Friday Bits

Happy Friday!!

I have a couple of little bits to show you today. They both still need a little finish work on them, but I dashed out to get photos because the sky seems heavily laden with an excess of moisture. Yeah, it looks like it's gonna rain.....again.

This is for my friend Beth for whom I made the little silver hibiscus pendant. This is a little gifty-poo for someone's birthday..I'm not going to mention any names, but her name in Hawaiian mean "heavenly moon" (I think, sometimes things get lost in the translation). I left the setting around the red plume agate heavily oxidized to contrast with the 4 full moons surrounding the stone, then "waning" back to the onyx "new" moon at the clasp.

My friend Bob wanted me to make a necklace for his sister & his mother. This one is for his sister because he told me her nickname is Birdy. It took me hours & hours to design a piece so deceptively clever that no one would immediately get the connection. Did you get it yet?? Yes!!! I made a bird pendant because they call her Birdy. See, I'm a clever girl.

I'm still working on getting beautiful photos of my pieces, but still haven't gotten there. I like natural light & the natural setting of being outside, but the glare on the stones is awful. Well, until I figure it out, y'all always know you can check out my foliage situation just by gazing at the reflections in the stones. As you can see by Beth's pendant, the dogwoods have almost lost all of their leaves.

I hope y'all have a great weekend & don't let the boogey man get you.

xoxo

Pam

SATeam Wrist Candy Holiday Giveaway.

Do you remember this??

Well, the little fellow found some friends (see him there on the top/). This is the collaborative charm bracelet SATeam (Starving Artist Team) has put together for our first giveaway. This bracelet is loaded with 25 handmade charms from some of our members & will be given away in December. A purchase from one of our shops will get you entered in the drawing to win this beautiful one of a kind bracelet. Hurry, hurry, you have from now until Dec. 6 to find something pretty so you can be entered. For a list of all of the shops participating please go to SATeam's Blog . Good Luck!!


Have a great day!!

SATeam Wrist Candy

What does that mean????? I dunno, stay tuned........

Around Town

I haven't made anything new lately, so I thought I'd show you a little of Bull City...The City of Medicine......Durham.

These are old tobacco warehouses (built cira 1890's) that have been converted into apartments, but I'm sure they're not called apartments when they're this expensive. I love the units and their brick walls, exposed beams & the beautifully refinished floors. A lot of the old hardware was kept on the beams & in the floor & it's a lovely place. In the summer, there is a live band (free) every Friday. Bring a chair & some wine & you're good to go. If you're lucky (like me), you have friends in the building, so you get to hang out on their terrace or balcony & watch while mingling apt. to apt. It's been several years since I've done that.

This is a shot going into one of the courtyards. There are a few different building in the complex & an Italian restaurant st the edge of the larger one.

This is someone's "window"...it was a loading dock, but now is part of someone's living room. It's also makes a nice frame for their Christmas tree during the holidays.

Of course, I think every city has this.

The building in the background is a newer building(1948), but still part of Liggit & Meyers. Work has begun to revamp those buildings & they've opened a wine bar in one. Hmmm.....I bet y'all would like to hear about that. I'll have to check it out.....just for you.

The old Durham Bulls stadium. If you watched Bull Durham, you've seen this stadium, but it's a little nicer now than it was then. A buuuuunch of money has been spent on the grounds & buildings in the past year, but it's still used for festivals & ballgames, but not the Durham Bulls. You can see the old mascot still painted on the side of the warehouse in the outfield.


Here's the ticket booth. It looks a little meloncholy without a little face poking out of the window

Well, that's it for now. I've started working on something new..maybe I'll get it ready by my next post.

Be good!!

xoxo

Happy Friday!!

It's another dreary, overcast day in North Carolina...seems like I'm always complaining about the weather doesn't it?? I think it's a Southern thing...or maybe just hereditary....my Grandmother does it too. Oh, the talks we have about the weather!!

*Edit*

The sun is pushing it's way through the gloom .....right now!!!

