Halloween - Pumpkin Painting and More

I was a Blue Flower Fairy at the Forest Hill Farmer's Market yesterday.

Just a bit cold, wet, and bedraggled since the weather took a nasty and unexpected turn on us.

The Green Goddess (aka Karen Atkinson - manager of the Market)

did some shopping at my booth.

Thanks Karen!

My Farmer Girl jewelry pal Janice

On what other day of the year would you encounter a singing goat?
Thanks for the great tunes Rona!

The boys in their costumes at the neighborhood party last Sunday.

With so many things going on this year we opted to paint pumpkins instead of carving.

It was much faster and a lot less messy! I think they turned out pretty cute and the boys had a blast!

Time to go trick-or-treating . .. . we were all a bit tired after a long, cold, wet day at the market. We even had a last minute costume change when our "ninja" decided he no longer liked his costume. Thanks to some face paint and a spare cape we had a vampire costume in 5 minutes, whew!
Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!

Linc - It's in the Bag

Side One - Robin

Side Two - Her Nest

The Robin and Her Nest
I decided to paint a bird theme for this year's donation. The event is coming up:

"It's in the Bag 2009"

Thursday, November 5th at The Westin Richmond

"It's in the Bag" is a unique and popular event in Richmond, VA, auctioning casual and evening handbags designed by creative, artistic and philanthropic individuals. Proceeds benefit LINC's clients who turn to LINC for personalized advocacy and services.

Check out the LINC website for more info or tickets.

Strange Findings in the Woods

I start just about every morning with a walk in the woods with my sidekick Zelda (0ur 2 year old chocolate lab). Most of the time it's a great way to start the day. We often find such beauty and sometimes even a treasure our two. (I was very excited to find a bluejay feather on Monday!)

Most of this week has been the same . . . gorgeous golden fall leaves, amazing lichen and moss covered trees . . .

a friendly little toad . . .

a pretty blue butterfly who does not seem to realize that winter is around the corner.

BUT . . . this mornings findings were quite strange . . . one rubber tire in the middle of the woods . . . one brand new looking hiking boot (I'd love to know the story behind that one! How do you walk out of the woods with only one boot?) . . . and one dead dear. Yep, you heard me right. She was a pretty young doe just lying there without a scrape or bite on her. I suppose she just got sick.

Such a strange way to start my morning.

I'm looking forward to an afternoon of fall cheer with the kids dressing up for a neighborhood Halloween party. I get to do face painting, hurrah!

Then it's time to pack up the studio before the window installation guys come on Monday morning. Not sure where to put all my stuff. Sigh.

Happy rest of the weekend to you all!
Andrea

A Much Needed Vacation

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind since the boys went back to school. So many school activites, and I've had lots of shows and markets. We decided to get away this weekend for a little R &R.

We made our first trip to Sandbridge beach (near Va. Beach). The weather was lovely! We got to kayaking on the bay and play in the sand at the ocean.

Now, there are of course loads of laundry to be done and orders to be packed and shipped, but oh how nice it was to get away for a few days.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Forget Me Not - My New Flower Necklaces

Forever Forget Me Not in White

Once upon a time, a Knight and his bride were walking along a river. As the Knight gathered flowers for his sweetheart he fell into the treacherous river. Just before his armor pulled him completely under he tossed the flowers to his bride and pleaded "Forget Me Not"! To this day the little blue flowers have been known as the "forget-me-not".

The newest in my flower line, this sweet little forget-me-not was handcrafted from precious metal clay. Very versatile necklace - can be worn with a dress for a night on the town, business attire, great for a wedding or even the jewelry for a bridesmaid or flower girl, or go casual with a shirt and pair of slacks!

Forever Forget Me Not in Blue

You Go Girl!

This is one spunky lady! The story brought such a smile to my face, I just had to share in case you had not seen it yet!
Apparently Dawn Fraser, 71 year old Olympic medalist fought off a teenage burglar in her home.
She said:
"This guy came out of the gate and grabbed me and I grabbed him by the ear and I kicked him in the groin.
So he had to let me go. He threatened my life and I got really annoyed about that and just grabbed him by the ear and the hair."

Ha, ha! Can you imagine the look on his face?!?! Priceless!
Read the whole story here.

Time to Re-Charge the Ole' Batteries

New: Swim Fish Swim earrings

I found myself getting a bit (ok, to be honest - more than a bit) CRANKY yesterday with everyone in the house. I snapped at the kids and even the dog who managed to trip me when I walked down the stairs. I realized I needed a serious time out! Usually I take a class one evening a week every summer to get a night out. (everything from adult hip-hop, fencing, jewelry classes, to photo shop lessons) Sadly, I never got around to signing up for anything this summer. We've been so busy with family trips and the markets that it had not been a big deal, UNTIL yesterday. It was time for a little alone time !

So, when hubby came home from work I said, "Can you handle the kids for the evening?" "Where are you going?" they asked.
"I don't really know I" said, "just anywhere."

And that is what I did, and boy did it feel heavenly to do nothing other than putter and browse through a few shops for the evening. Quiet, peaceful, bliss.

Batteries are now fully recharged! I took the dog on a walk to the park this morning and then the kids to Chuck E'Cheese. They had a blast running around and playing games while I got two necklaces made.

A good day indeed.

Check out these crazy mushrooms that I saw on my walk this morning. These monsters were about 8 inches tall!

Happy weekend to you all!
As long as it is not raining I plan on being at the Forest Hill/South of the James Market in the morning. :-)