A Humble Thank You

Wow - I am really overwhelmed this morning.  I found out that I am the featured designer of the week at both Love My Art Jewelry and at Art Bead Scene. 

Thank you so much - I am humbled and honored!

Take some time to check out both of these fantastic blogs featuring communities of uber-talented artists and fantastic tips and tutorials for jewelry makers.

Preview of Wikio Blog Rankings: Top 20 Jewelry Making Blogs

I wanted to share a preview with all of you of the September Wikio blog rankings "Top 20 Jewelry Making Blogs":

1	Art Bead Scene Blog
2	Lorelei's Blog
3	Beading Arts
4	Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
5	Carmi's Art/Life World
6	Andrew Thornton
7	Lampwork Diva aka Cindy Gimbrone
8	Earthenwood Studio Bead Blog
9	About.com Jewelry Making
10	Melissa J. Lee
11	A Bead A Day
12	Pretty Things
13	Rings & Things Hot New Items
14	Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios
15	Humblebeads Blog
16	Bling On The Blog
17	hint
18	Gaea's Ceramic and Art Studio Blog
19	LLYYNN
20	Beautifully Broken Me

Ranking made by Wikio

Thank you to everyone who frequents my little blog - I am very grateful for each and every one of you!

Thanks, Mom

I know this post is a couple of days late, but I wanted to make sure my Mom received her gift before I posted.

In church on Sunday, we were asked to write down what we think is the most important thing we learned from our mother.  That is a tough one, trying to narrow it down to one thing.  My mom has taught me so many things in my lifetime.  Things like: loving one another, laughing with each other, supporting one another, putting others before ourselves.  You see - lots of things to choose from.

The one thing that sticks out the most in my mind is this:  your circumstances don't have to dictate your character.  In other words, I can't always control the things that happen to me, but I can choose how I respond to them. 

When I was young, my parents went through an ugly divorce.  The messy situation and extreme heartache she was left with would throw anyone off of their game, but Mom chose to rise above the "stuff" and put my brothers and me ahead of everything else.  I never felt, even for one second, that I wasn't loved or protected, and it is her character that made that possible.

So, Mom, thank you for that oh-so-important life lesson,and thank you for being my mom.  I love you so very much.

Here's a picture of the necklace I sent to her:

It has yellow jade and black/gold amazonite stones that have been wire-wrapped with handmade etched copper bead caps.  The focal is a beautiful ceramic pendant made by Kylie Parry that matched he amazonite stones perfectly.

I hope all of you mothers out there had a very special Mother's Day!

Thank You, Secret Santa!

The only downfall to hosting a Secret Santa swap is that your Secret Santa really isn’t much of a secret.  The flip side of that, however, is that I knew who was going to be sending me my piece of jewelry, and I was so excited to see what this fantastic, artistic woman would send.   So you can imagine my excitement when I opened up my mailbox yesterday to find a beautifully wrapped package from my Secret Santa, Sally Turlington from Imagine This.  With anticipation I opened the box to discover the most beautiful necklace that incorporates so many of my favorite things:  found objects, vintage chain, the color red.  It couldn’t be more perfect for me! 



I love the asymmetrical design with the beautiful handmade watch reliquary.



The beautiful handmade clasp and use of different metals is right up my alley!



Thank you, Sally, for this beautiful gift.  I can see how much time went into it, and I will treasure it always.

Wonderful Surprises...

When I got home from picking up kids from school today, lo and behold, I found a package on my front porch that I couldn’t wait to open! My new blog friend, Jan from The Polka Dot Barn, and I decided to do a swap for each others’ artwork. We decided to include fun ephemera and trinkets in the packages with the artwork, and I have just been bursting with excitement to see what Jan would include.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have though she would send me this most amazing, goodie-filled care package! There are so many fun things that I really must share them with you all…

Here is what I ordered:

This “ALTERED VINTAGE DELICATES DRYER”:

and this beautiful ATC:

Here is what I received:

Jan, thank you so much!!! I can’t wait until our next swap! :-)

10 Things...

Life seems to be spinning out of control today, and I want to take a moment to breathe...

Off the top of my head, here are 10 things that I am thankful for right now at this very moment:

1. A husband who loves to cook
2. Air conditioning
3. Sunshine
4. A family with a sense of humor
5. A clean garage
6. A brief but valuable 5 minutes to myself
7. Losing 2.5 lbs this week
8. Friends who are just as crazy as I am
9. A man who loves me, even when I am (just a bit) cranky
10. Life

Cheers!

Thank You Tami!

My Friend, Tami Roth at Cat Tales Etc. is one of the most generous, kind and thoughtful people I am fortunate enough to have in my life! I am LONG overdue in thanking her for the beautiful birthday present and birthday card she made for me. The little book is made from copper, and has terrific details like handmade hinges and cute charms hanging from the tie wrap. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy! Thanks, Tami, for making my birthday so special!

Transparency...

We had unbelievable sunsets last week. The colors changed minute by minute, causing the clouds to take on an increasingly deeper shades of pink, then purple, and eventually a deep black tinged with gold.

