Winter Treats

Winter has definitely found us in here Tennessee. I think that it has snowed every week this year. We are not accustomed to quite so much white stuff here. It has been beautiful though. These are views from my front yard. Maggie is enjoying a romp through the snow. She loves rolling in it.





I just had to show off the beautiful goodies that my friend Steph in Belgium sent to me recently. There is a necklace similar to the butterfly bracelet that she gave me in her Etsy shop if anyone is interested. The beaded necklace is made from the beads that she sent me in the last package of treats. The delicious chocolate did not make it into the photos, alas. It was speedily consumed. :-)



This cowboy necklace is made from a vintage tin. It will be available at the next Studio Thursday at Silo Studio in Thompson Station, Tennessee, which is coming up on February 10th from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm. Come and help support Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue. Their new website is designed by my son Zach. The background artwork is by Shawn, but the layout and functions are by Zach. If you know of anyone who needs a website done, send them to Scheitel Design and make Mom happy.

Gifts and Play Days

Some days I love my mailbox...the days when it is not all bills and junk mail. I love it when I pull surprise packages out with beautiful necklaces like the one that Steph (vladthebat) sent to me. She makes such wonderfully smooth and colorful polymer clay beads. Check out her blog. There is always something interesting.


Another thing that is exciting to me is to get to spend the day creating with another artist. On Wednesday, I went to Silo Studio to hang out with my friend Shawn and let our imaginations have a play day. We had no agenda other than to have fun and create. The weather threatened to cancel our plans, but I was determined to go. What's a little sleet and snow, when there is creating to be done.
It took a little while to figure out what we wanted to do, but we ended up with two projects each that took shape by the end of the afternoon. Here are photos of mine:

This is a very large belt buckle. I will have to find a belt to go with it.

This is an art doll made of a vintage metal jello mold, wooden spindles, old license plate number, wooden doll coat hanger, paint brush, beads, and a dog head picture. The dog head was inspired by the fact that we were surrounded by dogs in the studio. Two were so small, you could hold them in your two hands, and one was gigantic. Shawn has three of her own dogs and is a dog foster parent, so there are usually extras there. There are always plenty of wagging tails around.
Here are Shawn's pictures that she just emailed to me:

The buckles are made with metal buckle blanks, paper, beads, a vintage earring, and resin.