My glassware etching project is finally finished. I’m beginning to get a feel for the Dremel and the new diamond bits now, and my brain is busy thinking of things I can try to make for my Etsy site.
The redo of my Etsy site is ongoing, but the main thrust is done for now. I’m reading articles on suggestions for more and will do the ones I can figure out ASAP.
Our weather is still good, with the high due to be 60 this afternoon, but ice and snow are a possibility this Saturday and Sunday! I’m not ready for this!
I’m eagerly awaiting delivery of the latest paperback, “Payback in Death” in the J.D. Robb series. It is released Dec 26th, so I’m hoping for delivery soon after that. I finished rereading my whole collection yesterday and started a Grisham book last night.
We’re leaving in about half an hour to do errands. I have a boring list of to-do’s that I really should get to today (:0)).
I hope that you are having a pleasant day wherever you are today, and can schedule some fun in.
It’s sunny and 39 here right now. Not really THAT cold, but it sure SEEMS like it. The fact that the weather folks are saying we might get ice or snow this coming weekend adds to the feeling.
Chef John’s Buttermilk Biscuits – AllRecipes.com
At my husband’s request, I’m going to make some more biscuits today. I’ve only done it once before, but they were edible, and my husband really enjoyed eating some with butter and jelly, so he asked last night.
MakeMyLake – Etsy.com
I’m coming to the end of my glass etching project. I’ve learned a ton and finally found the etching tool I can use the most comfortably. Last night I found a diamond bit that worked well for me. I’m starting to get a feel for it now and look forward to using the etcher/engraver on other things in the future. I think the sample above done by MakeMyLake on Etsy is really pretty.
There is 17 pounds less of me this morning. A good start. Here’s to making it to 20 off.
I hope that you’re enjoying a really nice Tuesday.
I just texted, called, and sent carrier pigeons to all those involved, and it LOOKS like the Lunch Bunch group will do our regular Christmas gift exchange on the 22nd! Trying to reach people has become a real challenge, so I was surprised and delighted to be able to contact everyone this morning.
Sadly, it looks like Lunch Bunch – a really special event for every Friday for over 25 years now – seems to be coming to an end. My husband and I go every Friday, but have been stood up so many times lately it’s starting to get on our nerves – mostly because if LB isn’t going to meet, we would really prefer to eat a late breakfast at The Dari, but the timing is wrong for that. Time will tell, but our Christmas celebration may be the end of it.
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Otherwise, we just finished driving our trash down to the bottom of the driveway for pickup tomorrow. Since we were driving down, we got our mail and changed our mailbox decoration. This is “Pepe Le Pew and Penelope.”
This afternoon I’ll start packing the elephant ear planter full of leaves. I’ll do this every day until I can get a good, thick blanket over the plants. I also plan to work on the glassware etching.
It’s 36 and cloudy here this morning. A cold front is coming through and it’s a great day to stay inside, warm and dry. It rained lightly earlier, and I’m grateful we didn’t get ice. I’m not ready for this.
Signs By McDougall
I’m going to try to use this inside day to my advantage, working on my glassware etching. I’ve watched a few etching videos on YouTube that really get my juices flowing. They make it look really easy, but it isn’t. The jury is still out on whether what I’m doing will pass muster as Christmas gifts. I’m having a good time trying, though the process gets to my hands (particularly my thumbs for some unknown reason), so my sessions have to be short. Maybe I can get multiple sessions in today.
This is the ‘cup holder’ my husband made in our shop over the last two days. It’s stainless steel and heavy.
It fits the bottom of the glasses he likes to use perfectly. Now, when the TV tray is jostled, the liquid in the glass jostles, but the glass doesn’t fall over, spilling the drink everywhere. So far, so good!
I’ve been re-reading my collection of J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) In Death books in preparation for receiving the latest paperback in the series, Payback in Death, which I’ll get around the end of December or the beginning of January. I’m on book # 50 now, Golden in Death, and am thoroughly enjoying being in Lieutenant Eve Dallas’ world in the future.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your holiday weekend and are home safe and sound now.
