fire and glass

It seems I've been 'tagged' by the very talented Cindy Daniel of 'Behind the Scenes' and I'm now 'It'. Which means I need to think of 7 things about myself you may not know. This shouldn't be hard since there's really only one thing most of you know about me for sure and that's that I do like glass. So, hmmm ....oh I hate these games.. 7 things.. I'm actually quite good at baking bread. I loathe baking. My absolute favorite thing right now is a bowl of popcorn, my fuzzy blanket and 'Dancing with the Stars' In my next life I want to be a dancer. I love watercolor..I haven't painted in 5 years but I used to be not too bad...faces mostly. 7 really?! 7.. tapping fingers..wracking wee brain..something interesting..something my children can read.. 6. I try very hard not to but sometimes when I'm not thinking about it and things are not going right...shamefully, I bite my nails. eyuck..I know. and 7. My car at this

About 4 years ago I walked into a small shop in Kimberly, British Columbia. There's a really great shopping area there called the 'Platzl' .. a pedestrian mall. Lots of cobbled streets and fun, fun little stores. In one of these shops, just as you walked in there was a twig display set up vibrating with drops of glass of all imaginable color hanging from the branches. Have I mentioned yet the magpie tendencies I have? They were hanging in the sunlight and I think I touched every single one of them. I chose a drip of clear glass with a thin thread of tangerine running through the center and took it to the till. I mentioned how beautiful something so simple could be and she agreed and told me that her husband made them. "How?!" I asked..."With a torch." she said and I filed that bit of information away and left with my treasure. It was a few months later that I stumbled across an ebay seller with some rods of glass and a torch for sale. I couldn't

A sexy pair of flame worked cuff links ...easy way for guys to accessorize. I have a few prototypes that never made the cut but these turned out sweet. ~one piece of glass and very easy to slip on. I ship these gift boxed with a small signed artisan card telling a little of the care of lampwork. Check my etsy shop for the aventurine pair or Pop me a request if you want a pair made up for you.

'Tumult' As always click on the image to visit the auction..enjoy your day! Ü

Sometimes I slow down and rather than listing and promoting my own work I take a look at all the incredible talent on Etsy . For those of you unfamiliar with 'Etsy' (think Betsy) it's an online venue for those talented souls who make wonderous creations with their hands. You'll have to register, a relatively painless procedure. My tip to those visiting; begin with the treasuries (in the menu bar on the left hand of the front page). To be sure, they are a treasure trove. Here's a brief synopsis taken from my stroll through in my pj's with my morning toast and tea. Click on the images to see the artist's shop.

..it's back to work I go. I thought it would be fun to put together some of my lonely little orphan beads ( leftovers from sets) with some of my hand dyed silk ribbons. I've included two generous 3 foot lengths of silk in accenting shades along with one of my handmade glass beads.

My son and his room mates are cooking the meal this year. That will be a treat! My only responsibility will be to prepare the shrimp cocktail. How sweet is that?! When I was growing up our family began making a shrimp cocktail appetizer to begin every holiday meal. Now, each of us with our own families have since carried that tradition on with every Thanksgiving and Christmas menu. Sometimes we'll get cavalier and throw randem amounts in..more lemon zest...more hot sauce. But truthfully the original is the Best. It's a very common shrimp cocktail sauce recipe..mayo, ketchup, lemon juice and zest, horseradish and hot sauce..umm I think worcestershire is in there as well, and of course shrimp. I have peasant tastes, I prefer the canned stuff. Anyway all of you Canadian readers out there, enjoy your own traditions this weekend! I hope some of you will get to put your feet up like me and just enjoy the treat of someone else doing the cooking. Oh geez, I just thought of something.

see more puppies

How many of you are as surprised as I am by the speed of time.. is it possible that our earth is spinning faster on its axis? Whatever the case, we've spun into October. This time of year always stirs my nesting instinct. I baked cookies yesterday (a pleasant shock for those other people in my house) and have eaten far too many since. We won't count. Let's just say ' plenty' . I got this recipe off of the Martha Stewart site so I'm sure they're Perfection Personified, but my recipe differs slightly. In the version I make the spices are not optional, there are no coconut or raisins or currents and they're not iced. Mine are rolled in a mix of sugar and cinnamon before they go in the oven (like 'Snickerdoodles'..another favorite. Oh. don't get me started.)..anyway, heres Martha's recipe. I'll have to try her version some time and compare. ' Crybaby Cookies &