Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

We've taken a little blog holiday. We have been busy with the hustle and the bustle of the season. And now, we are ready for the New Year! Are you?

The wind has been horrible here. It keeps everyone up at night. A few days ago we had hurricane force winds all along the front range area. We had gusts up to 90 miles an hour. It was crazy!

There was lots of damage around all the local towns. The town of Superior had flying trampolines, Louisville lost street signs, Goldie's (a store in Lafayette) lost part of the front of its building. And, a few blocks from the studio, this is what you could see:

Can you find the car in these pictures?

And, no, it was not a convertible.

The tree sliced the car in half.

So, we are wishing for calmer winds and a peaceful year.

Happy New Year to you all!

Winter Working

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
-- Josh Billings

Winter is here, and I said that we are usually closed when the weather is too cold. So, I was wrong. We do sometimes have to be open on some of the colder days. Tomorrow may be chilly, but Kerry and I will be there. Our strategy is that we will crank up our little space heaters, and wear our warmest sweaters. Thankfully, the orders are still coming in, and we do need to put in a few hours.



So, we will do our best to warm up the little place. You should stop by, too. We are running a special on non-jewelry items, 15% off. What a deal! We also have our drop in to make art time tomorrow. Come in and make a gift of your own. Drop-in workshops. Make your own gift each Tuesday and Friday from 9:00 - 11:30, December projects include Gypsy bracelets, large journals, Gypsy journals or glass ornaments.

Brave the cold, we promise it won't be too bad! Also, we are the perfect place to look for that special gift you still need.

See you tomorrow!

Weather report

HOT!!!
We are still in a heatwave. Hot! We are approaching a record number of consecutive days over 90 degrees. If Wednesday reaches 90, we will have exceeded the record of 18 days. In addition to that, we have had 15 days in July at 95 degrees or higher. The forecast is grim, to say the least; it will hit 93 today and reach 100 by Friday.

While this may not seem too bad; this is unusal for Colorado. Many houses don't have air conditioning.

So, we are busy trying to say out of the heat! Today we will step back in time to keep cool. I am taking the girls (my 2 and 1 of Kerry's) to Skate City. It's straight out of the early 80's. Hopefully there will be some good photo ops. Stay tuned.

How is it where you are?

March comes marching in...

March comes "in like a lion, out like a lamb," or so the saying goes. Our March seems to have a case of multiple personalities. We hit a high of 72 degrees on Saturday, March 1. The kids were happy to be outside, riding their bikes and running around the park.

Sunday, March 2, I awoke to blizzard like conditions. Our snow storm left this on my juniper bush...

The snow came fast and furious. Thankfully it stopped during the morning and only left three or four inches for us to deal with. The high was only about 32 for the day.

With a 40 degree drop in temperature in 24 hours, it's a wonder that we aren't all catching colds. (I know they say you can't get a cold from the weather, but such a drastic change in the weather has to take it's toll on our bodies.) Hopefully it didn't take it's toll on my tulips which are peeking out of the snow in this picture.

Our little teaser of spring, even summer-like, weather has left me pining away for warmer weather. I can't wait for the season to change. I want to see what comes up in my garden, plant new flowers and spend time out doors. But the wind and chill keeps me inside.

As Kerry mentioned, the weather leaves us to our at-home tasks and art endeavors. So I sit, at home, making things to use this summer.

This is my version of Kerry's patchwork bag. I can't wait to take this one to the park for a picnic, or to the beach with my book inside. Doesn't it just scream "SUMMER!"

I love the bright turquoise and orange mixed together. It is definitely a summer combination. The colors remind me of the ocean, the sunset, and tropical fruit. Okay, enough dreaming!

So back to the March in like a lion thing, it really has nothing to do with the weather. While writing this, I learned it's really about the constellations, and how Leo (the lion) is in the night sky with regards to how Aries (the Ram or lamb) is positioned at the beginning and end of the month. I never knew.

March is a month with many faces. It is American Red Cross Month and Women's History Month. If you are religious you can celebrate the days of St. David, St. Joseph and don't forget St. Patrick. And of course, this year, there's Easter in March. And for those non-religious, you can celebrate National Reading Day and Pi Day. (Pi, like in math, not pie, like in yum-yum), and don't forget St. Patrick's Day! And then there's the Ides of March and the Equinox--the arrival of Spring. I can't wait for the weather to change. I hope old Henry here isn't correct, and that the warm weather comes as quickly as the first day of spring will come.

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.

-- Henry VanDyke

Friday Flower

These snowy hats were left after Wednesday night's snow storm. They say we were getting up to three inches an hour. Good thing it didn't snow for very long.

Have a lovely weekend.

Weather report

I am happy to report that the cold snap is finally at it's end here in Lafayette, Colorado. When I took the girls to school this morning it was 22 degrees , we all thought it felt great outside. That should tell you something, if 22 felt warm, it must have been really cold for a while!

Look at Friday! It's a heat wave! To celebrate the "great" weather, and to get back to business, Kerry and I plan to be open for coffee hour this Friday! Yay! We are so excited!

