Getting Grounded into the New Year...Hopefully!

Hatch chiles and me in New Mexico

Merry Ristras!

You know me and my utility covers!

I needed a warning that I might run my ass off during the holidays.

What a whirl it's been.

I got to meet some cool artist types that I admire.

Check out Elizabeth Frank's amazing painted carvings/assemblage pieces with a distinctly southwest flair.

She has an Etsy shop too.

We're looking forward to some play time together one day.

And I got to meet this lovely lady too at her home in Santa Fe.

Yes, chiles were involved as we were treated to a wonderful meal including Bloody Mary's at my request.

You may already know her as Darlicious Rejuvenations  or Darlene of DarliciousHouse on Etsy

I have a heck of a time keeping up with this partner and I'm a little tuckered out with the running and playing we've been doing.

(I've got my son visiting with his new camera and he was trying out some action shots)

I thought this one was wonderfully ridiculous and I'm not jumping very high...notice the hot pack around my neck...kind of lame, literally.

Then we tried some with my camera, that's the most action I could manage but at least I don't look quite so stressed from concentration in this one.

No, this isn't Alaska... this is effin' southern Arizona!

...and it still hasn't totally melted yet.

That there is supposed to be out view of Mexico.

I instagramed it to make it look like someone's nostalgic childhood memory.

Now for the good stuff... I have been utilizing the wonderful Petra's ceramic bits as I have somehow managed to carve out a few hours of time between the visiting and the visitors and too much funnedness of the holidays or else I may go cray-cray.

Those are her elephant skin beads peaking out from under my  torch fired enamel bits.

You prob can't tell but those are some itty bitty headpinny bits of mine. 

lemme know if they are up your alley and I can make some more sets.

So these got me excited... I was actually trying to make them into orbby blobbly lucious fruit-hanging bits  butthe glass started to get away from me and I smashed it down and now they are smashed sideways all button like and I must say I rather like them and they have a multicolored sheen from the Bella Donna frits I've been experimenting with.

Oh, and swoon on this new color for me appropriately called "ghee" with some extra frit sheen

This glass is called peaches and cream and with a little raku frit They serve up quite nicely.

Petra's dangles and coral and acoupla transparent beadcaps.

All they need is some earwires now.

I got the coral in my stocking. See not coal, coRal.

We went to this great hot springs before Christmas because I thought it apropros to have our end of the world celebration in a place called Truth or Consequences. 

what a great soak and stay we had at La Paloma Hot Springs and Spa

I would recommend it highly.

Oh, I kind of wandered there. I saw the coral beads in a little shop in that town and requested them as a stocking stuffer.

These still need some wires as you can see

Dichro sparklies

Bella Donna sheen action

We're staring off shiny this year as you can see.

High-grading my own supplies again. 

NKP beads and some vintage bits

More Petra-iffic components

ScorchedEarthOnEtsy

More NKP beads with my criffles

I finished this one earring, one more to go.

After this we have more visitors (family) and a few days trip to Mexico and then to Maine after that so if I don't get much posted send me calming, peaceful grounded thought and wishes.

My super fun retired life is about to wear me out and I could use a few of those solitary summer days in Alaska again.

I almost forgot to share my new resolution to do more journaling and I collaged 4 pages already.

I think this reflects how busy I've been feeling.

I chose the word "seed" as a journal prompt for the year.

This was a two page spread in silver and gold

Happy New Year to you all!

XOXO, Kim

Getting Into the Mode

It seems like I've been too busy to blog practically since I got down to our Southern home.
I guess I've been focusing on getting back in shape now that I can enjoy warm temperatures again.
Between walking, hiking and going to the gym with a bit of yoga thrown in it seems that I haven't been creating as much, at least not blogging about it anyway. I guess I'm still kind of adjusting to the move.


