It's MONDAY??

Today in NOTL:  Lovely day, with a high of around 52F/11C...gorgeous!

In this morning's blogtalk radio show, I a)thought it was FRIDAY (what a letdown!! lol) and b)alluded to a little story I told some time ago about my attempt to bring a little Martha Stewart into my life.  I'll post it again, for those who weren't around when I posted it the first time....

Martha Stewart, You Done Me Wrong!
So I'm watching Martha. She has, as always, something stunning to show us and it's so EASY to do at home....I am mesmerized: she is working with glitter and I'm instantly attracted to anything that sparkles so there I sit with tongue out.

"Just apply the glue," she says, showing how to put glue onto the bird. Well, I've had my glue problems in the past...but I am an optimistic kinda gal, so ok. "And cover the bird with this beyoooooTTTTTyful glitter...I'm using this lovely blue..." (here she dips an ice scoop into a Rubbermaid Tough Tote filled with about 25 pounds of glitter) "which is the exact shade of blue I saw in the baldacchino in a lovely old Italian church..." (She's scooping that glitter for all she's worth, which is to say: LOTS.) "It was actually the highlight in one of the flower petals and I remember saying to myself that we'd have to use that particular shade in something....and just shake off the glitter... Mine is called Baldacchino Italiano Petal Blue Glitter and is available at craft stores and Martha Stewart Online of course.... And there is our beyooooTTTTTyful bird, all ready for the tree. How simple but how very elegant..." The camera pans over a row of birds, from chickadees to fantasy birds with their various markings in different colours of glitter, all looking quite fabulous. Ok, I can glue, I can pour, and I can shake so I figure I'm in business.

I get out my ziplock bag of glitter. I have a bunch of glitters, all in small bottles, no two bottles filled with the same shade. Never having been to Italy, I choose a bottle of gold glitter which is the precise shade of gold that is used for glitter and sometimes those chenille stems. Martha and I obviously move in different circles, but fine. Not having enough to warrant using a mondo plastic container, I use a paper plate to contain the glitter.

Not having a 'dimensional bird' (translation: one of those bird picks you see at the craft store), I quickly glue some pieces of watercolour paper together and draw a few stylized birdies onto them. Noting that it is indeed a small bottle of glitter, I quickly paint the birds yellowish orange in case my coverage is not as full and thick as Marty's. Once they dry, quite nice and flat, I note with some pride, I am ready to roll.

I smear glue over one side of one bird and set it aside while I glue one side of a second bird. I open the bottle of glitter and the cap drops glitter all over my table as I set it aside. No matter, I reassure myself. I can shake the glitter off all the papers under my paper plate. I gently pour the glitter over the first bird and tap gently to shake off the excess. Most of the glitter drops onto the plate.

Uh-oh, I think. The glue has begun to dry! I grab the second bird and shake glitter, hoping that I am in time. Not exactly, though a large spot of glue has held a mound of glitter, making the bird look as though it has a goiter on its poor wing. "Medic!" I think merrily and try to flatten the bump.

Ah, the glue under the mound was wet and so my finger now has a glittergoiter on its tip. I carefully set the bird down on the plate and try to rub off the litter with a tissue. Hmm, that Aleene sure knows how to make glue, I think to myself, observing that my glittergoiter seems to have a rather large tissue flag attached to it. I rub it off with my free hand which has somehow gotten fairly sparkly itself. No matter. I press on.

I apply glue to the back side of bird one and glitter, emptying the bottle. Tap and set aside, I murmur gently but alas, having tapped with too-great enthusiasm, the glitter has drifted to my sweater and skirt. I lean over the plate and shake the fabric and a sparkling cascade of glitter and a few cat hairs settle onto the plate.

I take the second bird and quickly apply a bit of glue to the back and glitter it. By now I have emptied the bottle so I take a small piece of paper to scoop glitter from the plate. Ok, scoop is too generous a term; I'm scraping.

Returning to the first bird, and now a little concerned by the small amount of glitter left, I examine the first side of it which got such thin coverage. I'll put glue in the thinnest spots, I tell myself, and look for the paper onto which I've squirted the glue. I find it, eventually, stuck to the outer side of my hand. By now I'm getting a little worried but I do my best. Finally the birds are glittered ... not exactly to my satisfaction, but they sparkle.

I hand them to Deb for placement on the tree. She crosses the room to hang them onto the tree and the glitter catches the glowing lights on the tree. My birds sparkle gorgeously! I am thrilled and wait expectantly for Deb's reaction as she returns.

"You know," she muses, as she admires the tree, "maybe next time you could do stars or hearts instead of fish."

Teeny tiny itty bitty eeeeeny weeeeny ART!

Today in NOTL:  Blue skies, sunshine, and warmer temps today, with a high of 56F/11C and hardly a breeze outside.  Gorgeous!

