Spring trip home 2010

Our Voyage Home

The California to Washington State trek

Home again, home again. Ah yes, when the temperature starts with a six, in our home state of Washington, that's the time we load up the buggy and bikes (motorcyles), and begin the voyage north, up I-5. It is normally a race to see how many hours we can knock off the trip, which is normally about 2 1/2 days. But like I said in the last post, we spent an extra day in Ashland, OR, heaven on earth.

I took a few shots to share. Here's WH loading up the truck with Riki's workshop stuff, a few clothes, golf clubs and of course, my Vespa, Mia, and his Suzuki. Its a kick to ride around our islands on the bikes. I'll miss the windy vineyards of Central Coast California, but we'll be back in no time.

This is a picture of WH and me, along this amazing stream trail, that runs for miles, down the center of Ashland, OR. The sights are a feast for the eyes, the intense evergreen smells are a reminder of being back in the northwest woods.

A beautiful scene along the groomed trails. I can picture the American Indians living here, along the stream, fishing for their needs. Living off the land, taking only what they need.

And of course we did cocktails and dinner along the stream. The temperature was so comfortable, no coats. It was the perfect place to spend one extra day. And of course I had to go shopping, so I found the greatest boutique clothing store called 250 Main. I bought a ton of amazing, cutting edge, some european clothing. And after explaining what I create, the owner asked to see my wares. So I went back to the hotel room, loaded them up, and high tailed it back to her beautiful shop. We struck a deal, and you can now find some pieces there. So if you're in the area, swing in and take a look, after your lunch by the creek!

Then the next night, while in Tumwater, Washington, we devised a way to do the etched box drawing! I told you we used a coffee pot, hey, you use what you have, right? And that's when lucy Studio Sylvia from Australia won the contest. Again, congrats Sylvia! I have it packaged, and will try to mail it tomorrow!

It's great to be back at the cabin in the woods on our little island. I'll get some pics of it and post about our sweet paradise, "Schumacher Camp" as visiting friends call it. I wish you could all visit, we would build you a campfire, and roast some marshmallows, after a fun day of walking trails, making jewelry, and watching the deer drift through quietly.

Everything is perfect here except for the empty little doggie beds. I can feel Chester's presence, see him happy and running to mark every corner of the property, scouting for deer smells, running from bees getting too close. He is here in spirit, we envision his wagging tail and smiling face, as he plays hard at catch, then cools in the lush green grass.

There's no place like home Toto.

The lucky winner!

WE HAVE A CONTEST WINNER!

I am happy to announce, that we have a winner of my etched bird box. I would love to post pictures of how WH and I just wrote out all the names on tickets (we bought a roll from Walmart today), put them in a coffee pot, and selected a random name, from my followers. BUT, the cord for the camera is packed away. Duh! Didn't plan that well.

Studio Sylvia...congratulations!

Email me with your address girl.

Now why, you might ask, did I use tickets and a coffee pot? Because I am sitting in a motel room in Tumwater, WA, on our way back to our little summer hang out, in the San Juan Islands. I said I was going to have a drawing on the 15th, and by golly, we did it! I didn't want anyone disappointed that we missed our target date, so I was happy to make it happen this evening.

The trip has been a rather uneventful one, which is a great thing! We left CA on Saturday morning, and have been making our way up the coast, enjoying ourselves. We're trying to slow down and smell the roses a little bit more on this journey, and can stay anywhere we like, since we are between doggies right now. Yes, I said "between" doggies. We'll see, I know another angel is in our future, just don't know when.

I can't thank all of you enough for your warm, loving and caring comments and support through my loss of my sweet fur baby Chester. I can't believe how many others have experienced this same loss so recently. Almost like a wave of losing our fur babies. I am so sorry for each of your losses, recently, and in the past. I really get that I'm not the only one hurting, or who have experienced the same pain from loss.

We all have wonderful things to look forward to. Life is good and rich with bright colors and love, I can just feel it. We are all so lucky to have found each other in this wacky blog land, and can continue to lend support, love and comfort.

A HUGE hug to all of you.

Box contest!

Announcing a Giveaway!!

I am so thrilled to offer one of my little boxes of inspiration as a giveaway. This little sweetie has two darling swallows breezing through the air, surrounded by a solid nest for the resin covered quail egg. The egg is lovingly resting on a bed of soft spring green moss, complete with a little feather.

This contest is for my followers only! You know, the ones listed on the sidebar with your cute pictures. This is my way of thanking you for following me through my travels in life.

And you know what I've been through lately!

I want to thank those of you who have left comments, regarding the loss of my little yorkie, Chester. He was my

studio doggie, my confidant, but most importantly, he was

my best friend.

