one little pendant so far

My first attempt at the mica shift technique. Woot, I can't wait to work on this some more!

Still need holiday gifts?

It's not to late to get a gift certificate to an etsy shop. Get one for my shop here. Or search etsy for other artists offering gift certificates. There are lots of fun options, and most sellers (including me: divadea and thepaperwhisperer) will email them to you!

Happy holidays!

tarot card of the day

Today is one of my "energy" days. I feel I could do anything and for long periods of time. So I got ready for a dinner party I'm throwing tomorrow - made stuffing, casseroles and 13 tiny loaves of banana bread; got out the china and wacky tableclothes; and decided that margaritas go perfectly well with turkey and potatoes. I made a great dinner of steaks and spanish rice. I listened to Buffy the Musical all the while and was happy.



Anyway, it's been a while since I pulled and pondered a tarot card from my Buffy tarot deck. The card for today is The World.



Tarot Card: Major Arcana, 21. The World
Character: The First Slayer
Upright Meaning: Fulfillment and contentment. Happiness. Growth. Successful completion of a project or cycle. Culmination.
Reversed Meaning: Lack of success. Delay. Incomplete happiness. Hesitation. Frustration.
Questions: What have you been laboring over for a long time that is nearing completion? How will you make this ending a positive experience?
Advice: It’s up to you to finish this one. Don’t rely on someone else. Hesitate just long enough to consider where you’ve been and how it will affect where you’re going.



This card always gives me the sense of old and new together. She was the beginning of something huge, and she's history. It's time to integrate my past with my current dreams and get into gear. OK then. I'm on it.

Land of Women

I just finished The Land of Women by Regina McBride. Why it took me 2 weeks to read 234 pages is anyone's guess, it seems I'm getting slow as I head toward middle-age. Anyway, although this novel was about a mother and daughter and their lovers, to me this novel was really about sewing, specifically fabric. Mother Jane and daughter Fiona are both seamstresses, and their passion for their crafts rivals, and sometimes even outweighs, their passion for their men. The writing is eloquent, and the descriptive passages actually remind me of silks and cottons and patterns and colors.


What do our characters sew? They sew dresses, and reading this book made me think of all of wonderful hand-sewn dresses by the talented people on etsy. Here a just a few favorites I found today.




Singin' the blues about gold dress by 1MaddieAndMe
(and this one is reversible!)


Schoolgirl dress by reddoll


Mariana Dress by colorada


Holiday in Red dress by willarie

I love dresses and fabrics, which is ironic, since I can't sew at all. Not. At. All. Enjoy the handmade dresses on etsy. Treat yourself to a one-of-a-kind piece of clothing handmade with love!

Least views, what the hey?

One of the ways to search for stuff on etsy is to choose a category. Then you can sort by price (low to high or vice versa, or low to price or vice versa). I chose the holiday category, clicked on Christmas, and sorted by least views. I often sort by least views, just to see stuff other people have missed. So, is being in the first few pages of "least views" a bad thing? Not necessarily.

First of all, there are about 234,656,298 items on etsy. OK, I made that up. But seriously, there are lots, I mean lots, of items for sale on that site! Sometimes an item was listed very recently and hasn't had time to be seen a lot yet. Sometimes it was posted at a time of day (or night) when we etsiers, for once in our lives, are actually out doing something other than browsing etsy. And sometimes, I'm guessing, it's just dumb luck. Sometimes, unfortunately, it could be a problem of poor photography or a badly cropped or uninteresting picture, but that sure isn't the case with these treasures I found just now in my "least views" search. Check them out. (And feel free to buy them for me...)


This is rubber duck soap by SweetLollipopShop. Have you ever seen anything cuter? Almost makes me wish I had a kid. (Yeah, OK, not really.)


LadyRayCello, a fellow PCAGOE-er made this adorable cat ornament. I'm always impressed with people who can sculpt. I make a mean blob, but that's the best sculpting I do :)


And this card by artbyheather? Well, I want it. And it feels a tiny bit like a portrait of me at the moment. Mildred couldn't resist the urge to be merry. Yep.

Well, hmmm

Gakked from the blog of the husband of a friend of a friend, who by the by is fairly hilarious and has very funny blog worth reading.

Er, anyway, apparently I'm using bigger words than I thought I was while staying accessible to the everyday reader.

and the other winner is...

RG Creations won the November PCAGOE challenge. Her pieces are absolutely fabulous and unique. Here's the winning entry.



I managed 3rd place with my mokume gane frame and switch cover set, which I'm pretty happy with. I'll keep trying!