Creative spark and process

I've been thinking on this a for a while now. I keep seeing the question "What inspires you?" Yesterday it happened to be a huge sparkly citrine. Generally I go digging through my supplies until I see something that makes the lightbulb go on! There's no rhyme or reason to it, just a "Oh! I know what you're going to be!"

I try to sketch out the idea, sometimes that works, sometimes not. Yesterday it worked.:)





Generally what's the most time consuming for me is the framework. Whether its the wire frame base, or patterning out a doll body. I always want to get through this part quick so I can get to the fun part of decorating. It has been a tough lesson to slow myself down on this part of the process so I am not wasting materials because I rushed things.

(tip: cheap clamps from the hardware store make a great set of extra hands!)


I must admit though, even with the most careful work, I still had 2 spots I took apart and redid. Once it was halfway done, I decided to switch out some stones, as the stones I originally put on the piece just didn't quite fit. All part of the process I guess.

All in all at the end of the afternoon, and 4 hours later I do believe it turned out so pretty!





So what does everyone think? :) (hmm this was fun) I think I'll take some more pics of process with the doll I'm working and post that later.

Oh and before I forget......it's Thursday! Tomorrow is Fantastic Friday! Dont forget to go enter on the Baroness' blog (link is to your upper right-->). Drawing is tomorrow morning........YAY! Then it's my turn.......WOOHOO! I love when it's my turn for the giveaway, I have a cool prize for the next one.

All you beauties have a grand and glorious creative day!!!!

Some new bits

Just a few new things I got done, and wanted to share.

I think tonight I feel like working on a new doll.

Another weekend already?!

Where did the week go? It just got away from me. I was going to spend the day in the craft room today, but opted to stand out in the frigid wind and watch my son throw javelin at his track meet. He got 2 PRs (personal records) today, and he's jacked!

The 'husband of wonder' and I did make a lot of progress on the garden beds last weekend. I'm so happy I get to garden this year! sunflowers, tomatos, potatos, cukes (for pickles), herbs, pumpkins, onions, garlic, oh my, oh my! I'm giddy :)

I am recycling bricks from an old out building to make pathways and a seating area through all the honeysuckle stands(not in the pic) for a fairy arbor for me and my missy. That honey suckle always smells so sweet.

Obviously the property needs a lot more work. When we moved in, it hadnt been tended for a good 15 -20 years, and was horibbly overgrown. This picture is after 3 years of clearing brush, deadwood, and a lot of digging! Well as you can see it will be a busy summer! Have a grand weekend :)

Thank you Baroness

Thank you Baroness for a Very Special Award..and I mean Very Special. This is a new Award and is called The Renee Award. This Award was created by Bella and Ces in honour of their friend Renee, an incredible lady who in the face of a frightening life battle is tackling each day with great spirit and courage. Please check out the blogs of these three creative ladies.

Here is what Bella says of this award:

"this is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds it's way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns..."

In accepting this award, I must now pass it on to eight other deserving bloggers who I feel have the same qualities as the little acorn and the tall sturdy oak who is constantly giving back. No easy task, as there are so many....but I truly think these beautiful folks deserve it.
Able Mable
Alternative Livings
K Plus Krafts
Living in Fairyland
MysticWynd
HandbagCave
Dawn Lewis Imagery
Erin Bowe Metalsmith

Weekend Wishlist

Obviously from my lack of frequent posting, I am a busy bee during the week. I am sure most women finds themselves as busy as well with all the jobs and roles we have. Well it is supposed to be sunny and warm this weekend. (oh JOY) I find this spring weather absolutely inspiring and energizing. (yes I'm a 'oh woe is me' hermit in the winter) So I have a wish list for my weekend. Now I tend to be a notorious list maker, and my lists tend to be unreasonably long according to the Husband of Wonder, but flip it I'm making one anyway. I figure if I get just over half the list done it's a banner day.

1. Run the boring errands this morning. (just get it done goof!)
2. Till and prep the garden beds.
3. Enlist kids to help with outside spring clean up
4. Get oldest son to change out my tires! Please, please, please!
5. set up the kiln. this one is a double bonus - The Baroness, and Papablockhead gave me a beautiful new kiln for Christmas for my lampworking. Which I don't work on during the winter as it is too cold to properly ventilate. But now I can add in firing my doll limbs....YAY....good thing there are two firemen in the house to make sure I do this properly! ( hehe.....ceramic doll parts)
6. Laundry...........ugh boring but necessary. (don't know if this will get done)
7. Have young missy collect all the birch twigs before I mow. There's enough out there to get 4-5 brooms made.
8. Sand and finish the broom handle blanks.....maybe try out that new woodburning tool?
9. Feed the mass of teenagers that always seem to congregate here....crockpot sounds like a good idea this weekend. I think they all owe me one chore before they get fed! :)

Hmm, too much? I'm going to try anyway. So do you have glorious weekend plans?

Good Morning Beautiful

Good morning everyone. I just know everyone is waiting with bated breathe.....or coffee breath for the drawing. It's still early here and I am trying to get missy to brush her hair before school. I think I should have laced my coffee as it's world war 3 with the hairbrush. I cleverly distracted her with having her type in the numbers for the drawing on random.org. ( I managed to get some really good swipes in with that brush....hehe)
I assigned everyone their numbers right down the line of the list according to how many entries each had. There was a total of 32 entries this time. ( you guys rock!)

Ok ready?! according to missy and random ..............#16.............Flavoredmom!!!!!!!
WOOHOO :) I will be contacting you for your mailing info here shortly. Congratulations!

Dont forget, the next Fantastic Friday is going to be posted today on the Baroness' Blog....start skipping over there, I am sure she has something fabulous and fun!

