Happy Birthday to my Great Sister-In-Law, Megan!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...........

Mmmm....yummy colors.

My Budding Artist....

She. Is. Soo. Cool.

This girl is going to grow up and be on FIRE!

Not only did she take up Lampworking this Summer, but her photography

skills are growing by the second.

All of my brood are talented, i.e. my son has the gift of gab...yes, you heard right...blab...I mean gab. Probably more 'word vomit' than gab, but hey,
that takes talent & technique, so stop laughing! (*hee-hee*)

Then we have Lauren!
I bought her a beautiful black hardcover Artists Sketchbook...

OMG...if you could flip the pages in this book, your smile would be eternal.

Oh, I know...Just Stop!

You know how it is...everyone likes to talk up their own kids...

but it TIS' true, if you tell your children they CAN do something, you'll be right. They CAN. If you tell them they can't....you'll be right on that one too.

Life is funny sometimes & unpredictably odd, but whatever you do in life,
be sure to tell your children what great people you think they are today.

And tomorrow. And the next day...Your children are God's Masterpieces...

I never understood a Mothers love until I had a child myself....

Then, there is always the occasional day, where you simply remember, that Human Beings are the only creatures on earth, that allow their children to come back home.

Either way, and whatever your going thru, just remember, that there is a moment in growing up, that a door opens and lets the future in...

A new baby Monkey....

I am FINALLY back to work.

This is good news. No, no, wait....this is GREAT news!

As alot of you know, I am moving in a few weeks, life gave me some lemons, but instead of making a puckered up ugly face, I made lemonade.

Along with the lemonade came a new Sculpt. Baby Monkey Stella!

And yes, she is made from a Bar of Clay. Pretty NeatO, if I can say so myself. I am always amazed how a block of clay can spring to life off my sculpting desk. Its pretty neat....and even better news..... she sold to a new Monkey Momma this morning! Congrats new Monkey Mommy if your reading this!! Lil Monkey Stella will be on her way home soon.

I am taking a well needed break from the computer & taking my girls to Barnes & Noble. I am dying for a Carmel Frappacino...Extra whip & carmel syrup......Mmmm, YummO.

Along with the 146 pictures I took of the Monkey, came along the news (well, New news for me) but Microsoft has abolished Front Page.

Are you KIDDING me?

Front Page is a web designing program, that allowed me to go in and add everything to my website(s). Well, guess what?

NOT anymore.

So for 7 years, I've used Front Page for ALL my editing, all my pictures are in my files in Front Page.....Soo frustrating.... ;(

After 3 full days behind my computer screen, coding HTML for an auction,

looking for lost files, sizing pictures,
OMG ! ! !..................... its time to take a well deserved break.

So, if you need to find me, I'll be the one hiding out in the corner, ball cap on, hiding from the Paparazzi, drinking my Carmel Frapp.

Oh wait....strike the paparazzi thing....I made that up.

But I will still be in the corner, hiding from life and that dagummed

lemonade....

But...But.... life has had some interesting neat things in store for me....

Actually I cant wait.
Life is good, and doors are opening L & R.

Oh, did I mention, I got centerfold? No, no, not Playboy Centerfold....

but one of the BIGGEST Doll Magazines in the world!

Discover Dolls will be featuring Moi, lil ol' ME, in their next issue!

I am soo proud .....and happy.

Maybe that lemonade doesn't taste so bad after all....?

It really is all about perception.....& sometimes an ugly puckered up sour lemonade face.......

But in the end, everything that happens, has a reason.

And if you get up ONE more time than you fall,
You will make it thru.

I swear, it was going to eat my face off.....

I swear. And I dont swear often.
Ok, ok, so I do, but I'm trying to quit-
Cut me some slack, sheesh, I swear. Ooops, there I go again...daggumit anyway.
So, I'm travelin down the road, taking my son to work, there is a light mist
out, and I used my wipers once maybe twice.
We're chattin....still chattin....about a mile in, is when I SEE IT.
Its long and its mean & its green. And its looking at me.

What is IT?
IT is a Praying Mantis...I swear that sucker was at least 4 ft. long.
Ok, so maybe 4"....but you weren't there, so dont hate.

And its sitting right ON my dash, which in turn made me about wreck my car!!!
Thank God, I am now passing the Fire Station, because if this thing eats me, then I am close to help.

Now, if you know anything about Praying Mantis(s), I dont know
what they are praying about, but I am certain its praying about eating my face off.
And by the way, dont they kill after they've mated ????
If this thing thinks I AM her mate, then I'm assuming its an instant death.
I've never mated with an insect, and I dont plan on starting now.

It crossed my mind, that the thing was dead, because even the windshield wipers wasn't making her move 1 little hairy leg. Tim claps towards it, I'm totally freaking out and making some sort of odd screaming sounds, that even I haven't heard before. I swear.

