classes and abigail

classes start tomorrow and i'm so nervous! i'll be attending full-time and i really want to do well, you know? wish me luck!

and today is abigail's sixth birthday. it seems to go by so fast. i'm so glad the girls are living with me, and relieved at the same time that i'm not in charge of them. i'm fine watching them for a few hours, but i'm just not ready for little ones of my own. will i ever be ready for that? maybe it's a good thing i had a hysterectomy.

andrew thornton's reader challenge

aargh! i posted last night in order to get the early risers and then checked andrew's site this morning and the post wasn't there so i thought i got the date wrong so i deleted it. but i was wrong! oopsy.

but here i am, now. i had such fun with this challenge. it's my first, and i'm so glad i did it. i challenged myself to use all of the artisan-made components and something of everything else, which i managed to do. i added the leaf chain, the c-koop toggle, and the greengirls pewter bird.





i so loved the color and andrew's mystery sun component. it's very summery.

go forth and visit everybody else's blog!

Andrew Thornton
Jessica Nelson
Leslie Todd
Holly Westfall
Alice Peterson
Christine Altmiller
Cilla Watkins
Sally Russick
Beth Emery
Patty Gasparino
Jeannie Dukic
Rebecca tAnderson

oops!

i posted this post last night in an attempt to get it done so the early risers would see it but apparently jumped the gun. so. my bad.

changes

i quit my job at judie's yesterday. i've been thinking about it for awhile. i've just been feeling overwhelmed. i don't know what i'm going to do, really. classes. etsy. i don't know what lies ahead, but i feel like i'm on the right path.

bead soup!

look what came in the mail today from my bead soup party partner, cassie! is this not *gorgeous*, *yummy*, and oh. my. god. FABULOUS!!?!?! i think i died and went to heaven and it's all beads up there!

the strand of beads over on the left were made by cassie, as well as the enamel focal and the toggle and the green spotted cabochon. the mix of beads on the right are all vintage czech. the silver cones at the back are pewter. and the chain! just look at it all! delicious!

thank you, cassie! thank you, thank you, thank you! i feel so spoiled.

and now for the wonderful playing!

the long goodnight

i can feel it in my bones. in the fireweed almost gone. the leaves curling. the v's of cranes and geese.

god, i hate winter. it's just so cold in alaska! and it stays so long... the dark doesn't really bother me that much. it feels like a cocoon, kind of. embracing and gentle. but the cold... so unrelenting. so harsh. so bitter. it's painful to go outside, and that's just not right.

meet my bead soup blog partner

lori anderson paired me with cassie donlen, an incredible lampworker and metalsmith. cassie has been published (!) and is a super nice lady. i feel totally lucky getting her, like i won the jackpot. i sent out her packet of beads earlier this week, so i'm hoping she got it yesterday or today. mail takes so much longer to and from alaska, and she's all the way in missouri. my half-sister lives in branson, so i have a soft spot for that state. this is one of her bracelets. gorgeous, right? lucky, lucky me!