Fun Holiday Weekend

Once of the rose bushes we bought. It rained Tuesday night and then the
sun came out. This had just bloomed that day.

This past weekend was a nice weekend for mom and myself. We did some shopping at the Round the Fountain Art Fair, bought several rose bushes and clematis to plant in the yard, worked on making beads, sawing and I actually cleaned my part of the house. So, I think it was a pretty productive weekend.

Mom and I bought more garden art pieces to add to the "Smelly Plot" between the two sections of the house. I actually bought a piece from these artists up at the Ann Arbor Art Fair in 2014. It was awesome to see them at the Round the Fountain.

A little blue bird - I still haven't decided if I will leave it on Mr. Squiggly
Wiggly or actually hang it. I sort of like it where it is.

An owl in flight

I LOVE dragons - so I thought this was perfect.
I should have taken a back picture because
The back is made from bike chain.

The front side

Mom's purchase - "Artful Dodger" but
"Artie" for short. Mom just loves
his sleepy eyes :)

On Sunday I worked on making beads for the May ABS Challenge piece mom and I have yet to saw out - so it will probably be finished on Sunday :) But hey, better late than never. While I was making beads mom was out in the yard - she hasn't wanted to work in the yard - but I think the yard bug finally bit her on Sunday.

I made two different colors - both have a base of green but I used two different frits. I tried to pull in most of the colors from the May ABS painting colors.

It is hard to see the colors but they turned out awesome - this is before I cleaned the beads. Yes, I know I need to take a picture of them since I have cleaned them.

After I finished making beads on Sunday my cousin and her husband came over. Her husband, Bob, saw the green bracelet when I posted it to Facebook. So, he brought Sandy over to look at the bracelet but Sandy and Bob ended up buying three bracelets. That was a nice surprise - but I think the best part was that we sat for a few hours just talking. It was great to just sit with them and reminisce about our family and things mom and Sandy did when they were kids. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

On Monday I moved all the sawing supplies from the computer room to the garage. Now that it is warmer out we can work in the garage instead of the little computer room. Plus it is so nice to open the garage and let the sun in and the breeze. Of course we will be roasting in July and August, but it is what it is. I was able to saw out several bowls, and several pendant perimeters. There is a lot to saw out and file and sand, but it should keep us busy for awhile.

I also ended up vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and cleaning the bathroom Monday afternoon. So, yup, I feel like we did accomplished a lot.

30 Words - Flowers

Spring – the bursting of

color from flowers

The smell of fresh cut grass

the joy on mom’s face

when she sees a new

Flower has opened up

for her to enjoy.

Okay - I am not much of an outdoors person any more - mom usually has to drag me kicking and screaming to help her in the yard. But it is well worth it when I see the look of joy on mom's face (as long as I don't pull the flowers that I think are weeds).

The clematis photos are from our front yard - they are located right outside of our front door and I am having a lot of fun taking pictures of them.

If you would like to join 30 Words or see what ever one has to say, head on over to Erin's blog and check it out.

Spring Flowers - Clematis, Poppies, Iris and Daisy

Clematis outside our house

It is spring time - which means flowers, flowers, and more flowers!!!!

 The clematis bush is going to town right outside our front door. Currently one the light purple clematis is blooming but it looked like the dark purple ones started opening up yesterday. So, that means I need to get outside and take pics of those opening.

On Monday I ran over to take pics of flowers in the little hort park. Here are the pics I was able to take:

I hoped that brightened up your day a little bit.

After Action Review of the Brick Street Market Show

If you are still blog hopping for The Art of the Awareness click here.

Mom and I took Friday off to prep more for our show on Saturday, the Brick Street Market in Zionsville. This is what the garage looked like - me spread out on the torching table and mom spread out on tables we had setup to layout the inventory.

Mom finished writing the tags on the inventory and I finished assembling final pieces for the show. And then we ran errands, pulled out all the stuff to load up the car and put up the tent to see how we were going to setup for the show.

Mom and I had put up the tent so we could layout the tables and bring in the grids under the tent. We couldn't have anything sitting outside the tent - so we had to change up the layout a bit. We took a pic of the layout so we could remember it for the show (neither mom and I have good memories anymore - the old age has set in).

This is the tent setup for the show - mom is sitting in the back. At this point in time it wasn't raining - but the rest of the show it rained. Nothing you can do about Mother Nature.