I did get few sessions in at the torch. I keep thinking that my tank is about to run out of oxygen since it's zeroed out but now I'm beginning to wonder if my regulator went kaflooey while we were absent the last 7 months. To be safe I've only been making smaller beads so I won't be cut short in the middle of one I'm making.

I've been enjoying some hiking around here. Plenty of inspiration abounds.

In the Dragoon Mountains of southern Arizona

Finding balance in the Dragoons

It's a funny kind of Christmas spirit for me living down here. Being a northern girl through and through it takes a bit of extra effort in short sleeves and sandals to make the Christmas charm come alive.   Seeing everyone's posts about their sales and creating makes me a bit wistful but I really left the selling season behind me in Alaska with all of my inventory too.

    

Our house is fully decorated and bedecked with lights and most of my gift-giving happened before I left the northland. It's kind of freeing but I really feel as if I should be doing something, promoting my wares somehow. I think I'll get over it and realize that I don't need to pressure myself to be in sales mode and actually can relax and enjoy the season. 

It's all in finding that balance of fitness, relaxation and creativity for me at the moment.

I think the holiday will shine its light on me just perfectly!

Pretty Exalted Girl and Benign Girl

Kind of a funny Christmas this year. We're rather far from our family members and our local friends are out of town. We had our festivities already with a party over the weekend. My friend Rosalie surprised me with a gift of an antique porcelain doll head which was funny because she hadn't read my blog and and we were out of touch enough for her not to have any idea that I had begun collecting them. When I showed her the collection she then lavished me with several more pieces!

We took a jaunt out to our new property on a fine sunny day, exploring the nearby trashed out shack and found the most wonderful pile of partially painted and nicely rusted metal tiles that will make perfect little canvases for altered art pieces.

When I find myself in new places for the holidays I like to create new traditions. Last year

we had stopped in the border town of Douglas. My favorite thing is to go through the Mexican style dollar stores that have mariachi music blasting out on the sidewalks and throngs of people that have come over the border for their Christmas shopping. Two thirds of the license plates on the street seemed to be from Sonora. It was on our way home so I suggested that we stroll through again this year.

Rosalie and I got such a kick out of "Pretty Exalted Girl" doll that we each couldn't resist buying one.

The funny thing is that most of the goods are from China but they don't have the typical dollar store assortments. I just couldn't resist a couple of these 99 cent toys with their botched translation labels. I'm sure I'll find a use for the Mother Mary earrings in some project or another.

We finished our festive jaunt in the Saddle and Spur Tavern of the historic Gadsden Hotel.

Christmas Give-Away from NuminosityBeads

I've decided to do a Christmas giveaway to help my little pinpoint of light in the blogoshpere to radiate outwards just a speck more and promote readership and involvement to spur me on to sharing ever more of my creative process. So it will become a literal sharing of my work if you are the lucky winner.

What I'd like to propose is that anyone that posts a comment on each of my posts thus far will be eligible for one of my Christmas ornaments similar to the ones in my last post. ( I have several more as well) If you become a follower you are also eligible for the second prize which is a box of Trader Joes's Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels. Current followers are already eligible for second prize.

Prizes will be randomly and fairly drawn from a hat by my unbiased and unbribable husband.

I will need to contact you for an address if you are a winner.

Drawing will take place on Dec 9th.

Ornamentality

I've been holding on to these madeleine molds for awhile now. I was thinking along the lines of some Our Lady of Guadelupe shrines but instead I opted to make these Christmas ornaments.

The tins I picked up in an antique shop in Maine on one of my forays while visiting the folks.

They're nicely tarnished and bear the stamp Made in Germany. I had picked up a book at a thrift store with some great plates of reproductions of stained glass from the Chapel of Konigsfelden in Switzerland from the early fourteenth century. I allowed myself to cut up some of the smaller images. the larger plates I saved for reselling or bigger projects. I also had some Christmas cards that I had picked up at a thrift store here that I used. Now all I need to do to finish up is to put some hangers on them and they'll be ready to go.