Distractions......

Have so much that I want to do today in the studio. I have several ideas rattling around in my head that I need to turn into beads & jewelry....before they get lost in there!

But........Ike has me distracted. I have lots of family & friends that could be in his path. The fact that the "professionals" have it narrowed down to the whole Texas coast doesn't help! I realize that it's difficult to predict where the storm will hit, but these massive evacuations that have become the way that they are handling storms aren't good in the long run. All the people who evacuate and nothing happens will make many pay less attention to the warning next time and not listen when they should. I think the storm will hit closer to Houston than what they're predicting at the moment.....but that's just my uneducated unofficial rock dweller view of it. If I was in Houston, I'd be hitting the roads today....but that's just me.

So......I'm a bit distracted..... but once I get in there, it'll be easier to focus on the beads.

Today is my favorite girl's birthday! It's going to be a cupcake kind of day at school!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YA'....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YA'!!! (that's part of a song that they sing down here that she likes) She has lots of fun jewelry coming her way! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PICKY!!!

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

BE BOLD, EAT BIRTHDAY CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Starfish........

It is Wednesday, the breeze is back, the sun is up and life is good in the islands!!!

Everyone on the Texas coast needs to keep an eye on Ike! That is a big storm!

The return of the breeze has cooled things down and heated up the creative energy in the studio. I can't wait to get in there this morning. I can't wait to fire up the torch. Have a couple of custom Halloween necklaces to make the beads for today and then maybe some more starfish.

Here's one of the things that I've done with some of the starfish beads that I made last week. I want to do a bracelet to match it with maybe a couple strands of seed beads and a big starfish, kind of a cuff look to it. I see it in my head...now to get it out!!!!

Made some black & white starfish that are just too cute! This necklace with black & white starfish on black seed beads or black stone chips.....cute, cute, cute!

These same starfish beads with Sterling Silver links & a few Swarovski Brand Crystals between them creates a completely different look! Love it too!

Trying to make a free form palm tree beads that are sturdy enough to stand up to wear but doesn't end up looking like a pile of poop. Haven't gotten that one worked out just yet...definitely still in the poop stage!


Wii update......What do you say to a man when he says "I could have a heart attack right now and still beat you"? Well, if I tell you, they'll tag me as NOT family friendly! I can tell you that mixed into the response was the phrase "prove it".

Have a great Wednesday everyone!!!!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Something New......

While the wii monkey wasn't controlling my life.....I did manage to start playing with a new design.

It's just an adjustable silver bangle with a big glass starfish on it. It looks nice layered with other bangles and some of the little pearl bracelets like I posted several weeks ago.

I'm also working on some custom work....when the monkey will let me! damn that wii monkey!


BE BOLD, FEED THE WII MONKEY, WEAR ART!!!

I Am Ashamed!!!!

Some of you are starting to email me to see why I haven't posted since the weekend...

I might as well come clean. I have an addiction. Yes, I admit it. I have a serious addiction and it is effecting my ability to blog.

Yes......I have the Wii monkey on my back! I admit it. I have been playing with my new Wii when I usually blog.

The Wii monkey is wicked! It lures you in and then won't let you go! You have to beat your last score....more importantly you have to beat the flippin' man in his underwear telling you that you read the green wrong! FYI, in the golf game, if you hit the ball into the water hazard or out of bounds for 10 times in a row, you get a nasty little box that says "10+ give up"!!!! Give up????? What does it mean give up???????

You do not tell a sweating, angry woman who has hit 10 virtual golf balls into a virtual water hazard to "give up" while a man in his underwear smirks! It just is not done!!!! If I was sure that the American Express replacement guarantee would replace the thing, I'd make it think "give up"!!!!!!!!

And if that wasn't bad enough........seriously...if that wasn't enough.....the stupid thing told me that I was 81 in wii years!!!!!! I took it's stupid fitness test without reading the instructions (I tend to not read directions) or going through the training and it told me I was 81 in wii years!!!!

So I haven't posted because I had to read the flippin' directions so that I could bring down my wii years!!!! And I did!!! But it still isn't very good!!!! Those stupid baseballs come at you FAST!!!

I'm not dead.......and neither is the Wii.......yet.

I'll do better on my posting....it's rough having a wii monkey on your back! I wonder if there is rehab for wii......or maybe it is an illness and I would qualify for disability??? hmmm....I should research that....but the wii monkey is calling me......so many things to do....so little time that the wii is off.....

Next I want the wii fit.....I want to do the yoga...bet I can wipe that smirk off his face if we are doing wii yoga! I'll make him think read the green......

BE BOLD, PLAY WII, WEAR ART!!!!

Surprise!!!!

Felt like a new look this morning!

Oh this is great!!! When I wake up and decide I have to have a change instead of looking for the scissors and hacking on my hair...yes, I am bad about cutting my own hair from time to time. Sometimes it works out OK....sometimes not so OK...... I can just click a button and poof!!!! A whole new look!!!! No waiting for it to grow out!!!!!!!

OK....bead news flash here.......I have a black cat bead that I'll photograph later and post.......he was the first black cat I attempted. You tell me what he looks like he is doing. LOL!!!

It's Friday!!!! Since I work at home, the day of the week doesn't matter much....but it's ingrained in me to love Friday because it's the end of the "normal" work week...."normal"....yeah, I'm not sure I should be allowed to use that word.

It's Friday,the sun is up and the blog has a new look, life is good in the Caribbean!!!

BE BOLD, EAT CHEAP YELLOW MUSTARD, WEAR ART!!!

Witch's Boot.......

Didn't get the witches boot finished yet. Think it will be a pendant.

Down below the last pic is of one of the clasp that I made. What could be better than a candy corn clasp???

