REVISITED - FIFTHQUADRANT

I just had to go back to visit Fifthquadrant's Etsy shop. I had more time to just window shop and enjoy. It was so much fun finding items like I grew up with and and art objects also. Last night at 3:00 a.m. I did not know for sure the name of her shop. So here it is.

http://fifthquadrant.etsy.com/

Do take the time to stop by . You may find a few things that you just can not live without.

My shop of course is http://jonwen45.etsy.com/ .

TREASURY FEATURE - HUMMINGBIRD

Check this out....fifthquadrant from etsy.com has featured my hummingbird necklace in a beautiful
blue Treasury. http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=48358

Fifthquadrant has a wonderful vintage shop on Etsy.com. Stop in for a visit. You will enjoy the trip

BUTTERFLY REWARD

My darling daughter, the one in green that you met, a few blogs back,is on a journey.
It is a medical journey . After she took the first few steps of this

fantastic trip, she said that she felt like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon.

You know how Momma's are. We like to find any
excuse to give something to our children.

So what better way to show how proud I was of her than to make her jewelry with butterflies!
The picture is of a set that I made her to wear for an event last night.
If you look at the item on bottom right, you will see that it is a medical bracelet.
I make her a matching band each time I make a new set of jewelry for her.

I have a medical alert bracelet replacement band on my Etsy shop with instructions of how to measure for the replacement. These replacement bands can be made from any beads and they usually turn out very good looking.

Check out the replacement band and instructions for fitting at my Etsy shop.

http://www.jonwen45.etsy.com

CUSTOM HANDMADE JEWELS

Last week my VBF needed something to wear to several formal-dress
meetings that she HAD to attend with her husband at some fancy place in
Atlanta. When she called me to tell me the color of the different dresses
that she would be wearing, she said that she wanted matching earrings and
bracelet that would go with all of the dresses. O, yes , something that would
have a lot of glitter and gleam to it.

Knowing her likes and dislikes, I still had to spend a lot of time thinking about
the design and what materials to use. I had planned to use pearls and crystals.
When I put them on the design board , they just did not do it for me. So in keeping
with her desire for lots of glitter, I decided to use clear bi-cone crystals and larger
round AB crystals highlighting them with silver basket bead caps and a sprinkling
of silver beads.

To my VBF, Jan. I hope that you enjoy these flashy bits of metal and crystal!
Thank you for your encouragement and support in my different design adventures.
A lot of things, I would not have even tried had you not been there pushing me
forward.

Just a bit FYI.... I have always refered to us as twin-friends. We were born 8 days
a part and our families only lived 3 miles apart. Funny thing , we never met until we
started to school together. We even fit the same general discription. And as far as the
yearly school pictures, in the fourth grade the picture company put our pictures together
in the same strip of wallet pictures. We joined 4-H together,went to camp together,a few
double dates. After we each got married and lived in different towns,lots or phone calls
and visits when possible. I had a boy and girl. She had a girl and boy. Now she has
grandchildren and so do I. We are closer now than ever.

I love you TWIN-FRIEND !

CHECK OUT ANNIE QUILT GIVE-AWAY

I just visited a Blog and found that she is giving away the
cutest Annie Quilt. You can check this out and register for quilt
at http://www.mylittleannies.blogspot.com/

MyLittleAnnies Quilt Giveaway 3/28/09

Win or not, it is well worth the time to visit this blog.

St.Pat's Festival

Some people think that St.Pat's celebration is just for one day, March 17.

In Dublin , Ga. USA ,"the Day" is only a part of the fun. There are weeks and
weeks leading up to the Super Saturday and the arts & crafts in the park on Sunday.

Leading up to the "Big Week-End" are road races, beauty contests, Leprechaun contests,
Irish Stew Lunch, Pancake Breakfast, Green Grits, of course Green Beer, Balloon Rides,
Trail Rides,Pony Rides, all sorts of parties and dances, concerts and church services,even
kite flying. Homes and businesses are decked out in spring colors , but mostly emerald
green. The Population makes every occasion a time to wear the Green. On St.Pat's
Day, March 17, you dare not be caught without a bit of Green in your attire.

It has been several years since I have been able to attend any of the activities and I
really do miss them. My daughter tries to keep me in the loop with pictures and
helping her to decide what to wear to her office St. Pat party/luncheon . They always
have a Green theme. This year it was Green deserts. Of course she brought her Dad
and me Green Samples of everything and it was greenlee good.

