madame gigi*

today i went to michaels in search of some casting resin, which i found amongst other things..that place is like target, you go in for one thing and the next thing you know its $50bucks later...anyway, michaels must had just set up for all their halloween stuff, because they were full to the brim with all kinds of cool stuff...now anyone that knows me knows that halloween is my favorite holiday and i love to dress up and i love all those haunted houses that you set up and coffins with hands coming out of them and the fake hand that crawls across the room but i saw something tonight that i had never ever seen before...A SPIRIT BALL.....well i call her madame gigi..remember tom hanks in BIG and he does that fortune teller thing for a quarter, well this is my rendition of tom hanks fortune teller.....she is so cool, i had to buy her and she talks and gives out some fortune advice and her eyes glow yellow and her head floats or gives the illusion she is floating...my plan is to take her to work the entire month of october..she is so cool and the best part is i got to use my 40% off coupon from joanns at michaels..how great was that, i guess you can do that! who knew>>>>!

postal delivery~

well, look what the mailman left for me today! two beautiful cards from

• miss julie in australia..love them..very nice work, now i need to get

on the stick and send her my cards, i have one done and one more to go..

if i didnt get involved in all these swaps maybe i would have some time, but

they are fun and who doesnt like to get cool things in the mail..

thank-you! julie xox~*~

letters*^*

i am in a letter swap and the above our my offerings..i think they all turn out too cool for school!
in return, i will receive 5 letter "k"s from 5different people! off in the mail, you all go!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

art dog~*~

the first picture is an atc that i bought off of ebay because it so reminded me of my art dog-chance marie... our chubby girl or as we fondly call her-Petite Chorizo..there is nothing petite about her..she is a chow-border collie mix that someone dumped in the yard behind us on a cold rainy valentine's day five years ago..she was a tiny wet little furball back then, now she is queen of our pack and i love her to death..she is always in my studio when i am creating...love her, that saucy girl.....xoxox

ps..if these 2pictures do not make you smile on a monday morning, well, i just know they will~*~

heart~*

i remember you by heart.......
love you~~*~*~*

dollies*~*

well, the girls are all packed up and ready for their trip to australia! this is my contribution to my first doll swap! and my first attempt at making any kind of dolls at all...if i say so myself, i did pretty good...did a little beading on half of them and added some with old jewelry i had made when i used to make it for resale. it was fun and i think i might keep up with making some of the dolls evry now and then.....i will post the 6dolls that i receive when they get here....they each have there own names which are: tola, ophelia, mersenne, lenore, noorene and rose...that was fun trying to name them and really it fits each one of them...okay, that is enough babble for now....over and out~*~*~*~*~

charming*

anyone that knows me well, knows i only wear the white metals mostly sterling silver and i love charms .......monday, i received these charms in the mail from

LISA CALL JEWELRY

i found out about her on another bloggers site after the artfest 2006..the charms are so awesome..they are sterling silver and are made from PMC, which stands for precious metal clay. they are nice and chunky weighty but not no too heavy, just perfect....i find it so fascinating that you can make anything with PMC and heat it in a kiln and it turns into something beautiful like my charms and it is sterling silver, i will have to investigate this further about the whole process that goes into making jewelry with PMC but that is another time & place.....thank-you Lisa and you know that will not be my last order....please check her things out and she has a new blog also

MY SWEET PETUNIA

....~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~....

thirfty finds~*~

i struck oil, when i went to this new antique place...all these goodies: nice printer drawer, 2-feather bird nests, red little chair for my mohair bunny/bear, aquaish buttons for red & aqua swap, aqua pot holder hand made for red & aqua swap, cute metal red bowl for red & aqua swap, 2packages of pearlish buttons, 3-baby spoons, single salt shakers-3 of them, the coveted TAB glass for laura of maude & mozart, 2 leather coins purses, some plastic bunnies & ducks?-just had to have them, christmas postcard, love the silver and my teacup for the teacup swap and the neat thing about the teacup is that it is made right here in alliance, ohio..too cool for school....~*~*~*~

