Damselflies and Funky Lizards...two sides of my personality.

I have been visited by these alien looking creatures all week, 

perhaps due to the drop in temperature here in the desert, 

which has been so pleasant. 

Dragonflies have lived on earth for more the 180 million years, 

proving their ability to survive and adapt.  

They are creatures of two realms, water and air. 

I share the love of both, the need for sun and warmth and the freedom of flight. 

 I have always wished and dreamed of flying, 

but silently on delicate wings 

able to stop and hover and soak up the beauty all around me. 

So today 

I closed my eyes and imagined riding a damselfly 

skimming over clear sparkling water, 

hovering over the garden wall to choose the most beautiful flower to rest upon. 

Her iridescent wings refracted the sunlight 

creating a dazzling display of light and color all around me.  

The moment was magic 

but sadly illusive 

as are the last lingering days of summer. 

One tear shed for the end of summer's glory

One sigh as the heat wanes,

One smile,

 for the colors of autumn foretell

the promise of winter slumber

like a bedtime story. 

Okay, 

Now, on to the business of Mr. Lizard!!

I am shaking the tin full of tiny slips of paper with all your names on them!!!!

Here we go:

The winner of 

Your Choice of my Steam Punk Pendants is........

CONGRATULATIONS

Julianna Cannon!!!

 of

click Jul's Beads
 to take a look at her gorgeous and incredible lampwork glass beads!!! 

Jul's name for Mr. Lizard:

Meet "Chaz"  the Macho Bedazzled Lizard of Las Vegas.

 Perhaps 

I will just have to make more lizards 

so they can each have one of your very creative names! 

Thank you all for participating.

 Julianna, 

please email me your shipping info 

and a description of the pendant you would like to have.

Look at my Sunday, August 15th post to see your choices.  

Mr Lizard with his coat of many colors!!

Meet Mr. Lizard-

Sometimes my imagination goes to places I have never been before.  

This wonderful prop he is scaling 

I rescued from my neighbor's trash on Monday.  

It is the skeleton of a dead cactus- so cool!!

I haven't watched any of the Discovery Channel's Dinosaur programs, 

I haven't seen any lizards this summer 

but 

there is a slight resemblance to my dog, 

Durango 

with whom I have spent a lot of up close time 

trying to get him to let me brush his teeth. 

Which really is quite hilarious!

Durango rarely seen without his ball in tote.

Back to Mr. Lizard.

He needs a very special name.  

So here is the challenge- 

Put on your most creative thinking cap and send me what you think 

is his most appropriate name.  

I will write your suggestion on a small piece of paper,

 put it in my specially selected canister with all the others, 

and on Wednesday, Sept 1st shake, shake, shake and choose one.  

The person whose name is randomly chosen 

will win their choice of my steam punk pendants-

(sorry the big chunky one will not be included) 

Any of the bird, steam punk or ocean resin bottle cap pendants are eligible as a prize. 

Go to my August 15th post to see the pendants.

Tiny Visitors...

   

This is just so weird in a very cool way!  

I posted a picture I collected off the internet of a praying mantis 

to evoke my manic state the week before my first Arts and Crafts Fair.  

Guess who greeted my husband at the front door Friday night? 

My husband was so impressed by this tiny visitor that he called me out to see him. 

He was in a little fern bush right by my front door and looked right into the camera at me.  

I didn't have time to set up my tripod so it's a tad blurry. 

This is the first time we have ever seen a praying mantis here in Las Vegas 

and it has been so hot I don't know how he can survive.  

He turned to get back to work but when I went in to get my tripod 

and came back out he was gone.

A dear friend gave me a wonderful book- "Animal Speak". 

It is a dictionary of Animal, Bird and Reptile Symbolism.  

Whenever I have one of these little close encounters I get it out. 

"Mantis" comes from the Greek word meaning "Prophet".

The Mantis represents the Power of Stillness.  

He is found in mythology and ancient lore especially in China and Africa. 

Stillness is everything from contemplation, meditation to sleep, dreams, 

accessing prophetic events and even death.

The lesson of the Praying Mantis is that by stilling the outer 

we can strengthen and empower ourselves from within.

That was a very clear message for me. 

My outer gets way too busy and I loose my inner peace and wisdom.

 Sure enough I remembered my dreams over the weekend 

and had solutions and ideas for new creations in them. 

Who has visited you lately from the natural kingdom?  

