Woah!

Where did the time go?! June is almost over.  I can't believe it.  This whole summer has felt off for me.  It was cold for a long while into spring with a few days of scorching heat sprinkled in.  Its been a weird season.  At least, I think so.

Lets see...
Last time I wrote I was shopping for a dress, and making a dog charm.  Well, I'm still working on that dog charm.  Its been on the back burner, but I've started working again.  Painting is going slowly, but its not a race.
My future brother in laws wedding happened a few weeks ago now.  It was pretty, and classy, and a lot of fun.  Its always nice seeing the family.  I ended up with a saucy red dress, and a pair of high heels that gave me the worst toe cramps in my life.  I think I might have to burn them.  Whoever thought that high heels were a good idea should be beaten.  Or forced to wear them.  Something.  It was terrible.  Plus, I ended up not wearing them at one point, but I wish I would have had some flats or something.  Especially since a lot of rose petals ended up on the dance floor, and my feet turned purple! :)  I think they were purple for a couple days.  It was a lot of fun though.
I've been working at my new job for a few weeks now.  Its really interesting, and my bosses and coworkers are really nice.  I'm feeling pretty lucky about that.  There is a lot to learn, and I'm hoping to absorb it all like a big ol' brain sponge.  Its going to take some hard work to get into the swing and balance work and the shop.  I just need to organize and focus.  Its been a struggle, but I'm not giving up or anything.  I'm just going to take it one day at a time.
My garden is starting to grow pretty good.  Little flowers are poking their heads up and blooming.  So far I have only seen the pansies.  :)  Yesterday I found a little millipede, a fuzzy white caterpillar, and a green bug I've never seen before.  I researched it, and it looks like it was a green tree cricket.  Like a baby one though.
I recently finished a personal pendant.  It was my first time working with silver metal clay, and it turned out great.  I'm really pleased with it.  :)
I've been working on a new idea for the shop.  Something from a long while ago, something that only a vague memory of remains.  Little bits suddenly came back to me though, and now it needs to be revisited.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when it finally comes together.
With all of these interesting things going on, I would love to toss in some pictures for you to see what I see, but that brings me to my final issue.  My camera is old.  Well, by electronic standards, its a dinosaur.  It sucks too, because I love this camera.  Its been a great little companion and has captured so many memories for me.  Its coming to be time to replace my little buddy though.  The batteries no longer hold a charge, and its not worth investing in new ones.  So, I've been researching, and I think I have found a worthy replacement for my old Canon PowerShot S410 with its tiny 4 megapixels.  Hopefully if things go well, I will have my new baby soon.

*fingers crossed*  :)

Dog Charms & New Things

A couple weeks ago, it might actually be a few weeks now, I was asked about creating a dog charm.  I took on the task and I am struggling with it.  :/  I've never sculpted a dog charm before, so its all new to me.  I've been trying to do a bust rather than the whole dog.  Keeping the charm small enough for a pendant, but also keeping the details of the dog in tact are both important.  He is turning out to be pretty tricky.
Besides that there has been other things going on in my life that are taking time away from my creative endeavors.  I've been cleaning up the yard with my sweetheart.  We planted some flower seeds.  I think something has already started to sprout.  Unless those are weeds...
I started a new job after a long search for additional employment.  I had the interview a couple weeks ago, and then they brought me in for a trial period.  A couple days ago, they told me they were going to keep me on.  Its exciting and stressful.  New things like this usually are for me.
Mother's Day and my Mom's birthday have both come and gone now.  I wasn't sure what to get her for those, but I ended up finding some things that were pretty cool.  Me and my sweetheart took her out to dinner, and that was nice.
I've been out clothes shopping a few times looking for new stuff for work and a dress for a wedding in June.  Being a girl, and going clothes shopping, doesn't necessarily mean that shopping is fun and rainbows and lollypops.  I pretty much loath looking for pants and dresses.  Most pants don't fit me right.  Dresses are a whole other ball of wax.  I might just have to break down and get pants then make alterations myself.  :/  What a pain.  Plus, I cant stand spending money on clothes.  :P
This weekend went by way too fast.  Hopefully I can find a rhythm between work and my shop and play.  The last few weeks I've neglected the shop, and the dog charm.  I need to get back to working on that as soon as I can.  Which, should be tomorrow. 

