Making Bracelets

I have ventured off into the world of jewelry...About a year ago, I purchased a bracelet made from old jewelry parts. A short time later, I received a gift from Anthropologies of a bracelet made similar but different. Each with their own creative style, inspired me to make a couple myself.

I looked for old bracelets for the base, but these were hard to find and costly. I googled the internet until I found plain metal wrist bands that were made for crafting. I took one of these bands and wrapped them with a wide ribbon. Making sure to cover the end pieces. You can see where I folded the ribbon around the end to cover the metal. Completed ribbon wrapping....I found that you could use E6000 or hot glue, either working well. Started with a doilie as the base of the design.When I started assembling different pieces of jewelry, I changed out the doilie for another color. It was fun adding the found pieces of jewelry, buttons, etc. Making your own design. Here is my first completed bracelet…

Just around the corner (September 15-17th to be exact) The Creative Connection Event is taking place in St. Paul, MN.

This is the conference to attend if you are a creative/DIY/crafty blogger. This is the conference that  I would love to attend. If I had not already enrolled in Art & Soul, in Portland, Oregon in September…you would find me going to this. Several people that I have met at art events that have attended rave about the event. Great classes, lectures, vendors, shopping, and meeting old and new friends.

There is a BIG giveaway going on right now for The Creative Connection. Right now on their blog, they are giving away 2 tickets along with hotel to one lucky winner. So if you won, you could bring a friend! Pretty Awesome!

So head on over to The Creative Connection blog and enter to win, You could take me if you won!

I highly encourage you to check out The Creative Connection website. 

Extreme Heat May Force A Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park To Close - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

Extreme Heat May Force A Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park To Close - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

Fox Hollow Studio

This is my 1st time to participate in Where Bloggers Create. Our wonderful hostess, Karen will be presenting all of the blogs participating on her site. I thought this would be a good incentive to clean my studio...it much needed some reorganizing and cleaning.

I must tell you, that after looking at many of the blogs from last years event...mine was a very small space. My studio began as a home office for my real estate business. Then in 2003, I read my first Somerset Press magazine that inspired me to began my own creating adventure. From there I started card making, scrapbooking, mixed media & recently making jewelry with vintage pieces. Below is my computer area with my shelves built by my talented husband. These shelves mainly hold special pieces of art, photos, scrapbooks of creative ideas I love, and workspace.

Below this photo shows a close up of a piece of art that I made, a hand blown lamp bought on vacation, and Mickey Mouse that was in the box with my Mickey Mouse watch that I received when I was a small girl.

This is the space where most of my work is done, my supplies are within arms reach regardless if I am painting, stamping, sewing, jewelry making and whatever else I may have going on! I recently purchased the hanging lamp from a trip to Key West. I found it in a decorator shop. My husband rewired it with a long hanging cord, and I extended over the desk with a plant hanger. 

I

 Did you notice the closet door in the background. I made the curtain out of linen and trim the bottom with cotton cording trim and the top with rosette trim. I made these entirely without sewing a stitch. Hems and added trim was done with Jodee's Sealah tape. I was amazed at how well this stuff works and holds tight. 

My husband said I organize to reorganize...in another word, I am constantly reorganizing my supplies. I finally found a storage units that work well for all my crafting project. I love the paper organizer, the drawers with dividers , and open spots that allow a basket that holds a project. This also walls my television and other art that I enjoy. I love my little wall lamp that has made many changes from the original shade, it was zebra and recently I did it in burlap and trimmed it with fabric flowers and vintage buttons. I really love how it looks. I love the arrangemnt of old doilies found at flea markets, that are spread across the top of this unit. The vintage jewelry box houses some of my favorite vintage jewelry for projects. I have an old bubble gum rack that I store paints, stamp pads and other supplies.

Below is my favorite of all my storage, it is a vintage parts file. I love all the little compartments to store items for my mixed media projects.

And then last, but not least my office companion, my Burmese cat.

Preparations are Happening in the Studio

I've been making prepartion for the upcoming "Where Bloggers Create" event this coming Friday. You can go to My Desert Cottage, Karen Valentine's Blog (Our Hostess) and check out all the participating blogs on her site. Karen is a blog designer, artist, and beautiful person inside & out. I'm lucky to have had her design my blog. Signing up for this event  has kicked me in the behind to finish some things here in my studio. Stop by on Friday for my reveal!

2011 Bloggers Create Coming this Friday

My Desert CottageI'm excited to be a part of the Where Bloggers Create Blog Party coming this Friday, July 15th. I was fortunate enough to find the talented, Karen Valentine, the creator of this event to design my blog for me.  On the 15th you will be able to go to all of the blogs participating to see their studio spaces. This has encouraged me to get to do some much needed cleaning and completion of unfinished projects around my space. Don't forget to stop by to see my space and some of the changes I have made. And be sure to go by Karen's blog to see some of her artistic talent in design and her home. 