It’s a beautiful fall day here in Arkansas. I’ve been whining and gritching about it being too hot or too cold, so I thought I would make a point of praising the weather today. Mother Nature’s head is ‘on straight,’ and her nose is ‘in joint,’ so the weather is truly nice. It’s 58 here right now and the high is supposed to be 77 this afternoon.
I’m trying to follow a new routine of doing something ‘significant’ outside each day, make progress on my glassware etching, do something significant in the house, and then spend time on the computer/reading/and/or listening to music – short sessions of each of these over and over throughout the day, plus do my yoga practice each afternoon in an effort to get off my rear, get things accomplished without hurting myself, and feel good about my progress each day.
Yesterday my outdoor project was to cut off the dead elephant ear stalks. I’m leaving what’s left now to dry out before cutting more. When I get them cut off at the soil level or just below, I’ll cram as many leaves as I can in the planter for the winter.
My outdoor project for today is cleaning up the raised bed square foot garden planters and covering them with tarps for the winter. I’ll at least get started with that today and see how it goes.
One of my pet peeves is rearing its head today – Daylight Savings Time. I just read a mishmash of ‘reasons’ we have it at all, and the fact that Congress can’t decide – IF they decide to stop having it – whether to keep Daylight Savings Time permanent or use Standard Time. (And we wonder why we’re in such a mess these days.) End of rant.
I hope that your day is beautiful and that you manage to cram as much fun into it as possible. :0)
In about an hour I leave for my rescheduled massage. My body is telling me, “Yes, please. THANKS.” We had to reschedule because my massage therapist was exposed to Covid and I didn’t want to risk bringing it back to my husband.
I had to change the diamond bit in my dremel for my glassware project. I had trouble, so I asked my husband to help. We thought we had it in, but I found when I tried it, it wasn’t in securely. I brought it back down and we tried everything we could figure out to do, but it just wasn’t happening.
I started to try to look for another one on the net and my husband remembered that he thought he had one in the shop. He DID, so I THINK I’m back in business. I’ll try it this afternoon. :0)
The freezes for 4 days this week have pretty well taken care of the rest of the blooming roses, irises, and elephant ears now. :0( It’s supposed to start warming up tomorrow, so I’ll try to get outside and start the clean-up/clean-out, trying NOT to grind my teeth that Mother Nature decided to take these from us at least a month early.
NBC News
My husband woke me up at 4:30 this morning, talking. After I woke up enough, he was telling me he was answering MY question, which he said was, “Who has the power?” I never did figure out what the answer to that was, or why he thought I had asked him that, but threatened him within an inch of his life if he didn’t quit talking and go back to sleep. It took me a LONG time to finally drop off again.
The view out our back door looks much like this today. 75 degrees with 91% humidity. UGH. The valley has ‘cotton’ threaded through the valleys. Surreal. The weather folks can’t decide if we’ll get rain or not. Their wise forecast is ‘Maybe.’ :0)
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The steroid shot and eye cream the vet gave Amber yesterday allowed her to calm down and sleep well. She ate with appetite and was her usual barky-take-the-world-by-storm self as I let her out this morning. She was 97 lbs at the vet’s office yesterday, and almost pulled my husband down while we were trying to get her into the office and then into a room to be seen.
We take her tomorrow morning 1st thing for the surgery to remove the knot from her leg and the fine needle aspiration of the lump in her neck. We’ll deal with the diagnosis when it comes in. The big thing RIGHT NOW is to remember to put her food bowl somewhere weird tonight after dinner so that my husband doesn’t feed her automatically in the morning before he’s fully awake. I’ll also try to get him to wear his sneakers, rather than his sandals, so that he has a bit of traction on dealing with Amber at the vet’s.
