Change is good! and Lisa's Jewelry.

So I have been really concentrating on the change that I wanted to make. I'll be having a birthday in a couple of months: the big five-o. I have come to the conclusion that this a huge factor in my recent need to make so many changes in my life. But I am finding that change is good! I don't think the people in my immediate circle are thinking so but I sure am. I have found I am much happier now that I have clear goals. Another thing I'm finding is that I don't really have to worry about how I'm going to reach my goals because the challenge of figuring that all out has become part of what makes me so giddy! Strange I know but still so very true.

On another note: my friend Lisa has been crafting jewelry lately and I wanted to share some of her creations.

Lisa is new at the art of jewelry making but I think she's doing a fabulous job! She has also started to get requests for custom made pieces. If anyone is interested let me know!

"Is there life out there?"

Have you ever gotten stuck on a song or part of one that invades every other thought inside your brain? For me today is one of those days when my thoughts are rambling - can't seem to focus on just one thing - And then to top it all off, there is a song that insists on invading my thought territory.

"I've got friends in low places, where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away, well, I'll be ok..."

I get a little further into the song than that and then off to another thinking tangent I go. So many things that I need and want to do, yet so many things that keep getting in the way, or should I say, so many thoughts getting in the way. My own thoughts, which I believe can sometimes do more good or damage than the random spoken thoughts of those around me. Anyhow, bare with me, because I'm afraid my writing today might be as jumbled and misguided as the jibberish in my head.

I'm pretty sure the rambling mess that is my thought process today is because of the many decisions I'm trying to make. It seems I've decided to make some changes in my life, actually several changes, but maybe - just maybe - I'm guilty of a little "self destructive behaviour." Allow me to explain: I want to shed my old skin, so to speak. I want to lose all the dead garbage that has been my past, and without losing the soul beneath, I want to create a stronger, healthier, more attractive me. I want to go into the next chapter of my life with a strong mind, a strong body and an even stronger happier soul!

So here's where the self destruction comes in: I keep sabotaging my own efforts at change. So I ask myself, "Have I become such a creature of habit that I am willing to stay in this bubble for the rest of my life?" It's not as dramatic as it may sound, I love the people around me: my husband, my children, grandchildren, friends and family... My issue is that I want to enhance the experience!

The thing is though that my children are grown and while they were growing up I loved being at home with them, getting them off to school, being there to pick them up and doing all the things that come with loving my awesome children. But I no longer have anyone to wake at the crack of dawn so I'm not as motivated to start my mornings that early anymore either. I don't have to make sure that my little ones are fed a healthy breakfast or make sure that they are sleeping by nine. I don't have to look over their shoulders to check their homework... And with the economy on such a downslope, my husband who has worked for himself since before we met, has become more laid back about his hours of operation; my point being that now I don't have to get up and make his coffee or get him off to work so like I mentioned: I really have no pressing reason to get up early now either. I use to get up and make his coffee and if he wanted it I'd cook his breakfast, I packed his lunches... Wd get the idea.

I did those things and much more for my husband and children because it was what I wanted to do! I enjoyed ever minute of being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend...

But now, I want more. That's the really the main point of all these distorted thought waves: I want more!

It's funny because the song that should be going through my head today is an awsome Reba song: "Is there life out there? So much she hasn't done. Is there life beyond her family and her home?"

Yes, I believe there is!

I am confident that along with being a strong wife and mother, I can be an even stronger motivator of me! And so to answer the question, "Is there life out there?" Yes.

Am I afraid of change? Yes. I am. I am afraid of what's outside my bubble. I've seen some of what's outside my bubble and quite frankly it scares the ever living bejeezes out of me! But I've also seen things outside my bubble that are exciting and wonderful and intriguing and...

...I read a book several years ago and I read it or parts of it several times. "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway" by Susan Jeffers;

"Feel the fear and do it anyway." I adopted that mantra for myself. I truly have repeated those words to not only myself but people I care about. I have repeated them over and again throughout the course of my life since the first time I read the book. And I know that I'll continue to repeat them as I figure out what I'm doing and where my life's adventures take me from this point forward!

And as far as that stupid song that keeps popping in: Well I think I may go and sing some karaoke; maybe some Garth Brooks.

Have a wonderful and blessed day everyone! And please excuse me while I go make some changes!

Bird feeder from upcycled glass.

I was going through some old pictures trying to clear out my hard drive of unwanted junk. It amazes me how many photos we take thinking at the time that they are sure to be a perfect source of memory preservation. When in reality, about half my photos lay in a box stored away somewhere (especially the ones taken pre-digital and SD cards.) And when I find them - usually years later - I can't remember where or why I took the picture. I have been horrible, to say the least, at logging the time or place a picture was taken. My boys will ask me quite often how old they are in a particular photo and with a wince I'll give them a 'round about age: "Oh you were 5 when I took that." I leave out the "I think so anyhow. You might be six but I can't remember."

