got to make a piece of jewelry for fun and for creativity yesterday! I have not been able to do that since before the Chicago show. I have a lot of new ideas, so stay posted. Unless I happen to get all kinds of custom orders, I will be cranking out some new stuff. I have also been busy turning the spare bedroom into a dressing room for myself. I figured out my motivation for getting in shape: a full length mirror. Yikes! I need to fit into that beautiful dress I bought off of ebay for my wedding. I saw a picture of a dress online...of course it was one of those high end designery dresses. I could not afford it. So, I checked ebay every day for six months straight. And there it was one day. A used Lazaro in the exact style, very close to my size. In short, I never tried on a dress for my wedding. I got the dress I wanted for a third of the price and it fit like a glove! A very tight glove. I must do weekly checks before the wedding to be certain that I can still slide into it. Hence the full length mirror. It is my motivation.

It's gonna be a fun year!

Floyd's resolution for 2008 is to have fun. He told us in the morning and boy did he mean it. All day, January 1, 2008, Floyd played ball, harassed the other dogs, played outside and just in general had fun. And if we were not partaking in his fun (we were playing scrabble and not paying attention to Floyd), he would make those cute gremlin noises that I keep meaning to record for ya'll. I think I am going to copy Floyd's resolution. Fun it is for 2008.

Steve and I relaxed quite a bit. I had all of these things I wanted to get done, but instead we watched Out of Africa, which took over two and a half hours. If you have not seen it, I would highly recommend it. If for nothing else, just to watch in amazement the beauty of Meryl Streep. She is just so captivating. It made me set my 20th goal of the year, being to try to take better care of myself. I eat fairly healthy, but I have not exercised in a long time. You know, and maybe try to style my hair once a month, instead of throwing it up in a knotted mass on the back of my head.

After the movie, I was going to paint a picture, clean out the spare bedroom in order to make it my dressing room, because we do not have even near enough closet space anywhere in this house. It is a 3 bedroom house with 3 tinsy tiny closets. Steve's t-shirts would take up the 3 closets alone.
Instead of doing all of that, Steve and I went to the Schnuck, got some foodstuffs and made this bread which is from one of my favorite bloggers to read, and this soup. For the bread, I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I think I undercooked it. Or, the olive oil is just too dense for bread. I always try to replace veggie oil with olive oil when recipes call for it, just to see if it works, and because it is healthier. The only thing I changed on the soup, was I added some spices and used shredded cheddar instead of processed cheese. It was delicious! Both are fabulous recipes. The link is not working for the soup, but it is from allrecipes.com and here are the instructions:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 tablespoons margarine
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
* 3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
* 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
* 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
* 1 (2.5 ounce) package country style gravy mix
* 2 cups milk
* 1 cup shredded Mexican-style processed cheese food

DIRECTIONS

1. In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in corn and chiles; return to boiling. Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture. Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.


So, yes it is a new year, and I love the new year. For whatever reason I get inspired to be better, to do better, to do more, to enjoy what I am doing. I wish you and your loved ones a great new year and hope that all of your hopes, visions and dreams come true.

New Year's Eve was a little crazy. We went to a place called the White Flag Gallery. It was interesting to say the very least. It was a Communist themed party. They had an electric bull, which I did ride. They had beards and mustaches on the walls for the party people to wear, they roasted a pig, and had a Gorbachev birthmark tattoo booth. I am more of a quiet type of new years person, but Steve loves to go out. I am hoping that next year he will be ready to have friends over for a nice dinner and to play board game. Fat chance, but a girl can dream.

An Inspirational Day

First, this sunset from our front porch. Technically we do not own that tree. But, I do tend to call it my tree. Except, in the presence of our awesome neighbors, Anne & Darren, I correct myself, "I mean your tree". It is on their side. But I can see it from my window. I suppose there are a lot of things I can see from my window that I do not own.

And then this fabulous movie. If you have not seen it, I highly suggest going out and renting it. Steve and I were just talking about where we are going to go for our honeymoon. And, I think if we can afford it we are going to go to Ireland. Stay in an old castle or something. That sounds like more our speed than a sunny, beachy vacation.

I hope everyone has a superb new year's eve and new year's day. I am off to download the soundtrack to that movie!

Oh! And my website shop is finally up. If you have signed up for my newsletter, I will be sending the first one out shortly to notify the launch.