What, you may ask, is coffee hour? The studio is open for coffee on most Friday mornings from 9:00 - 11:00 am. Join us for coffee and a sweet treat. You can peruse, shop, visit, sometimes make your own project, and check out our latest endeavours. If you are in the neighborhood, we'd love to see you. Why don't you stop by?

Winter on the lake

From our walk last week, ice pieces at the edge of Waneka Lake.

On the other side of the lake, trees in the ice.

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Cold, cold, cold

It was a balmy 52 on Tuesday. We were both excited to get back to work and back to walking. Our excitement didn't last long, however. Wednesday it was 17! What a difference a day makes! Now it looks like we are stuck in the cold. The forecast, except for a brief warm up tomorrow, looks dismal. This is a big bummer for us, because the studio turns into an icebox when the temperature stays a 32 or lower.

So, our creative studio time is on hold for the time being. We are forced to focus on other projects. Laundry, cooking and cleaning....not exactly creative. Maybe we will get out the sewing machines and stitch up some surprises.

For now, studio hours are on hold. But we have lots of plans for the Spring thaw, expanded studio hours, a garden party, maybe an art swap, who knows what we'll think of next!

And, your quote for the day, comes from the teabag wisdom of Good Earth Tea:

Why should I buy expensive art when I can make my own.

Piero Milani (1964 - )

Side note: When I looked up Piero Milani I found one reference that says he's an artist. I found lots of quotations by Piero Milani, but no art. Does anyone know who he is? Just curious.

Winter Hello

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.

~Andrew Wyeth

The whole story will begin to show. We are coming out of our winter hibernation. The studio is chilly (read - frigid) in the winter. Our little electric heaters don't help much when it's below the freezing mark. As the weather turns, and the flower buds begin to show, we will also emerge.

note: We haven't quite had this much snow this year. The above photo is from the first of the 2006-2007 blizzard season. We are hoping that the weather this year will continue to be somewhat mild.

Happy New Year & Good Tidings to all!

Seriously?

I found this article on MSNBC today:

Georgia gets rain after prayer, but not enough
ATLANTA - A storm crashed through the Southeast and brought up to an inch of rain in parts of drought-stricken Georgia, but forecasters said the storm likely did little to ease the state’s historic drought.
The rain late Wednesday and early Thursday brought some precipitation to the parched hills of northern Georgia. The showers began a day after Gov. Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the steps of the state Capitol to beg the heavens to end the drought.
“Certainly, we’re not gloating about it,” Perdue said from a trade mission in Canada. “We’re thankful for the rain and hopefully it’s the beginning of more. ... Frankly, it’s great affirmation of what we asked for.”

The article goes on to talk about the woes of the drought in the South and the devastation brought on by the aforementioned storm. I commiserate with their plight, as Colorado has suffered drought for many of the last 10 years. I was shocked, however, to learn that the Governor of Georgia has such a direct line to the Guy Upstairs. Who knew?

In Spite of It All...

Summertime is crazy! It has been a whirlwind of art camps and trying to escape the heat. With four kids (combined) at our respective homes; Kerry and I have little time left for ourselves, much less our business. Summer perhaps should be our busy business time, but it is in fact, our busy family time.

In spite of it all we have managed to keep our Amazon storefront and our Etsy storefront updated.
We have still found time to make more jewelry, plan our fall line (you will love it!), and clean out the studio. (Check out our etsy store for great craft items!)
Next month we will launch our participation in a fundraiser for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. A worthy cause, indeed. Stay tuned for our special jewerly that will help to raise money for research.

Blowin' in the Wind

Over spring break, we took a quick road trip from Colorado to Utah to visit family. Anyone who has travelled I-80 across the western United States, knows the meaning of wide open spaces.
For miles and miles, through Wyoming and Utah, there is nothing but wide open spaces. Few houses, few buildings, no industry, no factories, no malls, no stores. Even the gas stations and rest areas are few and far between.
What occupies this stretch of highway? Tumbleweeds, antelope, coyote, sage brush, and wild grasses all populate the open prairie.
And wind.
The wind through this area is relentless. We have travelled this stretch of highway in all seasons, and all types of weather. The one common denominator is the wind. The wind can lengthen or hasten your trek, whether you have to drive with or against it. This trip we cautiously watched several semi trucks as the cross wind tilted and tipped their trailers as they sped down the highway. It was frightening.
What, you may ask, do they do with this land? In this particular part of the country, we saw very little farming. I imagine the wind would blow any seed a farmer tried to plant. Perhaps the very topsoil needed for growing also blows away. There is one type of farm that does quite well: the wind farm. seriously!
There are rows and rows of wind generators that use the energy of the wind to generate power. (see the photo). These turbines are huge! They stand in rows and rows across the prairie, like sentries standing guard, their arms rotating, fast or slow with the wind. With no buildings or cities nearby, the wind farms appear other worldly. They almost look out of place sprouting from the dry grassland below. They are impressive, to say the least.
It was interesting to see several of these farms on our trip this year. Some of the energy that we use in our home and at the art studio comes from these farms. It is good to know that some of the energy we use comes from a completely renewable, non-poluting source.

I am still not sure of the question, but I like Bob Dylan's response:

"The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,The answer is blowin’ in the wind."