I've been awarded!

I've been awarded (my very first!) the Marie Antoinette Award for blogging by Tilt Creations. In the giving spirit of the holidays, I am awarding the following blogs with this same honor:

Kentucky Lake Views

Laura K Finds Her Way

Aurora's Garden

Bad Kitty Art Studio

Ramblings of an ADD Jewelry Designer

Whimsy by Mari

Miya!

Official RULES:
1) Please add the Marie Antoinette award photo on your blog

2) Place a link to the person from whom you received the award

3) nominate 7 exceptional blogs to receive the award

4) put the links to those blogs on your blog

5) leave a message on their blogs to tell them they are the chosen ones

I am not much of a rule follower, so it's gonna take me a few days to let everyone know, but I will!! Eventually. In the meantime, I had alot of trouble picking only seven since I have an unhealthy addiction to reading blogs (call it internet voyeurism, whatever), so check out the blogs on the side too, while you're at it!

Congrats to everyone! Including me! Thanks Tilt!

All I want for Christmas is whirled peas...

Save yourself the headaches and fights of battling crowds and 4 am shopping in those big box brick and mortar stores, and give yourself some peace for Black Friday! From now unitl Cyber Monday, buy anything $10 or up in my shop and recieve a free pendant (like the one above, pictures may vary but will be similarly styled to your order)! Just put "black friday" in the notes to seller in checkout. With many necklaces priced at only $10, this is a great chance to get those stocking stuffers and gifts for coworkers done and save big! Happy Holidays!

I'm thankful for...

family, and that I am getting to go see my dad this Thanksgiving for the whole weekend. I'm also thankful and excited that my little brother is having a baby (well, his wife is) in March!! But most of all, I'm thankful I finally mastered my techno-stupidity this year, proved not by the fact that I have set up a website and Etsy shop, MySpace page or Flickr account, or even by the fact that I have fixed my computer (ok, I called tech support a few times, I confess) not once but three times from major farts. No, my triumph in the battle of Corinne vs. her gadgets is proven in finally getting her pics off her cell phone and onto the computer. Even though they're both Bluetooth and are supposed to just magically go back and forth-somehow-that never worked. I did finally realize, though, that I could send all my pics to HP's Snapfish, which I never normally use, but is the photo to computer for dummies, if you are ever wondering. Laugh all you want, I know I'm not the only web-tarded one out there.

At least I can finally show off great pictures formerly trapped on my phone like these:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Crazy Crafty Madness

Apparently craftiness is contagious around here! Josh and Sierra spent all day Sunday last week making a cat house for Tramp. Since he can't be an inside kitty, but we still love him, we all decided he needed a warm place out of the winter rain and wind to rest his head. He seemed to know right away it was for him, too, because he jumped in as soon as it was put on the porch, and has loved it ever since:

Sure, he is dirty (I don't want to give him a bath and put him out in the cold), but he's certainly warmer than before! Now its my turn to paint and decorate the house. Thank goodness I have a stockpile of leftover paint from painting the house. I can't wait to pretty it up!

The next day Sierra finally got her cast off. Can you tell how happy she is about it?

Her scars are fading fast, thanks to the unrefined shea butter that Libby from Maylee's Garden sent us! Thanks again, Libby! There's a chick that knows her stuff, and anyone who knows me knows I love my natural cures, which she is also all about.

OMG!!!

Come get a start on your Christmas Shopping at the CCA HOLIDAY CHEER BAZAAR. Saturday, November 22nd from 9:00-3:00 p.m. held at the Community Christian Academy High School, located at the corner of Highway 45 and Lebanon Church Rd across from Paducah Athletic Club.

Lots of booths including Jewelry, Fabulous Bags and Purses, Crafts, Home Decor, Christmas Decor, Children's Books, Candles, Skin Care, and all sorts of fabulous vendors in between - even Baked Goods and Cookware!!

Register for a FREE basket full of GREAT gifts from many of our Vendors!! Including this super fun pendant (and matching necklace) and from Daydream Art Studios:

FaLaLaLa

Available online at http://daydreamartstudios.etsy.com and at the Holiday Cheer Bazaar at Community Christian Academy in Paducah, KY this Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm. Proceeds from the Bazaar benefit Hungarian missions and the CCA Cheerleaders.

More Snow...

flakes, that is! Every day this week I'm going to show off a different handmade ornament using my snowflake drawings I showed you before. It's finally been sunny enough (even though its very chilly! Brrr!) to finally photograph all my glittery delights. I completely glittered the house putting glitter on the inside and outside, and then added even more sparkle and bling with genuine Swarovski crystals! The snowflake design floats on the inside and is transparent, and then has a matching transluscent snowflake charm on the outside. Pretty, right? I love how they turned out, but then I am sort of hypnotized by shiny objects.

All are available at the Holiday Cheer Bazaar at Community Christian Academy in Paducah, KY this Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm, or in my online shop.

Shoppin' Around the Christmas Tree...

is fabulous fun when you can stay warm and cozy INSIDE shopping over 20 vendors and take the tree home when you're done! Well, maybe. Featuring a gorgeous, fully decorated tree from the talented Beverly at Grand Rivers Florist that will be for sale/ auctioned off, and of course, I will be there selling my collection of 2008 ornaments (in a snowflake theme this year) along with jewelry, fine art, and vases. Snowflakes like this one, that I painstakenly drew with "hidden" images (ok, so they aren't really hidden well, I'm not MC Escher for crying out loud), which proved to be harder than it looks or sounds:

Not to mention 20 some other vendors from Mary Kay and Tupperware to Silver Chics and other local artisans, it promises to be a great show! Great for early holiday shopping and getting in the holiday mood.



