Paua Shell Pendants

I listed some more items in my shop tonight... One of them was this Paua Shell Pendant Necklace. I have several more of these that I will be listing over the next few days. I am excited to be offering these at a little bit lower price than some of my other pieces. They do not take as much time to make because I do not have to cut glass for them. But I think they are very beautiful. I have always loved the look of Abalone (Paua shell is a variety of Abalone from New Zealand). Come by and take a look!

Soup, Salad, Breadsticks, and Dr. Cullen...

Jakeward the Bear, and the worlds first ever Dr. Cullen...


Last Saturday I had a lovely dinner date with my new friend Kendra. I met Kendra in October in the forums of our Twilight Mom's group,(Yes, I am completely obsessed with the Twilight series... I believe I have made that abundantly clear with my gushing on and on about the books... WELL, apparently I am not alone and there is a WEBSITE for all of us crazy obsessed mom's to go hang out and discuss the finer points of the books) and we instantly hit it off. Kendra also lives in Arizona, a few hours away from me... So, naturally we began scheming and plotting a meeting as soon as was humanly possible. That meeting finally happened last weekend at The Olive Garden in Mesa.



As I ran in the door (a few minutes late) I saw Kendra standing there waiting with a big huge gift bag! We sat down and exchanged gifts, I gave her a tin full of magnets made using butterfly wings. She gave me the worlds most awesomesuperfantastc gift EVER :) She gave me that adorable squishy soft Team Switzerland bear (I have named him Jakeward), the play lists for all three of the books in the series (Stephenie Meyer creates a play list for each of her books... always awesome music), and the worlds FIRST EVER Dr. Cullen (An inside joke, we started calling Dr. Pepper by the name of Dr. Cullen in tribute to our favorite doctor... YES I AM A TOTAL GEEK)!!!

We sat and talked and ate, and talked, and ate... and giggled, and laughed... and ate, and talked... and so on and so forth for FOUR HOURS. We literally stayed till they closed. We got there at 7 and slowly shuffled out the doors at 11, where we proceeded to talk for a while longer. It was SO fantastic. Kendra is one of the coolest, sweetest people I have ever met.



She might be here again in a week or so... and if she is we are going to see August Rush together. Also, the Twilight Mom's are planning a trip to Forks WA. Yes that is correct. A big group of us are planning to meet up in Seattle next September and we are doing a "tour" of the places in the books. We have already rented a BIG cabin in Forks for us to all stay in... the more the merrier if any of you Twilight Mom's who read my blog are interested... you should go to the Twilight Mom's site, sign up for the forums, and then go to the thread entitled Twilight Mom's Forks trip.. or something like that. You can PM the lady who is putting it all together and join in on all the fun!!! Oh, and there is a possibility that Stephenie Meyer will be in Forks that weekend as it will be on Stephenie Meyer day and Bella's birthday... *squeeeeeeee* But, back to my original topic...

Saturday was SO great, I can hardly wait to meet up with Kendra again. I believe she is officially my first online friend I have ever actually met in person. :) I am supposed to be meeting with a big group of them in Utah when I go out there for Christmas too, that is going to be so FUN! I love my Twilight friends:)


Once again, if you are a Twilight fan, come join us in our insanity! If you are not... then you need to read the books already!!! :)

xoxo
Georgia

New items:)

I listed some new items in my shoppe yesterday and today, and re-listed a few older ones. I had a hard time pricing my new necklaces, but I hope I priced them fair. The Pointed Leafwing took FOREVER! :)

The Beaded Monarch Pendant Necklace



Grow Wings Monarch Pendant Necklace



And I FINALLY listed The Pointed Leafwing Necklace :)

More Joy, less Ugh.

I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately... as made obvious by my last post. And I wasn't even sure exactly why I was feeling that way... I knew I was just starting to feel crazy. After sitting with my thoughts for awhile, and talking with a lovely friend, I began to realize that I just needed to take a step back for a moment and breathe. I need to reevaluate my priorities and perhaps shift some things around. And that is ok.

I was frustrated with my business, because I want to be making more money. And as a wife and mother of 3 young boys, it is HARD to get out of the house to do shows. Thea reminded me that I have this lovely thing at my fingertips called the internet (who knew?) and that I could take some steps to improve my business using just that. So, even though I would LOVE to be out working all the shows with my Mafia Familia, I will be happy doing what I can with the group, and not knocking myself out trying to do everything.

I was also frustrated with some issues at church... Well, there is nothing I can do to change the minds or perceptions of other people, but I can take control over myself. I know that everything that happened was because someone thought they were doing the right thing. I also know that it is time to let it die. I hate that I have held on to it for as long as I have. I know that what happened will most likely still irritate me from time to time, but I will not dwell on it. I will continue to live my life the ways I feel are right for me, and try not to worry about what other people tell me I need to live like. Also, I may ask to be released from my calling if I continue to feel overextended. I have never been one to do that, but I am slowly realizing that in order to function well I sometimes have to let go of some of the stress.

My husband works very long hours and is almost never home before 7 or 8 at night... many time it is even later than that, 10:00 at night is not a rare thing... and there has been quite a few times where he does not get home till 1 or 2 in the morning. This means that anytime I need to go to a meeting or anything related to my calling (which by the way is often) I need to call a babysitter, and right now we really can't afford a sitter much, so I don't end up going... Working in scouts has added significantly to the stress pile... While I REALLY like the woman I work with, and I also think the boys are fun, I don't really know if I can keep it up. I do not feel comfortable doing something if I cannot give it my all and do a good job. Right now I am not doing well at it, I have not made it to the meetings and even had to cancel one. I am still not sure if I will ask to be released or not, I need to think hard about it.

