Taking a back seat

It is just 4 weeks until my first big show of the Holiday season. This is always such a busy time of year for anyone who does the Christmas arts and crafts show circuit. I still have so much to do, in terms of designing new pieces for this 3 day artisan sale. Plus, there is all the thought and prep that I need to put into creating my booth for the show. Thanksgiving is next weekend, and I am hosting the family for the big turkey dinner, which I enjoy doing...but it is more time away from the studio! I also still have to clean up the patio furniture, and get everything on the deck put away for winter....I am trying to put that off, because that really does signal that Summer is over, and Winter will be arriving soon.  Am I feeling a little time stressed? Do I have enough on my plate at the moment? You betcha!

 I also signed up for a "Get Ripped" fitness class, by Jari Love, that I go to 3 times a week. Yes.... she really does look as good as the photo! I really enjoy going to that class, getting my butt kicked and sweating it out! They say that getting regular exercise, really helps deal with stress so I am going to keep making my exercise time a priority. The blog may have to take a back seat for a few weeks, but I will try and post, and read my pals blogs as my time permits. Well must go and lock myself into the studio.

Pin It

The Keys of Life

Did you know, that at the turn of the 20th century, it was fashionable for a woman to wear a necklace with several keys? Apparently, the more keys that a woman wore around her neck, the more rooms she had in her house. That translated into wealth, as that meant that she was married to a man with money. At that time, keys were a status symbol.

 In Greek mythology, the Goddess, Cybele, holds the key to Mother Earth, closing her up in the  winter and opening her again in springtime. Wearing three keys together is said to unlock the doors of  love (holding the key to ones heart), health and wealth. Keys represent the forces that open and close, and can lock away our treasures as well as our secrets. Keys also represent power, or the arrival of a certain time in our life, such as getting the keys to a new home, or the keys to a new car!

 But perhaps the most important key could be the one held by St. Peter!

 


Pin It

Doors to a View

 I took this photo from the inside of one of the hot houses in Londons Kew Gardens, this past Summer. I was drawn to the interesting patina and color on the inside of old metal doors, but of course the view out to the gardens is stunning as well. Have a super weekend! Pin It

"Pass the cranberry sauce, please."

 

 Do I dare say that the "Holidays" are just around the corner? Well, for us Canucks here in Canada, our Thanksgiving is a mere 19 days away! Yep...we celebrate early here in Canada...before everything freezes up, and we can still get out and get our turkeys! ( Just kidding...we still get out even when there is a deep freeze and 4 feet of snow, coz we are a hardy bunch, eh?) Anyhow, Thanksgiving got me to thinking about food, which got me to thinking about turkeys, which in turn got me to thinking about cranberry sauce! So with that inspiration in mind, I created this little number, which started with the fabulous vintage  red beads, which reminded me of....you guessed it....cranberries! There are a lot of other interesting bits and pieces in this bracelet, including some very cool and very old metal buttons,  handmade glass beads by UK artisan, Lorna Prime, Swarovski crystals, vintage beads from Czechoslovakia, freshwater pearls...and much more. All these were hand wired to a lovely vintage brass chain, for lots of movement..cha cha cha! Aptly named "Cranberry Cocktail" Pin It

Geocaching 101

We had a super weekend! The family, came out and since the weather was so nice, we decided to do some hiking and combine it with a little Geocaching.  What is Geocaching, you ask? Well, Geocaching is like treasure hunting, with the use of GPS devices. First you have to go to the Geocaching website.The GPS co-ordinates and clues are online at this website.  If your kids or husbands like their tech devices, they will love this aspect of the game.  From there just follow the instructions, and get outside and have some fun! Containers are hidden, not buried...and they are all over the world! Yes, there are probably several Geocaches in your neck of the woods!  Once you locate the hidden container, you can take out some of the treasure, and then replace it with some loot that you have brought from home, so that the next Geocachers will have some goodies to find. This activity gets everyone and especially the kids... excited to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. This trip was the first time that the grand kids, and some of our own adult kids had never been, but it was a big hit!

We enjoyed the scenery.......

Here are some of the gang, using their devices and info to figure out the location of the next Geocache.

Taking a break near the river.

A beautiful necklace to take home!

Found the treasure box!

Pin It

Just a few more lovelies, that I created this week. Happy weeekend to you all!!

Pin It

Sparkling Keys

Remember my post, The Man in the Dusty Antique Shop, well here are just a handful of those fablous vintage keys after being cleaned up.

I found some awesome vintage Swarovski medallions from a seller on Etsy, and used these as embellishments to make these cute sparkling key pendants.

Pin It

We just got back from a wonderful weekend getaway, to Banff. I love going to Banff, we are so lucky to be so close to such a beautiful part of the world!  It was the hubbys birthday today....September 11th, which is not the greatest day to have a birthday any more, as the world is always filled with the reminders of that fateful day 10 years ago. However, none the less we, had a super time, with amazing summer like weather...HOT!  We actually went Geocaching for the first time, and had a blast. Out of  the  two hunts,  looking for the "cache", we found only one. The other one really stumped us, and we came out of the long, hot,  sweaty, uphill hike, with nothing. However, it was worth it, being outdoors and getting our exercise in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Rocky Mountains!  A superb weekend! Pin It

Wired Monkeys

When we were in London this past Summer, we visited the Tower of London, which I have been to on two previous visits to England, but never tire of. It is absolutely amazing, and I think probably one of the best things to do if you plan to visit London.

Anyhow, one of the most unusual things that I saw while we were there, and I am not sure how this relates to the Tower itself...but there were these very interesting monkey sculptures! 

They are made out of what appears to be chicken wire, and perched up on one of the walls. I thought they were quite amusing!

Pin It

Busy little bee!

I must apologize for the lack of posts over the last few days, but life has suddenly become super busy! My son is heading back to school on Tuesday, so of course that meant shopping for new clothes and the required school supplies.Yesterday, we also entertained our good  friends that we have not seen since June. I also have been madly working on an order for one of the art galleries that I supply to, as well as getting my Etsy shop back up after being closed for the whole summer. So, between creating, photographing, editing, posting, shopping, cooking, baking and cleaning, there has been little time for blogging! 

 I hope to catch up with you all this week. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend! Here are  photos of some designs, that will be off to the art gallery soon:

Pin It