Snow yet again!!

I wonder if I ignore it, will it go away?!?! Hope so, cause as far as I’m concerned, that white stuff does not exist!! The squirrels are enjoying the feeder, and there were a whole bunch of LBB’s (little brown birds) on the suet feeder, twittering and picking and enjoying a free lunch. There were a couple of Stellar’s Jays this morning and a couple of varied thrushes. Not to mention all the chickadees, juncos and starlings! Our yard is quite the local hang out now!

My fish fetish has taken firm hold of me – I tried to deny it for years, but it’s hopeless. As my friend Andee said, first I need to want help, and I’m not ready for that yet, so I will continue to ‘collect’ my swimming art! I wish Andee lived closer, I’ll bet she could get good pics of these guys! I can’t!! I’ve tried everything I know how – except to read the manual, which I will do as soon as I can find it! So until I can show off my finned friends, here’s pic of the temporary housing in the tattoo room (dh’s tattoo studio, note that there are 11 separate jars/vases/tanks!!)

My two favorites (if there is such a thing with these guys!) are the white one on the top shelf, far left and the steel black/grey one on the top shelf, far right. LOVE them! But if it’s color you prefer, the bottom left one is AMAZING! Purple, red, pink, irridescent, with a black face!! Or the one second from the right on the bottom shelf – orange, red, pink, purple, but in a much different way than the other one! Oh, then there’s the blue/black one on the middle shelf with yellow fins! Or the tiny little red and orange double tailed one (middle shelf, far left). Good grief, I’ve lost my marbles!!! But, I have to admit that they are artistically inspiring. The black one has such long flowing fins, they inspire me to want to start designing clothes! Look at this (sorry for the crappy pic, I told you, it’s REALLY hard to get good pics!)

His fins flow so beautifully, the color is amazing (grey with a shimmer of other colors in different light/angles) and I think would make the most amazing long gown!! Like I have time or money to become a fashion designer! ROFL! I better stick to what I know – jewelry!! And to that end, I better get going – my studio awaits! Cheers!

Proximity Award!

My wonderful friend Andee from Germany bestowed this wonderful award upon me. Thank you so much Andee, I hope I am worthy!

Proximidade is described as follows:
‘This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY – nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!’

The rules are: This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.

So, now I’ve got to pass this award to 8 wonderful people, and I choose:

1. Angela
2. Janice
3. Janelle
4. Tammy
5. Brendalee
6. Janine

(Okay, I’m going to have to see who I can come up with for #7 & #8 – all my other friends are already got an award! LOL).

My head hurts!

Day 3 of a headache really SUCKS!! It’s not full force right now, but kind of in the back of my head rumbling around and threatening to take over again. Sigh! Oh well, I can’t not work today – I was supposed to get some stuff done this past weekend, but just couldn’t bring myself to move, let alone bang things with hammers and such! So I will tackle the stuff in a few minutes. Just wanted to touch bases with my blog, keep in touch with those that stop by.

I told you guys about dh’s love affair with bird feeders, well it’s gotten a little crazy! There are now two houses, two suet feeders and two seed feeders in the backyard and a seed feeder and a suet feeder in the front yard. He’s taken to giving the squirrels unshelled peanuts (they prefer them apparently) with Cheerios and alfalfa pellets (rabbit food). He’s maid his own Squirrel Party Mix! LOL Funnily enough, it’s a big hit. I keep telling him to stop with the Cheerios, squirrels don’t need processed people food!! He’s not convinced, but once we run out of Cheerios, I’ll buy something he won’t want to feed (like Fruit Loops or something! LOL). But I am amazed everyday with the number and variety of birds we get in our yard! Stunning, beautiful and entertaining. Beats TV every time!

And my fish habit has taken a turn for the worse – well worse if they didn’t give me so much pleasure! LOL We’re up to 8. Yes 8. 8 separate tanks with 8 separate fish. But they’re so darn cool, and so darn pretty! I think we’ll probably have a few more in the next few weeks. Once every surface in the house holds a tank with a fish in it, I will be happy! LOL I’m off to clean off the top of my work bench – I can get at least three on there! And dh promised to build me a shelf to hold more. I’ll post pics when it’s done!

Okay, enough chit chat! Must get going! Have a great day!!

OMG! I might be OCD!

LOL Not that there’s anything wrong with OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder), my dh suffers from it, although it’s much milder now that he’s older. I however am just discovering this trait in myself! Those who know me, already know I obsess about stuff (like jewelry, gemstones, cats, dogs, birds, lizards, my kids, whatever! LOL), but I have a new obsession!! Siamese Fighting fish!! I tried to deny it. I tried to resist it. I have failed!!! I am now deep in the process of surrounding myself with these funky creatures. Oh, I was doing just fine with one (that I got for Christmas), until I discovered that there are some AMAZING fancy ones out there. Variations I’d never heard of let alone seen!! Crown tails, twin tails, half moons, the list is amazing!! Well, with a little internet search (is the internet really a good thing for us OCD folks!?), and I discovered a place where I could bid on new fish from the breeders in Thailand! OMG!! They were amazing! Then a little more digging proved to me that this course of action is VERY expensive – between the transhipping and heat packing, and all that other good stuff. Then somehow, someway, I tripped over a forum for local BC aquarium people! I’m not alone! LOL Not that I thought I was, but hey – a girl can wonder, right?! Anyway, right there, on the forum was an announcement by a local fish store, not 15 minutes from me that had crown tails and twin tails (as well as the regular ordinary ones!), and I HAD to check them out!!! And DH IS NO HELP! LOL He’s a total enabler! Tee hee!!! I will say that I am now the proud owner of a couple of fancy ones and have a half moon on order (okay, I’m totally lying! I have a couple of half moons on order! Wait til you see them! LOL). So I thought I would show you one of the crown tails.