So, that is where I am at right now. I am feeling pretty good, not nearly so crazy as I was before. I am ready to focus on my family, and on finding ways to increase my business online so I can add to our income. I am also ready to take a step back when I need to and make sure I am taking care of myself a little bit too.

So, in an effort to increase business online I listed several items yesterday in my shoppe :)

Monarch Wing Earrings



And... Drum roll please :) The Delias Necklace. ( I love this one)


I also have some idea's in mind for a few new things to sell. Keep checking back, I will be posting regularly with new items for sale in my shoppe.

xoxo
Georgia

Ugh... just ugh.

How does a stay at home, mother of 3... the oldest of which is turning 6 tomorrow by the way... do it all?

Is it even possible to have a business that is successful, keep a house clean-ish and organized-ish (it's a word... I swear), AND spend quality time with the kids and hubby... Not to mention have a life... you know, the kind with friends and girls nights out...

There is so much to write about right now... And I don't know how to say any of it. I do know that everything I want to say has lots of really cool expletives in it... The kinds of words I try to avoid typing in my blog because people at church will see it and get their panties in a twist (It's happened, I can't handle being pulled into someones office at church again to discuss the contents of my blog or I might unleash all the power and fury of those previously mentioned expletives on their ass. And that would not be pretty...) And allow me to say that if you are someone from Church and you are reading this, what I said just then was in all likelihood NOT directed at you... the only person that was directed to KNOWS it was for him... So, heads up. IF YOU WANT TO "DISCUSS" THE FACT THAT I SAID "ASS" IN MY BLOG, I RESPECTFULLY DECLINE! If you want to be a normal human being who does not want to discuss things that are not now and will NEVER BE any of your damn business then we are good. Wow... why can't I say that out loud? I wish I could have said all that out loud a year ago... I wish I had a freaking voice.

Okay... I got WAY off track just then. Apparently I have some issues. And apparently more than one thing is bugging me and I only just figured that out. Sorry you must bear witness to my current state of mind. What I originally came here to write about was my frustration with not being able to do it all. Why can I NOT do it all? I need to explore this whole thing more... but I can't do that all here, I need to think about it all. Then I will come back with something that actually makes a bit more sense than all this that you just read.

Ugh... just ugh!

Rusty wings and other things

This post would fall under the Shameless Self Promotion category...




This last week I finished some new pendants and necklaces... And I wasn't sure how I felt about them at first... But I think after I wore this one around for a while they are growing on me. Yeah... I think I do like them, this necklace especially :) I will be listing the new pieces in my shop over the next few days... go take a look!




To see what everyone else is wearing just click here :)

Wearing a smile

Today I am wearing a shirt with this mornings breakfast smeared on the hem...

I am wearing my favorite comfy pants (the ones that still fit because they stretch) even though they have bleach spots on the butt...

Today I wore mismatched flip-flops, because they were all I could find and I didn't want to wear my fluffy slippers, although I am totally not above doing that... I did it yesterday infact..

Today I have a hair clip in my hair keeping it off my face, because my hair decided today was a good day to suddenly be curly.

Today I wore a smile on my face... Even though my printer had broken, and I thought my warranty had expired. Even though my two year old has decided that naps no longer matter in his world and he would rather play... Even though that means I no longer have that little amount of time in the middle of the day to *try* and work on my business *if* my three year old will stay occupied...

I wore a smile on my face, even when I didn't really feel up to it. I didn't give in to feeling upset and overwhelmed. And you know what? It all worked out okay. :) My warranty doesn't expire till December, so they shipped me a replacement printer head today. Kael does not nap anymore... but I got some more play time with him, and it was wonderful. I will just have to find ways to be more productive in the time that I do have to work now.




To see what other people are wearing look here.

Why my family is cool

My family is cool... We are quirky and bizarre... and we do odd things like send mass emails to each other featuring such subjects as David Hasselhoff, or Sasquatch... Or aliens...
This is the latest bit of emailing that has happened between us all... Admit it, you are jealous your family is not this cool ;) Or... you may be slightly appalled at our discussions... whatever. This is the stock that I came from...

---------------------------------
Anatomical Parts Jewelry emails...
-----------------------------------

My mom wrote:

oh people!!!! I can't tell you how wonderful I think the "enema bag" pin is ..it's beyond decription.. if it weren"t so expensive...shucks! & I'm really not joking... anybody need to get me a gift...? it brings back memories ... georgia in celebration of your 3 boys in utero I think you should get the "uterous-(SP?) pin" & don't forget about the "colon" pin .... !!! such creative wonder!!! love Mom >>>link
below!
Go here

-----------------------------

Georgia wrote:

Perhaps a few of us can go in on it for you for
christmas... I like the enema bag pin with the butt...

--------------------------

My mom wrote:

I didn't see the one with the but! I think I've changed my mind it wouldn't be the greatest x-mas gift although the fallopian tube was rather clever... oh forget it.. people would just end up "staring" at whatever the pin was stuck on my jacket & it would end up being an annoying situation... " oh! why I've never seen a pin like that before.... OH Sue! I just love you! You always come up with something so different!!! heheheh oh!.... Iv'e just got to call you one of these days for a massage!!>>> so as you can see - let's just forget it - I think I am getting grouchy so I better go get some sleep...

love Mom

---------------------------

My mom wrote again:

To whom it may concern!...

I'm sorry but I am just laughing so deliriously I can hardly type.... ! I Georgia I have returned to the photo & I can't believe that it is actually a very strange looking butt... which it is indeed! & that I actually told everybody that was my pin of choice !.. I actually liked the plain enema/ hotwater bottle
pin-(with no human parts!)- the best because I thought for some strange reason the other one had the enema pin going into a womens "sternum" which was kind
of very strange in my mind that the anatomical pin creator would make it that way (when he was so very precise about the human anatomy in the other pins) ... so I thought! !!! I think I need to do some of those right & left brain hemisphere exercises so things transmit in my brain correctly. I need some specialized brain energy work!!! good night & good luck- love Sue/Mom

--------------------------

My Aunt Karen wrote:

It does look more like boobs and a sternum than a butt!
I can't find the other stuff

-------------------------

Georgia wrote:

Seriously, how can you not tell it's a butt? Look right in the middle...
it has a BUTT HOLE!

