Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

Well, school was cancelled today so I decided to get some work done. Since my table was finished, I spent the morning working on a special order for Valentine’s Day. Once that was done, I treated myself to a new design.

I rarely wear post earrings, preferring dangles. However, bundling up in the winter with turtleneck sweaters and scarves means my long earrings frequently get tangled in the sweater or scarf and pull out threads. I’ve been toying with the idea to make myself a pair of post earrings and this is what I made today:

As you can see, they are really small! I deliberately made them funky and not exactly alike. I figure if we’re going to have all this crummy weather, I should have some fun, happy earrings to make me feel better. Now I guess I’d better get back to doing some real work!

1 Comment | In: Uncategorized | | #

Weather-wise, Saturday was a lovely day. It was around 55 degrees, sunny and calm. Valerie and I went flea marketing then ended the day with a great meal, cooked by Kevin, and a terrific movie (Smokin’ Aces). Sunday was a bit of a shocker as we woke to what looked like another sunny, warm day. The wind was blowing but it didn’t seem cold. That is, until we ventured outside. Brrr! It was 25 degrees and very chilly. It seemed like typical temperatures for February, but I was enjoying the mid-50s we were having. Fast forward to this morning where I’ll take yesterday’s weather over today’s. It’s sleeting, the roads are encrusted with ice, we have thunder and lightening and it’s just downright nasty. It’s so bad that almost all schools are closed including MSU (for the morning classes anyway). Steve’s supposed to be on a plane to Phoenix, but he’s been stranded on the runway since around 6 a.m. I just got a call from him telling me that he was going to drive to Arkansas and get a flight out of there since it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon.

I hope class is cancelled this afternoon since I really don’t want to walk over to school in this mess. I already skipped my workout so I’d probably be willing to skip school too (except my piece is due today). Now that I have a whole morning free, I think I’m going to enjoy my time. Maybe I’ll actually get caught up on some special orders for Valentine’s Day!

3 Comments | In: Uncategorized | | #

It’s been one of those weeks where all the little things got pushed aside. The only thing I thought about almost all week was my metal project. Monday I ground off the excess metal around the legs. Tuesday I did more grinding followed by filing (using the power grinder outside during a storm. Not my smartest move). Wednesday the fun continued as I kept filing and started polishing. Damn! This thing was taking a long time to construct! Thursday was polishing and welding. And it’s still not done. However, the legs are welded together which was a major chore. Next up is grinding and polishing around the welds and welding the top to the base. Whew! I’ll be glad when this thing is done and I can go back to the easy job of making jewelry. Photos to come when it’s done - I promise.

This morning Steve and I took some time to reintroduce ourselves and get some paperwork done. Steve’s been gone all week for work and will be gone again next week so we’re trying to make the most of our time together. This morning we paid bills, drank coffee, listened to some LPs (he wanted to hear the Sgt. Pepper’s album) and caught up on our week. This afternoon he’ll be studying and Valerie and I will be flea marketing. Tonight is dinner and a movie at Valerie and Kevin’s which should be fun.

Happy 2nd birthday Lydia, one of my favorite nieces! I remember two years ago when Ralph called us at 5 a.m. to tell us the good news: Julia had a sister. Lydia is funny, headstrong, opinionated and smart; just like her mom! She’ll give Julia a run for her money which is what Ralph did for me many years ago. Hopefully, Julia and Lydia will form a close relationship like I did with my sister. Happy birthday, little one. 

1 Comment | In: Uncategorized | | #

First of all, I want to preface this post by saying that I grew up in a household filled with great music. We listened to The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Van Halen, Vladamir Horowitz and more. My dad made sure I heard many different types of music and, even if I didn’t like them, learn to appreciate them. Of course, being the pre-teen that I was, I was not going to listen to my parents music. No, I was going to listen to my own music. It was much cooler than theirs. That being said, I attempted to go back, musically, to my youth.

Valerie and I have been on a flea marketing kick lately and have been adding to our ever-expanding vinyl collections. Sunday I made the decision to purchase the following double album:

I remember seeing the movie and falling completely in love with the soundtrack. I bought it (a double LP) with my allowance and played it for months. It was full of classic Beatles songs from the Sgt. Pepper’s and Abby Road albums. Never mind we had the actual Beatles versions, I wanted these songs done by the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the movie, here’s a brief synopsis:

Billy Shears, grandson of the famous Sergeant Pepper must save the magical musical instruments of the band from music tycoon B.D. Brockhurst.

The cast was full of stars: The Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Steve Martin, George Burns, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and Earth, Wind and Fire. You’d think with all these great people, it would be a terrific movie with a decent soundtrack. At the time, I thought so. After purchasing it on Sunday, I think differently.

It’s bad, people. Monumentaly bad. The only good songs are Aerosmith’s version of Come Together and Earth, Wind and Fire’s version of Got To Get You Into My Life. That’s it. The worst offenders are Sandy Farina, who apparently fashioned herself as the next Olivia Newton John, and Frankie Howard, who’s so bad I have nothing to say about him. Still, I have spent the morning listening to the entire soundtrack and laughing my butt off. It was worth the money for so much entertainment. I now leave you with one last look at the album that should never have been made:

2 Comments | In: Uncategorized | | #