Merry Christmas

Hey everyone, I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  This will be the last post this year and it is all abut catch up!

Back on December 3rd the Inchie world tour stopped in Chile.  I found out something cool about Chile.  Herman Melville wrote the book Moby Dick from an encounter with a huge white whale off the coast of Chile!

So that became a challenge for me to try and show a ship, and a great whale at sunset all in an inchie.  I feel like I did a great job on this one.  Hope you like it.

I know that this is a grey whale but with the ship being white I did not want to make a white whale as well (I actually forgot that the whale was white, don't tell anyone LOL)

Then, on the 10th the world tour stopped in Montenegro.  I was really inspired by the fact that Montenegro means Black Mountain.  The country was named after the iconic black mountains.

On the 17th the World Tour stopped in Poland.  So much culture in Poland to talk about, Arts, entertainment, food!  But the one thing that I decided to do was the folk art.  Their repetitive patterns and shapes are a favorite of mine.

Then on the 24th the World tour did it's last stop in Sweden.  One of the cool things I have always heard about Sweden is the Ice hotel.  As someone who lived in the Frigid North for 30 years I can not understand the desire to stay in an Ice hotel!

The pictures are amazing and I love the look, just one request; can you make it 75 degrees please!  LOL.  Here is my inchie version of an igloo/ice hotel.

Lastly, I finally finished a pattern that I have been working on for months.  Back when my daughter was a kid there was a toy called a Sea Wee baby.  So I made one similar to that.

That is it for me this year.  I can't believe that the year is over.  Sadly next year is looking like it is going to be way more busy than this year was so I gave decided to bow out of EIM.  I have thought long and hard about it.  I have been doing inchie for 6 years and it has made me a better designer and made me think outside the box so much more than I already did.  But I can't commit to something that I just know that I will not have time to do anything with.  But I want to encourage anyone who wants a great artistic challenge to fly on over to EIM and check out the weekly challenges over there.

 I hope that everyone has had a great Christmas surrounded by family, friends, joy and love.  Have a happy and safe New Year and a blessed and creative 2019.

2 Weeks To Be Thankful For

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well.  Last week was Thanksgiving here in America and I was so busy that I did not take time to do my inchie.  I got to have 2 Thanksgiving Dinners.  A traditional one with my daughter and her friends, and a non traditional one with my son, his girlfriend and one of his friends.  Both were great because I really did not have to cook!  Nice!

This weekend I have been trying to work on some earrings to sell in town, earrings that have the colors of our local school so I have just gotten done with this weeks inchie.  Both are done and I am caught up (for now!) 

So let's get to it.  Last week's inchie world tour landed in Denmark.  So many great things about Denmark to talk about that I decided to go to one thing that is actually becoming a huge deal here in the states.  Cannabis, here many states are starting to legalize it for medical purposes.  But in Denmark there is a district, Christiania or Freetown Christiania.  It was an abandoned military base that in 1971 was taken over by some "hippies".  Ever since then it has been popular as a "Green Light District"  where "pot" or Marijuana is legal.  Even though it isn't legal in the rest of the city. 

So I decided to use that as my inchie.  What a controversial issue from a country that my uninformed mind felt that Denmark was above.  I know that might sound weird but sometimes you think about a different country and in your minds eye you see it totally different than it might actually be and I see Denmark as a country of sweet, gentle, well mannered people who don't know how to commit crime, much less smoke pot!  Haha!  That is what I get for assuming.

This week the Inchie world tour stops in Cyprus.  I really did not know much about Cyprus.  I knew it was an island off of Greece...and that is about it!  But when I looked it up I found out about love.  Apparently Aphrodite was born in Cyprus.  I am all for love so for this week's inchie I made a heart because what is love without a heart?

That is it for me this week.  I will hopefully (fingers crossed) be back next Monday with next weeks inchie, until then have a blessed and  creative week my friends. 

The Austria Effect.

Hey everyone, This is going to be kinda short.  I had a long weekend filled with long drives.  I would like to give a belated Veterans Day to all of the Vets out there.  God bless all of you for the sacrifices that you have made for me and my family so we can be free. 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday they world tour stops in Austria.  There is so much to say about Austria.  But one thing that I thought was interesting was that the Doppler Effect was invented by an Austrian physicist Christian Doppler!   How cool is that! 