--------------------------

My cousin Marita wrote:

My dearest family,

I have finally had a chance to check my email today and couldn't help checking out this incredible piece of art. You do know I am about to finish my master's degree in Teaching Through the Arts come February. Anyways, Ka I was a bit disturbed that you thought this exquisite piece could be more like boobs and a sternum than a butt. My fine eye for art would ask you, what then is that sphincter in the middle of the "boobs." I was quite disturbed in trying to think about what it would be like to have a huge sphincter hole between my evergrowing breasts. Especially when the piece comes with it's own enema bag and tube to hook right in. This is all too much for a pregnant mother right now. But, thank you all for this cultural experience with arts.


Love,
Marita (and Ian who was making me breakfast)

---------------------------

Georgia wrote:

I too saw the sphincter... how could no one else see it for what it was? What on earth would a pair of boobs and a sternum with a hole have to do with an enema bag in the first place I ask you.

-------------------------------

My Uncle Doug wrote: (Oh, and Dwayne and Neva are my grandparents... The parents of my mom, aunt and uncle. :) )

I honestly don't know what to say. Should I show concern about my sisters' well being? And by well being, I don't mean Colonic Health. Am I actually seeing that this has been copied to Dwayne and Neva?

Karen--- Boobs? Huh? Look again at the picture. Weren't you the one who endured the AUNT MARTHA ENEMA? So maybe you have psychologically blocked this obvious image out of your conscious mind, because of that fateful day in Mesa.

Dad would say, "Hoo, Let me show you my scar...", so so in this case, maybe I will a D. DWAYNE Brimhall, and rip open my shirt, revealing Brimhall chest hair, and showing ample Man Boobage, and say "Hoo, Let me show you my Sphincter." I keep my water bottle close to my chest to keep the water warm— When I am not in need of a good cleansing, I can use it Like a Camelback water hiking backpack, and suck on the tube to drink the stored water—my cleavage serves as the perfect spot to store the drinking end of the tube.

And look again at the picture. What do you think Abe is thinking?

I think the design of the earrings are all wrong. The bag part should hang from a piercing at the top of your ear, and then the tube is the stretched down and inserted into the inner ear. In fact, this could be modified to be used for hearing aids, iPod headphones, and Secret Service agent headsets.

This image makes me feel compelled to explore other things on the www.lunaparc.com website, but honestly, I don't know if I should open that can of worms. I'll never be able to shut it.

-----------------------------

My Uncle Doug wrote again:

I'm sorry to do this to you, but I did jump to the Dark Side—here are other pages from this same glorious jewelry website:

Here

Especially, please note the overall size and special heartwarming story on the "Colon of Joy".

And the special little fresh water pearl-y touch on the end of the—well, I better just have you find it yourselves.

-----------------------------------

Georgia Wrote:

Yes... The Colon of Joy story is a very touching one... Also the pearl "drip" was a nice touch... I mean, that particular piece of art would NOT be complete without the pearl "drip".

---------------------------

Zoe wrote:

That butt pin reminds me of what the tin mans butt would look like or maybe the bicentennial man. Either way I think I’m going to show this website to my anatomy teacher. Its a hoot. Or is it “humerous”? Ha ha. Anatomy joke.
-----------------------------

Karen Wrote:

OK all,

I'm sorry, but when you have a Brimhall Butt like mine, you never see your sphincter in such a big valley! And I don't think any of us have butt buns quite so perky. yes, it was weird to see an enema bag going into a chest, Hey, I'm Miss chemo, maybe it was an ancient way of administering drugs. Those buns look like two melon boobs. I stand by my original impression. That does not look like a butt. It looks like boobs with an alien hot water bottle connected to them. I just ran it by AJ and his first impression was boobs as well.
-------------------------

My Mom wrote:

Georgia- your making me choke - I regret sharing with you the "colon of joy" & other anatomical parts! you are making me face my own foolhardiness! are you
satisfied?
Karen you are exactly correct ... I could not have defined it so well... you have helped me to understand that my brain saw that the way it did for areason... & a very good one too... you will notice that few ...but mainly Georgia figured it was a butt
- but it's because Georgia has no big floppy butt to speak of-- so of course it made sense to her--but you have made me feel very good about my brain, right & left hemisphere function....... thank you so very much.. love sue
---------------------------

And thus concludes the "Anatomical Parts Jewelry" email discussion up to this point... :)

My family is made out of craziness and cheesecake.

xoxo
Georgia

A write up :)

I don't have much time to blog tonight... I am gearing up for a big show tomorrow... I have to be up by 5 am!!! But, I wanted to post something really quick.

A little while back I was contacted by Jenipher from Cherry Runway. She is so sweet, I loved messaging back and forth with her. Anyways, she did a write up on me and my Shop today! You should go check it out and send her some bloggie love. Also you should visit her shop if you get a chance. She has some adorable jewelry!

Go CHECK IT OUT :)

Thanks Jenipher! I feel so honored that you featured my shop in your blog.

Pear Salad... or Edward Salad, whatever :)

I am having a hard time thinking of things to post for this months Self Portrait Challenge. I keep thinking f photo's after the opportunity is gone. Like, Chad and I went camping this weekend... perfect chance to take some camp food pictures... I forgot :) I was cooking (I know a big shocker) the other night... like a REAL dinner. And I forgot. So, today I FINALLY remembered!

