Purple Heart Day

      Today, my daughter and the grandson went to the Farmer's Market downtown, to find some organic vegetables. I bought a gorgeous cantaloupe, which I had to cut in half and have a bite of at lunch today. And some local honey, from this area of Louisiana. I'm hoping it will help with my newly acquired allergies. The Farmer's Market was in the parking lot of the Museum of Modern Art, but the museum wasn't open yet. Oh, well, maybe next trip. After we got home and unloaded all the goodies we bought, I went to the studio and got busy finishing some pieces that have been in the works for a while.

     The purple heart in this photo is spoken for. A sweet little girl saw one of my hearts, a coral colored one that I wear, and asked me to make her a necklace for her birthday. She told me that her favorite color isn't pink any more - it's purple. So I will be making up a necklace for her to wear, and I hope she likes it!

Small Town Thoughts

My house is about 12 minutes drive outside the town where I work everyday. Maybe you didn't know that I'm back working a 9-to-5 in an office. Cuts into the creating time. Sometimes, while I'm driving, I daydream about things I'd like to make. Do you think random thoughts while the landscape and sky are whizzing past your car windows?

Lately, I've been thinking about the difference between living in a big city, like Houston or St. Louis, and living in a small town as I am now.

I went to the town hall to pay the utilities.

Yes, in a small town, all the utilities are together and you pay one person in one building. The thing that made me realize the big difference, is that they know me. They know my name, and what house I live in. When I drive down the road in town, they wave at me.

That's so unique, so different from living in the big, anonymous city.

I was trying to catch a photo while driving of the fog along the side of the road. It's not easy to catch a picture of fog at 75 miles per hour. Here in Louisiana, the weather changes drastically from day to day. It might be 29 degrees F in the morning, and 75 degrees F by afternoon. I keep a sweater in the car, in case of rapid temperature changes.

At Christmas, the town had a parade with floats, and there was a contest for the best float. There were only 3 floats, and there was a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize. You see how this works out in a small town.

Everybody gets to have some fun.

I was nominated to be one of the 3 judges of the floats. So there I sat, at a decorated Judge's table, on the sidewalk in a prime position, watching the floats, and the dancers, and the 4-wheelers go by in the Christmas parade.

And I thought to myself, would this have EVER happened to me in Houston or St. Louis? Not in a million years.

Another example that I am thinking about. Again at Christmas, the town had an open house for the churches and some of the beautiful older homes in town. The 3 houses were wonderful, decorated with multiple Christmas trees, and apple cider to drink. There was lots of purple and gold, the LSU colors, used instead of red and green. And the homeowners are my neighbors. They are walking distance from my house, and they know me. When they see me in my yard, or at the studio, they wave at me.

Finally, at the small one-room library, where I go most Saturday mornings to get new books and turn in my old ones, the librarians know me. They have figured out the kind of books I like, the authors I read most. And they order books for me, inter-library, from parishes all over.

They call and let me know I have a book waiting. That's never happened to me before. It's so great, they see something and go ahead and get it for me, based on what I've been reading.

They know my name, and I don't even have to have my library card. When my books are due, they renew them for me.

I took all of them bags of cookies and Christmas candies, to say thanks for the nice things they do. One librarian was in charge of making the library float, the one that we "Judges" selected for the 1st place trophy. They knew me, I know them.

It's been a long time since I've lived in a small town.

I forgot how everyone gets to know you.  You become one of the citizens. You wave, they wave back. They bring you canned pickled okra and home grown grapefruit. Heads of home grown broccoli and cauliflower. Great big bowls of banana pudding, with toasted meringue on top.  Bright red Christmas poinsettias.

They leave them on your back steps. With a note.

If you've never had it, maybe you appreciate it even more, once you get it.

I know I do.

Steel Magnolias are Nearby

I mentioned that family was visiting, husband's sister and brother-in-law from Topeka, Kansas.

They really seemed to enjoy the food, and the weather, here in Central Louisiana.