Fun stuff!!! Keeps the mind off the hurricanes whizzing by! We've been lucky and hopefully our luck will hold out. There is no evacuating when you live on a rock in the ocean. Nope, no place to evacuate to. No way to get there if there was. You just toss all the patio furniture into the pool, tie down anything that you can't toss in, check your supplies, close the shutters and hope for he best.

The one thing that we do well when it comes to hurricanes is, that we cut off all the power before the storm hits. There are no fires caused by the downed power lines or exploding transformers. The mainland should cut the power! The fires that Gustov caused wouldn't have happened if the power had not been on. The hospitals, radio stations, emergency services all go on generators and we sit in the dark and wait, listening to our battery powered radios.

Really glad that we've missed that fun so far this year....really glad! Sorry that anyone else has to go through it, but very happy that we've dodged the bullet.

Duct tape, Off, Fix-A-Flat, bolt cutters, a come along (if you don't know what one is, you've never had to move a tree off anything!) and a chain saw.....my favorite things in my hurricane kit!

Boooooooo!

Jumbies In the Studio....

I don't know if it's the heat or the hurricanes blowing by....but the Jumbies have taken over the studio.

I haven't made a single bead that is like anything I usually make. It all started with someone asking me to make some little girlie dress bead charms and evolved. The little girlie dress beads led to cupcakes...arrows...crazy hearts.....candy corn....starfish & fishlips.

The Jumbies have taken over the studio!!! Jumbies are a Caribbean thing, short definition...spirits.

Think it's the Jumbies keeping all the storms north of us. So if they want to hang out in the studio and make me make crazy things, they can stay! Looks like they have kept Ike north of us and that is one wicked storm!!! Coastal people, keep an eye on that one!

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Boop-Boop & Friends.....

Holy fish lips!

I've been playing with fire today. I started out making a couple of little tiny cupcakes with sprinkles...moved on to some crazy arrows, then started making starfish and finally a hollow fish with big honkin' fish lips.

Raul the Wonder Cat.....

I want Raul's life!

Just hanging out in the flamboyant tree watching his humans scurry about.

Life is good if you are the king.....


BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Saturday in Paradise.......

I had just cranked up the oxygen concentrator and cracked open the valve on the propane bottle yesterday when the power went poof! 9:30am and no electricity.

All those words that spilled out of my mouth when the concentrator's alarm, with its irritatingly high pitched squeal, dragged my creative motivation right on out with them. I flipped the switch, bled the propane lines and trudge about the house flipping the battery backup switches to stop their squeals and went to check to see if maybe, just maybe the load of clothes in the washer had gotten to the end of the cycle.........yeah, right.

I phoned the emergency number for WAPA......a side note here, it is wrong, wrong, wrong, when you know the emergency number for your local electric company, just wrong I tell you!...... and of course no one answered. But I noticed as I made my way through the "press 1 for.." menu that there was something new....a press 6 for an important message from WAPA. I figure this can not be good, so I press 6 as instructed and my already drooping spirits crash & burn. There is a pre-recorded message giving a time of just 10 minutes earlier saying that the plant was experiencing problems and then a list of feeders that were off....I was of course on one of the 5 listed. But the scary part was that the message was timely! We don't do timely in the Caribbean! Timely is frightening! Timely made me wonder if we were on a planned outage. Planned outage was not good. Then I started trying to remember when I had seen the WAPA barge last. I usually see the barge go by early every morning....but I hadn't seen it on Friday...I hadn't seen it Saturday morning either. Unfortunately the oil refinery has put WAPA on cash in advance for barge loads....72hrs in advance.... so the barge not passing is not a good sign.

By 11:00 yesterday with the power still not on, I decided that it was time to go down to the beach bar and see if anyone knew what was going on beyond the canned info available and to pick up some ice....just in case.

The gas pizza oven was turning out pizzas and the beer was cold.....life was looking up. Sat there and had a couple of beers and some pizza. Even the showers that were blowing (and I do mean blowing, as in sideways...roof overhead doesn't help much) through, the fringes of Hanna didn't matter. There was a bar full of us just hanging out, waiting for WAPA to do whatever it was going to do. About 2:00pm the fan over the bar started to hum and turn slowly. The power was on!

Not trusting that all was well, I still picked up the ice. When I got home sure enough, things were back to normal. The washer had finished the load by the time I got there, so I threw them in the dryer. I phoned the emergency number to see if there was a new pre-recorded message saying that other feeders were out....because if they were, we were on power rotation! But no...the new pre-recorded message was that all feeders were back online. What is going on??? Efficiency is frightening!

But just about the time I started feeling really comfortable that all was well with the power gods...POP! And from about 3:30 until almost 7:00pm we were down again! The clothes did get dry before we lost power again! This time it was just something up here on the ridge, not the plant or the whole feeder....lucky us!

In all of this I have to say that we have the best line department in the world. Those guys show up to try to tie this piece of crap distribution system back together regardless of the weather, day or night. They are my heroes! I love the WAPA guys! Their equipment sucks, the system is a mess, the plant is antiquated but those guys work magic!

So here it is Sunday........the power is still on.....but I didn't see the barge this morning...so that's 3 days in a row. Either the barge is running on a different schedule or we might not have power for long. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on a new schedule!

Just another day in paradise!

My power issues are minor in the whole scheme of things....Gustav was just a little wave when he passed us, Hanna has been nothing but a few showers. My thoughts are with the people along the Louisiana coast. WAPA outages are an inconvenience, Gustav has the potential to be much, much more.

Good luck to everyone along the Gulf Coast and those inland!

Did You Ever Wonder????

