Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
Been really busy lately, what with preparing for Halloween and now gearing up for Christmas... But for today it's about tonight's holiday! We've got the candy ready for the kiddies (the good stuff, chocolate and whatnot, not those Smarties, I hate those!), though we didn't decorate much this year. Work's been very hectic, so it suddenly dawned on me Thursday night that this was Halloween weekend. Yesterday was all about running errands and some sidetracking from my new Farmville farm (thanks peers and your pressure :P).
So in the spirit of things since I didn't decorate at home, I'm going to mention someone who makes some very cool paper goods for the holidays, and this one was no exception. Her name is Jamie, and the crafty woman behind She's Batty Designs on Artfire.com. She made a really cool haunted house card with a family of ghosts, but somebody snapped it up before I could get to it or snag a photo. The one pictured above is still available, and you can check out her other neat stuff at the address in the corner of the photo, or by clicking here: She's Batty Designs. Show some Halloween love and go on over! She's even offering free shipping for the next 2 months... :)

Autumn is Here!

So what will you miss about summer?

Autumn is indeed here, and I'm pretty happy about it. The studio isn't air-conditioned, so it's sooo much nicer to be sitting in front of a torch when it's cool outside. It really is. I'm happy :)

With the fall comes harvest festivals, a great season of craft fairs, holiday shopping, and careful planning for all of us, I'm sure. I'm going to try to send out Christmas cards again this year, but I think I'm writing them over the next few months and then having them all ready-to go before Dec. 1. When do you actually put them in the mail though?

Paul and I are working on making our glass display a bit snappier, so look forward to those changes. I've got some new designs too, so our season is just beginning. It's exciting, but what I'd really like is a comment or two on this blog post ;) SO Share with us!

Now that the sweltering summer heat is mostly gone, what is the best thing about summer that you'll miss till next May?

Birthday Fun!

Yay, it was my birthday! So now I'm old enough to know better, but still young enough to be out after it gets dark... though not much longer ;)

Paul and I had lots of fun this week (Birthday Week is a tradition with the two of us). I got new glass colors such as a lovely pink, a purple and sky blue, among others. There just aren't a lot of bright pretty colors in Boro that are easy to work with, so this was a nice treat as long as I baby the colors in the flame...

We also had a great time visiting the Arboretum (probably the LA one, it's in Pasadena) with our Aunt, and that was a real treat. There are lots of cool plants, trees and animals there, and we got to see some cute squirrels foraging, peacocks avoiding the hands of small children, and very adorable turtles (maybe box-variety) swarming in a pond. Despite the heat, the animals were out and doing what they do best. Well, I'm assuming that's what they do best; I know peacocks aren't that good on a unicycle, anyway. Squirrels do water-ski though, so...?

Here's a photo taken on my phone (non-Iphone, I'm afraid) of a waterfall on our hike back down to the Peacock Cafe.

Folks were also wishing me a happy B-Day on my Facebook, but I'm afraid I'm just not young enough to be fluent at FB yet... Oh well. I can always tweet about it, right?
Oh yeah, and to top off the birthday week this evening, I found my first non-brown hair. I was hoping it was a cat hair that just somehow made it to the top of my head at the part, but it was confirmed by Paul that no, it is indeed attached, and yes, it's lacking pigment... *sigh.* I think it's due to my exciting job, so maybe I should start looking at retirement, yes? :)

I'm watching golf...

And apparently it's not common for Tiger to be behind, but lo and behold Y.E. Yang is in first place. No, I normally wouldn't be watching golf on tv, but hubby has convinced me it's interesting for now, and I'm taking a break from the studio for a few minutes anyway.

Relaxing, wearing my Cool-Tie (Thanks Linda L.!) but I think I need to rinse it out... It's an awesome little crafty invention that has gel inside it to hold cool water against my neck, thus enabling me to pursue my flamework passion later in the day. It's actually quite nice outside, but for some reason I'm still hot, so enter the Cool-Tie. Anyone else enjoying this lovely weather?

Ooh, come on Tiger, this 16th hole eludes you, but you can catch up! I know, the game will be over before I finish this blog post, but we recorded it so I don't want to look and spoil it for Paul.

Show Update: We started participating in the Riverside Certified Farmer's Market, and we really like it. The management is great, organization seems flawless, and lots have vendors have been really nice and helped make us feel welcome. I like having a booth in our own city, and packup is at 12n, before it gets sweltering here. Customers have all been nice, I think the best crowd we've had yet :) Plus we've learned a lot from participating in other shows so far this year, so we know what to expect and are fairly good at setting up our booth now. Paul is really fantastic for setup and breakdown, and he's a good boss. He's got it down to a science, perhaps an art. I know, I'm very fortunate to have such a sweet beast-of-burden ;) And he's cute, too!

