Get Together

We've had a mini family reunion with Eric's sister Julie and her husband Steve who are back in the states, we all gathered in Richmond last Monday, then got together again yesterday in Yorktown. Steve and Julie will be heading to Germany, and hopefully we will have an opportunity to visit them before they are transferred. Here are some of the pictures that I took on Monday, enjoy!

Lindsay with Grandpa. Smiling for a picture is not an option for Grandpa!

Lindsay with her pooch Benson.



Julie, my fabulous sister-in-law.

Lindsay, Eric, Julie - can you believe Eric is smiling!

The siblings: Eric and Julie - nice.

Julie and Steve, what a good looking couple.

Lindsay, Benson and Grandpa. Everyone looks happy except Benson.

Lindsay and Benson. Benson is happy to be home with mom and Spider Pig!

Grandpa Jimmy.

Some Jewelry!

I has been awhile since I posted any pictures of jewelry that I've made, so I thought that I would show you some of the things that I've either made for myself (smile), given away as gifts or just made 'cause. Click the picture if you want to make the image larger.

These are my new favorite earrings and crystal. I promise it looks SO much better in person. To me they are just stunning and looks perfect with a suit or your favorite pair of jeans.




Rectangle Millefiori glass bead with a Swarovski crystal. These were for me, and everyday last week I wore only these earrings, because they fit perfect with every outfit PLUS they are pretty.

Brown mother-of-pearl earrings, so cute! The coin shaped beads I picked up on my last trip to Florida on the clearance rack, I'm so glad I picked them up.

Teal Swarovski crystals dangling on a heart chain, very sparkly.




Fuchsia lampwork bead on a kidney ear wire. These are my little cuties.

Carnelian gemstone with sterling silver. So pretty. I just love the way this necklace turned out.

Made these for my sister Shirley, she said that she needed a pair of earrings that she could wear with anything - I love how things always work out!




Delightful - Bronzite and turquoise, so elegant. I've done a variation of these before, by I thought they would be perfect for the recipient.

Red hot Swarovski crystals with Bali ring and bead caps.

Here is another variation of my new favorite crystal bead, love it in this color as well. Simply a stunning pair of earrings.

Teal lampwork bead with cool ear wire.

Fuchsia lampwork and Swarovski crystal with the cool ear wire. I love swirls!

Did I mention that I love this bead! Here it is again with a crystal bicone. Lovely.

Thanks for taking a look, hopefully I am going to post more pictures next week. Have a great weekend.

Color, Color, Color!

Can you guess what I've been doing?

Yep, we have finally gotten around to painting those bare white walls in the house. We started back in July and painted the half bath this rich brown, the paint color is called latte, we also switch out the hideous Hollywood lights put in by the builder. Then the we headed upstairs to paint the kids bedrooms and the guest room, I still need to accessorize the rooms but the painted walls look outstanding.

The next room to paint will be the master bedroom and bath. Eric picked up the paint for both rooms last Friday, and I was suppose to start painting the bathroom today, but that hasn't happened, so maybe I will get around to it Saturday.

For our bedroom we choose a neutral, it is a chocolate brown with a tan color for the bathroom. But, I've been thinking that maybe we should just paint one wall in the bedroom in fear that four walls painted chocolate brown will be to dark.

We had cranberry walls in the dining room of our last home, it was georgous, but I'm not sure I want to use the same color here, I'm leaning towards rich golden yellow, Sahara Sunset is the name of the paint color, and I'm going green for the office. Our two story living room and hallways will be the last on the list and we are still pondering the kitchen.



I'm listing the paint color/name to help me just in case I forget to write them down:

Gene's bedroom: Respite (Sherwin-Williams SW 6514)

Nicole's bedroom: Wisteria (Sherrwin-Williams SW 6822)

Half Bathrom: Latte (Sherwin-Williams SW 6108)

Guest Bedroom: Relaxed Khaki (Sherwin-Williams SW 6149)

Master Bedroom: Belgian Chocolate (Lowe's/Olympic Paints D26-5)

Master Bathroom: Pony Tail (Lowe's/Olympic Paints C15-3)

The Beads Arrived!

The yummy beads I won from Bead and Save arrived yesterday, they are gorgeous! The four extra beads that Bead and Save included are a perfect compliment to the others, I am SO looking forward to using them in an upcoming project. So pretty.

