Busy as a Bee...

Tuesday is almost over, and I haven't made anything this week. I have been busy with housework, chores, errands, church stuff, and arranging to get our kitchen faucet/sink fixed. Last night after supper, it sprang a leak and sprayed me from head to toe. It is now leaking under the sink too, and our landlords are coming over later tonight to see if they can fix it. I sure hope so. Not having a kitchen sink to use is a major pain. I can't cook since I can't wash dishes, so Rob is going to bring some Chinese take out home and we will eat on paper plates.
I just got back from Target and stocked up on hand sanitizer, for obvious reasons. I am worried about this swine flu, especially since my husband is a dentist and is working in people's mouths all day. I am also worried about my friend and her husband & baby who are in Mexico. She left a week before this made the news and is supposed to be in Mexico for a month. She is pretty close to Mexico City, and I am worried she may get ill, or not be allowed back into the country. Her baby is going to be 1 yr. old in August. If you pray, could you keep her in your prayers? Her name is Cristina.
Well, off to get some more stuff done. I am courting a few places to sell consignment right now, and things will most likely get busier for me soon. Enjoy the rest of your week. If you don't hear from me, I am busy creating and cleaning the house. What I wouldn't do for a maid some days!

A few new pieces of jewelry...

I finished these yesterday and took some pics this afternoon. I worked on making a new banner for my Etsy store today, so check that out too! Hope you like it. The lampwork beads in the bracelet were graciously given to me by Dusty of Pond Art Glass. She makes beautiful beads and is such a nice person! Check out here shop too!

New cat inspired painting...

Here's the painting I just finished last night. The print is now available in my Etsy store! Just click the picture to take you there. It will be in my Artfire store shortly. Hope you like it! This quote is so true!

Cupcake hangover in progress...

I baked these yesterday, and frosted them today. Just had mine for lunch. That's healthy, huh? I am currently suffering from a cupcake hangover. I had just a little more than I can handle. These things are huge, and definitely adult sized. If a kid tried to eat one of these, you would have a huge mess (you need to eat them from the bottom up, while balancing the frosting heavy top) and a very big belly ache.
They are vanilla cake with milk chocolate icing, sprinkled with large white chocolate and semi sweet chocolate swirled chips. Mmmmmm!

In homage to my blog title...

Today I made some cupcakes and worked on a painting based on the quote "One cat always leads to another" by Ernest Hemingway. Kitties and cupcakes. I didn't finish either project though. The cupcakes need frosting, and the painting needs some more work. Hopefully I will finish it tomorrow.

I do have a little something to share. I made this huge 2 inch pendant yesterday and stamped it with different shaped spirals (all formed by hand and stamped into the metal). It is simple, yet bold. I love big pendants.

Well, hope Wednesday goes well for everyone. This week is going by just as fast as last week, if not faster. Off to bed! Good night!

Manic Monday

Today really felt like that old Bangles song, "Manic Monday." I had a lot to do, kept forgetting what it was I had to do, then messed it up when I remembered. I had a panic attack during the afternoon, which was oh so fun, but luckily has passed now. Sometimes I get them when I am just at home doing normal stuff. Body chemicals are so weird.
Anyway, I just wanted to stop in and say hi, and let ya'll know that my larger painting entitled "Be Not Afraid To Sing Your Own Song" is now available as a print in my Etsy store. Just click on the pic, to take you there. Have a super Tuesday...hope it is better than Monday!

Sterling silver & brass cupcake earrings

Here's a pair of cupcake earrings I made today. They are just under an inch in length and are made of sterling silver and brass. I just listed them in my Etsy store! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Yay! Prints of my paintings are now available in my Etsy store!

I have been sharing pics of my recent mixed media paintings over the past month, and am proud to announce you can now buy them for only $12 each in my Etsy store! I am not sure yet if I plan to sell the original paintings themselves in my Etsy store or Ebay. I will have to do some brain scratching on that one. CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO MY ETSY STORE!

