Zoe Nelson -- Artwear

Friday Foto 2/17

2012-02-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

This is ridiculous. I now know what it feels like to be addicted to a game. I wish I'd never downloaded it. It taunts me like the pigs taunt the birds. Must stop and get something else done!

New Cat Toy

2012-02-15T10:42:00.000-05:00

Lola loves playing with the Koi Pond App that I have on my new iPad.

I've gone over to the Dark Side

2012-02-09T06:15:00.000-05:00

Yes... I bought an iPad. Huge learning curve ahead.

There'll be no Friday Foto this week, as I'm headed to Virginia to be with my step-daughter and her family for the collective February birthdays weekend.

Maybe, if I had this new iPad figured out, I could blog from there with it.

Maybe next time - I'm just not up to it now.

Friday Foto 2/3, Miscellaneous

2012-02-03T15:37:00.000-05:00

This is to remind us all of what it looked like in February of last year. Yesterday was Groundhog Day and it doesn't really matter if the rodent saw his shadow or not. If we get six more weeks of winter like we've had so far, it's fine with me! We've had a few little snows, none more than 3", and none recently. Both last winter and the year before I was constantly checking the weather reports and comparing with my schedule. It's been nice knowing that I can get out any time I want to!
If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I've been on sabattical from jewelry making since the beginning of the year, and that's been just what I needed. I'm enjoying "piddling" (Which I read in this month's Southern Living Magazine is a cause well worth a lifetime of study.) and not feeling pushed to do anything that I don't want to do. It's described as "The act of passing time, without waste or regret". All the art supplies have been living on the dining room table and I've been dabbling with that whenever I feel like it. I don't have anything to show for it, as most of what I do is Art Journaling and therefore I'm not willing to share. However, I do have a large blank canvas that's been taunting me for some time, and I may start laying paint on it any day now. I'll share when/if that's ever done.
The yearly house/studio purge has been going well. I have two closets and most of the studio sorted. I got rid of lots of stuff - some to Goodwill, some to other people and quite a bit to the dump. I finally went through my Mother's jewelry box and decided to sell some of her pieces. I put all of her Wedgwood jewelry up in my Etsy Shop and sold some gold pieces at a local gold buyer for a very good price. This is all to help finance my trip to the PMC Conference in Cincinnati next June where I'm looking forward to meeting some of my "imaginary" friends in person!
I do have jewelry ideas that are knocking at the edges of my brain trying to get out and I've sketched some so that they don't get forgotten. I don't think it will be too long before I'm back to working with some metal because I'm starting to get excited by that prospect instead of thinking of it as "work" or a "chore". This is good.
The next big thing to work on is taxes. Ugh. Not my favorite thing, but I can usually have everything ready to go to the accountant in just a few days once I get going. I just need to move all the paints and brushes off the dining room table first... or maybe just bring in another table temporarily?

Whatever's going on in your world this week, I hope you have a good one and I'll be here just piddling along!

Friday Foto 1/27 - Fog Likely

2012-01-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

The area I live in is nicknamed "Fog Likely". It's near the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and we get this weather phenomenon called the Carolina Wedge. It's when cold air gets dammed up against the east side of the mountains and traps the fog here. There used to be a big yellow sign on the old highway that said "Fog Likely Next 4 Miles". So... Fog Likely. When you tell most locals (that have lived here since before the new highway was completed) that you live in Fog Likely, they know exactly where you're talking about.

Coming home from the gallery last night was one of those nights that, to me, is worse than driving on snow. The fog was so thick that I could barely see beyond the hood of the car. There's an intersection with a light that's 2.5 miles from where I need to turn off the highway to get home and I always set my trip odometer because sometimes that's the only way to know where to turn. I have to turn left, across the other two lanes, so I guess that there's no one coming, then stomp on it to get across and hope for the best.

My friend, David, who has a farm near by.

An even stranger thing about this is that I only live 10 miles from the gallery. It was totally clear when I left there and the horrible fog was only the last 3 miles, or so. Welcome to weather in the mountains!

Friday Foto 1/20

2012-01-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

Ryan Gosling

Not much to say.... no words are necessary!

New Work, New Gallery!

2012-01-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

I delivered some new work to Artwalk Gallery here in Boone today and we're going to see if this works for both of us. These pieces are different than anything I have in other places, so that they can have an exclusive product.

These are made from pieces of glass that have been tumbled in the sea. They've been wrapped in silver metal clay and fired in the kiln. Because there's no way to tell what type of glass it is or where it came from, there's no telling what it will look like after it's been heated to high temperatures and has been fumed by the silver. Opening the kiln is like Christmas morning! Then I drill holes in them, add a wire wrapped bail, some beads and a black rubber cord. Voila!

Each one is unique because each piece of glass is different. I try to use different beads on each one and add a few hand made silver charms.

One reason that I decided to create a whole new line of jewelry for this gallery is that it's right up the street from Hands Gallery, one of the co-op galleries that I belong to. I didn't want there to be any competition or comparison. It also stretched me a bit, which is always uncomfortable, but well worth it. I'm pleased with what I came up with and I hope Artwalk's customers are, too.

Friday Foto 1/13

2012-01-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of the fabulously reorganized closet in my studio! This frees up lots of space on the other shelves for things that I use more often. The rest of it can go in the closet and I can shut the door! I've already taken 2 bags to the dump and given away a lot of things to friends. Next is my clothes closet because I only want to make one trip to Goodwill.

Today it's 19 degrees and snowing sideways. I really wish I didn't have to go out in it, but my neighbor is out of town and I have to let her dog out, and in, and out... One more thing to remember every time I think I want to adopt a dog.

Sorry I Forgot Friday Foto

2012-01-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Lola McGillicatty Spottybody

Sorry. I got busy on Friday and forgot all about the Friday Foto thing. Then I spent all weekend cleaning and organizng my studio. Purge, purge, purge! Several bags to go to the dump, and two give-away boxes. More about that later.

I was just thinking that wouldn't it be cool if we had calico humans? I think I would like having brunette, blonde and red hair all at once. Maybe I'll start a trend.

New Year Miscellaneous Stuff

2012-01-04T18:25:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful. Personally, I'm delighted that the season's done. Over the Christmas weekend I did a lot of driving and a little bit of visiting. I'm grateful that the visiting was of excellent quality, even if the quantity was small. This is what I have to do, since I'm the one who lives so far away from the rest of my family. The New Year's weekend was quiet and uneventful.

I don't make resolutions for the new year. I'm afraid that if I did, my list would look similar to the one above! (Except for #5. Oh, and #4 - I might stand up to my boss (me) but I won't be looking for a job.) It's just so easy to make a list, then feel overwhelmed by what you've written down, so I've come up with a mental list of things I'd like to improve on. One of the things I'd like to do better is to actually watch the shows I record on my DVR before it gets full and I have to have a marathon TV watching session to make room for new recordings. Another way to remedy this problem is to only record the shows that I really, really like. I have nearly complete seasons of a couple of shows that I haven't watched because I'm not all that enthralled with them. I don't delete them because, well, what if I run out of things to watch? That's ridiculous. SO... manage the DVR better is on my list.

My very dear friend Joan passed away rather suddenly on 12/27. She was undoubtedly one of the nicest people I've ever known - always a smile on her face and a hug available for anyone. She never judged and always had something nice to say. In this next year I'm going to strive to be more like her. Her death also brings the "life is short and you never know when it's over" thing to the front of my brain and so I'm going to try and do at least one fun thing with my friends and/or family every week.

I have several projects in my house and studio and, since I'm on "sabbatical" from jewelry making until the end of March, I want to tackle that list before then. (I say sabbatical because I can't think of another word for not working at what I normally work at for awhile. I suppose since it's my business I can call it whatever I want. (and the sabbatical has allowed me to paint my fingernails for the first time in years, since I won't be doing anything to ruin the manicure!)) Some of these projects are small, taking only an hour or less, and others will take several days. Some are fun, some not so much. I'll tackle them a little bit at a time, a little bit every day.

I hope that if this turning of the calendar has inspired you to do something new or different, that you achieve nothing but success! Happy 2012.

Friday Foto 12/30

2011-12-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

Actually, several photos today.

Between all the holiday "stuff" I actually finished some pieces that have been on my bench for quite a while. The the toggle/pendant below was one I made the first time I worked with Bronze Clay and finally put together when I found the right shade of seed beads to go with it.

And this one is a conglomeration of several copper charms and connectors that I'd made and had stored up. I decided it was time to do something with them. I put them together with some copper chain and some etched jasper beads.

And, a silver ring that was an idea in my head for a long time finally came to fruition.

So, that's it for the year, folks. I'm not going to be working on jewelry for awhile because the season is over and sales won't pick up again until the tourists return in late spring. Our Blowing Rock gallery closes for the season (it doesn't pay to heat the place) and I can put that inventory in the Boone gallery.

It's not like I don't have enough to do - the projects are all crowded in my head - more to come on that subject soon. I hope everyone has a happy New Year!

Friday Foto 12/23

2011-12-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays, everyone! Here's a little Christmas eye candy for your enjoyment. Be sure to look closeley at the tattoo on David's ab.....

I've been having fun with http://www.photofunia.com/ They have several templates that you can imbed your own pictures in. Wouldn't it be cool if the President had a picture of me?

And, this one.... oh, my....

I've done some with my friends' faces and with that, and the "Elf Yourself" video I did with their pictures, they're going to run every time I pull out my camera from now on. I've obviously had too much time on my hands this week!

As usual, I'm going to be doing a lot of driving and a little visiting over this holiday weekend, but it will be worth it to be able to see all of my family. I hope you and yours have a magical Christmas.

Don't Let Rip-Offs Get Away With It!!

2011-12-17T10:32:00.000-05:00

I just read this great blog post from Maureen of Cosmo's Moon Jewelry and I wanted to share it with you. I'm copying it word-for-word so that you don't even have to click on the link above to go to her blog, just keep reading. Please be aware of this and DON'T BUY KNOCK-OFF GOODS!! (I just looked at a preview of this and Blogger has messed up the formatting something awful. Please disregard. The words remain the same.)

Stolen designs? Use Social media!

I'm involved in a few groups of highly talented jewelry designers and metalsmiths. Many of us sell our work online, or at least exhibit images of our work online. This leaves us vulnerable to be copied by big foreign "companies" that are trolling the internet and craft markets for designs to rip off. It is a big problem, for both the designer and the public who are duped by these scammers.
stop © theft in the arts!

Designers of course are being ripped off- their creativity being xeroxed and slapped on an inferior "product", which is equal to outright theft. Customers of these copycat outfits are partially to blame, because they have bought into the theft , lured by false promises and shoddy imitation. It's nothing new- Nike, Luis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Pucci and Fiorucci have all had their designs stolen and sold on the street. The only real difference is that now the pirates are pillaging individual artists instead of corporations (which have the power of lawyers and the money to protect their goods and ideas).

What can a single artist do? Many of us are already undervaluing our work and so doing are under paying ourselves. Even in good times thinking of coming up with thousands to commence a legal defense is usually out of the question.

What can we do? USE SOCIAL MEDIA to spread the word!

We are freshly entering a new era- Illustrated by global changes such as the Arab Spring and protest movements such as the Occupy movement. One person can effectively disseminate information worldwide with very little effort in very little time.

One well written blog post that is shared, one tweet re-tweeted many times, posts in all group pages, across all social media platforms with links and images and discussions can be the starting point for illumination- We as artists can shine the light on this problem, flush out the cockroaches hiding in the corners and effectively educate and warn our communities and customers. All there needs to be is a plan.

So- this is what I propose- (as a start) ......

Anytime a piece is found to be illegally copied (ripped off) GET LOUD!

Post as many specifics that you can without opening yourself up for legal problems yourself (put the spotlight on the specific company/entity.)

Let other artists know what is going on- ask for a re-post or re-tweet.

Artists- Re-post! the longer the chain of shares and re-tweets the more information is spread through the community, which will keep the conversation going, keep the community vigilant and bring us together as a force to be reckoned with.

Knowledge=Power

Above all- don't let the assholes get you down. Copycats have been around since the dawn of mankind, it's not going away. There is even a truism that says that copying is a form of flattery. (though someone who is losing business because of these rip off hyenas certainly isn't flattered, they are irate- for damn good reason!)

Power to the artists, come together as a community- let's keep this topic on the front burner and get organized to help protect our original designs!

And customers, remember- cheaper really does mean cheaper. If you value handmade, the artist has to get paid!

ciao- Maureen BZ

Founder, "Metalsmiths Unite!"

Friday Foto 12/16

2011-12-16T07:42:00.000-05:00

We have a bear in the neighborhood. (Not the one above - I took this picture at Grandfather Mountain last fall.) Something had been getting in my bird feeders (other than the deer that I observed licking seed out of the bottom of the feeder nearly every day) and I thought it was the giant raccoon that I'd seen around because the shepherd's hook that the feeders were hanging from had been uprooted and the seed raided. Then one morning the pole was bent in two and one of the feeders was smashed flat. I don't think a raccoon could do that, not even a huge one! About a week later I was coming home at night and the bear crossed the road in front of my car, headed down the hill towards my house. I'm not ashamed to tell you that when I pulled in the driveway I was a little afraid to get out of the car! So, sorry birds, I can't leave seed out for you any more. And I really miss the birds. :-(

Friday Foto on Saturday

2011-12-11T08:12:00.000-05:00

Blogging has been the last thing on my mind this week. Sorry I forgot the Friday Foto yesterday, but luckily, I remembered that "when all else fails, post a picture of your cat".