Did you ever wonder where the woman that a dusting spray product traps in the glass box for 7 days, to show how well the product keeps dust from coming back for 7 days, goes to the bathroom????

You trap a supposedly unsuspecting woman in a glass box and hold her there for 7 days to show how your product keeps the dust from coming back.....I don't even wonder where all this new dust is supposed to come from if she is in a closed box....or how tightly is the box sealed....or how does anyone have so little to do that they could stay in a box for a week...or why isn't she pissed about this happening to her....I don't even get caught up thinking about the legal issues of imprisoning a person against their will......nope...it's the "Where does she go to the bathroom?" that I can't get past.

Come on....a major corporation expects us to accept that this woman is sitting in a glass box waiting for the dust to settle and we aren't supposed to notice that she doesn't have a bathroom?

Personally, I think the commercial would be much more effective as a carpet cleaner & paper towel ad. Seriously....after 7 days in a glass box dust settling on the coffee table would not be the big mess to clean up!

And what about the .org that has a TV ad that is telling people to slow down and enjoy life so you will have time to "stop and smell the flowers".......well, someone should have told them and the commercial maker that the zinnias that they show popping up through the cracks in that asphalt don't smell. I can see the symbolic use of the family eating at the table in the middle of the freeway.....but when they tell me to smell the zinnias they just lose me.


What can I say.........just chalk it up to hoisting the crazy flag a tad bit higher on this hot still Friday.

Have a great Friday!!!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Stare Into the 2nd Bead......

You are getting sleepy.........very sleepy.........

Obviously I am easily entertained when I'm in the throes of heat exhaustion.

BE BOLD, EAT FUDGE, WEAR ART!!!

Have A Beach Day Anytime You Want.....

Who says you can't have a beach day anytime you want?

Turn any day into a beach day. There's your sign!!!

OK....I admit it, I've been flying the crazy flag today. Wonder if I could blame it on being dehydrated????

But seriously......wouldn't wearing a beach sign make you smile?

How about seeing someone else wearing a beach sign???

BE BOLD, FLY YOUR CRAZY FLAG, WEAR ART!!!

You Could Water Ski Out There.....

The ocean is so still that you could water ski on it! Makes for a beautiful sunset, the water reflects the colors like a mirror...but it is still WICKED HOT!

Just couldn't face another day of torching in the heat, so I made jewelry. Finished some really cute little children's bracelets, but didn't get them photographed yet. They're adorable!

Wanted to do something really fun to take my mind off the heat, so I went bright with a dash of crazy!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Wicked Hot Wednesday!

Whoa baby it is hot! It's not even 8am yet and it's already just wicked hot!

The ocean looks like a sheet of glass. That is never a good sign! That means that it's still and still = HOT! When the tropical waves, depressions & hurricanes start blowing past us, the trade winds come to a screeching halt and that leaves us just sitting here on a dark rock baking in the Caribbean sun. Fans can't do much...they just blow the hot sticky still air around and at .41 per kw air conditioning is just out of the question.

Our electricity rates are beyond ridiculous....& it just went up again...grrr! I stopped in to grab a diet Coke on my way into town yesterday and there was a big WAPA (water & power authority) discussion was going on at the checkout counter. I've been here a long time and not much shocks me....but hearing that our big grocery stores' electric bills are now running over $100,000.00 PER MONTH!!!! Well, that shocked even me. Can you imagine a hundred thousand dollar light bill...every month? No wonder groceries are so friggin' high!

Doesn't matter how hot it is......I've got to light the torch today! Crap....... do you know how icky it feels to sweat so much that you stick to your chair? grrr..... And due to the potential for flying molten glass anytime you torch, torching naked is not a good idea. Plus just the thought of it is a bit creepy!

Speaking of creepy....I was watching CNN this morning and since some airlines are starting to provide Internet access in flight, there seems to be a lot of concern over what would you do if you are on a plane and the guy next to you was watching porn. They're all upset and wanting airlines to filter the Internet. Come on people! Filter the Internet because someone might be offended by what someone next to them is watching or because Little Johnny might see it. Filtering is just another word for censorship and censorship is a slippery slope! What is offensive to one person might not be offensive to another! I had much rather have to sit next to a perv trying to watch porn than to have what's available censored. Notice I said "perv trying to watch porn"....because I assure you that some perv unlucky enough to sit next to me, would not be able to watch porn. I promise you I could make him WANT to surf elsewhere! Come on people, we don't need more laws to protect us, we don't need someone to filter what is available to us, we need to stand up for our personal rights. You can be a perv......you just can't sit next to me or in front of me on an airplane and act like one. LOL!

See what it being over 85degrees does to me? LOL!

I better get moving.....the later it gets the hotter this rock will get! Think about me as you sit in your comfy A /C house today. Have a great Wednesday!


BE BOLD, EAT CHOCOLATE, WEAR ART!!!

Hermit Crab Airstream.....

I found the hermit crab in the fence post cap pic today.

There seems to always be something strange around here....

Good Morning!

Got to love the colors of a Caribbean sunrise!

Good Morning Everyone!!!!

Relatively Close........

Let's go!!! It's Monday!

It's going to be a great day!!!! We've got one more opportunity to make our little corner of the universe just a little better!

The term of the day is.......Relatively Close!

Perfection doesn't exist, so quit chasing it!!! It's making you nuts and all the people around you crazy!!!!

Make your life much less stressful and way more fun....strive for relatively close!

BE BOLD, ENJOY MONDAYS, WEAR ART!!!

Fun & Funky!!!!

How about a fun funky heart for that wild woman you know?

Pink, purple, pink zebra print, Swarovski Brand Crystals & pearls.....what a perfect contradiction!