The three of them took a trip up the highway to Natchitoches, Louisiana. That's pronounced "NACK-i-tish" - not like it's spelled. (I, alas, couldn't go, I was ever faithful at the day job .... next time, for sure! )

I didn't know that my sister-in-law's favorite movie is "Steel Magnolias" and I also didn't know that it was filmed in Natchitoches. I guess I need to watch it again, to keep an eye out for familiar landscapes.

But she immediately recognized the house from the movie, and the holiday decorations on the riverwalk.

So they had to get some photos of the house and the sign. Mementos of the trip, don't you know.

And they had some good seafood, apparently the oysters were a big hit.

Here's a photo of my hubby and his sister, in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I'm happy they had a chance to visit, and they could experience the people, culture, music and food of our new home.

I think they had a good time, and they're planning another trip down. 

Woo-Hoo! More gumbo, ya-ya ... 

Sunday Cooking

I can't remember if I mentioned that I have family coming down from Topeka to visit. So I went to the library and got several cookbooks for local recipes. After all, if you're coming from Kansas to Louisiana, you'll probably want to eat Louisiana food, right?

This is some gumbo on the stove that I made this morning. We tasted it at lunch with rice, and it was good. It has okra, shrimp and cajun sausage in it. It's my first gumbo attempt. I don't like things too spicy, but once it's served up in the bowl you can add Tabasco sauce to put more zing in it. 

This is an oatmeal cake topped with pecan icing. It's a very different kind of cake, moist and almost like a big cookie. I made three of these yesterday. The whole house smelled like a pastry shop! I got the pecans locally, a family member gave me a whole huge bag of freshly cracked shelled pecan halves. They are glorious! Nothing tastes quite like really fresh local pecans.

It's a really old recipe, I baked it in a springform pan to make it easier to get it out of the pan. It's good for dessert, or for a coffee cake first thing in the morning with coffee. And super easy to make.

Oatmeal Cake

9 1/2" Springform pan (a pie or cake pan will work if you don't have one of these) well greased with shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cake:

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats (not the instant kind, the long-cooking variety)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup evaporated milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts, if you like those better)

Pour boiling water over the oats in a bowl and let stand 20 minutes.

Cream butter with both sugars and add eggs. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together and add to butter mixture. Mix thoroughly, then add the soaked oats. Pour the batter into the greased springform pan and bake for 50 minutes.

For the frosting, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add evaporated milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix lightly. Stir in the chopped nuts. Spread over the warm cake while still in the springform pan, and place in the oven under the broiler briefly, until the sugars bubble and caramelize and the top is lightly browned.

Cool thoroughly on a wire rack before removing the sides of the pan. In fact, if it can sit and cool for several hours, it will come out of the pan slick as a whistle!

Enjoy with a cup of coffee, or a big cup of hot chocolate. YUM!

Discovery

My daughter took this photo at the end of our trip to North Texas. We did a lot of visiting and ate a lot of food.

Traveling with a two-year-old in the back seat has its own special sense of togetherness. We thought the grandbaby would take a long nap in the carseat. Ummm, does 30 minutes even count as a nap? I didn't think so!

We came back on Monday, and back to the day job on Tuesday. The studio is a bit chilly. Know why?

Today we figured out that, in both houses, we didn't get the gas turned on yet. A big huge DUH!

We went to turn on the heat in the house, it was 60 degrees inside, and no heat. A head-scratcher. We checked the electrical box, any breakers off? Nope.

We went to check the pilot light. It wasn't lit. Ahh, that's the problem. 

And it wouldn't light. Because there was no gas!

So we are bundled up this weekend until we can call the town office and have the gas turned on to the house.

Sometimes, it's the little things.

So I'm headed over to the studio now to open the doors and let some warm, outdoor air in. To warm things up a bit. Since it's going to be 70 degrees today outdoors!