It's a busy time for everyone right now. I'm no exception, even though I don't have a lot of holiday shopping to do. Every time I think I'm all finished, something else comes up that has to be done/bought and that has a lot to do with Mercury being retrograde. At least I know I don't have to go back to WalMart for the rest of this year and that's a big relief! Have a good week, everyone!

Friday Foto 12/2

2011-12-02T08:00:00.003-05:00

This is Chance on the left and Bella on the right and they're the reason I'm here in Chapel Hill at my sister's house. I'm baby-sitting them for the next few days, along with Smokey the Cat. While I'm spending a long weekend here I'm also hoping to put a dent in the Christmas shopping, since I'm close to the big malls, and visit with some other friends and family. Hot time in the big city! Woo Hoo!

Bad Haircut

2011-12-01T10:08:00.000-05:00

Photo from socialsignal.com

Don't you hate getting a bad haircut? Soooo frustrating! That's what happened to me yesterday. I guess it's not necessarily a "bad" haircut. It's even. There's no sticky-out parts. But it's way too short! Especially the bangs. Not as short as in the photo above but that's what it feels like. It reminds me of when I was about seven and my Mom used to cut my hair. The bangs wouldn't be even, so she'd cut a little more off the longer side. Then that side would be too short, so she'd cut more from the other side. You see where I'm going with this, don't you? My sister and I called it "bangs in the brains". I know it's just hair and it will grow back out, but this is the wrong time of year to have short hair. It's too cold! She cut the back so short that she had to use the trimmers on my neck. Ugh.

This woman has been cutting my hair for years, and I don't know what got into her yesterday. I told her just to trim it up a little. She must have thought I was someone else. She had my back to the mirror for awhile and when she turned the chair around I said "STOP CUTTING!!" She was quite alarmed and said "I thought you liked your bangs a little shorter." Nooooo!!!

So, now there's nothing that can be done about it. I usually go every six weeks for a trim, but it will be quite a lot longer than that next time. Makes me want to grow it back out down to my ass, like it used to be when I was an Earth Mother Hippie Rainbow Child.

First Snow of the Season

2011-11-29T17:19:00.000-05:00

Just a little bit, but enough to be a nuisance.

Cyber Monday

2011-11-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Click here to go directly to the listing on Etsy.

We're done with "pre-Thanksgiving" and "Black Friday", so I think today is the last day with a label until we get to "Last-Minute Shoppers". Gack! I'm really sick of pimping my work so that maybe one of you gazillions of people that are online today might buy something. I'm not sure that my little reminders are getting through all the hype and hoopla created by the big chains anyway.

So, y'all know by now that I have an Etsy Shop, right? That's where you can buy my work online. I have a lot of new pieces of jewelry there, as well as a lot of stuff that I've cleaned out of my studio. The "Studio Stash" is listed at incredible prices because I'm selling it for what I paid for it. And silver has gone way up since then. Today only you can get 10% off of anything in the shop by using the code BLOGREADER. After today and until December 15, get free shipping by using EMCFREESHIP. So, if you haven't maxed out your credit card on Amazon.com by now, I would appreciate it of you would consider a piece of hand made silver jewelry to give to someone this holiday season.

Black Friday Foto (Edited)

2011-11-25T07:06:00.001-05:00

Click here to go directly to the listing for this necklace.

Jumping on the shopping bandwagon, here. ~~This piece is available in my~~ ~~Etsy Shop~~ and you can get a 10% discount if you enter the coupon code BLOGREADER. Sorry! This one has sold, but there are a lot more new listings! And the coupon code works on any of them.

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving and got to spend time with friends and/or family. Mine was quiet. I went to a buffet restaurant with a friend and ate way too much, but that's part of the holiday experience, right? I'll be nibbling on baby carrots today while I work at Hands Gallery. I hope that people will shop in our small co-op today instead of the big box stores! Happy holiday weekend to you.

Ramping Up!

2011-11-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

A tree growing out of the rocks at Kohunlich Maya Ruins, Mexico.

I think I'm back to normal (whatever that is) after my vacation. I'm working at the Main Street Gallery today and it's foggy and dreary and there's not many people here. Good day for a blog post!

The holiday season is approaching fast! Only a few more days until Black Friday and the craziness of holiday shopping after that. I have been and will continue to ramp up my Etsy Shop for Cyber Monday and beyond. Listing lots of new things and renewing old ones, striving to be at the top of search lists. And I still have a lot of Studio Stash listed at some great bargain prices. Here's a couple of new ones recently listed:

Silver Daisy with a CZ Center
Click to go to the Etsy listing

Amethysts and Fine Silver
Click to go to the Etsy Listing

Do yourself a favor this year and try and avoid the malls and the big box stores. If you shop at small, independent retailers you'll have a more relaxing time and more of your money will stay in your community. Or, shop online with your favorite jewelry artist!

If you've read this far, I have a reward for you. Many of the members of the Etsy Metal Clay Team are offering free shipping through December 15. You can use the coupon code EMCFREESHIP to get that in my shop or any of the other EMC Team members' shops. If you order after December 15 your purchase will need faster and more expensive shipping in order to arrive in time for Christmas. And, as a special "thank you" to my blog readers, use the code BLOGREADER to get 10% off in my shop only.

At this time of giving thanks I want to say out loud that I am so grateful for the people who appreciate my work and who take the time to come here and read about what's going on in my life. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Home From Paradise

2011-11-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

I got home late Thursday from my birthday cruise to Mexico. What a fantastic trip! My sister and I flew to Tampa, Florida on the 11th and had a nice lunch with our only remaining aunt and uncle the next day in Clearwater. We boarded the ship later that afternoon and set sail at 4:30. Many people gathered on the helipad deck to watch us go under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge - we had 9 feet to spare. Then, across the Gulf of Mexico. It was quite rough, but luckily I don't have trouble with sea-sickness.

Our first port was the island of Cozumel. It was beautiful from the ship, but not so much when we got off to do a little shopping. It's really not much more than a tourist trap and they're so aggressive about trying to get you to come into their stores and buy from them. I was not impressed.

Our second port was Costa Maya, which I found out didn't even exist ten years ago. The property was bought by the cruise ship lines and developed for tourists. Again, not impressed, but at least this was newer and cleaner. We didn't do any shopping there, as it was the same junk shops as in Cozumel. Our reason for getting off the ship was to take a 2-hour bus ride into the interior to see the Kohunlich Maya Ruins.

We had a fantastic tour guide and I found it to be very interesting. He pointed out wildlife and explained what was known about the Maya culture. We saw moths that looked exactly like the bark on the tree and you wouldn't know they were there unless someone pointed them out to you. We saw snakes, howler monkeys and lots and lots of rocks. It's hard to believe that the Maya people just abandoned these impressive cities and disappeared.

When the tour was finished and we got back to the bus for our return to the ship, the air conditioning was not working. And, boy howdy, was it hot and muggy. Apparently, a belt had broken. So off we go with the windows open for about 20 miles, when we see another tour bus headed towards us. The two buses stopped in the middle of the road and the driver of the other bus handed ours a belt. We pulled over and five minutes later we were riding in cool comfort. I was glad that our driver was also a mechanic - it was 91 degrees!

Our ship was the Jewel of the Seas and one of the first things we did after boading was get a fruity drink. Later, I found out I really like Champagne Bellini's and so we hung out at the Champagne Bar in the evenings after dinner to drown our sorrows from losing money in the casino. I won my money back on the fourth night, so I didn't gamble any more after that.

The staff was friendly and helpful (especially Lorenzo, who insisted on mixing up lots of "medicine" for my twisted knee after the day climbing around the Maya Ruins.)

And, of course, you can't go on a cruise without experiencing the incredible food. Both in deliciousness and quantity. I swear, now I don't want to eat a thing... until Thanksgiving, that is... then Christmas... uh oh! This could be bad. I already know what my New Year's resolution should be.

But, we had a marvelous time and now it's back to reality. So far, I've made it through the giant pile of mail and done two loads of laundry. Now, since I got used to taking a nap every day, I think I need to go lay down. I swear, I'll get back to work on Monday!!

On Vacation!

2011-11-10T09:06:00.001-05:00

I will be away for a week or so because I'm going on the first real vacation I've had in 11 years. Whoopee! I have one of those zero birthdays coming up, so several months ago my sister booked us on a cruise to Mexico to celebrate. This is great. It gets me away from all my sneaky friends that might consider giving me a surprise party!

I. do. not. like. surprises. I get so embarrassed and emotional and sometimes go into the “ugly cry”. I was finished with surprise birthday parties after my 40th, when my ex-husband and my Mother organized one for me. Fred got me away from the house so that preparations could be made and when we got back and everyone hollered “surprise”, there I stood, shocked, in grubby clothes, no makeup, and hadn’t had a shower that day. And, Mom invited one of my old boyfriends. I burst in to tears that I’m sure everyone thought was surprise, but I was pissed! I swore if anyone ever did that to me again there would be hell to pay.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been so long since I’ve taken a vacation. There are lots of reasons, I suppose. Money is tight, life situations don’t allow for it, I don’t want to go by myself… And, I get to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth all year round. But, for some reason thinking about this trip has me believing that I’ll be doing more traveling in the not too distant future. I have a couple of ideas in the works and I’m hopeful that they work out. I’m not getting any younger, you know, and there are things I want to do and places I want to see while I still can.

So, while I’m relaxing with a fruity drink and watching the ocean and thinking about the fact that it could snow here while I’m gone, I hope you remember to take some time for yourself also. My Etsy Shop will be on vacation, and Friday Foto suspended. See you when I get back!

Friday Foto 11/4

2011-11-04T10:38:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow it will be one year since Lola showed up on my back porch hungry, injured and very vocal. I'm so grateful for her company!

I'm feeling... well... kind of "pissy" today. I want to crawl inside my shell and hide for a while and not deal with people, so that's what I think I'll do.

I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be back next week after I crawl out of this mood.

Addendum to a previous post...

2011-10-31T13:39:00.000-04:00

Hahaha!! This goes right along with what I was saying in my post of September 20.

Friday Foto 10/28

2011-10-28T09:06:00.000-04:00

Cedar Waxwing - one of my favorite birds. Doesn't he look like a little super hero with his black mask? Photo by Ken Thomas.

Now that things have calmed down a little, I'm starting to think about this trip that my Sister and I have been planning since last March. You see, I have one of those birthdays ending in a zero coming up in a few weeks and she's taking me to Mexico to celebrate. I think the most exciting thing about this is that it's the first vacation I've had in 11 years. Can you believe that the last time I was on an airplane I didn't have to take off my shoes? Or worry about bottles of liquid over 3 ounces, or pat-downs, or revealing x-rays?

Gem Show Goodies

2011-10-26T09:08:00.000-04:00

I drove down to Asheville yesterday to the gem show at the civic center. One of only a few opportunities I have each year to buy supplies in person versus through a catalog. It's time to stock up so that I have enough supplies this winter, when I produce most of my work.

I bought a lot of silver chain. Some by the foot and some finished snake and rope chains. I was extremely low on chain due to the high silver prices recently, but it's come down a little in the last few weeks and I was desperate for chain. That's an expensive pile of loot you're looking at!

Which makes this pile of copper things I bought all that much more appealing. I've been increasing my copper stock recently since people seem to be a little more interested in purchasing copper jewelry than they used to be. I've been enjoying working with this rich, warm metal more, too. I made several things from copper clay during the first two weeks of my recently finished class, as I had to fire student copper pieces anyway. I've also done some things with 16 gauge wire that I'll show you soon.

I also got this little pile of beads. From top to bottom, some lapis, rainbow moonstone, some gorgeous faceted aquamarine and some pearls. I just wasn't into buying many beads after I spent so much money on metal.

Now that shows are over and my schedule has eased up a little I'm starting to think about next month. I'll be gone for about half of November and, since I'm mostly a hermit, there's a lot of planning to do around that. Again, more on that coming up, so stay tuned.

Friday Foto 10/21

2011-10-21T13:22:00.000-04:00

This giant Praying Mantis (or is it Preying Mantis?) was relaxing on the side of my house earlier this week.

It's been a crazy week, with a few more busy days to go before I feel back to "normal". The show last Saturday was phenominal - gorgeous weather and good sales. Can't ask for better than that at a show. Then the President came on Monday and that shot the whole day. Appointments, meetings, and gallery days have eaten up the rest of the week. I need a little studio time, right now!

POTUS Bus!

2011-10-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

President Obama in downtown Boone, October 17, 2011
Photo courtesy of High Country Press

Yesterday was such a surreal day. I heard rumors that the President would be driving through town on his bus tour after leaving Asheville and on his way to Wilkes County. Here's the series of serendipidous events: First, I met my Ex, Fred, and his friend Lynn at Woodlands Barbeque in Blowing Rock for lunch and we jokingly speculated that maybe the Prez would stop and have lunch with us. The man loves Barbeque, after all. When we finished eating we were not allowed to leave because the road was closed.

There was a policeman directing all cars that were on the road into the parking lot next door, telling them that the road was closed by order of the Secret Service. (And, as a side note, this policeman happens to be one of my neighbors.) At one point a car tried to leave and I heard Stacy say to him "If you want to go to JAIL, just try leaving this parking lot!"

And then...

Finally... here was the big black bus! Our first clue was a group of State Trooper motorcycles followed by several State Trooper SUVs, all with lights flashing.