Happy Days Are Here Again

After spending a grueling few days without a laptop, I am happy to say that she fixed and I'm back in business.  :D  I felt so cut off from everything without her.

I have probably thanked my friends about a half a million times, but I really cant thank them enough.  I don't know what I would have done without them.  They spent a lot of their free time to fix her, and it means the world to me.  Thank-you so so much.  :)

Also, it looks like I'm not alone.  I've been perusing the internet and found that many more people have fallen to the same virus as me.  Multiple times even.  I don't know how long it will be before the issue has been taken care of, but I'm certainly not hitting dA anytime soon.  What an incredible pain that was.

Until then, I am thinking of bringing back my flickr account for my "portfolio".  I'm not sure it will get as much traffic or exposure as dA does sometimes.  I just feel like I should have somewhere to display all my various creations.  Kicking it around.  If anyone has any suggestions for a better place as a "portfolio" let me know :)

 I recently sewed some sweet little snuggly sacks for my friend for her guinea pigs. 

Snuggly sack with rad racing stripe.

Snuggly sack with lime green and funky red fabric.

Snuggly sack with adorable owls and colorful mushrooms.

 And so far they seem to like them :)

Miss Shadow staying snuggly.

Mr. Gus keeping an eye out and Mr. Chester resting his head.

I've been working on a new mala for the shop.  It features gray wood, nuts, and green lace stone beads.  It has earthy calm feeling to it.  I will be finishing up the tassel in dark & medium green colors.  I should have it photographed and listed in the shop soon.

Until then, :)

Fun Times with Annoying Viruses

So, lets see.  A little over a week ago, my old laptop somehow got hit with an annoying virus.  It shut down my firefox, and started loading some sort of spyware antivirus program.  Which I immediately figured was a fake program because it was asking for money.  I've never had any of my antivirus software ask me for money.
This horrible virus loaded in, and took over my internet and killed my avira.  I couldn't do anything.  As if my decrepit laptop wasn't destroyed enough with its busted hinges, hit or miss fans, slow processor, and laundry list of other issues, now I have this virus to contend with.  So my friend was kind enough to offer to help me reinstall XP on my craptop.  When we sat down to back up some files, the power kept shorting out.  This was new to me.  Turns out, the wires connecting to the power source had been exposed and started to fray.  Pinching the cord helped keep the power flowing, but the exposed wires were getting too hot to touch.  I tried using one of the clamps I use to prop up my screen, but I could smell burning plastic, and that's when we noticed that the wires were glowing.  Hooray for fire hazards.  :P  Apparently it was too much stress for it to travel. 
I decided that it was finally time to take old blue off life support and let her go.  Now she is sitting over in the corner in her old bag collecting dust.

Now, because it was finally over with I decided to replace her with a previously owned laptop.  She is pretty silver and white.  A billion times faster. A nice new wide screen compared to blues square screen.  Way more hard drive space.  Windows 7.  She's incredible.  I love her.

Everything was going so well.  I was on a cloud.  Until I got hit with the same horrible virus (with a new name).  For the last week now I have been struggling to get this thing under control.  I wasn't sure where it came from or how I got it.  After some research though, I have decided that it might be linked to DeviantArt.  I'm not blaming them... yet, because I don't understand the intricacies of horrible annoying viruses, and how they can just suddenly upload to my HD, disable my internet and antivirus, rendering me to an angry raging blob on my couch.  I still think the two are connected though.  I've also been reading claims that if I had a premium paid for account with DA that I wouldn't be susceptible to these virus invasions.  Which kind of makes me think, "Why would they say that?  Is it a ploy to get me to pay for their account?",  and then I put on my conspiracy theorist hat and think "Did DA have something to do with this virus?"  My mind goes on and on from there, but as I keep reading posts and blogs, it turns out I'm not alone on this thought path.

