What makes you giggle?

Ok, so I'm a bit different. Lots of things make me laugh and some are totally not appropriate to laugh about. Lately, there's been alot of stress in my life and some days it's really hard to find anything to laugh about. I live in a 3 generation household. My husband and I have welcomed our son, his g.f., and their 2 yr old daughter back home to live w/us while Boy Wonder goes back to school full time. Stressful? OMG, you're not kiddin'!!!!!!! The babe is great, a total joy, love her to pieces! The Boy? um, well let's just say he's taken procrastination to a whole new level when it comes to helping around the house. As a dad, he's wonderful. As a son, he's incredibly special. As a slob? Fan-Freakin'-Tastic!!!!!!!!!! I keep thinking...who is this kid? Who raised him? Then reality hits and I realize he's mine, I raised him, and he's not going away anytime soon. HELP ME!!!!!!!! I love him, I really do. He's my only son, and he's my youngest. He's funny as the day is long. He's just got a way of really pissing me off these days. And if he ever finds this blog, he's gonna be all over my butt for my "nasty ass remarks". Whatever Boy, shift it to the right and move along!

That being said, when I found this shirt, I knew I had to blog about it!

Ashli's Armoire on Artfire is a great shop! I poked around there this morning and found several pieces that I just adore! Everything is made with love and care and definately with a great sense of humor. With our little granddaughter living with us, the delight of having a wee one about again is so much fun. I could very easily, spoil her rotten. I can so see her wearing this little outfit this October!

Now just How Cute is this?!? I can't even imagine all the time it took to sew this up. Check out all the pictures Aubrey has of this darling Halloween outfit. http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=368253

It just totally cracks me up how she turned Mickey Mouse into a jack-o-lantern (his ears are mini pumpkins, too funny!) and Minnie Mouse into a witch. Look at all those details! Fantastic Stuff!!! Her little girl is cute too, I wonder how much candy she had to bribe her with to get her to pose for the pictures? (I bet it wasn't as much as I'll need to bribe Boy to pick up the toys in the living room so *someone* can vacuum.....sigh...)

Another great find today is Myrna Migala. Very interesting watercolors! The first minute I saw her shop, I knew I was going to like her. She has cat and snowman paintings! :) 2 of my favorite things.

I love the personalities that Myrna has given her subjects. You look at the faces and really want to know what the kitties are thinking, or what the snowmen are whispering about. There's alot of talent here and it shows in her paintings. Her sky is awesome in the snowman painting. The shadowing on her snowmen...very cool. I haven't always liked watercolors, guess I'm just goofy that way. But these have me rethinking my orginial thoughts! I have a snowman collection (as well as a kitty collection) and I can see these 2 pieces as great additions to my collections. Myrna, job well done! I hope everyone has a chance to check out her shop!

She's riding Artfire's Crazy Train today! Give her link a click and have fun wandering about her shop, it's a wonderful experience and if you're like me, you may just find a piece or 2 to add to your collection!




http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=26245&op=new&body=1

Poking about all the different places on the net, I do find reasons to smile about, and yes, even laugh. I will make it a point to adjust my attitude today and count my blessings. I know it is a good thing we're doing for Boy and his little family, giving them a chance at a better life. It's not always easy living with them, but I'm pretty sure it's not always easy for them to live with me. So Boy, if you find this blog, I hope you read all the way to the end. I do love you and we will all make it thru this stressful time. Now, go pick up the toys and vacuum the living room. Do the sitting room while you're at it. LOL

http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/afv--28366--18817_product_934250972_thumb_large.jpg

What a week it's been!

So many things going on in my life these days. I'm sure it's true for everyone. School is back in session, or will be soon. I don't miss the days when I sent my little ones off. As much as we all looked forward to getting the kids back in school, those first few days were always very bittersweet for me. Our house has always been the one all the neighborhood kids would flock to on a daily basis so we usually had anywhere from 3-10 extra kids here all day long. We had the "Barbie parphanalia" (as my mother would put it!) on the porch, hotwheels in the sandbox along with army men and tonka trucks. Water balloon fights w/a big wet mess in the bathroom. Kids running thru the sprinkler, leaving wet towels everywhere! Those were replaced with video games and mtv as the kids got older. Popsicles were always a hit, no matter what the age of the players. By the beginning of August, I was more than ready for the kids to go back to school. Not so much my kids, but I was ready for the extra kids to go! The first few days of school were always too quiet. Made me wonder what I would do when my kids had grown, moved on with their lives, married, with families of their own. Tears were always just under the surface!