Now....she decides to move one of her legs, ever so slightly, so I am threatening Tim, that if he claps again, and this thing lands on my face, and then eats me, I will NOT be able to pick him up from work.
He will have to find a ride home. I swear.

Somehow, someway, I made it to Tims work, I put that car into park,
jumped outta that car soo fast, I must have looked like Wonder Woman.
Where is she after all? I mean, I totally digged her outfit and all her power, I definately wanted to BE Wonder Woman....Didn't she wear red boots?

What does this have to do with the Praying Mantis eating my face off?

Nothing.
Nothing at all.

So, Im out of the car, dancing & screaming.....
and Tim is being all big & bad (because he has the need to impress the new girlfriend, who is at work, and POSSIBLY watching out the window)
Yah, umm...right, anyway....
His "man plan" is to scoop this thing up in his hand, and toss it out the door.
So he reaches in, to go for the scoop, when IT MOVES and now we have Tim freaking out !! Yah...nice man plan, lol....Sheesh, I swear.

So, thank the Good Lawd I have kleenex and LOTS of it, because Plan (A) to scoop it up, which didnt work. So Plan (B) is to use the kleenex to coax it out of the car and back into the world, but Plan (B) failed and all I heard was a big S-P-L-A-T !!

So instead of having the usual dust on my car dash, I now have
bug guts and its stinking.
Have you EVER smelled bug guts? Its gross, so DONT.
Whew, the initial problem is solved, but as I'm driving home, all I can think about, is the fact, that more Praying Mantis could be hiding in my car, and they are all talking, praying and planning to eat my face off.

I get home, and Google, Praying Mantis.
Did you know they can turn their heads 180 degrees?
Holy crap. They use their front legs, to snare their victim, with reflexes soo quick, the naked eye cant see it happen.

What is it about the word naked eye, that makes me giggle?
Teehee.....naked. Eye....*giggle*

So, back to my purpose, their legs have spikes for snaring prey and pinning it in place.

And as you know, they also eat their mate either during sex, or shortly thereafter, but that does NOT deter the males from reproduction.

Pffftt.....go figure.
Imagine that. I will not even GO there, because we all know
what MEN and SEX equal.
Well you all know the answer to that question.....

But if us Women were smart, and started taking the Praying Mantis's advice, we'd all EAT our mates and be MUCH HAPPIER.

Sheesh. I swear.

Around and around we go.........

WOW....what incredibly fun is this piece??

I was soo insipired by my new copy of SBS Wire Jewelry Summer 2009--

and not only did it inspire ME, but my daughter (Haleigh) ended up torching

herself for almost 3 hours yesterday !!! It was definately a creative type of day.

I LOVE those days, dont you?

A HUGE thank you goes out to Kerry Bogert for designing such a fun way to

use glass discs, and for helping to make the most AWESOME-NESS RING's around!

I will post more pictures later, but cant you just see this ring on YOUR finger?

Oh, no doubt, so do I!

You know you want one......

Go ahead....Splurge, they are only $14.00 W/FREE S&H.

You deserve it.....and I'm having WAY too much fun making them.

This should be illegal.....but its not...so off I go, to make MORE!!!

I'll Be Back (*insert best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice*)

Why it's Pinocchio!!!

Do I even need to caption this photo?
Honestly, do I?

For some reason............
I think it speaks for itself.

Where IS Geppetto when
you need him??

Timothy Nicolls (circa 2009*)

Outsmarting the Shedding

So, Miss Kady Dog, has this habitual habit of jumping in my laundry basket. Although she loves dirty laundry *ewww*, she has NO problem hopping into a basket of freshly folded clean towels. She does not discriminate...clean OR dirty.

I swear this dog has jack-rabbit feet. Her jumping capabilities for a long hot dog body impress me, and I'm not easily impressed. The laws of gravity do not apply to this dog, because anything THAT long, should be UNable to jump that high.

Now, if you know anything about Dachshund's, they are burrowers. Kady loves to bury her stuffed animals, herself (in laundry), well....you get the picture. AND, its shedding season.

Now I love this little hot dog, but when its shedding season, and your burrowed down IN, my CLEAN freshly laundered towels, well.....Houston, we have a problem.

And its not just clean laundry she's dirty-ing, but laying on MY white pillowcase, while I work at my computer which is in the bedroom. OK, why is it, every time I turn around, I see little black hairs EVERYWHERE? Umm...yaah.....NOT good for my O.C.D.

So, I got smart and decided to wear black while taking the dog on a walk.

Kady wears black, and so shall I!

Haa! I have outsmarted this forever shedding wiener....

When lo & behold, as we are walking, she spots a Chihuahua.
This is like a 1 pound dog OK? I'm now talking to Kady, explaining to her, that we are NOT afraid of 1 pound dogs. She's NOT listening.

