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Puppy Love, err.. obsession.

As a matter of fact, it is not an obsession. I actually can hardly stand having those cute little peeing fur balls in my house. I do prefer the older, potty trained, don't wake me up in the middle of the night or early in the morning type fosters. My life has become a little obsessed with the rescue side of things. I have taken the administrator position for Gateway Pet Guardians, the rescue I have fostered for the past couple of years. It's fun. I love the marketing side of it. We are working toward raising enough money to purchase a facility for Gateway. You can read more about our adventure here. Don't worry, I will still be posting here on my blog, about the jewelry and other life's adventures, but I am spreading myself a little thin here lately.

Oh Sherman, You Devil

So, you think that just because you put this sweater on me I am going to be cute, sweet and good? You are so wrong, lady. I am still going to chew on the brand new door stop in your brand new kitchen. And I am still going to pee on everything, including this new cute sweater, that is if I don't chew it off first. Cute I might be, but never good!

Driving me Batty

Happy Halloween all! I have a confession to make. I have trouble writing these entries without the pretty pictures to go along with them. Wouldn't you know it, that we broke another camera. When I say broke, I mean that my cute husband who likes to take things apart and put them back together did just that to the camera. Except this time, it has tape holding it together. There was a little spot under the lens that I would just photoshop out of my pictures, but drove Steve batty. So he decided to to try to get that whatever it was out of the camera. I think he got the fuzz out, but the camera is in a couple of pieces still. That is two cameras in six months, if you remember the honeymoon incident. Hence the lack of posts. Lack of inspiration.

It has been a crazy month. Dogs biting neighbors, dogs getting adopted, puppies being rescued, more dogs, kitchen under construction, dogs, dogs, dogs! I have about lost my mind. Alas, the kitchen is finished, the half bath is completed and now we will be starting on the bathroom upstairs. I will post before and afters of the kitchen as soon as I get a new camera. I love! love! LOVE! our new kitchen. I can cook again. I can take photos of what I cook! That is as soon as I get a camera.

Uhm, this weekend I will be in Memphis for the RiverArts Festival. It's only a 4 hour drive from St. Louis. I mean really, it could be a memorable road trip for your Halloween weekend. If I weren't doing an art show in Memphis on Halloween weekend, I would be driving to Memphis to go visit me at the art show. What? Ok, I am supposed to be leaving here in about negative 2 hours. My load in is in an hour and a half and I still haven't showered, loaded remaining things that need to be loaded, collected the random jewelry I have stashed around the house, gotten my directions together, gotten the puppy ready for his day with his mom away...you get the picture. I am late, and here I am talking to you. But, I haven't talked with you in quite a while, so I am sure RiverArts fest will understand. I hear they are pretty cool.

I leave you with a picture of one vicious, neighbor-biting dog, and one not so vicious, not neighbor-biting dog. Do you know which one is which?

Happy Endings!

Do you remember this pup? There were two of them, Uno, now Lulu & Dos, now Daisy. Lulu was adopted to a family who was also in the process of adopting a baby. I was not aware that they were adopting the baby, and it turned out that adopting a puppy and a baby at the same time proved to be a little much for one family. So, Uno found herself back in our home on Monday. She had spent a good portion of the last 10 months in a kennel, because the family did not have time for her. This neglect turned Lulu from a cute puppy with a lot of potential to a one year old dog who is scared of strangers. She is still cute though. Don't worry. The story gets better. I decided to email the woman who adopted Lulu's sister, just to see what her sister's temperament is like. Turns out that the family who adopted Lulu's sister, wanted to adopt Lulu too. I love happy endings. Isn't that just so sweet. Now the two sisters are together again, the Sullivan family has a new addition to it. Lulu already loosened up with all of the attention and wonderful neighborhood kiddos running around. It just makes me so happy.

Here is another one of the pieces I made last week...dedicated to the Sullivan family because they are saints! Flowers for them!

Welcome Fall!

Finally! Finally! I love the fall. I look forward to it all year. It puts me in such a good mood. It is not very good for my pocket book, however. I always want to buy things for my house during the fall. Does anyone else have that urge? I don't know. I want to decorate and make things smell good around the house. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I know winter is just around the corner, and I will be spending a lot more time in this house, whether I want to or not. Therefore, I feel like I need to make the most of it.