And, then he was gone. It took about an hour to get home from there, with several detours. First, I tried to come home on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but traffic was not moving, so after waiting forever I turned around and took the main road back into Boone. I tried to go the back way to Deep Gap, got stuck again, turned around again, found another back road and when I was within 2 miles of home the road was closed again. Because, guess what? Here came the big black bus again!

Apparently, while I was stuck in traffic all over the county, the President went to Mast Store in downtown Boone. I happened to catch him again on his way to Wilkes County.

It was a thrilling, but exhausting afternoon. I'm grateful that we decided to get lunch where we did and that I had my camera with me. I don't care what your politics are, it's exciting to be able to say you saw the motorcade for the President of the United States go by. You can read Fred's rendition of the day here.

Friday Foto 10/14

2011-10-14T06:53:00.000-04:00

Busy, busy week getting ready for a show and no time to take new pictures. So here's one of Lola's awesome whiskers. She's been so helpful this week, mostly using her curiosity for quality control inspections.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I really need this to be a good show!

Have a lovely weekend!

Yikes!

2011-10-10T08:59:00.000-04:00

Oh, man... things are starting to pile up on me! Last week I felt like crap and didn't get much done. I'm feeling better now, thank goodness, because this week I have:

1. A guy pressure wased my house last Friday and is coming back today to seal all the wood. Which means I had to get all my "stuff" off the porches... and I have a lot of stuff on my porches. And I'll need to get it all back on the porch when he's finished, after it's dry, and before it starts to rain. Timing will be everything. The house looks so good without the green patches and the spider webs!

2. A show this coming Saturday - The Valle Country Fair is the only one I'm doing this year. I had to cancel all my others because I wasn't feeling well. I've been trying to get some things made just so I feel like I have enough for a full display. I don't work well under pressure, so this has been difficult. I really need this to be a good show, for obvious reasons!

3. I have company coming this weekend so the house needs to be straightened up. I don't need to do a major cleaning for these folks, because they know me well and understand that I can only do so much. They're coming with the excuse that they're going to help me with my show, but I know they also want a get-away to the mountains on peak leaf-looking weekend. It's all good!

4. All my show equipment has been stored in the shed since the Valle Country Fair last year. It will all need to be cleaned and inspected before it's packed in the car on Friday afternoon. My old tent was in horrible shape the last time I set it up, so I expect that it will be worse by now. Let's hope for clear, gorgeous fall weather so I don't even have to set it up and I can have all my jewelry out in the sunshine.

5. My "good" computer is in the hospital. It was running slow and was getting a lot of errors, so I had no choice but to take it in. One of the major errors was with Norton Security and I really don't like being online with my virtual butt hanging out in virus land. So, I'm working on a really old laptop today. It's slow and I can't get to my email on it. Hopefully my other one is not too sick and I'll get it back this afternoon or tomorrow.

Well, that's it for now. Gotta get busy this morning. Have a great day, everyone!

Friday Foto 10/7

2011-10-07T08:23:00.000-04:00

This is my neighbor's dog and cat, anxiously awaiting her arrival home last evening. My car and hers look similar and I always hate to see the disappointment on their faces when they realize it's not hers. They're so cute all snuggled up together.

This has not been a good week for me. I've had a lot going on, and I haven't felt too good because I've had to deal with bad hives again. (They never go completely away, but this week was worse than normal.) I think I figured out that cheap Vitamin C tablets make them worse. Once they're out of my system I'll be better, I'm sure.

Have a good weekend everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

Friday Foto 9/30

2011-09-30T08:41:00.000-04:00

Photo by Dale Forrest

There's a strong cold front coming in from Canada and it's supposed to be windy with a high temperature in the 40's and snow flurries tomorrow. Not a fun way to bring in October. Hopefully that Canadian cold front will also bring the package of supplies that I ordered three weeks ago from a Canadian Etsy shop! Have a good weekend, everyone, and stay warm!

Thank you!

2011-09-29T13:39:00.000-04:00

A big THANK YOU to Metal Clay Today magazine for featuring this blog in their "Best of the Blogs" section. (I tried to get you a picture of the cover of the fall issue, but I'm working at the gallery today and our computer here just couldn't handle that.) And a warm welcome to all the new readers who have found me through the article. The author called this a "tranquil blog"... Sometimes, but not all the time!

Metal Clay Today is a free, quarterly online magazine. Their banner states

"Metal Clay Today is devoted to giving recognition, encouragement and a voice to the many gifted artisans, teachers and enthusiasts in the metal clay world."

I feel very honored to have been chosen out of all the bloggers out there that write about metal clay. Thanks again!

Still a lot of studio stash for sale

2011-09-26T10:52:00.000-04:00

Awhile back I did a studio clean-up and decided to sell a lot of the things that I had been keeping "because I might do something with them someday". I just want everyone to know that there are still a lot of deals to be had. I've listed them at the silver price I paid at the time, so there are some really good bargains. Go to My Etsy Shop and check it out. You can see all of these items at once if you click on the "Components, Studio Stash" section over on the left side of the screen.

I'm really surprised that this one hasn't sold yet:

Apatite set in sterling silver. Click here to go to the listing on Etsy.

Or, this one:

Carnelian in a sterling silver setting. Click here to go to the listing on Etsy.

And these - all cut out and drilled and ready to use in your own project:

Set of five sterling silver triangles. Click here to go to the listing on Etsy.

These will stay in the shop until they expire - I won't be relisting them. At that time they'll go to the scrap pile. So get your bargains while you can!!

Friday Fall Foto

2011-09-23T08:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Autumnal Equinox, everyone! This godenrod is a sure sign that summer is finished.

Fashion Secrets of the Self-Employed

2011-09-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

Sofia Vergara from "Modern Family" at the Emmy Awards - my favorite show!

Two events got me thinking about this topic. The first is that over the past few weeks I've been cleaning out my closet and getting rid of things that I haven't worn in years. Second, I watched the Emmy Awards on Sunday night and saw all the glamorous clothing - the gowns and the shoes and the hair and the jewels and thought about what we wear and how we are judged by what we choose to put on in the mornings. And about how much I really don't care. So, for those of you that don't have to go to an office every day, here's a few tips:

1.) When you're working in the studio or around the house the object of your clothing is comfort and durability, certainly not style. For instance, today I'm wearing a pair of sweat pants that have paint all over them and a t-shirt that I've had for, probably, 10 years. I mean, the work that I do is messy and I wouldn't want to stain or burn anything nice.

2.) When you do have to be around people you should wear clothes at least a little better. I have to go to town later in the day I'll change into jeans and a newer t-shirt. (After all, I'm going to WalMart, and I might see someone I know.) When I work at one of the galleries I try to dress nicer so the the public doesn't think I'm a complete slob, or that the gallery is run by a homeless person.

3.) When you're at home you can get away with wearing the same clothes for several days in a row, as long as you haven't sweated in them and gotten them stinky. Underwear is excluded. Clean underwear every day is a must! (And, it can't have holes in it. Just ask my Mom.) This will also cut down on the amount of laundry you have to do.

4.) When the delivery truck arrives don't get your feelings hurt when the driver laughs at you. He's just jealous that he has to wear a uniform and can't get away with wearing the awesome grubby clothes that you get to wear.

I hope you'll keep this in mind if you happen to drop by without calling first. Not that it would make much difference because if I know you well enough to have you drop by, then I don't care if you see me in my usual wardrobe. I know you love me anyway.

Friday Foto 9/16

2011-09-16T09:08:00.000-04:00

This is a patchwork hill of Christmas trees. Did you know that North Carolina grows and sells more Christmas trees than anywhere else, except Oregon? It used to bother me that people would cut down a perfectly good tree and bring it in their house for a few weeks, until I moved here and learned that they're only a crop, like cabbages. It's just a crop that takes 10-15 years before harvest. It won't be long now before they start cutting and shipping them out - usually around the end of October.

There's a chill in the air this morning and my furnace came on. It's cloudy and I'll be in "Fog Likely" before the day is over. (See this post for an explanation.) Seems a little early to me, so I'll go dig out some socks and a sweater.

This makes three weeks in a row for Friday Foto. I hope I can keep it up. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend!

Remembering

2011-09-11T08:01:00.000-04:00

Friday Foto

2011-09-09T11:50:00.000-04:00

I've had some friends visiting the past couple of days and yesterday we went up to Grandfather Mountain. This was taken near the Mile-High Swinging Bridge at the top of the mountain. There were clouds and fog, but that's typical for that elevation. The red berries are mountain ash.

More Miscellaneous Musings

2011-09-06T10:27:00.000-04:00

Photo taken last April

The remains of Tropical Storm Lee have been pounding us with rain since day before yesterday. As you know, I live close to a large creek and my little bridge is my only way out of here. Needless to say, I've not had much sleep the last two nights and I'm feeling a little loopy today. So far, so good - no major flooding - and it's supposed to be over in the next few hours. Whew! Maybe I can get a nap later today.
Labor Day is past. I don't want to see any of you wearing white until next Memorial Day, OK? I had a very uneventful weekend. My boss doesn't give me days off, you know, so I had to work at the Blowing Rock gallery on Sunday. Lots of people, a very good retail day.
I've had a lot of company in the past few weeks, with more folks coming this week. I love it when people visit because I like to show off the beautiful place I live in. It's fun to play "tour guide" and take friends to all the touristy places around here that I never go to otherwise. And, it forces me to keep my house clean, which is usually not a priority for me if I'm here all by myself. (If you drop in on me unannounced, you'll see what I mean!) Having company saves me from being so much of a hermit, too, and it's great to spend quality time with good friends.
I've been in the studio quite steadily. I've made the decision to go ahead and replenish my stock no matter what silver prices are. It is what it is. And, hopefully, my customers will understand the increase in prices and continue to support me. After finishing up a big pile of earrings (see this post) I'm now working on bracelets, as both co-op galleries have sold all that I have.

I went to my Sister's the weekend before last to celebrate her birthday. (It's actually on August 9, but she's been celebrating all month!) Several of us went to the Washington Duke Inn for dinner and I had the best bison I've ever had. In fact, the entire dinner was excellent. This gorgeous place is located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, NC and is 5-star everything. Their website says: "Since the late 1800s, the Duke name has been associated with both excellence and achievement. The Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club, named for Washington Duke himself, is proud to carry on that prestigious tradition, excelling in providing exceptional service and gracious southern hospitality." And that is certainly true. I don't get to go to "fancy" places much any more and it was a wonderful treat.
Time to go run the vacuum cleaner and do some dusting for the next round of visitors. I'll try to keep up with the Friday Foto theme this week, too, so please check in then.

Friday Foto

2011-09-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

Lola sometimes gets jealous of my computer.

I'm going to start this ~~ A simple post on Fridays of a picture and a description. I'm hoping it will encourage me to take more pictures. I promise they won't all be Friday Feline Fotos, but Lola is such a fun (and cute) subject, so you'll probably see her quite a bit. We'll see how long I can keep this up.

Earring-a-palooza

2011-08-31T20:47:00.000-04:00

In the past week or so I've made 31 pairs of earrings. Earrings are my LEAST favorite things to make, so when I do them I do a LOT of them all at once. I make the silver parts all along and when earring inventory starts to dwindle I sit down with all my silver bits and beads and ear wires and do a batch of earrings. Some have beads, some are plain silver. Some are oxidized, some are shiny. This should replenish my stock for the rest of the season and now all that needs to be done is to match up the pairs, put them on cards and price them. Whew. Now I can move on to the fun stuff.

Beautiful Garden Pictures

2011-08-28T09:31:00.000-04:00

My friend Kimberly was visiting recently and took these lovely photos of my garden. Thank goodness they're close-ups, because I'm not happy with the garden this year. It's over grown and many things need dividing and I haven't felt like doing any weeding, so some weeds are bigger than the flowers. Ugh. But Kimberly has shown me that there's still beauty if you get close.

Thank you, Kimberly!

Same Old, Same Old

2011-08-21T19:32:00.000-04:00

Things around here are just floating along, one day flows into the next with little difference between today and yesterday. There's not a lot of exciting things happening with me. I had some company this past weekend, dear friends from Charlotte who were delighted to get away from the 90+ degree heat. I thought it was muggy and hot here, but they thought they were in heaven. It was so nice to see them and wonderful to get out of my routine. I stayed up way past my bedtime! They brought their dog, who totally ignored Lola, so there was no hissing or fur flying, thank goodness. I don't know that she had ever been around a dog before and I was so proud of her!

My Saturday Morning

2011-08-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

I like to get up early on Saturdays in the summer and go to the Watauga County Farmer's Market. It's not only a where I like to get fresh, local, mostly organic produce, but it's quite the social event. I never know who I'll see there. It's held only on Saturday mornings from April through June, then also on Wednesdays from July through October. This is the "big" Farmer's Market. There's another small one in Blowing Rock on Thursdays. It's "L" shaped, the photo above only shows part of it. Who could resist this?

My friend, David, is a world-famous wood turner turned "Gentleman Farmer", as he likes to call himself. His farm is just over the ridge from me. Before the new highway was built there used to be a huge yellow sign on the old road that said "Fog Likely Next 4 Miles". And it's true. If there's any wind from the east at all, we're covered in fog. David named his farm Fog Likely Farm and people that have lived around here when that sign was up know exactly where he's located.

You can also buy flowers and furniture for your yard:

And, there's lots of crafts for sale, too. This is Susan spinning wool that she felts. She's one of our newest co-op members.

This is a view on the way home. Its so muggy today it's almost palpable. See why they call these the Blue Ridge Mountains? As my Mama used to say "If it doesn't rain today it will miss a good opportunity." I bet we get a thunderstorm this afternoon.