Things Come In Threes

Here are three little pendants I created last week. The round ones are really tiny and sweet, I really like how they are turning out. They'd be so cute as charms on a bracelet, or as a dangle on a necklace. I want to make up some jewelry using them - I can't wait!

You've probably heard the old saying that things "come in groups of three" - good things, and not so good things.

I have some personal experience with that, since the move from Missouri to Louisiana.

One thing was the VW Van throwing a rod. I only partly know what that means, but it means a new engine. That's a pretty big thing.

Another thing was the abrupt departure of the HP computer. KAPUT! Thankfully I have a stand-in, and I cross my fingers every time I boot up the machine and say a silent "thank you" when it turns on.

The third thing was the sudden passing of my father-in-law in Kansas, which involved some rapid airline arrangements for my hubby to be there with his family.

I'm hoping that this is the run of the threes, and this is all that's coming right now. 

Tomorrow, I'll let you know what I did because of this triad of eventualities that visited me since the relocation to Louisiana, and the coincidence that changed all my plans.

Are You Sitting Down?

Guess what?
You'll never guess!

We bought a house in Louisiana, just a block away from my grandbaby and her parents.

We'll be moving to Louisiana and I'll have a full studio there.

Can you believe it?

If you think I'm excited and happy, you're SO right!!!

This does mean a bit of an intermission in the studio, while I take it down, box it up and relocate it.

I hope you'll hang in with me until I get things all set up again in the new location.

But it means I'll have time for creating.

Hopefully, lots of time.

If you haven't moved in a while, you may not know how much trouble it can be, I wish I could twitch my nose and have it all over with.

In the meantime, I've put some things that are already in the Etsy shop on sale.

After all, I need a little moving money, don'cha know...

Wish me luck!

Family Time

My daughter is a good photographer. She doesn't always think so, but I know she is. This is a picture of my grandbaby reading a book I made for her last Christmas.

Reading is important, she's already won a reading award. I don't know how at almost-nearly two years old she did that, but I'm proud anyway.

I did get a little touch of poison ivy while I was away.

I missed all of you! I'll be catching you up some more in the next few days.

See The Resemblance?

That's my lovely daughter on the left.

That's my silly self on the right.

I'm so happy to be able to spend time with her.

She took the photos and sent me the collage.

Isn't she talented?

Aren't I the happy mom ... of course I am!

Goofy pictures are fun.

Happy Happy Today

Today is my birthday! I had a nice breakfast, and I've spent the rest of the day in the studio, messing up my fingernails! They look like I've been working on heavy machinery.

But really I've been working on some different closures.

Like this medal with a large loop at the top, it says "VALEUR ET DISTINCTION" in french. It was cast from an original french antique.

I combined it with an old skeleton key, with the number "6" at the top, putting a loop on the back to make it into a toggle.

My hubby went to the bookstore and picked up a copy of the Summer 2010 Issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry. I'm excited to spend part of this evening reading through it.

The article on the Faux Amber turned out well, I think. And Deryn Mentock and Nancy Schindler have articles in there, too.

I'll spend some quiet indoor time this evening looking at the whole thing, can't wait.

We're having a Boef Bourguignon tonight, yum. That won't require any VALEUR but it will be a dinner with DISTINCTION, for sure.

With some fresh french bread and Missouri vineyard red wine.

Happy Birthday to Me! A nice day, enjoyable and memorable.

Round and Round

I snagged a few hours for creativity, and decided to create some more of these soldered glass connectors.

I like them, especially the ones with things about Paris and very vintage images in them. Snippets from love letters. Old writing.





They have two loops for using in a chain, or I guess as a focal with a dangle.

I could see a bracelet with them, maybe with buttons in between as connector links.

I need to make more of these, they're fun.

Spanish Oranges

There's a color I really like, it reminds me of whitewashed walls in houses in Tuscany. Or like those tiny oranges called Clementines.

This house has those colors in the script on the front, and the back reminds me of lemons when you peel them to get to the zest.

