No more whining!

Today, I am officially out of pain meds, and done whining about my tummy.  Tuesday, 10/4, two great things will be happening to me.  First, the stitches and drain are coming out!  Second, I get to publish my Michelle Mach Oct blog hop piece.  For those of you who have watched my last two pieces, Michelle's last hop piece, and Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party necklace, this one may surprise.  For the last two, I used a kind of collage approach, trying to enhance each challenge bit that I used individually.  I also used a lot of metal and wire wrapping.  For this new one, you will see more of a unified approach, and mostly beads.  I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I have enjoyed making it!

I just love doing challenges, even if they are ones I issue myself.  I think it's important that, as artists, we push our own boundaries, use skills that push us past limits, incorporate colors outside our comfort zones and generally rebel a bit whenever we get just a little too comfortable.  Getting the mojo working!

After surgery ughies

Today was not a good day, not terrible, just sleepy achy and cranky.  Stitches are pulling, tummy is swollen a little.  In general, just the ugly-but-necessary healing process is kicking in.  And the worst part is, I hate me when I whine.

On the good side, I've been s-l-o-w-l-y (due to short-term, but excellent prescription pain meds) working on two rings from Kate McKinnon and Dustin Wedekind's new wild triangle designs.  The first one, a six-winger, came out neato and the second one, a Power Puff, is also headed for greatness.  I'll post pics when I can focus my eyes, and thus, a camera. again.    

The pills run out tomorrow or the next day, so, I'll be back in my regular mind then.  I won't say it's a right mind, but it'll be normal for me, only probably still a little whiny.

Oh, and I have to finish and post my blog hop post for Michelle Mach's latest foray on the 4th, and it's also nearing completion.  Lots of stuff going on, lots to keep my mind off the tummy.

So, I'm home!

Got out of the hospital yesterday and I'm feeling pretty good!  Still kind of weak and I tire easily, but I can feel myself mending.  After the stitches and the drain come out, hopefully, on Tuesday, I will be on the road to a healthy tummy again.  At least one part of me will work as it should!  One issue at a time.  Teeth and eyes are the next repair areas.  Just like home repairs, going to do them step by step.  Keep on going until I fix as much as possible.  And the weight-loss is ongoing and approaching 50 lbs!  When I have lost one whole person, I will be done.  It won't make my breathing any better, but it might keep it from getting worse.  That is a big deal to me, and so it goes...

Beads of Clay Blog

Check out this cool giveaway~ Beads of Clay Blog:

'via Blog this'

The last Joplin Relief Charity bracelet is up on eBay!

To see the listing, click here http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260858277448#ht_500wt_1156

All the folks of the Whole Lotta Whimsy Sunday Social Circle produced the charms for this amazing leather cuff!  It was assembled into this amazing bracelet by Brooke Durham, whose aesthetic was impeccable on this. The amazing Wanaree Tanner took the very professional photos and handled the listing.  I'm telling you all that these artists' works individually would cost way more than this auction's ending price, so bid on this!  You will be supporting a great cause, and getting a killer cool piece of jewelry in the process.  All monies from the sale of this item go directly to the charity.  Everything was donated by these generous artists.

Hello blog buddies!

Well, I will be out of commission, starting on Thursday, 9/22, for about a week.  I am having hernia surgery. (Who knew that girls get hernias?  I never even thought about it!)  The surgery itself is pretty straightforward, the surgeon just closes up the hernia with some plastic mesh.  (Hmm, I wonder if that mesh can be used in mixed media art???  Maybe I can scam a spare piece, LOL.)

The scary part of the surgery is that I have a lung condition, and they are concerned about getting me off the ventilator.  They have already postponed it once over this, and I had to submit to more tests and listen to more doctor stuff.  These guys need to lighten up.  I am scared, but intend to sail through the surgery and come out stronger and healthier than before.  Now, all I have to do is get my body to cooperate!