Then a quick stop at the Deep Gap Post Office to see if anyone sent me money. Darn. Only bills today!

And then headed down the lane:

To home.

These are my purchases for today. I have to be careful not to buy so much food that it spoils before I can eat all of it. The flowers just make me smile. I'll add a few from my own garden to make the boquet even more beautiful.

All this and home by 9:00 a.m., before it gets too hot. Now to wait on those thunderstorms. And I wonder what else the day will bring?

Finished Pieces

2011-07-28T16:37:00.000-04:00

Here's a few of the finished pieces from that kiln load in the last post. First, some dichroic glass goodies:

And, a couple with dangly beads:

And some of my signature "Toggle/Focal" pieces:

It will be awhile before I can get these listed in my Etsy Shop and the "Toggle/Focal" ones are destined for the Little Art Gallery in Raleigh. Apparently, Raleigh ladies love this design. In the meantime if you see another one above that peaks your interest just contact me and we'll make a deal!

Whining's Over, Let's Move On

2011-07-23T17:06:00.000-04:00

I've been working on filling up this kiln shelf for almost a month. For some reason I like to have a full shelf before I fire the work, and maybe I'm being over efficient, but that's just how I roll. And, it's so satisfying to not have any leftover clay in an opened package. It just all worked out perfect this time. Kind of like having just enough chips to finish the jar of salsa, you know? The firing is done now and it's time to tumble, patina, polish, assemble, price, inventory and photograph. All that should keep me busy for the next week or so. I haven't felt like working in my studio for a long time, so this feels kind of new to me. It's nice to feel productive again. It took me a month to fill the shelf because I still can't work for long periods at a time.

I only have two packages of silver clay left. If my class that starts in September gets enough students enrolled to make I'll have to order more then and I'll get extra for myself. In the meantime I'll just keep my eye on spot prices and hope the government gets its act together before the metal speculators put me out of business. I was freaked out two years ago about $16 silver prices. I never imagined it would ever get over $40 like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, the price of my jewelry has to increase, too.

I've still got a lot of stash in my Etsy Shop. Pieces and parts and things I've made that I'll never use. Go see if there's something that will work in one of your designs. I've listed them for what I paid for the silver, so there are some incredible bargains.

Lola's showing off her jewelry today. See the gold cuff bracelet on her arm?

Can I Have a Minute to Whine, Please?

2011-07-20T19:59:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been a little quiet lately, but guess what? Hives. I'm so sick of them I could just scream. Again? No, Still. Don't think I haven't been screaming almost every day. Good thing I live alone, but Lola is a little freaked out. I have so many better things to do than deal with this, and when I'm itchy that's all I can think about. And remember, I've had these things since FEBRUARY!

The last time I updated you about this frustrating condition was a little over a month ago, after a visit the Emergency Room. After that I was on steroids for the third time and also for the third time when they wore off the hives came back. Since then they've seemed to get a little worse each day. My Doctor just shakes her head - she doesn't have a clue what else to do. So, I went to see a Homeopath and she gave me two remedies that made me way worse, so I went back to see her again yesterday. Her husband, who is a Naturopath also tried to help this time - they said go off those two remedies and try a third one. This morning I thought I was better, but at about 4:00 this afternoon, this started on the inside of my left arm:

And thirty minutes later:

Now it's 7:45 and I also have a patch in my right armpit, one under my chin and one on the inside of my left thigh. And I feel a little sick. Time to take more antihistamines so my face and throat doesn't swell up again.

Later this week I'm seeing a Hypno-Therapist to see if there's an emotional reason for this that we can identify. This was recommended by my Chiropractor and Acupuncturist both. After that I suppose I should find a Witch to make me a potion and make an appointment with an Exorcist. Those are the last things I can think of to try.

More Miscellaneous Stuff

2011-07-09T17:30:00.000-04:00

I'm continuing to clean out the studio and list things at bargain prices in my Etsy Shop. I have so many things there now that I realize I should have opened a separate shop for this stuff. Oh well. If they don't sell by time to renew the listing I'll take them down. It will be obvious by then that no one wants them. I can always scrap the silver.
I had to do an emergency house cleaning yesterday morning. I had asked a friend of mine to give me an estimate on pressure washing my house and sealing all the wood and his wife called to say they were coming over so he could look at things. If it was just an ordinary contractor I wouldn't even let him inside the house. But these are friends and I couldn't let them see how I normally live! That's OK - my sister is coming to visit and I would have had to do it eventually anyway. It's not that I live in squalor or anything, but housecleaning is not at the top of my list of things to do. It's usually just me around here, so who cares?
I've actually spent a little time in my studio over the past week. (Gasp!) I've had a couple of ideas I want to try out and sales in the co-op galleries have finally started to pick up for the season. I realized that I have a "mini show" next month, then rather large ones in September and October. Better crack that whip and get back to work.
My garden is getting ready to burst into all it's beautiful awesomeness. Too bad I haven't felt like keeping up with it this spring because the weeds are pretty impressive, too. There's so much that needs to be dug and divided and I just don't have the energy for it. We've had a rain storm nearly every day for the past month, so everything is lush and green and gorgeous. THIS is why I endure the harsh winters here!
My hives are still around for no reason. They get better, then they get worse. Today they're pretty bad and I feel a little sick. It may be time to check out a local homeopathic practitioner. It's about the only thing I haven't tried yet.
It seems like I've had to deal with a lot of idiots giving me the run around lately. It makes me feel like an old curmudgeon. I don't have a lot of patience, especially because this is an issue that's been hanging around for several years. Every time I think it's resolved it rears its ugly head again. So frustrating.

Well, that's about all the news from the lane. I hear thunder in the distance so I'd better get this posted and unplug the computer. What have you been up to?

Farmer Nan

2011-07-04T11:03:00.000-04:00

Did I ever tell you that I used to be an amateur farmer? I spent every summer of my childhood with my grandparents on their farm and that was no vacation from school! We had to work, but Grandma and Grandpa managed to make the work a lot of fun and we learned a lot, too. We learned how to grow vegetables and flowers, how to control pests, we became expert weed pullers and harvesters. I remember one summer when we were planting a corn patch. Grandpa went along the row first and dug a small hole. I came behind him and put four corn seeds in the hole. My sister followed and put two pumpkin seeds in and Grandma covered the hole and watered it. We were complaining how long it was taking and Grandpa said "See that last hole over in the corner? Your lunch is in that hole." That meant that we couldn't break for lunch until we were finished and that made us go much, much faster. I think Grandpa helped put seeds in so we could catch up. Then we spent the end of the summers canning and freezing what was left after they sold some to make a living. Grandma also grew about a half acre of flowers that she sold to local florists.

When my ex-husband and I moved here to the mountains in 1991 we had a large garden every summer. I froze or canned all we grew, and in a house with no air conditioning it was a hot, sweaty job. I did most of it by myself, with some help from Fred when he wasn't traveling. After we divorced and I moved to this house I decided that a large vegetable patch was too much for one person so I just have a small raised bed that I put a few things in so I can have fresh veggies when I want them. Otherwise, there's a produce stand near the Post Office I can go to, or our county Farmer's Market on Saturdays is incredible. I believed that my food preservation days were over.

OK, so I have this friend, Nan. We've known each other for around forty years, so we have a lot of history and have shared some incredible adventures. You know? I'm sure you have a friend or two like that. We can almost finish each other's sentences. She lives in the eastern part of the state in a little community called White Level. Before she met and married Chris she was sort of a "city girl". Then they gutted and remodeled the house that was his mother's and they moved in and now she lives in the middle of nowhere.

They planted a large garden this year. In a recent phone conversation Nan was a little overwhelmed with all that was coming out of the garden and she didn't know how to freeze or can anything. She had a pressure cooker but was afraid to use it because she heard all the old horror stories about them blowing up and, at least, destroying a kitchen or, at worst, killing someone. She didn't realize that a lot of safety precautions have been built in to the newer models. Plus her little Virgo self was petrified of botulism. I explained on the phone how easy it was to freeze food, but she was still apprehensive. So, being the WONDERFUL friend that I am, I volunteered to go down there and show her how.

The big, scary pressure cooker

Before I got there she consulted with some neighbors and ventured out on her own and froze some yellow squash that couldn't wait for my visit. I think what she really wanted was a hands-on demonstration on how to use that scary pressure cooker.

I arrived on Friday afternoon and gifted her with my well-worn copy of "Stocking Up", the bible on how to preserve food in all kinds of ways. On Saturday morning we started canning tomatoes. First you sterlize the jars with boiling water, then blanch the tomatoes (again in boiling water), skin and core them, then pack them in the jars. Add sterlized lids and put the jars in the pressure cooker and cook according to directions. Easy peasy. We did twelve pints of tomatoes.

Before

After

She also has these beautiful purple hull peas and figs coming in, but we didn't get around to doing anything with them.

Except eating the figs.. Nan made an appeizer with them on Friday night - she cut them in half, put a small dab of goat cheese in the center and added a little piece of proscutto ham on top and put them under the broiler until hot. Yum! Their fig bush wraps around two sides of their house so it wasn't like I was depriving them of any and I was able to leave with a large bag full. I stopped at my sister's house on the way home and traded several of them for some chicken parmesan that my BIL made. Good trade!

It was a lovely little trip and by leaving on Friday and returning on Sunday I missed most of the holiday traffic on the roads. I'm glad to be home. I'll be spending the next couple of days listing more of the things I found for the GREAT STUDIO CLEAN OUT AND STASH PURGE. I still have lots of goodies that you might be interested in.

Listing, Listing, Listing

2011-06-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

I've been spending lots of time listing all the studio treasures in my shop. For days now, I've been listing. I hate that it takes so long to photograph and list each item. For this Great Studio Clean Out and Stash Purge I'm not worrying too much about taking Grade-A pictures. I just want to get the stuff up there so it will find a good home. A few things have been mailed out today, but I'm surprised that this

hasn't sold yet. C'mon! You can't get a better deal at $20.00 for a sterling silver bracelet. I actually have four of these.

This carnelian stone set into a cast sterling silver pendant is still around, too. This one is only $35.00 and is ready to hang on your own chain or cord.

I've listed about 20 things so far and I'm not even half way done, so go see if you can find a bargain or two for yourself! It's never too early to shop for Christmas, you know.

Listed So Far

2011-06-24T17:49:00.002-04:00

Here's some of what I've put in the shop so far. (I just realized that the Etsy Mini above will change every time I add a new item! How cool is that?) Click on any item to be taken directly to the listing. I hate that it takes so long to list each one! I have so many more to go. Keep watching!

The Great Studio Clean Out and Stash Purge

2011-06-23T17:02:00.000-04:00

I got up early this morning and started going through boxes and drawers in my studio. I'm really excited about this and I found SO MANY things that I'm going to put in my shop to share with you. So far I've found and cataloged nearly 50 items that will be included - some of them individually and some in groups - and I'm not done yet. A small sample is shown above, just to get you started. It was raining this morning and I had to wait for some light before I could take photos. I'll start listing them tonight and continue until they're all up there. I created a new Shop Section called "Components, Studio Stash" and everything will be there. There will be something for everyone - pieces and parts for those that want to make their own jewelry as well as some finished jewelry and pendants that you can put on your own chain or cord. And, you won't believe the bargains! Let's get this party started!

Extra days and the Stash Purge

2011-06-23T08:39:00.000-04:00

Pinks from my garden

OK, so my schedule on paper and the one in my head are all out of sync this week. I had written down that I was supposed to work in one of the galleries last Sunday, but it turned out that I was not on the schedule for that day. I have no idea why it was written in my personal calendar, but I was happy that I didn't have to go in and work. Then, I did work on Wednesday of this week (yesterday). I like to sign up for Thursdays if I can, so I went about thinking yesterday was Thursday all day because I was at the gallery, and I woke up this morning to realize that THIS is Thursday, so I've gained another day. It's like that "Groundhog Day" movie, except I'm going to be doing different things today than I did yesterday.

This orchid started blooming last January (see the snow on the ground outside the window?). It STILL has lots of flowers on it!

This has been a strange time for me in that I've not been producing much, if any, new jewelry. The health stuff and the family issues have thrown me for a loop, and I have a pretty good inventory right now. (Mainly because people aren't buying much silver jewelry, but that's a whole nother story.) And, with silver so frikkin high I don't want to be buying any supplies right now. So I tell myself I'm on sort of a sabbatical, but in the meantime I'm not bringing in much money. THEREFORE...

Today I am going to start working on the Great Studio Clean-Out and Stash Purge. I've been reading Kate McKinnon's and Andrew Thornton's blogs and they're the ones who inspired me to do this. I have so many bits and bobs and pieces and parts that I know I will never use. Some I made and some I bought, but it's all good stuff. I'll start today going through things and photographing them and then I'll list them in my Etsy Shop in the hopes that someone else will put them to good use. I've been hoarding some of these things for a long time and if I list them for what I paid for them you'll be getting some really good deals compared to what they would cost you today. Watch this space for previews - I'll be posting photos here and on my Facebook Fan Page as they're listed.

Cautiously Optimistic

2011-06-13T18:07:00.000-04:00

Today has got to be one of the most gorgeous days on record. "Chamber of Commerce" weather. 74 degrees, light breeze, not a drop of humidity. A perfect day for washing windows and drying sheets on the clothesline. And a good day to update y'all on my health condition. Quietly. With no fanfare. I have not had a hive in over a week. Shhhh..... don't wake them up!

