Happy Halloween!

We spent Halloween in Indiana with the Kelly family. This is something of a tradition that dates back to Blake's first Halloween when he dressed up as a tiny bat. After Taylor's arrival in 2000 she joined our ghoulish bunch and now we make it a point to be together on Halloween. Here's Blake with his Rastafarian dad. My goodness, what parents would allow their little Padmé Amidala and storm trooper to trick or treat with such a scary escort? My friends collected treats till dark -- I'm estimating the take at approximately 25 pounds. Each year a neighbor takes a turn hosting the after-party and this year was no exception. The weather held up nicely and we all got our sugar high!

Challenge Necklace

I've been reading a few other artists' blogs lately and came across one that put out a challenge last June to work through making projects using techniques featured in Mary Hettmansperger's book "Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet." Here I am, as always a day late and several dollars short. A friend once said of me "You are so slow you're going backwards." Well I'm not sure I'm slow but I am often a victim of my own lack of planning.

So, although this was meant to be a summer project, summer of 2008 that is, here's my entry for project number 1. Check out the details of the challenge and the entries at Deryn Mentock's blog:

http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/jewelrychallenge/






I listed this necklace for sale tonight on my Etsy shop. Will I continue on through the rest of the book? Stay tuned.

This is as close as I can get . . .

. . . to having Johnny Depp in my house. Or, more accurately, Captain Jack Sparrow. I'm sure he's more fun than Johnny anyway. Maybe.


I love, love, love Halloween! It is absolutely my favorite holiday ever. We have only recently relocated to Illinois and we are living in a house built in the 1800s; I was hoping to encounter some friendly spirits here but other than the neighbors, no such luck. We found some VERY friendly spirits last weekend in the Chicago area and held an impromptu pumpkin carving class. It was quite a mixed group of gender and age and it is safe to say a good time was had by all. Worth mentioning -- these are all first-time pumpkin carvers and their results were magnificent!





Thanks to my sister, Joy, for the wonderful treats, great decorations and a fire to take the chill off!

Who doesn't love fall color?

Just a few photos of Illinois fall color from a road trip on a beautiful October Sunday:

A fine day made even better when you can enjoy it with a friend!

We're settling in . . .

. . . to our temporary new home in Illinois. That is if you consider two years to be temporary! Jim is at work building a wonderful new addition to a children's hospital and I am working on setting up yet another studio. Hopefully it won't be long before I have some new items to post in my Etsy shop. Here's a last minute project finished just before I packed up my must-haves from my Florida studio:

I have a peculiar habit that is shared among many jewelry artists I've spoken with -- that of hoarding beads we are especially fond of. This bracelet represents the last of my purple turquoise. I'm sure it will go to a good home.

Here's a sneak peak of our new "crib," our cozy living room.