It has the same feeling as this vintage sepia photograph.

Sienna.

Rust.

Red Ochre.

I love those colors, on beads, or on walls. That old country rustic feeling they give.

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Don't forget about the Art Bead Scene Studio Saturday post - add your reply to be in the running for a pair of pewter charms.

Circular

I've been traveling and just got back. Boy, it's nice to get back to the home routine, you know how that is? No matter how pleasant the trip, opening one's own front door is always a happy thing. Especially if you cleaned before leaving so it's a nice, clean house!

So I'll be posting and adding more soon to the blog.

I missed you ... did you miss me too?

Old Time New Way

I took classes with Melissa Manley and Richard Salley on enameling with a torch. It seemed very new-wave and up to date, a brand new method of working with enamel and copper.

This is a photo of one of Richard Salley's class projects for a class he's teaching later this year. That central part is enameled copper. Lovely, isn't it? I wish I could take some more classes with him, he's a great teacher. I'll talk more about the class later on in other posts.


I got curious about the background of torch firing enamel and started doing some research; I found an amazing old article from "Popular Science" magazine, it was published in November.

Of 1960, that is.

A while back. And yet the instructions are very similar to the methods used and taught in the classes I took last week.

I find that facinating.

What's that old saying about "nothing new under the sun" - yet again we find how true that can be.


Of course, there is some new technology also. There's no need to cut down a tin can if you don't want to go that way, you can get a soldering trivet.

But I guess if you don't want the expense of a soldering trivet, there's probably a metal coffee can around somewhere, right? I might give it a try just to see what happens.

And the BenzOmatic propane torch shown in that quaint old photo - it's basically unchanged, and the torch head is the same also.


Just goes to show, how old things become new again.

I've been doing some historical research on enameling on copper. It is a very ancient technique, and it's been around long before tin cans or propane torches.

And it's still evolving now. Facinating...

At the Waterline, At the Skyline

I love being near the water. For many years I lived by the water on the Gulf Coast, but I've been landlocked now for almost the same length of time, here in the midwest. I guess I could go down to the mightly Mississippi river, but somehow that's not quite the same, at least not to me.


So when I get to Port Townsend in Washington State for Artfest, I like being in the Dorm that's close to the water, with the scent of the salt in the air. That's the building on the right, I was in a room at the top of those stairs.


It's cool and rainy, with the grey tones of color in the sky and water, but that only seems to enhance the natural colors around them.


The cliffs of green grass, the bright colors of a lighthouse seem to pop out of the grey midtones more strongly than they do in a bright summer lightness of sky and sun.


It's a lovely area, I walked around in my raincoat because you never know when a little shower will start. Can you picture a picnic at this table, with this view?


It's easy to be inspired in this setting.


The colors are rich and saturated, a feast for the eyes.


It makes me miss being close to the water.

Artfest Trades Do Pencil Me In

I've been thinking and thinking about what I wanted to take with me to Port Townsend, WA for Artfest to use as trades.

I wanted something useful.
But also fun.
Something different.
Colorful and distinctive.
Something unusual but with a purpose.

Why put all these rules on it? Well, add to it that I wanted it to be inexpensive for the materials, not terribly time consuming to create, and still something that someone else would want to trade for - not too much to ask, right?

No wonder it took me so long to come up with something.

Do you ever have that feeling that you've thought of something important and needed, but all of a sudden it's gone out of your head and the harder you try to bring it back the further it recedes?

That's what happened to me this week. And I need to finish my trades because I'm packing for Artfest and I need to put them in the suitcase. And I don't have them. Um-Hum, that's an issue.

Yesterday it came back to me. I decided to create little colored pencils, like the short kind you see for golfers and at the library for taking notes. Except these would be covered in beautiful papers, and have a hanging wire for a charm.

Not so long that you worry about spearing yourself on it, but long enough to actually use. For journaling or just coloring on a napkin, if you get the inclination.


