Carrboro Atrisan Market

I've got a few shows under my belt by now but I'll tell ya the town of Carrboro,NC has blown me away and captured my heart. It is the best of both worlds of city living and small town living. Everyone is so friendly!!!!! One very classy artsy older woman told me they call it "The Paris of NC." I might add she had the most beautiful wire crochet necklace I've ever seen that she made. People walk everywhere and I've never seen so my bicycles. Now I know why my wonderful friend Jody makes bicycle silk screen T shirts ( flytrapstudios.etsy.com). Usually when there is a 90% chance of rain you think "well this will be a wash out and a waste of time and hard work." Not in this town! Everyone had on rain boots , coats and umbrellas. They walked their dogs and rode their bikes smiling the whole time. No one ever ran to get out of the rain. They strolled as if it were a beautiful sunny day. My sales were great and every one asked a ton of questions ( I like to talk) My head was so swollen by the time I left I felt like the jewelry rock star of the town. After we packed up we walked in the rain to the bar in what I'm guessing was the old train station. The show was in their parking lot. All the doors were wide open so we could hear the band playing during the show. We sat and relaxed and had a beer. The band had just finished but one of the guys , Mark, sat down with us and asked about how we did, talked about the town like he was our long lost friend. He told us the people there are so kind and friendly that the town was thinking of letting people walk around on the streets with their drinks while at their favorite watering hole. Several people walked in and recognized us and chatted it up. We then went over to the restaurant which was in an old train car and had great sandwiches with fresh locally grown produce. Next door is a small neighborhood Whole Foods type grocery store , Weaver Street market. I'm in love with this town!!!! I can't wait to go back. I must mention my lovely neighbor and her wonderful family. Emily-Claire Stevens was the jewelry artist beside me. Her parents were there to help and support her as well as her adorable finance' . She makes Asian inspired jewelry with the most beautiful colors. Her website is www.eclaireart.weebly.com. Thank you so much Jody for telling me about this show!

Facebook

Besides being just down right fun, what is it about Facebook that has all my friends hooked? When my son or husband gets off of the computer I literally run to get on to check it. It doesn't matter what I'm in the middle of.I won't even go into the games. Brain exercise right? I love the stupid quizzes and the crazy list and I enjoy reading others. Yes I must confess I'm a cyber farmer as well. For these reasons I have neglected by blog . I will try to do better but will not promise anything. It's to much fun and it's like having all of your friends over. Time with friends and laughter are not time wasted.

Graduation Gift

This is a graduation gift I was asked to make for a dear friend's daughter. She is an amazing young woman who has had health issues and surgeries. She sings and dances competitively, loves Twilight,M&Ms and clothes. She had surgery on her foot and now loves wearing great shoes. Guess what, I have some neat shoe charms . I couldn't find a sterling chain I liked so I made this one myself and am very pleased with it. So pleased that I'm making one for myself to put a beautiful Druzy stone I bought that need to be hung on something extra special.

Three Beautiful Babes

These were charms I did for a necklace that a mom at our preschool won in a silent auction. She was pregnant at the time and wanted to wait till the baby got a little older. These are her 3 angels at 3 months old. Their initials are on the back in a fancy script. It turned out so well. I could probably make a ton of $$$$ doing these but I would loose my mind making the same type thing over and over and over again. Normally I will solder for a couple of hours then move to the sewing machine or bead weaving for a break. 

Happy Mother's Day! I am planning NOTHING! I just want a regular day. I've been sooo busy with shows, school fundraisers, school end of year program practice, yada yada yada. I just want to piddle around the house and yard and cook something good for supper. I will say my sweet babies at preschool gave their mommies the most adorable gift for Mother's day. Ornamentea had these great bezels on clearance. The children did their tiny pinky prints in images of flowers and bugs. I just outlined and put in a few details (they are only 3 & 4 yrs. old and working in a very small space). We put them on ribbon and boy were they sweet. I still wear a button my daughter made me for M day when she was 5 ( she is 22 now). Happy Mother's day , our children are our greatest gift and accomplishment. 

Oh this is really bad!

Creative Madnest

Yes, I did mean to title this madnest instead of madness because my studio is my little nest of creative madness. After a week of being in an artistic frenzy, this is what I have to deal with. Soooo today I will put the  boxes back on the shelves, the Cds back in ABC order, paper back in files and then? I will run across all kinds of great stuff and mess it up again.  I will try to tidy up around the house since I have to go back to my real job tomorrow. Come on summer vacation!

