Sale in the Shops!

For those of you who follow this blog and follow my Etsy shops - - - this announcement is just for you!!! This is your heads up on what will be happening this weekend. As everyone knows, this Friday is commonly referred to as Black Friday - and the Monday that follows is Cyber Monday. Black Friday is typically the heaviest buying volume in brick and mortar stores, while Monday is typically the heaviest volume of purchases on the internet. So - - - here you go - - Friday through Monday I will have a Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale in my shops. There will be a 20% discount on everything purchased. This discount will be given through a PayPal refund.

Woop Woop! Who doesn't like a sale?

My shops are right over there -------------------------------------------->
But here is a hyperlink as well:
LilikoiDesigner
HipChickeeBeads
Steamtrunkstudio


Happy Shopping!

The Flower

So, by now you are probably thinking, “Does this lady blog about anything but her granddaughter?” You know I never thought that I would be one of those grandmas that would have the bumper sticker that says “My grandkid is cuter than yours”, or “Let me tell you about my grandkids”, or my personal favorite “The writing on the wall means the grandkid found the crayons”. But okay, here I am posting about Maycie Jean again…..and no, I don’t have any of those bumperstickers…

But dang, you have to admit she is about the cutest flower you have ever seen, isn’t see? Halloween was a ball this year. She woke up in the morning and the first thing she wanted to do was get in her costume. This is a much different scene than last year when J’Amy put in her in her ladybug costume. I think she still bawls at the site of that thing… Anyway, my office hosts a trick-or-treating event for employees’ kids, so she and J’Amy came in and we paraded our darling flower around the office for everyone to “Ooooo and awe” over. And so Maycie went around to everyone and smiled sweetly and tried to hand them candy. What a sweet little generous baby!

Anyway, feel free to Oooo and awe over my precious little flower - - -

Muah!

Sleeping in the Sun

I want you to go through an exercise with me. Reach back in your memory and remember being a young child. Remember nap time? Remember naps in kindergarten? We pulled out the brown tri-fold plastic covered foam mats and laid them out on the floor in our kindergarten classroom. Mrs. Betsworth turned out the lights and we “napped” for 30 minutes. Nap time immediately followed Snack Time. I remember sleeping on my bed and the sun pouring through the windows and feeling the warmth of it. I also remember laying out a blanket and sleeping under the apple tree in the backyard, and the some of the sunshine rays peeking through the thick branches. I remember sleeping in the car on the way home from Grandma Ake’s house.

I am sure that Maycie will one day remember fondly of her naptimes, sleeping in the car with her baby, sun pouring in. Doesn’t she look angelic?




Muah Maycie Jean!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is set aside as an annual international health campaign organized to help increase awareness of the disease, raise funds for research, and for prevention and cure. It also serves as a good opportunity to remind women to be aware for early detection.

It is a month splashed with pink - - from Campbell's Soup

To a pink KitchenAid

My personal favorite ~ KitKat

A microfibre Wash Mitt?

Are you kidding me? A pink SpongeBob?

Well, the point is to bring awareness to the cause in whatever form that may take. There is an international initiative called Global Illumination. Here we see the Tokyo Tower illuminated.

And Niagra Falls

My personal favorite ode to the month is this creative way of bringing attention to the cause:

That's a lovely pair of . . . . . containers -- Hold your comments. This originated in Australia as a fundraising venture to find a cure for breast cancer. Well done!

I don’t think there is a one of us who hasn’t known someone, been related to someone, loved someone or lost someone with Breast Cancer. It is so far reaching. For me, it hits straight home with my beautiful Mom. She has now been cancer free for 14 years. The bottom line is that breast cancer affects us all. Let's all get on board and find a cure!

Loveya Mom!

Muah

Garden Life

Well that certainly sounds all green and eco friendly doesn't it? Well I guess it is.

Gardening has always been something that I have loved. Whether it stemmed from planting a gorgeous flower bed or 50 gazillion patio pots ( please note in the attached pictures the LACK THEREOF) or my vegetable garden, I have always loved it! There is something absolutely healing about getting your hands in that dirt and getting your fingernails dirty!

