first clematis

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RIP Kitty

I am sorry to report the passing of a dear friend today, Kitty my Kitchenaid standmixer. Kitty had been suffering from some kind of wasting disease, finally passing peacefully, June 20,2008, in the arms of a lovely associate at the Williams Sonoma in Bridgewater. She was fourteen.

Kitty contibuted to countless family celebrations, a hard worker, never complaining.

She mixed hundreds of batches of Christmas cookies. She kneaded bread dough like a champ. How many birthday cakes? Well, it would be hard to give an exact count. The fondest memories are of the wedding cakes that she tirelessly stirred and whipped. She was getting very excited about her upcoming cakes, especially my brother's, early next month, having just recently completed the shower cake.

Kitty will be missed and fondly remembered. Thanks kid, for all the hard work.

Godspeed Kitty.

No time to grieve, people, cakes have got to be baked, so I proudly introduce you to Ilsa.

Ilsa is a little bit bigger and stronger, maybe lacking some of the finesse of Kitty, but she is all heart. She is anxious to prove herself to this family, and I have faith that she will succeed.

happy and sad

It has been a while, and I am in a total creative drought, so I figured I'd post something not related to jewelry (which is the actual purpose of this blog, but it just wanders around where it will).





Here is the new man in my life.

My nephew and godson, Hudson. He arrived April 26th after some challenging labor. He is beeeyoutiful and sweet and awesome. Mom and Dad are adjusting well, and he seems to be too. His older siblings: love him to kibbles and bits, and keep his ears squeaky clean.

On a sad note, my best friend's dog passed earlier this week. Misty Roo was a faithful companion, a loving friend and dutiful garbage rooter. We will miss you Misty, thanks for the memories and good times.

precreation equals renumeration

Just a quickie to prove that I am still alive. This time of year I go into a creative lull, more out of self-defense than anything. Tax season and family are keeping me busy.



I finished this piece a while ago but was keeping it under wraps until I gave it to the recipient.

My Sister-in-law is having a baby, and I made her this piece in commemoration of the pending event. The theme for the shower was "sweet pea", but also it represents the expansion of their family "pod" to include their new little sweet pea.

I know the photos suck, but in person, its quite cute. Hand formed of copper sheet, with a hand made chain.

Moral of the story, friends and family, have babies, win fabulous gifts and prizes...

tax season = crazy season

Phew, another year has flown past, and I am crazy again at work. It does make the day go by lightening quick, and most of our clients are an enjoyable lot. So far the most remarkable event has been pushing a clients car out of the mud pit that we laughingly call our parking lot (a pox on the R&**%bury Township planning board). I managed to only get my red and white polka dot wellies dirty, but my dad was pretty much head to toe, with a sassy splotch on his forehead, like a dollop of whipped cream on top.

My husband and I are notorious couch potatoes.
This whole writers strike has really made my husband stretch outside the box to seek out things for us to watch. We really enjoyed the new Battlestar Galactica, Freaks and Geeks and season 2 of Big Love. The last two series can really put a persons deodorant to the test. Freaks and Geeks takes place in 1980-81, which was grade school for me, but the angst of high school crosses over all decades. Scott and I both squirmed in delicious discomfort through each episode. Seriously a shame that show didn't at least get a season 2. Big Love season 2 is just a festival of f-ups. Too many to name, the reasons to squirm in this one had absolutely nothing to do with relateability. It's a stretch to imagine yourself in any of these situations, and at the end of the hour, you feel oh so grateful for your monogamous lifestyle. But it is quite fun to order your spouse around claiming to have had a testimony for ridiculous things (I have received a testimony that we should not watch the Devils game tonight).

Oh, and exactly how does one inform their loved ones that they have created an amazon wishlist just in time for their birthday?
Well, I guess this works...


take it...

experiment with lomography

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where did december go?

Okay, an entire month without an update is kinda crazy. I know that nobody's life was at risk, but, the whole point of this exercise is to check in regularly, hopefully with jewelry related posts, but other (interesting to me) stuff too.

So, where to start? The holidays are over, thankfully. I have a love-hate relationship with November through January 1. I love being with friends and family, I love the challenge of finding good gifts. Christmas Eve is the one time a year that we entertain. I hate that I have to clean my house up, but I love showing the people around me that they matter by feeding them. I'm a control challenged person (spoken like a true freak) so I get to feeling overwhelmed, when all I'd have to do is ask for a helping hand. Anyway, enough of this weird self pity part of this entry.

Anyway, the turducken took the most time ever to cook in the 3 or 4 years we have done them for Christmas eve. But when you eat at 2:00 am Christmas morning, it's really Christmas breakfast, isn't it? The shame of it is, that I tried very hard this year to get the dang thing on the table at a reasonable hour, and failed. I do have a new plan for next year, so who knows, maybe it will actually be dinner on Christmas Eve for 2008

Also in December, I've been working on my photography skills. I seem to be improving, but I think that my camera may be holding me back a little bit. I don't think the macro is as good as I really need to take the close-up shots necessary.

I got my disc cutter this month, which was very exciting. With a few whacks of the hammer, I can have perfect little circles of metal. My first few projects using this tool were a sort of charm bracelt for my mom and mother-in-law. Each child and their significant other have an etched and domed disc, linked back to back. Then as grandbabies arrive they will have little charms that will hang off of their parents bigger discs. I really like this whole concept, and think I will offer these as custom pieces on my etsy shop. I just have to work out pricing. I really don't like doing the same thing over and over, but, because each disc is hand decorated, and the links can be different for each customer, I think I won't get bored. My sister in law inquired about making pendants somehow, so I'm working that out as an option.

I'm also working out a way to frame those gemstone donuts that are so easy to find, yet, what the heck do you do with them. I think I've figured out an Etruscan feeling type of setting for these challenging little baubles. Pictures to follow. I had technical problems with my jewelers saw, and had to deal with those before I could finish.

Oh, here are some pictures from the show my sister did. I was disapointed about no christmas tree on the ceiling, but everything still looked lovely.

Ohh, and remember my $599.99 crocs, bought over the summer? Well, they went down to $139.99. We received a checked for $400 from our insurance company this weekend. They must have settled with little-girls insurance company, and so we got 80% of our deductible back. Happy New Year to me! I also now have purple mary jane crocs. A fun little Christmas present (no car accident necessary).
Yeah, and to complete, random pictures of my dog, 'cause she's cute.

Okay Abbi, I've been bugging you for an update. Now that I've done mine, I can really be a nudge.