Meet Benson

This weekend we dog sat for niece Lindsay, I was a little nervous that Benson would have an accident in the house, plus he was already a bit sad because Lindsay's other dog was at Grandma's house, so he didn't have his play mate and big brother.

Benson such a good boy, no accidents or any bad behavior the entire weekend. He just wanted to be right under you, or at least in the same room with you, plus he wanted lots of petting. As soon as you start petting him, he rolls on his back so that you can rub his belly!

Just love those flop ears!

This was too cute - I guess his elbow was a bit itchy, so here is Benson trying to lick his elbow. Silly boy!

Bead and Save's Giveaway

I won the Bead and Save Giveaway! Can you believe it - Yippee!!

The Beading Gem Journal hosted a lampwork bead giveaway with Bead and Save and I found out yesterday that I was the winner. I'm so excited, I can hardly wait to receive my beautiful prize, are these lampwork beads yummy or what!

The Beading Gem Journal is one of my favorite beading blogs, and is usually the first e-mail I read each day. I have to admit that I was not familiar with Bead and Save prior to the giveaway, but after checking out their online bead store and making out a "must have" list, I'm sure I will be a loyal fan and customer.

What will I make with my yummy beads? Not sure, I will play around with the beads and then decide what direction I will go, oh I almost forgot to mention that the owner of Bead and Save e-mailed me and said they included some extra beads to go with the lampwork beads! How thoughtful and generous is that.

Thank you, thank you The Beading Gem Journal and Bead and Save!

Playing With Clay

A couple of weeks ago I took a polymer clay class and made my very own beads! I had never worked with polymer clay before so I was thrilled to get the chance to learn something new and make my very own beads (look out HGTV's Carol Duvall). I did have the forethought to bring my camera, and here are a few pictures I took.

Here is my pendant after I had worked the clay, which really means running it through a pasta machine a few times.

The instructor is very resourceful, here we have the beads on copper wire skewers, I just loved her "baking boat" for the oven.

Looks like a toaster oven, right? I thought so to, but alas it is a polymer clay and craft oven.

Here, the handy-dandy get the hot stuff out of the oven paddle is a shoe box top! Recycle and reuse is the name of the game - love it. Here are my pretties fresh out of the oven.

Ta Da... The final product after they have had their clear coat. I used rubber stamps to get the swirls on the front and back of each bead, I also used some embossing powder to give the beads some shimmer. Right now I'm not sure how I will use the beads, I do have enough to make a necklace, bracelet and earrings, or perhaps I will make a necklace and earring set, still pondering what other beads I will use as well.

My instructor does fabulous work, and I could not resist buying these two pendants. She originally planned to make them into pins, but I asked her to drill a hole in the top so that I could use them as a pendant, the lighter background one looks like mother-of-pearl, so tweet.

Anniversary Trip

Eric and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 17! My how time flies by, it really doesn't seem like we've been married THAT long. We took the the kids down to Eric's parents on Thursday evening, and they didn't return home until Sunday afternoon. Yippee!

Friday morning we got up and I made my man a hearty breakfast, I'm talking a real breakfast not my usual cold cereal and fruit. After breakfast Eric had planned a day trip to National Harbor in Maryland. This was our first time going there, friends from church said they had gone and enjoyed it, so we thought we would check it out. Here are some pictures of our outing...

This the the Gaylord, we took a little "tour" - it was fabulous inside, WOW was the extent of my comments as we walked through the lobby, trying really hard to look like we belonged there!

Not sure what this plant is, looks like tiny tomatoes doesn't it. The Gaylord even has great plants.

And check out the water feature leading up to the lobby doors. They even had a fountain...

The "sailboat" on the Westin was cool, don't you think?

Here is the man in the sand sculpture, but it looks more like man drowning, but what do I know!

We saw some young kids sailing, they were really pumped up for their sail.

Of course I had to take a couple pictures of my feathered friends...

We noticed that the boardwalk was littered with clam shells, then realized that the seagulls were dropping the clams on the boardwalk to open them, clever huh! Here is one of the clever birds feasting on his bounty.

I had planned to include pictures from our wedding, but I haven't had a chance to scan the pictures in yet, hopefully I will get around to it soon.

Live blessed!