Calendar Surprise!

I've been so busy over the last month that I haven't paused long enough to acknowledge this wonderful bit of news. Somerset Life has come out with its series of 2010 wall calendars and they are now available for purchase. I encourage you all to snatch up your favorite issue for there is no doubt these gorgeous calendars will disappear quickly! My copies were wrapped neatly in a cardboard box awaiting my return from vacation. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box to find my artwork on the cover! I had no idea I was on the cover. I knew I was IN the calendar but not ON the front cover! Wow! I don't know, can you ever say thank you enough? Are there other words that even come close to conveying my gratitude? Here's the image that keeps playing in my head right now: a large pair of hands, lovingly holding my dreams, my hopes, my deepest joy, and gently tossing them up into the air for sweet release. That's what it feels like. Thank you, again and again and again, Somerset Life for holding me in your hands!

Anyhow, the photo is borrowed from Becky Shander, another talented contributor to Somerset Life. I was perusing the pages of her blog - please stop by and visit for she is truly amazing! - and stumbled upon the shot and borrowed it. I have been shooting photos for daaaaays trying to put together a new catalog and, so help me, if I had to take one more photo I was going to scream!! So thank you Becky for helping me out!

I'm off to enjoy a little zydeco music and fabulous Cajun cooking! Happy Saturday!
XOXXO

Headin South

3 good words to contemplate, don't you think? They are also 3 new hearts I'm introducing at the gift show this weekend.

This is going to be a quick post because by tomorrow morning I'll be knee deep in boxes and booth set up for the California Gift Show and after that who knows how long it will be before I can get back here! Not to mention the fact that I leave for the east coast within a week upon my return from L.A. And then I'll be busy, busy, busy, filling those orders and busy, busy, busy getting the kids in school and...OMG! Did somebody turn the clocks ahead? Where the #@%! has summer gone?!

Anyhow, here's a peek at a few new items that I'm introducing this weekend.









If you remember, my other party pots are made with vintage jewelry and I thought it might be a nice idea to introduce a similar concept but at a slightly lower price point. Jewel free and just as cute!





These little cuties are party flags! Use them as a cake topper, tuck inside a floral arrangement, or tie them to a gift. The possibilities are endless...! I just think they are so fun and whimsical!





And these are the latest additions to my "Spools of Thought" cards. (4 other versions available on my website) One spool is dedicated to friendship and reads: "Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly." (author unknown) And the other spool is dedicated to anniversaries and reads: "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." (Mignon McLaughlin) I'm really happy with how these spools turned out and think they offer a unique way of sending a message to someone you love.

So that's it for now. I'm bone weary tired and off to bed in the hopes that I'll be well rested and full of creative energy tomorrow! XOXXO

No Words

I'm not feeling it these days. I know I should, but I just don't feel like writing. It's been an entire month since my last post and lots of potential blog material to write about but....I don't know. I've even started 2 or 3 different posts but none of them have made it to publish. I know I'm not the only one to feel this way, am I? I can't be the only one that has struggled with the desire/pressure to fill a page but no words to fill it? It's not a bad place that I find myself in, not at all. More like a place of waiting, of holding back, until the momentum shifts and the words once again take center stage. But for now my life takes a different path...



During the last month, I've registered my baby girl for kindergarten and my "baby" boy for junior high. I've watched my emotions run the gamut from elation to heartbreak as my children spread their wings to fly and I resist the urge to @#&*! it all up! I've gone to Portland, Oregon and fallen in love with my husband, again, and attended a soldering workshop with Sally Jean Alexander. I've been at the gym, in the garden, and in the studio more than ever and this truly makes my heart happy. So as you can see it's not like I don't have a few things to write about. I just haven't felt like sitting down and putting the words out there.

So for today, I leave you with the only visuals that I have captured (and uploaded) over the last few weeks. Simply put, it is what keeps me centered and grounded and oftentimes at a loss for words.

















Have a wonderful week! XOXXO

Happy Mother's Day Weekend

Big hugs to all of you Mom's. Have a fabulous weekend!

Great News!

