Treasure Necklace

Here it is! It's the wonderful necklace that I finally produced after my class with Robin Dudley-Howes at Gilding the Lily in Fullerton.

The script underneath the butterfly is copied from one of Grandma Seastrand's postcards. I was the recipient of her very own collection {from her childhood, circa 1900-1910}. {And, I would never deface one of them! I promise! I only photocopy them!}

. . .as is the postmark under this butterfly {from one of her postcards}. Robin supplied each of us with a few scraps of paper from which to choose the words to narrate our projects. I liked 'bide' for the butterfly. As it turned out, I seem to have used several butterfly images, and pardon me if I go and get all ethereal on you, but really, just imagine the butterfly as it bides it's time in the chrysallis, just imagine . . .
{It looks like maybe I was feeling a little bit ethereal that day, and maybe today, too.}

This wonderful little bottle {about 1 1/2"tall} is filled with German glass glitter and a pearl. The bottle's own serendipitous words read, "classic elegance". Don't you just love the word "Serendipity"?


. . . also a vintage image, this grand beauty. The charms are an assortment of nifty little finds like a sparkly green stone that I wore on my charm bracelet when I was a little girl. {I remember when Mom bought it in a jewelry store on Guam.} There are bits of old broken jewelry that I have been holding on to, and an old button cut from deer antler that all the guys at the antique fair thought was likely American Indian. It is lovely {If I do say so myself!} and I love it!

Coming Soon! 100th Post Giveaway!

I'm closing in on post number 100! You know what that means, don't you? The 100th post is celebrated with a handmade give-a-way! Now, I dabble in just about everything, so the possibilities are pretty nearly endless. Nine more posts, that's it! I'll decide between now and then, but I'm kind of leaning towards jewelry. What do you think? I guess I'm going to have to break down and load my photos onto someone else's computer to get this done! Maybe for a celebration, I'll just buy a new computer.

Time should pass quickly, there is so much going on! SO much to write about! Within the next thirty days; 1.) We will decorate a nursery; 2.) Our first Granddaughter will arrive to join our three Grandsons; 3. & 4.)We will have a Bridal Shower and a College Graduation Party; 5.) Our youngest son will marry; 6.)We'll have eight birthdays {at least, if I'm counting right} {including mine!}; 7.) We'll celebrate Fathers' Day, and . . . and . . . There must be more, there are still days on the calendar without commitments! Have to be oversights!

So . . .I'm thinking the giveaway will be . . .maybe . . .a pearl necklace, or maybe a silver bracelet, or maybe a necklace made with the new technique that I learned when I took the class from Robin Dudley-Howes, down at Gilding the Lily in Fullerton.

Here's how the giveaway will work . . . starting now, comment on a post, and I will put all of your names into a hat and draw a name three days after the 100th post! {Only one entry per post will count though. So theoretically, you can enter nine times if you comment on each post from now till Number 100!} I'll follow the comment link back to you for notification. If I'm not able to {for instance if you don't have a blog}, you'll need to check back to see if you've won. Sound good?

My Life Sans Computer . . .sigh

Hi! I'm back! Sort of . . . No pictures yet . . . still not using my own computer . . . sigh . . . but I may break down and load them onto Sam's tomorrow. What a month! What a week!

No baby yet! Apparently, we did bedrest right. {Yes, "We". This has become a team event.} She is nearing full term.

Let's see, since I wrote . . .hmmm . . .Mark spent about a week in Santa Barbara at the forest fire. I am so happy to have him home again. It was getting so lonesome. He was especially anxious for a real bed and other {ahem} homestyle amenities.

Sam and Amy (Amy's sister, too) graduated from the University. . . Summa cum laude. What can I say? I am so very, very proud of them! Then you know, sometime after the wedding, they'll be off to Seminary.

My Mother drove down to the graduation with me, and we had the most wonderful time! I bought our room on Priceline, so what we get is always a little surprise, and as usual, it was wonderful! The Radisson Suites in West Covina. Beautiful, comfortable, a twenty minute drive from the University, just great! And the restaurant, mmm mmmm.

In March, I had been scheduled to take a class from Robin Dudley-Howes, but at the last minute, I was unable to make it. And, you know, LA is quite a drive from California's Central Valley, so you can imagine that I was absolutely thrilled when she wrote to tell me that she was opening up a class the day after the graduation! Mom attended with me while Sam tried to cram his apartment into my pick-up, err . . . pack, I mean, pack.

Robin's class was SO worth the effort! When I have photo ability again, I'll show you what I made, in the meantime, here's a link.

Came home for a night then flew up to Seattle the next morning to assist with our niece's wedding. Which, by the way, was beautiful! It was sweet and personal and intimate and very spiritual. It was lovely, positively lovely.

I arrived back home sick, sick, sick. Asthma. Oh my Goodness, I'm sick. May be that I just can't take this activity level any more, sheesh. My Grandma always says, "It's no shame, getting old, but it sure is mighty un-handy".

I need to be well, up and around ASAP. I have another wedding scheduled this weekend. I think they expect their florist to produce! Silly people.

It's all so crazy and it's positively wonderful. Here we are; waiting for the baby, counting the days till Sam and Amy's wedding, wanting to be well, ahh . . .what a blessed year it is! And all of it without my computer! Just waiting for one more part!

And there is more! So much more. Oh, what a wonderful life! We are so Blessed!