Early Holiday Greetings

Well I don't know how many of you are aware of my recent 3 month long job search which amounted to much worry, depression, loss of self esteem, panic, and desperation. I have been out of work for about a year and apparently local employers were not too keen on that idea. I had very few call backs and even fewer interviews. And as time went on those interviews seemed brutal and I found myself falling on my face, totally bombing. 

I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to go beyond what my local communities had to offer. I was going to have to move and uproot my high school daughter who threatened mutiny if I did. I didn't know what I was going to do. I needed a job very badly, the reason for which I have not publicly stated but it has to do with my marriage falling apart. So now I guess I have said it publicly. I cried myself to sleep with desperation. And I prayed. I knew deep down that God would not abandon me and I trusted Him. 


I am so happy to announce that as of last Monday I am now a productive member of society, I finally got a job. And even better is that I think I am really going to like it. It is a small hospital, I don't think I have even been in a smaller one. Everyone is very friendly and helpful.  I will be working on the med/surg floor, which is the only floor they have, and I will be working in the ER and will take my turn being charge nurse. I am so excited. 


So to make a long story short, I will be working on Thanksgiving day and want to tell everyone who is reading to have a very special Thanksgiving day. I have so much to be thankful for. I always take time to reflect these things so I can be sure to include everything in my thanks.  And I thank you all for reading.

Meet Catherine

This week for my artist feature I would like to introduce Catherine. Catherine has 2 Etsy shops: Bridal Jewelry For You and Catherine's Handcrafted Jewelry Designs. Catherine says, "I sell jewelry, but also sew, make soap, knit, and crochet. I do have a blog although I a lot of times forget about in the busyness of life http://jewelryforever.blogspot.com . I started crafting when I got started in jewelry when a friend got a jewelry kit. I loved it so much that I had my mom get me one for Christmas. That is how I got started I was around 11 at the time. Right now my favorite pieces are my bridal pieces because they are all sparkly and shinny from all the sterling and swarovski crystals. Because my bridal shop has just opened I am doing a sale! The first three brides to purchase there bridal parties jewelry, minimum of $150, gets a free pair of bridal earrings!"

Sterling silver cluster bridal bracelet with swarovski crystals and freshwater pearls

Sterling bridal earrings with Swarovski clusters

Turquoise chunk and copper necklace

Turquoise and copper earrings

Check out both of Catherine's shops for gorgeous handmade and unique jewelry. Here are a few examples of her work, beautiful aren't they?

Another Surprise!

Today must be my lucky day! One of my fat quarter combos was chosen to be included in the "Color Feature of the Week" on Charan's blog, Creative With Clay. I also want to give you the link the Charan's Etsy shop of the same name. She has some gorgeous creations there.

Thanks again Charan.

Susie's Etsy Treasury

Yesterday I made the long trip to see my daughter, Shelley, and 2 of my grandchildren, Edward and Patience. It was Patience's last soccer game and I just had to watch her play at least once, even if it meant driving 4 hours each way all in one day. And it was so worth it.

When I got home last night I discovered that my Autumn Leaves Embroidered Coasters were included in someone's Etsy treasury. Wow! I am truly honored and I appreciate Susie so much. You can view the treasury here. There are several beautiful items, I'm sure you'll find something you like. Also, please go check out Susie's shop, SilverNGold, she has some wonderful things there as well.

Thanks again Susie!

Autumn Leaves

I have finished a set of freehand embroidered felt coasters yesterday and have them listed at my Etsy shop. These are about 4" square with rounded corners. I made them using ECOSPUN®. ECOSPUN® is made from 100% Certified Recycled PET bottles, saving landfill space, natural resources and reducing harmful air emmissions.

I chose some wonderful fall colors like camel, sandstone, gold, orange, cranberry, and grape. There are some colorful fallen leaves and tiny flowers winding around on a vine.

I love working with felt. I love doing this freehand embroidery. I love having a project that I can work on in the evening, sitting in a recliner in the living room. That way I can watch a movie or talk with my family and work on a project at the same time.

New Fabric Coming Soon!!

Who doesn't love fabric? I can't think of anyone, well anyone in their right mind. For me it is a passion, I can't get enough. So to appease my insatiable appetite for fabric I have made a couple rather large orders recently. I will be getting new fabric over the next weeks and months and will be listing it in my Etsy shop. And let me tell you there are some gorgeous fabrics coming out.

