nature gift

today we learned a few things about nature. dillon and his friends were out back in the quarry area when they happened upon a tiny baby deer. they called us on their cell phone to say they had found an abandoned baby deer. jeff went back there to see what was going on. next thing i know, they are all headed back with the baby. i quickly set up a little crib and put the dogs in the back bedroom. i wasn't expecting such a wee little baby! i ask the boys some questions about the scene to get an idea of what was going on.

after i get the baby settled, i have the boys go on the internet to read up on taking care of a baby deer and also i make some phone calls to animal control (closed, it's a holiday) and then i have my neighbor come over. her good friend works for a vet, so she calls the friend for advice. we end up with a rehabilitators number, so i give her a call. not the friendliest lady and she proceeds to chew me out and says, the baby hasn't been abandoned and that the mom will come back for it. she goes on to lecture me about how they should have left it, blah, blah, blah. yeah, i get that- but i'm only dealing with the present, not what they did- so give up the tirade and tell me what i should do. she gives me another phone number to call. i call them and she says to take the baby back to the spot where we found it. apparently momma deers leave their babes in a spot that they pick out and come back for them later in the evening. if the baby doesn't look sickly, then this is probably the case. So the boys take baby back to where they found her.

an hour later, me and dill quietly walked back there to make sure baby isn't wandering. baby is still in the same spot, sleeping and being quiet like she is suppose to. this is good. i scout ahead to look around and spy a doe in the field. she is watching me. i feel confident that i have seen momma and feel better. we will check on baby again in the morning to see if mom has come for her or not.

i totally understand their position. i 'm sure they have to deal with these "good intentions" all the time. the boys did what they thought was the right thing; especially given that it was thundering and lightening. hard to just walk away from something so vulnerable.

update: momma did indeed come back for her baby. i went to check on them this morning and the only thing i saw was the crushed grass from where baby was laying in the meadow. a happy ending.....

dragonfly

i thought today i would share with you one of my most favorite photos ever. i was so lucky to get this shot. i took it while i was selling at a craft show and i took a little break to wander around. there was a little pond area, so i headed over there and noticed all these dragonflies zipping about. i patiently crept closer to this guy and took the picture when he settled down for a second.

100 strangers

i was catching up on some blog reading in the last few days (tucker's sick and i find i cannot create when he is ill; so i use my time in other ways; such as blog reading!) i was reading up on my friend, Kelly Snelling's blog and i read a post she did on a photo project called "100 strangers". It sounded so intriguing to me that i headed right over to the website and then checked out their flickr page. I think i will join in. the idea is to take photographs of strangers and then post them. but you have to ask their permission first (no candid shots) and then double check if it is okay to post their picture on flickr.

i always have my camera with me and i'm not shy about speaking with strangers. as a matter of fact, i enjoy striking up conversations with strangers. so i think i will quite enjoy this.

the picture of this lady is a perfect example of 100 strangers. unofficially i will count this as my first photo. i took it last summer at the flea market. i noticed this woman walking around and was just fascinated with her outfit and of course, i just loved the pin she was wearing - it said "I (heart) flea markets" . so i started speaking with her and she told me that she loves to dress up and go to the flea market (now my friend, abbie, got another story out of her, where she told abbie she loves to dress this way for her man!) so anyway, after speaking with her for a few minutes, i asked her if i could take her photo. so as i start getting my shots, i'll post them on my blog.

Relay for life

last weekend, Dillon and some of his friends, took part in a fundraiser for cancer research called, "Relay for life". Dillon was the team captain (one of many!) and they organize a group of people, came up with a team name and then set out to get sponsors. someone from their team had to be walking on the track at all times. i went down to take pictures and what a site! lots of campsites with grills, tents, balloons, decorations and more. there were activities at certain times (for example at 1:00 in the morning there was to be a hip hop dance lesson). it really looked like a fun time. and the students ended up raising about $110,000.00, which is so amazing!

running away

this past weekend, i decided to run away from home and not tell anyone where i was going (well, besides my friend, Jane, who joined me) We met up with each other and went to a barn sale held by Beth and Jill. It's called "Gypsy Barn Market" and they are holding sales every month during the warm weather. we had a lot of fun and bought a few cute items. afterwards we had a really nice lunch before going our separate ways.