I felt so small in comparison to the wide-openness the sky. In that moment, when the last beams of light were fighting their way through the clouds, I realized that my desire is not only to let God’s light shine in me, but to have His light shine through me.

I want to be transparent.

Not in an “I don’t matter so therefore I don’t want to be seen” way, but in an “I want to be so close to God that you can see who He is because of who I am” way. I want you to know that I am hiding nothing; that what you see is what you get.

I want to be transparent.

I don’t want to hold onto secrets. I don’t want you to think that I have any ulterior motives. I want you to know me, inside and out, as a child of God, living my life for Him.

I want to be transparent.

I want you to know that, good or bad, all that I am belongs to Him, and that He is still working on me, turning me into the person He has created me to be.

I want to be transparent.

I want to love without reservation. I want to see you for who He has created you to be. I want to be merciful, not judgemental. I want to be grateful for the life I have been given and not the life I think I should have. I want to sing with joy. I want to rejoice in the opportunity to change and grow.

I want to be transparent.

I want to throw open my arms, turn my face towards the sky and say without hesitation, “With all of my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength, I am Yours. Use me. Teach me. Love me.”

I want to be transparent.

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Thank You Tami!

Once again, my friend Tami Roth at Cat Tales, Etc. has outdone herself! I opened my mailbox up last week and found the most fun care package waiting for me! Last year, Tami and I did a necklace exchange where she made this necklace for me in exchange for this necklace that I made for her. She always applies the most beautiful metal patinas to her pieces, and I had asked her if she had any resources for "recipes" that I could get my hands on. Not only did she send me some great recipes, but also a wonderful hanging collage and beautiful domino collage brooch that I just had to share with you (along with the most adorable Madame Alexander munchkin doll from a Happy Meal no less - boy, the toys have definitely gone up in quality since I had a child small enough to order Happy Meals!)

So Tami: Thank you for being such a wonderful friend, and I can't wait for you to receive the goodies I am putting in the mail for you this week!

All I have to say is how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends out here in blogland!

:-)

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Calm in the Chaos...

I was just reading Deborah Truesdale's latest blog entry (Little Art Room In Back), and it got me thinking about my own life and how it can so easily get bogged down with the woes of the world. Most of my conversations these days tend to end with some version of: "Well, things should start to get better after the election".

Really...am I so naive as to think that an election, especially this election, will magically fix what is wrong with our country? There is so much to be done to cure what ails us, the reality is that there is no way that the election will fix it. I think if I spend too much time thinking about it, I could become paralyzed with indecision about what I should do next - how can I fix it enough to be satisfied?

Well, I don't know about you, but I am exhausted with just thinking about the enormity of it all.

I think that in the middle of all of the chaos I have forgotten to spend time in my own backyard. I have forgotten to spend time with the beauty of the yellow lantanas that are taking over my back porch. I have forgotten to laugh at my son's goofy Freshman boy humor. I have forgotten to stand in awe of the sunset tonight that was made of colors we haven't even thought of yet. Above all, I have forgotten to take inventory of the seemingly small joys that make up my life and to be thankful for them.

Hmmmmm......

So I will take this opportunity to quietly sit and contemplate what is really important to me: my faith, my family, my friends - in essence, my life. Trite, I know, but true nonetheless.

Without doubt we will make it through this season. What will we look like when it is over? That's a great question, and one I'm not prepared to even think about, let alone answer. We will be changed - no doubt about that.

And change is good.

In the meantime, I...will ...just...breathe...

:-)

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Finished Mosaic and Other Stuff...

Well, I have finally finished the mosaic for the Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser - whew! I am really pleased with how it turned out, and I am excited to get it over to them.

In other news, first I must say thank you to a terrific artist, Catherine Witherell (HappyDayArt!) who gave me the "Brilliant Weblog" award! What a lovely way to start my day! Now I get to pass on the love to 7 other fellow bloggers of my choice, so here they are:

• Beth Bricker (Vintage Sweets) - jewelry artist
• Blenda Tyvoll (Blendastudio) - love her color-saturated paintings
• Carolyn Mallin (Fanciful Expressions) - jewelry and mixed-media artist
• Deborah Truesdell (A Little Art Room In Back) - jewelry and mixed-media artist and teacher
• Diane Cook (Rosa & Josie's) - jewelry, mixed-media and photography artist
• Michelle Legler (Mosaic Cottage) - mosaic artist and gardener extraordinaire
• Beth Quinn (Beth Quinn Designs) - jewelry and mixed-media artist

The Rules:

1. Put the "Brilliant Weblog" logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs
   

So there it is - go and check out these very talented artists!

Celebrating Freedom...

The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. We as Americans come together and celebrate in one voice the commonality we share that is our freedom, bought for us by the blood of those who had a greater vision for us than that which was evident at the time. It is something to be celebrated with thanksgiving and humility, as we are the direct beneficiaries of that sacrifice, and I am grateful to live under the promise of that freedom.

So beyond the fireworks, picnics and parades, we must stand back and recognize that which is greater than ourselves. To those who have sacrificed their lives so I can live in freedom, I say thank you.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” Psalm 33:12