I mean we always hear about Doppler radar with regards to the weather but it is more than that.  It is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to the observer who is moving relative to the wave source.  Or to put it in non-scientist terms; Doppler effect causes a car engine or siren to sound higher in pitch when it is approaching then when it is receding. 

So I decided that I would do an inchie that represented the sound waves. 

Also this week I had a bit of time to do some beadwork besides my inchie and I did a charm from my pattern stash.  The pattern is one that I have had for some time and forgot to write down the author of the pattern so if anyone knows who designed it please let me know so that I can give them the credit they deserve.  This little yellow geisha (that is what I am calling her) has been on my beading bucket list for a long time and last week with so many Dr appointments and stuff going on I got to work on her.  I think she is adorable!  What do you think?

That is it for me this week.  It is getting closer to Thanksgiving and I am super happy about that. This year I wont be cooking, (maybe a little bit...., maybe) and I am looking forward to it even though it is over a week away lol. 

There is a lot to be thankful for and I feel that we forget that sometimes.  So to all those who are going through tough times, just know that you are stronger than you know and this too shall pass.  God bless everyone and I hope that you all have a blessed and creative week.

Honduras on Time

Hey everyone, I hope that daylight savings time has not messed everyone up too much.  I think it caused me to be overly chefly.  I cooked a bunch on Saturday and that will probably be all I do for the week haha.

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stops in Honduras.  Honduras is a small country that runs on agriculture.  One of my favorite things come from there.  Coffee!  YESSSS!  I wish I had thought of that for this weeks inchie but instead I kinda blanked everything out about Honduras, so I just decided to make an inchie of the Honduras flag.

Also last week I finished another race from Yes.fit and I got the medal last Thursday.  This one meant a lot to me as it was my late husbands favorite painting.

Here is all my metals on the wall.

That is it for me this week.  I have not had time to do much.  I have decided to set aside my special project for now and work on something I have been wanting to do for about a year.  It is something that I will be doing for next year, but I have to do a lot of research now so it will be ready for next year.

Have a blessed and creative week my friends.  Love and respect one another.

A Leaning in Italy and Jazz in Belgium

Hey everyone it seems this year is an every 2 weeks post kinda thing!  But I am still here just moving a bit slower lol. 

Last week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme was Italy.  With so much amazing food, architecture and artist I decided to go with something that melded 2 of those things.  My inchie doesn't look too great but I decided to do a take on the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It is a beautiful feat of architecture and it is so beautifully artistic looking!  How can you go wrong?  (well you can go wrong by doing it in beads!  LOL)

This week the EIM world tour landed in Belgium.  So much to talk about with Belgium; chocolate, diamonds and castles; and music!  Did you know that the saxophone was invented in Belgium by Adolphe Sax!  That was amazing for me to hear.  I have always loved the Saxophone!  I always wanted to learn to play it.  So of course I had to make a saxophone as my inchie.  This one was a joy to bead up. 

It is a bit cartoonie but I wanted to get it all in an inch and this was the best way to do it. 

Lastly, I would like to show my support and send prayers to the people and their families who were affected by the Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  God bless everyone and have a blessed and creative and safe week my friends.

Dancing in Spain and Argentina

Hey everyone, I am again doing a twofer!  I spent last week getting ready for a trip up north to see my family.  Then the weekend up there and back in a few days.  Spent this last weekend freezing because while I was up north my HVAC system decided to be bad and go on the fritz!  So now I have to wait until there is no rain for the service man to come by and fix it! 

But all that aside, I did take some time tonight to catch up.  Last week's Every Inchie Monday world tour stopped in Spain.  So many things to design for Spain.  But I really love dancing.  Dance is completely a love language.  It is so beautiful to see people dressed up and moving so gracefully.  So for Spain I decided to design one of the dances that Spain is known for, The Flamenco. 

Dance is also front and center for this weeks Stop on the Inchie world Tour.  Argentina, one of the most beautiful dances, the Tango.  I love watching the tango.  So beautiful, emotional and expressive.  I just had to try to do the dance justice.  I will say that this weeks inchie is much better looking than last weeks LOL.  This is just a close up of the man and woman in the dance.