The weekend before last I was in the Emergency Room with my face swollen up like a basketball. My bottom lip was touching my chin. As far as I know I hadn't done anything different except take some ibuprofen, which I hadn't taken in several months. (I used to live on ibuprofen when I was on the couch with a bad back.) The Useless Allergist I saw back in March said to avoid it because some people were allergic to it and at that point I was avoiding anything that had the potential to cause an allergic reaction. That day I think I just grabbed the wrong bottle and didn't think much of it until I had to drive myself to the hospital before my eyes swelled shut and my throat closed up.

The ER Doctor gave me Prednisone, Benadryl and two shots of Epinephrine and I was still swollen. The sweet nurse put me in a room with a door so I could sleep off the Benadryl and kept bringing me warm blankets. After five hours, there was talk of another shot of Benadryl and of admitting me, but I protested. We agreed on a third shot of Epinephrine and a promise to take more Benadryl when I got home. They sent me home with a 6-day pack of Prednisone and an EpiPen. It took almost two more days for the swelling to go away completely.

So for the next few days I'm on Prednisone and feeling like Superwoman, but crying all the time - that's just how it affects me - and the hives were suppressed. I got a lot done. I finished the Prednisone four days ago and I haven't seen a hive. Now, I'm weaning myself off the other antihistamines. Keep your fingers crossed! And toes! And anything else you want to cross for luck. I'm trying to stop running to the mirror every time I have a little itch to see if it's a hive. I'm not going to celebrate for a while yet - at least until I get off the antihistamines for awhile. Shhhh.......

Notes from the Lane

2011-06-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

First, here's my little acrobat. She decided she needed to check out the view from the window at the very top of my house. She jumps from the floor to the counter to the top of the refrigerator to the top of the cabinets. I get very nervous when she does that!

I picked the first strawberries the other day. Not very many, but they're oh, so sweet and juicy right off the plant.

Whoa! I don't think I'll be going in my shed any time soon without looking around REEEEAAAAALLLL good before touching anything!

This is Alvin. He lives under my back porch. He likes to stuff his little face with bird seed and bring it back to his nest. It's his purpose in life to torment Lola, and he's doing a fine job.

A hillside of ferns in the dappled light. Don't you think there's a city of fairies under there?

The wild laurel is starting to bloom.

And the flame azaleas. Although, they're losing their flowers because we've been in a heat wave.

A view across the river. The picture just doesn't do it justice. There's not enough green in my camera to capture it all.

Fred and I planted this Frasier Fur in the early 1990's. It was probably only 4 or 5 feet tall when we bought it with it's root ball wrapped in burlap and used it as a Christmas tree for a few weeks, then planted it here. It must be 20 feet tall now.

That's it from my little corner of the world right now. Summer is here in full force - it's been really warm. Too hot for this early in the year. But, the wild roses are blooming and the world smells like a Victorian boudoir, so who can complain? If you look at the gorgeous pictures above (and remember to click to enlarge) you see why I endure the harsh winters here. This is what it's all about! It's paradise.

Blah, blah, blah

2011-05-23T17:20:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you know this already, but when you don't feel good it's nearly impossible to get anything done. And pretty much all you can think about is feeling better. On top of still having These Damned Hives, I caught the flu. But I had a flu shot last October! So, maybe I caught a cold and a stomach virus at the same time or something. All I know is I've been one sick puppy and I've felt like the absolute worst thing you could scrape off the bottom of your shoe. My house is a wreck, I have plants that need planting, and it's a good thing I don't have an appetite because I don't think I could even cook for myself right now. My routine over the last three days is: sleep, wake up to pee, take even more drugs, cry for awhile, and go back to sleep.

Geez. I hate to whine. A friend told me today that I don't complain enough, so I thought maybe I'd give it a try and see if it helps. There's certainly a huge lesson for me in all this. I hope it reveals itself soon!!

Okay. Back to bed now. Lola has been enjoying all this snuggle time.

My Name is Zoe

2011-05-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

I realized recently that there are so many people out there in the interwebs that have only seen my name in print and have never heard me say it. Therefore, most people, except for my close friends and family, don't pronounce my name "right". I don't say it like the character on Sesame Street does, my name is Zoe. Said ZO.... not ZO-EEEE. Like Joe, but with a Z instead of a J.

I never had a problem with people saying my name wrong until Zoe became a popular name in the last 15 years or so. Keep in mind that I'm of "a certain age" and that growing up I was the kid with the weird name. I was teased, called "Zoo" or "Zuzu" (like the little girl in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life"). When introducing myself I always had to spell my name. Many folks would ask "How did you get that name?" and "What does it mean?" Here's the story - not very remarkable, but when my Mom was pregnant she and my Dad were watching the Olympics and there was a swimmer named Zoe. They liked the name and gave it to me. It means "Life" in Greek, but I don't have a drop of Greek in me. These days so many people tell me that their granddaughter is named Zoe. Or their dog is named Zoe. There's a lot of young girls running around out there with my name, all of them pronouncing it wrong! So if you ever have the chance to speak to me in person, remember to leave off the EEEE. It's Zo(e). Thanks.

My Half Birthday

2011-05-18T07:29:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was my friend Leslie's birthday and my half-birthday. It was also the day we decided to celebrate Debbi's birthday, which was back in February, but we never got a chance to pamper her. Oh, it did me so much good to get out and be with my friends! It was a gloomy, rainy day, but we were out in it anyway.

Me, Debbi, Leslie

First we had lunch at Bella's, a lovely little Italian restaurant in Banner Elk. We mentioned birthdays to the waitress and wrangled a free desert! Then we took a road trip right in our own back yards. We took the "back way" through Newland to the little community of Crossnore, home of the Crossnore School. We visited their fine arts gallery (which carries some of my work) and saw one of Ben Long's frescos called "Suffer the Little Children" in their little chapel.

It was too rainy to walk their labyrinth.

Then, we hit the thrift store...

But what we really wanted to do was to shop at one of the best nurseries around. Unfortunately, it was so wet and cold that we only looked and oooed and ahhhhed, but didn't buy any flowers. We vowed to go back later this week when its warm and sunny.

We stopped at another lovely nursery/landscaping place on the way home. Too bad the weather wasn't cooperating. I saw LOTS of things that I would have brought home if it wasn't so wet. And, did I mention it was cold? It SNOWED on top of Beech Mountain last night!

I don't know what to say... literally

2011-05-13T16:16:00.000-04:00

Note: I had a really great post drafted yesterday when all of a sudden Blogger crashed and now it's all lost. This makes me very grumpy, as I'm having a hard time coming up with blog post ideas to begin with! I'm going to try and re-create it but I'm not feeling the same today as I was yesterday, so here goes...

Okay folks, I need some help here. I'm wondering about this whole blog thing. I feel like it needs a focus and I'm not sure what to do. I started it two years ago because a friend of mine who's a marketing expert said that if I wanted to be successful with my online sales I would need a blog so that my customers could get to know me personally. Also, so that I could show my work in progress and how a particular design goes from an idea in my head to jewelry you can wear. So far my online sales have been infrequent and, frankly, dismal.

I've been thinking about the blogs I read and what makes them interesting. There are many that regularly post "Look what I made" or "Look at the materials I bought" or "Look how messy my workbench is". These are wonderful. I love reading about what my colleagues are doing. Sometimes they have new techniques that I find fascinating. Their new posts show up in my blogger reading list and I go look. Everyone is SO creative!

Then there are the blogs that I intentionally go to every day and I'm disappointed if they haven't posted. These people are pouring their hearts out online. They're wonderful wordsmiths and seem to have interesting lives that they let me in to through their words. I always read and frequently comment. They're not all jewelry artists, but most are artists in one medium or another. Some examples are Kate McKinnon, Andrew Thornton, Ken Thomas and Rice Freeman-Zachery.

My "Look what I made" posts have been rare, mainly because my time in the studio has been so infrequent the last few months. First, my muse left me and I couldn't come up with any ideas that I felt were worthy of the rising cost of silver. Then, I got these damned hives (which I still have) and dealing with them consumes the majority of the hours in my days. And my father died fairly suddenly and that's been very hard on me emotionally. I've been quite depressed.

So, I've been blogging when I can about other stuff besides jewelry, but I really don't feel like my life is all that interesting. I see that the popular blogs are the ones that are updated regularly and my inner critic (whom I'd like to have arrested) says "If you don't post something, people will stop reading", "People might be tired of hearing you whine", and "If you want to sell something in your Etsy Shop, you'd better come up with a blog post."

I really don't know what to do next. I suppose I'll keep meandering my way through the blogosphere with my blah, blah, blah posts and hope I find something interesting to say. If you have any thoughts on this I'd like to know them. In the meantime, thanks for reading!

Oh... Look what I made three months ago:

Copper and Fine Silver Cuff Bracelet

Some Miscellaneous Stuff

2011-04-30T15:22:00.000-04:00

I did manage to sneak a few extra pieces into the kiln when I fired student work during my recently completed class session.

This is to remind you (and maybe me!) of what I do for a living. I've activated my Etsy Shop again and I'm hoping for some sales. It always perks me up to see that email from Etsy saying "Congratulations!".

I think I have my house pretty much back in order. I brought home some things from my Dad's apartment - not too much, as I'd already filled up this place with family things when we cleaned out the house after my Mom died. But there were still a few boxes of stuff that had to find a place to be. While I was doing that I went through a couple of closets and re-packed those boxes with things to go to charity. Stuff in, stuff out! This house is too small to accumulate too much. And, I've even managed to do a little cleaning. Lola is shedding like crazy right now! It's amazing how, when I feel like I have a heavy load on me, that getting my home in order can make me feel better.

I've gone a week without watching news. Well, a little sneaks in here and there like the tornadoes last week, but I mute the TV or turn it off so that I don't get caught up in the drama of what all those poor people are going through. I think it's helping.

I did watch the Royal Wedding yesterday. That was a happy event and I very much enjoyed all the pomp and ceremony that the British are so good at. The hats, the morning coats, the glimpse at royalty... I suppose I get this from my mother, because she loved anything British, especially the royalty. When I was growing up she (jokingly) told me that I should marry Prince Charles. I think she was a little disappointed when he married Diana because the joke was over, but she collected all the memorabilia from their wedding that she could find here in the US. The fact that William married a "commoner" would have enamored her to no end and I'm sure she, too, would have been glued to the TV yesterday. I thought about Mom a lot while I was watching. I was also remembering when I visited Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace when I was in London the last time and that brought back some good memories for me.

Hives? Aw, geez, that's still the bane of my existence. It's looking like the antihistamines that I've been on are not working as well as they used to, so I have a few miserable hours every day before I can take the next dose. I've been on zinc supplements for suspected copper poisioning for a month. The Doctor said I might have been a little sensitive to copper, but that's obviously not what's causing these hives. That's good news and bad news. Good news that I can continue to work with copper, but bad news because that would have been a simple solution to these hives. Now I'm seeing an Acupuncturist with no change yet. But it's only been one visit. I found an online forum for Chronic Urticaria (the fancy name for what I have) and see that people's hives have gone away after treatment for other things like the bacteria that causes ulcers (H. Pylori), Candida, Thyroid issues and intestinal parasites. Tests for those things may be the next step.

I'm by no means out of the woods yet, but I can feel some of the profound sadness over my father's death subsiding a little and I'm looking forward to the day these hives clear up. Hopefully the slides backward will be smaller than the strides forward. I'm working on it. Thanks for visiting and blessings to you all.

Riding the Gratitude Train

2011-04-24T16:55:00.000-04:00

Whew. This has been a rough patch, but the load is beginning lighten up, I think. Thank you all for being patient with me. Not only have I had a death in my family, but I've been in one of those "what do I do now" funks, with lots of decisions to be made. I still have hives and we're no closer to figuring out what I might be allergic to. One Doctor thinks I have copper poisioning. Wouldn't that be just peachy, considering what I do for a living? I wake up every morning thinking "Maybe today is the day that they'll go away." and I go to bed every night with the prayer that I won't be itching in the morning. I'm grateful that antihistamines can control them to the point where I can carry on with life in the meantime.

April 16 NC rain/flood

A week ago a string of strong storms came through the state. My portion of it was over 5 inches of rain and the creek flooding into my yard, missing my house by only a few feet. The above picture was taken from my front porch and you can see that at this point the water was just under the bridge. In just a few minutes it was over the top of the bridge and streaming through the yard. The water was so strong and fast that it moved a boulder about a third the size of a Volkswagen Beetle 4 feet downstream. As the storms moved east they strengthened into tornadoes, wiping out much of central and eastern North Carolina, including places in and near Raleigh. 62 tornadoes touched down that day and 20 or more people were killed. I'm grateful that the rain stopped in time to miss flooding my house and that all my friends and family are safe, and only one with a little property damage.

Mercury has been retrograde for the past few weeks, adding to my stress. Apparently the current Mercury Regrograde period has been more serious than most "because of its particular position in the zodiac at this time. Normally it represents communication and paperwork snarls, shifts in schedules and confusing messages. However this episode of the retrograde has represented emotional difficulties as well.", according to my favorite Astrologer, Vivian Carol. This was particularly hard on me becuase of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in my chart. I'm grateful that Mercury went direct yesterday because maybe now my emotions will start calming down.

Those that are close to me (and many who aren't very close) have been so sweet and supportive during this time. I can't count the times I've been asked "What can I do?" And, once in a while I've actually had an asnwer to that question. I am SO grateful for the love and support of my friends and family.

