Have yourself a merry little Christmas.....

or should I say, "Have yourself a hugely joyful Christmas!" I will be doing a bit of traveling, and have put my Etsy stores into vacation mode. I will be back with more new goodies after the 23rd. I have new brooches done, new hair accessories, and will get back to working on some new paintings! I won't be able to check my email or phone messages for a while, so please don't get upset or worried if I don't respond. I wish everyone, a happy, healthy, tasty, relaxing holiday!

My poor, neglected blog!

The holiday season has crept up on me, and my to-do list is getting longer each day. This is the first year that I haven't put up my Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, I've decided that this year, we might just do a Christmas wreath instead. Rob is doing a lot of traveling for work, we are planning on going on a cruise, and when looking at the calender, I realized we will barely be here to enjoy a tree. It reminds me of the time in college, when my roomies and I didn't have a tree. We had a large house plant, which we put lights on, and a "Christmas chair." Yes, we decorated that chair!
I finally had to sit down and make a to-do list this morning, to keep me on track. Updating my blog will be the first thing I cross off today. I've had some exciting opportunities pop up recently that will happen in the new year. I will have my artwork and an accompanying article published in one of my favorite magazines, I am sending out two book proposals, we will be purchasing our first home, I will be helping my husband out at his new practice, and I am already setting some New Year goals.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will try to post more often on my blog. One of my goals is to get more paintings up on Ebay each week, so hopefully, I will be able to start on that goal very soon. Thanks for stopping in, and here's to a happy & safe holiday season for all!

New paintings, new projects, new hobbies....

I never tire of learning new things and exploring! Unless of course, it involves anything with extreme heights, deep water, or creepy crawly foods! I've come to love antiquing, and it's one of my favorite "girly day" activities. One of my best friends has me hooked. She finds such cool stuff and is great at refinishing furniture. I just picked up a handmade vintage table on Craigslist this weekend and will be refinishing it. I'm thinking of either deep red with white crackle, or sage green with antiqued brown glaze over a crackle finish. I'll post before and after pics!
I also want to learn to sew with an actual machine! I've known how to hand sew since I was a little girl, but never progressed from that. I've been buying lots of wool & cashmere sweaters, felting them, and making beautiful flowers to sell in my Jewelry & Accessories store on Etsy. I've become a button collector and renewed my addiction to thrift store shopping! I've found all kinds of deals. I just have to do a bit of driving across town.
I've been blessed to make a few new friends, get in touch with old ones, and do a better job of finding the blessings in the trials I've been handed.
All and all, this fall is starting out wonderfully. Autumn is my favorite season. I usually get all pumped up to try new things, get busy, and prepare for the holiday season. Here are some pics of a few recent paintings, and a peek at the flowers I am working on!
Thanks for stopping by!

My favorite Cupcake Frosting Recipe!

I made some super chocolate-y cupcakes last night for a group of gals I am going antiquing with today. I had to use all of my self control to keep from licking every last bit frosting from the mixing bowl after I had finished frosting them! Here is the recipe I used....

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting recipe:
Makes enough for 24 cupcakes (halve it if you are making a smaller batch)
16 oz cream cheese (at room temp)
1 stick of butter (or 1/2 cup at room temp)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups sifter powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 cup Ghirrardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: Mix/beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until creamy and well blended. Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Last, add cocoa powder and whipping cream and mix until well blended. This frosting can be piped on or spread with a knife. It is creamy, but stiff enough to hold shape. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Keep cupcakes refridgerated.

I took a little vacation from blogging....

I realize it's been over a month since my last post. After my nerve pain medicine kicked in and I could finally paint and make jewelry, the last thing I wanted to do was spend time on the computer. I have a slew of new paintings and jewelry listed and have even started working with fiber/fabric and leather. The good news is that my nerve pain is not related to an auto immune disease. We have finally figured that out. I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Repetitive Strain Injury. I've been told I still need to get an MRI done of my arms. With RSI, all of the nerves in your arms (ulnar, median, radial) can be affected do to over use and swelling of the muscles/tendons in the affected area. I will have to remain on my medicine and work on strengthening exercises. It may go away, or it may be chronic.
The bad news, is that my meds aren't working as well as they did a few weeks ago, so I am getting less done. My painting style has had to be adjusted, my jewelry will no longer involve metal work or lots of wire wrapping, and I will be spending less time on the computer.
I look forward to sharing my new work with you! Thanks for checking in, and thank you everyone for the nice comments and prayers. They are very much appreciated!