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Before i headed to my next destination , i stopped by the super Joann's to stock up on some needed items. that's always a fun place to go! Next i headed over to Jersey Made to visit with my friends, Holly and Abbie (and Neil!) and to check out the store. the shoppe is in Mount Holly and it is really cute. they did such a nice job. It's a good size shop and she is even holding classes there. (i LOVED the little classroom; especially the tool section!) the shop is carrying items that have all handmade by NJ artists. there were wonderful soaps, Abbie's awesome tshirts and cute birdie plaques, jewelry, repurposed hats from old pants, cool knitted scarves and more. the house where Jersey Made is in, is so cool (just check out that front porch!).

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after saying goodbye to the girls, i walked around town for just a bit to take some photos. Mt. Holly is such a cute little town and has so many pretty little buildings.

quick update

my first guest blogging post is up on Objects and Elements. stop by to see the project i did for the end of the school year!

blog party & Cecil Brunner

yikes, i'm a little late on the as i almost forgot! Andrea over at Vintage Bella Studio, is hosting a blog party today, called "show what you create". in case you are new to my blog, I create mixed media and jewelry using vintage found objects. i let my imagination take over and i never have a game plan for a project; it usually just sort of happens with these elements. I'm also the newest design team member for Objectsandelements.com. These are a few of the things that i was working on this week:

"Mermaid's dowry"

and

"welcome to the doll house"

thanks to http://vintagebellastudio.blogspot.com for hosting this blog hop.
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and in other news:

i've been dying to snag some good photos of my climbing rose bush while the buds were all open. isn't it amazing? right now the front door is so fragrant. just lovely. i only have a few more days to enjoy before the petals start dropping and my front porch looks like a light snow blossom storm blew by. this rose bush goes all the way to the 2nd floor of the house and occasionally it has been known to grow inside my window! when you get to the top step before opening the doorway, you really have to bend you head with all the flowers that are growing right there. there are a couple of birds who enjoying hanging out there. if i was a bird, i'd probably stay there too!

Q&A, jr. prom,and other such stuff

this is an interesting photo i took on the back deck. i have a potting bench that has old metal spoons hanging from it. they are getting rusty and looking cool. when i was back there the other day, i noticed the Japanese honeysuckle, which is blooming right now, was reflecting in the spoon. i loved the effect and mood it created.




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if you are interested in reading my Q & A from Object and Elements, you can read it here. it was just a little "get to know ya" type of questionnaire as part of my intro as the newest design team member.

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here's a couple of photos of Dillon and Alana from Jr. Prom. Dillon is wearing the jacket and vest that Alana's dad was married in. her brother also wore them to one of his high school events. He looked very James Bond-ish. love the color of Alana's dress. And Alana's mom had the florist make the corsage and boutonniere out of her own orchids; which i thought was pretty cool.

Steampunk World's Fair

wow, what a fun event! I drove north about an hour to Piscataway to attend the The Steampunk World's Fair. i really didn't know what to expect, since i've never gone to one of these before. I figured if anything, there'd be some awesome picture opportunities. I was not disappointed. I started taking pictures the moment i got there until the moment i was walking out the door. everyone was so accommodating for photos (and i think they are quite used to it!) it was a beautiful day and there was a courtyard where they had music, food, tents and more. it was a lovely area to just sit and lounge in the sun and watch all the people. i really enjoyed the music by a band called Emperor Norton's Stationary Band. After walking around the lobby, i went to check out the vendor event. for some reason, they didn't have it all in one area, but in a few rooms around the lobby and then you had to walk around the 1st floor guest room area and go into each room and see what they had for sale in there. it was kind of fun that way. people were milling in the hallways. it reminded me of my old college days with parties in the dorm hallways. the marching band came down the hallway too and i got some fun video of them. from there i went outside for more picture taking and lunch. the hotel had set up a yummy buffet (and for hotel food, it was REALLY good). i ate lunch with a mother and daughter from Delaware (Pat and Jackie, if i remembered that correctly - and please let me know if you read this!) we were discussing how nice people were. it seemed to be a place where you could be who you wanted to for the moment and no one was there to judge or criticize you. one of the staff members, David Isecke (operations), joined us for a little bit to see how we were enjoying ourselves. we were talking about how these types of events are so fun to attend because it does give you an opportunity to step outside your normal life and experience new things. David said something i really liked, "some people are too quick to throw the magic out of their lives". so true!