Happy 4th of July

Hope you and your family have a Happy 4th of July. Here is a glimpse of my Pinterest 4th of July Board.

6 Health Myths—Busted!

I love sharing articles that I read that wish I had known years ago, but I share with my younger friends. However, I am always glad to learn new things.  It turns out many "remedies" and "hazards" are more pseudo than science. Two doctors separate fiction from fact
You know how vitamin C protects against colds? Actually, it doesn't. Warm milk contains no magic sleep aid. And hydrogen peroxide will do your skinned knee more harm than good. In their new book, Don't Cross Your Eyes...They'll Get Stuck That Way, Aaron Carroll, MD, and Rachel Vreeman, MD, both of the Indiana University School of Medicine, use hard science to disprove wives' tales that have been passed down through generations. The findings may surprise you—and save you money on cold cures (none of them work). Read on for six remedies that aren't, and the doctors' tips on what you should try instead. 

"Sitting Too Close to the Screen Will Ruin Your Eyes"

When TVs first became popular in the 1950s, they emitted 100,000 times more radiation than they do today, so parents may have been smart to keep their kids away from the tube back then. But sitting too close to a modern set or computer screen won't do any permanent damage to your eyes. The fuzzy vision and headaches that follow a long day at the office (or an I Love Lucymarathon) are symptoms of eyestrain—a temporary condition no different from the soreness you feel after a workout. Relieve the aching with light massage around your eyes. 

"Vitamin C Prevents Colds"
It's true that if you don't have enough C, you'll get sick—but with scurvy, not a runny nose. Carroll and Vreeman hypothesize that this bug-fighting theory began when we discovered the vitamin's link to that infamous sailors' affliction, in 1932; if C could prevent one illness, the logic likely went, perhaps it could prevent others, too. But dozens of studies have found no difference in the number or duration of colds suffered by people who take C and those who don't. What is the best way to stay cold-free? "Nothing beats hand washing," Carroll says. 

"Jet Hand Dryers are More Sanitary Than Paper Towels"

Dryer or paper towel? It's a confounding daily dilemma. Molecular biologist Keith Redway, of the University of Westminster, has done a series of experiments to put an end to the debate. He found that jet dryers actually increase the amount of bacteria on users' hands because the air inside the machines is far from sterile. The driers make the restroom dirtier, too, spewing germs more than six feet. Redway named paper towels the winner. 

"A Glass of Warm Milk will Help You Snooze"

Even thousands of years ago, the Talmud associated drinking milk with sleep. Today there's no scientific evidence that it has the slightest impact on drowsiness. Milk does contain the nap-inducing amino acid tryptophan, but only in trace amounts. Eggs and cheese have more, but even an egg and cheese sandwich won't knock you out. (You'd probably have to eat seven of them, the authors speculate.) However, if a hot-milk nightcap seems to help you catch z's, drink up. A little placebo effect never hurt anyone. 

"Hydrogen Peroxide is Good For Cleaning Wounds"
You know the fizzing that happens when the liquid touches your wound? It's the sound of the chemical attacking germs, yes, and also your own cells. A study in The Journal of Trauma found that H₂O₂ inhibits fibroblasts—a type of cell involved in tissue formation—thereby slowing the healing process. The authors recommend washing your cuts gently with soap and water, then dabbing on a topical antibiotic. 

"If Your Mucus Turns Green, Your Infection is Bacterial—and You Need Antibiotics"

Congratulations, nose-blowing sleuths! This adage is partially true: When you have an infection, your body sends white blood cells called neutrophils to fight the germs, and when an enzyme in the neutrophils mixes with the healthy cells in your nose, your mucus changes color. The falsehood is that you need antibiotics. The infection in your body is not necessarily bacterial; it could be viral—in which case, no amount of antibiotics will help


By Ramona Emerson
O, The Oprah Magazine  |  From the July 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

Silhouette review and GIVEAWAY!

Go over to Funky Junk Interiors...one of my most favorite blogs! Silhouette review and GIVEAWAY!

This is the last day to win! Go enter now!

The Dirty Dozen

I found this extremely interesting, since the past few months we have been focusing on eating healthier and more vegetables The Environmental Working Group has updated their “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists with recommendations on the fruits and veggies that contain the highest and lowest levels of pesticide residue.

If you can only afford to buy some things organic, you’ll want to prioritize the items on the Dirty Dozen list. I don’t know about you, but I’m really bummed that apples is on there since that’s one of our most common produce purchases!

Here are the 2011 lists:

The Dirty Dozen

1. apples
2. celery
3. strawberries
4. peaches
5. spinach
6. nectarines
7. grapes
8. bell peppers
9. potatoes
10. blueberries
11. lettuce
12. kale

The Clean Fifteen

1. onions
2. sweet corn
3. pineapples
4. avocado
5. asparagus
6. sweet peas
7. mangoes
8. eggplant
9. cantaloupe
10. kiwi
11. cabbage
12. watermelon
13. sweet potatoes
14. grapefruit
15. mushrooms