Key Lime Pie

So here is my first attempt at making Key Lime Pie with Meringue! Turned out pretty yummy! I gave one to Ralphie for his B-Day and for helping me when my battery died. And I kept the other one for me and Troy. Not bad for someone who NEVER bakes!!!

Metal Clay World Conference

"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, I will answer you: I am here to live out loud."

-Emile Zola

I attended the Metal Clay World Conference for the past three days. I meet women and men from all over the world; seasoned jewelery makers, teachers & artists. I met people who inspired me & reinforced my belief that I am on the right track in finding my life's passion; and on the right road to living creatively ever after.

I was a little disappointed in some of the classes, however others totally inspired me. My mind is going in a million circles right now, I may not get on here and post much in the coming days. I'm going to try to be busy living out loud!

Poor Little Boy

Little Boy had to have another growth removed, this time from his hind ankle. No surgery this time, just a little local to numb the area. Thank goodness it was benign.

He's such a little fighter! Here are some pics from his last surgery. He had a hard time recovering with this surgery. But he was back to his good old self in about a week.

I had to put a picture of Piggy on here, he's just a resilient old fart.

Just as stubborn, lazy & sleepy as usual.

11 And Still in Love

Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy Ani-vers-ary!

We have been married for 11 years!!!

I LOVE YOU CHIMPY!

Check out our engagement photo from 11 years ago!

My favorite picture from our wedding.

Mail Packaging

Okay so I got a little creative with packaging the gifts and thought I'd show 'em off!

After I made the jewelry cards I wrapped them in tissue and made a cute little sticker with my sticker maker.

Then I put them in these cute little silver bags and tied a pretty white ribbon around them.

Jewelry Cards

I've sent out a couple of gifts and made jewelry cards for them with card stock & scrap booking papers. I've always believed that the presentation of an gift is almost as important as the gift it's self, so I always try to have pretty wrapping even if I have to send it in the mail.

The earring card was the easiest to make; the bracelet card was the hardest.

These are two necklace cards that I made the blue one is the first one I made and the black one is the second one I made and turned out much better.

Betty had matching boxes for all of her glass pieces when I went to her show & I got this beautifully blingy green box to match the Tulip pendant! Beautiful Betty!

Garage Sale Finds

I got these from a Garage Sale, I bought them because I liked them and thought that at the very least I could take them apart and use them in other jewelry. I think I paid either $1 or $2 for the necklace & each pair of earrings. I was going to start taking them apart and I thought to myself...."I should look at these and see if they have any markings"....so I got out my magnifying lens and sure enough a couple pieces had some markings!

These earrings have a marking of Coventry on them, when I did a quick search the only thing I could find was a Sara Coventry, not sure if it's the same designer, but the earrings look similar to some of her work and so does this necklace. Not real gold, but quality costume jewelry.

These earrings are sterling and are marked so, they are also marked Danecraft. A quick search revealed that the stones are most likely glass. Again, quality costume jewelry. They are beautiful earrings, and I'll probably keep them as is or perhaps try to convert them to pierced from the clipon style and wear them.

These are some other earrings I found there, not sure if it's worth taking to a jeweler to try to find out if they are of any value or not, especially since the rest of the jewelry is only costume.

If anyone knows more about any of this jewelry or an ideas on a way to find out if the studs are valuable or not please leave me a comment! Thanks!

Betty's Glass

I'm so happy that Betty's show at the Flamigo was such a success!!! I bought a couple pieces from her and wanted to share with everyone.
I named the pieces Tulips by Betty & Purple Flower in Snow by Betty. One is a gift and the other is for me.

Jean's Pendant & Earrings

This set was made for my Mother-in-Law's 65th birthday.

The front of the pendant has a CZ set in the center of the flower. The outer ring was hammered and I used Silver Black to antique the piece then burnished the flower to give it some luster. The back is stamped with her name and I attached a heart. I used sterling chain and attached some dark blue/black bead & pearls for the necklace.

The earrings match the center of the pendant and have the same beads and pearls as the necklace only smaller.