Vacation With Saner Sister & The Beast

 So, a couple of weekends ago, Saner Sister and I took "The Beast" (aka Zackery, or Z, or Toad... depending) over to Pismo/Avila Beach area. We stayed at the Sea Crest Motel in Pismo and they are a VERY pet friendly place! By the way, if you decide to stay there, call them direct! Do not use a booking agency. 1) They don't always have all the info you need; the booking agency I got (not realizing it wasn't the hotel itself...duh on me!) first tried to pull a bait-n-switch and get me into another hotel by telling me Sea Crest wasn't pet friendly (and had never been). When I called them on it, they gave me a song & dance about all the pet available rooms being completely booked. (hint: never lie to me when you want my business, I will hang up on you!) I decided to do more research (which included getting the Sea Crest's direct line... it's (805) 773-4608 or (888) 686-7103 to reach them) and found that ALL their rooms are pet friendly! 2) The booking agency doesn't always have the best price. When I called the hotel direct, I ended up saving $20.00 on the per-night price. Nice!

Suffice it to say, we all had a blast! It was only for a couple of days but it was worth it! Here are some pics of the Beast and his first road trip/vacation:

1st day: various tired out nap positions of The Beast: clockwist from top left,
on Saner Sister, still on her bed, in the car on the way TO Pismo, end of day two
he was hiding from the light I hadn't turned off yet, lying on his back and sacked out.

Clockwise from top left: 1st experience with kelp, he loved it; not
sure what all that big, cold wet is but it smells... and is cold; bouncing
around the sand chasing gulls; 1st time the water came up and hit him,
he caught air trying to get away from the cold, chasy thing!; watching
surfers off a pier in Avila... he wasn't sure what to think; meeting new
friends (goldens & a mixed breed); sitting on the pier at Avila; not too
sure of getting close to the foamy, cold, chasy stuff.

Clockwise, top left: checked in and first glimpse of the ocean for
The Beast; selfie w/The Beast & Saner Sister; (again on the pier
at Avila... sorry); still napping on Saner Sister; again with the
new friends (he really liked them); having a ball chasing gulls and
new friends; the look he gave me when I said we were going home.

Just a comparison of this giant puppy (who will be a year old
4/11) from when we brought him home at 2.5 months and when
he was asleep on Saner Sister at 11 months. Quite the change (sigh).

So, that was our vacation. Z had a ball and so did we. Now, back to the old grindstone.

Creative Spark E-Zine & Spring Challenge

A few weeks ago, I mentioned there was a surprise coming up. I may have mentioned beads and Znet Shows (I don't remember at this point) but there were (obviously) beads involved and they were from Znet as a part of a blind Spring Challenge (blind, as in I didn't know what beads I'd be working with until I opened the box they sent). Boy, what a box! It was crammed! It was packed! I got the box and giggled for at least twenty minutes.



A beautiful mix of Spring colors to work with



More....



More....



There were actually a lot more beads than this, and I made a whole bunch'a earrings, but only so many could be entered in the challenge. You see, they were going to be published in their E-Zine, Creative Spark. YES! ME! WOO HOO!! First time I've ever been published for my hobby. I love beads and I love getting free beads to create with. Znet Shows has some awesome beads to play/work with. Please, take a moment to go here to check out their 'zine (I'm featured starting on page 83) and feel free to enjoy the beautiful work of my teammate designers.

Spring Cleaning Challenge

I'm not sure what made me sign up for Sharyl McMillian-Nelson's Spring Cleaning Challenge for your studio but, I did. Sadly, I didn't finish my clean up. Here's what happened.

I am one of those who creates best in a creative mess. Honestly, it just seems to work for me. I didn't get a before shot of my "creative mess" but trust me when I say "mess" was being polite. Yeah. Bad. So I decided to roll up my sleeves and dig in. Oh, and, while I was at it, I was going to move things around. Yeah, that will get me finished EVER so much faster! Anyway, I did think to get a few pictures here and there, so let me share those!

 

Here's the "half-way" point. Notice the sunlight. Yeah. Anyway, it got a lot worse than this before it got better. That walk way to the left was filled with moved stuff before I got everything in place.

Here was the (nearly) completed and rearranged craft room. I actually managed to get the table cleared off later so there was a nice, clean surface to start over on. I have an area specifically for my torch work and clay (when I get braver) work. I have all those nice little drawer sets to put my papers, extra tools, ribbon, etc. in. I even reorganized my bookshelf to hold my wires, special beads and findings as well as books, drawing pads, & paints. Again, notice the (lack of) sunlight? Yeah, took that long. This was, for me, a day-long project. The procrastinator in me can't do bits and pieces over several days, it has to all be at once. If I don't, I can get distracted by all the things I "find" to play with. Remember that ADOS I've mentioned in other posts? Uh huh. (Attention Deficit Ooh! Shiny! for those of you who've not hear me mention it before). I don't think I've ever been so tired in. my. life!