I found the camera charger! I lost some tins that someone had ordered for a necklace, and in my frantic search for the tins, I found the camera charger. I never found the tins. See, that is what happens when your house is under construction. Don't worry though, I was able to come up with something for this customer that I think she was as happy with.

I have been busy these last couple of days that I have been without a camera and ignoring you. I will post all of the pieces that I have made soon. The one below is part of the new fall line. It kind of goes with the whole fall nesting theme. Preparing the house to be closed in for months during the winter. I call this necklace Nest Building.

Kitchen Crazy

Due to the insanity in my dining room, I am unable to find the battery charger for the camera, therefore unable to take any pretty pictures for you. I was however, able to catch a glimpse, for you, of how we are living before the camera died. I am pretty ready to have our new pretty kitchen, and to not live like this anymore. Our only source of water is upstairs. We have been doing our dishes in the bathtub now for 2 1/2 weeks. I am so not complaining because I know when it is all said and done it will be totally worth it. I can't wait!

I will be busy in the basement preparing for the Shaw show coming up at the beginning of October. I have some brand spanking new ideas for a new line. That is what I am going to work on this week. I have a few more custom orders to fill before I can start the creativity though.

It feels like fall is in full force here in St. Louis. It came a lot earlier than normal this year, and I could not be happier. I am thrilled about having our new kitchen, using our new fireplace and cozying up with some hot drinks. Maybe some hot chocolate or an Irish Tea. I can't wait! Steve is out of town for the next week working. It is just me and the dogs in our little bitty space we have left to live.

Have you ever heard of this company? I have recently become obsessed with them. The lighting in their photography, and the style of the sets they photograph on, not to mention the super fabulous clothes and home goods they sell. I am a woman obsessed. This is what I do. I find something I love, and I want to change everything in my house and wardrobe to look like that. Yes, this would be quite expensive if I actually followed through. But it is fun to dream about having those worn wooden floors, and woven cozy throws for my non existent beautifully upholstered early 1900's couch. So dreamy.

Oh! and Red is doing his home visit on Friday to his potential new and fabulous home. The young lady who is interested in Red is soooo sweet and will make a fabulous home for him. Red is still such a puppy and really needed someone young and ready to put the energy into that he will need. She adopting him depends on whether he is a good buddy to her brother's dog. Let's all hope, because I can just feel that this is the perfect home for Red. I was thinking about taking a break after Red, but I think I am going to foster all the way in to December and then take a break. My very patient husband says that is ok. We do need a little down time though. It is such a hard thing to stop, once you start fostering. I hope everyone had a great week, and if you are in St. Louis or any of the other towns that received terrible weather recently, you are recovering and getting things back together. There was a lot of flooding here in St. Louis, in places that do not normally flood. There were people floating in boats in the middle of Manchester (which is a major road in St. Louis). I cannot imagine losing everything. My thoughts are with those who have experienced this devastation.

Pretty Weather

There were these three cardinals outside the front window this morning making such a ruckus and having so much fun that I had to go out and see what was going on. I was out just long enough to grab a photo of one of them before the dogs figured out how to open the front door and scared them off their perch.

I just wanted to drop in and tell you about the show this weekend. It was the BEST show I have ever done in many ways. People were buying and they were so friendly and wonderful and interesting. One of the women who bought this piece just returned from the Serengeti. She was there working with rescued elephants! What a dream. Really! It was great to talk with her.
There were so many great people at the show. Saturday was a 12 hour day plus setup and breakdown. I was delirious by the end of the day. A little on edge. But was able to come home and rest and be ready for the four hour day on Sunday. We could not have had better weather. It feels like fall here. Fall puts me in the best mood. It makes me feel like exciting things are about to happen. I don't know why. I think it stems from my youth. My birthday is in October, and my favorite holiday when I was young was Halloween. Not to mention the raking of the leaves. Like so many other children, I loved to jump in the leaves. Thinking about that now makes me itch. Ha ha, I think that means I am old. I used to put my cat Dixie in the leaves too. She would get all sassy and playful. I actually think she liked it.

I have a ton of custom orders to fill today. I am a little behind on orders. If you are one of those people I am getting back on track today and tomorrow. I have to admit that it is hard to get to work the day after a show is over. I am going to discipline myself and get down in that dungeon very soon.