I've scanned and safe moded and recovered and restored and rebooted and cryed and screamed and swore and cursed.  None of it is working.  Tonight, I wipe and reinstall Win7, and start all over.  My plan of action after that, is I am going to be abandoning DA for a while.  It breaks my heart because I love checking my favorite artists updates, but it has to be done for now.  Maybe I'll be able to do back some day.

I hope this fresh start works.  I hope it hasn't affected my external HD.  *fingers crossed*

Kitty Charm

I recently finished a custom kitty charm.  I've had a couple inquiries about doing other animal charms, so I decided to give it a shot.

I wasn't sure how to approach a kitty charm at first.  If I were to try and sculpt the entire cat, it could lose detail if I tried to keep it the same size as my other charms.  I didn't want to make it too big, then it might look awkward or uncomfortable to wear.  So, I decided to go with a bust.
Cuddles is a dark black kitty with hints of dark brown in her fur.  Her eyes are a lime green and she has a big furry mane.

I wanted to show a little of the process of this charm.  Unfortunately, I cannot find my photos of the charm unpainted.  I will show you the photos of her painted and then after varnishing though.  :)

before varnishing

before varnishing

after varnish

after varnish

after varnish

after varnish

In the end, she turned out pretty well.  :)  If anyone is interested in ordering a custom kitty charm, just send me a message at bluedesertrose1@yahoo.com.  I haven't started officially offering them in the shop yet, but they will be the same cost as a custom guinea pig charm.
I should have a post coming up about the latest custom orders I've been working on.  Until then, :)

Comic Book Wedding

Two friends of mine tied the knot this month on the 12th.  They had a comic book themed wedding.  It was a lot of fun :)  Also, I was lucky enough to be a part in a small way.  They had asked me if I could make the necklaces for the bridesmaids.  I was thrilled!  So excited, and when they told me what they were looking for, I was even more excited.  I started thinking things out, and as time got closer to the wedding, the idea evolved even further.  They had been discussing the boutonnieres for the groomsmen, and it hit them that it would be cool to do the same thing for them as the bridesmaids, but as pins instead.  Plus, special pins for themselves.  Well, I was completely geeked.  Custom work is fun, but especially when someone has adventurous big ideas.  :D

After a few weeks of work they were finished and ready.  I was pretty pleased with how they all turned out.  :)  They looked just as I had pictured them finished, and when each pair walked down the aisle, a tear came to my eye.  I'm sure some would also say, "Lots of people cry at weddings...", but 1. I wasn't crying, my eyes just welled up a little ;)  (my mascara wasn't waterproof and I forgot tissues, no crying allowed. I refuse to have raccoon eyes) and 2. Yeah, I was happy to see my creations, and I was happy to see my friends get married.  :)  Lol, so both.  Go with me on this. 

I waited to post these pictures because they were a surprise for the wedding party.  :)  Here they are though now, in all their awesomeness.

Bride and Groom Pins

Best Man Pin and Maid of Honor Pendant

Groomsman Pin and Bridesmaid Pendant

Groomsman Pin and Bridesmaid Pendant

Groomsman Pin and Bridesmaid Pendant

Congratulations to my friends!

Things Around the Web

I've been thumbing thru my favorite blogs and newsletters and thought I would share with everybody a couple giveaways I found.  :)

First, over here at Lila Tueller Designs.  There is a nifty giveaway with a big stack of beautiful fabric for a grand prize and 2 smaller bundles of purty fabric to two lucky first place winners.

Lila Tueller Designs

 Second, over here at Lori Anderson Pretty Things.  There is also a very cool giveaway with a set of metal letter stamps.  Size 1/8th inch lowercase letters in a squiggly font.  Super nice.

Lori Anderson Pretty Things

 So, if you like to sew or if you like to work with metal, or both, you should definitely go check out these two giveaways.  :)