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I made a bit of progress yesterday on the glassware I’m trying to etch for my friends. Soon I’ll try to figure out more details. I’m doing the free-form etching now, and of course it looks very different from the cream-with-stencils part I’ve already done. I’m trying to decide if I want to leave the cream etching as it is or try to outline the designs with the engraving pen. Then there’s the question of whether to leave them as they are at that point or use some glass paint on them. So many decisions on a project I don’t know will ‘work…’
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Women’s Health
Shout-out to Cathy, who has finished her radiation and chemo! She sees her doc Wednesday, and meanwhile is resting and trying to eat well and regain strength. Sending lots of gentle, heartfelt hugs your way today, Girl!
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Champagne Flutes “Copper Flowers” One-of-a-kind, hand-painted pair – $41.99 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S. HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy
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And in the “Awwww – Isn’t she cute” category –
I made the first biscuits of my life yesterday! I used a recipe I found on YouTube, threw caution and intimidation to the winds and tried it. The best part is that my husband said, “These are good. I want to eat a couple tomorrow with butter and jelly.” They LOOKED right. They were edible. I DID IT! I know it isn’t cute anymore that I’ve found something ELSE I’ve never done and might suck at, but I’m patting myself on the back this morning as I type this. Can you see me grinning?
I would LOVE to have a mural like this in my home. At least I can enjoy it here with you…
It is NOT raining this morning and the sun is actually out. Of course, NOW the weather folks are warning of intense heat again. :0(
We’ll get our chores out of the way soon with gathering trash and driving it down for pickup tomorrow, getting our mails, and replenishing groceries. The rest of the day is free.
The Arkansas Democrat
We took a walk around the yard last night to get a bit of exercise and fresh air. Everything needs to be weeded. The combination of daily rains and then sun has made the weeds explode with health. EVERYTHING needs my attention. It makes me tired to even LOOK at it.
Veronika’s Kitchen
Yesterday I did one of our grilling recipes, but INSIDE, since our weather has been so unpredictable. I fixed kielbasa, onions, potatoes, broccoli and tomatoes as a kind of stir fry. It was a nice change and we enjoyed it.
If the stars align, I’m thinking of getting up to my art room for at least a short time today to get things going on the Christmas presents I want to make for my friends this year. I’m planning to try to etch some drinking glasses, personalizing each one. We’ll see how things go.
Have a wonderful Monday. Make this the start of a happy, calm, productive week. Take care!
I tried DRAWING the design on the glass with white, then black, and neither one was working. I finally just grabbed the dremel and started using it freehand, outlining the designs I’ll fill in later.
This is hard to see. I put a sheet of carbon paper inside the vase, hoping the designs would show up well enough for you to see what I’m trying to do here.
This project will take a long time to do. I’ll only do a bit at a time, since working with the dremel is difficult for me. It’s tedious and must be done over and over to show up well on the glass. I’ll post pictures as an area is finished.
I haven’t done this in a long time, so I’m having a good time. I like not having a deadline, or someone depending on it.
Yesterday I told you that I thought I had maybe two more leaf bags of things to donate to the Veterans Thrift Store and then I could begin cleaning and organizing. I filled both bags and am still going – if not STRONG – still going.
Something nice is happening, though, as I go through things.
For awhile I was sad because I seemed to be shedding ‘who I was,’ as well as ‘stuff.’ It was hard for me to give anything away. I might need it for something….
Now I’m actually making some good decisions on what I really enjoy doing, and would like to continue doing. An example of this is painting glassware. I’m thinking of new things to do, new designs to try. We have a sand blaster in the shop and I’m looking forward to ‘frosting’ some designs I cut out, plus I find I really enjoy trying to etch the glass with my little dremel tool. I would like to watch some YouTube videos of someone who knows what they’re doing and then see what I can do.
Once I decide that I no longer really need to do an art form, I find lots of supplies and tools to give away. I’m actually feeling freer – eager to get things organized so I can play again. I’m hoping to gather the last of the donations from the art room finished by the end of the week, if not before, so I can then figure out where I want to put things. Meanwhile, I have several fun ideas rattling around in my head – giving me motivation to keep on keepin’ on!
creativeartworksblog 