plunging ahead

Egads - now I'm in deep. These arrived this morning......

These are the frames for the fairy houses. Stupidly, in my excitement and obsession with building a fairy abode - I mentioned it to the girls. This is course brought on mass excitement, and blueprint plans designed my my 9 year old. I may be talented with many things - but a woodworker I am NOT. I can't even cut a straight line. Here we have inexpensive dollhouses to the rescue. Seriously, these were only $35 each! They even shipped from Toronto, so shipping was only $12, and they arrived the very next day.

We're now just waiting for a nice enough day to wander through the woods and the beach to collect tiny stones, twigs, pods, and whatever else we can find. What fun :-)

Etsy Shop Update

These and more just listed on etsy - http://jennifertough.etsy.com

butterflies and fairy wings

                                                                          Source: followpics.com via Elspeth on Pinterest

This is one of the things on my workbench today. I'm playing around with ideas on how to make them fabulous pendants - a few ideas are flitting around. I'll certainly share tomorrow if it works out as planned. The butterfly wings are fabulous - and came from Altered Artifacts on etsy. 
Next up are some etsy shop updates - sorting now!  Finally.

Tuesday

We've just come out of a bitter, bitter cold spell - far too cold to spend time in the studio. Instead, I've been bundled up with a pile of books, my tablet and a warm blankie. Thinking. dreaming. planning.  It's a pretty wonderful way to spend a few days.

* I've lost another 3 lbs - down 14 pounds so far
* etsy shop update in the works. I've got a dozen or so items photographed, listing within the next day or so.
* I'm participating in the newest blog hop! Gathering up the goodies, and making a handmade clasp. Can't wait to find out who my partner is.

                                                               Source: purveyor-of-fine-whines.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

....and my latest obsession. Fairy furniture, dwellings, and fairy gardens. I'm in love. I'm going to need to build one just to get it out of my system. I'm allowing myself the diversion as it is jewelry related (sorta) - there are beads in there.... ;-)

11 lbs down!

I mentioned last week that I had joined Weight Watchers after the holidays. I'm thrilled to report that I'm now down 11 lbs! I've been eating heaps, and heaps of veggies - especially roasted ones. I can't seem to get enough of them. This last batch (shown above) I even threw in a few grapes. Yum!!!


Recipe is simple:
Throw a bunch of assorted veggies (whatever you have on hand -potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, beets, onions, broccoli, grapes!) into a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil, or italian seasoning, and toss in a bit of olive oil. bake at 475 for an hour.  Perfection :-)

Not much time spent in the studio - the leaking ceiling kinda put a damper on things. Hopefully I'll have some fun stuff to share next week.

He's a cutie!

A quick little share today - this little guy came out of my kiln the other day, along with some other little goodies! I love how he turned out, and I'm planning some new versions of him as well.

Had a little setback yesterday with a leaking ceiling. Long nasty story for another day (or not!). Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I've still got lots of repair to do around here before I can get back to the studio, With luck, I'll be done at least my part today.

New Year, New Inspiration

I`ll admit, the last year was a complete washout for me. I was far too distracted to get much done in the studio. I haven`t admitted this to many, but I`ve been battling a severe depression for a few years now. In the last year, I finally got on meds to help. It has taken quite a while to kick in, but the fog has finally lifted, and I`m starting the new year energized, excited about the possibilities I see in front of me - and I`m finally on a diet I know I can stick to.  I bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers last week.  I`ve also managed to score some fitness games for the Kinect that my kids got for Christmas. I look completely ridiculous dancing around my living room - but it`s so much fun!

Before the holidays, I managed to get in some time in the studio - but I never really finished anything. I now have a huge pile of beads to clean and sort through, metal clay pieces to finish, fire, and polish. I`m off to see what I can manage to pull together. I`m looking forward very much to a year of creativity, and hopefully getting my etsy shop stocked up again.

Cheers,

Jen