Another look from the back to the front. Right now it is pouring down rain - which you can't see but believe me you could feel :) Mom and I finally broke down and put up the back panel because we had a flood coming in from the back of the tent. We tried to have two openings but that stopped once the back went up.

We also had a slight accident. While mom was walking around she fell. It is good thing she learned how to fall from Judo and Kenpo otherwise I think she would have hurt herself more. Instead she has a nice scrapped knee and a lot of embarrassment. Poor mom - can't take her anywhere.

On Sunday mom and I unpacked the car. Because it was supposed to rain again we put up the tent panels and tent in the garage so it could dry out. We really didn't want the tent to mold. Once this dries up we will put the tables up to dry out the jewelry and then wipe it all down.

So - that was our weekend.

I will complete this post with the last of the jewelry I finished up for the show and a photo a friend sent of a piece she is wearing that we created:

This is our piece from the April ABS Challenge:

Our friend purchased the April ABS Challenge piece and this is a picture she sent of herself wearing it. It is so much fun to see pictures of people wearing our pieces. I think it goes perfectly with the outfit she is wearing. This puts a smile on our faces - knowing our pieces are being enjoyed.

That is it - so - have an awesome week everyone!

The Art of Awareness Blog Hop

Today is The Art of Awareness blog hop - hosted by the most awesomest Lori Anderson. Lori and Heather are hosting this hop to bring an important message -- the cause you're bringing awareness to, and the handmade bead artisan who made the beads.

Mom and I discussed what word we wanted to choose - let me tell you, I think this was the hardest part - but we finally decided on the word "Dignity". 

Definition of dignity: self-respect, self-regard, self-worth (noun) - the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect

I think mom and I are having a hard time this year in regard to our self-worth. I know it has been difficult for mom since her surgery to get motivated to do things. She is a go getter and being out of commission dampens her mood. Though the doctor said it would take her up to a year to get back to where she was and that depression is a factor of knee replacement surgery.

A friend of ours sent this to mom:

"Your value does not decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth." -Unknown

Mom has that quote in her wallet and I have that on my monitor at work. That quote is to remind ourselves we have worth and we should be treated with dignity - EVEN BY OURSELVES!

As many of you know - I despise drawing or sketching. Well - here is my second attempt at my idea for this piece. I wanted to have a quote stamped on a pendant. I wrote up six different quotes and mom and I laid on her bed deciding on which quote we wanted to use. 

Once we had the quote picked out then it was trying to decide what we wanted to have me create for the lampwork glass beads. I knew I wanted to go from dark beads to lighter beads - so we decided to go black, dark gray, light gray, dark pink to light pink. I also knew I wanted to use SIS (silver ivory stringer) on the beads - both mom and I didn't want dots - so went with lines. Of course all of this planning is on mom's bed with the cats using us as an obstacle course while mom is trying to write.

On the copper, mom drew out lines and wrote the quote out for me so I could go to town on stamping. I also have the sketch next to me to make sure I don't misspell any words. Boy, that was a lot of fun! I haven't stamped anything in almost two years. Though I am sure the cats weren't too happy hearing me hammer the stamps - that work surface is right over their litter box cabinet :)

Next it was mom connecting our awareness bead to the copper pendant. I really love what mom did with the bead - it fits perfectly - the only bad thing is that you can't see the ribbon stamp - but you at least see the word.

Next is laying out the beads on a cookie tray (I love these trays because it is so nice to be able to layout everything and move beads around without us losing the beads) and figuring out what we wanted to use for accent beads. We ended up deciding to use rounded copper discs between the glass beads and seed beads.

It has actually been so nice to work out in the garage again. This is a photo of my work area and then what mom is doing is inventorying all of our pieces for our show at Zionsville, IN today.

So - since you have lasted this long here is what we created:

We don't have a name for this piece yet - though we should be really original and name it "Dignity".

Mom and I decided to not go with a clasp - instead you can take it on and off over your head. 

I love how the lampwork glass beads turned out. I did experiment with four different pink glass rods. Mom and I decided on using two of the pinks in this necklace and I used the other two pinks in a bracelet. I love how the beads go from black, to dark gray, to light gray, dark pink and light pink with pops of copper from the accent beads. Also, the beads are pretty heavy, but it is a nice weight - it has some heft!