Beginning Hole 18: It's so close! Yang by 1...

Artfire and Salsa!

Good evening! Today's topics: Salsa and my new love: Artfire!
I'm on a salsa-making kick, and this new batch tonight is #8 in the last month or so. I toned down the onion and garlic for Paul, but it's still pretty good. I'm so into fresh salsa now it's ridiculous. I'm off to make the new batch of enchiladas after I post this...

On to my new love, Artfire. I've been on Etsy for less than a year and am already sold on Artfire's upgrades since I checked in out in December. It was a bit clunky then, but has since made serious improvements with cool new features still on the way. It is still a very young site, but already has addressed Etsy.com's shortcomings in its first year of existence.


I've set up shop over there and put most of my attention into it these days. I had a problem with a buyer's shipping fee and they had addressed my concern on the forum on a Thursday night within 6 minutes of posting. This is Staff we're talking about, being responsive and helpful. They got to the root of the problem and even have a phone # you can call during regular business hours. It's my new home on the web, since you can also link to your blog and other online goodies straight from your online Fusion Studio :) We've even got an updated website: http://www.shepherdcreations.com , and the Online Shop link takes you to our Artfire.com shop. Very cool. They are a great asset to handcrafters everywhere, and I hope you check it out after being here. Thanks!

Handcrafted Holidays: Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day!

To all the fathers out there, Happy Father’s Day! Now don’t say we never gave you anything : ) . We already called both our fathers and should see them within the next month or so, traffic permitting (one’s a trucker). The other one we should see near our next show, and his birthday is coming up. Our family is one that lumps celebration occasions together: We’re efficient! So, that will be coming soon, as we also don’t feel the pressures of society to celebrate all at once like the masses…Conformists… Hallmark didn’t win this round :P Oh, and now that we’re into Etsy we have access to all kinds of handmade wonderful cards. I’ll be stocking up soon in time for the birthday/Christmas rush.


Well, today is more or less for resting, as we got lots of yardwork done yesterday and some great glass pieces that included some wicked flowers and a cute flower brooch. It’s summer, so yard-inspired glass is where it’s at. The apricots are juicy and delicious, and the plums are not far behind. Peaches, well I think those don’t usually ripen till July anyway, but we’re waiting with baited jam jars… Paul made some great medium salsa the other day, but we went through 40 ounces of that in a heartbeat (a week), so now if I want to make enchiladas I’d better whip up a batch of my own. Again, have a great Father’s day and visit Etsy for handmade cards to express how thoughtful you can be that won’t be mass-produced as 50,000 other dads are reading the same card… lol. Here are some of my favorite shops for cards so you have options for the next holiday:


All Handcrafted Goodies, Too:
Ideadesigns Lovely Cards, Invites and Scrapbooking Bits
Freedom To Express Beautiful Photo Cards
Farouche Personalized Cards, Tags, and Notes

Peaches! Oh the glorious peach tree… Every year since 2004, our peach tree has been a strong producer that brightens up the whole garden. The jasmine and lilies can be languishing under unruly tangles of weeds and that peach tree will still be going strong, with a load of delicious freestone fruit. They’re fantastic for eating right off the tree, but not the best peach variety for pies (though we’ve made them anyway), because they are very soft and juicy. They do lend themselves very well to jam, however, as our friends and neighbors can attest. Sweet, sweet peach tree.


Plums… Yes the plum tree has also been there all along, through rainy seasons and dry spells, through my bleeding heart sympathy days that didn’t allow Paul to cut it back much that first year or two before I finally agreed it was best for the tre… It’s stood by us, and the peach tree. This year there isn’t much fruit (we may have thinned it out a little too well) but the ones that are on it are looking BIG and the first one to be eaten so far was delicious. Its little sister the Pluot tree is still doing very well too, with a bigger load than any tree in the yard in only its second year. This 60+ year old soil is just the bees knees ;)


Apricots – see the buggers are already trying to get to them! We love the birds, but come on, fruit season only comes once a year for us. Paul suggested a seed-filled decoy at the far end of the yard, and we might just do that. Foil strips are looking good, mylar perhaps? I’m told something that is reflective and flaps in the breeze will scare off birds. These are our garden's very first avocadoes ever! The photo that follows is representative of what happened to ALL of the nectarines…*Sigh.* There’s always next year. Nectarines :(

A jalapeno just tempting me…to make it a jalapeno on-a-stick! Destined for yummy salsa soon…

There were a few critters about in the garden, but that's for another blog post, maybe next time?