Work Mode

I couldn't resist capturing my lovely look here in a photo. I was working yesterday and had on headphones, goggles and a face mask. I was listening to This American Life on the iphone app.

I'm gearing up for Texas Metal Arts, which is less than two weeks away. If you would like to receive email updates about my future shows please sign up for my mailing list on the right sidebar of this blog. If you live in Central Texas please come out to the show in Gruene. Gruene is a wonderful town and there are lots of great little shops and yummy places to eat. I probably won't be around here much for the next couple of weeks as I finish getting ready for this show.

Another Find!

I got this chair for a whopping five bucks a few weeks ago at the University of North Texas salvage store. I love that place! They have lots of chairs, desks, file cabinets, bikes and more. If you live in Denton or nearby you should check it out.

I have had a chair in this spot before and never sat in it. I'm hoping that will change. All I need now is a little foot rest or pouf to put my feet up!

A First Birthday Bracelet

Please forgive me for not taking a proper picture of this one. I made it the day that we left for Austin, and that was after running around all morning! It was a rushed job, but turned out adorable, I think. The bracelet is sterling and copper with a little peridot for Karlie's birthstone. It fit perfectly, thanks to a size chart that a fellow Etsy Metal member shared with me.

It was a challenge getting the thing on her, and she wasn't quite sure about it once we did. She pulled on it a bit. I'm thinking I should try making her a little cuff which would be more flexible and grow with her some.

Here is Karlie wearing her bracelet and checking out one of the books that we got her.

I just couldn't resist this one. She is too precious. That rocker was my mom's when she was a child. Mom also made the cushion for it and the little doll blanket that is hanging over the back.

I knew I would love this child from the moment I found out my brother and Celeste were expecting. I had no idea how much! We have three beautiful nieces on Frank's side, so being a Tia is not new to me. There is something different about a child that looks like you and belongs to your sibling. I am so in love with her and I can't help but smile ever time I catch a glimpse of her!

Etsy Front Page!

While we were out and about last night one of my Fiber Rings made the Etsy front page! I didn't know about it until I saw the post on my Facebook page this morning.

Finished Custom Collage Pendant

I finished the Custom Collage Pendant yesterday. I love the color combination that my customer requested and I love the meaning behind it. This piece is in memory of my customer's calico cat and I thought that was a really sweet and special tribute. These pictures aren't the best, I took them in a hurry before I put this in the mail, and was playing around with different backdrops, but you get the idea.

Found!

I have been looking for a vintage locker basket for storage near my desk. I found just what I was looking for Sunday at Uncommon Objects. I am going to try to centralize all my shipping supplies, business cards, etc on the shelves behind my desk. I have looked at some organizing and office supply type stuff and it just felt too matchy-matchy. I hope to find enough vintage storage items so that I don't have to go to the container store!

The dogs were really excited to see us Sunday night. Our good friend Robin took care of them, but it is still nice to be missed! Lucy cuddled up with Frank and I and we didn't even have to force her to do so.
We had our friend John over for True Blood and Entourage and it was nice to be home.

ETA: I just found this vintage and antique shopping guide for Austin via the Uncommon Object website.

Celebrations and Catching Up

Karlie Rose and her Tio Frank

We spent the weekend in Austin celebrating our niece, Karlie Rose's, first birthday. There was a huge birthday bash, lots of presents and lots of love for that little girl. I can't believe she is one already and I am so happy that we were there to celebrate with her. I will post more photos soon. These are the ones from our phones. I didn't take a single picture with my own camera this weekend, but did take lots with my mom's camera.

Karlie's daddy, my brother, got her the huge giraffe that we are sitting on above.

Karlie was looking for mama when I distracted her with a taste of my lollipop. It wasn't long before she had wrangled the thing away from me (don't worry it was just the last bit).

It was a crazy busy weekend with party prep and continued work on moving my parents stuff (23 years worth) to Wimberley. Frank and I did get a day to ourselves on Sunday however, and we enjoyed some of our favorite spots in Austin including Matt's El Rancho and Uncommon Objects. We missed out on the opportunity to swim at a secret swimming hole, something that I did slightly regret when I saw the pictures. Mostly though, I was just glad to spend time in Austin with my honey.

We also got to celebrate the birth of a new extended family member. My mom's best friend's daughter had a baby boy last week and we met him Saturday morning. He is the recipient of this handmade gift.

I spent today finishing up my custom order and will post a picture soon. We also got Frank registered for two classes and his school starts next week. The summer really has flown by! I am gearing up for Texas Metal Arts, which is only a little more than two weeks away. If I make anything exciting and new in the next couple of weeks I will do my best to get it photographed so I can share it with you. More pictures from Austin coming soon, for now I'm back to work....

My little model

Lucy modeled for me again the other day. I love how sunny and happy these shots are. I love how willing she is to pose for the camera.