Today has been one of much reflection. Over the past 30 days, I have learned so much about grief, learning more about how you grieve, what you do to deal with that pain and loss, and how long does it last? Many of you have asked how I'm doing, how I'm coping. And the answer is...great.

What occurred to me today, was that I had never lost a best friend. I've lost parents, many sets, grand parents, many sets. But never a best friend. I still have best friends from junior high, high school and college, thank goodness. But I have never had pain like I experienced recently, when losing my sweet dog. I have even had other dogs, but not this pain.

So what can be good about this? I'm learning it is what you do with the pain that is so important. I would like to share my lessons with you if I could? If you internalize pain, your body becomes broken, somewhere. That has happened. So try not to do that. It hurts, and hurts only you.

Exercise like you did, regularly, or more so. Meditate, if only for a minute, maybe even on the toilet, where ever! But take a deep breath, and don't forget to breathe. I've been saying that all year, then remembered to do it.

Let others help you. Don't block people out. This network of blogging land has been an amazingly supportive group. Thank you soooooo much. I've always tried to be strong, and do everything on my own. What a lesson this has been, the outreaching of kindness is startling, and loving.

Let grief knock on your door. Welcome her in, let her share in your tears while you wrap yourself around the couch and weep. It's okay, that is a natural, human feeling. Don't be ashamed, don't fight it. Don't focus on how many days since you lost your loved one, just let those feelings in when they show up. And when those horribly sad thoughts float up, think of happy times with your loved one, times that made you laugh. Then laugh out loud! Share those stories with friends and family. And if you don't want to create, don't. And don't beat yourself up for not feeling creative. Go with it. Do what you need to do to heal.

I came to another realization that helps ease the loss and the pain. Eventually, I will have another wet nose to kiss, another warm body to hug at night (yes, I am married, but those of you who have animals know what I mean!). When the time is right, it will happen. Chester will never be replaced, but will always have a place in my heart. I've been told that so many times by many of you, and now I believe it.

So this is my longest post ever, hopefully! But if I can bring some comfort to one of you reading this, it is worth it. Chester has been one of the best chapters in my life, and I've enjoyed 12 years of love with him. How can I be sad about that?

So please join my in celebrating Chester's life with this giveaway. It is a form of renewal, spring, life, living, setting one free. If you aren't a follower, please join, it makes you eligible for this box giveaway.

The names of all followers will be put in a jar on June 15th, and the lucky winner will be chosen that evening, Pacific Standard Time, USA.

Crescendoh - Diane Cook

My Friend, Diane Cook

Every now and then, a little angel walks into your life, and you think, wow, this is a great lady. I trust her immediately, and would like to get to know her a bunch better.

One of those little angels for me is Diane. She has been a constant inspiration to me, forever giving, and continually hysterical! Just all round nice.

She is featured on Jenny Doh's blog called Cresendoh, as one of her Guest Curators, and this is the link. Please click to read a wonderful bio about Diane's life, her inspiration, her desire for art, how friends have touched her life, and how helping others is her passion. No surprises there!

I am so proud to call Diane friend, and feel lucky to have her help in many areas. She is a wonderful teacher, and a hoot to take classes with. We laughed our way through Adorn Me in Houston together, finding humor in the silliest things, and cracking up like school girls. It was a blast. So if you're in her area, take a class from her, she is very talented teacher.

Good luck Diane, here's to your wonderful future and new discoveries, and the new retirement coming up followed with much success. Let's go find some more fun together soon!

Bird box, new listing

Spring has sprung!

It has been so lonesome in my workshop without Chester. I had to have some form of nature close to me again. I went out and bought a bird feeder to hang outside my workshop window.

This has been a riot. It is flocked with adorable backyard birds, fighting over the seed, and looking so cute and fluffy. There a ton of red headed finches, and lots of sparrows. It is about a foot from the window, so I'm loving it. They're used to me standing there working on projects, and talking to them. I have to tell you, I feel a bit like Cinderella talking to her little birdies!

Inspired by the new flock, here's another little bird box. I hope you like it. That's a real quail egg on top of moss. It has been covered in resin. And the word "nurture" to remind us of how important it is to have nature surround us with her beauty, every single day.

I'm listing my sweet box on Etsy tomorrow.

Go outside and enjoy spring today, somewhere, somehow. And blow a kiss to your sweet backyard birds.

Crown box

FIT FOR A QUEEN!

I got so inspired!! I'm not sure why I had to make a little crown for one of my sweet boxes, but I'm glad I did. This was challenging, to say the least. But it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so. I used three pieces of strip brass, and attached them all with solder. Whew. Wasn't sure it was going to work, but it did.

Then it had to have some bling, don't you think? So I attached a vintage button, and some vintage necklace rhinestones.

I was going to list this on Etsy, but I need to live with it for a little while, just to enjoy the accomplishment!! Ha ha.

Queen Elizabeth, eat your heart out.