This is quite possibly the most delicious salad you will EVER taste... if you are lucky enough to taste it. My friend Jessica made it for me one night when we were having a movie night. And I have never been the same since. I mean, this salad has changed the way I look at salads. It may just be the most addicting thing I have ever tasted (aside from chocolate and Dr. Pepper... and Chicken Tika Masala...) It is like the heroin of salads. Ooohhhh. like if Edward were a salad! Seriously. SO.GOOD! Maybe I will rename it Edward Salad... It is SO fitting, because he is so delicious... Now I need a Jacob themed food... Some kind of dessert perhaps?

Cheese Pervert Chuck-a-roni

I made a gourmet spread for dinner tonight. Leftovers. Leftover Cheeseburger Macaroni. *gag* But, whatever. The kids will eat it without hiding pieces under the table for the dogs, or something. And I am tired of cooking healthy dinners only to have NONE of the kids eat them! Fine. Corn dogs and macaroni it is :)

Kael got excited when he saw his dinner... So excited that he yelled its name very loudly. "Cheese Pervert Chuck-a-roni!!!!" I almost died laughing :) So... I think this meal now has a new name in our house. I love when kids say things the wrong way. This might be one of my favorite examples yet though.

My life :)

I don't have much to say today. My life is kinda busy right now, but busy in a good way. I am too tired to write a post that is well thought out... so instead it will be more like a list of things going on in my life right now:)

* I have been trying to list items in my Etsy shop on a regular basis. Just one or two a day... I usually list a whole bunch at a time, and then go a long time without listing anything. While talking with my lovely friend last week, she encouraged me to list more regularly instead of all at once. And because she is a genius, I had to agree:) So that is exactly what I have been doing. I plan to list a couple more items later today.

* My shows are finally starting their new seasons!!! I am so excited, and also slightly appalled at the amount of television I actually watch. Prison Break is back *yay* I love me some Wentworth Miller. Also I am excited to be able to watch HEROES, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Supernatural (not starting till next week), Boston Legal, and a few others... And then there are the new shows... I am going to be such a couch potato. Good thing I can pull my table over in front of the TV and make stuff... Oh, and did I mention we got our projector fixed, so now we can watch our shows on a 110 inch screen??? SWEET! Maybe all my shows being back on will help pull me out of my Twilight obsession... Or maybe not.

* Speaking of my Twilight obsession... My insane fan girl talk has FINALLY convinced my husband to read the books. Well... not read, but listen to. We are currently listening to the Twilight audio book. Right now Bella is stuck in the parking lot at school behind Edwards car while a few boys take turns asking her to a dance. Hehehe :) LOVE IT!

I think that is about it for today. I have some errands to run. But, if you are at all interested I did post over on the Phoenix Craft Mafia blog today... You can go read a bit of something I wrote last year for Nanowrimo... I am not promising it is anything good... But its also not terrible :) So if you DO read it, tell me what you think.

xoxo
Georgia

edited to add a little bit more...

Also, today I am listening to some of my ALL TIME favorite Broadway shows. I was lucky enough to go do a Broadway tour when I was a senior in Highshool... I got to see 5 shows that week... they were AMAZING. But by far, the best were these three.

Side Show *This show had me sobbing by the end. It was THAT good. Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley were sooo fantastic, there are no words for what I feel when I listen to them*



The Scarlet Pimpernel *I met Douglas Sills... he was sooooo scrumptious, I was in love with him for years... listen to his VOICE!*



Jekyll and Hyde *not with David Hasselhoff... ewww. No, I got to see it with the original Broadway cast (actually I saw ALL of these with the original casts) Which means Linda Eder *my hero* and Robert Cuccioli *swoons*!!! Now... This song gets me EVERY time. I love me a bad boy, I realllly do. And he is sooooo uber creepy and SEXY as hell in this show. If you watch closely you will see him lick her hand... When I saw it he licked her wrist and I almost died! SOOOO creepy!!!! And also, I admit it... HOT!*

Applying mascara....

It is not often these days that I get the chance to do my hair, get dressed up in something that looks more like real clothes than my pajama's, and put on make-up... I shot this photo yesterday while I was getting ready for Church, wouldn't you know it... I actually got myself all prettied up and we ended up not going at the last minute because Chad had a project to go finish for work. Meh. Ah well, at least I got to go through the day looking like a person who actually pays attention to what they look like :)




I make odd faces when I put on my make-up... I never paid attention to what my face does when I put on make-up... now I know:)

To see other peoples Self Portraits just go HERE.

We do it at home: A Birth Story.

I have not yet participated in this months SPC, simply because I have not been around any cool bathrooms... And the thought of shoving all the dirty laundry out of the way so I can set up a picture has been less than appealing to me. Maybe next week... But my sweet friend Jenica suggested I use a photo from one of my births, and although they are not pictures I took myself I thought it was a good idea. So I did :) Just a little warning though, for those of you who might get offended easily or something... There is some side boob showing in the photo's. You can't see nipples or anything like that but I am obviously not clothed in these photo's. I don't get bothered by such things, and while I doubt many people would be upset by these pictures... Some people may not be so ok with a little nudity. I love these pictures, and so I want to share them. And that being said, You have been warned :)

Some of you may be aware of the fact that I have three kids. And of those people who know this, some of you will know that I gave birth to all three of those kids in the comfort of my own home. That's how we do it around here. We fill up a children's swimming pool with nice steamy warm water in the living room, or bedroom... I hop in, and a little while later I emerge holding my new baby. Simple :)

Well, this last time around things went a little differently. We thought that my labor would be blindingly fast like my second one (the one where my midwife didn't make it in time and me and the hubby did it ourselves). So as soon as my water broke, we were in super fast motion getting everything ready. We phoned Pam our fantastic Midwife. We filled up that pool as fast as we could... And then we waited. And waited some more...

