fire and glass

I didn't see any froliking lambs today..so thats supposed to be a good thing isn't it? Or am I mixing adages. Whatever the case may be, it's a chilly grey miserable wet day and I am venturing no where.. Stay warm.

It's great relaxation to take a little ramble around on Etsy , (a site for artisans and hand-crafted items) and ogle all of the talent that's out there. I very rarely manage to do that without actually shopping mind you... ' MarmeeCraft ' is one of the shops that caught my eye the other day. Charming whimsical drawings full of colorful imagination, each printed on quality velvet matte Epson paper.The artists witty style is evident in each of her sweet drawings. The signature stretched necks of her characters are enchanting...seemingly to view the world from above the snarl of life and give us all a tasteful dose of old fashioned whimsey. Thanks Marjorie for being part of 'Artisans to note'... Tell us how you began as Marmee Craft? I’ve always had a love for vintage and antique things….stories, literature, fashion, fairytales. When I was 15 or so I became enthralled with the Victorian era after reading Little Women….and I’ve come back to it again and again in my ...

I'm yearning for Spring and all the things that go with that...we've got lots of water running in the streets but that's the extent of it so far. Spring is a long time coming in this part of the country. We'll still be dreaming about it while some of you are out in your shirt sleeves smelling the crocuses. I made this little egg set of handmade glass beads the other day...gorgeous glass! an opal glass that changes in the flame from a creamy pale yellow to a rich decadent caramel color. Up for auction on Ebay from 2/18 through to the 23rd.

So these are some of the colors for Spring and Summer 2008! so say Pantone , the leading authority on color trends in both the fashion industry and home decor. I'm not sure how they arrive at these results but I do consult the site from time to time just for interest sake . Okay, I admit it.. I've purchased glass rods using their color charts before. But they were colors I loved anyway. I did my living room walls in a blue-y shade of sage a couple of years ago and I still love the color. I don't know if that color was blessed by Pantone the year we painted those walls but I've been happy with them. What do you think..do you think you choose your colors or does the media choose them for you? 'Daiquiri Green'... wasn't that 'Lime' in 2005?

Dad and Mom in the Fabulous '70's When I began this all, several years ago now..I named my little business 'SweetWater' Designs as a tribute to my beloved Dad who we lost to cancer in 1995. The year I turned 14 my father did something many people just think about doing. He left a secure 9-5 job and a house he'd built with his own sweat to follow his lifelong dream of becoming a rancher. He packed up his family of 8 and moved us from the lovely Vancouver Island to 2400 acres of pristine land on a remote northern corner of British Columbia. He promised us adventure and crunchy snow...and that's what we got. I never did take to the crunchy snow. There was an underground stream of crystal clear water that bubbled up out of the earth year round and because of that Dad named his ranch 'SweetWater'. (He was an avid Louis L'Amour reader.) My father was a constant encouragement to his children and I like to imagine that he continues to watch over and ...

It's a lot of work getting a site up and running. I'm exhausted. ..But here it is finally and I'm pretty happy with it. Sweetwater Designs~Handmade glass beads