I'm sorry I've been gone so long. Really I am. I've been traveling ALOT. Too much frankly. I don't like to travel that much - something I hadn't realized until now. I do much better with some breathing room between trips but sometimes you just don't get that luxury. Anyhoo, I'm so behind that I haven't even been able to thank the good people at Somerset Life for including my photo in the latest issue. It's an honor to be included in the pages of such an amazing magazine. I don't care if it's a 3 page spread or a single photo, to be in any of Stampington's publications is just simply YUMMY! Oh, but wait, there's more... Last week I got an email from Jenny letting me know that Stampington & Company has decided to publish 5 different 2010 wall calendars. The calendars will show "outstanding artwork" (their words, not mine) previously published in one of their numerous magazines. Drum roll please...the image of my artwork from the winter 2009 Somerset Life issue has been selected to be in one of the calendars! Yipeeeee! You can't see me right now, but I'm doing my happy dance. I cannot wait to see the end results. Can you imagine how inspiring 2010 will be with all of those amazing photos?

I'm home for a couple of months now and will blog again soon. I promise! In the meantime, I breath and catch up and play with my kids and cook good food and.....!

XOXXOO

What I Wouldn't Give

I really want to be here, wandering the lovely path above. I want to plant brilliant shades of pink and purple with a dash of white. I want to smell roses and lavender wafting through my open windows.



I want to put these in a vase and place them on my coffee table for all to enjoy.



Or spend a few hours here reading my favorite book with a huge mug of Starbucks.

But, alas, the only gardening I'm doing these days is in perusing the pages of magazines.





Instead, I'm working on these.





And these.







Then there's a little custom work for a lovely client.



And another client.





And still one more client.

It's good to be busy. It really is. Oh, but my garden. My poor neglected and lonely garden. For now I will just have to dream through the glossy pages of my favorite magazines and wait...

Gone in a Blink

Did anybody see where February went? I know it was here just a minute ago but all I can find is March! Starting with the gift show at the beginning of the month, followed by studio time, filling orders, Fed Ex runs, the general demands of running a household and business, and ending with a much needed but ill timed trip to Florida, February was one big blur!

The gift show was hard work but well worth it. I came in with slightly lowered expectations due to the struggling economy but ended up being pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I met my goals, and in some cases, exceeded them, so in my mind it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Unfortunately the few photos I managed to take of my booth and fellow exhibitors turned out bad, really, really bad. I will not bore you with the proof!

For my sons 12th birthday, we decided to take a few days and do Disney. In reality, Disney did us! After 3 days of "It's a Small World", Flying Dumbo, lines that lasted faaaarrrr beyond my level of patience, and really bad for you food, I was ready for part 2 of our trip.







Aaaaaahhhhh......Naples, Florida. White sandy beaches, turquoise water, sunsets, flip flops and 80 degree weather. Now that's what I'm talking about.





Did you know that the good people of Naples have a tradition of going out to the beach to watch the sunset and then they clap when it's all over? Not a bad way to end your day is it?!



We also took long walks and collected sea shells...



And avoided too many of these...





But mainly we just played!

I'll be doing the Las Vegas Gift Show in a couple of weeks so I'm not sure if I'll get another entry in before that. If not, I'll be back on the other side of Vegas!

A Quick Peek

I'm in the final stretch of production and getting ready to start packing up boxes tomorrow. I'm looking forward to switching gears here. I've been bent over a table, or two, or three, for weeks. I haven't worn makeup in I don't know how long and my kids think an alien has come in and snatched up their mother! Yep, I'm looking forward to switching gears and getting down to the business of "doing" the gift show. In the meantime, I thought I would leave a quick post and show you a few of the things I'm bringing with me. Above and below are soldered charms that I made. I especially love the pink glittered hearts - just in time for Valentine's Day.



I've added 3 new coaster styles to my gift line. These were all inspired by vintage wallpaper. What coffee table wouldn't look fabulous with one of these?!







And check out these little beauties. I love, love, love the way they turned out! I've been wanting to do monogramed bottles for a while but it wasn't until the Gift Show that I decided to push myself and get them done. I hope everyone else loves them as much as I do!



This will probably be my last post for a little while. I'll be back with fabulous photos and lots of stories and hopefully an empty truck! XOXXOO