This is the first batch. Of course after I started putting wire on them for the hangers I thought - hey, these need some beads. They need to be a little funky and fun. These are covered with an old map paper, but I have lots of other papers I'm going to use.

So what do you think - would you trade with me for one of these little colored pencil charms?


Question though, you can help here, do you think I should put big jump rings on them, so folks can hang them right away, or just let people put a silk cord through the hole at the top.

Do you like them - are they funky and fun, or just silly and funny-looking? Be honest....

Week of Working, Week of Packing

I've got my supply list for Artfest printed out so I can start packing my things. Some things I won't be able to put in the zippered container until right before time to leave because I use them all the time, like my jewelry pliers.


It means I'll be away from the shop some next week while I travel, but I won't close up the shop and I'll just leave a note on the Etsy door that says things will be shipped when I get back. Like those small coffee shops where you sometimes see a note "back in ten minutes" and you just have to wait for a bit.

The theme of Artfest 2010 is Fairy Tales, like Alice in Wonderland or the Brothers Grimm. I'm still working on my trades, most everyone takes things to trade with other people, that's part of the fun.

I hope to see some folks I met last year like Nina Bagley and Catherine Witherell while I'm at Artfest. I am staying in a dormitory, it's like a throwback to years and years ago for me. Sort of an Art Boot Camp.

I'm taking two days of classes with Richard Salley and the last class with Melissa Manley, there will be some enamel torching and copper etching involved, I can't wait!

I love that part of the country too, so pretty and different from the Midwest, right by the water too.

Oops, did I give away that I'm getting excited?

Palace of London Key to Travel

I like images with advertising art, they always seem nostalgic to me. So I created this oval resin piece with a hotel advertising label in it, bright red, and set it in an oval ornate pewter frame.

I guess I have travel on my mind, it's almost time to start packing for Artfest. I can't wait!


This red oval has the words "PALACE HOTEL LONDON" and "Central to Everywhere" in it, it's translucent so light shines through when you hold it up to a light.

The attached key reminds me of some of the hotels and B&B I stayed in during the trip to Scotland.

It looks so ancient!

Happy New, New Happy Year

I'm visiting family, eating black-eyed peas and cabbage for the new year's prosperity and luck, and enjoying slightly warmer weather.

And having a lovely time with the family, especially the beautiful grandbaby.

Tomorrow I hit the highway again with one more stop between here and the home front.

I hope your celebrations and the beginning of the new year were fun for all!

Feathered Friends, Sweet Bird Songs

A little while ago, a lovely new friend offered me use of some special french mementos. I could make casts from them, create molds, and replicate them in pewter.

I was thrilled, flattered and excited. Of course, I'd love to try!

They are items brought back from a trip to Paris, special little mementos. I'm taking very good care of them. They're very unique and precious.

I got the first test batches cast, got the molds created.

And today I started casting the metal.


Aren't they fun and lovely?

Some are bird shapes, this friend is particularly fond of birds.


I can tell from the originals that they are very vintage, and it gives me hints about what the pewter castings should look like. Usually, I'm just making things up from my imagination, guessing what they should look like.


Some have a coppery-bronze patina on them. With holes drilled for adding jump rings. And some have jump rings cast into them.

That's one thing the originals were sometimes missing, a way to attach things to them, and to each other.


I have more to work on, but I wanted to share these so you can see. Of course, the first set goes back to the lovely friend who sent me the originals. It's only fair, simply right.

But I have agreement that I can offer some in the Etsy shop, too. And I know some of you love birds, too. But I want the first set to arrive and be enjoyed; I know by posting this there won't be a surprise.

But I couldn't wait to share!

And I'll share some more photos tomorrow, when more of them are ready to show.


Don't you love them? I can't wait to play with them. I think they'd make lovely holiday decorations, too.

Speaking of which, I STILL have NOT decorated the tree! It's up, the lights are on, but no ornaments.

Maybe TONIGHT.... definitely.