Happy New Year!

Well I was absent for the holidays, (sorry) but you know how it is when real life gets too busy to keep up with your online one ;)

This holiday season was a busy one for Paul and I, with lots of shows and some quality family time squeezed in for good measure. Our niece enjoyed Christmas as kids do, and good times were had by all... we have a new Hot Chocolate device to try out from Williams Sonoma, now I just have to wait for some cold weather again. It was oddly warm today, around 76*, which was great for yardwork but not for hot cocoa. Well, we use the hand we're dealt, right? :)

I trust many people made New Year's resolutions? I typically don't, because it has always seemed like a half-ass thing to do (making a resolution simply because the calendar year has reset itself), but this year we were feeling strangely nostalgic, and wanted to mark the occasion with some goals that we'll be held accountable for later. This year will be for physical fitness -- not simply weight loss, which was pretty well accomplished in the past year, but actual fitness. I've spent many hours and trips to the library building my knowledge of nutrition and good foodstuffs, and now it's time to put that knowledge to use.

The show season didn't allow me to cook much ('twas all about Lean Cuisines and pre-made items), so now I must make up for it. I've always got this grand scheme of preparing a food menu for the week/month, but it has never come to fruition. Perhaps I just don't know how I want to organize it. If anyone has a bright suggestion about how they plan their food for the week based on available fresh groceries with deadlines, please share :) I read Woman's Day for a few years but still didn't osmosify the secrets of the kitchen universe and all things organized. I have (and use!) a labelmaker though, doesn't that count for something?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Sunday! Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and there's still loads to be thankful for :) Before I go into discussing where we'll be right after Thanksgiving, let me first say that Paul and I are very fortunate people. Sure the job situation isn't where we'd like it to be, but we have a wonderful marriage, loving and supportive family, great cats, a nice home with lots of fruit trees, a full glassblowing studio, working vehicles, 3 good computers, and more. It's a lot to be thankful for, really. I know it's easy to lose sight of what we all have and what we really "need," so it's good that Thanksgiving rolls around right before we give gifts to others :)

This year (like all years) will again be spent with family in Murrieta, and we're bringing the mashed potatoes... I'm always on mashed potato duty because I make them a certain way: creamy but not homogenized, sauteed onions, garlic, parmesan, sour cream, oregano, butter, and pepper. Ingredients, if I'm forgetting any one of you, don't worry, I'll remember you on Thursday when it counts ;). We always make a ton, and Paul helps mash them (he's both the brains and the muscle in this operation). Fortunately for all involved, after our family meal we split up the leftovers, and we get enough yummy turkey and fixins to enjoy the next 2 days. Which makes me want to digress...but I'll wait a moment. This is a spirit-filled time of year, so let's take a moment for reflection and appreciation.....done yet? No? Ok, another minute or so.....

OK! So where will you be after Thanksgiving? Will you brave out into the malls and stores for Black Friday deals? Do you have cleats and mace ready? Just kidding, but it's still always bad enough to keep us away :). We try to do most shopping online, since it's actually good for the environment, you know USPS and the UPS trucks are going to drive by your house anyway...
Plus since we've joined ArtFire, we've met a lot of sweet and very talented artists and crafters with quality goods who we'd really like to support. Vote with your dollar, I'm voting for the cottage industries of America :).

Anyway, where we'll be is the Norco Hillside Farm Christmas Art & Craft Show! We're really excited, as this is a long-standing show in its 25th season, run by people that donate nearly all the proceeds to different charities, and even bake cookies for the months before the show to sell and raise money for another charity. I hear those cookies are pretty tasty, too... Anyhow, we'll have a booth there among many other talented handcrafters and artists, and we hope to do well. It's a 5-day affair, running November 27th-29th, then December 5th-6th. We're going to be exhausted! Wish us luck?

On to our Handcrafted Holiday feature for Thanksgiving!

Keep this in mind for next year, it's adorable AND made from real leaves!
This and the one below are arrangements by New Hampshire Woods Creations, floral designer Allison Kelley.
See the Pinecone Wreath with a Twist below, too, she makes some really cool arrangements from plants and trees, and she grows some of them herself.

This is pretty interesting, and would be a great festive addition to any wall or door. The stars are cut birch bark. I like this design because I've had wreaths that shed over the years (in storage, when a door it's hanging on closes, etc.), and this one doesn't look like it would drop anything, functional and lovely!

If you'd like to see more of Allison's creations, please visit her at New Hampshire Woods Creations.

Well, it's been fun chattin, but we need to get back to work today, big show coming up! Thanks for taking the time to read our blog, I hope you enjoy it :) Come back soon, won't you?

Artfire Trade & Stay Event!

Good evening! This one wraps up the first day of the Artfire open Trade & Stay event, that runs from November 1 to November 7, and is open to all members. You can see the thread here: http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?mop=modload&name=Chatterbox&file=viewtopic&topic=21314&forum=11&start=0

I've already gotten to trade for some great hand sewn pouches, one a clutch :) and a neat doodle pouch for my niece, like this one:

I also am trading for some lovely prints by original artist Laura Malinor, my favorite here:

Check out the thread if you're interested in bartering, otherwise just check out these great vendors because they have lovely goodies that I'd pay money for if I had it! :)

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...