Making the Best of It

Starting this week, and perhaps continuing for the rest of my life (not really, but it will probably seem like it), I started a serious stint of being Mom's Taxi Service. My younger son is starting high school this year, and we are sending him to a great school- but the one down side is that although it is not so far as the crow flies, I am not a crow, so it takes a chunk of time to get there.

This week he has football conditioning camp from 9-1 4 days a week. Four hours is right on the borderline of it not being worth it for me to go all the way home. I have a part time job as a cashier at The shops at Fabian House for a few of the days. For the remaining days, I needed to find something to do. For the last few seasons, I sat at the field while the boy practiced football, but I feel like he needed me to disappear this year.

Yesterday I wandered a bit aimlessly, but at about 11am it occurred to me that I should go to the library! Perfect place with lovely climate control and free internet! They do not open until 10, so this morning I found a park where I could sit and make some beaded bookmarks. I am going to throw my nice camp chair in the car so I can sit in any shade I can find and sew if I want to. Anyway, I feel pretty good- with my travel mug of coffee and my pb and j sandwich, I will not spend any money today. (Yesterday's wanderings involved a $4 stop at Starbucks. They did have a nice patio with peppy music playing, but I don't want to spend money every time I leave the house!)

Oh, and I have made some progress on my torching! Last night I finished my first ring, and it was also the first bezel I finished all by myself since class. (I sawed up the first attempt because it was too ugly to save.)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to all the dads, papas, fathers out there! Especially to Ed and Bob (the dads in our families). In many of our chats throughout our friendship, we have often agreed that Ed and Bob are keepers! I have a feeling that this year's Father's Day festivities will not involve a lot of money- Ed and Tara are moving into a new home and Bob and I have tuitions to pay for both kids next year- so we are lucky that both guys can appreciate the simple things like having a great time with the kids and enjoying a nice family cookout.

We love you guys!

My Inspiration Pieces for the New House!

My Inspiration Pieces for the New House!
Originally uploaded by mornindew2822

Today was spent daydreaming of things I'll put in my new house when we move next month. Some already belong to me, some we'll be buying and others are pipedreams, LOL!

Our new house is a 1971 one level ranch house with wood paneling, dark cabinet doors, ancient wall to wall carpeting and outdated lighting. The great thing about it is it's an open concept space with a giant fireplace in the center and a picture window on one end and a giant sliding glass door on the other. I am hopeful that this brighter, cleaner color combination will liven up the space and turn it into the beachy chic place I dream it can be!

I think this still fits the theme of our blog because this palette is definitely inspirational to me to be creative and there actually are a few things mixed in that I either made or am planning to use to make something... The basic color palette is white and brown for my grounding pieces (walls, cabinets, furniture) and the pops of color will be turquoise, grannysmith apple green and even a tiny bit of orange. Metals/fixtures will be in the silvertone/brushed nickel family.. What do you think?

You can view each photo in full size on flickr.com- I have included details of what each piece is and where you can buy like items where applicable. I hope I inspire some of you to make something new or spruce up a room in your own home!

Rings and things

A few more pieces I made this week...
green jellybean sea glass ring

green sea glass pendant (I cut out the backing to let light shine through)


white ark shell earrings to match the pendant from the other day

pecten shell pendant

An Afternoon at Scarborough Beach

Took the boys to Scarborough Beach in Narragansett this afternoon. They played remarkably well together, no one cried, no one got hurt and everyone listened to their mama. Not bad!

She sells seashells...

Okay well I guess I've always sold seashells, but now I'm incorporating them into my jewelry pieces- my newest design is a bezel set ark shell. It's set in sterling silver and is about 1 1/4 inches in size. I am going to attempt at least one (maybe two if time permits) more with different shells over the course of this weekend...


If this line takes off, I guess I'll really earn my "Scarborough Seashells" name, lol! People always ask why I'm not "Scarborough Sea Glass"....

Sea Glass Jewelry Displays

fabian house 001
Originally uploaded by magscrafts

Just a quick post to show you the end of the saga of the sea glass jewelry I bought from Tara. I made these displays this week and this is a photo of Tara's jewelry displayed in The Shops at Fabian House.

When life hands you lemons..... make a cake!

Happy Birthday, Ed
Originally uploaded by mornindew2822

The only creative thing I did all weekend was make my hubby's 35th birthday cake.

He always loves to dream up some different cake I've never made before and that is my gift to him. This year was a lemon poppy seed cake with lemon curd filling and a lemony, whipped cream frosting- mmmmm!

New Ventures

Making Jewelry Displays
Originally uploaded by magscrafts

So this week I made some unique jewelry displays (as pictured here!). They were easy to make, using bristol board, wallpaper from a sample book and some little brads meant for scrapbooking. I think they turned out great! I also made some necklace stands- a small size meant to show off pendants.

The reason I made these displays is because this month I am starting to rent a space to sell from in a real life shop- The Shops at Fabian House. I was in there yesterday, getting trained on using the register and setting up my area. One thing is clear- I need more stuff in there! I am free to use things from other areas of the shop to arrange my items on. My area at the moment has a large but low coffee table in it, so we looked around for items that would help me get some height. We brought in a wrought iron shelf, a wooden box and a little mini stool. I think the displays I made look good in there, too. I can't wait until next week when I take in the sea glass jewelry I got from Tara!

I also worked with Tara on a logo for a new venture- my friend Karen and I are partnering up to do some fiber art projects. I put together the logo with some other info and ordered hang tags and business cards for Chickadee Friends Studio. I also got a web address, now I just need to finish the webpage for it.

The next few days I need to be totally dedicated to making bookmarks, as I have a couple of orders now that add up to 84 bookmarks I need to get done! So far I have been getting ribbons ready.

Summer Sea Glass Heads to Maryland!

Summer Sea Glass Heads to Maryland!
Originally uploaded by mornindew2822

Just a sampling of the new pieces I've made up for Maggie- she'll be selling these at a terrific shop in Bowie, MD called Fabian House... wish us luck with our new little collaborative!