Well this year was no exception to my gardening foray. Again - I really need to point out the lack of flowers on the patio. Okay, don't really look too terribly close at all those weeds in the garden either. And yes, that ten by whatever size board that borders the garden is pulling away, and no that isn't dog poop on the lawn. Okay, so it is. And that little round dead spot on the grass - yep, you guessed it Maggie. So the garden.... ya, that was what I was talking about....

I planted 14 tomato plants (what was I thinking with?) 8 pepper plants (which totally bombed this year) two rows of green beans, 4 mounds of potatoes, crook neck squash (which actually turned out to be a GORD - I even still have that lying plant stick), mesculine/European lettuce mix, carrots, onions, basil, oregano, chives, marjoram, dill, cilantro. .etc., etc.

A few weekends ago I had NOTHING to do (anyone who knows me knows that is NEVER the case) so I canned 32 pints of salsa. This isn't just any salsa - it is fabulous salsa. A little bit hotter this year than what I normally make, but it was wonderful! I even canned some half pints to give away for Christmas gifts.

This weekend past I had nothing to do again. It was at that moment when I was cleaning, coring, and peeling my 1500th bag of tomatoes from the garden that I thought to myself, "What am I doing?" Do I really need 14 tomato plants? What about moderation, what about not spending the entire day cooking, canning and then cleaning up? Holy cow. I need to simplify my life in some way. But that was my fleeting thought for the moment. I then proceeded to cook this:

This marinara is totally the bomb! Everything in it is from my garden. It has tomatoes (duh), green peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, basil, oregano, and thyme. There is no added sugar or salt! When it started cooking the pot was overflowing. By the time that I blended everything and put it through the foley mill, this is how much I started my reduction with... By the time I was done and ready to start canning, the marinara had cooked down by half ~ wow.... Sixteen pints later, it was a done deal. Whew...

I may rethink the garden next year ~ maybe pansies, alyssum, verbena, salvia, and petunias are calling my name...

Muah!

The New Jewelry Adventure

Well, as my previous post said, I have been soooooo busy!!! It has been hard to stay above water sometimes, and other times it feels like I should just give up and sink! Wow!

But I am really excited about my new direction in jewelry. Because it is so divergent from my mainstay designs, I decided to open up a new shop on Etsy. The new shop is called SteamTrunkStudio. The shop is styled with a Victorian feel, but also employs an edgy sort of style called steampunk. Steampunk is kind of like industrial meets Victorian. Let me explain a bit more. Steampunk is reminiscent of the 19th century, and in terms of jewelry, steampunk translates into styles that are functional, but have an antiquated look. In my designs I use watch movements, pieces and parts of watches, cogs, keys, tags, and other miscellaneous bits and pieces. Don't worry, no working watch was hurt in the creation of my designs!

Here is a quick look at some of the items:

So, there you have it - this is what I have been up to in my new jewelry adventure. The items in this shop use a mix of silver plated, brass, antique gold plated and eventually some copper. It is really exciting and I hope that you will check it out!

If you are interested in purchasing something, you can use this code: LKO8 to receive a 15% discount. Mention this code in the note to seller box on Etsy and I will refund your discount through PayPal. I will also be posting an Etsy mini here on the blog!

Thanks all for your continued love and support!

Muah!

Work, School, Jewelry, Garden, Kids

What do these all have in common? They make my life BUSY!!!! Wow, between work being amazingly busy, and the economy taking its toll in every sector, it makes me worry/wonder about my job status. Then mix a little bit of a surprise with my degree and having to rush to get 6 credit hours completed before the end of August. Add to that another jewelry adventure (more to come on that in a later post.) The garden has been abounding - - tomatoes out the wazoo and did I mention green beans? Kids - well each one of my kids' birthdays hit in July, August, and September. Issues/Excitement: J'Amy and Eric are pregnant - due in February. . .woohoo!!! Ashley turning 21 - Jake turning 17 and yes, you guessed it, another traffic ticket....

Hmmmm where did the summer go?