With my first two pregnancies as soon as my water broke it was go time. Baby was coming and baby was coming NOW! With Kayden I was in labor for just over 4 hours from first contraction to baby out. With Jett I was in labor for only 1 hour from first contraction (water broke on second) to baby out. See why the midwife didn't make it? ;) With Kael things went a little differently...

My water broke. We spazzed out and got everything ready... And nothing happened! I had maybe 3 of 4 little contractions and then they just kinda stopped. Pam arrived and we all just kinda sat around waiting for the party to start. A couple hours after she got there we all decided to go back to sleep for a while... no reason being up all night if we can be sleeping right?

Well, after about 5 hours of nothing Pam comes in to check and see how I am doing. I roll over onto my back so she can check me, and suddenly we are in business. A HUGE contraction comes rolling through me and I tell her its time.

Now, at this point the water that has been sitting in the pool for a little over 5 hours is cold. So, I get in the bathtub to wait for Chad to add hot water to the pool... no such luck. We should have known. As soon as I got to the tub there was absolutely NO moving me. My body was already pushing involuntarily as we moved me from my bed to the tub. If I remember correctly, we had just enough time to fill the tub, with me in it before Kael made his debut in this world. I only remember sitting up, bracing my legs on the wall and Chad's shoulder as well as I could. Screaming because at the last second I got a terrible leg cramp, and then I was catching my baby. All 9 pounds 3 ounces of him. Like I said, its a party!

He was adorable! He was born with a full head of WHITE hair. Not just peach fuzz either, it was at least 2 inches long on top. Kinda explains his pretty long blonde hair now :)

Anyhow, these are my two favorite pics of that day. Kael is literally seconds old in these photo's... I can't be sure, but I think we have not even cut the umbilical cord yet. We always wait a while to do that.





To see other peoples Self Portraits just click HERE.

Monkeys on crack

I know that a couple other bloggers have mentioned the insanity that is Yo Gabba Gabba... But I feel it is necessary for me to mention that I think this show may have infact been created by a few monkeys on crack.

Now, when I was a kid we had Sesame Street, and Mr. Rogers... Those were good shows... But now we have weird random stuff like this.

And I had to laugh really really hard at this one... I will never be able to watch Lord of the Rings with a straight face again.

Samson

That is Kael. Kael Morgan Cranston, my youngest.



Cute isn't he? Yes... that's right. He. Kael is infact a boy, despite his lovely long hair.



Did I mention that he has very long hair? It goes all the way down his back when its wet... Pretty soon it will be touching his butt. My hair has NEVER been this long in my entire 28 years on this planet!

Lots of people think its about time we cut his hair... And I have entertained the idea myself a time or two... and yet his hair remains firmly attached to his head.

We have convinced ourselves that his hair is like Samson's. If we cut his hair we think he will lose all of his cuteness and turn into a rotten 2 year old... It happened with the other two after all... we just never connected it with the cutting of the hair... :)

I figure we will have to cut it soon... people jut mistake him for a girl far too often... Which makes me sad. I love boys with long hair. And he doesn't look like a girl to me... except for the one time my friends daughter dressed him up as a cheer leader with clothes from her dress up box... and then we put his hair in pig tails... What??? It was HILARIOUS! I need to get the pictures from her.



Ah well... What do you think? Should I leave it long? Just look at that hair! I would die to have that growing out of my head :)

Oh, and a post is coming soonish about how the trunk show went over the weekend :) If you want to know now, you can read all about it HERE on our Phoenix Craft Mafia Blog. :)

xoxox

Ramblings and what not...

Well... I have been a bloggy slacker. I admit it! But I have been so busy getting ready for the Trunk Show I am doing this weekend I have had NO time to do much else. I did however write a post for the Phoenix Craft Mafia blog today, that you can read HERE. Go read it and make me feel special ;) It has a sneak preview of some of the things I have been working on lately too. Let me know what you think.

Oh, and The Phoenix Craft Mafia has a new look... We are packing some heat now!



xoxox

You might be a little obsessed if...

There is a Self Portrait for SPC at the bottom of this post, for those of you who do not want to read the entire thing:)



Ok, so... Saturday rocked! Plain and simple.

Saturday was my friend Jessica's birthday, and what better way to celebrate a birthday than to go meet the ever fabulous Stephenie Meyer at a book signing for her newest book Eclipse? Her new book, which I have to mention PASSED Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the best sellers list last week!!! Yup... its that good.

My obsession with Stephenie Meyer began just a few short months ago... The afore mentioned "Jessica" brought two books over to my house and told me this: "Georgia! You HAVE GOT TO READ THESE BOOKS!" And who am I to argue with that? So, I read them... And I LOVED them... And I now find myself telling everyone I know YOU HAVE GOT TO READ THESE BOOKS!!! I also find myself scouring the internet for anything I can find about Edward (yum), and Bella, and Jacob (yum again). For those of you who have not yet been touched by the Twilight obsession, those are the main characters in the series. Bella and Edward are the two main characters, and Jacob ends up having a pretty huge part in the second and third books.

Eclipse, the third book in the series came out on August 7th... And I am pretty much in love with it. So much in love infact that I am about to read it again... and I don't usually read books more than once. I am going to read all three of them again, and possibly again after that. But that is not the point... the point was that because the book just came out, Stephenie is now doing a book signing tour. And even though she lives here in Arizona, it was one of the stops on her tour. So... Jessica and I OF COURSE had to go.

And, I have to tell you, It was TOTALLY meant to be :) We were unable to get tickets to the Q and A because they sold out forever ago... but they decided to have a second event after the Q and A just for all of the fans that could not go so they could at least get their books signed. So, we went to the signing portion. When we walked in the door we were told that we needed to buy a book to get a ticket... Now both of us already have all three of the books, but we both had Twilight, the first in the series in paperback, and wanted hardback. So, guess what?!?!? They had EXACTLY enough copies of Twilight left in hardback for us to get. Divine destiny? I think yes!