Anyway, I was going to show you a photo of a couple of my newest pieces, but I can't get the photo to transfer from my camera. It's only that one set of photos, but they won't budge. I'm going to keep working on it because one of the photos could be on a calendar. That's right. I draped the ring over a motorcycle like it was Miss June. Right there next to the chrome gas cap. Yeah, it's pretty hot.

This one was going in my shop but didn't quite make it. It was rescued by a friend of a friend, but she's such a fun, classy lady, I think we're friends now too. This is a yellow plume agate & I loved the color & "plumage". I had named it Harvest Moon.....aaaw pretty.

I'll have another session of Out & About in Durham maybe next week. I finally got some photos of the old Durham Bulls Stadium. Everytime I tried to get photos it was either Blues Fest or Beer Fest. Hmmmm, wonder if there's a connection (Blues.......beer)? Nah. Well, the stadium looks a bit different now than it did in the movie Bull Durham, but I think we just spent about the same amount of money renovating it as they did on the movie.

Oh yeah, my hydrangeas. They were blue 7 years ago, then they turned hot pink. I tried to fix them with whatever it is to "fix" the color of hydrangeas. This is what happened. I rather like them.

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend.

xoxo

Lunch with Tiffany........stone

Purple Prose

*Edit*

Purple Prose has already been sold off Etsy.

I just finished making these littles. They're Tiffany Stone from Utah. I'm not a stone expert, but I haven't seen Tiffany Stone in such a yummy shade of purple. The color reminds me of Grape Nehi or some other artificially flavored, sugar laden treat. My favorite color has always been purple & when I was a little girl I so wanted to love Grape Nehi, but I didn't. It was so pretty & came in that cool bottle, but I couldn't stand the stuff.

This photo seems a little blurry...sorry, I thought it was OK. Anyway, this will be going into the shop today. I'll be headed down to my local tavern for a memorial for a good friend of mine. His family had the official Memorial Service last week, but this week, we're doing what Roy would have wanted. I'll be having a Corona with a lime for Roy.

Y'all have a great day & hug someone today.

I've Got Soap!!

It's funny that as I was preparing (mentally preparing, so it doesn't take long) to write this blog I visited Carolyn & she was revisiting a vlog about some soap she had ordered. There are so many awesome "bath & body" people on Etsy that it's impossible to decide, so you just have to jump in sometimes. I had noticed this person on the forums & Twitter & when I saw that she was having a sale, decided to jump in.

These are from Burnt Mill on Etsy. She was having free shipping on her 6 bars for $24 item. Who could pass that up? The "free shipping" is over, but 6 bars for $24 is still there. Well, be warned, these are not your Grandmother's soaps as you can see by the photo. Thay are funky & swirly & fun. They arrived very quickly & the smell.....oh, the smell when I opened the package.

I ordered (from top left down, then top right down)

Enchanted Apple Type (love this....like a fresh apple)
Warm Vanilla Sugar Type( not too sweet & with a little bit of musk undertone)
Love Spell Type (very crisp smelling)
Jasmine (light jasmine scent..very clean)
Lavender Blossom (light lavender scent..very clean)
Island Kola Nut ( warm, but not too sweet & that is coconut you see on the top)

I knew these were going to be wonderful when it rained all day & the soap got a little sweaty. I don't know the real reason, but maybe I've figured it out. Glycerin attracks water & it was raining. If the bars were sweaty, (not sticking or oily), the glycerin in them is attacting the moisture from the air. Glycerin =softness & yumminess. It's all very scientific really...obviously....especially the yumminess. I used to make soap & I really enjoyed making soap, but not getting stuck with 5 pounds of the same soap whenever I wanted to "play". I'll leave it in the hands of the experts.

I love these soaps but have to decide which ones will leave me to be given as presents, but until then they stay with me in my living room. These are large sized bars (I'd say around 5 oz) and the seller sent them out the day after I ordered. I love the scents & was surprised at the ones that have become my favorites. The lather is awesome & makes my weathered hands feel "oh so good". She has over 30 scent & the bars are beautiful. It's a shame that I have to use them, but it's the circle of life.

Y'all have a great day!!

xoxo