Order up!

This is David's latest soap order for a shop in Missoula. He had them all laid out on the table and I couldn't resist grabbing the camera, they just looked so beautiful all lined up!

Here's Davids soap in our Etsy shop

Trying to make Mr. Sneaky Cat feel at home..

This cat had been coming in through our kitty door for a few months. We didn't know if he was a neighbor's cat just sneaking in for a treat or if he had no home. For months we couldn't get near him, he would bolt out the door if he heard us or saw us at all. I decided I really wanted to try to assess his situation, because if he was homeless, that had to change one way or another. So I started to make friendly noises when he came in (like little kissey noises and "Hi kitty, come here", in a gentle voice). A few weeks ago, I was able to sit next to him while he ate. I put a little bowl outside for when he was too nervous to come in, I just wanted him to eat. My other 2 cats who would normally NEVER allow ANY cat to enter our property was letting this guy come in and eat! The big breakthrough was when he let me pet him recently. He seemed starved for affection, yet very easily startled. Now, he comes around everyday. He lets me pet him and is getting more and more comfy with us and the other cats. I really love this little guy and I'm hoping that he will continue to become part of our household (or I will find a wonderful home for him). The pictures above are from today. The one with him laying next to my cat Gypsy made my day!

Any ideas for a name? He's a boy kitty.

A screen shot of my current Etsy treasury..

I LOVE making treasuries on Etsy. What's a treasury you ask? It's a way to feature artists on Etsy who's work you admire. If you go to the main page on Etsy and scroll down, there is a hyper-link that says "Treasury". That is where you can view the different treasuries made by other Etsy artists. They last 2 to 3 days and then they are gone. Why make a treasury? Well, I like making treasuries because I discover different talents on Etsy. Also, when you are in a treasury, there's a little excitement when you see the item someone has chosen to feature. It's also a chance to play with color and balance and layout. The other cool part is that every great once in a while, Etsy will choose your treasury and put it on the front page of their web-site. I have had my treasuries on the front page 3 times and it's very exciting! Why? Who knows...I guess it's just a little slice of fun in the day ;)
I called this treasury "Succulent Whimsy" Click on the picture above to see a full view..

Conversations with Buddha and the Praying Mantis..

This photograph was the combined effort of David and my Mom. David started taking a bunch of pictures of this praying mantis that has loads of personality! A while later, my parents came over for a BBQ. My Mom saw David snapping pictures of something, when she realized it was the little Buddha statue and the praying mantis that was actually POSING for pictures, she thought what a great painting that could be! She's a watercolor artist. Anyways, she took a few pictures to possibly turn into a painting someday and here's the shot!

The Attack of the Taranula times 3!!!

I had to pull a late night tonight to work on orders. As I was sitting in my chair, bead tray in my lap...just workin' away at about 10:30 at night ..I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye and there was a BIG Arizona style tarantula RIGHT next to me! I wasn't gonna move it...nooooooo! David was asleep, so I text my daughters boyfriend, Jared, who was working and let him know my situation..he says, "Are you serious thats so awesome. I hope they are still there when I get there" and I say "Me too so you can helllllpppppp!!!!!!". Not that I wished it would still be there..but, that he would hellllllllpppppp!!!!!

At this point, I had the window open incase he wanted to make his way back to the good 'ol outdoors (bad idea)...next thing you know, what's running across the floor, TOWARD ME??? ANOTHER ONE!!! I send another desperate text (thank God he likes me..haha) ..he assures me me he's "Got my back", I assure him that he rocks. I keep working away, now surrounded by TWO huge, hairy, eight legged critters (trying to ignore them..HA!) Than BOOM...ANOTHER ONE! I kid you not..at this point, I swear I feel like I'm starring in "The Attack of the Tarantulas"...it was climbing down the wall in my general direction..I stop working at this point ..slowly step away from "the set" and Jared walks in! Thank you Jared!!! He moves them out one by one with his hands and a dust pan. He actually enjoyed the experience!! Enough to where he brought one back in to see if I wanted to get a picture of it "for my blog" (he's awesome). At this point, I'm calm cause it seems like Jared's got everything under control. So I grab the camera, Jared puts Mr. Massive 8 Legs on one of my display branches and now we have a few great pictures and major points for Jared!

Photos of Sierra...my daughter/product model

This is my amazing 17 year old, Sierra. She is as silly as I am and I thank God for that!!! Most of the time that I can manage to spend with her (you know teenagers) is spent mostly making each other laugh. Fortunately, we're very close! This is a photo shoot I managed to get her to do for my butterfly necklace. Well, we got in silly mode as you can see in a few of the pictures. I don't know if it shows, but there's actually a tear under her eye in the top left picture. She's somethin' else and I'm a lucky mom!

100 degree day...taking a load off!

It was something like 100 degrees yesterday and we needed to cool off in a big, bad way! So did our bunnies! In the summer, I put a frozen tile and a frozen juice bottle in their cage. I thought it was so adorable when I noticed that Pebbles was laying on the tile with her legs like that...(not a usual laying position for bunnies). We humans hauled ourselves up Oak Creek Canyon. I sat on a rock and chatted with David while he took a dip. I am still as in love with Sedona as I was when I moved her 20 years ago. It's so incredibly beautiful here! Anyway...that was our 100 degree Sunday :)

Photographing my Dazzlefly Dragonflies

One thing I have become painfully aware of is how impossibly difficult it is to photograph the Dazzlefly dragonfly suncatchers. I would put up some photos of my very first shots from years ago (kinda like a before and after thing) but I'll wait on that one..haha! One of the things I hear most commonly when people receive them is how the photos don't do them justice. I have learned to ask people from Etsy that have great photos for tips. I've been amazed at how friendly people can be on Etsy! These two shots are as close as I've gotten yet to capturing them as they look in person...but I'm not there yet! I think it's the combination of Swarovski crystals and the iridescence of the wings that make them so hard to photograph. However, this challenge has actually been a love/hate thing. I've discovered that I really love taking pictures! I love trying new backgrounds and seeing what works and what doesn't. These were taken on my upstairs deck with hundreds of trees in the background. I put my camera on the macro setting, zoomed in and stood back, which is what gave the trees that blurry backdrop effect. Anyways, I think my quest for the perfect photo continues on, but I'm not complaining! It's the journey, not the destination, right? HA!

BUDDHAful!

I thought I would make my very first blog post about David's BUDDHAful Tea light Candle Holder. I love the picture of him sculpting it. When I see pictures of artists doing there work, I feel more connected to the piece and to the artist. This piece was originally going to be a garden piece called the "Buddha Brick", but then David had the idea of making it into a candle holder. When I first saw it as a candle holder, I grabbed it..lit it and started putting it in different spots around the house and in our garden. This is one of my favorite pieces of his. I love the uniqueness of it and the soft look on the Buddha's face.