ARTS & CRAFTS WEEKEND ~ !

Please join me at the Anchorage Museum

for Arts & Crafts Weekend!

Crafts Weekend is the best place to find unique,

made in Alaska treasures~! Live music & artist

demonstrations add to the festive atmosphere.

Friday & Saturday 10 to 6 pm

Sunday 12 to 5 pm

Arts & Crafts Emporium ~ Part II

Today's the last day of the Arts & Craft Emporium

at the De'aina Convention Center!

It's a beautiful show with all handcrafted art. Saturday was jam packed with

holiday shoppers & sales were fast & furious.

Thanks to everyone who stopped bye to chat & shop!

The show runs from 11 to 5 today ~ See you there!

ARTS EMPORIUM ~

Please join me this weekend for the

Arts & Crafts Emporium

at the De'naina Convention Center in

Downtown Anchorage, Alaska!

The show hours are Saturday 10 am to 6 pm & Sunday 11 am to 5 pm.

I'll be showing current work including the new red "Magic 8 Ball" platters, sterling & dichroic set rings, dinnerware, jewelry, ornaments, & more! Something for everyone on your holiday list!

Please stop bye & say "hello!"

Treasure!!

My box of Treasure arrived in the mail yesterday from Kim at Numinosity!

It was amazing how much she stuffed into a little box! Lots of cool vintage envelopes, an old 45 record (T'was the Night Before Christmas), a "Bid Recorder" that William is desperate to have, green & white checked cards (maybe from a game?) & a sweet little decoupage' box......filled with....More Treasure!!!

Here's what was inside the boy box.

A little card with the word "Prize." Also, little tart tins, an enamel buckle, glass discs & milleforie pieces, a metal piece with the word "SOLACE" stamped in the center, and some of Kim's hand made beautiful BEADS!!

Yeah! Lucky Me!!!!

Here's a shot of Kim's beads. Each one is different & unique.

These are bound for something special....

Thanks again Kim!! It was a very special give away!

Time Out ~

We're in Girdwood, Alaska for a little R & R.

My husband is here for a work retreat so William & I thought we'd hang out at the resort & have a bit of a spa retreat. However, best laid plans & all that, the spa / pool is closed for maintenance & the gondola is closed for repairs. Most of the shops are closed until after Thanksgiving. Only one restaurant in the hotel is open & a glass of wine costs $12!!!!

Typical Girdwood!

We had a second home here for 15 years & not much has changed since we sold it a few years ago. It's dark, cold & rains almost every day. Some winters there's lots of snow & some years lots of rain. I believe Girdwood is the northern most rain forest. It's beautiful in a mysterious way.

William has new x-country skis so he was itching to to go skiing ~ for his very first time! So, we put on our rain gear, waxed the skis for warm slush & headed out to Moose Meadow. You might ask why we would have rain gear with us for skiing? Well, its Alaska & the weather can change on a dime & you always need to have rain gear with you!

Tracks were set ~ it was fast & icy but he did great!

Will was a quick study. He learned how to kick & glide, turn around, push up with his poles & fall!

Yeah! Success.
Now off to Chair 5 for hot chocolate.

Bullseye Striker Red

I have a few sheets of Bullseye 1122 striker red.

It's pretty yummy glass.

This is a large charger platter ~ about 20" ~ with a full

2 inch border of dichroic glass.

The impending holidays make me pull out all the reds, golds & greens!

I think I'll do a series in this design for my two remaining retail shows.

The Wisdom of Children & Psychics

Rudi-Pa-Tuti died on October 19th & we had a ritual for her on

October 31th at 12:00 noon.

William dug a hole by her favorite peony. The one she liked to dig up near the bee hives. She always would walk right up to the hive entrance & poke her nose in the doorway. The hive would come alive with bees fanning their wings & signaling to the others "intruder!! intruder!!!"

Or so I thought....she was never stung.

On Halloween, we always have an open house for friends & family. Lots of food, witches brew, play, games & of course Trick or Treating. Jude, one of my great friends, who is more like family, said as she was leaving....

"in 6 weeks or so you'll have a new puppy."

I, of course, poo-poo'ed her! I am not getting a new puppy! For Pete's Sake!!! Rudi's ashes are barely cold under my grandmother's peony!!

The next day a friend called to ask if we wanted a puppy at Christmas as they had bred their dog & would have a litter due about that time. This friend didn't know that Rudi had died. Hmmmmm. I guess I need to eat a little crow.

Tonight, November 9th, are celebrating Big Daddy's birthday so William drew this picture for him. It's Rudi "flying to heaven in her rocket ship." As he was drawing it he said again, as he's said many times to us...." Rudi's FINE!"

She was a heavenly companion.

I don't know if she's replaceable but there might be someone

waiting for us around the holidays.

Now, I believe she is fine & it's like the song...

."There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays.'

Calling All Accordion Babes!

Looking for holiday gift ideas?

Here's one for the accordion players in your life.

It's the cool Accordion Babes Pin-Up Calendar!

Here's what Renee de la Prada, the head babe, says about the calendar;

"The 2011 Accordion Babes Album & Pin-Up Calendar is produced by independent women artists who are brave enough to squeeze the squeezebox in revealing outfits; they're also talented enough to knock your socks off. This album is WAY better than the music you usually hear on the radio; it's got folk music, roots music, jazz, some killer dance tunes...it's a delicious, eclectic and well-produced compilation album with 13 awesome bands. We even feature an artist from France this year, making it our first international issue. As for the pin-ups, you can see in the photos below that the accordion has never looked sexier."

Speaking as an accordion player & someone who purchased 12 (yes 12!!) calendars last year this is a really cool gift! I bought 12 for the members of the Anchorage Accordion Club & everyone oohed & aahed over the pictures & the CD. It was a big hit and we're not just talking accordion lovers here! One of my favorite cuts is "Blue Box Waltz" by Roxanne de Oliva.

A couple of the Anchorage Accordion Club players privately told me I couldn't give this to Father Eric. Yes, we have a priest who rocks the accordion & button box. He even has a polka mass once a year ~ how cool is that???? It would make my Mother so happy if I went to church & maybe I could actually do it once a year. Probably isn't going to happen...sorry Mom!

I hadn't even thought about the "appropriateness" of giving this to a priest because to my thinking who wouldn't LOVE this calendar??? To be honest I did get a little worried & I didn't want to offend him ~ is "offend" the correct word(?) I don't think so ...maybe "hot under the collar" is better. hee, hee! Naughty!!

The solution? More clothes for the women! Yep, a set of paper doll clothes did the trick & the Padre could make up his own mind on whether he wanted them more covered or au naturel'.

His choice ~ but I think the Goddess would want him to embrace the beauty of a women's body!

I'll be ordering more this year & maybe everyone will get a extra set of clothes / costumes! Who knows but it ended up being a really fun project & I can have William do the coloring!

Accordion Monday!

The amazing Monsters of Accordion

are on tour this December!

(click the link for tour dates & location)

If you're in Anchorage tonight

join us for the Anchorage Accordion Club gathering!

6 to 8 pm at ASE on Brayton Drive.

Click on the "Monsters" link above to

see & hear Kong play the box!

I just may need a shopping / accordion trip

to Seattle on December 15th!!

I'm A Winner!!

Yeah!

I'm a winner at Kim Roger's Numinosity Blog!

I've never won anything on-line before....

except when I got that email from an exiled

African Princess wanting to deposit 2 Mill in my checking account!

Woo-hoo...!

Anyway, thanks Kim!

I'm looking forward to my treasures.

If you need some inspiration head over to her

wonderful blog filled with creative ideas!