fun with enamel

I don't know if you remember, but a while back I decided to teach myself the whole enameling process. I've loved the look of it for years and since my work often is mistaken for enamel, I thought I should have an inkling of what it's all about. I didn't want to buy a kiln, I wasn't quite that committed, so I read a bit, researched a bit, and sorta learned how to "fire-torch" enamel.

But, since finding out that I was accepted into ACL Festival I hunkered down on my typical jewelry line and put the enameling aside. Well, since ACL didn't go so hot my friends and family have been trying to cheer me up. The other day my friend Casey said, "look at it this way, you're all stocked up for Christmas, now you can play with the enamels again." And I did just that - all day today! Smart Casey!

So here are a few of the necklaces I have made over the past few days. Simple, but bold. Now I just want to make more, more, more!!!

round 12

Yesterday was round 12 of chemo for Preacher. This weeks drug was vincristine, which he has done really well on from the beginning. Thankfully it is the most frequently used drug he has been getting. But this week wasn't quite as easy on him as past weeks. Maybe we've gotten a little too relaxed about this whole cancer thing, I don't know. But he has had a little upset belly and frequent trips outside if you know what I mean. We've been cooking up the hamburger again and he's eating that. So hopefully this was just an itty bitty hiccup and he'll feel better tomorrow. Keep him in your thoughts and I'll pass on some extra hugs and kisses.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Let's start with the good. Look at that beautiful grass. For years ACL Festival has been plagued with lots of dust. This year the city spent a kajillion dollars on making sure the grass was filled in everywhere, thick, and beautiful. And it was. When we loaded in on Wednesday we all whipped off our shoes and marveled at how amazing it was. We got set up with ease and showed up Friday morning looking forward to the weekend.

My booth partner and I couldn't use our individual names for our sign (Metalsgirl and Bolsa Bonita) so my partner came up with Charmed and Armed which I thought was super cute and fitting. The festival folks had these great signs for each of the vendors. Check out that gorgeous sky. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Our display came together - Liz's bags are so freakin' cute!

We were fairly close to one of the stages which at times was great - Michael Franti was fantastic - but at times there was so much base that I felt motion sickness coming on.

Then came day two. And with it the rain. All day. I couldn't help but take a photo of these cute girls in their home made garbage bag ponchos. The "General Store" booth quickly sold out of ponchos. There was a man actually selling garbage bags right off the roll for 5 bucks each! And he couldn't sell them fast enough. The rain was okay at first but then it started to get a little muddy.

This was me at the end of day two.

And then there was day three. This was the veiw from our booth. No rain which was good. But oh, the mud.

Imagine a foot of chocolate pudding covering an entire park and then 65,000 people arrive to listen to Pearl Jam. I wish I had video. It was like watching a crowd of people trying to learn to skate all at the same time.

Let's just say it was not the best experience. I was trying desperately to channel my inner PollyAnna but by the end of day three it was getting difficult. I just don't think that inches and inches of mud is condusive to shopping.

The ugly came today when we found out that the city folks, in their efforts to give us lush and luxourious grass, used dillo dirt and sewage to help that lovely grass grow. So, basically, we were all tromping around in s*%t.

And last I will leave you with this freakishly creepy photo. A friend of mine took this photo, I didn't get the pleasure of seeing it in person. I can only imagine that there were some drugs involved. But at least some people were able to embrace the festivities.

Holy Hannah it's finally here.

Is this not the cutest purse you have EVER seen?!? You can sorta tell in the photo, but the tail is fluffy fur! I am a total bag addict and I have several of Liz Potter's fantastic bags! I have a squirrel, a Tom Selleck, a smiling Toast bag, and an Andy Gibb just to name a few. So imagine how excited I was when Liz asked if I wanted to share a booth with her for ACL?!?!? Uh, super excited! Not only do I love the bags that she makes but I have tons of respect for her as a fellow small business owner. She knows her stuff! I can't think of a better way to brave the terrors of ACL than by sharing space with Liz!

Yesterday was set up. The show starts on Friday so initially I was annoyed that set up was two day earlier. Now I see the brilliance of this. It was so nice to set everything up and then walk away knowing I had a full day to finish last minute little details and just take a deep breath. It's been such a whirlwind. Set up was good but un-freaking-believably hot! Steph and I both felt a little sick by the end of it. But, I am pretty fortunate - my jewelry packs down so small that my set up is usually pretty painless. Between me, Tom, Stephanie, and Casey we had it done in about three hours. I felt bad leaving poor Liz and her seemingly millions of bags - but I think she probably appreciated getting all four of us out of her hair so she could work in peace. I told Tom that he should realize that I would be coming home with a new bag no doubt! The problem is deciding - there were sooooooooooooooo many that I already felt myself falling in love with!! I hope I am able to focus on selling jewelry instead of a weekend of bag shopping - Heaven!

