Commercial!!

Just a quick promo for my shop:

I'm having a BOGO 1/2 sale this weekend. From now until Sunday, buy any item at regular price and get another of equal or lesser value for 1/2 price. See my shop announcement for details!

 

http://www.amanda23.etsy.com

Budding Artists?

Summer is here, which is a GREAT thing in many ways. Summer has always been my favorite season, but I am a teacher, so that makes summer even better! (By the way, I still work over the summer. The idea that teachers have summer and holidays "off" is a common misconception.) Anyway, one of the not-so-great things about being home for a couple of months is trying to find something for the kids to do. I remember being bored to death as a kid - there was nothing to do!!! I have 3 kids, and even with all the toys, technology, and TV available to them, of course, they still get bored. My 2 youngest ones love to color and paint, and I heard about making kids' paint with Kool-Aid, so I decided to try it. All you need is a pack of Kool-Aid, 1 1/2 tsp of water, and 1 tsp. of flour. You mix it up, and voi la! You have paint!

 

 

 

 

The kids had a lot of fun and they really enjoyed the novelty of painting with Koo-Aid, but I really wouldn't recommend it. Here's why: for one thing, it doesn't make much paint (although it's very vibrant, so a little does go a long way). Also, Kool-Aid does stain skin, if only temporarily. Finally, the colors are a bit limited - I can't find blue or green Kool-Aid in my area. Nex time, I'll just use regular paint! :-)

This was fun!!!

I'd like to tell you about my newest listing, ans it's one I had a lot of fun creating! It's called "Cherry Quartz and Pearl Bracelet" (I know, not a very exciting name, but I used up all of my creativity for the morning on the bracelet itself :-). I began by using silver-plated wire to make random-sized links that I used to connect faceted cherry quartz nuggets. I purposely made the links different sizes and shapes to give it a whimsical look. After all of the links were attached, I hammered them to give them that cool texture. Finally, I took think sterling wire and used it to string pearls inside each of the links. Here is the finished product:

 

 

 

 

 

I love the way the colors go together - very feminine and girly. :-)

 

 

My Newest Favorite...

Or should I call it my "favorite newest" piece...? Either way, I might just decide to keep it for myself. i absolutely LOVE pearls, in just about and shape or color, and I love monochromatic color schemes..."Snowstorm Bracelet" has both:

Pearls of all shapes and sizes...coin, keishi, seed, potato, stick...combine with beads and stones in other shades of white: rainbow moonstone, crystal quartz, and crystal glass beads. I plan to make other pieces like this using pearls and stone in other colors; I hope to make a brown one next.

Again with the animals....

So, a few days ago I blogged about all the wildlife experiences we've had lately...toads, bunnies, spiders...

Well, last night, just before midnight, I was awakened to the sound of another another animal screeching in my living room. I was thinking, "Great, another bunny" as I pulled on my pants, but nope...this time Cooties brought in a half-grown blue jay. I was able to check it out a little and it seemed ok - no feathers missing, not bleeding, but it seemed like one wing might have been hurt. It certainly was able to hop around a lot. It didn't try to fly, but I don't know if it was hurt, or just too young to fly. Poor thing. I took it outside and put it near the trees at the end of our yard. It hopped/fluttered off. I sure hope it found its nest.

I guess I'm going to have to do some research on how to take care of wild animals that have been rescued!

I just really don't understand why my cat is suddenly bringing in all these creatures. As I said in the previous post, he is 13 and has NEVER brought animals in the house. This bird is the 5th animal he has brought in the house in the last week. What's up with that????

Here is a picture of Cooties, snoozing in his favorite spot after a long night of bird catching:

Wow - An Award!!

Thanks to Marta Coimbra for sending me the "One Lovely Blog Award". And if you think mine is lovely at all, you should see hers!!!

And as a way of spreading the joy, I'm sending this award on to these blogs as well:
A Young Baker's Ramblings and Whims
Experimentalk
Happy Flying Buttons

If you are not following them, you really should check them out!

June

Good Wednesday Morning!!!!

 

I wanted to share my latest listing with you..."June".

Freshwater pearls and sterling silver make a simple and stunning combination!

Hello Monday!!

It is the first official day of summer vacation. YAY!! I am hoping to really get things going in my shop. My ultimate goal (besides sales, of course) is to have 100 items listed by the time we go back to school at the end of August. Here is what I just listed this morning:

I called it "Beaten Path" because of the color of the stones and the meandering pattern of the copper. I am really getting into this hammering!!!

I'm BAAACK!

OK, school's out and I finally have time to blog again and really work on my shop. Maybe the Sales Fairy will pay a call....:-)

It's been Crazy Wildlife Week around our house. To begin with, I was awakened last Wednesday night at 2:43 AM to a shrill, tiny scream coming from my bathroom. My cat had brought a bunny in the house. I finally wrestled it away from him and put it outside, where (I thought) it hopped back to its den. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes later I heard that same scream again coming from the front porch...and a minute later, the thump of my cat coming in the doggie door...with the bunny in his mouth again. I got it away from him again, and put it outside, this time further out in the yard. Both times the bunny was relatively unscathed. The next night, it happened again, but it I think it was a different bunny because it was much more lively. I had to use an empty PopTart box to capture it so I could put it outside. What makes it so unusual for us is that my cat is 13 and he has NEVER brought any living creature in the house before. Trying to show off for the new cats? Trying to adopt a new son? :-)

Then, the next day, Aidan found a toad. As you can see in the pics, he and Hopey were thrilled with it:
I'm not so sure how thrilled the toad was with them....

And then to cap off our wildlife adventures...I went into the garage one evening to hammer some copper for links, and there was one of those large black beetles crawling on the ground. Aidan wanted to touch it, and I had no sooner said that he could, when a black widow popped out of a crack in the trim and started having the beetle for her dinner! Creepy, yes, but it was kind of cool to see up close. Well, not that close. It was like seeing an Animal Planet doc in person!