That is it for me this week.  Let's hope that I get to have time to post again next week LOL.  Check out the rest of the great artwork over at EIM.  Have a warm, blessed and creative week my friends.

Hello Kitty Loves Hockey!

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by this week.  I missed you all last week but I was busy helping my daughter move out. 

I missed last weeks World tour stop over at Every Inchie Monday, which was in Canada.  Canada is well known for inventing Hockey.  I am also well known for loving hockey!  So of course I had to put both together. 

For this inchie I used the Canadian flag with hockey sticks and a hockey puck.  That is what they are supposed to look like, lol. 

This week EIM world tour makes a stop at Taiwan.  The one thing that I know about Taiwan is that Hello Kitty is from Taiwan!  Who doesn't love Hello Kitty?!?  I remember when I was little my mom got me this little clear plastic bag and inside it had a small, I mean really small white pencil and some Hello Kitty paper, envelopes and stickers.  It was my favorite thing!  I was probably 7 years old.  I kept it forever.  When my daughter was little she loved Hello Kitty just like I did.  So I just had to make Kitty as my inchie.  Squeee! 

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great artwork over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends. 

It's All Malta to Me.

Hey everyone thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  This one is going to be a quick one.  Just got my inchie.  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stops at Malta. 

Malta is a tiny island, just 121 square miles.  I am sure the bulk of towns in the US are bigger than Malta.  But there is over 425,000 people there.  That sounds kinda crowded to me. 

I really did not know what to do for Malta so I went with the flag of Malta.  Its a red and white flag with a grey cross in the corner, so that is what I did, lol. 

Not to much to look at, but that is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great inchie artwork over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.

New Zealand and a Special Project

Hey everyone this one is going to be pretty quick.  I am running behind, (SHOCK, I know!)  Earlier today, without knowing it I accidentally threw my keys in the trash.  I realized 8 hours later when I got off work and couldn't find my keys!  So 50$ (for a locksmith) and 2 hours later I was finally home and using my spare keys.  The keys could all be replaced but unfortunately I had a name plate with my name on it that my sister gave me when I was a teenager, I have kept it on my keys ever since and I actually cried when I realized that it was gone forever. 

But, enough of that, now onto some prettyness!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stops at New Zealand.  One thing that I thought was pretty cool for such an out of the way place was that 5% of the worlds population lives there!  That is pretty crazy I thought, so I made it into an inchie.

Also this week I wanted to show my slow progress on my special project.  I really don't know what to call it yet.  I have a few thoughts but I have not narrowed it down yet but here it is, so far!

Well, I did say this was a short post so that is it for me this week, take care and have a blessed and creative week my friends.  

Croatia Wins!

Hey everybody, thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  I have been waiting for this weeks stop on the Every Inchie Monday world tour.  Croatia may not sound like the best place in the world to stop on a world tour but when I was researching Croatia I found out the coolest thing.  Croatians love to break world records!  It is like a country-wide thing for them.  25 records have been broken by them and was what I based my inchie on. 

Think of this, you decide that an arena in Pula, Croatia needs to dress it up a bit and decide that the one way to do that is to make a tie to fit around the arena.  A tie that measures 2,650 ft!  Wow!  I would not want to have to knot that tie!  LOL  Check it out.  Those little dots in the square are people!! 

This awesome picture is the inspiration for my inchie.  I have to say this inchie gave me fits, 2 count them 2 beads broke and I had to replace them after I had already beaded past them.  But I am happy I got it done.  I really love this one, it is a simple close up of a knotted tie and white shirt but it makes me smile since it represents the picture above.  What do you think?

Also this week I made a pair of earrings for my adopted daughter.  These are so pretty and they make me wish I still had my ears pierced.  I love the color combo as well.  She picked out the design and colors. 

That is it for me this week.  I am still trying to work on my special project that I posted a few months ago.  But I have been plagued with shoulder pain and have not having had the time to get to it as much as I wanted.  Thanks for stopping by this week and don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great artwork about Croatia.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends. 

Peace and Light!

Hey everyone, I have been really trying to get back to weekly posts but last week I had a family event to go to that kept me away all weekend.  So this weekend I got busy catching up with my inchies.  I was really looking forward to doing these 2 inchies so I am glad I got to them.

