Along the road

Isn't it just amazing all of the lovely flowers that pop up during the spring time!  I love checking our mail this time of year, not because I look forward to finding bills in the mail box, but because of all of the flowers that take over the area along the road by the mail box.  And where there are flowers, there are plenty of little amazing insects taking advantage of all the flowers have to offer.  While I did not get any mail today (which means I also did not get any bills!), I did take the time to snap a few photos of the life along the road.

All new light bulb necklace in the shop

We are slowly phasing out incandescent light bulbs in our house, replacing them with the little squiggly compact fluorescent bulbs (the U.S. is set to phase them out entirely by 2014).  Of course, for the bulbs in our ceiling fans and such that are exposed for all to see, we have opted for the squiggly bulbs that look like incandescents.  I cannot foresee a day when it will look acceptable to have bare little squiggly bulbs showing.  While the new breed of light bulbs are definitely a better idea when it comes to energy efficiency, I still love the iconic image of the standard incandescent light bulb.

Not too long ago, I created a hand carved stamp of the incandescent bulb and created a card, which you can find at my Etsy shop.  I wanted to take it a little further and add the image to a necklace.  Well...here it is now, and I could not be happier!  I really, really like this design.  I have the image framed a little by sanding the edges a little further than my other pendants. I think that it works well with this design. 

It starts with a toe in the water

Are you ready for a little swim? Well, grab that swimsuit, slip on those flip flops, and hit the beach!

On a spring evening

Spring comes early and leaves quickly around here.  Just last week, I was telling my co-workers to not complain about the abnormally cool weather when we all know that soon, very soon, the great outdoors will feel like a soup kitchen! People tend to think that all of Texas is like what you see in the movies--desert, tumbleweeds, cacti, cowboys, dry heat--and, there is a large portion of the state that is just like that.  We lived in Amarillo (in the panhandle of Texas, "near" New Mexico) for four years and, when we first moved there from east Texas (a full 11-hour drive from our hometown), we were elated to know that 100 degrees could actually feel "pleasant" if the humidity is only 10%!  Here in the piney woods of east Texas (sorry, no tumbleweeds, but plenty of folks in cowboy clothes), we often find ourselves sweating from the short walk from the front door to the mailbox in the summer because the humidity is 90% at 95 degrees.  Soupy, soupy days are ahead.  Already, the temperatures are peaking into the mid-90s.   Ugh.

To keep myself in full Spring mode, I dug through some of my favorites and found a few more along the way to put this little treasury together.  And if you don't instantly fall in love with the little Bambi in this treasury, well...I just don't know what to say. :) 

A feature on I's Ha-Lo Ha-Lo Blog

Irene of I's Ha-Lo Ha-Lo was kind enough to feature my Etsy shop in her lovely blog.  I truly appreciate the time she spent putting this together and hope that you can make your way over to her blog to take a peek. She puts these features together weekly and so be sure to check it out from time to time to catch the latest Etsy seller feature!

Thank you Irene! 

The lightness of being

My latest treasury is inspired by the sweet subtle colors of spring.

My love is here

We have had our first nasty storm of spring--lightning, thunder, strange colored skies.  The entire area is under a tornado watch, and earlier today the tornado sirens sounded a couple of times.  My poor sister-in-law who is VERY pregnant with twins and in the hospital until the babies are born actually had to huddle in the hospital hallway today until the alarms went off.  This is a woman that can barely bend over right now, let alone "huddle."  Poor girl.

With all the gray skies overhead and the hubby away working, I put this little treasury together.

Treasury Love

Thank you to each of the Team Treasury Island who featured my shop in their team spotlight treasuries on Friday!  I certainly do appreciate all of the Treasury Love!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da84a2896986d911b780946/black-birds-of-spring?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da84bfc53e76d91a53c5228/color-me-foxy?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da851ab7adf6d91cd8681f0/dotted-lines?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da86be4769a8eefb3b1b35f/whooo-loves-you?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da879ceede56d919d261f35/bw2?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da87e6fd2c46d9149d7256f/sewingits-what-we-do?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8e2060ad38eef66ef677c/your-mama?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8e83193b68eefc2c615ab/he-looks-straight-ahead-not-at-me?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8ed6193b68eefe7ed17ab/a-fox-amongst-the-birds?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8f85ad4cf8eef40d2dde2/owl-are-you-the-babys-asleepsighim? 