Here is a closer look of the pendant I stamped and the bead from Heather. I first put the pendant on our garage cement floor and put some texture on it. Once that was done I stamped the pendant and then sawed out the perimeter. Once the sawing was done I filed and sanded and then put it into liver of sulfur (which we need to buy a new container because I think ours went bad). I left it in the liver of sulfur overnight and then sanded off the darker color and sealed the copper. Once all of that was done then mom wire wrapped the bead from Heather.

So, that was our process of how our piece came about.

Thank you again Lori and Heather for putting this challenge together. It sure was an adventure for mom and I this time around.

Mom and I have a show today - so we won't be able to blog hop until Sunday. This is our first time attending this show - it is over at 5pm but I don't think we will get home until 8pm.

Thank you again for stopping by and checking out our piece for this Awareness Blog Hop.

I will leave you a list of those who are participating and if you can't read the list head on over to Lori's blog because I am sure she has the list posted:

Lori Heather	Anderson Millican	www.PrettyThingsBlog.com (hostess) www.facebook.com/swoondimples (bead artist)
Candida	Castleberry	www.spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com
mischelle	andrade	https://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Paige	Maxim	http://delightfullittlegems.blogspot.com/
Laurie	Vyselaar	www.lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
Marybeth	Rich	http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
Alice	Peterson	www.alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
Kim	Dworak	http://www.cianciblue.blogspot.com/
Audrey	Bélanger	http://esperianterra.blogspot.ca/
Karen	mitchell	www.overthemoon-design.com
Joan	Williams	www.lilrubyjewelry.com
Jean	Wells	jeanawells.blogspot.com
Ann	Schroeder	www.beadlove.wordpress.com
Gail	Accinelli	facebook.com/oregonmadejewelry
Tania	Spivey	www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com
Mallory	Hoffman	http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/
Mary K	McGraw	mkaymac.blogspot.com
Shai	Williams	www.shaihasramblings.com/
Beth	Emery	storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
Catie	Doman	http://drcatie.blogspot.com
Lorelei	Eurto	Http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com
Lee	Koopman	www.stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Tammy	Adams	www.paisleylizard.com/blog/
Katie	Nelson	https://www.facebook.com/katiebead
Patty	Miller	http://pattymillerbeads.blogspot.com
Chris	Eisenberg	www.wanderware.blogspot.com
Cassi	Paslick	http://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/
Charlee	Griffith	https://www.facebook.com/charlee.griffith
Kelli	Nelson	www.afamilyaffarekelli.blogspot.com
Catherine	King	http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com
Melissa	Trudinger	beadrecipes.wordpress.com
susan	Bowie	https://susanbowie.wordpress.com
Jennifer	Justman	www.soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Cassi	Paslick	http://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/
K	Hutchinson	http://jumbledhutch.wordpress.com
Veralynne	Malone	www.veradesigns.blogspot.com
Evie and Beth	McCord	http://ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com/
Mihaela	Georgescu	http://michellemaya2005.wordpress.com
Rebecca	Anderso	Www.songbeads.blogspot.com
Charlene	jacka	www.clay-space.com
Kim	Stevens	www.pickingpoppies.blogspot.com
Susan	McClelland	Mistheword12.wordpress.com
Sally	Russick	www.sallyrussick.blogspot.com
Gina	Hockett	www.freestyleelements.blogspot.com
Mona	Arnott	bijouxgemsjoy.blogspot.ca
Sandi	Volpe	www.sandivolpe.com
Andrea	Glick	http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
Janine	Lucas	http://www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
Lori	Bowring Michaud	www.artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Christie	Murrow	Www.charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com
B.R.	Kuhlman	www.mixedmayhemstudios.com
Lupe	Meter	www.gesmpccorner.blogspot.com
Lucy	Bejarano	www.lucybejaranojewelry.blogspot.com/
Stephanie	Perry	www.mustardbeadbystephanieperry.blogspot.com
Elisabeth	Auld	www.beadsforbusygals.com
Carolyn	Lawson	www.carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Heather	Powers	www.humblebeads.blogspot.com
Katie	Hacker	www.katiehacker.blogspot.com
Kepi	Rasmussen	www.kepirasmussen.blogspot.ca
Gail	Vanderster-Zwang	www.angelmoose.blogspot.com
Elizabeth	Hodges	http://thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com/