Crown tail means that their normally flowing fins have been genetically modified through selective breeding to give them long flowing fins that when splayed out look kind of like a ragged crown (I so suck at describing that stuff! LOL). I’ll try to get a pic of the double tail and the normals this week. My eventual plan is to have a shelf above my workbench with several tanks with these guys in them so that I can admire them while I work. So soothing and so pretty! LOL No need for therapy, I don’t want to be cured!

And yes, I’m working on jewelry – I have a private class here tomorrow and Thursday, so will have to put my stuff on hold, but I will blog as I can!! Those of you that are local, new classes are starting at UFV in Abbotsford and Chilliwack the first week of February. If you’ve taken my classes before and want to come to work on your own stuff with my guidance are more than welcome to enroll. The class is VERY small right now, so you will get TONS of personal attention.

Off to make dinner for that enabling dh of mine! Hope you all have a great evening!

Getting my groove back!

Well, at least I’m trying! It’s so hard to get back into the studio and get creating after a long time off. Not good!! But play time is over and I need to get going again! I have a private class here this week, so I must tidy and organize a bit tomorrow. Wouldn’t want my student to see the studio in it’s complete messy state! I’m also starting to work on clearing off the back of my workbench to make room for my fish. And I also have a couple of custom things to do, so looks like I will be busy tomorrow!! In the meantime, I think I’ll post a pendant or two on Etsy. Not sure the pics are the greatest, but should be okay. Thanks for stopping by!! Cheers!

Rain, Rain, and more rain! Wheeeeee!!!

Oh how I love rain!! I know, I’m nuts, no news flash there! LOL But finally we are free of that awful white stuff!! There’s still a bit of snow on the ground, and the mountain at the end of the driveway is still there, but greatly diminished!! I can see green grass in the back yard (not so much in the front, but it didn’t have the added help of two dogs frolicking and busting up the snow). Dh can drive his truck again – no more getting stuck. I actually managed to leave Aldergrove this past week! Whew!! I went to the library in White Rock to pick up my jewelry, then on Friday, I took it into the gallery and dropped most of it back off. I did keep a few things back and am slowly going to post them to my Etsy store.

One of the new blogs I stumbled over (Little Epiphany) is doing a 365 day project challenge of a picture a day. I wonder if that would drive you guys nuts, if I did that I mean? I LOVE to take pictures, though I’m not exactly the best at it (not like my friend Andee in Germany), but I figure what the heck! Actually, I think I’ll post it on my other blog (the one you didn’t know I had! Bwaahaahaa!!!). Just have to find a link *searches frantically* – aha!! Here you go!! Barrie’s Project 365! Thanks for the idea!

Okay, now I think I shall go post a couple of things on my Etsy. Hope you all have a great evening! Cheers!

And on another note!

It’s still freaking SNOWING!!! The rain was VERY short lived, and we are living in a freaking winter wonderland!! Rain please!! Lots of rain! I don’t want anymore snow, I only want RAIN!!!!!!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog!

Happy New Year!!

Better late than never! LOL Having Randy home is wonderful, though not terribly productive! We seem to hover in the same room as each other, not really accomplishing much, but enjoying each others company (sick, huh?). Monday starts our regular routine – back to normal (well, as normal as this crew ever gets!). It’s going to be agony getting up at 6am, but I have to do it. I NEED to get back in the studio and get into full production again. Might have to work in brass or copper as I’m completely out of silver! I’ll order some this month, but there’s no huge rush. I have to head out to White Rock this week and pick up the jewelry from the library display. I don’t think they sold anything, but I can hope.

The fish are doing well, three goldfish and a catfish in the living room tank (5 gallon – but we’ll get a bigger one later this year). There’s a loach in the little one the kids bought me – that fish gets HUGE if the internet is correct (and it usually is!), here’s a link – scroll down to nearly the bottom of the page and check out the hand in the tank with the fish! Holy smokes, gonna need a MUCH bigger tank! LOL! and here’s my favorite picture from that website!

A bunch of clown loaches stacked up like cord wood! LOL

And my lonely little Siamese Fighting fish (called a ‘betta’) is in the kitchen in a lovely glass vase – he couldn’t handle the loach or the goldfish, so it’s off to solitary confinement for him. Once things settle down, I’ll be getting a proper tank for him – don’t worry, he gets regular water changes, fed well, etc. Bettas are perfectly happy living in little tiny jars/vases/containers. They live in little margarine containers for months on end at pet stores before they’re bought by someone. Go figure! Anyway, I’ve done a TON of searching online for bettas. OMG, I am in so much trouble! LOL I thought dh was going to be bad, but look out! I found black bettas, and white bettas, and multi colored bettas. I almost hyperventilated when I saw this guy!

Then I discovered a Canadian betta forum – I’ll be ordering some of these fancy fancy bettas from a few of their members in the spring (found out you don’t want to buy during the winter as shipping will kill them – go figure!). I guess I’m as bad as dh – impulse control, not a strong suit! LOL

Well, best get off this computer. Just wanted to dash by and say hello before it got too far into the new year!

Oh wait!! I almost forgot – I am hosting a Surface Textures workshop in my home studio on January 31 & February 1, if you’re interested, full details are on my website (link to the right). Cheers!