After we got our spiffy new hardback copies we were ushered into the auditorium (signing was held in a high school to accommodate everyone) to sit down and wait for our letter to be called. We were with the U's. They were on Q. So we sat down and giggled at our luck to get the last copies.

I started looking around the auditorium at all the people and was very surprised to see LOTS of boys! For some reason I thought it was more appealing to the female crowd, but apparently I was wrong. There was even people dressed up as characters from the book. I loved it! I wanted to take pictures, but figured people might think I was weird to take photo's of them...

Anyhow, after only about 15 minutes they called our letter! So, we got in line and started moving towards the little office outside the auditorium where Stephenie was signing books.

We were nervous... well, I was at least. I mean, Stephenie is kinda my hero right now. Seriously! She is not much older than I am... She is also a mom of 3 young boys, as well as being LDS. I mean, she is just really awesome! And, just so you know... NO these are not churchy books in the least. NOT.AT.ALL. They are so unbelievably yummy I can barely stand it.

Anyways, we got closer and closer and soon I could SEE her! And it was fantastic.

We walked into the room, and the girls up ahead of us had t-shirts on that said "down with the wolves!". Stephenie saw them and laughed a little bit before defending the wolves saying that Jacob is her FAVORITE character right now. And then she and a guy (A guy the age of my grandpa) got into a little discussion about how much they loved Jacob. She said something along the lines of "I will always love Edward... I mean he is EDWARD! But he and Bella are so together... and Jacob... Well, Jacob is just so... Available!" So... yeah I don't really know what that means, but it makes me happy because she also said that Jacob will still have a major part in the next book.

Just for you Jacob fans... I made this for Jessica because its one of her favorite parts of the book... hehehe :) This is Steven Strait... This is one of the boys Mrs. Meyer would like to play Jacob in the movie... rawwrr!



Anyways... Jess and I made it into the room, and we walked over to her table, and we gave her our books. And she signed them, and looked us right in the eyes and thanked us... And then I slid a cute little package across the table to her and she looked up again and got a big smile and said Thank you again :) I gave her a pendant and I wrote her a little card. Nothing too huge, but the thought that she has something I made for her totally gives me butterflies... Geeky no? My husband laughed and laughed at me... I am still smiling about it though!



See? Its pretty no? Do you think if YOU were Stephenie Meyer you would like it???

So anyways, after what was about the most awesome minute of my life we left the room and made our way down the hallway to the nearest exit. We RAN out the door and screamed:) I think there was some jumping up and down, and some more squealing involved too. As we made our way to the car we both noticed we were HUGGING our books... haha.

In the car we took photo's to remember the occasion, and promptly sent one via text to our friend Lacy who was unable to come... Horrible I know! She was jealous, as she well should be.

And that is the end of that! I met Stephenie Meyer, it was AWESOME! Next summer I plan to meet her again when she tours for her next novel, The Host, which is coming out sometime next summer... And also again when Breaking Dawn comes out next fall... And I HOPE that she will get Midnight Sun published... because I would LOVE to read that! For those of you who don't know... Midnight Sun is the retelling of Twilight, but it is told from Edwards perspective instead of Bella's... And the first chapter is up on her site to read... hello! YUMMY! So, yeah! I know that this post is ALL over the place... but I don't even care, I am still just so excited about meeting her. I think I will start reading the books again tonight... Yes, I think that is what I will do.

But, for those of you who decided to read this whole post here are my pictures for SPC.

I could not choose... so I put up a couple. They are of course Eclipse related :)

First, is me and Jessica. See, the pattern of the two books next to each other? I know... I am reaching really hard....



And last is this lovely image of me... holding my newly signed copy of Eclipse... *sigh* See... there is kind of a pattern on the title page... sort of... It is a drawing of tree branches.

Life is good!



Oh... and to see other peoples Self Portraits and patterns this week, just go HERE.

Reflections and patterns...

I was taking photo's of some new pendants today so I could list them in my shop. As I was taking them I noticed my reflection in this pendant. It looks kinda ghostly... I like it :)



Go here to see other self portraits... and my pattern was the pattern of the veins in the wing... just in case you were wondering :)

Inspiring

This story is so touching. What an amazing man, and what an example of what life is all about...

Falling behind...

I am falling behind in updating my blog... I have missed sooooo much lately. For instance, it was both Jett and Kael's birthday... in June and July. I somehow never wrote about those. I also did not write about Kayden starting 1st grade... He is loving being back in school...

I don't know how I got so side tracked... I have been busy I suppose, getting ready for the trunk show probably. Which went well by the way. It was a little slow, but we got fantastic press, and next month should be so much busier as college will be back in session.

I also just finished reading Eclipse... The third book in the Twilight series... and the post Eclipse depression is in full swing. I have to wait until at least next summer to read the fourth book... the fourth and FINAL book in that series. *tear* I am completely enamored with Edward and Jacob... I found myself effected in a ridiculous way by the words in this novel... I was crying because there are emotions she describes soooo well, emotions I have felt very acutely in my life. Some parts of the story rang eerily true to my own life experience... Well, if you take out the vampires and werewolves... There are none of those in my history... *sigh* ;)

I am glad I finally got my hands on a copy of that book... it took a trip to several book stores till I finally found one (one that is practically on the other side of the universe) that had a copy. But, now i have read it, and I loved it (of course. And now I have ALL THREE books so I can take them with me to her (Stephenie Meyer) book signing on Saturday. Yay! I wish I was able to attend the lecture she is giving before hand, but alas it is all sold out. I will be very happy to shake her hand though, and have her sign my book... I am thinking of giving her a pendant too... is that BEYOND cheesy? Probably... but I don't care. She is pretty fantastic.