New Jewelry in my Etsy store today!

Here are some pics of my new jewelry listed in my Etsy store. I still have a few more to post, and will be adding my prints this afternoon. Busy busy! Hope you like them! Click on any pic to take you to my store.

What happened to my week?

Where has it gone? Have you seen it? Maybe it's hanging out at your place. Please tell it to come back if you see it. I'm not quite done with it yet!

I started listing a few of my new jewelry pieces in my Etsy store today, but didn't get very far. I will finish with them, most likely, tomorrow afternoon. I will also be listing my prints for sale...FINALLY. I got all the shipping stuff I need for them. I haven't had time to do any more painting this week, since I have been busy with my beads. Well, I am off to bed. I have been to the gym two nights in a row and then helped set up a gym full of chairs at church tonight, so my body is achy and reminding me that I definitely am not 18 anymore. LOL G'night!

Spicy Burritos= nightmares

I remember this old episode of the Cosby Show, where Cliff Huxtable ate a huge sub sandwich before bed and had a nightmare as a result. I had a similar experience last night that began with a late supper of spicy burritos, and ended with a dream I had gone blind and another about being chased by a huge blue python snake that was hissing my name. I woke up at 2 am and had some antacid and luckily was able to get back to sleep. We have leftovers tonight, but I am eating a much earlier supper. 8 pm is way too late to finish supper.

I worked on some jewelry pieces yesterday and have a few tweaks and a few more to finish today. I should have them up in my Etsy store soon. I will also be offering prints of my artwork for sale this week. I am just waiting on the shipping supplies for them to arrive. I had to buy special mailers that are unbendable and get acid free archival cello sleeves for protection. My prints will also be in my Etsy store. I think I may have to redesign my banner too. I have hated it for a while. I go through phases with my banner. I would like to incorporate my painting and my jewelry into one banner in Photoshop. We'll see how it goes. Well, off to officially start my day. Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Back from vacation in Key West

We just returned early Easter afternoon, and after several loads of laundry, catching up with the kitties (who were extremely starved for attention), and a short nap, I finally am sitting down to blog. We had a pretty good time, though I don't think I was able to sleep very well. We slept in this morning before leaving, so that was nice. We went to the Ernest Hemingway house, did a lot of walking and looking at art galleries, had our fill of Key Lime Pie (the Blonde Giraffe has the best if you ever go there), took a trolley tour, visited the Key West Butterfly Conservatory, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and enjoyed the stray chickens/roosters when they weren't waking us up at 5am with their cock-a-doodle-dooing. Here are a few picks of the butterflies, the ocean, the Hemingway house and its kitties, and Pudgie...who tried to stow away to Key West in Rob's luggage.

Have a Happy Hoppy Easter!

We'll be in Key West and coming back late Sunday afternoon, so my blog will be quiet. I won't have internet access (and will gladly take a much needed break from it!) so any emails or convos from Etsy will be answered on Monday the 13th. Today, I have to head back to the car mechanic before we leave to get a transmission flush, clean the whole house, pack, and do a few other things I would like to cram in if at all possible. We are leaving when Rob gets home from work, and driving to Miami. We will sleep there, then head the rest of the way to Key West in the morning. Well, have a splendid Easter and please check in next week when I will be listing some new jewelry and prints of my paintings in my Etsy store!

Bee your very best self

And one more painting to share. I doubt I will get any more pieces done this week before we head to Key West, but maybe I will get some inspiration while there....maybe a chicken or 6 toed cat painting! LOL!

Be not afraid to sing your own song....

Here is one of the paintings I finished recently. I have another to show later....gotta go watch American Idol. LOL! Hope you like it! I had so much fun with this one.

Oh, for cryin' out loud!