The beautiful spring weather this past week-end was just perfect for the huge parade and
other outdoor activities. Really wish that I had been able to have a booth at the arts and
crafts fair.....maybe, just maybe , next year!

The picture at the top of this post is my baby girl (only one actually). She is my
favorite leprechaun in her green , all the way to her Green M & M watch and the
green bracelet that I make her on the other arm.

Presently she is working towards stocking the shop that she is setting up on Etsy.
She handmakes wonderful crochet bags and totes and diaper bags and well as other great
goodies. She is almost ready to start listing. You can find her at http://www.knotsofglory.etsy.com glory

I will make an announcement of her Grand Opening...I have been told that there will
even be door prizes.

Don't forget KNOTS OF GLORY !

........and the SOLUTION is !

This is my solution to harvesting my beads from the wonderful "Bead Trees" Instead of bending over and falling out of my wheelchair head first, I carried my faithful reacher (the
metal stick with red pistol grip on one end and pincher with suction cups on the other end) to
the bead trees with me. From there it was just a matter of picking them up.

The beads will have to be processed and I have been told that is a very stinkie job. I will have to
wait until I can have doors and windows open. In the meantime , I will continue to harvest as many as I can with that very special tool called a reacher.

BEAD PICKING

A few weeks ago, I posted pictures of my "bead" trees. When all the leaves had fallen off the trees, I could see that they were loaded with the prettiest golden beads. With the economy being in such a mess and me being a jewelry designer, what could be better than to find trees just dripping in free golden beads?

I am so short and the trees so tall, I could not reach any of the beads in order to pick them.
Just trying to get one of the farmers ,with harvesting equipment , to pick them for me brought on barrels of laughter .

Now the last laugh is on them. When the storms came and the winds were gusting up to 50mph,
the beads came falling to the ground. All I had to do at that point was to pick them up.

Since I am older that dirt and just a bit on the crippled side and ride around in an electric wheelchair, there was still the problem of harvesting the beads that were now on the ground.
If I bend over far enough to get the beads off the ground, I will fall out of the w/c on to my head.
But ya'll know that a dedicated craftier will not take "it can't be done" as the answer to a problem.

Stay tuned, my crafty friends,I will find the solution to harvesting the "beads".

http://www.jonwen45.etsy.co

AM I TOO LATE?

Hope that I am not too late to wish everyone a very happy new year!!!!

Our day was very peaceful and refreshing after the excitement of the past month.
For those who don't know , the month of December 2008 started off with a bang
for us. On December 1,2008, our first great-grandbaby was born. Baby Noah was
not due until January 8,2009....he was so tiny,but so perfect, except for his lungs.
He was put on a vent.,had to be given blood, had a feeding tube (and several other
tubes that I don't know what they were for). He also had to be under a special light
for jaundice. But he is such a great little fighter that he was able to go home for the
first time on Christmas Eve. What a Gift !

He is doing very ,very well. He eats like a hungry horse. He is very alert to everything
going on around him. He is growing so fast, the premmie clothes are about to small already.

Go back to December 1st on this blog to see his earlier pictures. I hope I can get a couple
of the latest ones to post. He is such a precious baby. Thanks for all the prayers and good
wishes for Baby Noah's health.

I JUST REMEMBERED WHAT I FORGOT !

Remember that little voice that told me "you are not finished ,yet" ? It was in reference to the
things that I was doing to get ready for Christmas.

After I got a good night's sleep, I finally remembered what it was that I forgot.

I forgot to go Christmas shopping !! I did not even BUY any gifts at all. Now how could a person
not remember something like that?

Well, actually the answer is pretty simple...... I HANDMAKE any and all gifts that I give at any time of the year. I just love making items that others like and want. I have a few HANDMADE items
left in my ETSY shop that are 50% OFF the regular price. This sale ends January 1,2009.

Get a start on Your Christmas shopping for HANDMADE items.....after all it is only 363 more days until Christmas 2009. http://www.jonwen45.etsy.com

...AND THE COUNT DOWN BEGINS.....363 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

Well, are you ready for Christmas yet?...the one that is coming up in 363 days from now?