On the other hand, I've been feeling weighted down by all the negativity and meanness in the world. It just floors me when I turn on the TV and see all the bad news. So it was appropriate to read a post by Kathy Van Kleeck - her call to arms to shift the balance from dark to light. My contribution to this is to quit watching the news! It puts my brain into such an OMG state that I believe it could be physically hurting me. It's certainly another thing that adds to my stress level. I know that I'll be ignorant on current events, but when the current events are based on selfishness, fear, competition, and greed... well, I just can't handle it any more. I'm sure if something important happens I'll hear about it somehow. And hopefully it will be good news. I'm grateful that I'm able to do what my heart wants me to do and that I can make the choice to change the things that disagree with me.

Calico toes

I'm also grateful for little Lola. After 4 trips to Raleigh in as many weeks, she's always so excited to see me when I come home. The purrs and the head butts are plentiful. What a love! I'm happy that her two uncles made her a new scratching post so maybe now my furniture will be spared.

I live in a beautiful place in the middle of nature. I have a cozy home with everything I need and Spring is bursting out all over. I can go to work in my pajamas if I want to and I'm surrounded by people who love me. I try very hard to remember this every day, but it's not always easy. During these recent hard times it's become even more evident that I am truly blessed to be able to live the life I have and I thank all of you for being part of it.

"Stay Close"

2011-04-12T12:20:00.001-04:00

By Amy Ludwig Van Derwater

When sorrow comes
to those you love
stay close.

When sadness is
more powerful than words
more powerful
than deeds
your warm hand
your quiet company
your self in a chair
saying nothing
will be a gift.

You may wonder
"What can I do?"
There may be
nothing
you can do.

You may wish
to run
Do not run.

Hold hands.
Eat soup.
Listen.
Trace a sunbeam
with your fingers
on the table.

Let yourself smile.
Let yourself cry.

When sorrow comes
to those you love
stay close.

When sorrow comes
to you
let others
stay close too.

Please Bear With Me

2011-04-05T12:02:00.000-04:00

There's SO MUCH going on right now. And a lot of it I'm not ready to share. What I will say is that I'm exhausted and I need some time to put myself back together. I need to let some things (like this blog) go for a little while so that I can concentrate on the things that are important and be able to come back here and have something meaningful to say. So, this is it for awhile. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love all of you and thank you for understanding about needing a break.

A Big Pink Blanket

2011-03-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

Find more artists like Hundred Little Reasons at Myspace Music

I'm sorry to be out of touch...

2011-03-25T14:42:00.000-04:00

I've had some issues of my own and now my Dad is in the hospital in Raleigh and not doing very well. I saw today that I've lost one of my blog followers and that makes me really sad. I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted, but I really couldn't help it until now. (Sitting in a hospital room watching nurses and techs come in and out all day leaves me lots of time to do computer catch-up!) If my lost follower reads this, please come back! I miss you!

My 85-year-old Daddy broke his hip over a week ago. He had surgery, but he's just not rallied yet. They finally got him sitting on the side of the bed yesterday, but he hasn't been up on the new hip yet. He's frail and old and we're very, very worried about him. He'll probably have to go to a nursing home before too long.

Me? Well, after seeing a very expensive Allergy Specialist, I have finally found the right medications to control my hives. They're not really gone - just covered up and manageable. When Daddy's situation is straightened out I'll do some more trial and error to see if I can figure out what's causing them. But, for now, they're under control as long as I'm medicated.

I'll be heading back to the mountains tomorrow so I can get caught up at home for a few days before I'll probably come back down here. So, bear with me. I promise to post as often as I can manage. Don't un-follow me, please! I love all of you!

Aw, Geez....

2011-03-13T11:37:00.000-04:00

Photo from mahalo.com

I guess I'm in this for the long haul. The hives came back with a vengence as soon as I stopped taking the prednisone. And steroids are not good for you at all, so I can't take any more. I've been back to the Doctor twice, more medications have been prescribed, meds that I was already taking were ditched (in case they were causing the reaction) and I've had bad reactions to two of the new ones. One made me violently ill and so dizzy I could hardly stand up and the other put me to sleep for 18 hours straight. I've eliminated any questionable things from my diet and my environment and it makes no difference. One Doctor said he thought I had a milk allergy, so I've eliminated dairy from my diet for the last five days. (That's a hard one. There's dairy in EVERYTHING, even non-dairy creamer!) Right now I've found one antihistamine that will knock the itch down to a tolerable level and the only side effects are some digestive issues (I'll spare you the details) and mild sleepiness, but the rash never goes away compeltely.

Photo by lanikai92 on flickr

I'm acting like a bear -- rubbing my back on door trim -- to get to the places I can't reach!

I'm feeling quite depressed. It could be all the meds I've been taking, or it could be that I'm just disgusted by this whole thing. And reading the internet is not always a good thing because I've found people who have had hives for YEARS with NO relief. We've had some beautiful spring-like days recently that I have not been able to enjoy because I'm too sleepy to go outside. A two-hour nap each day is not an unusual thing. Or, it could be that I'm tired of paying for Doctor visits and for drugs that don't work. (Why won't Walmart give me my money back when I've only taken one pill out of a $58.00 prescription?) These things I've been taking are no more than a shot in the dark to see if we can find something that works and our screwed-up health care system isn't helping.

Well, you probably don't want to hear any more about this, so I'll stop. Good thoughts and prayers are always appreciated and that just might work better than anything the Doctors have to offer! Thanks for letting me rant.

Yum!

2011-03-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

I think this is the first time I've put food on my blog. No... I think I posted some pictures of strawberries from my garden last year. Certainly it's the first time I've posted a recipe. The reason is that I don't cook. It's not that I can't cook, I just don't cook. At least, not very often. It's too hard to cook every day for just one person. I don't entertain that often but I like to cook for other people.

But, every couple of weeks I make a batch of this granola because I eat it for breakfast nearly every day. I got the recipe from a dear friend many years ago and I find that it fills me up and doesn't disappear and leave me hungry again by 11:00 in the morning.

Here's the basic ingredients:

4 cups oats - the "old fashioned" kind, not quick oats.
1 1/2 cups of sunflower seeds. Be sure to get the raw, unsalted ones. Ask me how I know.
2 cups of almonds - you can use slivered, sliced or whole.
1/2 cup of canola oil.
1/2 cup of honey.
2 Tablespoons of ground cinnamon.

In a 9x13 baking pan, mix the oats, sunflower seeds and almonds. In another container (like the measuring cup), mix the oil, honey and cinnamon. Pour it over the oats mixture and mix it up really well. Be sure all the dry ingredients are coated.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven, stir well, and turn the oven down to 250 degrees. Bake for another 20 minutes. Take it out and stir again and bake for another 20 minutes at 250. So, it bakes for a total of an hour. Don't over-bake. Stir every once in a while as it cools so you don't end up with big clumps stuck together. Store it in an air-tight contaier when it's completely cooled.

You can alter this in any way you like. Sometimes I add flax seed or wheat germ. You can use any kind of nuts - I just like almonds. You can change it on a daily basis by adding your favorite ingredients after it's baked. Like, raisins, dried cranberries, or any kind of fruit. And any flavor of yogurt. Use your imagination.

This morning's dish had some applesauce and vanilla yogurt with a little dusting of nutmeg. Now you know one of my favorite things.

Hives update

2011-03-04T17:28:00.000-05:00

Over the past six days the only places I have not had hives is on the bottoms of my feet and on the top of my head. Every place in between has had it's turn with itchy welts for 24 hours or so. And I'm talkin' EVERY where... They sprout one place for a while and disappear and then appear somewhere else. Here's what a patch of them looked like yesterday:

After my visit to the Doctor I learned that 70% of people never figure out what causes their hives. I got my perscriptions for steroids and antihistamines filled, and today.... VOILA!!! No hives! Nothing itches and I actually got quite a bit done because the perscription antihistamines don't put me to sleep and the steroids make me a little hyper. It's an unbelieveable relief. The plan is to finish the course of steroids over six days and take the antihistamines for a month before tapering off. Oh... I hope they don't come back!

Just so you know...

2011-03-03T09:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been absent. Here's a quick update of what's going on.

Last week I woke up each day determined to get to work on some jewelry, but something always came up and it never happened. Then, I went to the Triangle area the weekend of 2/25 for my Brother-in-Law's birthday and a benefit for the American Cancer Society. I stayed with my sister and BIL for the weekend and had a good visit with my Dad.

Last Sunday evening I started to break out in hives. I've never had them before and it was a little scary, as they crept all over my body. On Monday I got some Benadryl, which helped with the itchy welts, but I slept most of Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was a good day - most of the spots were gone. This morning I woke up covered again and this time my mouth and eyes are swollen.

I've been on the internet reading about hives and decided that I needed to see my Doctor since I've had them for five days. There's got to be a treatment for this that won't make me stupid and sleepy. One cause can be stress and I thought I didn't have anything stressful going on in my life, but now I'm stressing because I have hives and they've interruped my life at a time when I need to concentrate on making jewelry! We'll see what the Dr. says later this morning.

No muse, no mojo

2011-02-19T11:31:00.000-05:00

I've tried everything to get myself to make some jewelry. At first I thought I was merely distracted by other things, then I started making excuses and I really haven't sat at my bench much since the end of January. I started the year with a grand plan to find materials that were less expensive than fine silver to make jewelry out of. I tried polymer clay and just could not get the hang of it. I was not happy with anything I made. Then I tried resin and that was a bleak failure, too. I told myself then that if I would just get out the good old silver clay, that I know inside and out, I would be sure to make something that I liked.

So, I spent three weeks working on a couple of silver rings and a few necklaces, which is a pitiful amount of work for that amount of time (for me). I thought then that I was relaxing into a slower pace and didn't give it much thought. I used up an entire 100 gram package of copper clay and those pieces have been sitting, waiting to be fired for at least a week. I just haven't done it.

Then I got out the Art Journal and joined the Sketchbook Challenge. Jewelry didn't cross my mind for a long time. I started feeling guilty for doing nothing but collage and painting, so I cleared all the art supplies off the kitchen table and spread out my taxes. (My kitchen table is the only space available to do stuff like that. Someone once asked me if my studio was in my home and I said "No, I live in my studio!") Taxes done and off to the accountant. Good girl! Something productive was completed. Now go make some jewelry.

No. The Art Journal is back occupying the kitchen table again:

THIS IS NOT ART THAT I PLAN TO SELL!! I berate my self, yell at myself, try to trick myself, make bargains with myself, promise to reward myself. Nothing has worked. I usually spend the winter stocking up so that I have inventory to sell in the spring and summer when tourists are here. Uh oh. I might not have much to offer this year if I don't get with it. Jewelry is how I make my living!!! And, I have a show in April!!!

Maybe what I need is a kick in the butt. That's why I'm putting this out in the blogosphere - maybe someone else can help jump start my muse. I've been ignoring her for so long, that I think she's gone to live with another artist who will appreciate her. What is WRONG with me????

Here's another distraction: A cute picture of Lola and her toy mouse. That thing looks real, doesn't it? Scares the crap out of me when I step on it in the middle of the night...

Just a hint

2011-02-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

It's a gorgeous day today - in the 50s - and looks to be nice for at least the next week. Here's a couple of shots of the little pockets of snow that are left. Temperatures predicted to be in the 60s by the middle of the week and this will be ALL gone. Finally!

I found these daffodils poking through the mulch on the full-sun side of the house.

Tomorrow I plan to get some outside chores tackled. A little bit of pruning and some wasp nests removed from my shed before it's warm enough for them to hatch out. It's just a tad too windy today. This is still February. Winter IS NOT over. But it's very kind of Mother Nature to give us a break and I plan to appreciate it!

Finally! Some new jewelry.

2011-02-06T11:33:00.000-05:00

I made this ring as a custom order for my friend Lyn. I hope she likes it - she's been wanting one for a long time.

While I was in a ring making mood, I made this fancy ring with four amethyst cz's across the top. It fits me and I might keep it. Or, I might wear it for awhile and decide it's not my style. We'll see.

This necklace is a toggle with a lapis cabachon set into it.

And the necklace part is lapis and sterling silver beads:

The pendant below is another in my flower series.

And it hangs from a hand forged sterling silver chain:

I'm still having a hard time getting into the groove. I just can't seem to find my muse for jewelry. We have another week coming up with predictions of snow for several days, so I guess I'll give it a shot. Sometimes it helps to just get out the material and stare at it and see what emerges. I hope it's something interesting!

Sketchbook Challenge

2011-01-28T14:04:00.001-05:00

You've seen that I've been recently working diligently on an Art Journal that I started several months ago. Something in the Universe has nudged me to get out of my routine and do some art that I don't normally do. Have you noticed that when something is on your mind a lot you get directed to so many things that have to do with that topic? Well, this morning I was reading Beth Hemmila's Blog and she said "...ideas are always floating out there and people will almost simultaneously jump onto the same wave as it moves around in space and time." This really hit me.

Lately I've seen that several artists (as well as Beth) have joined the Sketchbook Challenge. It started on January first and has a monthly theme. This month's theme is "Highly Prized". Sponsors have jumped on the bandwagon and prizes will be given away to participants. Click on the link above to find more information on how you can participate.

I'm usually not a "joiner", but this one fascinated me because of Beth's comments, so I signed up. A little late, but what the heck? It just seemed so serendipitous and, since I don't believe in coincidences, I just have to follow my nose and see what happens. I posted my first two images to the Flickr Group that were in this blog post. Here's a couple more pages that will go up soon:

This is another of my wishes for Spring.

Dreams

How did this happen?

