The New Year's Eve

Well, here it is nearly the end of 2007 and I am always a little sad to see the current year fade away but terribly excited for a new year to arrive. The hopes, wishes and desires that are waiting for 2008 need to sleep just a few more hours and then a look into the future and suddenly it is tomorrow. I truly DO believe the best is yet to come! Happy New Year to all and especially to my family and the many, many customers and friends who have supported my work this past year! Cheers! Lois

Just look at this beautiful view!

Just when you think you can not take one more moment of a gray, wet day; the clouds lift and you are treated to a view like this! Big fir trees that eagles rest in and racoons play on remind me of the beauty I am around all the time even when covered in clouds. This view is from Andrea Guarino's back yard and looks out over the Straits of Juan de Fuca and in the corner a glimpse of Whidbey Island.

Could it be any more beautiful? I promise I will remember this on all winter days in the great Northwest! Lois

Christmas Day

A beautiful and lazy day to celebrate the season. It also snowed for a bit today which was a great surprise as we only get snow on Christmas day maybe every 20 years or so! We were lucky to feel all snug at home as the snow filled the sky and became a wintery blizzard.

Then off to Andrea's for a computer lesson and presto, I loaded songs for the first time ever on my four year old IPOD! You can teach an old dog new tricks!

A fabulous dinner at Glen and Kathleen's finished up the day and I need to say; I love their dogs. Sonic, Lily and Rosie are so wonderful. The kids exhausted themselves playing fooz-ball and we ate so much; we needed a long winter nap! Merry Day for a Merry Christmas! Lois

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve and the skies are clear after a gorgeous sunny day here in Port Townsend. I wore my annual Christams outfit and necklace to the shop today and felt very festive! Customers were in a fine and merry mood and the day has just flown by. Here are some of my crows, decorated for the season and looking very bright for the holiday. Wishing you all a season of peace, joy, loving and family. Merry Christmas! Lois

Here is my sweet Regina getting all ready for Christmas day and I have the day off! I have so much to do that my head is spinning! Do I paint? Make jewelry? Address Christmas cards? I should get ready for my show in Hawaii that I fly out on the 3rd of January for. I really want to do everything and drink hot chocolate and snuggle with Jacob and watch a stupid holiday movie. It's pouring rain outside but the winds have finally stopped. Ah... Christmas in the great gray, rainy Northwest! Happy Day!! Lois

A Winter's Day

I left the shop tonight at about eight and on the drive home the sky was glowing in moonlight, the stars were out and the moon gave the large, fluffy clouds an azure glow radiating from deep inside. Within 10 minutes of opening the front door and beginning to eat some dinner; the fog had rolled in and the whole night sky had changed. In the blink of an eye, everything from the sky was gone and I couldn't even see the neighbor's home! An amazing quick change. I'll tell you though that the Christmas lights around my home, garage, fence, studio and garage had that soft twinkly glow that made the lights look like they were a part of the very air I was breathing! Happy winter's night. Lois

We are officially in winter now with this day being the solstice. We are expecting a bit more snow or a snow mix and right away; I have visions of a white Christmas in my head. All the presents are wrapped, the fridge is stocked and we are preparing to celebrate the joy of the season within my little family.

Here is a photo of my front yard jungle looking out from the porch. You can see a glimpse of Jacob' s extremely bright, extremely yellow playhouse.

Happy Solstice!!! Lois

Finally! We have some sort of ferry service back in PT! A foot ferry is running 4 times a day between PT and Seattle at a super reasonable price in a 90 minute crossing. That should bring some tourists here for the holidays. Then we have a small private boat running between Whidbey Island and us that is also a walk on. Hopefully a fifty car ferry will be here at the end of January and a new boat built and running in 18 months. It is about time the state stopped playing with our lives and realized our 80 year old steel electric ferries needed replacemet and we needed ferry service!! Politics!! UGH!!
So here's for a busier shopping season for my stores and studio. Now I may have to ride the ferry to Seattle or Whidbey myself. I hear in our winds that the ride can get a little rough and I LOVE a wild boat ride! Lois

Today was a beautiful day in Port Townsend! The sun was out, the air was crisp and clean and customers were in a great mood at the shop! It's the kind of day that really makes me love being in my " playground " aka, my shop. This is a photo of my warehouse, in the snow of course, from last weekend. Note my friend, Gunther's rooster. I bought his first one that he ever made and I love the piece. He is especially charming in the sunlight that glints off all the spiderwebs that spin themselves around him.

Here is a photo of my studio in the snow that was coming down like a blizzard on Sunday. All that beautiful snow allowed me to think that I was isolated in my studio and creating, creating, creating without any interruptions! In my household, we are all in love with the snow. We just do not end up getting snow here very often; we are the RAIN place! Oh, and gray sky place! Thank you winter for letting me have time indoors to explore my creative side and welcome into my heart my muse. Lois

before I call it a day...

Before this long day of computer lessons is over; I thought that I would add that I have charm designs in the newest issue of STRINGING magazine. You will find 2 stars on page 13 and 2 of my favorites ( I call them toast and hummingbird ) on pages 37 as a pair of earrings. I love, LOVE seeing my work in magazines and I hope that you will find it as inspiring as I do. It is a charmed life !!!! twinkle twinkle ! Lois

The laziest days...