Saved From the Blade

I love to make jewelry from antique tins. I get so excited when I stumble across a great tin at the flea market or antique store. These are a few that have been saved from the dremel. I just could not cut them up.

Twilight

I am a Twilight nut!!!!! So far I have only read each book once and seen the movie 3 times. I lost count how many times I have read each Potter book. I will reread Twilight as well. I made this necklace and am loving it! At the show Saturday someone wanted to buy it. I asked if they were a Twilight fan>They said no>I said no it's not for sale. You have to really LOVE Edward and Bella to get this puppy. I plan on making several more but each one will be uniquely different. 

Show Time

Time for shows to start up and I am very ready. I have redone a great cabinet I got at Revival Antiques and it is beautiful. Ornamentea had the ladies from Flotsam & Jetsam in the store with their great vintage odds and ends. I love the square buttons and the chicken tally cards. Not sure what a tally card is but I'm guessing it has something to do with playing cards. 

Come on spring!

We had another beautiful snow this week. I loved it but that's enough for me. I'm ready to open windows and do a deep cleaning. When it's cold I hibernate and have no energy. All I want to do is nap,read,knit and watch TV. Since TV is so bad these days it's hard to find anything worth watching. I have learned a lot about training my dogs and I must say my collie's (Zelda) behavior has been greatly improved. I also broke down and bought myself dark denim, slim leg ,crazy expensive jeans that really do fit. Thanks to Clinton and Stacey but I draw the line there. No dresses, suits or pointed toe shoes for this gal. Show season is around the corner and I have wasted so much studio time. In March I will look back and think" what was I doing for 2 months."It is going to be 65 - 70 degrees for the next several days so I'm ready to get out from under my blanket, put my book down and get moving.

We finally got snow ! It's been 4 years. Seven whole inches! That is a blizzard by NC standards. Two days off from school and lots of hot cocoa . Zelda really loves the snow. We had so much fun walking back in the swamp. It was beautiful. 

In preschool we read the book "Snowballs" by Lois Ehlert

http://books.google.com/books?id=z6hdupspgh4C&dq=snowballs&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA1,M1

I love this book because all of the objects for the snowmen are just "stuff". I rummaged through junk draws,walked around outside picking up "stuff" and had to eat many kisses for the cause. It was a sacrifice for the good of art. What can I say ,I am a dedicated teacher. The children had a crazy spread to choose from after they painted pictures of snowmen at the easel. I love how they are all so different. The snowflakes are just glue squirted on waxpaper,sprinkled with glitter and some sequin snowflakes. Three year olds and glue gone wild! This was one time we didn't say " a little dab will do ya" or "kissy dots kissy dots."

My new Granddog

My new grandson! Meatball! He is soooooooo sweet!

Treasure Hunt

Yesterday I went on a treasure hunt with a dear friend. I found some great stuff at Greshems Antiques. It will all end up in jewelry somehow.

These are very little. They also had copper but I was watching my funds.

The babies are great! There has been a project I've been wanting to try using babies. These are much cooler than the ones I bought new at the party section at Wal Mart. The earrings I will change over to pierced and that's it. They are beautiful just as they are.

Revamped Tins

After hammering, sanding and piercing, this is what I came up with. I'm pleased with the results. I got my Plant Delights catalog in the mail yesterday so I was in the flower mode. My Daphne should be blooming soon and this will be my first year with my Lenten Roses. The garden has it's beauty in the winter too.

RESOLUTIONS? No Way.

I don't make resolutions because I know I won't keep them. Yesterday I made a commitment to myself to clean and organize my creative space. Yes this is clean, you should have seen the floor before. I kept tripping over stuff. I've made tons of progress and will finish today. It is so nice to sit down to a clean work table and some new CDs. It really gets me inspired. I'm loving the new Dandy Warhols and track 12 on Nine Inch Nails Ghost. I've ordered 3 other Cds( Secret Machines,MGMT, and Cold War Kids) so that should keep the creative juices cranking for a while. One day I'm going to put some music on this blog. 

Happy New Year and Back To Work

Happy new Year! I'm thrilled to start fresh. I'm ready to start with all new stuff in my Etsy shop and sell the old stuff dirt cheap or take it apart. I went Christmas shopping at my favorite treasure dive in Selma and found some great children's books for my jewelry. The cat playing that fiddle has kinda 

scarey lips. I also found some great owl things for my daughter. I plan on creating all day today for my case at Revival Antiques, Capital Blvd, Raleigh,NC. Great store and great people.