Those treasures that I spoke of

Check out my new light fixtures. I scored these two babies at the flea market yesterday morning. These made my day. I'm going to paint the second one and they will both go in the front room/made over office. Frank isn't happy with the yellow, in fact he thinks it is hideous. I love it and hope to win him over. I'm hoping I can find this paint in lagoon for the second light.

A wonderful weekend and back to work

I'm starting on a custom collage pendant for a wonderful customer today. The first image above is the selection of gemstones that I first showed her based on her color preferences. I found the grouping of stones to be beautiful and inspiring, so I thought I would share. The second image is what she narrowed her choices down to. I think this will be a beautiful pendant. I'll try and get a picture before I send it off in the mail.

Frank and I had a wonderful weekend starting with him getting off early on Friday. We spent the afternoon window shopping in Dallas at antique/junk shops and had a great dinner. We got to visit a friends shop called Dolly Python, which was our favorite of the day.

Saturday we spent time with some of our favorite people and I passed along a china doll that was I cherished as a child to their daughter. The doll reminded me of her every time I looked at it, and I thought she would love it.

Sunday we got up and headed out to the flea market right away. With the temperature topping out at 105 lately we knew we had to get there early. I'm so happy we did because I scored two awesome deals. I'll post pictures later today of my finds.

My new room

My front room/office/studio is finally coming together! I got the shelves put back together and some decorations on the walls. For some reason painting always takes me forever, but I finally got it all done and am so happy with the outcome. This room (at least this side of it) is now full of things that make me happy and I just smile when I see it. You know that feeling when you are so pleased with your accomplishment that you can't stop looking at it? That is how I am feeling about this room, and now I really feel like I can utilize the space and want to be spend time in it.



I have selectively brought home some family heirlooms and collectibles as I helped my mom go through her belongings. The old camera above was my grandparents and still has their address sticker inside. The bottle collection came (mostly) from mom too. My great grandfather owned a pharmacy and several other stores and some of these came from his barn.



I'm loving the A that mom gave me, as well as the jars full of shells and coral.



This piece, which will hold all my business cards and random office supplies, has been in my parent's house as long as I can remember. I am so happy that I get to give it a good home now.



These old type letters were from my mom's collection too.



So, this is the other half of the room, my studio. I used to have a divider that hid this area from view. While painting, the divider was out of the room and the room felt soooo much bigger. I decided to leave it out, but now I have to beautify my studio area! That is probably a good thing because having this more attractive will make me want to work more, hopefully. I have some plans, including new lighting (much overdue) new art hanging system, painting the ugly file cabinet and replacing the draw organizer with something more attractive. These projects will probably be put on hold for a while though, as I'm about to start getting ready for my fall shows.


Before and progress shots here.

More from Colorado

I flew into Cheyenne, Wyoming last Thursday, and my dear friend Christi was there to greet me at the smallest airport I have ever been to in the states. We drove down to Fort Collins, Colorado where she and her family live and I spent a long weekend with her and her three kiddos. On Friday we drove down to Rocky Mountain National Park and it was much larger and more magnificent than I had imagined. We were greeted by rain and I was even cold, hard to imagine when you live in Texas in August! We spent the afternoon in the park doing two short, kid friendly hikes. First we walked around Sprague Lake and then up to the falls called Alluvial Fan. I enjoyed every minute of that day and really felt like I was soaking in the beauty and was calmed and relaxed by my surroundings. I want to go back and camp in the park and explore a whole lot more. I feel like you could be there for a week and not scratch the surface.

Home again...

I have just returned from a wonderful but exhausting long weekend in Colorado. It was a treat to escape the Texas heat (100 + temps everyday here) and I got to spend time with one of my dearest friends and her family. I also got to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time! I will share more pictures soon, these snaps are from my plane ride there and were taken with my new iphone and the hipstamatic app, which is lots of fun to paly with.

Best Waffles Ever!

Weekend before last we were lucky enough to be invited to a delicious birthday brunch. Brunch was a waffle bar and the waffles were the best I had ever had in my life! The waffles were crispy on the outside and soft, almost custardy on the inside, so delicious. The baker was kind enough to share her recipe and we whipped some up this weekend. I made the batter Saturday morning and we had plain waffles with honey for breakfast. On Sunday we finished off the batter with strawberries added. They were just as good as the birthday waffles and the only thing that was missing was the homemade whipped cream with almond oil that was served that day. I figured we were indulging enough already! I didn't have buttermilk on hand so I substituted milk with lemon juice added (two tablespoons milk and then fill measuring cup to 2 cups, let stand for few minutes).

It had been a while since we had used our waffle maker and couldn't remember how much batter to add, the first one was a half waffle but still tasty!

Saturday morning, yummy.

Sunday morning, even better!

1 & 1/2 cups flour ( It's good with 1/2 white & 1/2 whole wheat, too)
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 Tbls sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup veg. oil
2 eggs
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Mix dry ingredients well. Combine all wet stuff, then mix together and let rest about 1/2 an hour. Makes about 8. Waffle on!!!