Beautiful Saturday in the yard

Hubby and I have a similar passion in life...gardening! Who would have thought I would find my perfect soul mate...not many men would traipse around tea rooms and bead shops with their wives...but to actually have a love of gardening also! Mind boggling if you ask me ;)

So we puttered around in the yard today...he mowed and I ate raspberries...A little history of the house...it was built in the 50's for soldiers coming back from the war in a small neighborhood full of these little split levels..all looking exactly the same.

When we moved in 10 years ago,there was nothing in the back yard but a run down gray shed a mock orange bush, butterfly bush and a french lilac.We've done alittle work since then...
The pond was our wedding gift to eachother. We put it in the weekend we got home from our honeymoon and it has done nothing but thrive since. We have several generations of frogs, fish and toads living in and by the pond. We had a visitor today too...this gorgeous blue dragonfly was sitting on the day lilies just waiting for me to snap her picture.

We also have a smaller pond for frog overflow. We are hoping one of these days to enlarge this one since they are really multiplying!There is even a rare yellow spotted salamander that comes and lays her eggs in our little pond every spring. Hard to believe we have so much animal life going on living in the city.




And finally after much cajoling and praying...my hydrangea has bloomed!!!
This is a Macrophylla Harlequin Hydrangea which get's gorgeous pink and white flowers. Many years ago, I worked in a green house and just had to have this hydrangea..I'm so glad I bought it now!





On the beading front...nothing new this week..I did get my liver of sulpher in the mail finally, so I'm going to experiment with oxidizing some metal tomorrow. I'm thinking about oxidizing my wire wrapped pendant from last week..but still thinking that one over...until next post~happy beading!!

Busy Weekend!

Well....all the insanity started Friday evening...I bought a showcase slot on Etsy to get some more exposure so more people can see my work. Totally not ready for it at ALL! So, most of friday and saturday I sat in my little "office" beading away on anything I could think of that would be attractive enough to get people to come look in my Etsy shop and possibly buy something..anything

Came up with some things, but then I saw what everyone else was putting in the showcase *insert crying guy*Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and love what I create...but lets face it, I'm only a small fish in a huge pond!So here's what I came up with...keep in mind, I like to think outside the box :)



Whew!! So..that's done. Sunday rolls up and we have to get in groceries or risk starvation...which means after going to bed at 3 am (watching Deadliest Catch) we have to get back up at 9 am to hit the store before the church people come flocking in with their screaming kiddies (see why I only have dogs?) Groceries home and put away ...mostly...

Off to the Bead Gallery to take a class on wire wrapping Cabs!! YAY! I love learning new things ...specially when it involves some new jewelry for me to make!!I thought I would be quite rusty since it's been awhile since my last class, but most of us got done in about 1 hour. I'm a big turquoise junkie so I knew I had to do something with the big chunk I've been hanging onto for the last 6 months with no idea what to do with it...hey...it was pretty! Anywho, I digress...class went great and this is what I ended up with...


Not too shabby for my first and I've already got a custom order to make another *thumbs up Fonze*

So now I sit here bored ..too early to go to bed ...so I put together another bracelet :) I totally fell in LOVE with these colors and for anyone that knows me..I'm not a bright color person..I like the muted "earthy" colors..I do have to rethink this design though, cause it just isn't quite what I want..I think I'm going to have to make a seed bead loop with a button closure. I do really love the hill tribe silver snap colsure, but there is a gap next to that (the silver beads cover it, but it looks "off" to me) So back to the drawing board with this one...but almost....


Dinner tonight is nothing special..DH is having leftover Beer Beef Bolognese Parpadelle

Made it from this awesome recipe I found on another blog here > http://teczcape.blogspot.com/2007/05/parpadelle-with-homemade-ragu-sauce.html

It was wonderful, but omitted the beer since DH and I don't drink beer and it would just end up skunked in our fridge :) My lovely dinner is a frozen chicken breast stuffed with broccoli and cheese...not the healthiest, but I'm too tired to make anything tonight! Well..off to check my dinner...till next time, happy beading!

Beading Buddy

First blog post! (Well ...real blog post anyway..the first didn't count) Thought I would jump on the blog band wagon and see if I can actually keep up with postings this time instead of letting the poor thing sit and collect dust.

One of my most favorite things to do is create jewelry. I have my own little Etsy shop at secretgardenjewelry.com I've even bought my logo to plaster all over my car *snicker* haven't gotten the courage to actually put them on yet...that would be like I was really in business! So far, I've sold 5 items, but it's such a big thrill to actually think someone would PAY for something I make. I'm into all kinds of things..I like making vintage looking jewelry from old skeleton keys and antique escutcheon's (pronounce that 5 times!) Anywho...I've just discoved a new supply...costume jewelry! I have some ideas about adding pieces of that to my design's so stay tuned for some new pieces. I knew I should have taken a metal class in highschool instead of home ec...

I plan on doing some tutorials soon too..just easy peasy things like wire wrapping rings and wire wrapping a cab. I'm taking a class on it sunday, so wish me luck! I'll share my knowledge when I get back....

Now if I can figure out how to add a video to this thing, I'll show you my inspiration for "bully" beads...one of the loves of my life...my little bully dog Cass.Both of my "pups" are great, but little Cass likes to snore at my feet while I'm working on new pieces.

Under construction

Be back soon!