Fan box installed

Frank built this for me. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it's rock solid and will keep the fan noise out of my studio - or at least, that's my hope. So we are ------ THIS ----- much closer to being done!

THIS was satisfying

Tiles are a little darker than the picture shows, walls a little lighter - strange. Will try to grout tomorrow maybe.

walls are done

I gave up on the faux/weathered look. Went with Ben Moore's Aura AF-535 - a foggy beachy blue, it's a little darker than this, but it will be good once the trim and floor are in. You can see the floor tiles under the starfish.

Studio Progress

Steps were finished last night:


I finished priming and started painting. I'm trying to get a look similar to this (from a Veranda magazine cover, Feb 07):


Here is my first layer, glazes go on next:


and:

Lots more garden shots...

I posted a bunch of sunny day shots on my house blog. if you want to see.

The Studio Has Steps

And they are almost done. Also got the priming inside almost done. Lots of "almost done" these days.

A Walk into My Garden

I've been taking so many macro pictures that I almost forgot to capture the big picture in my garden's most colorful month. Here, take a walk with me.

Come in through my gate, it's covered in fabulous wisteria right now.



The first thing you will see is my new garden bed on the left - all new except for the old camellia and wisteria. I've been working on that for about a month now. On the right you can see my hosta garden, the big rhody tree, and in the back is the studio, still waiting to be painted.



Step down a little ways and you will come to my arbor - I'm trying to grow a clematis up and over it, though it doesn't have much to grab on to yet.



Still further in you will come to a new bed of baby hostas and other shade loving things:



At this point you will be right by my back door, have a seat in one of these chairs beneath my wall of clematis - isn't that a wonderful vine? I think it's over 50 years old.



While you are sitting there, look around at these old azalea/rhody things that I don't know what they are. They lose all their leaves in the winter, unlike my other rhodys, but their flower is similar. In the back you can see my magnolia tree and way back is Luke's swing set.





Oh, why do you smell lilacs you ask? Come, I'll show you... but first, you have to walk by my only "full sun" garden. I've got all my colorful stuff packed into it - it should explode in about a month.



And here, turn the corner - yes, they smell soooo good. And they remind me of New England, I'm very happy to have them here.



One more thing to show you - the future site of my outdoor dining room/patio. I've finally got the plants dug up and moved from there, now I just need some fill, sand and stones/bricks of some sort. And lots of time and muscle of course. But it looks ready and that's a good thing. Oh, and there is my studio again, the next time you see it, it should have a front porch on it. Maybe even by tomorrow!



And that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by to see!

Poppies are Blooming

I love this time of year in my garden. Of course the new lens makes it all the much more fun.

more macro shots

A Custom Order

Another Starfish necklace with watery blue green stones.

Happy Birthday to Me

Frank and Luke got me the micro/macro lens I've been wanting for my birthday yesterday. I'm so happy! I can take pictures my way again - I feel like I have a brand new camera. Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 D - I adore it.

Entry in the Art Bead Scene Challenge

This is my entry in the Art Bead Scene April Challenge "Taking Flight". The gorgeous glass leaf pendant is by Shirley C of Jumping Jack Glass and the glass egg bead was made by me, over a year ago. Thanks for looking!

Playing with Mud

This was actually more fun than I thought it would be - it is like preparing a giant canvas with my kind of textured base... the only thing is now it's giving me new ideas how to paint the walls... trouble, because I really just want to get it done and melt glass, not turn my studio walls into a work of art! (Though that WOULD be fun too...)

Important - Very Bad News

Well. It turns out I did not properly back up my Outlook files and so I've lost 4 years of emails, receipts, files, and contacts. And my Cirque Dreams tickets. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal. But right now, I could just cry.

So... help me out please. If you are reading this and you are a friend who's contact info I should have, please email me with it so I can get both your email address and your info saved again. If you are a customer and are waiting on an email from me, or a piece of jewelry, please send me an email so we can communicate again. Thanks.

Business News

The Blue Between has had major computer problems this week. Everything was backed up and then the computer got f-disked and is starting new. Things are running better, but Outlook doesn't want to get installed and so I'm missing all my email addresses. I owe some people emails and if you are anxious about it, please email me and I'll respond through my webmail until Outlook gets fixed. Sorry for the hiccup!

The good news is while all this was going on, waiting for things to install, uninstall, install, etc... jewelry got made. Here are some of the new necklaces available for sale:











More good news - the Hill Tribe order came in and I have more starfish pendants!

Studio News

The last piece of sheetrock went up last weekend and the hole for the exhaust fan got cut. Frank's work out there is just about done, now it's my turn. I've got to mud the walls next (I'm not sanding, I refuse, so I'm going to make it look old-world and textured like a rustic old cottage), then prime, paint and then figure out the floor.

Proud Moma

Look at Luke - first T-ball game. Isn't he just a natural? Go Mets!

First run around the bases. Made it home and wasn't going to get off home base:



Pitcher:



Catcher:



In the dugout with his team:

A New Way To Do Things

I recently got Robin Atkin's Beaded Treasures Book and then splurged on 12 colors of cord and some happy resin beads to start with. Here's my first attempt at a chunky treasure/garden style bracelet using her technique. I like it a lot because it's a bit faster than the way I've been doing it, and I don't need a needle (and so don't end up with pricked and sore fingers).

Sea Shell Earrings

To go with the Sand and Sea Star Necklace.

Robin's Nest Necklace

An art bead necklace I've been working on for a couple of days. I'm not sure it's quite done, it may get another strand of seed beads. The gorgeous leaf is by Shirley Cook of Jumping Jack Glass, the beautuful etched copper clasp is by Hollie of Blind Cave Fish, and the lampwork egg is by me, made last year and hoarded all this time.