2011-01-24T10:40:00.000-05:00

Photo by Dale Forrest

Today there seems to be a mountain of tiny things weighing on my mind. Laundry, vacuuming, taxes (both sales tax and income tax) inventory, garbage to go to the dump, post office, bank, library, office supplies, get my passport renewed, water houseplants, unload the dishwasher so the sink full of dirty ones can go in there, update my class notes, lay in groceries before the next big snow storm.... UGH! How did this happen? And, I also need to make some jewelry! Just last week I thought everything was smooth sailing. I guess being obsessed with my art journal has taken up more time than I thought it did. Today is a day to get caught up, just waiting for the temperature to rise a little and melt the dusting of snow we got last night before I go out. Then nose to the grindstone with the jewelry. I wish that all I had to do was strut my stuff in a chorus line, like the Tom Turkeys above. Wish me luck.

Art Journal

2011-01-21T17:40:00.000-05:00

Click to enlarge

A while ago I started an art journal. It's been hiding away for a long time and I recently dug it out, along with all my art supplies. I've been obsessed with it lately and it's taken over my kitchen table.

The pages consist of layers of acrylic paint, collage with magazine paper, tissue paper, greeting cards, stickers. I also use alchohol ink, paint pens, markers and watercolor crayons. Basically, anything I have on hand. If I don't like something I gesso over it and slap on something else. Some of the pages have 3 or 4 layers. I don't really start out with an idea - it just progresses. Some of the pages I did a long time ago I've been adding more stuff to. I love that it's never really finished.

Click to biggerate

The above page was inspired by the amount of time I've had to spend in the house lately. I'm dreaming of an early Spring.

The Chicken is Done

2011-01-19T16:54:00.000-05:00

I finished the beaded chicken for Posie's quilt. It was so much fun! There's about 12 hours of work in this and I love the way it turned out.

Here's wshat it looks like on the quilt. Posie will be doing some more quilting on it before it's completely finished. I'll ask her to give me a photo to post when she's done.

Scroll down (or click here) to the previous post to see the entire story and the starting process.

And now for something completely different

2011-01-12T17:18:00.000-05:00

A long time ago I used to do a lot of beading. All kinds of beading - weaving, applique, loomwork, stringing - everything. But after awhile I realized that it's hard to sell bead work because of the amount of time involved drove the price up to where most people can't afford it. I changed over to working with silver and only incorporated some beads in my silver work. In a recent studio purge I almost got rid of my thousands of tubes and hanks of seed beads, but decided to just put them in a closet. I'm glad I did.

I have a close friend, Posie Dauphine, who is a talented art quilter. She and her husband made a trip to Morocco and the beautiful ancient mosaics she saw inspired her to remember that trip with a quilt. She had taken a photo of a mosaic chicken and wanted to reproduce that design on her quilt with beads. She came over to my studio and I showed her how to do applique work and let her choose beads from my collection. This was over a year ago.

After nearly finishing the quilt she finally realized that she was never going to do that beaded chicken. She gave the whole thing back to me to do for her.

I reduced her photo, cut it out and pinned it to the piece of hand woven and embroidered fabric that she also brought back from Morocco. This will serve as the pattern for the beading. Below is a bad photo of the entire quilt, with the pieces pinned on. That gives you and idea of what the finised quilt will look like.

This is a great project to work on during these snowy days. I'd forgotten how much I love to do beading. I'll post pictures when it's finished.

A New Attitude

2011-01-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

Photo by Marty Hulsebos

I'm sure you've heard about the big snow storm that's moved across the south over the past couple of days. I undersand how places that don't have the capacity to take care of snow get freaked out. I had someone ask me if we all made French Toast when it snowed because everyone rushed out to buy milk, bread and eggs! Poor Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh! The majority of this particular storm is going south and east of the NC mountains, so there's only been about 4 more inches on top of the 7 inches we already had. It's the back-end, wrap around that's going to get us. One guy is predicting snow every day for the next 4 days and another foot of accumulation.

If you read my posts from last winter you'll notice that I haven't been complaining about the snow this winter. 2010 was the first really snowy winter in several years (we got 80 inches of snow) and I was not happy about it. I complained about being trapped in my house, not getting out for days and "Oh no, here comes another storm."

I've been thinking about why it's not bothering me as much this year and I think there are several reasons. The first one is that I guess I've gotten used to it. It was annoying before the holidays because so many things had to be re-scheduled or cancelled, but there's just not much going on this time of year. Another reason is that I realized that instead of being "stuck in the house" it's really more like "I choose not to drive in these conditions". If I absolutely HAD to get out I suppose I could. But I choose not to. What a difference that has made! Also, once you have 6 inches of snow on the ground, any more on top of that really doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

The only odd thing is that I feel a little like I'm in the "Groundhog Day" movie. Every day is pretty much like the last one and sometimes I have to think hard to know what day of the week it is. Today is Friday, right?

Not quite back to normal

2011-01-07T10:18:00.002-05:00

I still have a bit of congestion and coughing and other disgusting things going on, but not as much. And my energy level is improving.

This orchid flower opened up yesterday and sure brightened my day! I call this one my Purple Cow Orchid.

I did get a couple of easy things knocked off my list yesterday and plan to start on a not-so-easy one today. The weather forecast is calling for snow on and off for the next 10 days, so I hope to get things caught up while I'm stuck in the house.

Not much else going on and I know you're tired of hearing about being sick. I read in Ken Thomas' post yesterday: "...it’s a little-known fact that when you establish your own website, you get an official telegram from the King of the Internet, which basically says “When all else fails, post pictures of cats.”"

I did not know this - I must have missed the telegram. But, this is very appropriate for today, so here you go:

Shhh... I hear a bug...

What?

This cold is kicking my butt

2011-01-03T15:14:00.000-05:00

and I have sooo much to do!

I'm very rarely sick. It's probably because I'm pretty much a hermit and don't get out among people and their germs very often. I can't remember the last time I had a cold. I don't like to take cold medicine because it makes me feel groggy and stupid. But yesterday, after going through a box and a half of tissues, I went on a quest through closets and drawers and found some Tylenol Cold. It expired in 2001. Oh well.

I KNOW that my cold is worse than any other cold in history. My head hurts more than any one else's and my nose is redder. It's probably a good thing that I live by myself because it takes up my whole life and my entire house. It's like another entity living here with me. All I can think about is feeling better and since it's hard to sleep at night I'm taking two to three naps a day. And, I like to moan and whine. I'm a horrible sick person. I don't know how some folks just go on with their lives when they have a cold - it's unfathomable to me.

I have absolutely no energy and a long list of things that I told people I'd get to "after the holidays". Some of them have been waiting for months and I feel guilty. But... I... just... can't. Not until I feel better.

The Last Week of the Year

2010-12-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

Whew! Christmas is over, and what a whirlwind the last couple of weeks have been. Here's a few random thoughts of what's been going on with me:

I started experimenting with polymer clay, and it's not as easy as I thought it would be. It's so totally different from metal clay, and even after watching videos and reading about it, I still don't have anything worthy to show. One thing I discovered was that I was just not using enough of the clay. It's not expensive, so I don't have to be stingy with it like I do with silver clay. Another thing I've discovered is that although there's a lot of information out there about polymer clay in general, there's not much about polymer clay jewelry specifically. Of what I have found, there's only a few people doing exquisite work. Most is cheap and cheezy looking. Liz Hall sure sets a high standard!

I went to Raleigh on Christmas Eve and spent it with my Dad, Sister and Brother-in-law. In the three years since my Mom passed away and my Dad sold the house we grew up in, we've been trying to keep traditions alive as best we can. We gather at a friend's house and cook standing rib roast and Yorkshire pudding just like Mom did. It's always nice and we all get along fabulously, but it's just not the same without Mom. I got to see my step-son and his family while I was there, too. My two granddaughters just get bigger and more beautiful every time I see them.

On Christmas Day I drove up to Lynchburg, VA to spend time with my step-daughter's family. There was a huge snow storm predicted for most of NC and VA and I arrived just as it started coming down. They only got a couple of inches of snow in western Va - enough for her two boys to try out new sleds and snow boards - but the whole east coast got slammed, including Raleigh. I had originally planned to come home on Sunday, but knew that it was going to snow here at home so I extended it to Monday. Then I got word that there was a blizzard here, so I ended up staying until Tuesday and I was glad I did. The roads were clear and I got to spend more time with some fabulous people.

I ate lots good food, played many video and board games, and gave and received lots of nice gifts.

I decided to place an order for supplies today so that I could include it in this year's books. Silver is so freaking high that the total bill took my breath away and my poor credit card is groaning under the weight.

Etsy sales were good this holiday season, but there were a lot of glitches with shipping. I was offering free standard USPO shipping and a couple of packages didn't arrive. One was returned and had to be re-sent Priority Mail. I had to send out a replacement order for the other one. And, with the horrible weather, it was hard for me to get to the post office on time. I'll have to re-think this next year.

I have no plans for New Year's Eve. My neighbors will inform me that the year has turned over by setting off fireworks and shooting guns. I'll probably wake up, tell Lola happy new year, and go right back to sleep. I really don't like being out on the roads with a lot of drunks.

I now have a head cold (from being around a lot of people, especially children, I'm sure). And, as my grandpa used to say, a "hitch in my get-along" from sitting in the car too long. I'm ready to go back into hermit mode and get some jewelry made.

I hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

I'm a winner!

2010-12-22T12:22:00.000-05:00

I entered a contest on Lorena Angulo's blog to win a book, and I DID! I'll be receiving the above book in the mail soon. She received a box of books for review from Lark Books and, since she already owned this one, she decided to give it away. I'm so excited to add it to my library. What a lucky girl I am! Thank you so much Lore!

Bring on the light!!

2010-12-21T10:06:00.001-05:00

Thank you for the free photo, FreeFoto.com.

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone! This day brings me so much joy. To think about the days getting longer and warmer is a great relief. Summer Solstice is a bummer. Even though the weather is hot and gorgeous, that defeating emotions of summer coming to an end always makes me sad. Spring and Fall Equinoxes? Only a reminder that we're half way in to either more or less light.

There was a total eclipse of the moon last night also. I woke up, but it was too cloudy to see anything. Did you see it? Was it awesome?

Practicing calm and patience

2010-12-18T16:59:00.000-05:00

Drawing by Toni Henneman

Our first big snow of the season started on Friday, December 3rd. For the next few days it never got above freezing. I stayed in the house until Thursday the 9th. We got more snow on the 12th. This time it was a blizzard and it didn't get out of the teens until the 14th. Then we had freezing rain on the 15th, this past Wednesday. I got out again yesterday. So that's 2 trips to town in 14 days and 12 days of being stuck in the house. I was going to go out again today because, even though it was supposed to be cloudy, it would be 36 degrees. Not. It never got above 27, and there was freezing fog, so I had to change plans. Again.

I'm not too suprised, and since Mercury is in retrograde (if you don't follow astrology, find an explanation here.) it means that re-scheduling is likely no matter what the weather is. In the last two weeks I've re-booked a Chiropractor appointment (twice), and a Vet appointment for Lola, traded gallery work days (twice) and cancelled a hair cut appointment. What's that statement about "when man makes plans, God just laughs"? Or something like that.

Oh, and it's Holiday Season, too. So many people are totally stressed out buying gifts, partying and spending time with family, that to dump bad weather on top would seem like the last straw. I remember last year, so I got all my shopping done early and used part of my time in exile to wrap everything. I did have to bail on a holiday party tonight because as soon as the sun goes down the roads will re-freeze, but I don't seem to have any stress this year! Yet. I'll be waiting until about the 22nd or 23rd to freak out over whether I can get to Raleigh and Virginia to spend time with my family. I totally missed it last year because of an ice storm. Mercury doesn't go direct until the 30th... I'll be keeping my fingers crossed! Cross yours for me too, would ya?

I'm trying to come up with something new

2010-12-13T18:15:00.000-05:00

and keep myself from getting cabin fever. Silver has become so expensive that I've got to figure out a way to stay creative without going broke. I thought I'd try out polymer clay because its very inexpensive and my notion is that I could play with color and shape without using so much silver. I'm inspired by Liz Hall's silver and polymer work. See it here.

Most times when I want to learn about new methods or materials I'll either buy a book or take a class. I knew that more bad weather was moving in and I'd be stuck in the house for awhile, so last Saturday I got a wild hair and took off for the local Michaels store and bought several colors of clay and a pasta machine. I've been looking at online instructional videos and websites and playing around with making canes and blends. As with any new endeavor, I work awhile, get frustrated and leave to play with cat, then go back to it again. Some successes and some failures, but none of it has been baked yet. I still have a lot of questions, and there's definitely nothing to show off yet.

Speaking of playing with the cat, Lola is so organized! She likes to have all her toys in one place. After a bout of flinging things all over the house, she'll eventually bring them all back to the living room in front of my chair. I've decided not to spend any more money on cat toys. The green string and home made fabric pouch of catnip are her favorites.

When I got up this morning it was 9 degrees and it only got up to a high of 12 degrees. The wind chill is -10. That's 10 BELOW ZERO. And, it's snowing sideways. I think this is called a blizzard! Appalachian State University was closed today, for only the third time I can remember. I have on two pair of socks and my feet are still cold. They're calling for an ice storm on Wednesday night and more snow on Sunday. I'm trying to stay positive, but it's really difficult.

Boring Weather Post

2010-12-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

"Winter View From the Blue Ridge Parkway" by Marty Hulsebos.

