Waiting for the sun

It's supposed to be spring here in Michigan, but the sun still comes out only once in a while. A friend of mine used to live in Minnesota and he says that it may be -20 there some days, but the sun still shines and that makes all the difference.

I have decided to stop making sister night posts since we haven't had much opportunity to actually work on anything in quite a while. Hopefully once I get my house situation figured out, hopefully we'll be able to resume our crafting.

I can't say I've been all that inspired lately anyway, with all this gray and gloomy weather we've been having.

Gloomy Sunday

This week was my four day weekend. And what was the weather like the entire time? Rain and more rain. Looking on the bright side, at least it wasn't snow and it melted the last clingy remnants of the aforementioned substance from my neighborhood. And what else are gloomy Sundays good for but creating things?

Unfortunately, the only thing I created aside from this set was a dent in the mess in my basement. But I'm glad to have this project finished. It's a birthday gift for my old manager's wife. I thought it was rather sweet that he requested this piece due to the aquamarine being her birthstone.

Now, on with my bridal project for my friend Rochelle. The lovely color she decided to go with is called oasis.

Sister Night III & IV

Due to an unfortunate mishap involving photos and email and differences in OS's, I was unable to post last week's sister night entry. So here it is:

I really liked this one that she did. A friend gave her the little keys and asked her to make a necklace with them and this is what she came up with.

And on to this week's edition:

Lovely. Where I favor crystals and freshwater pearls in my designs, she prefers the jewel tones of swarovski pearls. The color combinations she creates are simple and elegant.

We don't usually do this, but we have a theme in mind for next week! I'm so excited.

And now for a taste of things to come:

These are for a variation on the second starfish necklace. My old boss wants me to make one for his wife for her birthday this month. Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, so I have to say he made a pretty good choice with this one.

These are for me. I've been coveting these red pieces for quite some time, so I took the opportunity to pick them up while I was out there on Monday. The clear one is an effect called crystal moonlight. It's difficult to see in this picture, but it has a more subtle rainbow shine to it than the aurora borealis beads. I picked this one up to repair a piece in my jewelry box that got chipped. Now to find some time to work on it!

Starfish V2

This is another favorite theme of mine. I love the ocean, which is ironic since I live in Michigan, surrounded by fresh water. I made this one after I decided the other was too heavy to wear for any extended period of time.

It was nice and sunny for most of the day today, so I took the necklace outside to get a nice picture. I love the contrast of the ocean colors against the cold snow. I want to be thinking about something warm right about now, being stuck here in the snow. And I know once it gets hot, I'll want to be thinking about snow. It always happens.

Jewelry isn't the only thing I can make

I made cheesy tots to with dinner the other night. They come out a lot better when I make them than when my boyfriend tried. =)

I got the recipe here. Also, I found that they are very tasty if you add bacon.

I have to admit though, I am much better at desserts. Take this, for example:

These are cheesecake tarts with a yellow cake crust and blueberries on top. I usually make them with strawberries.

I like to consider baking to be a craft since I am creating food. I've never created a recipe of my own, but I do like to take recipes that I find and modify them into new things.

Sister Night II

A few days late, but here is something created by my sister, Nikki.

I remember her picking up these alexandrite briolettes at a bead show we attended together in 2006. Her original intent was to make them into a necklace for her wedding that fall. But alexandrite is a stone that changes colors. What she purchased as a lovely purple turns an electric shade of blue under flourescent lights, such as the ones in the chapel where she got married. Still, it is very beautiful and the color change effect makes it that much more interesting. As long as you don't mind if your purple bridal necklace turns into your Something Blue as soon as you enter the church. =)

Starfish

I made this one a while back and it has been hiding in my jewelry box since, waiting for the perfect occasion. When I brought it back out, I noticed that storage hasn't been very nice to it. So I took the opportunity this weekend to fix it up and make it beautiful again.


This is how it looked when I took it out of my jewelry box. Pretty sad, huh? I couldn't really see too much of the tarnish until I took the picture. The light really brought it out.

Here it is after I restrung ten of the twelve strands, removing the little tarnished sterling silver spacers. I used to use these spacers a lot, but I discovered that it tarnishes, even inside my jewelry box. I started using silver glass seed beads as spacers instead, and I think it looks so much better. This one still has sterling on it, so I'm going to put it into a small ziplock before returning it to it's fellows in my jewelry box.