First off, last week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stopped in Jordan.  I was not sure what to do for Jordan until I found out a really cool bit of information about Jordan.  It is one of only 2 countries that have made peace with Israel.  How cool is that!  Also, how sad is that?!?  I really wish there was peace everywhere but until that day comes along maybe we can look at Jordan and Egypt and their deal to be at peace with Israel. 

So for my inchie I decided to put a peace symbol in front of the colors of the flag of Jordan. 

I really love the look of the colors together.  What do you think?  Now this week the world tour stops in Iceland.  I love that Iceland is more like Greenland than Iceland but one thing that I found interesting about Iceland is that you can see the Northern Lights 8 months out of the year.  That would be sooooo cool!

For someone who loves colors and mixing all my colorful beads together the Northern Lights are a joy to be able to bead!  So of course I did! 

This may be hard to see but I used 7 different colors in my inchie!  Yay, color!!!!  LOL.  That is it for me this week.  I am super excited for next weeks inchie so I will see you then.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other great artwork over there and have a blessed and creative week my friends. 

Portugal, oh Man!

Hey everybody, thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  I have had a very busy weekend.  My adopted daughter came in from Arizona and she and my daughter celebrated birthdays this weekend; 12th and 13th respectively.  We have had a great time laughing, eating, talking, and eating!  My sides have hurt from all the giggles!  If only that could make me lose weight!  haha!

I did take some time to work on my inchie this week, which ends up being very timely.  Since the girls are together they have had some bottles of wine with friends.  What does that have to do with the inchie theme this week?  I will get to that in a minute. 

First off, this week the world tour stops in Portugal.  My first thought was the rock band Portugal, The Man.  But I was not really sure I could figure something out for them.  So I looked into Portugal and found out that Portugal produces 50% of the cork in the world.  So without Portugal, the girls wine bottles would be very sad.  Even though I designed this pattern back in January before my adopted daughter even decided to come to Arkansas, I think it was really meant to be!  HAHA. 

So for my inchie I decided to design the top of a wine bottle with the cork still in it. 

I also have to say that even though I don't drink,  I love wine corks because I like to bead around them for Christmas ornaments. 

Well, that is it for me this week, don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great places we visit and the artwork that we have done.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends. 

Two Weeks and Counting!

Hey everyone, I am back!  Ha!  I have been taking time to make sure that I am beading again.  It is good to be back! 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stops at China.  A country like China, with all it's rich history is hard to nail down to one inch but I decided to go to something that ended up changing the world.  Fireworks!! 

Fireworks were originally invented in 9th Century China.  Such a beautiful thing that ended up changing the world in many beautiful and violent ways.  Funny thing is, they invented fireworks to scare off evil spirits.  I just think that is ironic. 

Anyways, here is my inchie.  I do love the pops of color, pffft! 

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great art over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends, and thanks for stopping by.

Didya Miss Me 2.0??

Hey everybody, have you missed me?  I missed you all!  Between being busy and hurt I have not had the time to do much of anything! 

Let me explain.  I have been going to a chiropractor for my shoulder only to find out that it is my neck that is the problem (again)!  I have bone spurs on 4 of my neck vertebrae, and my neck is curving so it all has to be straightened out!  Not sure if you all remember but back in 2016 I was going to physical therapy for my neck.  Well, it did not seem to take!  ARG! 

Because of going to the Chiro I have not been feeling like beading.  To add to that I no longer have a kitchen/craft table.  So I don't have a place to bead.  ARG!!! 

Despite all that I have managed to get caught up.  YAY!!!  So here we go, let's play a game of catch up, shall we!

Back on July 2 the theme over at Every Inchie Monday was Mongolia.  I was really excited for this one because if the story is true then I have to thank the Mongolian Horsemen for inventing ice cream!  God bless them!!!!  Ice cream is my go to indulgence.  (I actually ate some before writing this post lol) I love, love, love ice cream!  The story goes that the Mongolian Horsemen created ice cream when they carried cream in animal intestines as part of their food stocks and the cold weather mixed with the galloping of the horses created ice cream!!!  So this is my homage to Mongolia.  YUM!

 On the ninth the theme was Finland.  One thing that I found out about Finland that I thought was interesting was that Finland drinks the most coffee in the world!  WHAT, you mean America loses again!  Sheesh.  I really expected that we would have won that one.  I mean where else would people love coffee so much that they are willing to pay $6 for a cup of coffee?  Apparently the answer is Finland!