My next show is the Shaw Art Fair at the end of this month. I have never done Shaw before, but I have shopped it plenty of times. I think it is the prettiest setting for an Art Fair that I have been to. I am really looking forward to being a part of it. The Shaw art fair is where I purchased my favorite bird bath ever by a woman named Jennifer Pass of Rock Candy Mosaics. I just love her birdhouse that she sells on etsy.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I could not help but think about all of the fun things I would be doing if I were not working. I decided my hypothetical weekend would consist of taking the dogs hiking somewhere around an animal friendly winery, stopping for a glass of wine and then heading home. Did you do anything fun in this fabulous weather?

Sneak Peek for the show this weekend!

And the Doyd perched in his window like a cat. He has trouble getting down once he gets up there, so he stays there for long periods of time. He also poses for the camera. Love that dog.

Raindrops keep...

It's raining buckets here. I love, love love the rain, but the dogs do not. I cannot get them to go outside on their own when it is even just sprinkling. So, I have to take the little princes and princess out one by one with an umbrella that sort of protects them. If they were smarter they would stay right next to me until they decide on their potty spot. Red will not stay still for the camera. He is the hardest dog I have ever tried to photograph. I will get a good one of him one of these days.

Oh! Oh! Clarence is in his new home. He has to be the luckiest dog ever! He went to PJ's sister and her husband. PJ is the woman who feeds the dogs in East St. Louis every single day since 2001. I drove Clarence to her sister's house on Monday (labor day). As we pulled into the private driveway, I gave Clarence a little talking to. It went something like this..."Now, Clarence, this is your chance to have the best home ever. This is your true life rags to riches story, and if you don't get it together within the next 5 seconds, you are going to blow it. Take a few deep breaths and get it together. You hear me! Clarence, stop looking at me like that. You are no longer a gangster, you are a prince that is going to have tons of land to run on, and horses to play with and a wonderful woman who will love you and make briscuit and slow roasted chicken for only five people and YOU, my friend will get the left overs." I did not really know about the briscuit before we pulled up, but Clarence got a little piece before any of the humans even ate. He was not on his best behavior as we had discussed, but apparently she is a patient woman. She was not bothered by his growling at her pups, nor his marking on her Ralph Lauren chair. It sounds like they are really going to keep him. I would love to say that I am happy to see him go, but I would be lying. I am happy for him, don't get me wrong, but I dreamt about him last night. I have never had a dream about a foster dog. Floyd's in trouble too. We figured out at the vet that his going to the bathroom in the house was not in fact thyroid issues, but because he missed Clarence while Clarence was in board training. Floyd and I are going to be a couple of blubbering sad dummies looking for Clarence in our dreams.


I am working on a design for a baby blanket that I am going to make. It is going to be of the softest organic cotton ever. The girl's blanket will have pink stitching squares and this design will be in the center. Steve and I created this little girl on paper. We are a really good team. I have an idea, tell Steve and draw it. He redraws it, and then I take that drawing and tweak what I think should be tweaked. Sometimes he will come back in and tweak some more. And this goes on until we think it is perfect. Next I drew her in Illustrator on my laptop, without a mouse. It hurt. So, I ordered a Wacom tablet in order to complete the other half of the drawing which will be a cold giraffe in need of that little girl's blanket. I am going to call it the Birthday Blanket. It is still a work in progress, but I thought I would give you a sneak peak! There will be a boy version too. But, back to that Wacom tablet. I am so excited about it, and so is Steve. It is like digital painting. Can't wait to see what we can create with it. We got the 9 x 12 tablet. I will let you know how it works for us. I am thinking it is going to be one of the best purchases ever. Alrighty, I should be making jewelry. The procrastination gene has kicked in. Schlafly Art Outside is tomorrow. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend. I am really looking forward to this show. I hope to see you there!

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!

Just Breathe

I went to the chiropractor on Tuesday, and she popped, popped, popped me. It scared me. I think I am going to go to a doctor first and then I will go to a chiropractor if the doc says I should. Apparently my back bones are growing sideways. Not like scoliosis, but like when you adjust your vent to blow a different direction. All of my bones are blowing in a different direction. Probably due to pitching softball when I was younger. I used to pitch double headers straight through. Probably not such a good idea looking back. Back problems scare me and so does the adjustment process for fixing back pain. This sort of makes me stuck, because I hurt, but I don't want anyone to pop me. I do not know if you can hear the stress in my words, but I have been freaking out about this all week. So I made this necklace and stamped breathe on the back of it. Really I need to just settle down and breathe. But, making the necklace made my back hurt. Rahr!
Favorite house across the street. Old man Fletcher lives there, and he works outside all of the time with a ciggy hanging out his mouth. I like him. One time he kicked Steve's door in (before I moved in), because someone in the band was parked wrong in the street.