A moment to breathe

Finally a moment to take a deep breathe. This week has been a grand adventure. I hope y'all didnt miss me too much. I have spent most of my time in overdrive, I do believe I need a day off! Thank fully it is supposed to be nice this weekend, and I plan on taking advantage of it and prep my vegetable garden!

I just realized this afternoon that give away ends tonight! Right now it's 9:30...you still have 2.5 hrs to enter :) So far here's who has entered:
KrazyFashion
PlumValleyDesigns
Ceridwen
Chris
Lizzy
Aik
Melanie and Denise
Ashley
Flavoremom
Tom, Cher
CocoaCream
karen
Trade parade
Tana
Amanda ErgenBright
shrimpsalad
miss crochet
cirkusphreak13
Cathy
Becki Rasmussen
Caroline
Good Luck everyone! I will be drawing the number in the morning, and will use random.org.
I just want everyone to know I am very thankful, and feel blessed to be able to do these giveaways. You guys rock! Now for the important stuff......after the drawing the Baroness will be hosting Fantastic Friday Giveaway 4 over on her blog. So be sure to skip on over to her blog to enter tomorrow. Yes I expect everyone to put on their knee socks, and mary janes and skip. :D

Shop Sharing

Being an avid window shopper, and impulse buyer on etsy ( when my PayPal wallet is fat and happy), I happened upon a new shop worth mentioning to everyone.

Heatherjolie Designs

Heather's designs have a wonderful mix of tradition, romance, and modern edginess that I find compelling. I love that she uses whimsical and romantic embroidered designs on bold geometric jewelry. My favorite piece in her shop is this glorious Wisteria Cuff Bracelet. I soooooo want this!




Or for a more exotic or gothic look this Exotic Cherry Blossom Necklace would be perfect! This piece would definitely make me feel spicy!

Her Tartan Punk Fascinator is completely sassy! Now I know I'm just an old mama, but I'd like to think I could pull off this bit of confection!




I'm always amazed at the talent I find on etsy, and Heather is no exception! Please wander on over to her shop and give this new artist some love! It will be worth the trip through cyberspace!

For Beans

I recently promised my oldest girl, who is away at college right now (I miss her terribly!) That I would put up a picture so she could see mom's new hair color. So babe here ya go. Bubbles came over and took like a million pics. She decided this was the one to post.

Just for Beans....big squoodge!

Fantastic Fridays Giveaway #3

Yay! It's my turn to host the Fantastic Fridays Giveaway #3. So my dear friends and readers You have 2 weeks to get your entries in for this Simply Delightful Drop necklace. This sweet little necklace features a coil wire wrapped faceted green flourite briolette. This is from my new line in FlightFancy. I wanted to offer something in the shop that would be a bit more delicate and appeal to a broader age range of lovely ladies. So if you would like to enter, all the usual rules apply :) Drawing will be held on April 17th!

Peek in my shop, and comment here if you find a favorite.

Become a follower of my humble blog.

link to this giveaway and post here to let me know.

any or all is worth a seperate entry. Winner will be drawn randomly by random.org. Just to keep the fun rolling BaronessBijoutery will be hosting a another giveaway starting on the 17th after this drawing. Yep we're in cahoots, every other Friday we will be hosting a new giveaway.

The Mail Came!

I don't generally relish going to the mail box. The usual round of bills, solicitations, and general mass mail crud never brings a smile to my face. In fact generally I am tempted to use most of it as fodder for the fireplace. Yesterday was another story altogether! Three glorious packages stuffed in the box! Oh my......what did I order?! I was in torture all day at work, as I couldn't sneak in a single minute to peek. The minute I got home those envelopes were torn open in a flurry of cussing (why does tape have to work so well?!)
curious yet?

I am addicted to collecting ACEOs. They are a wonderful and affordable way to have artwork from a great number of talented artists. This one is an absolutely stunning piece! I was so impressed with the quality and attention to detail! Ok my first thought was "She's so pretty!"
You can find more beautiful collage work at Kplus Krafts. You will be amazed with her whimsical style and uplifting art! Kplus is having a giveaway on her blog for one of her lovely collages, so be sure to check it out. The giveaway ends April 3rd, so hurry!




Next was this stunning pendant. Let me explain, I only buy jewelry that strikes my fancy, and it has to be something I dont ,or am unable to make make myself. This pretty pendant was a complete shocker when I opened it. At first I thought it was sweet in the shop ( I am a sucker for vintage buttons) happily I was the first sale for this shop (I truly hope that made her day!) But I must say I was completely enchanted when I opened the package! It is so pretty, and the craftsmanship is glorious. I would highly recommend visiting designandredisign, her jewelry designs are unique, and truly beautiful! Oh and she has a fun blog that I happily follow, GrammaticallyDelicious. Be sure to check out this artist, she's absolutely top notch!

Last but definitely not least, these stunning art prints from Anna Shirron. Her art is something I found by happenstance about a year ago. I had bought an ACEO from her then and was totally impressed with her attention to fine detail, and color. Just a few weeks ago once again by chance I happened upon her blog , and was reminded again that a stunning artist had captured my imagination. Immediately I went to her shop on etsy, and was happy to find she had expanded her art to offering prints and cards. Ok that had me then and there......can you say immediate sale! It will be well worth it to visit her shop Fleshie.etsy.com!


Just sharing :)...oh and dont forget! There's only 2 days left in the Fantastic Fridays Giveway #2 Be sure to get your entry in before midnight this thursday! Drawing will be held Friday morning. Once the Baroness announces the winner, I will be posting the next FFG #3 here, Friday afternoon. So wander on over and get your entry in......The Baroness has a glorious necklace for the lucky winner!