Come see us if you are at ACL!

round 11

Well I guess it's a good thing if things are going well enough that I forget to write anything on chemo day. But I guess that's why I forgot. So chemo was Tuesday. Tom took him in because he was home from work because we both have the swine flu. Yes, the swine flu. And yes, I did just have the "regular" flu just a few weeks ago. So poor Tom, fever and all, took happy-go-lucky Preacher in for chemo. It was actually time for the 25 pills that we give at home but he gets blood work and an exam anyway. And all is well. With Preacher. Tom and I however are just a couple of coughing zombies. It's really pretty insane. I was lucky enough to get some tamaflu...quite possibly the last box in the area Walgreens, I kid you not! And boy am I glad that I got it. I am getting better much faster than Tom. Poor guy.

Anywhoo, Preacher is great. We are on the mend. Life is good.

One month to 10 years

In one month, almost to the day, Tom and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. We got married on October 16th, 1999. It was one of, if not THE, best days of my life. Everything about it was happiness. We got married in my parents back yard and nearly every single person that I love was there. That just never happens. It was magical. I would re-live it everyday I think, if I could. But here's the thing, the 10 years since have been pretty magical too. Not to sound cheesy and over the top ushy-gushy, but I do love him more now than I did that perfect day 10 years ago.

I was talking to my friend Stephanie the other day about past relationships and possible marriages that would not have been a good thing. And I was saying that it's no wonder people divorce - if you have never had that real love, that perfect friendship that crosses back and forth from confidant to love of your life, how could you recognize it? It would be easy to meet someone and have all of the ear marks of a good match fool you into thinking "they are the one". How do you know? I asked my aunt that question once. Before I met Tom. She said "If you have to ask then he's not the right one." I didn't know what she meant until I met Tom. And in these past 10 years I have never ever asked that question.

He and I were talking tonight about 10 years. What would we tell people our secret is...he said "You are my best friend." I said that every choice I make I consider him and our marriage - is it the right thing for me, for him, and for us. So, for what it's worth, those are our secrets. In this day and age being married 10 years is quite long - but my 10 years have flown by. I am so looking forward to the next 10 and the 10 after that and the 10 after that and the 10 after that...

Calgon take me away!

I am not a morning person. At all. This morning the girls showed up to clean at 8:30 and I was still asleep. Okay, first, I know what you are thinking "poor you. you have girls to clean your house. you get to sleep until 8:30. waaaaa!" I know. I am very lucky. Don't I tell you all the time how lucky I am? So, we have wonderful girls who clean the house. And yes, I sleep past 8:30 - let's just leave it at that. But, I stay up late. Sometimes working until 11 or 12 at night. Sometimes with the computer in bed catching up on e-mail at 1am. Anyway, I'm a little tired and a little overwhelmed with ACL looming so near in the future. Will it go okay? Will I have enough inventory? Is my set up/display good enough? etc. Normal anxiety before a big show I think. So I am day dreaming this morning of the beach. The serenity of the ocean. ahhhh, calgon, take me away.

Make it your own

Here's a little more info on the d I've been toying with for the past few weeks. I mentioned it in my last post, kind of a personal collection of words, colors, and meaning that each wearer might want. You can pick your words, your resin charms, and your semi precious stones in various sizes and colors.

Small semi-precious stones from pearls, to jade, to labadorite, to hemimorphite.

Medium semi-precious stones from lava rock, to faceted pear shaped pink jade, to citrine, to turquoise.

Large semi-precious stones from orange calcite, to ruby in fuschite, to turquoise, to leopard jasper, to big slabs of faceted blue quartz.

Look for these new necklaces (and bracelets) on a new Make Your Own page Metalsgirl.

round 10 and other goings on.

Today was round 10 of chemo. He did great, didn't miss a beat, loves everyone at the clinic, made new friends at the pet food shop, ate dinner like a champ. Life is good. Let me just say that the oddly fantastic way that I am saying "life is good" right after saying "round 10 of chemo" is not lost on me. I am very aware of how lucky we are and as redundant as this sounds (but it's not redundant), I feel very lucky that I realize how lucky we are. Weird? I don't know. What I do know is that yesterday Tom and Preacher played chase through the house. That is happiness.

So, I've had the flu. The flu sucks if you didn't know. And apparently this strain of the flu lasts for all eternity. Every day I keep thinking it's gonna be the last day of the ickies and then the ickies are still there. Today I had a teeny bit more energy but my throat was viciously sore and every time I swallowed I felt like a pencil eraser was jabbing me in the ear drum. Tom said "that sounds like strep" and I said "do you just not love me at all anymore?"

I don't have time to be sick. I have people patiently waiting on orders (thank you Robyn you are wonderful) and my chart of ACL progress is lookin' a little weak. But what I do have a lot of is time. Time to sit and think of ideas for jewelry and ideas for ACL displays, and ideas for my website. I know Tom is Tha-Rilled about that last one because every time I get one of said ideas I e-mail him my little command to make it so.