I like today because it is an over casty kind of sky and a little rainy. It reminds me of fall. I could live year round in this kind of weather.
my flowers.

my neighbors mushroom

The post dispatch (the St. Louis newspaper) called the other day asking me to pose for a photo shoot of up and coming art people in the St. Louis area. I was honored and thrilled. And then they told me that I will have to go to Neiman Marcus to pick up my ball gown and show up at 9am to meet with the stylist. Hee hee! Stylist? Ball gown? I mean am I going to be on America's next top model? I love that show! I am such a nerd. I know, all respect gone, right? It's artsy though. They dress up in all kinds of cool costumes and wear all kinds of cool heroine chic makeup. I love it. Anyway, look for me in the post. I'll let ya'll know when it comes out. The shoot is next Thursday.

The Irony

I love these crocheted buttons. I can't remember if I told you about them in another post, so I will tell you again. I went to this estate sale about a year ago. It was advertised that it had LOTS of buttons. When I walked in the house, it was like a maze through all of the other stuff. There were about 20 signs on the wall with arrows that said "buttons". I followed the arrows to a closet FULL of jars of crocheted buttons. At the time I was thinking, that they would look pretty in one of the collages that I sometimes make as gifts for people.
I have so much stuff like that. Just sitting around, taking up space. I can't throw anything away, because it might be usable for art. Artists. Can you be an artist and not be a clutter bug? Tell me how if you know. Anyway, back to the buttons. So I stared in amazement at this closet, from floor to ceiling, from front to back filled with jars and jars of crocheted buttons. They were so pretty. And overwhelming. So I picked out two jars, looked very closely at them, put one back, and walked away, satisfied, a little overwhelmed, and a little sad that I wasn't buying them all. But, I couldn't say at the time what I would do with these buttons, so I was not allowed to buy more than one jar. Right? Anyway, this is one of the last good ones in the jar, and they make the most fabulous necklace pieces. I am so mad at myself because I should have bought all of the buttons. Had I known that I would make jewelry out of them I would have. I cannot find any more crocheted buttons anywhere.
I find this necklace kind of ironic, because I think these buttons are so pretty and delicate and sweet, and handmade by someone. They make me feel like I am in a Victorian home with all kinds of white linens. I don't know why. They just do. And all of the jewelry I have made with them make me feel that way too. Except for this one. Although I stamped just lovely on the back of it (this happens before the necklace is finished), I think it is rather chaotic. Don't get me wrong, it wears very nicely, but I just don't know if it is "just lovely". It is kind of sarcastic I suppose. The necklace is almost just lovely.

It's sort of like my life now. The chaos. It is insane here. Clarence, the D.O.G. Gangster is home from his thousand dollar board training. It really helped, as much as one can help a four year old feral gangster dog. And then Red, the chained E. St. Louis junk yard dog is here too. Oooh! they do not like each other. It is a constant battle to keep them from eating one another. But, then again, if they really want to eat one another, they would have already. So I kind of think they are just messing with me. And to top it all off, Red is going through heart worm treatment, which means that he is not supposed to move much. It stresses me out, because I struggle with having to kennel him, and then letting him out of his kennel if he would just lay nicely. But then the growling and paws up in the air starts and he has to be put in his cage again. We have another 4.5 weeks of this.

AND to top it all off, I being the old lady that I am have a hurt hip. I have had a hurt hip for some time now. It's for no reason, which is even more old lady like. Just suddenly 3 years ago, my hip started hurting. A chiropractor popped it back in place a while back, and voila!, all better for 3 years. And yesterday, out of nowhere it was like my bones were rubbing together. After seeing the chiropractor and getting x-rays, I shall have the results today. I know what their going to say. They are going to say, "your old". Get used to it. Off to the chiropractor to be told I'm old.

I want a Pony.