Here is a preview of one line from Sheri Berry called Chinese Takeout. This is new to my shop and I will be listing it as soon as it gets here. I just love it! Take a look.

Aren't these great? Look for them in my shop soon.

I'd Like to Introduce Teresa from Digicute

I have wanted to get to know some of the wonderful crafters out there and introduce them to you as well, so I am starting a new feature on my blog. I am going to be featuring a new artist about once a week.

Today I would like you to introduce Teresa. Teresa is the owner of Digicute, a sweet Etsy shop.
Here are a few words from Teresa, "I majorly use Illustrator and Photoshop to create clip arts, digital collage sheets, and anything that's printable. I enjoy crafts even when I was just a little kid! Art classes were always my favorite :D; they helped develop my interest in crafts. I got my inspirations from everywhere. Every time I see a wonderful work, I always ask myself how I would create it differently. And when I have an idea in my mind, I can't wait to make it a reality! I hope you enjoy my work :)!"

Here are a few of Teresa's favorite pieces that she has created.

This is called Christmas Bear Three-Fold Note Cards and can be found here.

This one is called Tropical Paradise and can be found here.

And these sweeties are called A Jolly Christmas. You can find them here.

Go on over and visit Teresa, I'm sure you will enjoy her shop!

My Birthday

We celebrated my birthday this past weekend. My birthday was actually Friday, but we had a party yesterday. On Friday I did go out to lunch at Casa Gallardo, a fabulous Mexican restaurant, where I ate entirely too many enchiladas. Yummy! And that sweet Mexican cornbread...to die for!! I love that stuff so much that I came home and looked up a copycat recipe for it. I found 2 that I am going to try. I'll post those later if they come out good. After lunch I went to see the new movie "Amelia". It was entertaining I guess. I think Hillary Swank is a superb actress, I guess it is Amelia herself that I don't really care for. I enjoyed it though.

On Sunday we had a small party with cake and ice cream. We had some chips and dip too. Almost everyone who could be there was there. I really missed my oldest daughter, Shelley and her 2 children, not being there. They live just a little too far away and her daughter, Patience, had 2 soccer games to play. My other 2 daughters, Crystal and Emily, made me a 3 tier birthday cake, it was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The candles spelled out "Happy Birthday". I loved it, they did a fantastic job. We also had Butter Pecan ice cream and Mint 'n Chip ice cream. I actually had some of both, :)

Crystal and Emily also decorated my house for Halloween. I have pumpkins and ghosts and scary monsters all over the place now. I bought a pumpkin to carve a couple days ago, we will probably carve that tonight.

My little grandson, Ty, is sick. He has been sick for 1 week now. He has been to the ER twice with it. It is a GI virus that is improving but he has such pain with it. He has missed school all week last week and probably won't go in today either. And to top it off, he was recovering from flu about 3 weeks ago and missed a whole week of school with that. I hope that don't try to hold him back because of these absences. But the doctor told him to stay home in both cases. We'll see. I just want him to get better. It is so scary when young kids are sick. :(

Spontaneous Sale Time

I am having a 2 day only sale, Oct 10 & 11. Spend $50 and get 10% off your next order at my shop.

This is the first of a series of upcoming sales I will be having, so keep watching.

At Long Last

After what seems like an eternity, I am finally getting my studio back. Like a lot of parents out there, I gave up something near and dear to me for someone much more nearer and dearer to me, my daughter. She needed to come back home for a while (which is happening so much these days) and so I gave her my studio. I am very happy that I could help, but things are better now, so studio here I come.

I have been working the last couple days getting things back in order. I have added a new work table, which I helped build. It is tremendous, I love it. It isn't fancy, but it certainly serves the purpose, and so much work surface. I will add a picture of it and the rest of my studio in my next post. My studio is kinda plain, white walls, no fancies, no pretties, but I've been too busy to do that kind of thing. I'll get to that though, for sure.

There are 2 more new things going on. The first is that I have a Bumbleberries Boutique fan page on Facebook. There is a link on the right sidebar if you'd like to become a fan. Secondly, I have a newsletter sign up also on the right sidebar. Please add your email there so that you can be informed of sales and other special events.

So until next time, get crafty!