Still snowing

It's still snowing here! We've got about a foot total right now and some bigger drifts. The horses love it, and the cat well ............ he'll go outside if forced!

The evening snows inspired this goddess

Snow!

Anyone who knows me at all knows I LOVE the snow. Well we finally got some! Yesterday we went and got our Christmas tree in the snow, went to Taylor beach for a walk in the snow and then took our quad out the trails to Sooke to a restaurant for dinner .............. in the snow! It's doesn't get much better than this!

Artfire

Galya a new goddess on my Artfire shop. Artfire is a new site similar to etsy I am trying for a few months. I am curious to see how it gets off the ground and going. 

Copper Treasures

I have been playing with byzantine and viking knit. I made the byzantine chain on this piece myself and of course the lampwork is mine! It's in my etsy shop!!

Earth Momma

I love the way this goddess turned out! I hand mix and pull the cane and then make the goddess, a bit or work but I think it's worth it!!

Starving Artist Etsy Street Team

I have joined another street team on etsy. The Starving Artist now has a street team!! Check it out, lots of fantastic artists on this team!

A new pair of earrings in my Etsy, love the lime green color!

Earrings!

I've been playing with some new earring styles, so I thought I'd share! I am at the Metchosin Christmas Craft show this weekend!

Home again!

I got home yesterday on a very swaying ferry. Out in the open water it tends to roll a lot side to side, I could not look at the horizon! My husband is still away fishing etc and having a great time. Take a look at the size of this fish and the smiles on those faces!!

Pt Townsend - Hurricane Ridge

As tradition would hold this time I came to Pt Townsend we found snow. It seems no matter when I come down here there is snow, this time we found it on Hurricane Ridge. Andrea, Jim and I headed up there for a nice 2+ hour hike, there were some gorgeous views up there!

Snoozing

The boys having a snooze in the brief bit of sunshine we had today!

Etsy Promotion!

I am having a promotion on etsy for the month of Nov. My earring pair beads are buy three get your fourth free!!!

Halloween

Halloween is always interesting around here. The firehall is right next door to us. They have hotdogs, goodies, a bonfire and fireworks for the locals. The horses and cat are always a bit startled by the events but no one is too upset. We bring Eazy (Roddy's steer wrestling horse) in the barn, he's afraid of fireworks. But the other boys stay outside. The cat was hiding in the laundry cubby this year! I love the fireworks, I could watch them for hours! Here's a picture of the bonfire, it's hard to get the idea of size but it's about a story high when it's burning at it's best.

Easy To Please

Some days I am easy to please, some days not so much! Today is an easy to please day. I got this cool little tea pot at Winners yesterday! It's for loose tea and I think it is perfect! I hate those metal tea ball thingys. Lavender Earl Grey tea is todays tea!

Indy

In an effort to make my blog more interesting I've been going through old pictures. This is Indy, or Mr Moose, or Fatty Mc Fatty, depending on the day! He's "my" gelding from our bunch. He's a big boy, standing 16.1hh (16.2 1/2hh behind!) and built like a tank. He's become a part of the family. He was out front of the funeral ay my FIL's funeral service, and whinnied right at the end when the priest said "amen". He nevers whinnies so we figure it was my FIL saying goodbye or YEAHAWWW as the case may be! Indy was also the horse I rode into my wedding!!

Kaffir

We finally got home late friday night. What a long drive, I normally only drive for about 3-4 hours so 8 ours is a lot for me. Hubby is healing well.

Kaffir a new capped and cored bead. I really am enjoying making these!

Stuck!

We are currently stuck in Prince George! My husband shattered his shoulder at the rodeo last weekend. He's had surgery and it went well, we are just waiting on them letting him out. Hope to be home by the weekend!

New capped and cored beads!

I've been capping and coring beads this week and am thrilled with the way this turned out. Working on capping and coring some long bicones but that hasn't quite come together yet. These are in my Etsy!

New Cored and Capped Bead

This bead is part of my Tuff Enough to Wear Pink promo!!!

October is Breast Cancer Month

October is breast cancer month. The LEST Team on etsy is having a "Tuff Enough to Wear Pink" promo with each member donating their chosen amount of proceeds to breast cancer awareness. I have a few pink sets in my shop and that will be included in the promotion!! The promo titles is piggybacking off a breast cancer awareness promotion done at most pro rodeo's now They designate one night Tough Enough to Wear Pink night, a portion of proceeds going to breast cancer. The competitors all wear pink shirts, it's really something to see rough and tough cowboys all decked out in pink! Are YOU tuff enough?

Garden week!

I've been gardening a lot this week, wishing I had planted pumpkins! We have loads of squash just starting to ripen! I think I will have enough acorn squash to feed the whole community!

Hot Shop Photos!

Some photos of me in the hot shop at Glass Stock! I have threatened hubby that I may take over his new car shop with a hot shop!

I'm Back!

Wow what a couple weeks. I went to the Frantz Bash (AMAZING) and Glass Stock, then was home for two days and we were off to our BC rodeo finals. We are home now, and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon!

I have a tutorial for sale in my Etsy of my Daisy beads and Garden bracelets!

Glass Stock

I am headed off to Glass Stock!!! I may get some time for pictures while I am there if not I'll share some when I return at the beginning of Sept.

Garden Update!

I spent a couple hours today painting the trim on my garden shed! It's purple coneflower, I love the color! Come spring I'll mosaic the little deck!

