A favorite in my garden

I've been keeping an eye out for these guys to start opening. This one was sudden! I know I didn't see this vibrant orange poppy bouncing around yesterday when my mom and I were outside weeding the other beds. Sure enough, when I let the dogs out this morning, there he was! All bright and billowy... Amazing!

Well, this day didn't seem possible

If you had told me this time last year that I'd still be looking for a job, I wouldn't have believed it for a second. Today is the 1 year anniversary of my layoff from a job that I really enjoyed. Even when it had me completely aggravated (which seemed to be often). 

I'm trying to think positive thoughts as I continue my search. I know lots of people have it much worse than I do. At least I have my jewelry design to keep me busy most days and I can fill in now with gardening. I just can't believe it's been a year...

Love this time of year!

It was a gorgeous, sunny day today. A little cooler than it has been for most of the week, but it was a day without rain, so the kitties were happy to be able to be out in the back yard playing wild cats. (They're indoor cats, but they're allowed out in the fenced yard when our dogs are out.)

This is Lucy, most likely stalking a bird. Or, she may be giving the dogs a crazy look... hard to tell with her sometimes.

And here is Zoey (you may remember her from the photo where she's camped out on the corner of my desk in an earlier post). It took me a couple minutes to find her this time. She loves to hide out under the purple smoke tree. I should look there first next time.

When I was done following my cats around, I took some time to snap some photos of some of the flowers that are blooming now. Many of them are just explosions of color. I believe this purple one is in the geranium family, but can't say for sure. I think I got this one from my mom, who had gotten a piece of it from one of her sisters. Lots of my plants are divisions from relatives or friends. Trading is a great way to get a big mix of colors and plants without spending a ton of money. Perennials can be so expensive!

This one is clematis which happens to be in desperate need of a trellis. I'll get around to putting one up one of these days.

Coral bells. They didn't want to sit still in the wind for the photo.

This is one of my favorites and it keeps reseeding itself all over my flower beds, a columbine. I keep planting various colors, but eventually they all come up purple. Fine with me... they're striking.

This is one of the few yellow columbines that came up this year. Hopefully it'll keep coming back and spreading.

From the aster family, I'm told it's called "bachelor's button", but I've seen other flowers that are called that as well, so I'm not sure. You don't find too many blue perennials, so this one is nice to have around.

I got this shot right after a rain shower yesterday. Dianthus is just a profusion of blooms right now. This one is doing particularly well. It's about 4 years old and I'll probably have to end up dividing it this fall. 

Well, that's what's going on right now in some of my beds. I have poppies with big buds on them in the back of my yard. I can't wait for those to open!

The evolution of a custom order

I think it was Tuesday when I met with my custom bracelet customer. (I posted the initial design here a couple posts back.) I didn't have much to go on as far as what she was looking for other than the silver with the Gandhi quote, so I put something together that I liked and took it to show her. I decided as I was leaving the house that I should take some more strands of beads with me, just in case what I had come up with wasn't quite what she was thinking. Good move! She thought the chunky stones were a little large-scale for her, but quickly gravitated to the smooth green garnet chips you see below. I like the way this rendition turned out as well.

She hasn't seen it yet because I'm also working on converting some vintage clip earrings into pierced ones for her. I found the appropriate adhesive and got some instruction from my local bead store gurus, just have to find some posts to use. They happened to be out of stock there. I bet I'll find some on Etsy.

Time to recognize some fantastic blogs!

Thanks, Katie (you know, from Brown Dog Boutique... the place with the cute pups and the great doggie and people treats), for recognizing my blog with a Blog Award! What a cool surprise! :)

Here are the rules: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

For the Blog Award, I choose (in no particular order) . . .
1) Like Kittysville
2) Mango Tango Designs
3) Behind Mytutorlist
4) Brown Dog Boutique
5) The Artsy Crafter
6) Bakerella
7) Wee Sweet Marie
8) The Card Tree

I always find something interesting, beautiful, amusing or helpful on these blogs. Please check them all out!

An overdue update

Wow, I haven't really been blogging long enough to neglect it yet. My apologies... So, in a nutshell, here's what's been going on in no particular order:

Last night, I finished up a custom bracelet order that has been hanging around for a couple weeks. I have to get it in front of my customer and see what she thinks, but I really like the colorful chunky look of it. Lots of different smooth tumbled stones, some agate, some carnelian... a nice mix. And the focal point is a sterling silver oval with the Gandhi quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I picked that up from another Etsy seller, tropacopy. The style is a bit of a departure for me, so we'll see what happens.

Also this past Saturday was the Dixie Heights Band Boosters 2nd Annual Craft Show. They had a great crowd, so they must have done some publicizing. For me though, it was nearly a flop. My excitement turned quickly into disappointment. I was really thinking it would be a good venue for me, but, eh, I've been wrong before. I ended up with one sale, for which I am thankful, but am a little bit in the hole for the day. On the other hand I received plenty of compliments on my jewelry and my set up, which is always nice. And I got a lead on a show from a shopper, who told me she thought my pieces would be great in the upscale setting. Nice!

I had a bit of a shock when I walked into the place and everyone had these massive set-ups. Mine was still small by comparison, but I ended up scrambling the night before to get another table and dressing for it. I still didn't cram a bunch of stuff on them though. Some of these tables I see at shows... it looks like a bead store threw up on them. And yet, they still get lots of sales, it seems. I don't know, I don't really get it. I still think it's better to not overwhelm the eye. Maybe I'm going about it all wrong. lol Okay, I guess I'll add more pieces next time. Sheesh.

Is it wrong to allow a cat set your goals?

This is one of my little furries, Zoey. For the last few months, the papers, supplies, cords and other junk on my desk have been closing in on me. Poor Zo-zo, trying to get comfy, has designated a Michael's bag for her bed away from our bed, which I tossed on the corner of the desk on top of who knows what after buying a magazine. I think. It makes me sad that she doesn't have much room to sprawl out on my desk. (I can feel my husband cringing as I type that, which makes me laugh. He thinks the cats run the house.)

So, I guess Zoey will end up with more surface area sometime over the weekend. This is perhaps the encouragement I need to get this desk cleaned up and organized. Although, if I know her, she'll end looking for her missing bag bed. Maybe I'll put something there that is softer and more comfy for her. I mean, how much room do I really need for a mousepad and keyboard? Yes, he's definitely cringing again.