Moonstones

After Thanksgiving at my dads, we drove up to spend a little time at the beach. One of my favorite things to do is to look for Moonstones at Moonstone Beach. Over the years I have a nice little collection of them. I have heard from the locals that the best time to go hunting for them is after a big storm. Lucky for us, they had a good storm the day before we were there. Look at the size of the ones we found! I felt like I was finding gold nuggets!


The ones on the bottom are average sized. The ones on the top are the ones we found this trip (HUGE)


The male elephant seals are starting to come in now.


Here's a picture of a full grown male. Huge!


Sardines anyone?

Then I "I spyed" Anthony taking pictures...

Who "I Spyed" me taking pictures of him...

Steampunk

This months theme at ABS was "Full Steam Ahead" (Steampunk)

So I headed over to Wikipedia to get some ideas (I have never heard of steampunk)

This is the piece I came up with..."The Hands of Time"

I started with copper sheet metal. Stamped a design into it. I then made a bezel and filled it with found objects...old computer parts, old watch gears and face, vintage typewriter key and porcelain doll arms. Then filled the piece with resin. It was fun trying something so different (at least for me)

I have lots of fun things happening over the next couple weeks.
Another bead artist and I did a challenge together. We picked a theme and we both made beads. So those will be going on ebay (next week)

I have my annual Toys for Tots beads coming up.

Plus, I've been working on some new beads, which I'm excited to show you (next week)

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

5 years in a row...

Every year my mom and I have a little contest, who can grow the largest pumpkin. The winner will receive a homemade pumpkin pie.
Because I never planted a garden this year (she didn't either) I was surprised to see I won, plus I made the cover of this magazine!
I can't wait for my prize!
;o)

In no particular order...

So many movies, so little time...

This weekend, I was able to take one of above off my "must see" list. Although I was a little disappointed, the movie was still good...
I know books are always better than the movies, but it could have been done so much better...Maybe it was their budget? I'm not sure...

I'm off to Costco to pick up everything I need for Thanksgiving. I'm in charge of pies. So I'm thinking of baking a Pecan and of course Pumpkin!

Candied Ham

Can you tell I have been on somewhat of a pig/hog/ham kick lately?
This bracelet is on Esty, chocolate candies with ham heads (Candied Ham)

Have a great weekend!
ox

Happy HOG Adaze (Happy Holidays)

Just a little tease of things to come today to Esty at 6pm (PST)
Hope you can make it...
ox

Brave

~Photo by Kurt~

These guys are still hanging out in the neighborhood...
With a week to go, they sure are brave!

I have some new goodies coming to my Esty store tomorrow at 6pm (PST)
See ya then...

Pop Quiz today!

Update...
WE HAVE A WINNER!
Congrats to Kathleen!

The answers are at the bottom...

**First a note about yesterdays post. At the time I posted, I had no idea there were homes in any danger. This morning I see homes are being lost. My heart goes out to everyone in the area...Let's hope the winds die down so they can get a handle on it...


It's no secret that I'm a Twilight fan...
So today I have a pop quiz for you!
Even if you haven't read the book/books yet, you are welcome to play along.

If you are the FIRST person to get all 8 correct answers, you'll receive one of my new "Twilight" beads! If no one gets all 8, the person with the most correct will win!

The rules:
1-Post your 8 guesses in the comment box below.
2-Include your FULL NAME in your post (especially if you post anonymously) 3-Please only ONE guess (post) per person.

So put your thinkin caps on and let's start...

1-What is the full name of the main character?
Isabella Margaret Swan
Annabella Marie Swan
Isabella Mary Swan
Isabella Marie Swan

2-Where is Forks?
Maine
Washington
Missouri
Arizona

3-When Bella and some of her friends go to First Beach in La Push, Jacob Black tells Bella about Quileule Legends. When does he say some of the legends date back to?
100 B.C.
The Flood
Just before Jesus was born
5000 years ago

4-As Edward is questioning Bella on different aspects of her life, he asks what her favorite gemstone is? She replies "topaz" after the fact, Bella remembers that her favorite gemstone used to be what?
Emerald
Garnet
Onyx
Tourmaline

5-What is Rosalie and Jasper's last name?
Coolan
Swan
Cullen
Hale

6-When Edward brings Bella to his home the day after they go to the meadow, who is the first person to speak to her?
Jasper
Esme
Carlisle
Alice


7-Who, according to Esme, hits the baseball the hardest?
Edward
Carlisle
Alice
Emmett

8-What is the last word of the book?
Blood
Vampire
Wolf
Throat


Good Luck!


On the bead front...
I'll have lots of new fun stuff in my Esty store on Thursday Nov. 20th at 6pm (PST)

1-Isabella Marie Swan
2-Washington
3-The Flood
4-Garnet
5-Hale
6-Carlisle
7-Emmett
8-throat

Fire, Smoke, Detours, Lucky

Kurt had a show in L.A. yesterday.

We had to be there by 9am, so we left at 4am and we still were an hour and a half late due to fires!

They had the I-5 and the 405 closed. So we had to take alternative routes in the morning.

Coming home, we got lucky...

As we were getting ready to take the "mandatory" exit for the detour around the closed freeways. The traffic came to a complete crawl (not that unusual in L.A.) but this time the CHP was in the front of the line (pacing)

He stopped his car, got out and picked up the orange cones and 405 was open once again! I feel bad for the people in front of us, they had to take the detour which added a hour and a half to their drive.

Such a Princess

I love all the little things Paper Moon Gallery makes, BUT this one is my favorite!
Meet Princess Molly...I think I'll add a pink rhinestone collar with a little pink glass heart, just like the original Molly wears...

Where did this week go? I've been busy working on some new goodies.
They should be ready early next week. So check back on Monday for the day and time.

I received a couple emails last night, asking about my dad (who lives in Santa Barbara)
He's fine, he's not close to the area that is burning.
Let's hope the Santa Ana winds (80 mph) die down so they can get a handle on it...so sad.
ox

Hoo-Hoo

~Photo by Anthony~

I love this picture! Anthony took some amazing pictures last week!

He's making good use of his birthday gift (a new camera)

What a fun weekend we had! I wish I had pictures of my own to share with you of my class projects, but of course I'm not done with them yet (I have homework now) but I'll share as soon as I'm finished. I'm going to have so much fun incorporating the things I learned this weekend with my own ideas...fun fun fun!

Have a great Monday! I'm off to unpack my car...

P.S. Congrats to Judy D.! She is this weeks winner of the Greenhouse Goodie! Judy just let me know which bracelet you like from my Esty store, along with your mailing address!

Miiiiiinty Fresh...

October was Dental Month at my Vet.
So Somebody has pretty sparkling teeth once again!

She came home with tooth paste (poultry flavored) and a brush to keep her pearly whites sparkling...She loves the toothpaste, but not so crazy about the brush...

I'm getting ready to take off for a couple days. I'm taking a couple classes, which I'm so excited about...Have a great weekend...
I'll do the Greenhouse Goody drawing when I get back on Monday...
ox

The Eyes have it...

Don't forget to vote today...I already did (by mail)

21 bottles of beer on the wall...

Actually we had nine varieties of root beer to sample. Including Anthony's favorite, Jones...
which I had personalized with a picture of him taken on a trip to Hawaii years ago (I think he was around 5)

We even had kegs of beer (root beer) Gallon size...


The day was all about Anthony, so we had to have his favorite pens personalized too...

Along with playing "beer" games, we had some of "his" favorite foods...
Fillet Mignon, Fettuccine Alfredo and his favorite homemade Cheese Cake with raspberry sauce.

It was a fun day...