And relax

Ahhh, Christmas is over. It is such a relief for me every year. Although this year was less stressful than last year, I still would like to simplify the holiday. I talked one of my family members into donating to a charity for me as opposed to giving a present. I wish everyone would do that for me. My ma, will never do that. She loves to give gifts. She could not sleep the night before because she was so excited to give us our present. It was a Wii. We opened it, and Steve's jaw dropped, while I stared blankly, "what is it?" Oh, a Wii. "What's a Wii?" It is a lot of fun though. Steve woke up at 8:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, passed up his ritual coffee routine and went straight to hook up that Wii. We played all morning. I was sore the next day from boxing Steve's lights out. And then, of course, if anyone is going to get hurt, it will be Floyd. Steve and I were playing Wii bowling, and all of the sudden, WACK! Floyd is running and crying. I run after him to check out the damage. He was ok, no blood, no missing teeth, but now he will not come in the living room if we are even thinking about playing the Wii. In fact he hides downstairs. And he knows where we keep the remote. If we go near that drawer, he puts his head down and runs out of the room. At least he thinks it was the remote's fault, and not his sick to her stomach mama. Poor doggy.

I did bake for Christmas, but forgot, in the rush of everything to take photos, I only got this one measly photo of the cooking cranberries. I made Cranberry tarts, little star cakey, marshmallowy, icingy, carmelly, deliciousnesses, and some almond cookie bars, that really weren't almond, but vanilla instead because I thought I had almond extract, but did not. All of my delicacies turned out to be just a little off this year. No tart tins, no almond extract, and under cooked chocolate cake stars that turned out to be a little mushy. It's the effort that counts though, right? I did manage to put together a pretty nice plate for Steve's family, from the few desserts that were salvageable. Forgot to take a picture to prove it though. Whoops!

Steve on the eliptical, playing his guitar. That's his idea of working out. Funny guy. Notice hilarious Frankie posing at the bottom of the photo. I love that photo.


And now my favorite chair has turned into a dog chair. I'll see if I can get a photo of all of the dogs in it, not at once. Floyd has a lot of love in his belly and he tends to get stuck, and I think Big Bob just knows that he will not fit. I will see what I can do. Isn't Frankie deceivingly sweet looking. She is the most rotten little princess dog ever. She prances around like she owns the place. She scares all of the other dogs away from their food, even if she is done eating and in the other room. If she hears them she prances in the kitchen and lets out the bitchiest little growl. She's totally harmless though. I think. I don't really trust any dogs ever since my old dog Bailey barged the front screen door, when to his surprise, (and the poor man on the other side,) it opened. Next thing the guy knew, he was on the ground with an 80 lb. lab/english setter on top of him, biting his arm. Bailey had never bitten anyone before. I didn't think he had it in him. I was devastated, thought I was going to have to put him to sleep. The nice man did not do anything about it though. I wanted to pay for him to go to the doctor, but he refused. I just secured that screen door and was more careful with the old bailey monster for the last year of his life. So, yah, I don't trust any dog, really.

Oh! that's right! I got bit the other day. Bad Bob had figured out how to escape the back yard. He did it twice in one day. The second time I trekked down the street at high speed for about a half mile, until finally a nice girl stopped him. I did not have time to grab a leash this time, so I asked her if she had one I could borrow. I told her that Bad Bob was a foster and she said,"really, I have been looking for a dog. Do you think he would get along with my german shepherd mix." Not thinking, I said yes because Bad Bob gets along with all dogs. Not that Shepherd mix though. He attacked Bad Bob, and I got in the middle of it, like the dummy I am. No blood, and thankfully the nice girl did not notice that I had been bit. Bad Bob is fine too. Still bad. Steve replaced the fence the next day while I laid straw down to cover up the muddy disgustingness, that we dare call a backyard. The neighbor kiddos came over and helped. It was fun. Like a fall day in December. That's St. Louis for you. I am only showing this picture so you can see the progress come spring.

Bad Bob

Bad foster dog! Lying on the sofa chair that you just ate the cushion to a week ago. Bad!

Obssestica with Ornaments-ica

I am obsessed with this little Strawberry Shortcake dish set too. I bought it for my niece for Christmas this year, but she is not even two and I have decided to wait until next year to give it to her. She is just such a genious, I forget that she is so young. No, really she's a genius, and I'm not just saying that because I am her doting aunt. She is also adorbale.

Floyd is obsessed with it too. He wants to keep it and drink his water out of the head bowl, and eat his food off of the feet plate.
Steve and I have started a new tradition for Christmas. I stole the idea from my friend Carroll. We are going to purchase or make (preferably make) a special ornament that represents our year together. This year I bought this ornament from Anthropologie, which I have been trying to stay out of lately, because I go way too crazy. It is a house because, duh, we moved in together this year. Notice the creepy cello player to the left. It cracks me up. But, next year we will make the ornament. I am sure that Steve is thrilled.

These are a few of my other favorite onrnaments on the tree.