Ick. I was really hoping that this winter would be better than last (which was the worst I can remember), but it's not starting out that way. And it's not even officially winter yet. I'm not taking any pictures of my yard because they look exactly like last year's pictures. Boring. It's been snow showering for 5 days. Not a lot of accumulation on this side of the mountains (6 inches or so), but much more as you go west and up in elevation. One of my friends has 16 inches of snow at her house. This morning it was 4 degrees when I got up. And windy.

I've been staying in the house, other than a walk to my neighbor's yesterday to check on their heat. They're in Florida until after the holidays. Wimps! Really, I have mixed feelings about being in warmer climates during weather like this. I would love to be wearing T-shirts and soaking up some sun, but I'd be too worried about my little house to enjoy it.

My days consist of checking the weather report for the next few days, consult the calendar to see if I have to be anywhere, comparing the two, deciding if I should change plans, figuring out when's the best time to try and get out of here to replenish supplies and finish Christmas shopping. Wondering if I'll be able to get to and home from the gallery when I'm scheduled to work. Congratulating the thermometer when it clicks up one more degree and rejoicing when there's a patch of blue sky.

There are a few orders that need to go out. I think, instead of waiting until I can get to the Post Office, I'll put every stamp I have on them and walk them up to the mailbox on the main road today to be picked up. I'm sure they'll get there on time.

So, if I'm quiet for the next little while it's because I don't want to bore you any more with my endurance of cabin fever. I think it's a good time to bake some cookies!

First Snow of the Season

2010-12-05T14:54:00.000-05:00

And possibly Lola's first snow. I don't know, since I have no idea how old she is. But probably her first snow. She didn't like it very much and after scattering the birds under the bird feeder, she came right back inside. This photo was taken yesterday morning and by afternoon there was 3 inches or so on the ground.

Today is bitter cold and windy. So windy that all of my trees look like Whomping Willows. Thank goodness I can stay inside by the fake fireplace. I don't HAVE to go anywhere until Wednesday. Hopefully by then, the Canadians will want their air back.

The Shop is LOADED

2010-11-27T19:06:00.002-05:00

Click on any item above to be taken directly to that listing in my shop.

I've put everything I can imagine up in my Etsy Shop. The gallery above is not even everything that's up there! It's time to promote, market, advertise, and nearly spam you poor people to death, so that you'll think of me when you're making out your holiday shopping list. I apologize. It's exhausting. And, I hope not too annoying for you, but this is what has to be done in order to be at the top of the lists when people are googling for jewelry. This is how I make my living.

Yesterday was "Black Friday". When (and why) did we give the day after Thanksgiving a name? I suppose some advertising guru determined that it was the start of holiday shopping and therefore retailers would be "in the black" (making a profit) for the year. And then we were told that we had to go shopping on this day. The idea of standing out in the cold in the middle of the night in front of a big box store waiting for some kind of incredible bargain on an item made in China just totally escapes me. A man in Buffalo, NY was trampled yesterday, for God's sake!

Today was "Small Business Saturday". I like this idea much better. I'm told that if you spend $100 at a small local business, $45 of that will stay in the community. Of your $100 spent at Walmart, or some other large chain, only $13 stays local. And small businesses provide between 60% and 80% of new jobs.

I worked at Hands Gallery (one of the cooperative galleries I belong to) yesterday and we had a very busy day. We didn't open until our usual time, 10:00, and we've never had a sale. Everything in the store is made within 50 miles and it's ALL HAND MADE. Here. In the USA. We surely didn't make as much money as Target did, but we had a very good day. And 85% of the profits are returned to the artist members who make the merchandise. 60% to consignment artists. Now, don't you think this is a better idea?

So, I think tomorrow is "Come To Your Senses Sunday" and then on Monday when everyone goes back to work it's "Cyber Monday" when people buy online what they didn't get over the weekend. I hope they shop at zoenelson.etsy.com , because, like I said, this is how I make a living.

Don't forget that you can get a 10% discount by entering the coupon code BLOGREADER.

10% Off For Blog Readers!

2010-11-22T12:02:00.000-05:00

Here's some new hammered copper, textured sterling and turquoise earrings. I've been adding them to my Shop and I also have them with tiger eye, malachite, light blue agate and amethyst beads. With silver prices skyrocketing, copper is an economical choice these days. They would make a great Christmas gift for someone! You know it, don't you? New copper necklaces and some silver necklaces will be added next.

I've been steadily updating my Etsy Shop over the last few weeks, getting ready for Holiday shopping. Yesterday I noticed that they now allow me to add coupon codes. What a great idea!! With Thanksgiving coming up this week I'd like to show my gratitude to everyone who takes the time to read these random ramblings. Go to my shop and enter the code BLOGREADER for a 10% discount. Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

"Her Name Is Lola...

2010-11-18T09:32:00.004-05:00

She was a show girl

With yellow flowers in her hair

And a dress cut down to there..."

I'm not really a fan of Barry Manilow, but the name just seem to be right for her. After all "What Lola wants, Lola gets." She's already spoiled rotten. How many cats do you know that will lay on their backs with their feet in the air and want their belly rubbed, like a dog? I've determined that she's not only a reincarnation of Cinder and Roscoe, she's part Pancho, too. Pancho was the half Border Collie and half Blue Heeler that I loved and lost custody of in my divorce. He's moved on to the afterlife now, too.

And I know you're thinking of The Kinks' song, "Lola, L-O-L-A, Lola". Well, since she was already spayed when she arrived, I have no idea what her sexual preference is.

So this will be it for the cat posts for now, unless she does something remarkable like starting to speak in English. (I wouldn't be surprised!) I know not everyone out there is a cat person.

She's Still Here

2010-11-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

It's been over a week and still no one has called to claim her. This is hard for me to believe, as she is a very sweet cat. Loving and affectionate and not much trouble. Soneone said that she just turned on her kitty GPS system and programmed it for my house! She's been going outside and coming back in without coaxing. But I still feel like I kidnapped her.

Now that all this time has passed and she's probably going to stay with me, we should figure out what her name is. You heard her in the video - she's very meowy - so one name could be Edith Bunker. (You also can hear my tumbler running in the background. Sorry about that noise.) Or, I could call her Loretta Lynn because she sounds a little whiny like a country song. Not very good choices and my sister said she doesn't want a cat-neice named Edith. The name quest continues.

So Strange

2010-11-06T10:32:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, exactly one week to the hour since Cinder died, I looked out on my porch and this is what was staring through the glass talking to me:

I was gobsmacked. First, that a cat had just showed up on my porch at that exact time, then after getting a good look at her, that she seemed to look like a combination of Cinder (see photo in the last post) and my previous cat, Roscoe.

Roscoe was one of the sweetest cats I've ever known and I was devastated when he died several years ago. He always seemed to know my moods and was a great source of comfort when I was going through a very rough patch. He had a hard start to his life. He was found in a dumpster, very sick, too early to have been taken from his mother. As a result, he always had a compromised immune system and had lots of health issues during his life. His gratitude for being saved from the dumpster was always evident.

Now, back to this little visitor. I went out to see if I recognized her as belonging to one of my neighbors and realized that 1) I had never seen her before, 2) she wouldn't put much weight on her right rear leg, 3) she was starving. She was all over me, meowing and wanting to be held and petted and tripping me up when I tried to walk away. Since I'd given away all the leftover cat food, I gave her half a can of tuna. When I tried to examine her leg, well, she didn't like that one bit. After picking her up I thought she was either very well fed or maybe pregnant. Hmmm... this is getting stranger and stranger. I called or left messages for all of my neighbors and made up a flyer with her picture. Then I made an appointment with the Vet.

Her trip to the Animal Medical Center of Boone revealed that she had recently been spayed, maybe 2-3 weeks ago. (Thank God she's not having kittens!) She does not have a microchip to identify her owners. Her sore leg was from a deep bite wound, also recent. She received an antibiotic shot, some samples of cat food to tide us over and was sent home with me. The other odd thing was that Dr. Roten saw some "blue glue" on her belly, used to close the incision. She said that the only place that uses that is the spay/neuter clinic in Asheville (2 hours away) that our Humane Society uses in order to offer the surgeries at a low cost. So, she was either adopted from the HS, or her family moved here from Asheville. The HS was called and no one had reported a missing cat.

We were experiencing our first really cold weather and snow showers, so I HAD to bring her into the house. After exploring a little she settled in like she had always been here.

She curled up and slept next to Cinder's ashes. You can see where her back leg is shaved.

So I'm thinking that the Universe has sent me some kind of Ghost Cat or Messenger Cat on purpose, and every time I look at her I just shake my head. I'll continue to look for her family because I know how devastating it is to have a missing pet, and since she's been spayed they have a financial investment in her. She's welcome to stay here in safety and keep me company until we find them. If that doesn't happen then she's welcome to stay for good. I really didn't want to get another cat until after the holidays, but if this is meant to be, then how can I deny her? In the meantime she doesn't have a name, just "Little Girl" or "Kitty". We'll see how things progress.

R.I.P. Cinder

2010-10-31T14:43:00.000-04:00

Cinder, Black Cat, Bad Cat, BC, Woobie, Catty-man, Little Shit. A cat of many names and personalities.

1992-2010

Computer Woes

2010-10-27T17:35:00.000-04:00

After a fatal error with Microsoft Outlook early this morning, I've spent the entire day today trying to recover my email address list. No luck. I've lost everything. All my contacts with friends, family, customers, students... everybody. I had to un-install and re-install, so it's like it's brand new and I don't know anybody. Can't even get the information off a backup.

And I've lost my inbox, too. So, if you're waiting for a response from me, you'll have to send it again, or remind me. Also, please send and email to zoenelson@bellsouth.net so I can rebuild my list.

I really wanted to get in the studio and be creative today. It was not in the cards.

Uninspired by New Stuff

2010-10-26T18:40:00.000-04:00

I went to a wholesale gem and jewelry show today in Asheville and about all I bought was beads and stringing stuff. I think every table had some of these really sparkly crystal beads and I had to buy some of them. (You know I'm like a crow, don't you? The shiny things always catch my eye right away.) I also got some little turquoise and red jade beads.

And then I got some of these teeny tiny (2mm) seed pearls:

And some silver cones... To finish the ends of a string of several strands of beads. And the little silver chips... I have no idea what I'll do with them, but they looked interesting.

I had a list with me, as I usually do, with specific things I was looking for, but none were to be found. When that happens I put myself into "creative" mode, look at all the things offered for sale and think "Can I do something cool with this?" That's what was going on in my head when I saw the silver chips above. But I was mostly disappointed. Not disappointed in the show so much, but with myself. I just couldn't seem to find anything that was terribly exciting and I was thinking about needing to buy SOMETHING so that I have material to work with when I'm snowed in this winter. That's why I bought so many beads. No stones, no findings, just beads.

I wanted to buy some silver chain, but the people that I buy from had a horrible booth set up - a 3-foot-wide entrance into a square of tables filled with more tables (very hard to move around) - and such a long line that I didn't really want to stand there. I estimate that it would have taken 30 to 45 minutes just to get the chain cut, then another 20 minutes or so in the line to pay. And the people who were standing in line to get their chain cut had half of the spools in their hands, so you couldn't even see it all. Baaaad setup!

So after wandering around and around for almost two hours and spending just a fraction of what I normally would, I just gave up and came back home. There will be another one in January and, weather permitting, I'll go again. I'll get there early and get in line for silver chain!

Fall Leaves Leaving

2010-10-23T09:39:00.003-04:00

Photo by Dale Forrest, available at Hands Gallery.

I woke this morning to 25 degrees and our first heavy frost. Windshield-scraping frost. As the sun came over the mountain and hit the trees, any leaves left on them released their hold and came down like rain. Especially the walnuts and maples. It always seems a little sad to me. In the Spring I excitedly watch the lovely green spread up the hills as each day passes. They hang on tightly through rain, thunderstorms and wind all through the summer and protect my little house from the eyes of my one visible neighbor like a cocoon. They desperately hold on to their colors for a few weeks in October, then comes a morning like today. Now it's bare trees until late April and I'll need to close my blinds at night so I don't feel like I'm in a fish bowl.

Ramping Up the Etsy Shop

2010-10-22T12:33:00.000-04:00

Just a few of the things that I've added lately to my Etsy Shop so you can start your holiday shopping right now! You can click on the photos above to take you to the listing, or the widget to the right scrolls through all the items and you can click on the ones you like to take you directly to that item in the shop. Let's get this party started! Tell your friends! I'm adding new things every day.

After the Show

2010-10-17T18:53:00.000-04:00

The Valle Country Fair was fantastic! The weather was quite cold in the pre-dawn hour when we arrived (our first morning with frost - a little late this year), but as soon as the sun came up over the mountain it began to warm up and layers of coats and sweaters came off as the morning progressed. The sky was totally clear, and the wind eased off by mid morning. There were SO many people there that it was hard to maneuver between the booths. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there were record crowds this year. Too bad for the visitors, though, that most of the beautiful leaves had blown off the trees the day before.

Since I knew the weather was supposed to be fine, I decided not to set up my tent. That thing is a royal pain in the ass, and the wind on Friday posed a threat of blowing it away over night. The jewelry was sparkling in all that gorgeous sunshine and sales were brisk. Not just for me, but I believe that all of my friends did well, too.

Kimberly helping a customer

Brenda, behind her pottery

Debbi wrapping a purchase

Dianne talking to her customer

Over all it was a great day, but honestly, I'm glad it's over. Kimberly and I were exhausted by the time we got home. This was my last show of the season and now I can concentrate on updating my sadly neglected Etsy Shop and stocking the galleries for holiday sales. Watch this space for updates on that front.