I would be happy to share a little information from this book with you about your tiny visitor,

perhaps you will be able to hear the animals speak to you too!

Mt Charleston Fair, Steam Punk Adventure and more....

Large Steam Punk Pendant
I am finally getting around to playing with 
my Steam Punk Resin pieces.
But First:

The Mt Charleston Fair
(click to see a picture of the beautiful hotel)
was really fun!  

It was a great venue for all of our Handmade In Vegas Etsy Team shops. 

The hotel is rustic and beautiful and fortunately I was inside 

so I missed the deluge of rain and wind some of our people had to deal with. 

I loved meeting people face to face and seeing what items attract them. 

The thrill of a comment like: 

" I just have to have that!! 

It's wonderful."

Chain Gang Set

Calliope of Color Set

 or 

"This is not just 

jewelry,

it is jewelry art!"

I was pleasantly surprised

 to have quite a few

 of my hand knit 

and 

crocheted items sell.  

My free form crochet

Squirrel's Treasure

Purse 

found a new home.                                     

(Aside- Those were some of my older pictures- 
I can see quite an improvement in my picture taking this year)

Squirrel's Treasure Purse Front and Back

I added a large polymer clay button, 

beaded tie and a fabric lining complete with pockets.

All in all it was a very pleasant experience, I made some money 

and I would like to participate in more arts and crafts shows.

Now,

On to the steam punk pieces....

I poured a large batch of resin into little bottle caps, some of my polymer clay pieces

and as it started to thicken I needed to use up the remainder quickly 

so

this very large pendant used up the resin.

There are all kinds of watch parts and a big rusty key and copper micro beads

 in this recycled mint tin.

I found a very chunky brass chain to hang it on on there you go:

My first "Man Bling"!!

The smaller pendants are wonderful too. 

 

I could sell them on very simple neckwires 

great unisex attire

but I think I will play around this week with more elaborate 

designs for some of them.

Here are some of the Steam Punk variety close up:

I also did some ocean theme pieces 

                                       

one of these sold at the Fair

and 

Poppy Seed Heads I had from my WA garden

                                       

Thanks again to Christine over at 

A Hot Piece of Glass 

for her great advice on how to attach the bails to these caps. 

The 2 part epoxy was easy and the bails are very secure.

Visit her blog for wonderful glass art, mixed media and more. 

That's all for today- Happy Sunday!! 

Heather

The Praying Manic

July brought the following to me: 

a week vacation at Redondo Beach with my wonderful sister and family, 

my niece coming home with me for a week so I could play Mommie for a bit, 

health issues don't care to share lost 4 days , 

Jury Duty lost 2 more days 

... and 

my first Craft Fair at Mt. Charleston Resort tomorrow, Sunday Aug 8th 10 am-4 pm.  

I am both excited and terrified I will never be ready.  

So I am off to continue creating my inventory on excel 

creating my display boards and tagging items.  

I can't believe how much wonderful stuff I have created in the last 4 years.  

I hope it sells so I don't have to drag it all back home. 

This is me today "The Praying Manic" 

(purposely miss spelled) 

Please ask the Fair Fairy to be good to me, I will owe you a favor.  

After the fair I will try to be more active here.  Join in the award game .... 

I have so many favorite Bloggers now after participating in the Bead Soup Challenge 

it will be very hard to pick only 7! 

Raggedy Bags!!!

My latest stash busting project has been making what I have named: 

"Raggedy Bags". 

 

I have seen bags and rugs made from braided fabric strips. 

But I haven't seen my technique out there yet.

I crochet 1" strips of fabric that are tied together with square knots. 

This one has an adjustable fabric handle and one of my polymer clay buttons.

Here I added one of my resin faces. 

The bags are also reversible.  

The side in the picture has all the knots 

and the inside is knot free!

They are very sturdy, colorful, machine washable

 and meant to fray and distress a little so 

DO put them in the dryer they just get better and better. 

I use mine to carry things like my wet bathing suit home from pool parties,

 produce from the market, 

anything that needs a soft and washable bag to cushion it.  

I plan on making zippered pouches with a coordinating fabric 

so valuables will not sneak out the natural holes in the crocheted cloth.

AND the winner is...mysterious guitar glissando......

Congratulations Sharon!!! 

You won the earrings!! 

Please send me your address and I will mail them to you tomorrow! 

Thank you everyone for your comments and have a great week. 

I am going on a little vacation to LA, Redondo Beach to see my sister and family.  

Be back next Wednesday.