and this little birdie wants to sing for you! The pendant was hand made by Red Crow Arts and it oozes Summertime with it’s bright colors and lighthearted motif. I couldn’t resist it!

Click on the image to see my Art Fire shop

With all of the nice weather, we’ve been pretty busy here. I’m still keeping up my daily walking routine. Last month I totaled 65 miles! Mom walks with me and when we’re both feeling up to par we average 3 to 4 miles a day. This past week we’ve been doing a bit less as I’m having an RA flare and my right heel isn’t cooperating with me. But, we’ll be back to normal soon enough!

I’ve listed a few new things in my Art Fire shop over the past two days, with a few more new things to come. Jewelry production has been a bit slow for me lately. A creative slump had me stopped in my tracks, and rather than force myself to create, I just took some time off and allowed myself to just relax and observe the world around me. Nature tends to be my biggest inspiration, so lots of walks and hikes to feed my brain have been very helpful. Our California Summers may look bland and brown on the surface (the rain stops and the hills turn brown) but when you take the time to look, there are colorful surprises to be found! It may be an unusual color in a Serpentine pebble at the edge of a creek, or a beautiful California King Snake masking in the sun. Who knows what I’ll see next!

if you look closely you'll see a California King Snake along the edge of the pavement

What are your Summer plans?

2 Comments »

3 Comments »

So, I thought I had more pictures of kiddo. Turns out I don’t. So, here’s one from just a couple weeks ago, and I’ll get some more as soon as it stops raining here.

He’s getting so tall now. I swear he was barely reaching doorknobs just a few weeks ago!

Hi Ohio family!!!

No Comments »

Hello again! I know, I’ve been absent for a couple of months here at my blog. Where have I been, you ask? I’ve been walking. Everyday. Seriously. After getting hit with a bad cold in early March (thanks Kiddo!!) that knocked me down in a BAD way, I’ve rebounded!

I don’t know how many of you readers know this, but, I’ll share. I have both Osteo Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Because of the RA I have to take a medication that suppresses my immune system, so, any bug that comes my way, literally knocks me out for weeks on end. Which in turn causes my RA to flare which knocks me out for a few more weeks. I know it’s a sob story, but I also know I’m not the only one who lives with this disease, so I figured I’d share.

So, I’ve rebounded, in a big way. My RA is finally feeling like it’s under control. For the first time in, oh, a dozen years or so, I feel like I’m in control of my body instead of it controlling me. I’m walking every day now. I started out at about a mile a day, which took me about an hour to walk. Now, as of today, I’m at THREE miles a day and doing it in about an hour and 15 minutes. With all of the walking, I’ve lost around 34lbs as well. A year ago I had trouble walking from one end of my house to the other, I dreaded getting up in the morning, and getting up off the couch was painful. I never dreamed I’d be where I am now!

In the mean time, I’ve been busy in the jewelry world. I participated in an arts and crafts street fair in San Juan Bautista a few weeks ago. My first California show! I was happy, I didn’t go in the hole for it, and made a  little extra cash to buy more beads. So, all in all, not bad. I shared the   booth with my good friend and beading buddy, Ashley. That made the days extra fun!

I’ve been making a few new things as well. Focusing on quality over quantity, mainly, and finding it hard to sit inside at the bead table with the wonderful Spring weather we’ve been having. This is my current favorite. It was inspired by traditional tribal jewelry from the American Southwest, Tibetian jewelry,  and old tribal Persian jewelry. The lapis pendant started it’s life as a necklace with lots of other lapis on it, it’s one of those Afghani imports that are all over the place these days. I added some coral, more lapis, carnelian, anad turquoise to the bell dangles that were already there. I also included a little brass stamping, just for the heck of it. The necklace features the same stones, along with some great vintage red glass beads that have a great textural feel to them.

It makes a great sound when it’s worn and is an absolute attention grabber! I made a couple coordinating bracelets and earrings to go with it, but they were gone before I could get pictures of them!

I’ll be working on getting all of my other new goodies photographed and listed soon. Between walks of course!

So, what have you been up to this Spring?

Blessings.
Peace.
Joy

2 Comments »