Now here we are, the 3 oldest off on their own. Dan's in CA, Ben lives in Madison with his wife and daughter, Kate moved to MD. Only Tim is at home now, going on to college but the house is still full with his little women, Juila and Chloe. I love them both so much, they are a big part of my life! I know the day will come when he's done w/school and the little family will move on, leaving us with a big empty house. There are days when I can't wait for that, but I know that day will be bittersweet as well. I'll be happy to see them grown, matured, thru school, settled in their new home with jobs and "school daze" of their own as they send little Chloe off. It will be nice for us to have the house to ourselves again, but I have a feeling it will be way too quiet for me!

I'll still have my work, I'll probably always have my work. It is a big part of who I am. And there is never enough time to get it all done. This has been a crazy week. Lots of new fans on Facebook, setting up a biz page for the local art gallery, getting all the bugs worked out, making new lampwork beads, photos, and listings on Artfire, and keeping up with the forums. I seriously need some better time management! But good things are happening too!

I was invited to join the Fun Cute & Whimsical Guild at Artfire! Wow. First off it was neat to be invited, then accepted into such an ecclectic group of very talented artists! You can check out their work here;

http://www.fcwguild.com/ It's just chock full of all the best stuff! This piece just cracks me up!

You can find it here;

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=40825

Besides myself, there were 4 other new Artfire shops added to the guild. Check them out!

Antisparkle's shop is just too crazy! I love her sense of humor! http://antisparkle.artfire.com

You know that octopus necklace you've been searching for? Well you can find it here in Patsdesign Artisan Studio!! http://patsdesign.artfire.com/

Remember paperdolls? Oh man! I loved those things when I was little!!!! Shop66 carries them along with other great vintage inspired pieces. I could spend alot of time poking about in this shop! http://shop66.artfire.com/

If you're having a baby, or know someone that is, be sure to check out Blueberryjunkie's Artfire Shop. I adore her handmade goods! I may have missed out on getting one of her teething blankets for my babies, but you don't have to! http://blueberryjunkie.artfire.com/

I am going to have alot of fun as I check out all the great shops that are members of the Fun Cute & Whimsical Guild on Artfire. I'll probably be grabbing my credit card too! lol This is going to be too much fun!

It's been a busy week...YIKES! And now it's time to work on some custom orders due this weekend. Time to get dressed, grab another cup of coffee and hit the shop. Be blessed today my friends, in all you do. :)

Do you like coffee?

I do! One of my favorite things to do when I have the time is to curl up w/a big cup (and yes, my "cup" holds a half a pot!!) of coffee, enjoying the sounds of our small community mingled with the birds, distant traffic from the freeway, frogs and crickets while I wait for the rest of the day to unfold before me. It's the perfect time for me to count my blessings, and there are many. Even on days such as this when I feel invisible to the world around me. Time to make the coffee and concentrate on God's love for me. I hope you can feel it too.

IHOP Flavored Coffees

Cafe Bavarian Mint
1/4 C powdered creamer
1/3 C Sugar
1/4 C Instant Coffee
2 T cocoa
2 hard candy peppermints

Process in blender on liquify until well blended. Store in air tight container

IHOP Cafe Cappuccino
1/4 C Powdered Creamer
1/3C Sugar
1/4 C Instant Coffee
1 Orange flavored piece of hard candy

Process in blender on liquify until blended. Store in air tight container.

Cafe Swiss Mocha
1/4 C Powdered Creamer
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C Instant coffee
2 T cocoa

Process in blender on liquify until blended. Store in air tight container.

Cafe Viennese
1/4 C Powdered Creamer
1/3 C Sugar
1/4 C Instant coffee
1/2 teasp Cinnamon

Process in blender on liquify until blended. Store in air tight container.

