Waiting.....

Finally home, my little bird under wing

waiting was so hard I couldn't even sing

her broken heart I fiercely defend

and gently sooth until the pain ends

what ugly beast would do such harm

to my little bird now home and warm

A bag for your worries

 a bag for your cares

a bag for your tarot

a bag for your wares

a bag full of colors

and textures to feel

a bag for your magic 

with which you can heal. 

New item in my etsy shop- 

click HERE to see more. 

Out of Town.

Hello my friends, I am out of town and away from my computer from Wednesday, Sept 29th through Friday Oct 8th.  I will get back with you hopefully that weekend and catch up on all my email ect.
I have important family business to attend to. Hope you all have a wonderful time while I am away.

What have I been doing.... creating and more creating...

All this week I have been slaving over my McElligut's Pool quilt 

to prepare for entering it in the Road to California Quilt Show.  

The deadline is looming and I decided to take the binding apart and redo it. 

Lots of stitch pulling and trimming and hopefully the binding over all the curved edges 

will lay smoothly. 

I cannot post pictures of it until after the show so I am sorry you can't see it.  

It will be worth the wait, I promise.

Earlier this month I finally made it to my Polymer Clay Guild Meeting

 and my wonderful teacher, mentor and friend Karin 

gave a demo on how to make Worry Dolls.  

This doll idea is thought to have originated in Mayan culture. 

Click here to read the story of their creation and magic. 

I have some of the little cloth dolls that are still made in Guatemala in my stash

but Karin taught us how to make hollow bodied dolls from clay. 

The reason they are hollow and the head can be removed

 is so that you can write down your worries and put them inside. 

The magic your worries are gone!  

Here is my first attempt.

Her 50"s hairdo makes me laugh, more good medicine for worriers. 

Her head is formed on a  toothpick which is completely covered with clay 

and inserts into the open neck.

I am planning on making a lot of these for the Holidays.  

My first batch will have wings.  "Worry Angels".

I am working in my head on designs 

so that they can be worn as jewelry 

or hung on the wall or even a Christmas tree. 

Come back for more about these in October. 

In the meantime I have more Tarot Bags and they will be in my Etsy Shop this weekend.  

The name Tarot because the first one I made I use to carry my Tarot Deck and book in. 
Of course you can use them for any purpose.

These are so fun and relaxing for me to make.  

I love just playing with the different colors and textures of the yarns. 

I am completely spontaneous when creating them 

so each one has it's own shape, size, fringe and color combination. 

 I have added beads and my handmade polymer clay pieces to many of the bags.

Here is a little indian summer piece. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

  

Autumn is almost here in Las Vegas...

Fall in Las Vegas is a breath of fresh air.  

We have just finished enduring anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks of triple digits 

and although the occasional 103 or 4 may be reached the night time cools everything down.  Unfortunately the pool cools too and our blood is so thin now 

that 69 degrees feels like the glacier waterfalls we would jump into 

up in Washington State because we were young and crazy. 

I love when we can open the windows at night and feel the cool fresh air.  

So 

 I am switching my color palette to those warm autumn hues. 

This art quilt, "Autumn Dreams"  has been in my Etsy shop for awhile

but I just redid the pictures and it looks so much better photographed outside. 

 

I love all the texture I was able to achieve with the yo-yos, halloween burn out fabric, free-motion quilting

and silk leaves and flowers. 

The gold and variegated threads really show up in sunlight and the angle makes a difference.

  I took a Tarot class a few years back and still use my two decks. 

I have been making Tarot bags like my own with fall colors. 

 I have a very dear friend who has a September birthday who received one 

and here is another with lighter shades added. 

Football season has commenced and so my husband, 

a avid Patriots Fan watches all the shows 

so I  have been pretending to watch while I stitch up 

lots of crocheted fingerless gloves 

(in my "Tom Brady Shirt" for good luck).  

They will be ready for 

The Mt. Charleston Fair #2 

on November 21st from 10-4 pm 

for my local friends. 

Hope to see you all there we might even have a little snow!!

I handmade the buttons from polymer clay and used alcohol inks to make them look like ceramic buttons.

I added my own twist to a very fun and feminine version 

of a pattern from Crochet Magazine Sept 09 issue.

There is a lot more I have been doing but I am going to save some for my next post!  

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

On the wings of an angel....

Just wanted to share a giveaway my partner, Emanda, 

from Bead Soup is having over at her Blog.

Her are the goodies- go sign up- Wings

Don't be a fool!! They are gorgeous! 

On the other hand if you don't 

I have a better chance of winning some wings.

I've always wanted to fly!! 

Kokopelli Inspired Jewelry Set

I have been dreaming about this necklace since I visited Evie and Beth 

over at EB Bead and Metal Works blog and saw 

the wonderful little enameled kokopelli pendants they created.  

Had to have one and I was so excited when it came in the mail.

 I am a musician and majored in music playing the flute in college.  

Kokopellis have special meaning to me the magic of music is part of their trickster nature.  

To learn more click HERE.

I wanted to make a tiny flute 

and 

beads that express the Southwest to surround this little fellow with color.

Inspired by the black and lilac enamel colors 

I added fire in my polymer clay beads, a mix of metallic red and gold 

because I always think of kokopellis as playing around a camp fire at night.  

If you look closely you see black burning logs, 

eternity beads purposely uneven and rustic, 

and 

fibers woven in to suggest the clothing one may wear.  

I wire wrapped the pendant to hang it in an antiqued copper odd shaped ring 

and wired the spray of tubular beads below to imitate native american style jewelry.  

I had enough related beads to also create a bracelet to match.

I have been inspired by the works of Stephanie HERE is her blog.

You will see how her use of fiber and unusual beads inspired this bracelet.  

I even used some garden wire which comes wrapped in raffia to make the bead in the front of this picture.

I especially enjoyed making my donut beads you see one behind wire wrapped to the copper ring. 

They all polished up really nicely so a total of two long days of labor is finally ready to share.

Enjoy this Labor Day Weekend!!

I am very happy with how this came out, 

especially the color combination.  

Thanks to Evie and Beth for the inspirational little guy!! 

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.