So far, Tuesday hasn't been the greatest. I didn't sleep well last night, had nightmares, and was awoken at 5 am to my cat licking her feet very loudly. Can you tell I am a very light sleeper? I had to get up and get around to take the Civic in to get new tires and an alignment this morning. Rob had made the appt. himself, yet forgot and took the Civic to work, clear on the other side of town. I discovered this 15 minutes before our appt., so I had to reschedule for tomorrow.
Yesterday I worked on some jewelry and ordered more supplies. I have bits and pieces, but not enough to complete the projects I have in mind. I have two paintings to share now. I didn't get pics yesterday because I was too busy.
We are headed to Key West this weekend, and I am looking forward to seeing the Ernest Hemingway House, mainly for the cats. ( : We plan on doing a glass bottom boat ride, taking the trolley tour, eating some delicious food, some shopping, and who knows what else. The weather is supposed to be nice thank goodness. It involves a lot of walking when you go there.
Well, I need to finish some jewelry and work on some other stuff. I would really like to be working on a nap! I will check back in next time with pics!

Fly By...

Just a quick fly-by posting. Weekends are usually busy for us. We have a church conference that is televised and available over the internet, so we will be doing that and going out to eat. Tomorrow, Sunday, I hope to post a pic of the finished painting I showed below. I am really happy with how it turned out. It is larger than the other ones, so getting prints made of it to sell may be a little more expensive and complicated. We'll see. I am going to start working on getting some prints made this week, so they will eventually be available in my Etsy store. I am considering selling the original paintings themselves on Ebay, like I used to. I am starting to think that shoppers on Etsy don't want to spend over $30 for anything. I had high hopes that Etsy wouldn't be a garage sale art/craft site, but since so many people are selling items made with really cheap materials and/or underpricing, that is the kind of mentallity that has developed there. I refuse to use cheap plated metals that turn brown after a month, don't like plastic beads, and don't want to make jewelry that looks just like everyone else's. It seems like every other necklace on Etsy has the same brass bird, octopus,plastic rose, bee, etc. stampings that everyone is getting from the same place. Well, I blabbed on for longer than planned, so I best get going. Have a lovely weekend, and check back soon!

And the award for cutest cat goes to....

Pudgie, a.k.a Squeezable Fatness. I took these pics earlier today as she looked absolutely adorable while napping on the couch. Also, here's a pic of the background of the painting I am working on.

Super Duper Cute Squeezable Fatness...

I have some adorable kitty photos to share, but my trusty camera died and is recharging right now. My plus sized kitty (known as "Pudgie" and nicknamed "Squeezable Fatness" by Rob) was napping on the couch holding onto her back foot with her front paw, and covering her eyes with the other. Cuteness overload.
I will show them soon. On another note, I am pretty much done with the painting I have been working on this week. It is larger and has taken a bit more time. I just finished a pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so I am now sugar fueled and ready to go! LOL
Check back soon for the cute pics!

Stray cats. Ugh.

Some of you may remember my lovely neighbors on the corner who once had about 4 cats roaming around the neighborhood. Well, after many calls to Animal Control from different neighbors and me, they kind of disappeared. They used to hang out in their yard and run in front of cars in the street. As a cat lover, this made me furious. Now, their kids and all their friends just hang out in their yard and run in front of cars. Seriously, they won't move out of the road if you are coming in your car. They think it is funny or something. One of the cats they set "free," who is an unfixed Tom, keeps coming by our house and schmoozing with my girl kitties at night through the windows. He was howling outside my window at 6 am this morning and woke me up. So, I have a plan. Tonight, I am going to go over to their house, poop in their bushes, then howl by THEIR window till they wake up. It's pay back time. Seriously though, why do people who can't even take care of their own children, "collect" and not care for a slew of pets also.
Okay, end of rant. And don't worry, I don't plan on actually pooping in anyone's bushes. I am grateful my computer is even working today. Rob's crashed last night. I started a new larger painting yesterday, and am super excited about the background. I totally let loose and let go of my anal painting ways. It felt good. Heck, I even FLUNG some paint. I let it drip down the canvas, and had a very good time. I hope to have a finished piece to show soon. Take care, and I hope everyone has working computers today and in the days to come.