What would go good w/a great cup of coffee? Perhaps some Cinnabon Rolls. ;)
Rolls;
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
2 T sugar
3 1/2 oz pkg. vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 teasp salt
6 cups flour

Combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir til dissolved, set aside.
In a large bowl, add pudding mix, prepared according to directions.
Add margarine, eggs, and salt, mix well.
Add yeast mixture and blend.
Gradually add flour, knead until smooth.
Place in greased bowl, let rise til doubled, punch down and let rise again.
On floured board, roll out to approximately 34" x 21". Spread w/1 cup soft butter.
In a bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top of the buttered dough.
Roll up very tightly, cut with a knife every 2".
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet, 2" apart.
Lightly press down on each roll, cover and let rise til double.
Bake at 350 degrees, 15-20 minutes, remove when they start to turn golden. Do Not Over Bake!

Frost w/Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 teasp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tbl milk

Mix all ingredients, mix until smooth.

Treat yourself today. You deserve it. Be well and be blessed my friends!

Hump Day!

Good Morning! I hope everyone out in blogland is doing well. I'm in the shop and ready to start working. Waiting for the kiln to cool down so I can start the painting on the new fused glass coasters. It has cooled off 200 degrees in the last 2 hours, but still too hot to open. Argh! I am not always patient when it comes to waiting to see new fused pieces. :)

I received a call from the client that ordered the Vegas pieces. She loves them! It was a relief since I went out on a limb on the design for those. Sometimes it's just gotta be a certain way, more than what the customer had requested but I'd rather go overboard and do the job right than to just to an average piece. I hope she comes up soon, I can't wait for her to see them in person.

Today's job should be packing up for Riversong Studio, getting them some new autumn inventory for the shop. She has such a lovely place! Chock full of wonderful accents for home and garden. http://www.riversong-studio.com/index.html If you're ever in the area, Riversong is a great place to spend a few hours browsing all her little treasures and treats! It's one of those places where you go thru and do a good look around, then go thru again and discover even more goodies. Laid back and genuine, funky to fabulous, this little shop is just a wonder that must be experienced first hand! Leslie herself is such a wonderful friend to many, myself included. I get so much inspiration from a visit with Leslie that I can't wait to get home and start creating. Everyone that has shopped at Riversong says the same thing so I know it's not just me.

So my friends, have a terrific day no matter what is on your To Do List! I'm off to see what kind of trouble I can get into here at the shop. Be well and be blessed.

Somedays I love my job!

As my kids would tell me, I am a Rock Star! LOL But after having a 12 hour day in the shop, no calls, no customers, it amazes even me what I can get done!! Sweetness and Light! There may just be a mess of new fall pieces for all the shops this year. I'm not sure where the ideas for these came from, but I am totally loving them all. Now I have more ideas, one or 2 large ones, and several more small to medium ones. I can't wait to get to work on them. But it will wait til tomorrow since I am going to reward myself and take off early tonite! Spending time w/the 2 granddaughters, Tim, Samantha, and Julia when she gets home....and my sweetie Bobo. ;)

Have a terrific nite everyone! Hope you were all Rock Stars today too!

things that make you go, "Hmmmm?"

Don't know why this one didn't load before so here it is! :)

Kick Butt Weekend!

Hi all!

Surprised to hear from me again so soon aren't you? tee-hee! Well it's been a kick butt weekend in the shop and I'm so happy w/all that I was able to accomplish! Got an order to Riversong Studio delivered today, 60 new pieces are already displayed in Leslie's fun shop! Got alot of pics taken too, gotta edit some of them but finally got the Vegas Collage

pictures uploaded to the bucket. It's been very busy but wow....I love getting so much done in such a short amount of time. Tomorrow it's back to work again of course, and some of the old mojo has kicked in and I'm anxious to get started on some new autumn pieces. Along w/working on the new pieces, there are some custom orders that will be in the works as well. Several fused pieces so I'll be able to kill 2 birds w/one stone in the coming week. Get the kiln loaded, then back to the new fall pieces. Hoping for a quiet week in the shop so I can get as much done as possible!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and are ready for the week ahead of us! Be well my friends!