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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Eye See You!

Hey everybody, how's it going?  I am doing well.  We are all safe and sound here.  There was tornadoes here but luckily we were spared from them.   The other side of the state; not so much!  There was a few tornadoes.  One biggie that was so big it actually had tornadoes inside of itself!  OH. MY. GOSH!

Besides the weather, (Mother Nature needs to get it together!!!), I got to go to a handmade Craft fair.  I went by myself and thoroughly enjoyed myself!  I saw many awesome looking, smelling and tasting things.  I even bought a few fun things.

I also got to travel on the Inchie World Tour!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the current stop is Egypt.  What a great place to be visiting.  So much history and beautiful archaeology.  Some of you may remember back in 2015 I posted an amulet bag that I made for my daughter for her college graduation.  It was Egypt themed, as she loves everything Egypt.  For those who have not seen it check it out here.   It was a labor of love and she really deserved it.

That being said, I just knew what I was going to to when Egypt came up in the lineup this year.  I did the Eye of Ra.  Super easy design and fun to do.

That is it for me this week.  A quick post for sure.  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.

Got Pretzels?

Hey everyone, thanks for flying on over here.  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Germany.  When I think of Germany I think of many things but my favorite is the pretzel!  I mean who doesn't love a great pretzel?!?  Lately the pretzel has gone mainstream by being turned into pretzel bread for restaurants, and I am SO GLAD!  Because it is amazing! 

When I think about pretzels I think about when my daughter was little and we used to go to this mall and buy triple threat popcorn (cheddar cheese, butter and caramel popcorn all mixed together) and a pretzel with cheese.  By time my son came along we no longer went to the mall, we just went to Walmart.  They did not have the triple threat but the pretzels were fantastic! 

So, of course, I had to make a pretzel for my inchie.

This one is not as tasty as the ones I love but almost as pretty.

Also this week I finished 1/4 of my temperature necklace. If you don't know what that is, it is a necklace that shows in colors the low and high temps of each day.  I really am loving the look of it.  I had to change the original design that I started with.  It was just not working out right.  So after redoing and getting 3 months into it, I love the color flows in it all. 

The darker colors are January and the lighter colors are March.  If you can look and see near the end you will see a small flash of orange, that is an 80 degree day!  I think this is going to look so cool when it is done. 

Well, that is it for me this week, don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the world tour.  I would love to see you all join in!  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.

The Equator at Ecuador

Hey everyone, I hope this finds you all well.  This weekend has been nice and warm.  I am enjoying it.  But rain is looming in the distance.  I am really tired of the rain.  But then I catch myself complaining and realize that I am lucky that I am not in the East dealing with the multiple Nor'Easters in a row. 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Ecuador.  I knew that Ecuador was near the equator but I did not know that it actually cuts through the country!  So very interesting that you can go for a walk and go from one hemisphere to the next!  Or stand on both at the same time!!!

Not me but I sure wish I was there!

 What fun!  But for me this week, I decided to have the equator cutting through the flag of  Ecuador.  I also used more sparkly colors of the flag than the original.  I just kinda wanted to step outside of the box.  Hope you like it.

That is it for me this week.  I am hoping to get more time to bead this coming week.  One can hope!  Anyways, don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other road trips that everyone else is taking.  Have a blessed and creative week!

World Tour On!

Hey everyone, just a quick post this week.  Over at Every Inchie Monday the theme this week is Russia.  This is one of the great things about this years inchies being all countries.  I get to travel and not leave the comfort (and warmth) of my living room.  Especially when it is the frigid Russia.

I would love to go and see the Saint Basil's Cathedral.  But maybe only during the warmth of summer!  The colors are beautiful, the architectural details are amazing and both make me happy!  One day I hope to be able to visit, but until then I can just look at dream of the beauty.

This is my interpretation of the Cathedral.  I hope you like it.  This is my take on one of the conical spires.  I really love it!

That is it for me this week.  Short and sweet.  I have been so tired.  The time change always seems to do that to me.  I am loving the longer days though and the warming weather!  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other great Russian inchies.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.

Let's Go To The Beach!

Hey everyone, I hope that this finds you all well.  I just found out today that I have bronchitis!  ARG!  I just want to get healthy and STAY healthy!  Anyways, between coughing fits I got 2 inchies done.  A past one that I had not gotten to and the current one for this week. 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour lands in lovely Samoa.  I have never been but I would love to see myself in a hut on the beach!  Since it will only ever happen in my dreams I decided to give me a visual to dream about. 

This is my hut on the beach.  Which I wish I was at right this minute.  I also got the last missed inchie done as well.  Zimbabwe.

For Zimbabwe I really wanted to do Victoria Falls, but I just could not get it translated into beads.  So I settled for the flag.  I love the bold colors and lines on it.  Green stands for agriculture and rural areas of Zimbabwe.  Yellow stand for the gold that is in the lands.  Red is for the blood shed during the 2 Chimurenga War.  Black is for the heritage of Zimbabwe.  There is also a white triangle symbolizes peace.  There is a yellow bird who is the national symbol of Zimbabwe that stands in front of a red star that is for the countries aspirations.  So much meaning in just those colors.

Well, that is it for me this week.  I am going to get my coughy butt to bed and hope to feel better.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other great designs from the awesome designers.  Have a blessed and creative week.

It Has Been A Week (Or Two)!!