As long as we're getting in the holiday mood, while you're in town be sure to walk through Patti's and enjoy all the holiday lights. It gets more beautiful every year, with more and more lights. The elves (and by elves I mean my friend Kim and other volunteers from the Chamber of Commerce) have been hard at work decorating town, and the staff at Patti's has been workin since October getting all the lights up. Tonight they get lit at 6 pm, and I am very excited. It is just too beautiful to describe, and almost makes up for the fact it's too cold to go out on the lake for a few months. Almost.



You can read about it all here. I have been nagging Kim to get bloggin', and now she is showing me up! Seriously, she has a great blog about all the happenings here in our awesome tiny town. Check it out!

Pomegranates and Winter

Persephone was the Greek goddess of spring. She was forced to marry Hades, the god of the underworld, and while she was gone in the underworld, her mother Demeter, goddess of the Earth, refused to let anything grow or flourish until her daughter was found and returned. Hades finally relented and let Persephone return to her mother, but on her way back, she ate some pomegranate seeds- the forbidden fruit of Hades- thus sealing her fate. For punishment, Persephone was forced to return to the underworld to be with Hades once a year, one month for every seed eaten. During this time, myth has it, Demeter mourns her daughter's absence by again refusing to let anything grow, or as we know it, winter. When she returns, Demeter allows regrowth, making Persephone the goddess of spring and regrowth. Her true name, Corinne, come from the Greek word Kore, meaning maiden.





No wonder I find this story so fascinating, huh? Not only was I named for her, I think pomegranates are the coolest, most interesting fruit ever. That's why I made this new pendant:



Available now in my shop.

It's Snowing in the Amazon!

Ok, so not really, but this week has been a wierd mix of Amazon, Brazil, and snowflakes. Amazon.com, that is. If you don't already know, this is the place to shop for anything not handmade. Toys and DVDs are always cheaper than even sale prices anywhere else, shipping is free half the time, and you can find what friends and family really want by searching for anyone's wish list. Oh, and my brother works for Amazon.com designing the website or software or something like that, and he just got married and is expecting baby number one! So I'm doing my part to make sure his job is safe from budget cuts. This week I got half of my Christmas shopping done, saved a ton of money, and got free shipping! Now to start making all those handmade with love gifts!

A lot of the gifts I love to give are different ornaments every year. This year I decided to make snowflake ornaments, which I also sell at holiday crafts shows locally and in my online store. Here's a peek of the designs before I turn them into ornaments next week. I am pretty excited to design some for a contest in a few weeks for Bluegrass Etsy.

Oh, and speaking of Amazon, this week has been Brazil week in homeschool. I have learned a lot about the culture, government, wildlife, and of course, food! In this house projects usually have either art or food in them (or both). So here's the drink of the week, not alcoholic but jacked up with caffeine instead.

Brazilian Iced Chocolate

2 oz bakers (unsweetened) chocolate

1/4 cup pure cane sugar

1 cup double strength coffee, hot

2 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup Coke, chilled

Whipped cream to top

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Stir sugar into melted chocolate, and gradually add hot coffee while stirring constantly. Add milk and continue to stir until mixture is creamy and smooth. Cover and chill until cold, then stir in Coke. Serve over ice, and top with whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

A short story by Sierra

We have been very blessed with gorgeous weather, high 70's and a light breeze, the kind that gently blows the faint smell of burning leaves in the windows and makes even the cat and dog happy. The leaves have all started to change colors and fall this week and it is too pretty too rake. It has just been postitively inspirational.
While I have been busy painting and finishing up some custom orders before I start cranking out ornaments next week for holiday craft shows, Sierra has been hard at work with some creative writing in homeschool. I liked her newest story so much I wanted to share it with you all! The assignment was to write about a day as a frog.

I was running throught the forest from the evil witch. I didn't realize that she had stolen a fairy's wand, and that I should be hiding, not running. Suddenly I felt a blast of energy all through my body. After that, everything went black. When I woke up, I realized that I was back at the witch's cabin. I saw that I was tied up on the floor of a hamster cage. I suddenly saw the witch step in the door, with a small pet carrier. In the pet carrier there were two fairies, five rats, and three squirrels. The witch walked up to the cage I was in and dumped them all into the cage. Then the witch left taking the pet carrier with her. The fairies quickly became friends with me, and they untied me. They told me that if I could use my long frog tongue to get their wands, that they could get me and everyone else out before sunset. After hearing that, I happily hopped to the side of the cage. While I was there I saw many more cages. Many with creatures I've always thought weren't real. When I got the wands I felt myself beginning to change. By the time I got back to the fairies I was a small person. I saw through a window that it was sunset. In no time at all I was back in my home, as a person- not a frog.

dressing up!

Its been a fun weekend starting with Halloween on Friday, where Sierra had either the cheapest costume as a "bloody patient," which cost only an old pair of pajamas and $2 worth of fake blood from Walmart:

Or the most expensive, if you count the over $600 cast on her arm, which was what inspired the costume in the first place. Also, in our house, even the dog dresses up, much to Lady's dismay:

But it calms her down, albeit from shame I think, so she can be around the neighbor boys without jumping or barking. They came over dressed as Ghost Rider and Spiderman. It just proves no matter how dangerous the costume is supposed to be, when they're little, it's cute no matter what!

Even P-O, the exchange student I placed in Lone Oak from Belgium had fun on his first American Halloween! He was very excited to carve pumpkins for the first time ever, and dress up for the day, which he told me only young children do back home.

Now that its all over, its time to start thinking about the holiday season that is fast approaching! I am hard at work designing holiday ornaments and finishing three custom paintings that have to be in the mail this week. Stay tuned for pics this week of my newest work!! In the meantime, happy fall!