I got this scary snowman from my grandma. I noticed that it's nose is falling off while I was taking the picture, so I will glue that back on before the season is over.

This beauty is from my Grandma too. I bet she made it.
Last year, my friend Autumn Foster who lives in Portland sent Steve and I this ornament. Isn't it sweet?

If you have a tradition, or something that makes this time of year special for you, please post in the comment box. I love hearing that kind of stuff, so I can borrow fun ideas.

It snowed this weekend, a bunch! We sat in the house all day on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately Steve left the camera at work, so I didn't get any pictures. He can do that because it is his camera. The dogs were cute with their snow covered coats and beards when they would come in from outside. Sorry, no pics, but here is a picture of Bad Bob today. He is a trip, reminds me a lot, character wise, of my old dog Bailey, whom I miss. Fortunately I have been able to compensate for my loss of Bailey two years ago with way too many dogs. That's how wonderful Bailey was. It will take a katrillion dogs to fill his personality. Now he is sitting on a shelf in a vintage brass urn watching over us. Yes, I am crazy, and you all know it for real now.

Oh, and the jewelry. This is a jewelry blog right? I have been busy filling orders and making Christmas presents. It has been fun. There is something gratifying about making something that you know is going to be a gift. Yesterday, I was supposed to make two necklaces for people for Christmas, but there is something more gratifying about working on pieces and ideas that have nothing to do with what I'm supposed to be accomplishing. And, I couldn't get this bicycle out of my head.
So, I cut it out of metal. I don't know if I am going to put it up for sale quite yet.

I leave you with bread pudding. Oh, and look, there's that cute ornament again.

Post show relaxation

Now that I am finished with the crazy Chicago show, I have decided to spend my free couple of days, before I begin filling custom orders and gifts, beginning some decorative craftiness. Here is the beginnings of the garland that I am starting for our new fireplace. I also went to a couple of the local thrifty stores to find some wool sweaters for felting our first stockings. I am still working on the style of this garland, but, Steve says that I have old lady taste. I think Steve just sort of has different, or interesting taste as exemplified by this:

Tonight we set up our tree, but my tripod is in the car still from the trip to Chicago, and it is way too cold and wet to go get it, so pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. The tree is one of those dwarf trees that can be planted after the holidays.

Tonight was such a fantastic night. I made stew, which I have not made since last winter. It is a recipe that my Ma taught me when I was in college. I never have written it down, but it is really the best thing I make for the winter. It reminds me of my youth. Maybe food tastes better when you are raised on it, but I think it is so good.

The show was decent this weekend. I do not think that I will be doing it again, because it was a little too intense for me. However, I enjoyed the time that I spent with my friends Amy and Kevin. Amy is 9 months pregnant, and I kept having paranoid thoughts of her going into labor every time she left my booth. She would go to the bathroom, and not come back for a half hour. I would have thoughts of her having to be rushed to the delivery room. I really love her and had such a great time. They are one of the funniest couples I know. Amy is such a trooper. She spent all day Friday and Saturday with me, without complaint. I could not believe it. I imagine myself as pregnant and think that I am going to be a total pain. My friend Amy has given me a new perspective. I really cannot thank them enough for letting me stay with them for five days. The show turned out to be just average, so it was a good thing I had free lodging. I do not think that I will be doing it again. There are so many shows in St. Louis that weekend that I think I will give those a shot instead.

Thank you to everyone who came to the show and talked to me. I really appreciate the encouragement. It is so fun meeting new people. I will get a picture of that tree up soon.

The Chi-Town Show

Yesterday was the first day of the One of a kind Show in Chicago. It is a huge show-over 400 artists. I thought the quality of artists would slip with so many, but as far as I have been able to tell, it looks very high quality. Yesterday was slower than I think Saturday and Sunday will be, but I still did really well! It's crazy being locked up in my basement for all of those months, creating, and then the people come to look at, and to buy my stuff, and make comments (good and bad). I feel like a creative monster that has finally come out of her dungeon. A little stiff with my social skills. I think I will have the hang of it by today. I just wanted to stop in and say hi, right quick before I have to leave again this morning. I will check in periodically to let ya'll know how it's going. And if you are in the chicago area, come by and see me!

I bought two things from other artists that I think are worthy of mentioning. This beautiful top that the photo does not do justice, and the pretty purse by Blue Thimble designs. I love her stuff, but cannot find her website right now. Will post later if she has one. They both rock!

Bye, bye pretty things.

These are all of the things

that would not fit in the house formerly known as Steve's.

I will miss them desperately, and hopefully

they will go to a new, loving home

via my new booth at the Treasure Aisles Antique Mall.

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.