Sorry that the pic isn't any better. This fun heart wasn't around long enough to photograph in the light tent. It was snapped up along with a 36 inch strand that matched the beading that you can see in the picture, so that it could be layered into a wild 4 strand necklace!

Imagine strands of the pinks, purple, pearls...with a scattering of pearls & crystals along with accents of Sterling Silver! It was awesome together!!!

Layer it on girls! Make a statement....without saying a word!

BE BOLD, LAYER IT UP, WEAR ART!!!

Or....How About A Sweetheart!!!

If you don't know a wild Texas woman....how about a sweetheart of a girl??

I just love the whimsical quality that can come from black & white!

Hearts...hearts....and more hearts!!!

Yellow Rose of Texas!!!!!!!!

I do lots and lots of hearts!!!!!

Fun hearts, special hearts, crazy hearts, custom hearts......

Even a Yellow Rose of Texas Heart for that wild Texas woman that you know!

Another Red Hot!!!

How about a little different version of the Red Hot?

Dr. S.....

If you love hearts......

I always feel like there are cats in a hats lurking in the studio when I open the kiln to take one of these out!

Red Hot.......

Everybody needs a little "Red Hot" in their life!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!!

That tag line is how I think life should be.

We should be bold...always ready to try new things, determine to never stop learning and growing.

We should enjoy life....no letting the "really shouldn'ts" keep us from eating cake, chocolate or drinking champagne or playing in the rain. (When was the last time you played in the rain??? Well that's too long!)

And for heaven's sake, wear art! Wear things that make you smile. Wear things that mean something to you. Forget the mass produced stuff that will be replaced by the next latest thing next week...wear what you love! Wear things that are made with love!

Life is just way too short to let the red hot slip away from you! The red hot isn't about being over the top, it's about being fun and only you can figure out what fun is to you....just don't let what others might think or say keep you from admitting what it really is to you!

And once you know what it is......weave it into everything that you do!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Home is where your..........

Home is where your 35mm film canister is!

Moved a flower pot out on the studio patio and found this. It's a hermit crab that has taken an old film canister as his home.

There are a lot of hermit crabs around. I found one in a cyclone fence post top piece, now this.

Looked out one day and saw one of my big white spindle shells that I was going to use on a mirror, moving across the patio. It was just walking away. I chased it down, but then decided to just let him have it. I could just see him showing off his big new home to all his hermit buddies.

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!!

30 Years of Wedding Bliss Update.......

I just wanted to update you on the 30th anniversary celebration of my friends.......here's picture proof of just how festive the occasion was.

That's it......that's the 30 years of marital bliss old birthday candle stuck on a chunk of drywall romantic bath candle. Yep......that's it. Proof......proof that a husband & a 7 year old teamed up are no better than either of them would be alone when it comes to romance.

30 years......... you know this romantic celebration of wedding bliss wouldn't fly for a 10th anniversary, probably not even a 20th, but by the 30th, oh crap, who cares...you didn't have to get dressed up for it!


BE BOLD, BUY YOUR OWN ANNIVERSARY GIFTS, WEAR ART!!!!

What wouldn't you give up????

Have you ever thought about what you really wouldn't want to give up in your life? Now I don't mean the important stuff like your family, friends, home, food, etc.

No, I mean the things that you just want in your life, they might not be "necessary" but they're necessary for you. Think about that one, you might be surprised at what you come up with. OK, you have to understand that when I'm making beads, I sit for hours staring at a glob of melting glass and a torch flame...there is a lot of time to think about important things....and a whole lot of useless crap!

Anyway, I've put a lot of thought into it and even though there are a lot of things that I enjoy having, I've condensed it down to 3 things that I'm just not giving up! I'll give up eating before I give up these 3 things. Put a little thought into it and see what your 3 things are...and then think about what they might say about you!

Want to know my 3?????

Well, I'm not giving up my cleaning lady, my diet Coke & my high-speed wireless connection. I'll pound the laundry on the pool edge (there's not river with rocks), I'll eat beans & rice until hell freezes over, I'll even give up beer & wine.... but I'm not giving up those 3!!!

So what does this little list say about me????? hmmmm........well maybe it says that I'm a crappy house keeper, addicted to caffeine, who blogs, sells jewelry & plays too much Texas Hold'um on line........who is NOT about to change! LOL!!!

BE BOLD, DRINK diet COKE, WEAR ART!!!

Finally Friday!

I'm working on some new designs....here's one of them....blues & browns on Sterling Silver in a fun new necklace.

This necklace is really light weight, but because of the size of the flat links on the SS chain, it has a bold look. It's hard to see some of the detail on it.

Sky Caramels is the name that was given to this color combination. Ever wonder how I come up with the names for all the jewelry???? Easy...I drink wine! Nothing makes jewelry naming easier than a nice bottle of Merlot! You can tell when I tried to name something without wine.....you end up with names like..."black & white"....... Wine definitely makes the names more creative! Great friends + good wine = fun jewelry names!


BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Random....the word of the day.....

Random....I "do" random well.

Next time you visit St Croix, make sure that you have dinner at Tutto Bene Restaurant! The food is wonderful, the wine list superb, the service great and I would kill for a piece of their tiramisus!!!!

But when you finish your incredible meal.....run to the ladies room and check out the cute little vanity table & chair...why you say???? Well didn't your mama tell you to wash your hands???? OK, actually it's because, I painted it and it is way fun!!

I mean there is no other way to describe pink zebra print...way fun! But it is not limited to pink zebra....nooooo......it has pink legs with purple roses, stripes, dots, swirls & cute little curly wire do-dads across the top of the mirror. I'm telling you....just way fun!