another thing that i really enjoyed was seeing the men dressed up. I see women dressed up all the time. they like to dress up; do their hair, makeup and wear pretty things. men, not so much. they tend to put on ball cap, wear some really boring polo type shirt and jeans or some sort of khaki/beige colored pants. there isn't a lot of variety in the way a man can dress. now a days, dressed up for a man is a suit and tie and although a suit can look nice; again not much variety or a way for a man to stand out as an individual. At this event, there were so many varieties of how the men were dressed. maybe it was because it was fresh to my eyes, but i was digging it!

here are a couple of my favorite pictures from yesterday :

You can also view all the photos here on flickr.

Extra Exciting News!

this is news i have been sitting on since February . do you know how hard it is to sit on fun and exciting news? it's hard to do!

So what's the news? i am excited to announce that i was asked to be the newest design team member of Objects and Elements (tool and supplies for the mixed media artist). it all started in late January when i was at CHA, "walking the show" as Suze Weinberg encouraged me to do (thank you Suze for the encouragement!) I didn't go there with any agenda, but to meet people, wear my jewelry, find jewelry resources, meet up with friends, see family and per the usual, have fun and enjoy the moment! and i did have a lovely time. it was overwhelming how much talking i did, how many people stopped me to look at my jewelry or to tell me that they loved my pigtails (Melody!), run into Jenny Doh and taking the incentive to introduce myself. It was a busy, whirlwind few days and worth every second of time i took to be there. I still consider myself very green to the art world and their enthusiasm and praise for my jewelry is so encouraging and amazing. it has lead me to teaching opportunities and now this. i am grateful for friends like, Barbe and others, who believe in me. So after spending some time at the O&E booth, speaking with Susan, Linda, Jen (our den mother), Kristen and Barbe ( Deryn and Jane weren't there) and then also having the confidence to take out my portfolio and say, "want to see more"? (remember the previous post about this whole topic of learning to self promote?)- i feel that i have EARNED this and that my friends, is a very satisfying feeling.
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here is my first piece of jewelry that i created using items that can be found at Objects and Elements.com. I really wanted to create a piece with this darling "french baby" charm. i love dolls and use them a lot in my art, so i couldn't wait to "play doll" with her. She was laid in a open back bezel and then secured with ice resin. all of these items can be found on the website.

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Now for the fun stuff! i've decided to do a giveaway for the first piece that i designed for Objects and Elements. In my eyes, it is the perfect way to celebrate my introduction. So, all you need to do is leave a comment here on the Object and Elements blog.

the next product i look forward to playing with their new staple bezel. i see alot of potential with these and my use of vintage found objects.

stayed tune for some cool things happening at Objects and Elements. this rapidly growing company has a lot up their sleeves and i'm happy to be along for the ride!

Steam punk worlds fair

Steam punk worlds fair? who knew!




hey this looks kind of fun and right in my backyard! i think i'll hit this on saturday for some mad photos and check out the events!

blog party

Vintage Bella Studio is holding a blog hop party on May 21st, called "show what you create". if you are new to blogging and don't know how to get traffic to your blog, these blog hops are great for participating in to meet bloggers and it is a great opportunity to show off some of your stuff! it just takes a second to create a post with a picture of something you have created, post on the 21st and then link to her blog party. (go to her blog as well to sign up by leaving her a comment and your blog site) - you can do that here.

Mother's day gift

today i received the best gift ever and that was to spend some time with Dillon. he's very busy with school, improv, his girlfriend, his friends - you know; being a teenager. but today we got to hang out and i really enjoyed it. first we hit the dog beach to look for beach trash that i will use in an art project for COA (clean ocean act). it was really windy and chilly; so we were bundled up. and we didn't really find that much trash. i'll have to keep hitting the beaches a few more times so i have enough to do this project. We did find a bunch of tennis balls that i gathered up and left and the opening of the dog beach for owners who forgot to bring one.

then we headed home and went exploring in our own back yard. behind our house is a field that belongs to the quarry, Clayton. and if you slip behind the metal fence at the end of the field, you into what eventually becomes the quarry. lots of found object stuff back there, let me tell you you! anyway, we explored the quarry area and i watched dillon climbing on all the equipment. dillon and his friends come back here alot (well to the general area of the field, marshes, etc.) so he knows it well. there are a couple of small small bodies of water back there; which i want to figure out how to get closer to and check out the birding situation.

then we hiked over to this other area where a new home is being built next to another lake. wow, it is an amazing home and HUGE! we sort of illegally went inside and looked around. it's probably a 3 million dollar home with the house and property.

now we are back home and hanging out. all that fresh air and wind made us tired!
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this is a picture i took of dill today that i altered into a poster. pretty cool, huh?

