Works From the Attic by Linda

Sometimes inspiration for my work comes from the most interesting places. This piece is special to me in many ways. It was inspired by the brilliant colors of the Dr. Suess movie "The Lorax". It is made with custom beads designed by Laura Lee with some ruby red velvet crystals for the extra sparkle. It is wire wrapped by hand with Tibetan silver. I can't thank Laura Lee enough for helping me bring my vision to life! Thank you for looking and I hope everyone has a Happy Holiday Season! ~Linda

  It is always nice to get away for a while. We took a little journey in September to our favorite wine country. There is a great B&B that we stay at each year. Of course, the most important part of the journey is to reconnect with the water. We miss living along the shore and watching the sunset over the water in the evening.   This past year has been one of many changes in our lives. We have learned to treasure those we love and not take one moment for granted.  

You Know You Have A Large Cat When... Cricket is one of our cats. She and her brother Shadow are spoiled as any good cat lover would spoil their "babies". Shadow is short haired and smaller than his sister. Cricket has long hair, very long hairy "toes" with the temperament of a rag doll cat. She never thinks anything is too small for her to venture into. Being a Pica kitty she loves boxes. She will try her best to cram her long body into the smallest of boxes but we have found that DirecTV boxes are perfectly sized for her. We put little cuts in the corners and bend the edges down for chin rests.  If she isn't on her favorite chair, she is in the DirecTV box. Hubby is making Cricket a custom cat tree that will give her multiple levels to climb on while allowing the levels to be large enough to accommodate her length. We looked at everything at the pet stores and nothing works for her so a custom tree is the way to go. She has her perches in front of ...

This is my grandson's birdhouse. He won a blue ribbon on it last year at the fair because it was the only "truly functional" birdhouse entered. This is the fourth family of birds born in this birdhouse since last year. If they ever stop using it we will take it down and clean it. As you can see (just barely) from the photo, Mother bird is feeding her baby. I am so proud of my grandson every time I look at this birdhouse in my garden. It was the first thing he built and even though it would have looked spectacular with paint on it, it would no longer be considered a functional birdhouse according to the Wildlife Conservation rules which we followed. He put a lot of work into this and already has another one built to enter this year. I'm hoping for another blue ribbon for him! My garden had been a bit neglected this year due to all my tests, appointments and surgeries. The post-concussion syndrome and all the anesthesia certainly isn't helping mat...

Happy Memorial Day My father served in the Korean War. These are some photos he took while serving his country. He served at the 8057th AU Replacement Depot. There are so many who serve our country every day and rarely are recognized. Today we had our annual Memorial Day parade in town. I was surprised at how many people didn't know how to pay their respect to those who have served our country.   I hope that everyone takes some time out to remember what this holiday is about.   Thank you to all who have served our Country! ~Linda  

Don't you just love the sunshine? My two little angels sure do! I'd be lost without them. It has been a while since I posted on my blog. Things have been hectic between mom and the in-law's and a few upcoming "trunk show's" that are on the calendar. My grandson started baseball, the first game was played in the rain, but wet clothes and all, it was great to watch! He really loves sports. He did extremely well in basketball this past season. He made 11 baskets! Not bad for his first season. The upcoming shows have kept me hopping. It takes a while to build up a good inventory with a nice mix of things. The good thing is that jewelry is selling!  Thank you to my loyal customers! The bad thing is that it keeps me from laying in the sunshine and just soaking it in. I suppose it is okay since I am fair-skinned and abhor peeling skin! I try to take some things out on the patio to work on in the late afternoon as the sun is shielded from the patio when it ...

Lori Anderson is giving away an awesome package of DVD's by David Plumlee! These are awesome video's! Here is her link http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2012/03/incredible-chain-maille-tutorial.html Hmmm...should I tell her that April 1st is my birthday?? ~wink~ Have a sunny day! Linda

Deryn has the most amazing contest going on to promote the new video "The Art of Closure". Run and check it out, the deadline is today! http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/jewelry_works/the-art-of-closure.html

It is sometimes so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle that you forget to take the time to stop and realize what is important in life. This past year has been a difficult year for my family but yesterday, we celebrated something that was very important and certainly something that makes you stop and take into account what is important in life. I suppose no story is complete without a little history so I will provide a little back-story here. Sixty-five years ago, my in-laws Vince, now 90 years old; and Catherine, now 88 years old; decided to marry. They had wanted to get married on Valentine's Day. At the time, the Catholic Church would not marry anyone on a Friday and Valentine's Day was on a Friday that year. Realizing that the wedding was more important than the date itself, they married on Saturday the 15th. Last year my mother-in-law was placed in a nursing home for Alzheimer patients after having suffered a blood clot and other medical problems. It ...