Anyhoooo... I have to go get back to day dreaming about the book... and about Edward and Jacob... And all the little unwritten things that I hope happen in the next book... not the sex.. not that, although... I have to admit I would not mind reading that scene! Stephenie has made it clear she won't write a scene like that and while I respect it... It sure does make my mind wander!

xoxo

Coming up this saturday...

That's right... We (The Phoenix Craft Mafia) are having our first Trunk Show this weekend. So far, it looks VERY promising. Everywhere we go to tell people about it, everyone already know! They are already planning to come and we don't even know how most of them found out about it!!! Word of mouth is always the best :)

I am so freaking excited I can hardly contain myself. So, if you live in or around the Phoenix area, or know someone who does... Come on out this Saturday, or have them come show their support for all of my lovely crafty friends and myself.

8 things... and The Burning Questions...

I have been tagged with a couple different meme's lately and have fallen way behind... So today I will catch up. Prepare yourself for a long-ish post.

First, I was tagged today by Sophie
.

So, here are 8 random bits about me... but first the rules.

* We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
* Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and they should read your blog.

1. I hate fish, or seafood of any kind. EWWWW! They all taste like fish, no matter what you say. And well, I think its pretty gross.

2. I just got my hair done on Tuesday. It is no longer super dark brown... it has pretty blonde streaks now. Maybe eventually it will be all blonde again, who knows.

3. I am Mormon. Are you surprised? People are always surprised...

4. I always have these big ideas, that I don't know how to execute... or I know how to execute but do not have the money. Like right now, I want to buy all the supplies to start electroforming stuff... I have idea's people! Anyone want to donate to my cause? LOL

5. I have the mouth of a sailor... I really do. All 3 of my kids learned how to swear by the age of 2... oops. These days I try to keep it to the occasional "dammit" (is that how its spelled? my spell checker says so...). And I was filled with an unexplainable glee when reading the new Harry Potter book and Ron said "effin" (not the real word, but still I knew what it meant) and Mrs. Weasley called Bellatrix LeStrange a Bitch. It was GLEE I tell you. I stopped and re-read the paragraphs where it happened just to enjoy it again.

6. I am so freaking excited to read the new Stephenie Meyer book. HELLO!!!! The Twilight series has stolen my heart... and if you have read them then you will understand when I say Edward can steal my soul... Yes, people. I am in love with a fictional vampire named Edward Cullen... He is so smoking sexy and I don't even know why...

7. I am an excellent procrastinator... for example I am writing this blog instead of making new pendants to sell...

8. I don't like to spend money... it is hard for me. I am getting better at it, I am now willing to buy myself supplies to make my jewelry and other projects... but until the last year it filled me with dread to buy anything more than 20$... even the 20$ I had a hard time with and always called my husband to ask if it was ok... he thought I was crazy.

And now... for the Burning Questions, asked of me by the lovely Jenica... I was supposed to answer these about a month ago...

Q. Do you floss?
A. Now I am going to sound just plain gross... because most days the answer is no. I hate flossing. I do it when my teeth feel icky, or when I think I have something stuck in them... My dentist probably hates me.

Q. How has motherhood changed you as a person?
A. Oh, wow... I could go on for years about this one... I think everything about me is changed... the way I look at life, the things I do... The friends I hang out with even. For corns sake even my body has been drastically changed. I have had to learn patience (still not the best at this), I have had to *try* to get organized... so not me! I love it all though, would never change a thing, except maybe magically make them all listen to me every time I speak.

Q. Name 3 pet peeves of yours, however neurotic they may seem
A. * Opened doors and closet doors. Especially at night when I am trying to sleep. If a door is open I get progressively irritated until I have to close it.
* Smelling like food... I cannot stand to smell like food. If I have been in a restraunt, or cooking and I can smell it in my clothes or my hair I will be very mad.
* Listening to people say stupid things. Like when people defend Bush like he is soooo great. He is not, people he is the devil. Or when I heard a group of teenage girls talking about some guy at school saying "He is such a loser, he is soooo gay!" And then listing each thing about him that marked him as different... PISSES ME OFFFFFFFF!
* While we are on the subject I will add one more pet peeve... People who are mean to people who are different for whatever reason. I had a chair thrown at my head once in High School, and for the better part of 2 years in H.S. I had at least one, usually 3 or 4 guys from wrestling and football follow me to class calling me such lovely things as "fu@&ing dyke" or some other gems I don't want to type out here ... All because I had short hair and was friends with a few gay kids. I hated high school... Apparently i am still not over all that... DON'T BE A MEANY!

Q. Name a few moments or experiences in your life that *defined you*
A. Oh wow... so many.
* I think I will have to go waaaay back to good old H.S. and remember a time when life was hard, but I had really good friends. I was having some kind of break down (of course) and my dear friend Luke sat outside with me late into the night. He pointed to the stars and reminded me of some very important things about life and myself I had been forgetting. Then we sat in silence for what seems like hours holding hands. Or the night he got into a verbal scuffle with "The Crow" and we walked around all night talking... *sigh* I miss my friend Luke...
* And a second one... Hrmmm... The first time I told someone that I loved them, and they said it back... It totally blew my mind.
* Meeting and becoming friends with Adam Lawson... seriously, everyone needs an Adam. He changed my life.
* Marrying my husband. He is amazing
* And because I can't resist a 5th... Each time I gave birth to one of my children. I cannot even describe what it was like, but it was AMAZING. I felt very empowered having done them all at home naturally, but it was so much more than that... Looking into each of their faces was pure magic, and looking at my husband knowing we had created this little person... wow. There are no words.