BE BOLD, EAT TIRAMISUS, WEAR ART!!!

Mirror, Mirror..........

On the wall.......or against the wall....

OMG....deliver me from a mirror with neat straight lines of little shells lined up around the edge!!! They are cheap and cheesy looking and do not speak of them in the same breath as shell mirrors like these!!!

My mirrors are big and bold and random...I love random! Random like the piles of shells that you find when you walk the beach. There are no straight lines of shells on the beach and there shouldn't be any on the mirror in your home!

BE BOLD, WALK ON THE BEACH, WEAR ART!!!

THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know what the best thing about this blog has been??????????

I have heard from so many people that I had lost contact with, hadn't heard from in awhile, cool new people......

It's just been great!

Thanks to all of you, you make it so fun to do this!!!

The Boys Are Gone.........

The boys are gone! This is what the necklace looked like without the seed beads. (see the boys with the seed beads on Monday of this week below) I wore it when I went to see one of my favorite people Monday afternoon and she bought the boys.

I will miss them!!!! But now I just have to make some more. I love those guys! I use to throw them on with a black tank top & pants and I was pretty well dressed for almost any event here on the island.

That's one of the wonderful things about living here. You can go to something and people will be dressed in everything from shorts to a sparklie evening dress. Dressing up in the islands can mean a wide range of things, there is some serious room for interpretation and self expression.

I guess you could say that there are few clothing rules in the islands. The only one I can think of off hand is NO Swimsuits in town! It's actually kind of funny when you think about it, but people are really irritated by people who wear swimsuits shopping. I know, I know, people coming off cruise ships and tourist connect swimsuits and the islands and don't have any way of knowing that wearing them in town isn't just an accepted part of life. Know what else no one that lives here does??? Wear sun hats. We almost never wear sun hats. You can always pick out the tourist ....they have one the sun hat. LOL! Little did you know you were waving a "visitor flag" when you wore a sun hat in the hot sun down here, did you ?


BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Hot.....Is Hot!!

Know why trips to the Caribbean are cheaper in August & September????

Because it is HOT!!! It's HOT & dodging hurricanes is a sport this time of year! It's sticky, it's hot, it's still.......and the mosquitoes are vicious........wicked stealth mosquitoes, you never hear a buzz, you realize that they are there when you start getting weak from the blood loss!

But.....as hot as it is, it is nothing compared to how HOT it is in Arizona this time of year! I spent a summer working in Tuscon a few years back and OMG!!! People always say, "Oh but it's a dry heat." Oh, I am sorry people but 120 degrees, is just pure hot! I don't care if it's dry or not! It's like standing behind a bus everywhere you go. You can feel your lungs crackling as the air dries them as you breath...or try to breath! There is just something wrong with a place where it can be over 100 degrees at 10 o'clock at night! And do you know what that dry air does to your skin???? If I say creepy apple head dolls, do you get a mental image??? There you go, that's what your face starts to look like....doesn't matter how old you are! 5 year olds look like little tiny 60 year olds!

I am sorry but, I'm convinced that people don't retire to Arizona, they are actually dead and are in hell and just don't know it!

I am not an Arizona in the summer fan! I don't like being misted when I sit at a restaurant, I don't like hearing my hand sizzle when I touch a car door and I don't like feeling my skin wrinkle! Really, I'm not much of a fan of any place where something bites you, burns you or sticks you any time you get out of your car. It's just wrong! Let me tell you those were some tough and/or crazy original settlers that whipped the covered wagons over to the side of the trail and said, "well this looks like a great place for a town!"

I guess this means I'll just keep sitting here baking on this rock in the middle of the ocean, dodging hurricanes, fighting killer stealth mosquitoes and having nice plump wrinkles.


Glad to see that it looks like FL has dodged the hurricane bullet this time...but keep your guard up, the season has a long way to go!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

BE BOLD, EAT CHOCOLATE, WEAR ART!!!

30 YEARS!!!!

I opened an email from a friend this morning and realized that yesterday was her anniversary. 30 years!!!! That is amazing!!! Add up all my marriages and you still can't come up with 30 years!!!

She had me just about wetting my pj's laughing! She got drywall for her anniversary.....and was happy about it!!! That just goes to show you what 30 years will do to you!

Her husband was getting advice from their little 7 year old granddaughter on how to make it a romantic anniversary! She's been working her butt off drywalling and laying tile in a bathroom so.......they cleaned out the tub, filled it up, found an old birthday candle, stuck it to a chunk of drywall and wa-la, romantic anniversary bath!!! Is that not cool!?!

Congrats you two Nutts!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

And if that isn't whimsical enough.......

Whimsical overload is only a necklace away!

This is a necklace in my personal collection. It's big and wild and more fun to wear than flip-flops!

You could go naked and wear this necklace and not a soul would notice. All they would see is the necklace!

It's one of those wild pieces that people either love or hate. There is no room for indecision when it comes to this one.

Sometimes I wear it withoug the 3 strands of colorful seed beads....it's still a wild necklace!

Life is too short to not have a few pieces of jewelry that are fun to wear!

BE BOLD, DANCE IN THE RAIN, WEAR ART!!!

Wrist Whimsy........

Don't forget a little whimsy for the wrist too.

This is just one of my favorite bracelets. It is just plain ole' fun to wear! It's bold and it rattles and it just makes me smile when I wear it.

Whimsy up your life!

BE BOLD, EAT ICE CREAM, WEAR ART!!!

Whimsy....

Everybody needs a little whimsy in their life.

Add a little to your life with this whimsical black & white heart that hangs from three strands of tiny black seed beads for a fun take on black & white.

The handmade glass heart was of course made right here in the studio. And as always, that is Sterling Silver that it is accented with.

