Happy Holidays

Another year is coming to an end and the magical time of Christmas is upon us once again. As I get older and my children are now teens, Christmas has a different feeling. Sometimes we get so involved in the shopping and to do lists that the meaning of the season escapes us. We lose sight of the season through a childs eyes.

Christmas is a magical time and I long for the days of that wonderment with Dancing by the Christmas Tree, Caroling, The Nutcracker, Cookies, Hot Chocolate, Building Snowmen, Sledding and all that goes with the season. I want to step back and take the time to savor this time of year and enjoy the quiet & stillness of a magical snowfall. Even as our children and ourselves grow older that inner child is still there in all of us and we need to celebrate it, especially at Christmas!


Happy Holidays to all and a shiny bright New Year~

~HOLIDAY SALE on my Etsy site~

Holiday Sale starts Friday Nov. 27th thru Sunday Dec. 20th
~check it out!

Halloween Display

Setting up a display of jewelry for a show this past weekend inspired me to pull out all my Halloween goodies! A sexy witch costume worn many years ago that of course still hung in my closet~will always fit the dress form! My great find of a glittery skull at Michaels:) A box I found at a recent Estate Sale little did I know how Halloween it was! What fun it was...

I love this time of year, the cool temps the colors and of course all the fun of Halloween witches and goblins. The girls are older now so I can no longer dress them up in cute little costumes, but still enjoy watching the little ghouls and princesses that come to my door to trick or treat. Not sure what the plans are for this Halloween, but I know I will put on a pot of chili and hand out candy and then chill with a few of my favorite monsters!

hAppY hAlloWEEn!!!!

Festival of the Arts 2009

This past weekend I spent showing my jewelry at "Festival of the Arts" in Libertyville, IL. We had a lot of rain on Saturday, which made the people disappear for awhile. Totally made up for it on Sunday though with a beautiful sunny day with the temperatures in the upper 70's, could of not asked for a better day! Enjoyed being beside my talented friend Cindi with her paintings and meeting many new people. Here are a few pics of my booth and jewelry.





I cannot believe summer is coming to an end and the kids will all be going back to school soon. As we get older it seems each year goes faster and faster. I just want life to slow down so I can do all that I want to do and spend time with those that I miss! Enjoy what's left of your summer everyone and know that a wonderful fall is just around the corner!

Gurnee All Stars

Ah, it is over:[

Thanks girls for another great softball season...Fun, Sun and SOFTBALL...a winning combination!

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!

The years between us are so evident in this picture! I was 13 when you were born and used to change you, feed you, babysit you and of course play with you! Now you are all grown up and making your mark on life. You truely are an inspiration.


So Talented... {http://www.v-i-k.com/}
Happy Birthday Dave~xoxoxo

Independence Day the New Berlin Way

Family, Friends, Parades, Food, Drinks, Laughs, Fireworks, Carnivals, Chats, Music, Laughter, etc. etc.
Another wonderful Fourth!
New Berlin, WI ~ July 4, 2009

The Cindy/Cindi collaboration project~

One of my favorite people in the world, who also happens to be a very talented painter Cindi Sartain and I worked today on some pendants with her paintings in them. We wanted to do some this summer for the "Festival of the Arts" in Libertyville, IL. , since we always have booths right next to each other. Here are some samples of the ones we put together that are still drying. Love the way they look in the pendants! I will post some more pictures as we do more and will be putting some on the website.

Idol Auditions

The pictures above are of Carly, Dylan & Kelsey entering United Center, In our seats after singing the group song & Kelsey singing "Landslide" for Judge #3!

The American Idol experience was a lot of fun. We saw very interesting as well as many talented people that were singing their hearts out in the parking lot, hallways, nooks and crannies. With the announcement that Chicago had the 2nd largest amount of people they have seen audition, we knew we were in for a little bit of a wait. They took the groups up by sections and we were pretty much a little past half way. Each person was allowed about 20 to 30 seconds to shine! With only few Golden tickets given out with the amount of people there, I do not know how they choose. The talent as I said seemed incredible.

There was your typical American Idol fun dressed people and we saw a few of them get in, not sure if the vocals were good too? We could not hear from our seats. Great people watching though!

