I'M FAMOUS !?

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while since my last post. I really haven't given up on blogging. Lots of things have been going on lately primarily having to do with trying to sell our house in Kansas in this dismal housing market. But enough of the gloom and doom for today... I was excited to find out yesterday that I was featured on a blog dedicated to showcasing artists called "Mindless Pursuits". I applied a little while ago and yesterday was "my turn" to shine. Please read about it here!

I'm wondering if this bracelet should become my signature piece. I sold one to a gal on Etsy and this is her feedback; "A beautifully crafted bracelet that really wears like a poem on my wrist! I LOVE IT and will be back to buy another of your pieces. Thank you so much".

My reaction: "Pretty cool", and then I made another one for my shop!

NOTHING BORING ABOUT KANSAS WEATHER

Wow, I must be desperate for something to write about today. But, what a minute, maybe you don't think talking about the weather is boring. I used to, but since moving to Kansas last year I've changed my mind. It is a very fickle thing here. Being in the middle of the country we are subject to the whims of many weather patterns and it can change very quickly. I thought that living on the West Coast was unpredictable, but Kansas has it beat!

I took the picture above around dinner time 5:30 PM yesterday when I noticed it getting dark all of a sudden on an otherwise beautiful, sunny day (86 degrees) although it was a little too humid in my book! I took more pictures as the clouds rolled in, the deluge of rain started and the temperature dropped to around 68 degrees all in the matter of a couple of hours. The storm continued until around 1:00 AM. You wonder how I know the time, and I do because I cannot sleep when there are lights flashing all around me and I hear thunder crashing every few seconds! I always think it's the perfect setting for a scary movie when the villain chases the girl around the house with knife in hand. Pardon, my imagination, I just can't help myself! I wish I could take those really cool pictures at night where you see the lightening cracks in the sky, but I'm too scared to step outside and now I know why.

I learned this morning that a fuel tank in Kansas City, Kansas holding about 1.2 million gallons of unleaded fuel was on fire since early Wednesday after being stuck by lightening. Isn't that ironic? With all the focus on the prices of fuel these days a fuel tank blows up. At $3.87 a gallon that's a ton of money! You can figure it out, it's too mind - boggling to me!

Nope, I've decided that weather is definitely not a boring subject!

Remember my friend the toad, from an earlier entry (see 05/17). Well, I guess he has at least two other pals because I saw them stuck in the window well last night. I had to wait until morning because of the storm but as you can see by this one's face he was pretty happy to be out of there!

We woke up to a beautiful, bright sunny day as you can see in the picture. I wonder what tonight will bring?

HEART FOR MISSIONS

You just never know how your craft will be used, do you? I'm excited to say that my jewelry is going on a missions trip! After opening my Etsy jewelry shop Beadin By The Sea, I told all of my friends and family about it hoping that maybe they would support my new business venture or pass on the information to their friends. Well, my friend Sarah who lives 2000 miles away in Washington State, greatly exceeded my expectations. She asked me if I would make heart pendants for 6 ladies who live at or volunteer at New Generation Ministries Boys home where she and her group will be serving on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. I thought that was so neat that she decided to support my shop and in so doing would get a unique, handmade item tailor-made for the trip. She asked me if I could put their theme scripture James 1:27 on the back of the pendant. The beauty of having silver as clay first is that the letters can be hand inscribed while the clay is still in the "wet stage". Of course, I only had room for the scripture address. The picture above shows how I use a butane micro-torch to burn away the binders in the clay to result in a silver piece that is 99.9% pure silver.

She doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to put each necklace in a pretty organza bag with a tag typewritten with the entire scripture. I wonder if I need to write it in Spanish though? I'll have to get someone to translate for me! I hope she will take some pictures of her trip there and I'll ask her if I can post them here in an update. The trip isn't until August so be sure to check back!

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

My prayer for Sarah and her youth girls who are going is first for a safe journey as they carry out God's work, and that He will pour His blessings on them and the people they touch with God's love!