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and this was another photo i took and then played with it in photoshop. the one on the far left is the original. i like how by adusting the lighting and contrast in the middle photo, you can now see is eye through the rock.

happy mother's day

i'm here to appreciate all Mother's who wear so many hats and try to get so many things accomplished for our children, our marriages, our family and ourselves. being a mother is a tough, bittersweet job; raise our children to be good people and then have to untie the apron strings and let them start flying on their own. not an easy job!

here is a darling video that is heartwarming and sweet - enjoy!

Shameless self promoting

Today i took a drive over to Princeton, NJ to do some self promotion. not my favorite thing to do as i'm an artist. i like to sit and create and then magically hope that something good will come my way. Well that's not the way it works and it takes some self promoting, getting out there, talking and showing off your stuff. why is that hard for some of us? i suppose, for some, it is an issue of self confidence. to me i'm just not comfortable saying "hey, look at what i made". and for the longest time, if someone complimented a necklace i was wearing (made by me), i'd politely say, thank you and leave it at that. But now that i am an instructor, blogger, artist (and all those other hats!), i 've learned to step up to the plate and say, "thank you very much, i made it". Usually they want to know more and i've become more comfortable sharing about me and my art/jewelry. Could be the navy brat in me, who moved around every few years and my motto was to be seen and not heard. i always eased my way into things after i accessed and evaluated.

so back to today. I saw on facebook that Gina La Morte, founder and editor-in-chief of Boho Magazine, was going to be at The Whole Foods store in Princeton today. I first discovered the magazine last summer and loved the fact that it was based in New Jersey and that it is eco friendly, about handmade and going green. i really thought my boho bangles (and yes, i had already named them that before i heard of the magazine! if you saw them, you'd know why i named them that....) would be a great fit for their magazine.

so i drove the hour it took to get there and headed in to accomplish my goal for today of self promotion. So i did indeed meet Gina and got to talk with her for a bit before things got too crazy (they were promoting a special event called Green from head to toe expo). i tried to talk myself up the best i knew how and talked about my boho bangles (and i was wearing a few for effect) and then i asked if she wanted to see more; so got my stash out. they were a big hit; so hopefully they'll be in a Boho issue sometime! regardless of what becomes, it was a nice time and i enjoyed getting my face out there, talking up my art and my home decorating style and meeting new people.
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I also got to meet this nice gal, Justine, of greenchanges.org. she's got some great tshirts(eco friendly apparel) for sale at Whole Foods and let me tell you, they are nice and soft. they have the right amount of give and stretch; meaning it feels fitted without that "tight" lycra feel. i give them 2 thumbs up for comfort and style! She pulled a tshirt out of her stash that she thought i might like that reads "going going green" - and i did love it (wearing it right now!)

Cecil Brunner is blooming!

every spring i look forward to my climbing rose bush (a Cecil Brunner) blooming and today is the day! this is the view from my bedroom window, which is on the 2nd floor. this climbing rose bush is a beast. tomorrow i'll take pics from outside to give you a better idea.

FREE etching tutorial

ever wanted to try etching, but have no idea on how to do it? check out Objects and Elements blog with guest artist, Jane Salley, doing a wonderful tutorial on how to etch in 10 easy steps.

my Wonderland journal

flea market with Pam

Before Pam's class, we managed to scoot out to a flea market and hunt down a few bargains. it was a nice day, but boy did it get hot. Our friend, Sallianne, who was driving to the class from New York, drove straight to the flea market (gotta love it!) so that was fun to meet up with her. Jane made the class, but not the market, due to one of her vehicles over heating. we all managed to walk away with a few treasures which we were all happy about.

Wonderland Journal with Pamela Huntington

Well, we certainly had a lovely time in Pam's book class. we learned all sorts of nifty techniques, had lots of laughs, sweets and beautiful weather. couldn't have asked for a nicer day!