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Bubbles, Bobbles & Things That Swim....

This is where the necklace to match the bracelet that I posted a while back is right now. Not completely sure it's finished...but it's close.

Since Friday, I've been ripping the studio apart, cleaning and putting it all back together. I now have a nice clean almost organized place to work. Almost. Still have to sort out a few things...but it is getting there.

Next it's on to the patio and garden outside the studio. When I finish there will be a crushed stone walk around to the studio. I'm going to have to work on the garden in the late afternoons, it's wicked hot until the sun goes down........wicked hot, I tell you!!!

The breeze is finally getting back to normal, the storm that blew through last last week wrecked the breeze and without breeze...we are sitting on a rock in the sun....baking.

My thoughts are with people in the path of Fay. I hope that people in Florida keep a close eye on it and take it seriously, it has time to strengthen by the time it gets there. None of that Hurricane Party crap, get your supplies, watch the wind speed and be ready to board up. Have a Hurricane Party once it's all past. Be sober and ready to react until then.....direct hits/big storms...not fun!

But a clean studio.......now that's fun!!!!! Getting it clean, not so much...

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Palm Me Baby........

For the island lover.......palm & a swirl of a sun.

Hearts.........

Don't you just love hearts????

More new hearts on the website. Big ones, little ones...just hearts, hearts & more hearts. Several of the new bracelets have hearts in them too.

What can I say.....I just love heart!

Headless No More!!!

The headless wonder is headless no more!!!

I found a styro-head for her this morning while I was out! I must say....she does have a cold, tight lipped look about her but she is scheduled for some plastic/paper/duct tape surgery later this week. And she certainly has to get a little color....talk about pale and pasty! We need the sunshades....this girl will make you go snow blind in the bright Caribbean sun!

She has to have some work done on her right hand too, it's a little chunky and strange looking...but I have a spare that I made one day with I was bored...so all I have to do is attach it.

What's really sad is that her toes look better than mine did this morning in the PO....now that's just wrong. I have taken care of that little issue....one thing I could do while the power was out!

Now I just need to name her........I've called her the headless wonder but now she must have a name. Hopefully once her cold, pale, thin lip face is "fleshed out" and tanned with a few coats of paint, maybe she will name herself.

I've got to figure out what to do about the hair...or lack of it. My daughter says that a wig would give her too creepy a look and I think she's right. Maybe a mop....or yarn....or ideas people...need ideas....the woman needs hair! She can't pull off the 50's scarf look for long. Besides, it will get in the way of her jewelry. After all that's what she is for, to model jewelry...lucky woman!

She isn't nearly as creepy looking sitting in that hot pink chair since she has clothes and a head...even if she does still need some serious work. The other day I realized how weird it would seem to a stranger to find the headless wonder sitting there if they didn't know what she was for.....I mean, it would seem like a really creepy thing to keep in your living room!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Custom piece that went out today....

This is a custom piece that went out today. The picture doesn't do it justice, this is an awesome wrist full of colorful Caribbean hearts.

Remember you can buy one heart or a wrist full.......

BE BOLD, DANCE IN THE RAIN, WEAR ART!!!

Another Fun Thing.........

Another new fun thing is the turquoise. Here's one necklace, I also have a multi-strand small stone turquoise with Sterling Silver accents that can be layered over this one for a big bold look, for not a lot.

This strand is just big chunks of turquoise with Sterling Silver ball accents and a Sterling Silver clasp.

I just love this necklace, you can throw it on with a tee or wear it with a little black dress....and it's just plain fun to wear.

Click above the picture and it will take you to the website.

If you have any questions about any of my jewelry or don't find exactly what you want, email me. I love to do custom work!

BE BOLD, EAT CHOCOLATE, WEAR ART!!!

Fun Things....

Well I was without power for about an hour, not a rotation, just a plain ole' power outage. Now the thunder is rattling the windows, looks like the tropical wave is just about on top of us. Hope the surge protectors and battery back-ups fade the heat on any strikes or surges....

I've posted some new things on the website. Fun things that won't break the bank. This is a Caribbean Snow Ball! You can find it on page 6 of my website. Really a fun take on wearing pearls! It's a cute little ball of freshwater pearls on a Sterling Silver chain. Really delicate and fresh looking. We can all thank one of my wonderful nieces for this necklace. She was the one with the idea. I probably should have called it a Niki Snowball or at least Niki's Caribbean Snowball! In fact I think I will rename it.

Thanks Niki!

Click above the picture above and it will take you right to it on the website.

BE BOLD, EAT CHOCOLATE, WEAR ART!!!

Just Another Day In *&@#$*! Paradise.........

When I opened the toaster this morning and my toast was on fire, I wondered if it was a sign that the day was going to be a bit odd, but I had no idea how odd....and the day is not over.

After putting out the toast, knocking off the smoking part, slathering it with jam to kill the burnt taste, I set about getting my day underway.


I had to run into town this morning to get some jewelry in the mail and when I got there it was raining like crazy. The drainage isn't the best in the area where I had to go, so the water was standing in the streets, nasty washed all the gunk off the street, standing water. So I trudged through and into the PO. While standing there getting my packages on their way, a man walked in, walked up beside me, stuck a business card out toward me as he stared down at my feet and asked "Who does your pedicures?" I looked at him, took the card, glanced at my wet, dirty, feet, smiled and said "Obviously no one."

So needless to say, I will make time sometime today to do something about that wickedly ugly chipped polish...and the first thing I did when I got home was wash the crud off that I picked up crossing the street in the rain. Good grief! And you would think that that was enough for one day before noon......but nooooooooo.