On the 16th the theme was Mexico.  In Mexico many people wear something called a serape.  It is a colorful blanket that can be worn like a shawl.  Many Men wear them and I have owned a couple of them in my life.  So I decided to design my inchie with the colorful lines of a contemporary serape. 

Last week was a great place to visit.  Norway!  With all the Norse Gods, Vikings and lore I just had to make a Viking ship.  There was a lot of detail on this one.  Glad it came out like it did.

This week's world tour stop is Brazil.  I was going to do the statue of Jesus but it just did not translate like I wanted to so I went with the flag of Brazil. 

Whew! that is it for me this week!  I do hope that I will be back next week.  I am glad that I was finally able to post these all.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends and take care of yourselves.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great works of art over there.

Quick one this week.

Hey everybody, welcome to the nest this week, I'm glad that you stopped by!  I have only 2 things to show off this week, but one of them makes me very happy.

First up is the fastest stop on the Every Inchie Monday world tour.  This week we find ourselves in South Africa. When I think of South Africa I think about the land and all the trees, plants and mountains; like Table Mountain.  It's one of the oldest mountains in the world.   But the one thing I am always drawn to about South Africa is that there was apartheid.  For nearly 50 years it was the rule of the land.   But the African National Congress fought against it.  Eventually causing its leader Nelson Mandela to be imprisoned.  He was in prison for 27 years before being released.  Once apartheid was repealed he became the first black president of South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was a beloved leader and humanitarian.  So I decided to do him as my inchie.  I took an outline of his face that I saw a few years ago in a game on my phone and used it for my inchie.  I think it looks like him but you might just have to take my word for it lol.

I did mess up on this one and broke a bead. I means to put the visible thread on the back side but that didn't work out as you can see it above his ear.  But I still like how the colors came out.

Also this week I decided to show off my newest piece that I am working on.  I am really pumped about the design.  It has a lot of meaning to it which I will get to another time but for now this is the basic blue print idea that I am going with.  I can say that there will probably be a few panic attacks related to this project lol.  Mostly because it will be moving me out of my symmetrical comfort zone.  Many parts of this are asymmetrical and if you have followed my blog for some time you know I am all about symmetrical design.

Despite all that I am still super excited for this project to get started.  Take a look and let me know what you think.

This is going to be a big project the grey beaded outline is 11x16" and the colors represent a vague outline of where the beads will be going.

There are 5 ox bone cabs in this and 8 gemstone cabs as well.  I will get into more of it when I get more time.

That's it for me this week.  I also won't have any links in this blog as I am doing it on my tablet and not my laptop.

Have a blessed and creative day my friends and don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great works over there.

Did Ya Miss Me??

Hey everyone!  It has been a few weeks since I last posted.  So much has been going on!  We have had to have some work done on the house and I have had some pain from my shoulder.  Not to mention a few other things going on that I will talk about later on in this post. 

I have been so behind on my beadwork because of my shoulder pain that it has taken me just about all week to do my inchies.  By then it is usually to late to post them, or I have been so busy with the work on the house that I have just not posted. 

I am really behind on my temperature necklace.  I also have started to work on the "special project" that I am doing.  But that is going pretty slowly.  Here is the first piece to it.  This is the first time I have ever done Bead embroidery.  I am having fun with it for sure.   What do you think about my feather?

Now to get caught up on my inchie travels.  On June 4th Every Inchie Monday's world tour landed in Vatican City.  I do think it is pretty cool that a City is actually a country all it's own.  There are so many things to do for Vatican city, so many ways to take the theme.  But one thing that I did notice in all the pictures that I saw were the Swiss guards.  They have been protecting the Pope since 1506!  What a long standing job, and such fancy clothes!  I just could not stop looking at the colors of the clothes.  What brave fashion forward men!  So that is what I did for the inchie.

The next week's theme (6.11.18) was Ireland.  I really did not know what to do for Ireland and finally went with a clover.  Nothing really spectacular, but still, it could be used as an earring pattern.