OUR LADY OF CHOCOLATE*

this is my mom's birthday collage she requested. she told me to make her something specific to chocolate..well, here ya go, sister marilyn! we chocolate lovers bow to you! the picture is of my mom is her first communion dress.... beware if my mom comes to your house, she will sniff out any chocolate to be had....love you , mommy with all my heart...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

sweet nectar~

well, anyone that knows me, knows i love me some TAB...and the only other person besides my daughter is Laura from Maude & Mozart(http://maudeandmozart.blogspot.com///)..so yesterday while I was doing a little antique shopping at this new place i had never been to..i am going down the first aisle and a shriek of excitement came out of my mouth as the below glass was just sitting there waiting for one of the her followers to find her ..well, it was my lucky day and laura's too..it was a steal for just $4.00....i just hope she doesnt pee her pants when she sees this blog..i am going to email her right!! next time you are at the store, do yourself a favor and grab some TAB, you'll LOVE it!~*~*~

birthday girl*

today is my mom's birthday, she is 66yrs young. my mom is the ultimate friend and guardian angel to all...if you need something she is there with food, her car, babysitter, seamstress, you name she can do it...she has her mom's talent of making something out of nothing whether is dinner, a salt map,(every school project we had a salt map attached to it), costume, you name it, my mom can do it... top picture is me and my mom outside my grandma's house where we live my first year while my dad was in the navy and of course this is her wedding day picture , she was married at eighteen.my mom has been my guardian angel and has and still is there for me and heather always. she is our champion and is there to cheer us no matter what. . mom, you are everything to me and heather and we love you so much...happy birthday!! love you~*~*~

furbaby angel~

the blog i wanted to do today was about my cousin's 40th birthday party..but i really do not have the picture i need, so instead, i want eveyone to go to the blog below....this is bernie and she is the guardian angle of the furbaby..she gives all she has to rescuing and caring for any animal that she finds or finds her and taking care of her husband who has been on the mend for some time...she really is a saint in disguise...if it wasnt for her tireless efforts, many four-legged friends would be homeless and no longer on earth..so take the time to read her story, i promise it will it will put a lump in your throat always as it does me everytime i visit her blog....she really is an inspiration...if you can help her in anyway, do so, it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside...
http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com///
~*~bow-bow~*~

the sunflower~

my favorite flower besides the rose is the sunflower. i think they are a perfect flower and cannot help but bring a smile to the face...this is a huge painting that i have hanging in our family room. we have cathedral ceilings in that room so any artwork has to be large..so when i saw this painting at marshalls department store on clearance i knew it was meant for me..i love me a good bargain!! thinking about this painting always brings a smile to my face, it is my villa in italy..how beautiful to wake up to this view everyday, someone is doing that, wish it was me...oh well, at least i have my painting and i have been to italy and will visit again, i rubbed the boar's nose. you probably are saying what is she talking about well, in florence, there is a statue of a boar(i think it is a boar)and the legend is if you rub its nose you will return..so i know i will return someday....ciao!~*~*~

mail call~

well, here is my postcard from bilbo of japan(http://bilbocancook.blogspot.com/)

thank-you so very very much! it is a shrine located in the area of mt takao or as the japanese called it-takao san..very beautiful and really nice handwriting..nice treat to come home too....many thanks for meeta( http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/) for getting this postcard up and running!!!

this is our patio well most of it and our fountain- where this week we have found that we have 3frogs living in it...2 small and one medium sized one..i think the biggest one is just a green frog and i got a glimpse of him yesterday and he was this marvelous color of bright green..the one picture is one of the small omes..i knew just like field of dreams-if you build it-they will come...all the surrounding houses have large ponds and you can hear the bull frogs nightly giving their wonderful concerts for free...we eventually we have the big pond but i much prefer our little pond and the wonderful noises it makes and i swore that i have been hearing our own frogs give their own concert series nightly....i was right, of course~*~*~*~*~*~*~

dear teddy*

i was talking to my good friend-arttealife(http://arttealife.blogspot.com/) about how she had received a handmade little teddy from the pink swap and just how sweet it was and how you could tell it was made with love..i told her that i still had my first teddy bear and i hate to tell but he is at least 40years old and the things he's seen and the places he has been to..yikes! how old does that make me...ick! anyway, i have had him with me for nearly all of my life and he is no worst for the wear..i think i need to give him to my mom to see if she can sew him up and maybe give him a new nose..my mom is the world's best anything...you name it she can do it and she is the best seamstress..i know this when it is my time to go teddy will be with me..if you still have your teddy, give him a hug for me~*~*~*~*~

~postcard swap

here is my postcard offering for the swap run by meeta.
(http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2006/07/blogger-postcards-from-world-list.html) i decided to make the postcard just like a bigger version of an ATC...She is the faerie from my pink & orange swap, i made lots of extra copies so you might be seeing her around the block..anyway, my swap partner will be getting a handmade postcard which is nice...a postcard from the USpost office is 24cents but i had to add more a few more stamps which means my faerie had to get a passport and that is a whole other story for a whole other day.....so off in the mail she will go....
commence circling the maibox.....~*~*~*~