Progress

After 2 months of being in severe pain, I am finally getting some relief. At the highest dosage one can take of my medicine, I can finally do some things I haven't been able to do in a while...like clean my own house and pick up my cats. Heck, I even opened a soup can yesterday without wincing in pain. I went and got a second opinion with my regular doctor, and he agrees with me that something is definitely going on that needs some more looking into. He believes I have some type of Collagen Vascular Disease (Sjogren's, Lupus, ect.) that is doing this to my nerves and causing a variety of other symptoms. So, I am headed to the Mayo Clinic next month for a nerve biopsy and 2 days of testing.
I have still found that being on the computer (the typing and the mouse) for extended periods will lead to pain, so I am limiting that. I believe that my painting style, which was very tightly rendered, will be taking a big turn in another direction. I am going to focus on abstract mixed media paintings. This week, I've been making my own mixed media papers to use in collages, just to get into the swing of things, and test what I can do as far as my pain level is concerned. I have not gotten back to jewelry making yet, but if and when that happens, it will also take a new direction. Right now, I am proceeding slowly, and just being grateful that I finally have some relief, and may get some answers in the near future as to what is going on in my body.
Thanks for checking in! I hope to share some new work with you next week!

Open for Business!

Finally, after 2 months of waiting, my medicine level has been increased and I am finally getting some relief from the nerve pain in my arms. I was able to clean my own house ( except vacuuming..that is now hubby's job) yesterday for the first time in a month. I had been using a gal I found online that did a super job and was a real sweetheart.
No exact cause has been found yet for my neuropathy, so more tests and visits are in order. The good news is that I finally reopened my Etsy stores this morning and hope to be back to painting soon. In fact, I may play around with some paint today. Using the computer for long periods of time is still causing me some pain though, so I will keep this short. Thanks for checking in! Hope everyone is having a good week! Try not to melt in this heat wave!

A Special Thank You...

I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who have offered kind words, deeds, and prayers for me. I really appreciate it. My medicine dosage increased today, but it can still take a while, or a higher dosage for me to get relief for my nerve pain. So far, there's no change for the better. I have some days where I can do more and drive short distances, and then have parts of the day with horrible flare ups. The nerve pain in my arms is running a bit past my elbows now. I was told that iron has nothing to do with it, so it is still a mystery. As soon as I have more "better" days, I will open my Etsy stores back up. I hope I can soon return to painting...even if it is looser, more abstract work. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks again for caring.

Etsy vacation

Hey there,
You might have noticed all the empty boxes on my blog....they are where my Etsy store links used to be. For the time being, I have put all my Etsy shops into "vacation mode" until my arms start to feel better. My test results came back today for blood work, and everything looked normal, but the Dr. didn't check my iron. Anemia can be a cause of neuropathy, so that needs to be looked at yet. At least I don't have type 2 diabetes. I am grateful for that. So, until I can do more typing, writing, packing sold items, and driving them to the post office with less pain, I am closing up shop. I am sorry for any inconvenience!

Diagnosis

So, this will be short, but just wanted to update. I had a Nerve Conduction Study and an EMG done on Tuesday. It turns out that I still may have carpal tunnel, but in addition, I've been told I have Peripheral Neuropathy. It is affecting both my arms now and after testing my legs and feet, it is there too. My nerves aren't firing as fast as they should for someone my age. So, I started on Cymbalta for the nerve pain in my arms, but it could take about 2 weeks for it to start to improve that. In the mean time, they will try to find the cause. More tests for me. I will still be meeting with a hand surgeon in August, but they want to do more tests first. I will keep you updated. I am itching to paint! I sadly, will not be going back to doing any of my metal work jewelry. The hammering and cutting of metal is just too much on my arms. Any pieces left in my jewelry store on Etsy that are this style, will be the last ones ever. Once it's gone, it's gone.
Hope everyone else had a nice 4th. Thanks for stopping by!