A wonderful year!

For Christmas this year George bought us a new Apple mac mini. It is a beautiful machine, about 8" square; small enough to sit right on the desktop. We have a new screen and keyboard and I'm already loving the Apple setup. I still have to transfer my pictures and my music, but we are good to go. It was a big deal to get a new computer and finally take the old one offline. Maybe we don't do change as well as we would like to. These days, everything is supposed to be disposable, but George and I still remember "use it up, wear it out, make it do". Sometimes our old fashioned traits get in the way of progress.

Besides the new Apple computer, George won an Ipod in a drawing, and I got a new Droid phone and a Kindle. Progress catches up to us!

George continues his lucky streak. He won an engine at his flying club picnic, the Ipod at a trade show raffle, the huge gift basket at the church fair in December, and a food processor as the prize in a contest online for Hellman's mayonnaise. We really need to get him to buy some lottery tickets!

This is my last post of 2010. It has been a really great year. George loves his job, and I love mine. I even got a Christmas bonus this year -- the first in a long time. Our kitties are thriving and playful and a constant source of affection and entertainment. My jewelry business has blossomed into a success; I sell as much as I want to -- without getting tired of the creative process. We had a great time this summer at the cabin, despite the heat and two trips to Big Lots to get more fans. We visited Mike and MIchelle twice this year. Going on trips has always been fun, but coming back home hasn't been so much fun - both times in May and in October, I came back sick with the flu. Our health is generally good, our doctors are always available and at the ready to cure us, and we are grateful for modern medicine and all the miracle drugs that help us with our little problems when they appear. Do I sound old -- talking about health and doctors? It's ok -- we are just acting our age!

Our New Year's resolutions are pretty simple: eat healthy and add more vegetarian meals to our weekly menus, laugh often, play more Cribbage, watch far less drivel on TV, take walks around the neighborhood, try to keep our bead addiction under control (me), take a trip to Oklahoma to clean out the storage locker in El Reno of my mom's beautiful things, and keep it simple.

The last is probably the hardest.

Have a wonderful New Year filled friends, family and good times!

What other people love

I am getting ramped up for my jewelry shows this Christmas season, and that means I spend a lot of time thinking about what other people will love. During the year I design jewelry for me, or just because I want to, but this is the time of year that I really start thinking about others. Recently I discovered that I have very few purple beads in my collection. People are nuts about purple. So today I bought some beautiful Purple lampworked glass beads on Etsy. They are amazingly beautiful and I will make these into a bracelet that someone is going to really love.

So, this next few weeks it's not about me. It's about what other people will love. (I think I love these too!)

Have a great day.

The color purple

40 degrees & sunny

Time to bring the peppers in from the cold. Every year I plant habaneros and other kinds of really hot peppers to add to my soups and stews during the winter. I love to watch the peppers grow and their bright colors add a little splash to the garden. Last night it was 40 degrees and today we picked the last of them. I learned the hard way that you really need to be careful with these. I put gloves on, and slice and chop them into small pieces and keep them frozen. I even put a "danger" sign on the container in the freezer. You wouldn't want to mistake these for something else! A few tiny flakes of frozen habanero pepper will heat up a whole big pot of chili. It doesn't take much when you are working with one of the hottest peppers on the planet.

The big lesson I have learned is not to touch my face, or especially my eyes or nose. Just a little touch with pepper scent on your hands is enough to burn for an hour. These little babies are so pretty and spicy, and it has been really fun to watch them grow.

Have a great day.

No harm in catching on slow

Over the years I have learned one thing about myself. (Well, I've learned many, but this is one.) I catch on slow. I am not a trendsetter. It takes me awhile to catch on to things. I am a slow learner, but watch out -- when I get it, I REALLY get it!

Several years ago a high school aged friend of my mothers was making a fleece knotted blanket, and told me about them. Last year another friend said she had made one and they are really warm and snuggly. She said, "wrap up in one and you are immediately asleep." The fabric stores have been selling this idea for a long time -- and fleece comes in a wild selection of colors and patterns, and is often on sale. Last year, still a non-believer, I bought some patterns of fleece and hemmed it up on my sewing machine for den throws. Finally yesterday, I decided to try it out and this morning I cut and knotted a fleece blanket in a little over a hour. They were right, all those years ago, this is a very FUN project!

My first knotted blanket is made with a red and green chili pepper pattern on one side and black and red plaid on the other. It happens to be Christmas colors, which seems like a plus.

Cut off the selvages and layer 2 yards of 2 patterns of fleece wrong side together, (be wild and creative); cut a 4" square out of each corner; cut 1" strips that are 4" long around the edges. (I found working with a plaid is great since it gives you the straight edge guide you need.) Knot every other one with a square knot, then flip and square knot the remaining strips. The flipping and knotting makes the knot fringe a little fluffier and the same direction of knots on both sides. I was pretty careful to make nice firm square knots all around.

I have enough fleece to make two more blankets this weekend. They are warm and nice, but they are especially wonderful because they are so much fun to make.

NOW, I finally understand.

Have a great day

Visit my new ArtFire store which I launched this weekend!

Visit Silverandsparkle's ArtFire Shop

My new Kindle

My new Kindle arrived yesterday. I downloaded several books - some free from Amazon. When the price hit $139 at Amazon I decided that it was time. I love my Kindle! It is a really cool thing to have so many wonderful books at my fingertips. I had my Kindle for only a few minutes and downloaded The Cossacks (free) by Tolstoy, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (free), Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (free), The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (not free), War and Peace (free) and Four Classics: Billy Budd, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn and Red Badge of Courage ($6.95). That should keep me busy for a little while! George's fear was that too much money would be spent on books. I assured him that with the kind of books I like to read - it will take me while before I have to pay for new ones.

This morning I started looking at Kindle cases on Amazon. I didn't want to spend the $60 for the lighted case, or the $100 for the Cole Haan hand stained pebble leather. Nor did I want to spend $35 for the hand crafted cases on Etsy (with $5 shipping). I looked and looked and never saw one I liked for less than $20. Then, down in the Google list I see an article about the best Kindle cases, and a picture of a kindle in a 6x9 padded envelope. Voila!!

Here is my new Kindle case. Hand made, and free, just like I like it.

Have a good day.

The next peyote bracelet

When time is not money

I just finished this peyote stitched bracelet. I started it on Thursday night and worked on it for probably close to seven hours on Friday night and Saturday morning. It is stitched with size 15 seed beads - the smallest - with a "ruffle" of gold size 11s. I wanted to practice my peyote and I loved the pattern. If I had to put a price on it, it would be $100. It is subtle. It may not sell. But I am not that interested in the money -- I'm REALLY interested in making another!

Have a great Peyote stitching day!

A new piece of livingroom furniture

I love my Craftsman cart that we bought at Sears for my kiln. It is the perfect size and is a pretty bright and cheerful red. The kiln fits perfectly and I can hang my fireproof mitts by magnets on the side, and put my kiln and silver clay tools on the bottom shelf.

It is like a welcome visitor to my living room. It won't stay there forever, but for now, I like it where I can see it!

Labor Day weekend is the target date for the first firing. Until then I'm reading the manual, getting my clay tools together, making and drying the first silver clay item, and getting ready for the big exciting first firing!

Have a great day!

Gosh I love creative people - look at this!

A trip to our garden this morning

White Flower Farm, Litchfield, CT August 14th