The big news around the island is that WAPA (stands for Water & Power Authority), where we get electricity, our only option, no other providers.....can't pay their bills to the refinery and has been up on cash up-front 48 hrs in advance for barge loads of fuel oil. (Don't even get me started about barging fuel oil, that's a whole other issue and would take up way too much bandwidth.) So because they are having trouble paying for the fuel oil, one of the options being considered is to put us on rotating power.

Don't know what rotating power is do you???? Of course not, it wouldn't be an option in the real world. You would all riot in the streets in the real world if the electric company told you that they were going to turn your power off for 5 hours at a time to conserve fuel oil! That's right, they are considering, as a last resort mind you, but still considering, putting us on power rotation!!!!

Just when you think you've heard it all!!! We're paying almost 5 times, that's FIVE TIMES, what electricity costs in the states per kw, now we might be out of that outrageously expensive stuff for 5 hours at a time. (quick multiply your last electric bill by 5 and see if you would be a happy camper!) Do you know what that will do to my business??? Do you know that I couldn't even have washed my feet when I got home this morning if we were already on rotation! We all have water pumps, there is very little public water!!! So when you're out of power, you a pretty much shitoutofluck!!

And news flash...the 5 hours off usually ends up being longer... So think about what that does to businesses! And if they rotate us off at night, then that means that you are in the flippin' dark! No inside lights, no outside lights, no water, no fan....NO FAN!!! are you hearing that one...NO fan!!! Do you know what mosquitoes do when there is no fan to keep them blown back??? They attack! Plus, if you don't drag out the hurricane phone (the corded one that doesn't use electricity) you have no way to call for help when things go bump in the dark.

OK...I'm climbing down off my soapbox.......it hasn't happened yet....I have power, I have high speed Internet, I have my oxygen generator, I have my computer....I can work....so I better get busy, because it looks like it can all go bush at any minute!

Have a great day everyone.......because remember it could be worse....you could have a guy staring at your gunky polish chipped toes asking, who does your pedicures, you could be waiting for a storm to blow through and you could be trying to figure out how to get things set up so that you can keep working when WAPA turns off the power. Just another day in flippin' paradise!!!

But......it still beats the real world! (and yes, this attitude could be a sign of some sort of mental illness)

BE BOLD, CHANGE YOUR CHIPPED POLISH, WEAR ART!!!

Weather People.....grrrrrr.....

Well there is a gleeful tone to the weather people's voices this morning....the hurricane season is heating up. They can't hide their excitement that the cluster of storms just to the west of us might be turning into something for them to talk about....oh boy, oh boy!!!

All I have to say to them is.......drag your families and all your worldly possessions down here and sit on a rock in the middle of the ocean with us and see if you are still so filled with glee that something might be forming that could wipe it all out. Grrrr......

Come on weather people, I know that your jobs depend on bad weather, but at least don't sound so happy about it!

I Do Acutally Work Some........

See what I mean about the view influencing my work.... I can't help it, the ocean made me do it.

This is a new line that I'm working on that includes bracelets & necklaces with lots of dangles and beads (all handmade by me) and pearls, and Sterling Silver charms, (all ocean creatures of course) and a few Swarovski Brand Crystals thrown in for sparkle.

I love sparkle....give me a beer and a box of crystals and I'll be right there when come back for me....unless I run out of beer.

But I must admit I love bubbles even more than crystals, they are one of my favorite things....way better than crystals. Notice that the beads on this bracelet look like bubbles...well that's because they are. They are hollow beads. That makes them much lighter for their size and it gives the glass much more sparkle...and I told you, I love me some sparkle. Bubbles & sparkles, what could be better???? OK, beer, bubbles & sparkles might be a tiny bit better, but you can't put beer on a bracelet....so you will just have to wear the bracelet and drink the beer. Can you imagine how entertaining it would be to rattle the bracelet as you drank the beer???? Whoa......now that's entertainment...throw in a bubble machine and baby you got yourself a party!

Back to the bubbles.... I have this great bubble machine that I just love to drive the dog crazy with. She chases them until her tongue hangs out! I turn that baby on and just fill the air. The dog runs around on those short little legs of hers trying to catch bubbles. Picture miniature wirehair dachshund, aka, the fuzzy weenie dog, tongue dragging on the ground snapping at bubbles.

I always wonder what the neighbors think when just out of the blue bubbles start drifting by. And I get some serious distance on some of those bubbles. The wind will pick them up and away they go....yes, I do get the binoculars and watch them sometimes...I am easily entertained...back to the box of crystals mentioned above.

Check out the beach bracelet on my website www.hopegibson.com . Pictures of the necklace will be up soon.

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!

Just Another Day In the Sunshine.....

Inspiration....it's talked about a lot by artist.

What is it, where do you find it, what does it do? Ask those questions and you will get a lot of opinions but what inspires one person does not necessarily inspire another. So we each have to find our own.

My inspiration is the Caribbean, the sights, sounds, smells...they all swirl together to inspire me to get off my butt and do something! Make something! Create!

This is the view from the front porch. This is what I wake up to every morning. Inspiration? You bet! Go to my website and look around, you'll see the colors that I wake up to.

The really cool thing about living in the Caribbean is that many of us work to live, we don't live to work. It's a very different mindset from the real world and let me tell you it grows on you!

I put in about 6 hours this morning and then decided that it might be a good idea to just take a pizza break. I headed up to Off The Wall for a little brick oven pizza and a couple of beers. Hey, I'm celebrating making it to hump-day one more time.

The beach was beautiful, the water calming, or maybe it was the beer, but anyway, it was a wonderful lunch and just another way to find a little more inspiration. I'm kicking around a few new ideas for some new projects and I think better when I'm hanging out at the beach. There is something about it that makes my mind run wild. New ideas and new ways of thinking about things just seem to dance through my head when I'm at the beach.....or like I said, maybe it's the beer. Either way, I love to kick back and let the new ideas flow.