Now, that gets me all caught up to this weeks theme.  This week EIM is landing in Japan.  From a design standpoint Japan is so rich with ideas.  Way to many for my brain to process.  So I went with one thing that I really think is cute and works great in beads.  Kawaii!  I have to admit that I really enjoy the design style of Kawaii.  The big eyes and cute faces, how can you not love them?!?  I decided to mix Kawaii with another thing that Japan is known for; Sushi.  I think this inchie is cute but also I think he looks a bit angry.  Probably because he makes me hungry!  Haha!

That is it for me this week, except to mention that these last few weeks have also been hard because my little Chorkie has been getting sick.  She was over 10 years old when we got her back in 2012 and she was my little girl.  My Katygirl, I called her.  She passed over the rainbow bridge this morning.  I am really saddened but I know that she had a great life and she was very loved.  She has left a hole in our family.  She was such a shy dog that it was hard to find pictures of her, but here is a fun one where she is wearing a pink cowboy hat.

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the artwork over there.  Have a blessed and creative week and hug your babies and furbabies!

Memorial Day and Happiness!

Hey everyone!  Thanks for visiting me this beautifully HOT day!  First off, I would like to say Happy Memorial day and God bless all our military and all they do to keep us safe all over the world! 

Because of the holiday this will (hopefully) be a short post.  This week I started working on a new project.  I am not sure how it will end or what all will be part of it, but I am enjoying having the creative juices flowing and working out all the little details. 

I did take some time out of that to continue on the Every Inchie Monday world tour.  This week we land in South Asia in the Eastern Himalayas, to a small country named Bhutan.  For being a small isolated country they are one of the happiest in the world.  That is what they are best known for.  As a matter of fact the King measured the country not in "Gross National Product", but by "Gross National Happiness"!  How cool is that!  Wouldn't it be great to think about life in levels of happiness instead of finances? 

That made such an impression on me that I just had to smile.  Literally! 

That is it for me this week, (like I said a short post!)  I hope that you all have a blessed and creative week and that you all find your Gross National Happiness as well!  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great artwork over there.

Lithuania and a Lost Pattern.

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  Summer is here and I am enjoying the warmer weather but not the ticks!  They can go AWAY, thank you very much!

So, before it gets too hot lets get this blog on!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Lithuania.  Lithuania is in Europe and is one of the three Baltic States.  One thing I thought was really sweet about Lithuania is that the white stork is one of the National symbols.  What is sweet about it is that children still believe that the stork brings babies; probably because there are over 13,000 pairs of storks there!  How adorable!

To that end I decided to make a stork as my inchie.  Maybe he is standing in line waiting to pick up the next baby to be delivered!

Also, this week I searched my laptop and found the original pattern from the United Kingdom that I could not figure out from last weeks post.  Not only did I find the original one I remembered what it was supposed to be!  YAY!!  Here is the pattern first.

The black and white is a soccer ball, of course.  But it really took me forever to remember what the brown thing was.  I think I remember designing it as a trophy!  Not sure which one but I do think that is what it is supposed to be. 

Kinda anti-climactic I feel; am I right? 

That is it for me this week.  I have been trying to do more beading but it has not worked out for me.  I have started and restarted one piece 4 times and it is driving me crazy!    But I am hoping that I will have time to work on it this week. 

Lastly, this week, I just want to mention that there was a few more school shootings this week.  One of which hit a bit too close to home.  I am not going to be all political here; that is not what my blog is about; but I have been blown away by the numbers, there have been an average one 1 school shooting a week this year and there have been more deaths from school shootings then there are soldiers who have been killed in combat this year.   

Soldiers sign up to protect and know that there is a chance they might not come home, (God bless them for their service!).  Our children sign up for classes and know that there is a chance that they might get asked out to the dance.  They should not have to worry about dying.  Things need to change.  The US is sadly in first place in this arena.  So, say a prayer, go vote, voice your opinion, do whatever you have to do to make a change.  God bless all who have been touched by these senseless acts.  God bless our children.

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the beautiful artwork over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends. 

Two Weeks of Busy Fun

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  I missed all last week pretty much.  There was so much going on that I did not have time to even bead! 

