A Fresh Batch of Beads Brings a Fresh NEW Design!

The possibilities are endless!

I LOVE this new design--just denim and silver findings!

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Handmade Jewelry -- Support Local Artists

Easiest Curtain Tieback Ever!!

The only materials needed for this project are some paperclips and teacup hooks and you will have yourself the easiest curtain tieback solution ever!!

We've all made connecting chains from paperclips...for fun, to pass the time, to wear as jewelry, or just to annoy the teacher.  Now you can put that creative pastime to use right at home, right now!!

With all the fun, colorful paperclips in the local office supply store and some creative embellishments to complement your curtains, you are only limited by your own imagination. 

1.  Grab a handful of paper clips, and make a chain.

2.  Screw a teacup hook into the outer wood frame of the desired window at the desired height.

3.  Loop one end of your paperclip chain on the hook.

4.  Gather the curtain material and wrap the chain around it; secure it by placing the other end of the paperclip chain on the hook.

TA-DA!!

It could not be more simple!!



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Casual Day Designs Gift Boxes

Just in time for the gift giving season!! I'm so excited to offer one-of-a-kind packaging for my one-of-a-kind denim jewelry. These unique gift boxes look so classy and elegant that they won't even need any extra wrapping, bags, or bows.

I met a delightful artist at a craft fair this summer where my jewelry was on display. Charlotte Michalek has a business out of her home called "Down on the Farm Cards." Charlotte handcrafts unique greeting cards, gift tags, and custom boxes. She enjoys what she does so much that it's more like therapy rather than business. Her enthusiasm about creating packaging specially to accommodate my denim jewelry was extremely contagious. Now that I have such pretty packaging for my jewelry, I love watching the recipients react not only to the contents but also to the gift box!!

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Northwood Artist to be Featured in Upcoming Iowa Crafts Exhibition

-- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- A handmade denim bead necklace created by local resident, Deb Rohne, has been selected to be featured during the upcoming Iowa Crafts:40. The necklace along with other craft media by Iowa artists will be on display from November 10, 2011 - January 14, 2012 at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City. Rohne submitted her design to this juried show prior to the October 8th deadline this year and recently received confirmation of eligibility from Associate Curator and Registrar Mara Linskey-Deegan.

Rohne's original necklace has 28 of her handmade denim fabric beads. She crafts each denim bead out of long triangular shapes which she cuts from reclaimed denim jeans. Rohne says each bead is then rolled and sealed, and for this necklace, strung on nylon coated stainless steel wire along with some Czech glass beads and a toggle clasp. This is just one design in her one-of-a-kind line of denim beaded jewelry which she calls Casual Day Designs - jewelry for your jeans. Rohne has displayed her denim jewelry which also includes earrings, lapel pins, key chains, and bracelets at various craft fairs including Founder's Day in Northwood, IA and Bolan, Iowa's Fall Festival.

Rohne came up with the idea of the denim beads about four years ago when recalling a paper bead necklace craft she had made in grade school and decided to try using denim fabric instead of the paper for making the beads. She says it has been a real learning experience and she continues to refine the bead making process and enjoys coming up with unique accessories that can be worn with everyone's favorite item in their wardrobe--their jeans.

The competition for the Iowa Crafts: 40 exhibition is open to all residents of Iowa above high school age. Entry categories are clay, fiber, metal/wood, jewelry, and other craft media. All works are to be original, entirely by the entering artist, and completed since September 2009. Cash awards total $1,750 along with a one-person exhibition. The purpose of Iowa Crafts is to provide the public with further enriching arts experiences and to promote interest in and recognition of the accomplishments of Iowa artists. The juror for this year's Iowa Crafts exhibition is Kent Shankle, Curator at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. Contact Mara Linskey-Deegan or call the Museum at 641-421-3666 for further information.

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Happy Hallowed Weenies

Day 31 of NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)...

As darkness fell on this sleepy little town, the throngs of trick-or-treaters thinned to just a few ghosts and goblins roaming the streets. The rustling of the leaves and the occasional bark of a neighboring dog signaled a few other candy gatherers wandering close by looking for that last porch light on per chance to secure one more sugary snack. The dimly lit jack-o-lantern flickers and eventually the flame is extinguished. A pile of candy wrappers lay at my feet, and the muted television still displays images that will haunt my dreams. Another Halloween has come and gone, and the porch light can follow suit to the darkened candle inside the pumpkin.

Perhaps it is just my old age and crotchety demeanor, but it seems that beggar's night has changed over the years--not for the better. Most of the kids don't even utter a simple "Trick-or-Treat" let alone a "Thank You." It is just plain inappropriate that some of the kids that beg for treats are driving age, and don't even get me started on the parents that hide behind the facade of their infant's stroller with their hand out...I was born on a day, but it wasn't yesterday...I know who that candy is really for (certainly not the baby with the bottle of formula).

As this month of daily blog writing comes to a close, I reflect on my successes as well as my failures of keeping up (or not) with this challenge. November begins National Novel Writing Month - the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel within the month of November. Am I up for that challenge? There's no time like tomorrow to find out :)

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Exercise Your Right to Exercise

Day 30 of NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)...

I used to tell people I didn’t exercise because of my beliefs. I explained that I believed in the limited heartbeat theory. I felt we were all born with a certain number of heartbeats. When your number is up—your number is up. I would go on to explain that exercise, of course, increases one’s heart rate, and I didn’t want to tempt fate. Better to be safe than in shape.

That was 30 years ago. Now that I'm older and wiser (and tipping the scale has taken on a whole new meaning), I've come to realize the necessity of physical activity and that staying in shape doesn't just happen naturally. I still don't think much time should be spent on the necessary evil of exercise, so I have found some very effective 20 minute-a-day workouts which done first thing in the morning gets it out of the way for the day. Yoga and walking are good forms of stress relief and should be done as needed in addition.

