Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Surrounded by critters!

I love seeing people wearing my beads! The other day my daughter was wearing this turtle I made, so I snapped a picture of it (I promised her I'd crop out all but the turtle). She has always loved turtles. Well, she just has always loved animals period! It didn't surprise me one bit when in high school she went to work at a pet store. Which is where she got one of her real turtles named Stupid. The other two she had were Mikey & Twitty. The three amigos stayed with us until they became too big for the aquarium in her room. After that they went to live out the rest of their time in a big pond full of yummy tadpoles at a friends house.

When I sit and think about it, we have had such a wide variety of critters in our family. 3 turtles, 2 gerbils, 2 hamsters, 2 geckos, 14 birds, 6 dogs, and dozens of fish. By the way, most of these were brought into our home by our animal loving daughter I spoke of earlier. There have been so many that I'm sure I'm probably forgetting someone in there! Oh, and we don't just give our pets any ordinary ol' name! Well, some of them we did, but most of them are pretty wild. Like birds named Lassie, Phredd, Fishbait, Zhou, Nipper, Screech. There was a hamster named Roadkill, fish named Tater Tot, Tater Chip, Gnocchi & Sweet Tater. And don't forget the dogs Abigail Von Wag-a-tail(the perfect dog) and Tucker Von F***er.

Yep, I love my critters! Each and every one of them! Which is probably why when I sit down at the torch to make a bead the thing I always come back to making is some sort of sculptural animal bead. I find that it is my comfort zone. The thing that makes me feel the most at home.

ETA: I knew I was forgetting someone in my long list of pets! My daughter reminded me of Elvis the Guinea Pig. How could I forget that cute little guy?

Monday, February 18, 2008

I was tagged!

Well, it looks like I need to get on the ball with things! I was tagged at 2 different blogs and didn't realize I was supposed to tag others! Shows you how new to the game I am, huh? Well, it seems my blog was awarded by Denise Felton, and also by Julie Anne at Diamondmeenuh Creations. Thank you ladies! My very first blog awards! I'm so very honored!! So the rules, as posted on Denise's Blog are this:

-Post the award on your own blog. (Post who gave it to you)
-Indicate its original link and link to that site.
-Give the award to 5 other blogs that you enjoy, find creative and inspire you.

So here are my 5!

Denise Felton Denise, I'm going to award you right back! I am really loving the Flying Monkeys! You and Jonathan have both done a fantastic job with your house/cannon! I'd love to see it in action! It reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw a couple weeks ago. It said "Don't make me release the flying monkeys!". Yup, I want that bumper sticker, lol!

And you too, Julie Anne! I'm also tagging you right back! I'm so enjoying the Asha Chronicles! I don't want it to end!! You really need to illustrate it and put it in a book!

Ekioart - Brandy has the most incredible taste. I love the whimsical feel of her art!

Cyndi of the Twisted Purl I love going to her blog and Etsy shop to drool over her hand spun, hand painted yarns. Gorgeous stuff!! I think I could sit and watch her spin her yarn all day long. Very relaxing!

Paula at Venerable bead. Gorgeous beads, a fun read, and she is so willing to help out such a computer illiterate blogger like me!

So, those are my 5! Your turn ladies! Got forth and tag!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day!


What a wonderful day it has been! It started out bright and early for us. Dave and I usually don't do much celebrating on this day. We did, however, start the morning out with cinnamon rolls & a cup of coffee. I think we had the best time on the drive home when we started pointing out all of the people walking to their cars with their Valentine presents. "Look, she got roses!" "Oh, she has balloons!" "Wow, look at that boquet!". Looks like there was love in the air today!

Our Arkansas Etsy Street Team, AREtsy, did a Valentine's Swap. It was hosted by Sally at Dogwood Lane. It has been really fun to see what everyone received as their Valentine's Day present. My secret Valentine was Cyndi Hansen, the Diva Schmiva herself, from Everything ARtsy. Cyndi made me the most incredible wall hanging and the cutest little heart magnet. When I say the wall hanging in incredible I'm not kidding! She put such a personal touch in it. The hankie on the top left corner was one of her Grandmothers. The appliques were also from her Grandmother. I am so touched that she would include these in a gift for me. I will cherish it! I wish I could get a good picture of it so you could read the sayings. The top one says "Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic." The bottom one, and I love this one, says "Some people bring happiness where ever they go. Some people bring happiness when they go." Here's a picture of it. Thanks Cyndi!!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Just Getting Started!

Welcome to my new blog! This is where I will try to post what is going on with Parrotise Beads. I am opening an Etsy shop, and plan to have a few items up for sale this week.

Yesterday, my friend Rachel and I went to the first AREtsy get-together. We had a wonderful time! We made new friends, saw some beautiful art, and ate some yummy food! Everyone brought samples of their work, and we had a blast passing it around and oohing and ahhing over it all. The meeting was hosted by Cyndi, AREtsy's The Twisted Purl. There are a couple pictures from the get-together on her blog. Cyndi spins and hand paints the most beautiful yarn you will ever see! One of the most exciting parts of the meeting was when she pulled out her spinning wheel and gave us a demonstration. It was amazing! If you would like to see what the very talented Arkansas Etsy artists are up to, check out our AREtsy Team page for links to our shops. I guarantee you won't be dissapointed! I can't wait until the next meeting and hope more of the AREtsy folks will be able to join us!