I have spent the last 3 days around here being incredibly lazy! I have shopped, had breakfasts and lunches out, spent the day with friends and watched several hours of television shows that I had prerecorded! I have not managed to do much very creatively but then maybe it is good to let the mind rest and wander for a bit. After all as Scarlet said, " tomorrow is another day! "

Here is photo of a piece I have done out of PMC. Some handmade chain, man is this easier to make than the way I made chain before!!! ) and a nice abstract toggle. I like the toggle so much that I am going to cast it and make it available on my site and at my shows. I think you will like it too! Here's to a little snow in our area tonight! Lois

new photo of Jacob and a spiral

Here is a new photo of Jacob taken while we were fooling around with Andrea's IPhone. We all love those spirals and I think Jacob looks impish in this shot. Cold, dreary day here and perhaps just the teeniest chance of snow tonight. Now that would make this boy happy! If only I had that log cabin in the woods surrounded by snow where I could be sitting in front of a fire, knitting or reading... ahhhhh! A slice of heaven that's for sure. Lois

I was feeling pretty good tonight until I came home and saw a small white cardboard box on the kitchen counter and I asked, " what is this? " and my husband answered, " Marmalade". I almost lost the brave front I had been putting on for Jacob when I realized our bright, loving orange kitty was in that box! I could cry for hours!

Anyway, I am cheered by the thought that Andrea is going to make a bead from some of the ashes so we can always have Marmy near us.

The happiest thing about today is that we have Christmas lights up all around the outside of the house. Nice multicolored twinkly lights! We are going to add even more tomorrow. Everytime I look at them; I think, " why don't we leave them up all the time? " They are so catch your breath beautiful! Ahhh ... the holidays and the things I have loved all my life! Lois

Our sweet kitty, Marmalade has suddenly passed away to kitty heaven and we are all feeling shell shocked. It was a very unexpected event and particularly hard on Jake who at 11 has lost his first pet.

We love them madly when they are here with us and madly do we miss them when they are gone. My poor Marmy, he was only six and had an undiscovered congenital heart defect.

I will find a picture of him and try my hand at getting it from camera to computer to blog. He is worth my bumbling computer efforts!

sign me, missing Marmy - Lois

hearts afire

Here are some new, wonderful silver lined hearts I've added to my website. Really pretty ! All from the Czech Republic! Lois

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It's a few days early but being in retail and around good friends; we celebrated the holiday yesterday. If I say that I am a thankful person all the time, that would be pretty much true. I am especially thankful for good health, family, friends, you know, all the usual things ( ! ) but I am especially grateful that in making my charms, painting and having my shops, I am doing what I absolutely love! It is an amazing feeling. I am sure that those of you out there in the great white cyber space ( or is it colored like the aurora borealis? ) that make jewelry or crafts to keep or sell are just as grateful. What a blessing to be able to do any work that you love or feel passionate about!

Here's to a wonderful Thanksgiving, a time of true joy in togetherness or self and my special wish would be for world peace and an end to global warming before it gets worse!

Lois

Today it's my birthday and although I should be feeling older; I feel more beautiful, more sure, more together, more creative, more a woman than at any other time in my life. I finally understand the saying, " if only I knew then what I know now... " I would have been a powerful, strong young adult! I guess there is wisdom in the universe, that allows us to get wisdom as we age. Here's wishing us all our birth year filled with peace, wonder, creativity, friendships, family and the gathering of wisdom! with love, Lois

a friend's bead and help

This incredibly talented friend that has drug me kicking and screaming into the world of technology helped me do all this blog stuff. You may recognize her bead. It's a MOTHWING by Andrea Guarino and available at andreaguarino.com. Pretty cool, huh?
Lois and Andrea

a different sort of painting

This is a painting that looks like our area in fog. Soft colors, a hazy sun/moon and dreamy, just like Port Townsend.
Lois

Jacob and me

I hate having my photo taken because I still expect to see myself as the 20 year old I am in my head! Anyhow, we took this photo as a birthday gift for my husband who really loved it. I thought I should post it here so you all can see I am a woman of distinction and experience. Lois

Sale Day !

Already it is time for the annual sale in my bead shop! We were very busy today and having a 30% off everything sale makes all my customers smile! I especialy like seeing the customers that have become friends over the years. It's a little like greeting family and old friends as they come in the door.

A sad note though - sheesh - my DVR failed to record Men in Trees tonight and I missed seeing JAck and Marion on the little screen! Tecnology, both a blessing and a disappointing curse! Better luck next week. Lois

Today

Well here it is a foggy, gray day in the Pacific Northwest and I feel charged even if the local elections are not going the way I wanted! I am going to re arrange my trim and embellishment shop tonight with Melissa from my bead shop. My mind is buzzing with ideas and soon my hand will be too as I start refinishing an ancient shelf unit to place trims on. All these years that I threw away beat up furniture only to find out now that it is a hot collectible and that I LIKE it!

My next goal on this blog is to figure out how to post pictures! Stick with me kids and I will show you magic! HAHA, Lois

Here I am!!!

blogging without any knowledge of what I am doing! Here is my journey of play in the world of all that glitters.