Happy Halloween

No Jabberwockies were hurt in the making of this picture except a few bags of gummies had to be sacrificed to keep the peace. 

Happy Halloween everyone! 

I hope every has had a good holiday so far! The kiddo had a halloween party at her daycare (we call it school at home) and went as Alice from Wonderland. I cannot believe the haul of candy that was given to her from school! My husband and I will be testing it for "poison" later this evening after she's gone to bed - i.e. eating it ourselves. 

My own candy testing duties won't happen until later this evening since I will be in class this evening until 9 pm but hopefully we'll get out early. 

Anyways its time for dinner before the candy-ocolypse begins. 

Chicago Style

The dear husband had to go to Chicago for work for a few days and he returned this evening with this lovely gift of Chicago Style Pizza. There were originally three slices of this wonderful deep dish delight but I've already eaten one. 

I'm so stuffed. 

Once Upon a Time

I've been obsessed with the show Once Upon a Time since it first showed up on Netflix a few weeks ago. I was a fan of disney movies as a kid and the new take on Disney princesses and other characters is absolutely fantastic and so much more of a story line I can love. 

So I've started to make some small pieces based upon the show.

Mr. Gold's Gift.
When Rumpelstiltskin turned Gaston into the rose when he tried to rescue Bell.
(I've love the goldish tint of his skin .)

The Queen's Heart.
Mayor, Queen, Mother with the best intentions. The queen is possibly one of the most complex characters in the show and I wanted to reflect her heart and how it's been twisted by the best intentions.

Since the story line is so complex and elegant I wanted to make more sophisticated pieces that reflect the show.
Expect these pieces to show up in the store soon so check back often.

Dragon's Fire Enameled Necklaces

One year ago I took my first course in small metals and I fell in love with the process of enameling copper. It's actually a really simple process but it takes time to complete and clean all of the metal. I sell these pieces across Memphis at a few different shops and they look like dragon's fire when if you do your enameling correctly. 

Thus I present to you - Dragon's Fire. 

Find them in the shop now for only $8 + shipping and handling. 

Around the House

Around the house with my entry way and studio mate Enid the anti-social fat cat plus a ton of work covering my work area. 

Adventures in cookie making

During the weekend I try to do something interesting with the kid and this weekend was her first adventure in cookie making with my Mom at her house.I really wanted to make Halloween cookies so she could take with her to 'school' (daycare but its actually more structured then your average daycare) this week for her class' Halloween party in addition to the fruit tray I'm providing. Anyways, after much  sampling of cookie dough and the kid practicing her cookie cutter abilities we ended up with almost 2 dozen cookies. It was a pretty good haul for a toddler's first foray into cookie making. My mom and I can't wait for the winter holidays to start to do it again with her. 

Thriftiness Adventures

Reading,Writing, Letters, Math, and Crafting books for my classroom and for teaching the kid. Most these books came from bargain barn side of the largest  goodwill in town where they sell items for less then $2 in the entire store area. I got these books for only 50 cents each. 

Mo' has been responding the best to board books as well as books made mostly of photographs and I found a nice haul of them today in the regular goodwill store.

I seriously wish this was in my size and not a 2t for the kid. It's the perfect magical girl sweat shirt. 

 I spend the majority of my time shopping at thrift stores because being a teacher and a parent I have to stretch every dollar. I lucked out with my most recent thrift finds with some great instructional books for teaching lower level students and even though I teach art I have to incorporate reading,math, science, and writing into my curriculum every chance I get.  I also picked up some new story books and clothes for the kiddo. (Keeping up with clothes that fit a growing toddler is a daunting task)