With modern technology and all the really cool photoshop programs out there, I have gotten a bit better at documenting when a photo was taken. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have made it much easier for me because when I upload a picture, I take advantage of that nifty little space to write a "description." And I tag everyone, whether they want to be tagged or not. If you're in my picture, I let the internet world know it. Also, my digital camera has a date stamp on it which I have not been able to figure out how to get rid of. Probably should leave it on there anyhow, case in point, I'll remember when the picture was taken.

So with all this purging of old unwanted pictures I came across several that my friend Lisa and I took back in 2011 when we were on our kick of using up vintage and recycled glass. We made bird feeders, birdbaths and plantstands that we thought were going to bring us boocoo bucks which in reality put us in the hole. We ended up giving most of our wares away and I have at least half a dozen birdbaths sitting about my yard. The problem was that we had to charge enough money to recoup our losses and in our little town in the middle of the national forest; buckled together with the downward spiralling (or should I say downward spiralled) economy, most people just don't want to spend what we call "extra" money on someone elses handcrafted items. I suppose a lot of people out there are like me and would rather go home and make it themselves to save some of that hard earned money.

Now that I've taken a breath, let me show you a couple of those birdfeeders I was talking about.

Hey look at that, we finished these two birdfeeders on May 20th of 2011. I know that because of that little date stamp on my digital camera! Lol

Rose and Calla Lilies bouquet

After putting the flowers and decorations together for my nephew and his beautiful bride's wedding last month, I was inspired to use up some of my silk florals to create this bouquet.

The pink roses and the calla lilies are "real touch" florals. They really do look and feel like live florals. I have added a touch of bling to accent this beautiful bouquet.

If you are interested in purchasing this bouquet or should you want a custom bouquet with your chosen florals and colors please email me at meladuke33@outlook.com to make arrangements for payment and delivery. I can create bouquets for the bride and your entire wedding party as well as boutonnieres for the groom and his groomsmen, corsages for the mothers, centerpieces, garlands, pew bows, etc... Whatever the need to enhance your big day!

Have a blessed day everyone!

Jayden's school projects

Our Jayden is in pre-k and he has come home so far this year with three different "family projects" to do. The latest one was a snow-man. Living in central Florida, Jayden has never seen snow let alone a snow man but we had a blast with this project anyhow. The fun part is always to see who can get the most creative. Our goal (and successfully so far) has been to use only items on hand or found in nature.

I had rolls of tulle so we bunched it up to cover the snowman. We put acorn caps as his buttons, sticks for his arms, a stick wrapped in part of the orange wrap off a Ramen Noodle box for the nose, those little plastic ceramic tree bulbs I had from my Christmas Tree Crafts for his mouth. For his hat, I cut the bottom off a plastic container and cut the lid from the same container to glue together forming his hat. Then we spray painted it black and hot glued it to the board. Some snowflakes cut from scrap paper and some star stickers left from my preschool teaching days and voila, Jayden has the coolest snowman in town! Oh yes, the eyes are recycled vintage eyes that I salvaged a few years back from an old stuffed animal.

Christmas Tree Craft #2

I haven't felt up to par today: this makes flu bug number 3 already this season. So I kept busy today with some light crafting. I managed to finish another of my trees.

I found all these pegs at a yard sale for $3.00! About 5lbs in a small tub. My Aunt Tony used to make ceramic Christmas trees that lit up, and these were same kind of pegs she used in the ceramic trees. I don't make ceramic trees, but I knew I would find a great use for them. I had ordered some Styrofoam cones for a different project, but decided to change direction.

I started at the bottom, hot gluing the pegs around the cone evenly.

I glued each layer...

...until the cone was full. I filled in the tiny open spots with the smallest pegs in the batch.

I am very pleased with how they turned out!

I think I like the larger one better. I am working on the third one now and should have it finished by the end of the day. I still have lots of the plastic bulbs left so I invite any suggestions on possible crafts to use them up on.

*****

~May your blessings be many and your troubles be few!

*****

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Christmas Tree Craft

About a year ago I bought a big box of assorted sizes and styles of those little plastic bulbs that go into ceramic Christmas trees. I paid only $3.00 for the whole lot but never really knew what I was going to do with them. While sorting and organizing my craft room, I came across these plastic pieces and some styrofoam tree forms and voila, I came up with the idea to create a decorated tree for Christmas.



This is my finished product! I really like it a lot. I'm thinking of creating two more similar; a larger one and a smaller one so there will be a set of three. 

Update: I did make a larger one and you can see it along with a little how-to HERE!

Until next time!
May your blessings be many and your troubles be few!