A recurring theme

While looking through my jewelry box, I noticed a certain grouping of colors that seems to repeat throughout my designs.

I absolutely love the dynamic combination of black, white, and red. And I had to throw in the one I made to represent my favorite hockey team!

This was an experiment in making bridal jewelry with semi-precious stones. This one is garnet. I also made one with lovely amethyst and another with a leafy green jade.

They say every little girl dreams of her wedding day. I can't say I was that sort of little girl, but I created this necklace and bracelet set in hopes of someday wearing it while saying "I do."

Passion and harmony. Two necessary elements in any healthy relationship. Not the only two, of course, but important nonetheless.

The idea for this began with the red rings. It was one of those instances I mentioned where I picked up some pieces with no clear plan and things just sort of fell into place.

I created this when I started dating my current boyfriend. That's his name there, in the back near the clasp. A heart on either side to suggest the possibility of love. And the words Hope, Trust, and Believe, things I didn't feel I could do in my previous relationship. It is meant to signify a new start and hope for the future. It seems to have worked. =)


I recently picked up some colored wire and this was an early project. I wanted to add beads to the wire, but still leave large sections of it bare to show the color. This necklace is very light, doesn't get kinked when you fold it up, and lays very nicely on my neck. I am considering creating a few more using different color combinations.

Sister Night I

These blankets were crocheted by my sister, Amy. She and I have known each other since we were five years old. Our fathers were best friends. I've even known her longer than I've known my brother, whom she married in 2004. He's actually older than we are, but that's a long story.


I don't know where she gets the patience to create these adorable baby blankets, living in a household with a four year old princess and her eight month old sister, three pit bulls, and a parrot. Oh, and my grouchy brother.


This one is especially lovely, in my opinion. I love the pattern and the colors. She really has an eye for things like that.


This will hopefully be the first of a series of Sister Night posts that will show up every Wednesday. The three of us get together to work on our projects, but we usually spend more of the evening laughing and playing with the children. As well as sharing my own art, I'd like to take the opportunity to share theirs as well. Everyone deserves a chance to share things that they've worked so hard on.

Summer Dreams

This bracelet reminds me of summer time and beaches. A comforting thought right now, since we got another couple inches of snow here in Michigan today.


The background for my picture (aside from my sister's kitchen floor) is a lovely french page of unknown age. I love the way the page and the bracelet look together.

Origin of a name

One must have chaos within oneself to give birth to a dancing star. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

As I mentioned before, I have two wonderful children. And I have to tell you, I must have a lot of chaos in my soul because no star ever danced as much as these two.

On a related note, I found some lovely new journals at the bookstore today. It's a hobby of mine, collecting pretty empty books that I may or may not start filling with words.


These four words are an excellent description of my life. Especially the first and third one.


I adore anything with cherry blossoms on it. Which is rather odd since I'm not the biggest fan of the color pink. I found this little beauty on the clearance rack for $4.95. I fancy myself writing a novel in it. Not because I am particularly adept at writing stories, but simply because I recently read the one my friend has been working on and I find myself inspired. In all honesty, this pretty book will most likely remain empty of words for the foreseeable future.

All your tomorrows start here.

I have been reading some Neil Gaiman lately, and this line sort of stuck with me. It's from the short story "Strange Little Girls." (which also sort of stuck with me)

I jotted it down in my book that I keep for such things with the intent of turning it into something that I might hang up in a conspicuous part of my house as a reminder. To me, this line says "keep moving forward," but in a more interesting and thought-provoking way.

It hasn't yet been transformed into that inspiring piece of art yet, but I'm hoping it will sometime in the near future. I've been known to pick up bits and pieces that catch my eye with no real purpose in mind for them. And then, sometime later, they whisper to me just what they were meant for. It may be a week, a month, a year. But eventually, these little things find their true calling. This quote is just patiently waiting it's turn.

Greetings!

Hello blogland!

I'm just trying to get started here. I guess I should introduce myself.

My name is Stephanie. I have two kids, ages three and five. I love nature, music, and sunshine. I love to make people smile. My favorite crafts are beading, scrapbooking, baking, and photography.

My best friend is my sister, who also has two kids. There's no better way to spend an evening than to let all of the kids run around while we sit together and create something beautiful. Her pieces will show up in this blog from time to time.

Well, I guess that's about it for tonight. Have a great evening!