I will be perfectly honest !!! I am not ready. I don't think that I am ready for the just past
Christmas. There is still this little nagging voice inside that keeps saying, "you are not finished yet". But what is it ? My daughter put the tree up and did the decorating. We did the shopping for the food. My husband and I did the cooking on Christmas eve and Christmas Day. My son and his wife brought more food. We ate like hungry pigs and then did it all over again the next day.
Maybe today, I will just drink water, crystal,clear spring water ,right out of our own spring fed deep well.

But there is that nagging voice again...."you are not finished yet". Now what can it possibly be?

Like Scarlett "I will think about that tomorrow." I am feeling very sleep deprived.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS , INDEED !!!!!

B
a
b
y

N
o
a
h





Baby Noah came home from the hospital today, 12-24-08.....How much better can it get ? He is 24days old today. He is now 18 inches long and weighs 5 lbs. 14 oz. He is a real little fighter.

We are so blessed that we have him and that he is doing as well as he is. Our family just wants to say thank you again for your prayers, good thoughts and words of encouragement.

May all of you have a wonderful Christmas. Let Baby Noah be a reminder of why we celebrate
Christmas. And I pray that the New Year will bring many blessings to each of you !

DISCOVERED - ONE VERY YOUNG ARTIST

As I was looking for a scarf a few nights ago, I ran across a very,very young artist.
Presently we are discussing doing a feature on her. I thing that she will be one of
the greats as she gains more experience. Watch out for her on this blog.

Also,I will be getting back to my bead trees.

While Baby Noah was so critical, I was not even thinking about beads,much less the
ones that are growing on the trees. I do need to get them picked before we have the
really rough winter rains and winds. As many of these trees as are around ,you would think that someone would invent a machine that would fit on a tractor for picking beads. If you know of such a thing, please let me know. I really think I am to old to be climbing trees.

My SALE is still going on at http://www.jonwen45.etsy.com check it out.

HOW COULD I BE HAPPIER ?

Just look at Baby Noah! He is gaining weight,breathing on his own, taking most of his milk by bottle instead of feeding tube. Still has a few problems that can be managed. He may get to go home this week end. Or at least first of next week. Please help me to think positive.

To watch him get to this point...see pictures starting on this blog on December 1,2008...that is his birthday.

SALE***** 1/2 OFF ***** 50% REDUCTION***SALE

SALE to last until January 1,2009. I have just added 2 more pair of earrings to SALE.

See these and the other sale items at my shop http://www.jonwen45.etsy.com

the News gets better

This picture should have been second because it was the last taken. His Dad is holding him .His little head is not even large enought o fill up Dad's hand. But look, He has no O2 now. Just a small feeding tube. They are now giving him a couple of bottles a day in addition to the feeding tube and will be increasing the bottles as he gets strong enough to nurse more.

Baby Noah has been through so much but he is such a fighter....Just look a those bright eyes.

SALE***** 1/2 OFF ***** 50% REDUCTION***SALE

These are two of the items that I have marked
down....I just need to make space
for valentine items.


Please stop by my etsy shop and and bring others
with you ! Thanks!

http://www.jonwen45.etsy.com

UPDATE ON BABY NOAH

Baby Noah is doing so much better. They have taken the tubes out of his stomach. Also the jaundice light that he has been under has done its job and that has been turned off of him. The
only thing left now is the nasal cannula for oxygen and a feeding tube through the mouth. He is needing more and more milk in his feeding tube to satisfy him. They gave him a pacifier to encourage him to suck...he was trying to suck on the vent. tube and the feeding tube. Hoping to be able to try him on a bottle next few days.

Little Mommy and little Daddy are in much better shape emotionally this week. Noah's personality is starting to shine through. I should have more pictures in next few days....some that we can actually see his face.

I have had such sweet notes from some of you. Thanks to all of you for good thoughts and prayers for Baby Noah and his Mommy and Daddy. It is amazing how much people really care.

Another pix of Baby Noah

Such a beautiful little boy!! Still needs prayer!!

BABY NOAH

Baby Noah was born yesterday, 12/1/08. 6weeks premature. He weighs 5lb 4oz, 14inches long.
Not as large as a cabbage patch doll. He is perfect in everyway except for his lungs. They are not completely developed yet and he can not breath on his own and he can not nurse. They have listed him as critical. We are all saying lots of prayers for him and his parents.


Picture on right was taken a few minutes after he was born.

Picture on left was taken from neo-natal unit.