She's jumping up, and she jumps HIGH, remember? If she could talk, she'd be screaming, "Mom....Mom....M-O-T-H-E-R pick me up. I demand to be picked UP!"

So, I give in, NOT because I feel sorry for her, but ....well.....I don't know, stop badgering me!

Now, you remember I have outsmarted the shedding problem by wearing a black shirt, right?

The dog is black, right?

Umm, yaahh....not soo smart.

When we get home, I take one look at my nice new black shirt...........

And I'm COVERED with WHITE hair from her underbelly.

I'm sure that I'm covered in black hairs too, I just cant see them.

So much for outsmarting the dog.

I'm sure that lil' 1 pound Chihuahua is still laughing at us both.

Pfffttt...............

*Sigh...........*

Ever just have a bad day, err, uhh, I mean YEAR?

Umm, ya....sorry for the NON Blogging lately.
(P.S....for my customers waiting, I AM sculpting a newborn baby Monkey)

Will show pics by next week!

For those that like to follow me health wise, I am taking a new drug called Savella.
Its indicated specifically for Fibromyalgia and has a light anti-depressant in it.

I "think" its helping.....I'm sleepy though on it.
Sooo sleepy, that I fell asleep at the wheel last week.
My foot slipped off my brake, and I hit the guy in front of me.

Boy was he pissed off.....

All I can say, is THANK GOD I wasn't driving fast, or merged left of center.
Praise God. It could have killed me!
Sure was a wake up call, and a big thanks to God for giving my Guardian Angel
overtime that day. I know the economy's bad, but please give our Guardian Angels
LOTS of overtime..... It saved my life.

Lori

Oooooh, Purses, Hand Bags & The Bomb-Sniggety!!!

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So, Mum & I, are at JoAnns Fabric Store, looking for ....um....oh hell-O, I cant remember.
When this PURSE pattern jumps out of the rack, and literally lands in our lap.
It was amazing, I've never seen anything quite like it.
Ok, ok....so it didnt quite go like that.....but stay with me here.

Mom has the pattern in her hands, and it creates MONSTERS, out of 4 Un-Suspecting people.
Those 4 being, Mom-Me-Lauren & Haleigh.....(soon to be YOU!)

And I'm not shamelessly promoting these purses, these handbags are
like 'Purse-Crack'.
You can NOT get enough of them....

They are like Caffeine, Redbull, Speed, Mountain Dew...
whatever your poison, these are IT. And I mean, these are IT.

Did I mention these are it?

Ok, so here's the deal-liO...Mom makes the Base (purse).
Think of it as Home-Base. So, HomeBase comes in multitudes of colors.
And as you can see, homebase, is a quilted type nice thick base....
Black, Navy, Olive, Cream, Red., etc....I chose black, as did each of my girls, and
Mom made herself a navy blue one. And seriously....it doesnt matter what color your base is...

These are IT.

Is there an echo in here?

So, once your base is made, you can see the buttons, surrounding homebase.
Eight buttons (4 on each side). Those buttons, button ON your choice of fabric.
a.k.a.-Sleeves............Then you can choose a 1 big button tab closure...or, well, talk to Mom.

Now, this is like having a NEW purse each & every time, that you change purse sleeves.

Freekin fantastic, because I get bored with the same ol' purse.
I now have 3 sleeves and have changed my purse to match my shoes.
I know, yes....shoes. I have not only a shoe fetish, but now I have a purse fetish.
(thanks Mother-if your reading this ;)

So, the lime green above, matches my Green Crocs.
My blue one matches my navy Converses.
Do you see a pattern here? Yes, I need help, but honestly, I'm ok with it.
I admit my insanity....really I do....

So, you go to http://www.roseannscreations.etsy.com/
and you order your base purse.
Um, ya....like now. Go on, you know you want to.
And if your anything like me, the Economy does NOT exist when it comes to
Make-up, Converse Shoes, A&W Rootbeer, my Taffy and PURSES.....

So, for less than 50 bucks, for a handmade boutique style quality purse,
you get homebase, one sleeve, and then you can "convo" Mom at Etsy,
and if you dont see a sleeve in her store, that your totally Jonesing for,
then tell her what you have in mind. Mom has the hook-up.

Me? I'm looking for Garfield material....I MUST have a Garfield Purse....
Oh, Oh...& Smurfs! Omigod, am I aging myself? Remember

Smurfette? Papa Smurf....? I loved the Smurfs!

Why are you still here? Get on over to Moms eTsy store....
We ALL need a new addiction!!!

Go.....

Get outta here......................just GO.
Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars, GO straight to Etsy....
Wait, hold up.... strike that....$200 dolla' buy alotta purses!!
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