Q. Name your favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.
A. Breakfast is Belgian waffles with fresh strawberries, real maple syrup, and powdered sugar. Lunch is a Dr. Pepper... what? Dinner would have to be Chicken Tika Masala from Bombay house with Garlic Naan and a Mango Lasse... yum. Dessert would be anything chocolate.


So, I am breaking the rules, and I am not tagging anyone right now... but if you would like me to ask you some Burning Questions leave me a comment and tell me so!

Monsoon season

There are few things I love more than rain... When it rains here I usually find myself lying on the ground looking towards the sky, getting drenched by the downpour... Feeling light and alive.

I love Monsoon season...

It is finished...

I finished Harry Potter last night.

It was AMAZING! I loved every second of it. I laughed out loud, I was scared... I cried big huge sobbing tears (the hubby thought i was being silly)... It was perhaps the perfect way to end the series. I had my doubts that it could end well... but I am beyond satisfied with it, infact this may be my favorite one yet. At least it ties with Half Blood Prince for my favorite.

Still, I am sad that it has ended. I do still have the movies to look forward to but they are just not the same. I am thinking that after I read Eclipse I might start the Harry Potter series over again from the beginning. I am just not ready to let it go yet. They really are so wonderful... I could LIVE in that world.

Did you read it yet? Did you love it, were you happy with the ending? What are your thoughts?

Oh... I don't want to give anything away... but Zoe... Did I call it, or did I call it? ;)

HARRY POTTER!!!! *squeel*

I have so many emotions welling up inside me right now... I can hardly contain them, I may burst any second.

I just got back from Costco with my copy of Deathly Hallows... Just so you know... Costco never has a ridiculous line for you to get the bestest new book... So, haha to you Zoe who was waiting in line all night last night. Sure, you may be about 300 pages in by now... but I didn't have to wait all night long... no. I was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of walking calmly into Costo, picking up my copy of Deathly Hallows from the MASSIVE pallet they have of that particular book... and paying my measly 17 dollars and something cents...

I am off to read my book... Don't expect to see me around much for the next day... maybe two.

xoxox

My random thought about Harry Potter... and other stuff

I believe... and have been thinking for some time now, that Harry Potter is the sixth horcrux...

Discuss.


Oh, and also... I am FREAKING excited for Deathly Hallows to come out... wheeeee!

Oh, AAAANNNDDDD... Has anyone out in bloggie land read Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer??? They are very delicious books if i do say so myself... Her third in the series, Eclipse, is coming out August 7th. HOORAY!

Jerome Arizona... And, Gallery Representation!?!?!

My lovely friend Jessica took me to a FANTASTIC little town called Jerome today. I AM IN LOVE! I kid you not, that I could move there and live there forever in complete and total BLISS!!! Okay... perhaps not, as one day I would really like to live in an old plantation house or perhaps and old farm house... *sigh* I have been imagining living somewhere verrrrry rural lately... But that is beside the point... I am in LOVE with Jerome.

It is the most wonderful, eclectic mix of shops and galleries. We ate at a little restaurant named The Haunted Hamburger which by the way had AMAZING burgers! We were also so lucky as to be seated outside on the deck, balcony thingie (technical term) that was basically just a glass room overlooking ALL of Verde Valley... silly me, I was so mesmerized I took NO PICTURES! Yeah... smart I know.

Then we were off to look in all the adorable little shops. So many places I fell in love with today. But, the most AWESOME thing to happen? We went into what I thought was the NICEST gallery there today, and while my friend was purchasing something the owner noticed my necklace and stared asking me about it. I told him I make them and he grabbed his partner to show him. Anyhow, I left with a packet of info on what they want from me to send them so they can maybe SELL MY JEWELRY! Can you believe it? I can't believe it! I am in a daze really!!! I have no idea how to even approach this! Good thing they gave me a packet laying it all out for me ;)

So... If there is anyone out there who reads this... How do I go about figuring out wholesale prices??? I am going to research this more tonight, but... if anyone has advice I am willing to soak it all up like a sponge. :)

Anyways, to sum it all up: Today rocked.

What can honestly be better than a day trip with a close friend, talking and laughing... Singing loudly along with Wicked, Chicago, and the Scissor Sisters... Eating the best burger EVER, and having a gallery basically ask to represent me?

Today was AWESOME!

A short trip to Utah

My family and I drove up to Utah last week on Wednesday at the last minute to attend my cousin Muriel's wedding reception. I am so glad we were able to go. It was a
short trip, but the weather was *perfection* and I got to see some of my favorite people in the world!

In this picture, I am with my lovely Muriel. I have to admit I am totally weirded out by her getting married... even though she is older than I was when I got married.





And here I am with another cousin. This is Eliza. I want to steal her and take her away to Arizona so she can be my helper and watch the kids for me. She has *almost* as much energy as they do and they LOVED her!








Here is my Aunt Lill and my cousin Harvest. *sigh* I miss my Harvest so very very much... It was such a wonderful thing to see her. And for reasons I won't write it was also very hard. I just love her so much...









So very much infact, that I am putting this picture up as well...









And this one... *sigh*









This is my Grandma May... She is a spitfire. And I love her to pieces. She cracks me UP!










This here is my Grandpa... His name is Marion... he goes by Dick. Check out those eyebrows!!! He really isn't scowling at me, just trying to figure out why I won't get the camera out of his face :)









Ahhh, my lovely sister and my daddy :)









A wedding flower...











And another...











AND!!! I was SOOO beyond excited to get to see my sweet friend Jenica!!! We knew each other eons ago in the dreaded land of High School... She is so wonderful! I look stoned in this picture :)







Seriously, look at her adorableness, and be very jealous that I was able to bask in her glory and you could not. :) It was so very nice to see you again love.




All in all I must say it was a good trip, even if it was too short. All good things must eventually come to an end. I cannot wait until the next time I get up to Utah and see all my loves.