Sadly, I didn't get a shot of the completely clean table top and, not long after, I began a new series of projects that required me to make a mess all over again. Here's what it looks like again (sorry, Sharyl, I know this wasn't exactly what you had mind):

When I'm working, even when I leave my table to return later (that day, another day, whatever) I leave out what I'm working on because, to me, why make the bed when you're getting right back in that night? Yep! I'm that bad! What I'm working on doesn't require everything that's sitting there, but what's sitting there might spark an idea so why fight it?!

Anyway, that's where my table is. The rest of the craft room is still pretty neat from my cleaning spree, but the table is, once again, on it's way to that "creative mess" so many of us live in. But, it's okay, they know us in this world ;)

Please go to Sharyl's page to check out everyone else's pages that participated in this Challenge. I'm sure they did much better at it than I.

We're All Ears February Design

Oh, no! I almost (well, I did) forgot about Kristi Bowman's February Earring Challenge! I won't make excuses and I'll apologize that I only have the one photo of my earrings. I decided to go with the Damsel Flys as my buggy inspiration. That, and I'm currently having a crush affair with Ancient Egypt so I decided to try something "scarab-y" looking. I know there was only the faaaaaaaintest touch of yellow in the picture Kristi gave us, but my scarabs (such as they are) have yellow bodies, copper "wings" and flower bead caps for the heads. The blue bead is an accent and because it's the closest thing I have to lapis in my hoard. Go here to check out Kristi's design (and inspiration photo) and see what everyone else has done. (and, next month, I'll try to stay on top of it... and more pics!)

Spouse To The Creative

I'm pretty sure this speaks for itself... 'Nuff said!

First Forays

 

One of the blogs I follow is Carmi Cimicata at Resin Crafts blog. I love seeing all the things she can make with products from Enviortex. Mostly, she creates with their resin but they've recently come out with a new product called Jewelry Clay. You mix the two part clay together and you can use it for just about anything, like, oh, say, attaching two (or more) pieces together. Which is what I did here.

I saw a suggestion (article? don't remember, now! with my luck it was probably one of Carmi's posts!) about using the BIG, glamorous, flamboyant buttons from the sewing section to make cocktail rings. My last visit to Hobby Lobby yielded quite the button haul and I decided to take a small step into the Envirotex world (I'm still not brave enough to open the resin... chicken!) I was a little concerned at first because I didn't mix a large enough amount but I had no problems adding to it until I had the right amount. The button has a deep curve so I wanted to be sure the clay held it in place! I filled the ring bezel and had a good sized mound of the clay to press the button into. Per Carmi's suggestion, I then took some silver embossing powder I happened to have on hand and brushed it onto the bits of clay you can see underneath (pink arrows!) to help the clay blend with the ring and button. The clay sets after two hours so the ring is wearable after that, but I left it to cure overnight. Here's what I now have to wear on those occasions I'm feeling a bit more show-off-y:

Isn't that the coolest!  LERRRRRVE IIIIIT!!   So, folks, get a little brave, try something new, and let me know how it turns out. (I plan to try more of this! Must get more ring blanks!)  New skills are great to add to your collection of know-how. And check Carmi's blog for further knowledge.

Creative Challenge Answer - Teeth

Today is the reveal for the Creative Writing Challenge in my previous post. I hope many of you will join me with links to your Creative Writing blog or FB Page but, if not, I still have a Creative Writing post to share. The prompt was/is the photo of the teeth ring above. Here's mine: (no title, yet)

Hands on hips, Jayda surveyed the sight around her. Signs of carnage were everywhere; splintered chairs, upended tables, shattered glass, and people listing against walls for support as they gazed around in blank confusion through swollen eyes. Several of those doing the listing had split lips and swollen or, in two cases, broken jaws. Blood, teeth, and other bodily fluids were sprayed about in a disgusting mural of violence.

With a sigh Jayda stepped fully into the bar. She'd never understand why humans thought getting drunk and maiming one another was considered a fun time but she had a clean up job to do. Moving carefully, she began picking up the teeth lying in various spots around the room. Some were in easy to reach places, others she had to crawl under, over, or around obstacles to reach. She even looked up at one point, having learned long ago that teeth could get into very strange places. Sure enough, one was stuck in a ceiling tile. A cynical smile tilted her lips when she saw it. She'd love to know how that had happened.

With a slight shrug a pair of nearly translucent wings unfurled from her back. She wasn't overly concerned about the remaining humans seeing her as she lifted off the ground to retrieve the errant tooth. They were still drunk enough, or concussed enough from the fight, they'd refuse to believe what they saw as more than an hallucination.

Besides, it was her job to collect all the teeth so they could be used in their jewelry designs. What else would a Tooth Fairy use in barter, after all?