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Twilight Time

Day 29 of NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)...

Prompt: Who is your favorite author? Or What is your favorite book?

Don't hate me, but the first book that came to mind was Twilight!

Meyer's descriptions of Edward and the way Bella lusts after him is so intoxicating...it leaves me feeling dizzy. To make someone who is stone cold ice sound so deliciously smoldering takes some real talent.

I have never been a fan of vampires (or werewolves, for that matter), but there is something so addicting about Bella's innocent infatuation that I can't help myself.

Call me shallow but I could not put the entire series down, and I obviously have had to go to every single movie, and I'm looking forward with great anticipation to part one of Breaking Dawn to be in the theaters on November 18!

GO TEAM EDWARD!!

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Here's What I Would've Blogged About if I had Blogged

NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)..

I'm getting lazy and not posting daily. But if I had been posting, this is a summary of what the days blog posts might have included...

Day 25...
Mom hosted a Bible study at her house. There was an hour plus of business meeting with decisions to be made about where to give funds, when to have a Christmas party, and what to gift the nursing home residents before there was any studying of the Bible. The Bible study didn't last as long as the business meeting and didn't have as much participation. Just something wrong with that picture.

Day 26...
At the grocery store today, a man in a bright orange suit and spiky blond hair was accosting people as they were entering and exiting the store with invasive magic tricks. Well, okay...maybe they weren't invasive and accosting is an exaggeration...but still it was annoying and inappropriate. Just sayin'.

Day 27...
parent teacher conferences at school...glowing reports from all my daughter's teachers. I am so proud of her.

Day 28 ...
My cousin won a canoe in a contest. She picked it up today and photographed herself and her family sitting in the canoe. The canoe was in their front yard on top of six inches of freshly fallen Colorado snow. There is definitely a story to blog about there!


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Best Advice My Grandma Never Gave Me

Day 24 of NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)...

Mincing words was never something we had to worry about with Grandma. She was not opposed to speaking her mind. Whether the subject was what you were eating or what you were spending or how you were driving, Grandma was quick with the questions and quicker with the advice. But probably the best advice I ever got from Grandma came through her actions--and the size of her kitchen garbage can--and not through her words of wisdom.

The trash receptacle in Grandma’s kitchen was no bigger than the coffee can size container we all have in our bathrooms. Grandma didn’t need anything bigger, because she never threw anything away. Saving the planet wasn’t the concern in her day and the phrase “reuse, recycle, reduce” had yet to be coined. Grandma just never allowed anything to “go to waste.”

If it was washable, grandma scoured and re-used it. If it wasn’t washable, it was used as stationery, grocery lists, or to spread out on the floor to be used as a drop cloth and eventually incinerated if it had exhausted all its purposes. If it was food-based, it went to the cats, the cattle, or out to the compost heap. Grandma never once bought a box of storage bags or containers from the grocery store. Bread sacks were washed over and over and used to keep leftovers or to transport garden produce to the neighbors. There was a drawer in grandma’s kitchen that held scraps of tin foil so thin you could see through them, but they were still useful. Empty potato chip sacks were cut up the sides, wiped down, and placed under potted plants or laid out on the table to collect the pea pods from the peas she was shelling or walnut shells or stems from strawberries or whatever the chore required. Milk cartons and jugs were rinsed and filled with water to be placed in the freezer so there was plenty of ice when it was time to make the homemade ice cream. The Styrofoam trays and containers, metal cans, and glass jars that were opened and emptied during food preparation had multiple functions and withstood repeated washings. I don’t think Grandma ever came across a single item that only served one purpose.

Grandma’s eco-friendly way of life is ever so timely today and still rings through to me as the best advice she never imparted.

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Daily Blogging is a Rewarding Challenge

Day 23 of NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)...

Prompt: We only have one week and one day to go in our blogging challenge! What have I learned from this experience? What are my greatest challenges? What are my successes?

The daily writing challenge is a great way to push me, and the daily exercise of writing sharpens my skills. I feel very defeated when I miss a day, but it is so rewarding when I do get the daily post made.

My schedule for the month of October has been so crazy with getting my daughter back and forth to play rehearsals and subsequently the eight performances (of which I enjoyed three). It was so amazing to see her excel in her passion of acting and singing and thoroughly enjoy herself. However, I'm feeling exhausted trying to stay on top of the rigorous schedule of not only getting her to the practices at the appointed times, but making sure homework, confirmation studies, band, and chorus requirements are all met as well as not disrupting (somewhat) healthy eating and sleeping routines. I find, like in most things in life, I would put off what I want to do (like my writing) until the last part of the day, and then I would feel too tired to write with the high standard of eloquence I place upon myself.

That being said, the challenge of writing everyday did motivate me to at least try to write something everyday. I do enjoy writing and getting my thoughts out of my head and in a place where I can read (and edit) them is definitely a success.

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Day 22 of National Blog Writing Month

Day 22 of NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month)...

It just felt wrong somehow...

...It felt as though I was cheating...

...It was good, though--so easy...

...It cut the time in half with a lot less mess.

Should this be allowed--allowed when part of the tradition was to get in to it up to your elbows and feel the cold, slimy substance in your hands?

What would I do for the rest of the night without the worry of obsessively washing the sticky, dried goo from under my fingernails?

Would the tradition survive?

...the end result had been the same.

The Pumpkin Gutter Drill Bit was just a new means to an end.

The jack-o-lantern would still shine brightly;

...but this year it would shine with pristine clean insides! :)

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