Meditations on a Crisis

Credit..mortgage..crisis. Okay, I said the words and that's all I'll say. I know we are all tired of hearing those words. The price of gas is down and who ever thought we'd say "whew! A gallon of gas is below $3, thank goodness!"

It's more intense than Sept. 11th since this is touching me directly. 2 family members lost jobs over it and another has to delay retirement plans since they were based on building a realty business.


It's interesting that a new cupcake shop that opened recently claims a booming business as customers grab for anything that makes them feel oh, so good. Well, that's my goal today, to distract you with some fantasy and a little art. Get away from it all and just enjoy fun & beauty.

First up are 2 of 3 stickers I punched this week using an official Disney punch set I found. Nice big shapes: a castle, a Cinderella slipper and a little crown. You can see a big 75 piece set at www.MomsArt.etsy.com.

I used my favorite set of pink, black & white papers I like to call "Paris". You'll find harlequin, polka dot, plaid & solid patterns to make you smile.

Next up are my renderings of a custom request for a lampwork glass hot air balloon. Payton Jett asked me to draw my fantasy balloon to use as a pattern when working with her glass. We discussed color and style since getting the black points to NOT run into the yellow balloon was the biggest challenge.


I love that Payton likes to challenge herself with new ideas. I have displayed for you the black & white drawing that I then colored for her...followed by the finished product. How awesome is that???

I mean, she got it right...spot on! And this is just for me to wear...but if you'd like one, let me know and we can get the ball rolling for you. If you can dream it, it will come!



Come see the Jack Skellington Payton designed that I turned into a necklace at www.RockerJewlz.etsy.com. I still have plenty of pumpkin/holiday jewelry left as well.

I hope you enjoyed this foray into my little fantasy world. Now I'm off to enjoy the most amazing autumn weather we have ever had here in the S.F. bay area. It's like the summer we didn't get this year: warm sunshine with cool breezes. Yum!

Stoned Birds & Paris

A couple of entries ago I promised to talk about Paris and Stoned Birds. My dad attempted to find a home exchange situation so that we could visit Paris for a few weeks in trade for his place in California.

A couple of people responded but no deals ever came through. Now, who knows why it didn't happen. It was such a great idea as it would mean we'd only have to scrounge up airfare and fun money. I don't even count food allowance 'cuz we gotta eat no matter where we are!

So in place of Paris we've just been having other fun like visiting the Chihuly exhibit (see August 23rd blog entry) in San Francisco, munching warm dinners al fresco during sunset at our favorite winery and soon to attend San Francisco's Fleet Week. So we are surely making up for our lack of European escapades but there is
always hope and as someone said in a movie, "there's always Paris!".

I'm just hooked on Payton Jett's glass work talent. I mention her in every blog but it's because she keeps life fresh by accepting new challenges.

I nabbed several of her glass birds recently and 3 of them ended up in my Stoned Birds necklace, thusly named due to only stones being used in this piece...no other materials.



Originally I had a sterling clasp, but then decided to use either glass or stone for the clasp, so it awaits that final component before I list it in my Etsy shop.

Another awesome group of lampwork glass beads is this acorn set from Cassie Donlen. I just had to hold these beauties for a while before I could let them go.





I kept the set simple, just adding chunky bumpy Bali
silver to reflect the bead bumps. This photo captures their awesome shiny iridescent quality. The colors are chocolate and caramel, but when you get them in brighter light, you discover the faint plum iridescence in the chocolate and the hint of gold in the caramel.

Simply spectacular.

I close with a shot of my most fun
design this week, the Royal Opera Necklace. I've been dying to work with these handcrafted felt balls I got on Etsy and Sigaliot's polymer squares from Israel.

The colors and designs are so yummy. I connected them all with various sizes of round and oval sterling silver rings, some smooth, and others oval. A big crescent moon from the Karen Hill Tribe is the focal point.

Originally intended to be opera length, it didn't quite get there, but almost at 34 inches...enough so that even with a beehive hairdo, this easily slips over your head so there is no need for a clasp. Come on over to Etsy and see the complete necklace.

Finishing up a wonderful week of vacation with my husband. We started with one goal and that was to visit his parents. We ended up seeing nearly the entire family which was a great surprise and celebrated several birthdays in one shot. On the spur of the moment, we headed over to my dad's since it was just a couple of hours away.

It was wonderful to introduce my husband to our little secret spot at a country winery that leaves it's beautiful padded wrought iron chairs and tables outside after hours. Seated on a small hill overlooking hundreds of acres of vineyards and mountains, we took a warm dinner to munch while the sun was setting. A few cigars and drinks later, we began to count the stars one by one and await the new moon.

Now THAT's a vacation and a great surprise to add to our travels.

**UPDATE: October 16th: I listed "Stoned Birds" choker mentioned in the post above. You can view it by clicking Etsy.