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da91e8c94138eefab4e9bde/in-pursuit?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da957f8cb686d9102d7b78a/little-bit-of-spring-little-bit-of?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da9d6dfb2f18eef161e8754/pueo-hawaiian-owl?

On second glance...

I love how imaginative the folks at Etsy are!  They know just how to breathe new life into cast away materials.  Take a look at these great finds!  I love them all, don't you?

It took so long to get here, I think I will stay

Hello everyone!  Happy Sunday to you! For those of you in countdown mode until the Monday workday (no need to raise your hands), relax...take a deep breath...and remember that it is still the weekend!  For those of you needing a little help getting into that relaxed rhythm, take look at my latest treasury It took so long to get here, I think I will stay.  I think it will help.  If not, you may need to take tomorrow off from work.

All New!! Cut Along the Lines Resin Pendant Necklace!!

This necklace is just perfect for those cool crafty folks!  This pendant started with one of my hand carved stamps using one of my very own designs. Through a little magic, I managed to capture that design in this neato little pendant!  So much fun!

New design at Subtle Acts Etsy shop!

I am very happy to announce one of my latest designs I just listed in my shop - the Studious Owl Resin Pendant Necklace! You might notice that it is actually the design from my hand-carved stamp design on one of my cards in the shop. It takes a little work to go from the stamp to the necklace, but I love the idea of using the same design on multiple items so it is well-worth the extra effort.

Thank you to Mrs. Peterson for the little extra kick in the pants I needed!  More designs are on the way!

Of the sea

Oh boy, do I miss being able to see the Puget Sound!  Our old home was a mile from the beach, and we could see the Puget Sound from our house on the hill.  Now we live hours from a different ocean...


I put this treasury together with the Puget Sound on my mind...the lovely, lovely Puget Sound...

Breakfast for dinner, lizards, and roses

I don't think that there is anything better for dinner than breakfast.  It is fast and yummy, two things that place it on the top of the list for easy meals when you really want to be lazy.  Our usual fast breakfast for dinner meals includes a cheesy omelet, biscuits (or toast), veggie sausage, grape jelly for me (the hubby prefers hot sauce--weird!), and orange juice.

The egg comes first, which answers that long studied question.

Get a few eggs going on the skillet while the biscuits cook in the oven.  Multi-taking at its finest!

 Scout stands guard in the kitchen.  While she is no Julia Childs, she does know her way around the kitchen! She isn't much help besides letting me know when the timer is beeping - she will run to the oven and paw at it.

The biscuits are ready!  No, these aren't homemade...that would take a little more time than I was willing to spend.

Ahhh...ready for dinner!

And while this has nothing to do with breakfast for dinner, I spotted a lizard before dinner running along our fence line.  Lizards are everywhere right now!  Isn't this one gorgeous!

While I was outside, I snapped some photos of the roses that are blooming like crazy in our yard.  Aren't they beautiful!  The yellow ones smell SOOO good!

Wanna go for a ride?

With the weather finally cooperating with us, now is the perfect time to enjoy a bike ride.  I found some really great bike-themed items on Etsy that I think will help motivate you to knock the dust off your bike...

Hello

There are countless ways to say Hello on Etsy.  Just take a look at this wonderful treasury curated by Annie Sklaver Paper Portraits.

I Carry Your Heart in My Heart

What a sweet title, don't you think? I owe the title of this treasury to Of the Fountain's leather luggage tag.

There is a story behind it all

Wouldn't it be great to know the story behind each of the wonderful items?

Whimsical Elegance

And along came this lovely treasury this morning.  I received the email  as I was pulling into the parking lot at work this morning that one of my necklaces was featured in a new treasury.  I love getting these emails, especially before the work day begins!  And what  a lovely treasury this one is!  A great big thank you goes out to Amy at The Peach Tree for including my Sam Crow Resin Pendant to the mix!  While you are on Etsy taking a look at this great treasury, peak on over at The Peach Tree for some really amazing pieces of jewelry!

Another FRONT PAGE Treasury!

I love it when one of my treasuries make the coveted Front Page of Etsy!  I missed out on all of the fun today while this one was up there, but it received quite a bit of action during the lunch hour.  I love each of these unique Etsy finds, and I could not be happier that the folks at Etsy chose to give these sellers a little extra promo time!