We went with Kelsey's boyfriend Dylan and his sister Carly and their parents. All the kids have been involved in theater and music for some time and their songs sounded great. Kelsey sang "Landslide" one of my very favorite songs of all time! She sang it beautifully! Unfortunately, none of the kids will get the chance to audition for Simon & the Idol gang or be Hollywood bound. We look forward to trying again(?) another year:) All in all, a fun day, now we are exhausted and ready to go to bed!

Happy Father's Day

Hop on Pop. We like to hop. We like to hop on Pop!

Seriously...Dad~Hubby
loving, fun, good looking, handy, sporty, our rock, music lover, motorcycle enthusiast, creative, stylish, friend, supportive, driving instructor, coach, therapist, part time friend and family ER doc, my mcdreamy, gentle soul, giving, funny, the greatest...


& oh so Cool...Happy Father's Day!

We love you~xoxoxo

New creations from my Studio

Rain Rain go away, but wait, I have gotten some new pieces done in the studio, woo hoo! I will be posting on my Etsy site soon.

When the sun comes out and the garden beckons I have such a hard time going into my basement studio. I love my studio it is well lit and very inspiring, but no windows! It is hard when I have been locked away all winter and now the birds chirping and all the greenery I just want to be out there. I have tried to plan my schedule where I spend the morning and early afternoon hours working and then reward myself with late afternoon outings. Here in the midwest though we have had many rainy days and it does make it alot easier to be productive.

So while myself and others complain about the weather deep down I do love rainy days:)

Time Spent~

My girlfriends (+ one hubby in tow) and I went on our annual first of the season trip to Kane County, IL flea market. Always fun looking for treasures and spending time with friends. You never know what you might find. We picked up plants, garden objects, bed sheets, a cute little bohemian bag, vintage tri-pod, jewelry, gifts, and of course as always some good eatin! I believe Mike (hubby in tow) might of had more fun and purchases then the rest of us:)

Happy Birthday Mom~

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan


~mother, wife, grandmother, sister, friend, family center, traveler, cook, doll lover, antique buff, silly, creative, family historian, teacher, counselor, gardener, etc. etc. etc. xoxoxo ~ Love to my mom on her birthday

sWeeT TwEEt

This little goldfinch visits our window and knocks a few times a day. Is he looking to come back home from some escaped cage? Is he in love with my dog? Is he beckoned like the wildlife in Snow White to my daugther's singing?

All I know is that I have come to expect this little guys visits every morning and will miss them terribly if he ever stops coming by.

pink heaven

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo

The Peonies have Popped~

hAppY bIRthDaY SisTa~

You have always been there to support my artistic endeavors...


To make me feel like you needed me for support...


To CHILL with..

A sister shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams. ~Author Unknown


Best of Birthdays Becky...Love ya ~

Fashion Show

Mother's Day weekend fashion show at Kemper Lakes Country Club. Beautiful model (caitie) wore my peace sign shadowbox necklace along with an adorable dress from Olivia's in Long Grove. Loved the Look!

Heart & Soul

Time to do a blog post...it has been a while. I have been cleaning out the studio and getting at some new ideas that have been rolling around in my head. Wish I had many more hours to tackle all of the ideas in my head, oh to have more time!!!!

I am so excited about some new designs that were inspired by some cute little heart charms that I had. Just put them on my Etsy site and in some of my shops. Hope everyone loves them as much as I do!

I will be posting some other new designs as they roll of the work bench! Off to enjoy a beautiful sunny day and go to my metal working class, Life is good:)

The beauty of Arizona

Our spring break was spent in Scottsdale, AZ with side trips to Prescott, Sedona, Cave Creek and Phoenix. We fell in love with this beautiful state. The colors the mountains, cactus, blue skies, warm temperatures and people. We would love to live here someday. We met up with my sisters family who were also vacationing there for some poolside fun and great meals. Here is one of our favorite restaurants in Cave Creek.



Relaxing with my hubby in a beautiful lookout spot!

New Shadowbox Necklaces

These are my newest "For Luck" and "Peace" Necklaces. Loved the colors in these!
Took them over to my favorite boutique in Long Grove "Olivia's" the other day.
Just wanted to post them, because I loved the colors so much:)
Remind me of spring!

Spring is in the air a week of 60's here in the midwest, ahhhh! I am so ready.