My latest jewelry idea is this kind of make-what-you-love jewelry. I'm not sure yet how it will translate to online orders but I think it will be very fun at shows. So the idea is that you have all these little piles 'o things that you can put on either a chain or a bangle...resin charms, word or name discs or rectangles of silver, all different sized and colors of stones, all of it jingle jangling together. So I put together a sample of one, pictured above, I am calling them the Bundles of Color. Whatcho think?

Oh, and anyone got any home remedies for the flu? And Uncle Rick, you can just keep that whiskey one to yourself. All it did for me was get me drunk!

seriously grumpy.

The flu made me miss Paolo Nutini. Just one more reason to dislike the flu. Stupid flu.

The flu sucks

uggg. Did I fail to tell whoever is in charge that I don't have time for the flu until early 2010? So far two days in bed and no end in sight yet. The above photo is just one of the piles of things waiting to be dealt with, completed, made, etc. There is no time for body aches and coughing.

Updates and blog winners and ACL, oh my!

So I am a very bad blog contest runner. I promised to pick a winner on Friday and I never announced said winner! So, drumroll please...Janice, you are the winner of a lovely pair of concave disc earrings! Just send me your address and I will send them off to you lickety-split! Thanks to everyone who participated. It was fun reading all of your suggestions and very helpful!

Now for the Preacher update: No chemo this week. Hallelujah! But we did go in today to have blood work done just to see how he responded to last weeks chemo and to just verify all is well. Blood work looked FANTASTIC! Yippee!! And the wonderful news is that we are officially on an every other week schedule. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilling that is. And we don't have to even go in for blood work ... we are free and clear for two whole weeks! This is exciting for so, so many reasons. Most importantly because he doesn't have to go through it - the stress of going(it totally poops him out -see photos!), the mild nausea, etc. Second, it means that the chemo is right on track and he has responded almost as well as he possibly could (except for the week three upset). Third, one less week to worry about chemo reactions. And four, financially - I am not complaining about cutting out a weeks worth of vet costs at all! I know I have said it a bajillion times, but thank you all so, so much for your thoughts and prayers. I know, I absolutely know it has helped.

And last, I am in manic mode getting ready for ACL. I worked until midnight last night. I won't be doing that every day because I would be useless by the time ACL hits, but I am sure there will be several late nights and long days in my short term future. If you are coming out to ACL please stop by and say HI, I would love, love, love to see you!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

So helpful

Last month when we were at the beach my friend Casey taught me how to knit. Big mistake. I am totally addicted now. It's such a relaxing thing to do after working all day. And I am getting a good jump on Christmas gifts. Apparently Clishy wanted to get in on the action by holding the yarn for me. Never let it be said that my dogs are not helpful!

round 9 and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Preacher! My big guy turned 11 years old this month! This would be amazing no matter what...a Great Dane's life span is usually like seven or eight years so 11 is pretty incredible. But given the lymphoma, well, we are so far beyond thrilled I don't know what you call it! I am wondering how to go about baking a cake that is high in protein, low in carbs...sounds tasty, doesn't it?!?

Today was the ninth round of chemo. He spent the whole day there and came home completely pooped. Today's chemo drug was doxorubicin - it's kind of the big daddy of the chemo drugs from what I understand. He's had this one once before and handled it fairly well so fingers crossed we'll get through this go-round without incident.

We also hit the two month mark today! I am beyond thrilled because this means we go to every other week for treatments instead of once a week. Yippee!!! It will be so nice to just get to be at home with him for two solid weeks without shuffling off to the vet and it will give us more time to bulk him up with good food between treatments! :)

We still have four months to go, but somehow it doesn't seem that bad. I look back at where I was at when we got the diagnosis and where I am now...I never would have believed I could be this okay. The body and mind are pretty amazing. And of course the fact that Preacher feels so good is probably what keeps Tom and I so okay. This new normal seems to be workin' for us.

Getting ready for ACL blog contest...

Okay, it's time for some more audience participation. I am counting down the weeks to ACL. I have made a chart of what I think I need, what I need to make and how much of each item. But no matter how much I pour over it, consider and reconsider, it's all still a big giant guess. So, here's where you come in. Hopefully everyone of you reading my little blog is going to be attending ACL...you're dying to see Pearl Jam or Levon Helm or Kings of Leon and shop the artists market...okay, maybe not all of you, but imagine for a minute you were and you were shopping the artists at a music festival...what would you buy? Bracelets? Earrings? Necklaces? Gifts for others, mementos, something for yourself? Tell me your thoughts, opinions...think of it as a survey. To show my appreciation of your feedback I will draw a name from the comment-ers and send you a pair of the above pictured concave disc earrings! Leave your e-mail so I can notify the winner. I seriously need your help!