What do you guys think, like it? Should I make more? I'm working on a birdhouse right now, hmmm. This is challenging!

Moving On

LIFE

Finally, moving on

Where can I begin to thank so many of you for leaving such amazing and comforting messages for me regarding the loss of my sweet Chester? I felt the love, believe me. I had a little tear, after reading each comment.

I have tried to thank each and every one of you, and if I missed you, please know the kind words were an amazing comfort to me. I'm coming up for air. Still shedding a few tears each day, but I know that will go on for a long time! After all, we were together 24/7! So many of you have mentioned your "workshop" pals, and you fear the loss of them one day. Just give them extra kisses from me, every single day, okay?

So, what's been going on in the last two weeks? I just haven't felt like sitting down and writing until now. But with wonderful friends that have been visiting, it has helped get me out and have some great fun. My friend Shelley from Montana visited for a week or so. What a joy it was in having her here. We went to Europe together two years ago, with Susan Lenart Kazmer. THAT was a blast. She was a great comfort during the awful trauma going on here with Chester. There must have been a reason she was here then!

And now Caitlin is here, a neighbor on the island (our WA home in the summer). I've known her since she was about 8 and is just graduating from college. She's spent the last four years at Annapolis. I'm so proud of her. So I bought this fun pin at the antique show in Alameda, CA weeks ago. Thought it might look good on a little etched box, and it does! She loves it.

And of course I had to make a little bag to hug it. I put a photo transfer picture of her on it, that is in sepia. Thanks again to Diane Cook and Colette Copeland for their inspiration on designing showcases for jewelry, published in Belle Armoire Jewelry, Winter 2010 issue. I loved what they did with felt, ribbons, and pictures. I've spent a small fortune gathering vintage laces and materials to make some for my specialty pieces.

I was reminded about not mentioning which sewing machine I bought, after seeking everyone's advice. Ended up with an electronic White D'Lite machine. I love it, lightweight, electronic, and has the floating foot dealy ma jig thingy. That's a technical term in sewing!

Anyone ever been to the Heart Castle in San Simeon, CA? If you can visit it, well worth while. We love taking visitors the 40 minutes from our house, up to a huge paradise on the hilltop in San Simeon. Built by William Randolph Hearst in the 30's, he spent about 11 million on it. Can't imagine what that would translate to in todays dollars!

Isn't she beautiful? When she started beading for me at about 11, I always said she was 11 going on 25! So now she's 21, and we went wine tasting together with WH, how fun was that?

This is the indoor pool at the castle. If you think that's amazing, the tiles that line the pool are covered with gold leaf! Ooooooh, so decadent! Would love to swim in this indoor pool. Just like the movie stars did in the 30's. Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Carol Lambard....you get the idea.

This is a picture of Mr. Hearst's private library. Just amazing. He collected ancient art works from around the world. Spent about 26 years building and decorating this amazing place. His mother was a school teacher, had William at about 21, and took him on a year long European tour when we was a young boy. Inherited a silver fortune from his father, then made his own fortune in newspapers. Patty Hearst is his grand daughter. You remember her??

He knew how to enjoy LIFE.

Chester's passage

My Sweet Chester boy

Hi my sweet blogging sisters. This is one of those posts I dreaded. I have been unable to bring myself to sit down and type out the words. If I did, it would make this event permanent. So with a tear, I bring you news of my precious Chester boy joining the angels last week. I don't want to get too morbid, so I won't elaborate too much. I just wanted to share, it really helps.

The last four months have been extremely stressful. Our twelve year old Yorkie, Chester, has been ill with a tumor in his bladder. He's been undergoing chemo, which is a lot easier on dogs than humans, thank God. He did fine with the treatments, every three weeks. But the outcome was, it did nothing. He lost the battle, my brave little boy.

How do you say goodbye to your companion of twelve years? One who has kissed your tears away in sorrow, made you laugh until you wet your pants, brought such joy into your life 24/7, and reminded you of when it was time to stop working, and begin playing.

My worry has now turned to sorrow. I wouldn't trade one day of time we had with him for anything in the world, the happy times and the days of illness. At least I could hold him, comfort him, and feel the warmth of his soft coat.

Aren't dogs (okay and cats) amazing? They teach us so much about ourselves. They teach us to find the strength to help them when they are ill. They teach us about the circle of life, in a calm and peaceful way. They teach us about being brave and letting nature take her course.

I have to have Chester's pictures all over the house. His little brush with his hair rests on my nightstand, so I can pet it every night before pulling up the covers. This might sound a little obsessive, I don't know really. I just know it comforts me in being able to imagine him comfortable again, without pain, playing ball, smiling and giving loving kisses somewhere.

When does the pain go away? When does the house not feel empty?

Thanks so much for letting me share the pain.

It feels better, really.