roller derby~

a friend is a derby queen. when she changed out some bearings, i was gifted them. now adornment. ~ hand stitched creamy sari silk yarn. antique shell buttons, roller skate bearings, bone and brass drop, hand formed sterling silver findings.

laughing at myself~

coffee ji-ji-jitters! ever have the one cup that you normally have just ruin you? made it too strong today for sure! hahahaha. my bad.

so, back during a break from school i dyed my brown hair black. then school ended and i tried blonde so i could go purple, but it wouldn't take. my lovely girl told me i shoulda stripped it first, but eh, what do i know? so i went red. been fun but i couldn't see the red! everyone else could and commented constantly about HOW RED my hair was. but i couldn't see it. kinda like how i look in the mirror and still see my skinny self. <3

so, school is starting soon and i decided to go back to brown. we can't have the kiddo's distracted by my WAY RED hair, now can we? so, got me a box of brown and it turned my hair BLACK! JET BLACK! so, now what? my husband says it's sexy, my children like it, but what about roots? always gonna be black...guess i have to pay if i want it brown again. :)

with school starting soon and trainings and getting a new classroom set up, imma gonna miss all my creative ~me~ time, as once school starts, my creativity is channeled into making awesome creative lesson plans to keep the kids engaged and growing. now that i'll be teaching second grade instead of middle school, gotta be even more engaging as the big kids are engaged well enough by dialogue, but the littler ones need more external/kinestetic stimulation. brain gym, here we come!

anyway, made some pendants. decided to use up my various sizes of silver wire and made these wrapped pendants. random goodies from grab bags and trades. creamy sari silk yarn  in various lengths. fun, fun. xoxo

~chunky elephant

gonna be a busy day! and here i am all tired and shit. hahaha. i simply haven't recovered yet from our three day camping trip. but it was a beauty trip and perhaps well worth the three day recovery ~i'm on day two. i managed to make some things when i got back. lot's of beads and buttons in these. most of the beads and buttons came from trades and some from an old necklace i dismantled. i made something very delicate and not like me at all! but it looks simply lovely on...got in some bike parts as well as the super chunk.

so, the camping trip was cool. it rained a lot so we cut it short though. but when it wasn't raining we were eating lots of great camp food, everyone sharing what they brought ~steak and asparagus, breakfast burritos, cheeseburgers, pork and tri-tip stews, pancakes with bacon, hot wings with homemade sauce, pasta and pesto with sausage...drooling yet? we were! and there was more to boot.

so 10 of us altogether. it was honey's birthday trip to his favorite mountain biking destination. he rode daily, sometimes three rides as he took the kids out as well as a jen as he knows the trails so well. he and his buds got seriously muddy one day and stayed dry the next while it poured at camp. luckeee! he's the kinda guy who does a 34 mile loop and thinks nothing of doing another right away in a different direction or adding on to it.

i got out once with my friend jen, but fresh puma tracks on the trail had me heading back to camp IMMEDIATELY and i wouldn't go out again. me and mountain lions do not mix nor do me and the bears, but they stayed away. so, being the only scaredy cat, all the rest of the big kids had a built in babysitter for their serious rides. worked out well and all had a blast.

is it beer-thirty yet? cheers!

antique shell buttons with sari-silk wrapped bike chain links~

 front of the chunk~

back of the chunk with button and loop closure. macrame knots with seed beads~

delicate. all mother-of-pearl with seed beads. macrame finish~

inspiration and goodies~

i was thinking last night about all of the lovely little bits that inspire me and make me smile. all because i scored some porcelain doll arms for pennies and immediately went to work.
today i decided to share some of those bits that inspire. funny though, how wandering around and looking at all my humble little collection spots and then looking around my house simply reminded  me that i surround myself with what inspires and makes me smile. ~my family, the screaming angel on the wall, the storyteller, my sewing machine, a bowl of raspberries fresh from the garden, the bees in the bee balm...all sources of inspiration and feel goods. but i'm gonna share anyway, even though i was reminded that we all surround ourselves with what makes us feel good and if we don't, maybe we should rethink.

ah, a collection of purple bottles. many of them i found on hikes and some i purchased because they are so cool! they started out clear and turned purple as they were exposed to the sun. here in the southwest, they turn fast. i moved here with an old clear glass fishing buoy and set it on top of my trailer. within a  year it was purple yet had stayed clear bopping in the water for years on the east coast.

a collection of neutrals from trades with other lovelies. what to do, what to do...

my fav beads. old antique glass and steel. found them  at a funky shop and bought all there was as they were selling for a steal. the glass ones have teenie holes though so difficult to string yet with patience, the end result is worth the strain on the old eyes.

BIKE PARTS!

my foredom.  i can grind, drill, polish, roughen up and do just about anything to any type of material. indispensable and always cause for inspiration. remember ~glass, stone and shell should be drilled under water for safety and the old lubrication reason.

an old tin full of stuff.

                                   an old tin full of lace.

another old tin full of junkly funk to challenge me. i recently decided to go all neutral, which leaves much of my stash sitting, but these can come out to play. i think soon i will reconsider the neutral theme.

some buttons. mop mostly.  found them in the recesses of a cabinet. didn't know i had them! sheesh.

random adornment.

my husband is a landscaper and often comes home with bits of broken glass for me. these are purples and blues. i tumble them with sand and water then drill. fun, fun.

random bits

our bikes. always a source of grins and inspiration. they take us anywhere and i often find cool bits out on bike rides that i wouldn't have found otherwise. 

 mixed media inspires.
and that's all for now. a little tour of goodies from one creator to another. i love looking at what people stash, the creation process and the finished product. keep it coming ladies.
cheers!

moose tooth pin~

i put it up then took it down. just didn't seem finished to me. does now. :)
numinosity tooth from kim. white coral from richelle. sierra nevada pale ale bottle cap tooth cap. hand formed steel wire pin ~sealed with bees wax~ myrrh, white glass, crystal, dentalium shell. sterling silver wire. vintage and contemporary all the way!

so today, i am shopping at the grocers (local challenge is done). simply can't afford the food at the co-op so we decided co-op for local meats and super for the organic other stuff. seriously, $4.00 for a can of organic pinto beans? simply can't do it when it takes two per meal for our family. good thing our local super carries a huge variety of organic, just not in the meat department. have you ever tried local organic meats vs. the super meats? way different flavor! yum.

on the agenda ~homemade raw fruit and nut bars~ and flax crackers in the dehydrator. haven't made them in years and could use an extra shot of omega threes for the old mental health! ;) curried lamb and lentil stew in the crock. gonna be a productive day as more basil arrived form hubby's green house and needs planting as well. cheers y'all!