Hey everybody, sorry that I missed posting last week.  There was a lot going on last weekend.  So I got a question for everyone,  more like a riddle, what do you get when you mix 10 lbs of sugar, 5 lbs of flour, 1 lb of coffee, a bowl of water and a 10 month old German Shepard?.......... you get TIRED, because after 4 hours of cleaning I got extremely TIRED!

Well, that was how I spent a nice portion of last weekend.  This weekend, however, I got to spend time with my beads!  No "baking" allowed this weekend.  HAHA.

I got caught up with my temperature necklace, here is the picture of February.

I did also get some of the past inchies from Every Inchie Monday that I missed done as well.  I only have one more left, but I was too tired to do the last one.

Here is India.  I like how the Om came out.

I got Vietnam done as well.  I do like how the colors came out on this one.

I missed last week because of the "baking" incident and so many other things going on at the house but I really liked my idea for Turkey.  I decided to make a Fez.  I have seen so many people (on TV shows from travel shows) that wear them, from Whirling Dervishes to regular men and women.  They were even banned in Turkey for a time!

This pic is a bit blurry but you can see the matte and opaque colors showing the difference between the top and the sides.  I like how it came out.

This week over at EIM the theme is Australia.  I could have gone with so many things but the one thing that has always sticks out to me is the Sydney Opera House, I really love architectural lines of the Opera House and have always wanted to do it in beads!  So here was my chance.  It was a lot easier said than done!  You sorta have to use your imagination on this one.  LOL  I used the "precast shells" from the roof as the inspiration for this one.

I have a few more things to show off but there was already a lot this post so next week!  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great Australian tour inchies over there and have a blessed and creative week my friends.

WooooooooooHooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone!  I AM BACK, BABY!  I am off of restriction and able to bead again!  Which means now I have to catch up on my inchies; but not this week.  This week I worked on my Temperature necklace from the Facebook Group Seed Beads And More.  I got all of January done. 

If you don't know what a temperature necklace is that is ok.  I did not either until the beginning of the year when Anita, the Moderator of Seed Beads and More brought it up to the group.  The necklace is similar to a temperature scarf that knitters do.  Stitching yarn; beads in my case; into strips of color that represent the daily high and low temperature.  I decided to use the herringbone stitch and do 2 rows for the low and 2 for the high.  I will separate each month with a hand painted bead and edge each month with a row of white. 

Now, onto Every Inchie Monday.  I missed posting 2 weeks in a row, so here is the catch up.  January 29th was Vietnam.  With so much history that the country has I went with my gut...err belly.  Vietnam is known for Pho, a soup that is made up of beef stock, spices, noodles and sliced beef or chicken (and sometimes egg).  Yum!  I have never had Pho but I could use a hot bowl of it right now! 

I also missed Zimbabwe.  This one was super hard for me to find something to bead about.  I was going to do Victoria Falls.  But you know how hard it is to bead a water fall?  Yea, that is why I did not do it!  LOL  So instead I did the flag of Zimbabwe. 

Now on to this weeks inchie.  The world tour stops in Romania. Which is kinda cool since my inchie is a gold 10.  Commemorating Nadia Comaneci's first 10 in Gymnastics. Nice that it coincides with the Olympics. 

That is it for me this week!  I am so happy to be back!  I will work on the inchies I missed and will post them as I get them done.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the latest stop on the inchie world tour!

2018 Has Come In Like A Roaring Lion

Hello everyone and happy 2018 to you and yours!  I hope that you have all had a great year so far.  Mine has been testing for sure.  Many of you know that I was to have carpal tunnel surgery on the 2nd.  It went well, and for that I am so happy.  It is great to be free from the constant numbing, tingling pain.

Ten days after the surgery I got the flu.  YAY ME!  I ended up having to miss work and sit at home sick as a dog. I am on the mend now.  Not 100% but getting there.  But for now I am missing my beads.  I don't know when I will be able to start up but I am missing those small colorful glass beauties.

Every Inchie Monday is continuing on!!  YAY!  This year every theme is a country! There is some doozies on the list as well.  So I am again hoping to put my unique spin on the themes.  Since I cant yet bead I have decided to post screen shots of the patterns and will bead them up later on.  Not as satisfying as beadwork but as close as I can get right now.

 The first country that we visit is the Netherlands!  All I know about the Netherlands is there are A LOT of windmills and A LOT of tulips.  So that is what I designed.

Second country on our inchie road trip is the good 'ol USA.  Home of the free and the brave.  With so many things to design I was kinda overwhelmed, and decided to show off just that; the free and the brave!

Third stop on this inchie road trip is France.  I was going to say that I have never been there, but I have!!!  I forgot that when we came back from England that we had a lay over at Charles De Gaulle airport.  So, well, yea I have never really been to France LOL.  This is a bit of a cheat.  I used the pattern that I did as an honor piece for France after a terrorist attack. But this is what I think of when I think of France.

The current stop this week is in India.  I love all the ornate decorativeness that I see about India.  You know the Bollywood/Historical aspect of jewelry, clothing, fabric patterns etc.  All of that just makes my brain tingle!  I love it all.  But, how to add all that beauty and adornment into a beaded inch.  Well, I kinda went down to basics.  

Did you know that almost 80% of India practice Hinduism.  So that got me to thinking about the Om symbol and it's importance to those who worship Hinduism.  Om represents the unmanifest and manifest aspects of God.  Such a cool thing for a symbol to have such deep meaning.  

That is it for me this week/month.  Hopefully next week I will be able to bead again!  Until then don't forget to fly on over to EIM and see all the great places that everyone has been going to.