I really do want a pony. I want lots of ponies. The beginnings of the rescue are consuming me...in a good way. I feel like I am back in school, learning so much about nonprofits and how to fund a project like this. The best part about it is that I will be offering metalsmithing classes once we get our facility up and running. I cannot wait to start rescuing animals and to start teaching. I cannot imagine any three things I would love to be more involved with on a daily basis; kids, animals and art. What more can you ask for. I have really found my calling. Now we just need to get it up and running. We are accepting donations finally at the Creative Rescue blog. Ain't too proud to plead, baby. We will get this up and running within the next year. Stay posted!

I leave you with the cuteness.

Etsy Front Page! Yay!

Thank you leavesofglass

Michaela's Debut

Well, besides that beautiful piece of art she made me a while back. I suppose that was her real debut. Michaela won a contest I put on a couple months back. I just got around to making the piece. I think Michaela will be happy to know that 100% of the proceeds from her necklace will go to Creative Animal Rescue & Art Education Center. Thanks Michaela!

Where it all begins:

These drawings are for a custom order from a great customer. It took me some long, thoughtful nights of thinking about what I was going to do for him. He wanted earrings, a ring, and a necklace; all that would kind of go together. He was very specific about his request. We met and talked a number of times about his wife and what he wanted for her. It is their anniversary, and he wanted to do something very special. I could tell by the way he spoke about her how much he adores and appreciates her. I thought it would be fun to show how I start a project like this, and then to show and explain the end results.
The ring was the first design I came up with in my head. It fit perfectly with what Colin wanted for his wife. The oxidation and patina will change over time revealing new areas of metal. I thought this would represent the changes that Colin's wife Kim has been through over the years with her changing career and her drive to achieve what she loves. The ring has five rivets that represent their five children. The swirls represent the craziness that life can sometimes be, but beauty can still be found within that craziness. The lone sapphire represents Kim and how much she does to support her family.

Colin picked out the tin in the center of the necklace, that says EVENTUALLY. He picked this to represent Kim's journey. Colin knows that through her hard work and dedication, she will "eventually" reach her goals. The swirls around the tin represent the trials and tribulations of getting to that point, and the singular blue sapphire represents the beginning and the end to her journey.

The oxidized silver swirls represent Kim's & Colin's strong bond. The three circles that are on the necklace and the earrings represent their family unit. The single hanging pearl on each earring represent the fact that Colin and Kim are still themselves and have been able to hold onto that throughout their relationship and still love one another.

Happy anniversary you two!
The funniest part about this whole thing is that about a month after I initially spoke with Colin about creating these pieces for Kim, Kim called me to commission this piece for Colin's birthday. I had to bite my tongue every time I spoke with her. I had to not reveal all of the things that I already knew about her. I only called Colin "your husband" to assure that I was not presuming that she had told me his name. Uhg! It was hard, because I am the biggest blabber mouth in the world. I am so glad that I did not spill the beans.

Pretty Front Page!

Thanks Jennreese7!

Where did spring go?

It is a smothering 90 degrees here in St. Louis, but it feels like 100. I melt when I go outside. I found this photo in my camera from the spring. How I miss spring, and look forward to fall. So much for living in the moment. It is hard to do in St. Louis. I always wonder why anyone lives here. It is a great town, but the weather is horrendous. Cold, cold winters, and brutally hot summers. We usually get about 6 weeks of nice weather (if we are lucky) all year round. I wish I could transplant all of the people I love, and the people they love to Seattle, or Portland, Oregon.

All of the ideas for jewelry that I have as of late, are animal related. Animal on the brain. I call this necklace Heart Guard. All of the proceeds go to Creative Animal Rescue. You can purchase it on my etsy account. This handsome, silly boy is Red. Red was chained his whole life. Before he was rescued he was wrapping himself up so bad around a fence that he was choking himself. His owner did not care. He said that if the dog was dumb enough to wrap himself up, he deserved it. They finally talked him into letting us take Red. He has been in board training for 3 weeks and just came to us on Wednesday. He is the most trained dog we have in the house. Clarence is now in board training. He is going to be a completely different dog. I miss him a lot. He is going to find the best home when he is all done with training. I do love that dog. When I say "most trained", that is not really saying much. These pictures were really hard to get. That stare above is at a treat. He would sit there for maybe 3 seconds and then go after the treat. He is very food motivated. He has heartworm, so he is way under weight. I am not sure how much he was fed by his previous person either. We're going to get him all back in shape and ready for his new home. He is going to be a fabulous dog, and now has another chance at life. Yay Red!