I did get my inchies from last week and this week!  YAY!  Last week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stopped at the United Kingdom.  I was pretty excited for this inchie, then when I got out the pattern I was stumped!  You may remember that I design my inchies at the beginning of the year then I get the yearly list.  Well, for the UK inchie I designed something that, months later I could not figure out!  I had  no clue what it was supposed to be!  It looked kinda like a soccer ball in the front but I could not figure out what was in the background.  In the end I just could not figure out what I was trying to do so I had to start over.  That said, I am not really happy with the new pattern.  But it is what it is and here it is!

Can you tell what this is?  Yea, I know it looks pretty gaudy!  It is supposed to be an ornate tea pot.  Yea, a TEAPOT!  Oh well!  LOL  Now on to this week, quickly!

This week over at EIM the theme is Andorra.  I have heard of the place but not really heard of the place, if you know what I mean?!?  That said, I looked up many things about Andorra I found one really cool thing about Andorra, the last time they went into war was over 1,000 years ago!  How interesting!  Wouldn't that be nice to not know what war looks and feels like, am I right?  Check out my inchie.

I wanted to mention that I finished my first virtual race from Yes.fit.  I have to thank Cathy for introducing it to me; I am hooked.  I have already started my 2nd race!!  Here is my Medal from my first race.

 
I love the little card that came with it!  It makes me laugh so much.  The ribbon and medal are both so pretty.  I was also really surprised at how heavy it is.  I can't wait to get further into my next race.

That is it for me this week.  I hope that everyone (in the US) had a great Mother's day.  Mine was great.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the world tour, and have a blessed and creative week my friends.

Greece and a New Charm

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the nice weather.  Enjoy it while you can because it is going to be bad for the rest of the week!!!  ARG!  WHY! 

Ok, now that that is out of my system, I have 2 pieces to show you all.  First off, the world tour over at Every Inchie Monday has stopped at Greece.  Did you know that Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization.  So many things have started in Greece.  Democracy,Science, Math and the Olympics; just to name a few things. 

But, you all know me, I never go with the flow.  I don't go the obvious route.  My brain just never works that way, lol.  For me, when I thought about Greece, I thought about Michael Symon.  He is an Iron Chef and co-host of The Chew.  He is part Greek and he many times cooks with olive oil.  Olives are delicious and even though I am partial to black olives my inchie is made with a green olive and a pimento.  Check it out.

Also this week I redid my brothers family charm.  He was a river boat captain on the Mississippi River.  He worked on the river for decades and it was his passion.  My doing a small little sail boat really did not do justice or show my love and respect of him.  So I did this one.  I really love it and feel better about it. 

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great works over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.

The Bones About Kenya

Hey everyone, I hope that you are all doing well.  Mother Nature is still up to her old tricks and trying to get everyone sick with colds and allergies.  But I think we will all prevail (in the overbearing heat of the summer!!).

Well, onto something non-allergic.  Inchies!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stops at Kenya.  While looking into Kenya I found out that Kenya is the place where Scientist believe that the earliest known human fossils were found!  How cool is that!  So I decided to make a skull on top of the Kenya flag.  The red eyes are kinda ominous!

Also this last week I joined Yes.fit and joined a race!  I have been waiting to do that for a while now.  Ever since one of the Inchie bloggers, Penstrokes by Cathy posted about joining Yes.fit and winning 2 races, I have wanted to join.  So I finally did that last Thursday.  I joined Shake your tail feathers.  It is 78.5 miles and the award looks like a Peacock.  I am pretty excited about it.  Thanks Cathy for introducing me to this awesome site.  I have even gotten the nurse at work to look into doing a corporate event for us at work.  I will keep everyone up-to date on this race.

I also did alot of beading this weekend.  I finished my family charms.  Something that I have been wanting to do for a long time.  Each charm represents someone in my family.  Liverpool bird is for my son, the black cat is for my daughter.  Chicago Cubs is my brother Toms.  The Navy anchor is my dad.  The motorcycle is for my late husband.  The 4 feathers is mine.  The camera is my sisters.  The cardinal is for my Mom, and the boat is for my brother.  But to be fair I am planning on redoing his to be more like the boat that he was a captain of instead of a sailboat.

I designed all of these charms except for the motorcycle and the cardinal (I don't know who designed the cardinal, if anyone does please let me know so I can correct this, thanks).  I really love these.  I will work on the new tug boat this week and hope to have it next weekend.

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great work over there and join the world tour!  Until next week, have a blessed and creative week my friends.