You never know what I might try next.....LOL! Life is a lot of things around here, but boring is not on the list!

Update on the headless wonder.....she is still headless. Still no styro heads on-island! Good lord where is the WalMart when you need one??? I refuse to wrap my head in plastic wrap and tape and wait for someone to cut me out of it so that I can form a head without one! I don't have anyone that I would trust to cut me out! All these buttheads would let me completely freak out before clipping me out of it and I know it!

BE BOLD, EAT CAKE, WEAR ART!!!!

Dreams Do Come True.....

This is a custom piece for a friend. She saw a necklace in a dream and emailed me to make it. This is what I ended up with.

It was a lot of fun to do. I took the description that she gave me, she used the term "flatish beads", I just love that.....flatish beads....and just sat down at the torch and did whatever came to mind. I had no idea if I was on track or not, I just melted glass and combined the colors that attracted my attention as I worked. She wanted bright colors on black with a big heart dangling down.

When I finished it and emailed her a picture, she swears that it IS the necklace in her dream!

The flower on the heart is one of the hibiscus that I've been making...along with colorful dots, squiggles and a bright yellow swirl that represents the sun.

I love doing custom work! Especially for wonderful friends.

Getting to do a piece like this reminds me just how lucky I am to get to do something that is so much flippin' fun........every single day!!! Sure beats the hell out of a real job!

Sunny Sunday!!!

Whoo-hoo the sun is back!

I guess the volcano ash is somewhere over Puerto Rico about now, 'cause it is clear again here! Bright blue Caribbean sky, puffy white clouds....this is why I live here!!!

Sunny Caribbean???

I think I've been set adrift. The island can't be in the Sunny Caribbean! I can't even see the ocean from the porch today and I can usually see St Thomas 40 miles away! It's wicked hazy out there!

The volcano spews, the rains wash it out of the sky and then the volcano burps again! This flippin' ash is drying the tears right out of my eyes! Time to do another rain dance.

I can't see the beach today, unless you count looking at it in a Beach Heart. I love these! They're a major pain in the butt to make, but they are so cool!

The glass heart is hollow. It is filled with beach sand, tiny shells, bits of branch coral and the sealed and accented with Sterling Silver.

Never be without your very own little piece of the beach.

BE BOLD, EAT CHOCOLATE, WEAR ART!!!

Fun little stuff....

Sterling Silver & coral, turquoise & pearls.

Blowing in the wind....

Just another day in paradise. There is a nice breeze blowing and it is loaded with volcano ash!

There was a partial collapse of the dome on the west side of the Soufriere Volcano last night and the ash has gotten here! Everything inside and out is covered with a thin coating of gray ash. It's grainy and makes nasty gray mud when you try to mop it up. With the wind blowing it's just a losing battle. Might as well forget it until the breeze dies down.

Know what volcano ash does to silver??? All the jewelry, findings, wire...anything silver will tarnish like crazy! Grrrr!

But I won't complain too loudly, at least the ash is all that we have to deal with. Life changed forever when the volcano came to life in 1995 for the people that lived on Montserrate. Here's a link so you can see what's going on http://www.mvo.ms/

Maybe I'll just open all the doors and let the breeze blow straight through the house, maybe it'll blow the ash right on out. LOL!

Think I'll get out there and start a rain dance. Until it rains the wind will just keep blowing the ash around and into the house.

If it stands still.....

If it stands still around here it could get painted on.

From old beach chair to Wild Beach Chair! (And not a single hot pink zebra lost it's life in the making of this piece.)

Christmas N July

Yesterday it was Christmas in the Caribbean!

Well at least it was Christmas up on North Shore of St Croix. Off the Wall, the world's best beach bar, had the Christmas music going and the place was full of artist, vendors & shoppers. Where else can you get a bottle of Coquito, an original painting, a crazy sign, a beautiful piece of jewelry and a pizza all at the same place? Nowhere but North Shore!

The most popular sign for the day was "Act Old Later". It does really sum up how people think on STX and North Shore in particular. If you don't know a lot about North Shore, you should check it out. It's a laid back area that seems to attract artist, musicians and self-proclaimed crazies.

If you are a tourist that has to be entertained every minute, one of those people that love planned tours and contrived shows and need to be given a schedule of what you will do next, when and where you must eat......well you're out of luck on STX. But if your a traveler and love to see what life is really like in a place that you visit, you enjoy talking to the locals and just kicking back and enjoying the atmosphere, then STX is the perfect destination for you. This is not to say that there are lots of things to do and see here, you just get to do them on your own time and how you want to do them. You can grab a chair at the bar and slip right into life in the left lane. Chatting with the locals is how you find all the great out of the way places, the must do stuff that you would miss if you were just doing the things that are advertised.

Off the Wall is one of the best places to do just that. Grab a chair, order a cool drink and strike up a conversation with some of the crazies that hang out there. Hot pizza, cold beer, crazy people.....Life Is Good!

Catching a few rays.....

Well, I hauled her out to the pool so that she could catch a few rays, she's definitely looking a little pale and pasty! And we won't even talk about that lumpiness going on in those legs.

As you can see, she is still headless. Seems that the only place that carries the styro heads here on the island, is out of them. If I had known how funny the ladies in the shop were going to think the little project was, I'd have unstuck her butt from that chair and taken her with me. Everybody in the place was laughing by the time I finished explaining what I needed and why.

Oh well, maybe the heads will come in next week, I can take her with me then.

Hibiscus Heart