This is the peacock flower, on this one I embellished it with glass beads and added an antique Turkoman button and peacock feathers.
: )

itsy bitsy bits of stuff done on etsy.com

It's slow going trying to put my items up in the etsy shop. I have yarns I want to post but I need to count how many yards are in the skeins, then take their pictures, try to figure out how much to charge for shipping etc etc....

And I'm working really hard on my felted flowers I don't know if it's visible from the photo but they are really big 7" from end to end. The white one is made from yarn that I spun and knitted and felted. The button in the center is a vintage button I found in an antique shop somewhere. They are very labor intensive...it's not like buying yarn & felt from the craft store or something, and I'm asking $75 for each flower so far. I know that seems like a lot of money but there really is that much work and care in each one, probably much more. We have such screwed up ideas of how much is ok to charge or spend on stuff. Especially in a world where we can buy so many handmade looking things at super stores for cheap. It's confusing to everyone including me sometimes.

making a living

Being a mom and a housewife I've worked for years without pay although I have had random jobs and do teach dance and knitting and make things for people, I've rarely in 28 years of marriage made enough money to be required to claim any income tax! And now I find myself in a position where I really want to make some of my own money and pay for the things that my family and I want and need very much and also to get myself out of debt.

It's a two steps forward one step back situation for me because I am still needed at home for non pay work babysitting Riley quite a lot. Sometimes I feel kind of hurt when women friends or just women I run into imply that I'm spoiled because I haven't worked outside the home much, I work very hard for my family and have given up a lot of opportunities to do my art because I had to care for another human being. AND being the kind of person I am I can't do anything half way! I have to do a good job of caring for others, I don't just put Riley in front of the tv and ignore her while I do my own thing, only sometimes when I really have to do something. I spend time cooking, playing, reading with her because I think it's an important job to care for someone else. I do have a bit of a martyr attitude sometimes, but I also try not to dwell on it much.

I actually believe that in a weird way what was supposed to be a feminist revolution that brought women out of their homes and into the work place is a bit of a sham. Women have really only gained more work! Now they are expected to do everything at home, be good mothers, AND bring home the money too. I AM completely feminist in my beliefs and would never say that women should have to stay at home and care for their homes, but the fact is that most human beings like to make their homes pleasant, and that takes a lot of energy. But this is a complex topic and not the topic of this particular blog.

The topic here is that I've decided to make work for myself. On my own terms. Maybe I am spoiled or at least well appreciated by my life partner in that he does offer the financial support for me to live my life the way I want. So BIG thanks to Robert. I'm going to be selling a lot of my art and I'm so happy it won't have to be just a matter of me making thousands of pairs of pants or knitting my fingers off to make thousands of gloves with no fingers. I'm going to make the things I always make in small amounts so that the work stays enjoyable...

I'll be selling my felted & beaded flowers for belly dance headpieces, yarns, knit wear, leggings, beaded bags, jewelry...whatever my heart and hands desire on etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5295254

that's my shop that is still empty but by early March it will be full of goodies from me to YOU!!!

joy bubbles up in me!

Circle Game by Joni Mitchell is my all time favorite song. I sing it a lot. It reminds me of my darling husband...a child starts out so innocently believing in all the wonder of life and how everything is possible and then ends up being a bit disappointing...but it's ok life circles around...and things get wonderous and better again.
This is really personal to me but I need to say it for some reason, to random people who may read some of the words I put out into the world...life does get disappointing and hard...it's probably hard being with me cause, well I'm just a flitty fairy flakey person and I don't have a real job...I feel bad about it sometimes that I can't just be like everyone else and go out and get a paycheck...I know it's hard for Rob to have to take care of me...and sometimes I just think life is so heavy for him he tries to take care of me and our kids and his step mom and everyone...

BUT then in the middle of the night sometimes I wake up to sound of him laughing in his sleep! And that brings me the most intense bubbles of joy and I hold his love in my heart and feel so happy!

oh yeah, nobody reads this anyway so I can say whatever I want!!! hahaha!!!!

Poppy Seed Cake

The best thing about Elizabethland is that there is always something good cooking (ok sometimes I experiment and it's not so good) or a project to do, some music playing, a dance to work on or a party goin' on...

So here is one of my favorite cake recipes...you will need to go to dance class after this one cause it's very fattening! I always prefer to use organic and high quality ingredients, which make all the difference in this tasty treat!

preheat oven to 350*, butter & flour an 8 x 8 cake pan

Soak 1/4 cup poppy seeds in a bowl with 1 cup of milk or soy milk for about an hour.

Mix in a separate bowl and set aside
2 cups flour, I use a combination of unbleached white & whole wheat
1/4 cup non instant dried milk powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Add the following to the milk & poppy seeds
2 eggs
3/4 cup oil (or melted butter, plugra is best)
1 1/2 cups of sugar, I use the organic kind it's browish
1/2 tsp vanilla
and whisk this all up.

Add the dry ingredients & mix somewhat gently till it's all nice & wet.

pour into cake pan & bake for 45 minutes.

next Rebaked potatos aka that recipe that I was told "if you ever change this I will cut your fingers off" Ok!!! I will never change it! hehe

Warning! Mother bragging here!

Jilly Bean the Pirate Queen!
She's coming home tomorrow! She lives in Portland now and goes to school at Pacific Northwest College or Art, which I cannot afford...unfortunately...
BUT I'm so happy she will be with us. Here they are at her school giving out bicycle helmets to students because so many people in Portland ride bikes, including Jillian. I actually am not sure that is her in the picture but I must say it looks like her. She is a wonderful artist, pianist, actress, dancer. She is my baby girl. I'm so thrilled she will be home with us for a month. I'm so proud of her for being in college and finishing her junior year going into her senior year. She is doing what I wish I had done with my life, going to art school.
Of course, I did spend my life raising such marvelous artists which was a JOY!!! The others are Jasmin (finishing school in Archetecture, I'm very proud!), Jared whose comic book will be published in April it's an anthology of H.P. Lovecraft & has illustrated one of the stories, Jason who is a wonderful writer and music person who graduated from Columbia this year. I adore them all my heart just bursts with love for them.
I am blessed!

that's me at Hips of Fury!