Monday, January 30, 2012

Painted Sky

Got home from work this afternoon and plopped myself down and grabbed my laptop, ready to take care of a few things I'd been procrastinating about.   I was tired -- work had not been terribly busy, but let's face it,  Mondays tend to be a bit blue anyway.... ha ha. 

No one except my beloved doggies was home, and they came over and laid down near my chair, clearly unhappy that I'd chosen to sit down rather than grab the leashes.   As Hannah let out a big sigh, it hit me that they had been home, moping about, for much of the day, and what they needed was a good walk.

I didn't say a word, but went in and grabbed my camera, the leashes, and off we went. My laptop work would just have to wait. I had looked out and realized chances were good that if we hurried, we could catch the sun going down at the beach.

These are a bit color-saturated, but the clouds were truly amazing today, so I was happy I had taken my camera.  OH, and the dogs?  They couldn't have cared less about the camera OR the clouds, but they sure looked happy and satisfied when we returned home.  

                                   





Thanks for stopping  by!
♥ Jan

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Gifts from the Heart.....

I did not have nearly as much time as I'd hoped for over the past holiday season, but I did manage to squeak in some glass time! Not much....but a bit.  Any time I can do that, it's a victory for me.  I knew I wanted to give a few things to some loved ones, so I'd been thinking about some ideas and brought them to life.


This is a snow flake made for my son's girlfriend.  This was not my pattern. I found it in a book of colorful sun-catchers, but using a blue diamond, with iridescent glass along with glue chip and nuggets, sure made it look like a snowflake.    My daughter made several different designs from this book, all in glass similar to this, and gave them all away as gifts.  I think the recipients were quite pleased, from what she said.  I know my son's girlfriend seemed to like hers.

I should have gotten a better picture of it, perhaps back-lit, before I gave it away, but was running short of time and snapped these two shots before wrapping it up.  

This pattern was my design.  I drew it up one day and decided to go ahead and try and make one.  This one in particular was a gift for my niece and her family, who really like all things ROBOT.   I will for sure be making more of these, perhaps to sell to other robot fans, ha ha.  (I know you're out there.....!)

This was also my design, and I have more of these sweet seal faces to make, but out of the three I made, I gave one to my nephew and his family, and another to our dear friend, Amy, and I still have one available.   I  would like to make some in different colors, and perhaps with a patina too.  These were not really as easy as they look, but I think they came out kind of cute!

This one is a bit different than the one above.  Note the eyes are bit wider apart in this one, and it kind of changes the look about them.  I had made one before which had much longer  whiskers, but decided to clip them at the edge for longevity, ha ha.  The longer-whiskers just don't stay in place well, so I tacked them at the nose, and again at the edges of the cheeks.


Thanks for stopping  by!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Our Wildlife Adventure

Every once in a while, I get a little silly, so if you don't do "silly" you might want to skip this post.


With my two trusty sidekicks, Hannah and Blue, we set out paddling one day in our sturdy little canoe, ready for a big adventure.



Bon Voyage!


As we began our journey, we paddled out and were soon joined by playful dolphins who led us to a strange new land.  As we paddled to shore, we were greeted by seals!











What a beautiful place!  As we made our way along the path, it was clear we had arrived in an area rich in wildlife!  The lizards where everywhere, and quite large, too.  "Wow, is that an ALLIGATOR?  Watch out!!!"







Whew!  We almost met our fate in an encounter with the lurking 'gator.  Luckily, our Guardian Angel was on duty and definitely watching over us.  "Thanks, Angel!"

"Aahh, I got your back, guys."

This new land had an abundance of winged creatures, from the small to the wise, and regal!













Of course, where so many birds gather, there are bound to be predators.  Sure enough, we soon spied them lurking about, just waiting for their chance to pounce and grab a quick meal.  Watch out birdies!







Truth be known, since Hannah and Blue ARE dogs, they were naturally inclined to want to chase these lovely CATS, but as they started to approach, they heard a thundering of hooves, and narrowly escaped being trampled by this fierce, runaway stallion and dangerous, charging moose!







The dogs scurried back to my side, and were quite shaken. We then heard uncontrollable laughter coming from a near by tree when something suddenly went whizzing by our heads!  A rather large monkey was hurling bananas at us!  "Quick, run!"




Off we ran, putting distance between us and that crazed monkey, when I stumbled over a rather large rock.
"Hey, wait a minute, wasn't that rock just moving???"




"Sorry dude, I hope you're ok!  Wow, we need to get back to our canoe right away.  Come on Hannah, come on Blue, let's get out of here!"


We were quite happy to spy our canoe, but it had drifted out to sea a bit.  Thinking we may be stranded, we were just about to give up all hope when along came this friendly giant sea turtle who said to hop on his back and he would carry us out.






What a relief!  We were going home.  As we approached our canoe, we were startled when up popped this dangerous, sword-wielding pirate, yelling  "AARGH!  Give me your dog cookies!"






He was so fierce and dangerous looking!  Just when we thought he'd make us walk the plank, a silver bullet-like flash whizzed through the air, hooked the pirate, and pulled him down into the depths of the sea.  It was our friend, the barracuda, who'd heard from our Guardian Angel to be on the look-out for us and help us safely return home.  "Thanks, Barry!"






Finally, safely back in our trusty canoe, we were ready to head home.  "Hmmm, which way do we go? Is it that way, or the other way?"



"Follow me," said the mail dolphin, who suddenly appeared next to us.  "Through rain, snow, sleet, and ice, the mail must get through, and so will you!"



Whew.....it sure helps to have friends!


(Thanks for going on my crazy journey.  Until next time.  ♥  J)