Prosperity

Just thought you might like to see what Sue N made with my Prosperity goddess, isn't it pretty!! She is sitting in a triskele... a Celtic symbol for woman. The 3 intersections stand for the girl, the woman, and the crone

Feeling Hermitish

Not much going on here, I'm feeling a bit hermitish ( is that a word ?) this week. Everyone is away or busy and I feel like I havent had much outside contact! Been making jewelry most of the week as I am at Sooke Art in the Park this weekend 10-5 both sat and sunday! It's a nice show at Ed Mc Gregor park in sooke, come by if you are wanting a nice weekend outing!

I've been hooked on making these lentil sets, they are great for bracelet beads, they lie nice and flat on your wrist.

Farmers Market

Monday the 4th was BC Day here, so our farmers market decided to make Sunday a day to celebrate our heritage. Quite a few of us dressed up in older clothing. I had a hat my father in law wore about 40 years ago and a pair of old old woolly chaps! Needless to say i was a bit hot, but it was fun! I won a great gift basket full of goodies from the vendors for the best outfit!!

Purple Galaxy!!!

I am pretty excited about this bead, there will be more to come too!! Purple Galaxy is a flat lapped Troll bead! I've been thinking about flat lapping more beads for a while now, and I havent seen any Troll bead flat lapped, now I know why!! Boy are they alot of work! I spent most of today lapping beads and got about 9 Troll beads done and some larger focal beads, a couple troll beads zipped around the studio too when I lost a grip on them!

August is Just Give month in my Etsy!

August is "JUST GIVE" month on the LEST Street team. Some of my items are marked with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Island Equine Rescue. They have Just Give in the title, if you look in the item description it'll tell you how much of that particular sales goes to the rescue.

http://www.islandequinerescue.com/

Mission: To rescue and recover young, usable horses that can be placed in loving homes. They also help senior horses find happy retirements.

Joan, the lovely denim goddess is one of my "Just Give" items. I'll be adding new items daily!!!

August LEST Artist of the Month

My Featured LEST artist for the month of August is Inferno Glass Beads. Here's a little bit of an interview with Rachel.

How long have you been working with glass?
I have been working with glass for about 5 years. However, it is a part-time pleasure for me right now, so I still consider myself rather "young" to the art.

What is your favorite thing about working with glass?
I love how certain glasses react in ways you can't always control. It's the biggest excitement and the biggest frustration for me that you never quite know what you will get out of the kiln the next morning.

What's your favorite piece? (maybe a link to the piece if it's in your etsy)
My favorites change as I make more beads! I think my current favorite is a bracelet I made from some tiger-style beads I made a while ago. One day they just asked me to make them into a bracelet, and it turned out beautiful!

What's the hardest piece you've ever made? (Again a link if it's in your etsy)
I don't know that I have a single piece...I've definitely had a lot of failures, and had beads come out of the kiln that looked nothing like what I had envisioned. But I've also made my best "discoveries" this way. The only time I feel that glass is hard to work with is when I get a creative block and nothing appeals to my muse!

Who do you admire in the glass world?
I love Theresa Laliberte's sculptural beads, and Patty Lakinsmith's focals. I also love how Andrea Guarino can make soft glass look like stone and boro.

What's your favorite inspirational saying?
When I feel like life is getting a little harried, I chant to myself, "This too shall pass." It reminds me that time never stands still!

What's one thing you've never done you always wanted to do?
Travel to Italy! In my glass life, I would like to take a class on working with metals and enamels to help move my skills ahead.

Busy Weekend

Mud Flats are a new earring pair in my Etsy, odd name i know but the colors really do remind me of mud flats!

I did a joint show this weekend here in Metchosin with a friend, Jim Jenkins. A fantastic local wildlife photographer. We had alot of fun, alot of laughs and had pretty steady traffic. I also got to check out the space for a Metchosin Artist Co Op that starting up and BOY am I excited!! It's a great space with lots of room for growth. There are four artists working in the space right now and they'd like displays from other local artists. I am putting together a jewelry display and may demo at their grand opening!

Interesting Info

Rachel a fellow beadmaker has some interesting info on her blog about the difference between mass produced lampwork beads and artisan made beads. It's really worth a read!

A couple new capped/cored beads this week, both in my Etsy. I am really loving the look of these!

Flaming Hot

I've have been so busy I forgot about the Flaming Hot blog group! Their blog topic is You can have any talent, ability or lifestyle you wish. What would you be?

That's a toughie! I pretty much have my fantasy talent, at least I think I have talent? I love glass, can't think of a better thing to do! Maybe I'd love to be a glass blower, I am always entranced watching them work. I have a Chihuly DVD I watch over and over!

In the Night Kitchen

My Edaphic capped bead was featured on "In the Night Kitchen" blog! Have a peek it's a great blog!

How does your garden grow?

Very well thank you! With all the sun and steady watering my garden is HUGE!

Sidewalk Flowers

I spent this weekend at the Puget Sound Bead festival with Kristi of Brokaw Beads. While the show itself was a bit slow we had a fantastic time! Lots of laughing and fun!

We stopped on the way home at the Tacoma "Bridge of Glass" that had alot of Chihuly work, WELL worth seeing. I was so amazed at all the glass I got a neck cramp from looking up for so long!

On our walk back to the hotel one night we saw these little flowers growing out of the sidewalk all perky and happy, we just had to take a picture!