So, I will be thinking good thoughts, saying little prayers, and generally trying to make the best vibrations around me in my little corner of the universe.  I'll have hubby post updates to my Facebook wall http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001566498661, and I'll be back online as soon as I am able.

Thanks to all of you, too, who said such nice things about my Bead Soup Blog Party piece.  I am trying to look at all of them, but it's slow going because I get all involved and have to read all about the pieces, and check them out, and write comments where I can, so it may take awhile, but be patient.  I am cruisin' as quickly as I can!  Hope to see yours soon, if I haven't already.  What a fun party this has been, and thanks and serious props to Lori Anderson for her great work!

The Bead Souper Reveal! Yay!!!!

Ok, first things first, I confess to being a bad Blog Party citizen.  I was so excited about both sending and revealing my party packs, I totally forgot to take their "before" pictures.  I'm kind of new to this, but no excuses, I was spacey.  Fortunately my lovely blog buddy, Pat Haight, was not so twitterpated, and photographed both!  So, check her blog at http://wigglebuttblog.blogspot.com/ for both "befores", and, of course, her "after."


With that out of the way, when I received Pat's Party Pack, I was really excited for a couple of reasons.  First, I have never used much polymer clay in my work.  I have tried, and continue to try to make clay beads for myself, but I never seem to like the ones I make.  So, I was delighted to get this opportunity.  Secondly, I have been in an earth colors rut, sage greens, browns, brick reds, golds, your basic autumn palette.  Pat's lovely blues and greens and steely grays just leaped out and said, "Remember us?"


So then, what to do?  I decided to make a collage-y component piece to try to use lots of her elements, and add a few of my own.  The first thing I did was to decide to stick with the steel, and immediately made a couple of giant full Persian weave components with these cool steel rings I had laying around.  Unfortunately, the smaller rings were the wrong size to make the weave, and I ended up with GIANT components.  So, I moved along and made several other maille components to use instead.  Gradually, the flowers design kept poking itself into my head, and I started with the focal and just kept going.  I also decided to stick with mostly blues and greens, and added some bright orange and more delicate yellows and golds for contrast.


Time to post the pics and let them tell the story for themselves, and thanks again to my blog buddy for her cooler than cool parts.  Here is "Parts & Flowers" with close-ups and leftovers at the end!

More blog hops, and a surgery date

Well, I joined another blog hop because I am addicted.  This one is the Sari Ribbon blog hop from Good Quill Hunting.  Read all about it (and join!) here  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=209672749095357

Here is the link to Saturday's big reveal for Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party Hop  http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/

The other news is that my surgery is being rescheduled for next week.  Looks like Thursday, 9/22 so far.  Stay tuned on that.  I just want it to be over so I can get back to beading and claying and sewing and crocheting and STUFF!

Another Doctor Day

Today I discovered that, although I am a high risk for the surgery, the pulmonologist will approve my hernia surgery IF I get my blood gasses taken and they come back to his satisfaction.  I guess I will go get that done at the hospital in the next couple of days.  For anyone out there who has not had that test, there is no other way to say it, it sucks big time.  They take a tiny needle and remove blood from an artery in your wrist, which is a very tender spot with lots of nerve endings.  Believe me, no one wants this test, no way.  But, to get the surgery I need, I must present myself for doctor torture, and then, maybe, they will open the double-secret seal on the surgery door.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

It's a good thing I have the beady projects on my worktable or I might just go mad.  Maybe I already made that trip over the threshold into madness.  It's hard to tell from this angle.  All I can say is that all this is helping me to focus on areas of bead work I need to explore.  That is the best silk purse I can make of the sow's ear that is my life right now.  This, too, shall pass.

Thanks to the Bead Soup Blog Party, Michelle Mach and her blog hops and Kate McKinnon and Dustin Wedekind for their triangle kits.  All these give me reasons to live, thrive and survive, with a couple of bent nods to The Blues Brothers.