Well, after my groaning attempts to get back into acrylics yesterday, I am in need of artsy self-esteem building, so today I will be back at miniature watercolours.  Gosh I love doing watercolour minis!  This time I'm making teeny pendants to wear or use for holiday ornaments.  We have lots of small Christmas trees, so we'll have them all on display for Saturday's official opening of the showroom space.  If you have a shop or are considering a party or just want to do some shopping for fabulous holiday gifts at bargain prices, stop in from 11a.m. - 6 p.m. and say hello!

We are getting feedback from the ladies who purchased items at the conference Deb did last weekend and it is such an affirmation.  We know the pieces are unique and one of a kind originals; the ladies who wrote said the same thing.  One woman reported the admiring comments she received as she wore her bracelet; the other said the friend for whom she'd purchased a gift was blown away by its beauty and artistry.

That's what makes craft shows and artisan shops so popular, I think.  People want to give gifts that are something other than whatever is on the shelf in every store across the country.  They want to give something that speaks to the relationship they share with the person who receives the gift.  They want to give something the person will not only receive with thanks but will delight them again and again, something the person will remember.

So many times we end up giving gifts that get forgotten.  'What did Veronica give you for Christmas last year?' someone may ask, and our eyes widen as we realize we have no idea. Or we'll look at something we own and say, "I think I got that for Christmas...from....from..." and we can't recall.

What we want to give is something unforgettable.  We want the person to think, when they put on the bracelet or pendant or angel or whatever, "Veronica's gift."  We want the person to wear it with pride and to say, "Oh, thank you!  My friend Veronica found this - isn't it beautiful!" when people admire it.  We want our gift to be a continual source of pleasure for our friends, because their friendship is a continual delight for us.

And that's what Deb's fabulous bracelets are - not only stunning, but unique and delightful eye-catching beauties.  The same is true of her angels and crosses and everything we offer, I hope, because each piece is made with joy and filled with the happy energies of appreciation and blessing.

Anyway, we're going to have light refreshments - yummies! - as well as good company and I'll be on hand to do mini-readings, which are always fun.  We hope to see a lot of new and old friends.  If you're in the area - or just like the idea of a day trip to shop and chat - come by!  We'll be delighted to see you!

Busy Critters

Today in NOTL:  Chilly, with a hight today of 55F/13C under sunny7 skies with a light breeze. 

I suppose autumn is well and truly upon us. The squirrels are moving quickly, and the sparrows are scolding each other as they vie for seedy tidbits.  I want to tell them not to worry, that we'll feed them through the winter, but I don't think they understand English, lol.  No worries - the excitement probably keeps them warmer as the days grow cooler. 

Outside my window, a few people stride along.  They're bundled against the cold and I see that almost all of them are wearing earpieces, listening to music or the radio, I imagine. I've been enjoying its absence lately. 

It isn't that I dislike music; I love it.  Still, it's nice to hear the birds outside, along with the occasional bark of a client visiting the veterinary clinic across the way.  It's music of a sort, too, accompanied by the hum of cars passing by and the rhythmic swish of the dishwasher in the kitchen. 

I can't hear a single voice, only quiet sounds.  That is peaceful, too, a lovely background to the yellow leaves drifting past that add to the show as I sip my hot coffee. 

It will be a busy day, I know.  Deb has a party this weekend - hooray!  Here's hoping for lots more! - so we'll be getting things ready for it.  I'll finish the red rosary today and hopefully get it uploaded.  Time to get moving...

Monday, Monday....

Today in NOTL:   A chilly day, with a high of only 54F/12C and a light breeze under mainly cloudy skies.  A beautiful day!

Yesterday I spent the day working on rosaries.  While I imagine a professional rosary maker could get lots of rosaries made in the five hours I spent on the task, I only completed two.

For me, rosary-making is a time of prayer.  How can I string the beads and spacers without praying the Hail Mary's and Our Father's as I go?  Of course I can string without praying, perhaps stringing while watching television or listening to the radio, but I don't want to make them that way.

I remember a friend, Shanida, our teacher for ceramics class when we all arrived for class at the same time one evening.  As we students began spreading our supplies on the table, one woman took Shanida's handbag and set it on the floor so she could lay out her materials.  Shanida dashed over and grabbed her purse, setting it carefully on a shelf.

"No, no, my purse cannot sit on the floor," she scolded.  "I have my rosary in it!"  Well, replied most of the group, so have we our rosaries in our handbags as well, and Shanida was horrified. "You PRAY with your rosary," she told us.  "Have you no respect for it?"  We appeased her, setting our handbags on the counter in her shop, but I know I was not the only one who reverted to the floor for my handbag in other settings.

Nevertheless, her words had an impact.  Rosaries and other tools that link us to Creator deserve our respect for the holy function they serve, so when I make rosaries, it seems appropriate to me to create a holy space in which to do so.

And so I assemble my materials, quieting my mind and turning my heart to Creator.  I begin to pray as I lay out the beads, the familiar Creed and Our Father's and Hail Mary's of the rosary descender, the words as soothing and comfortable as a warm blanket on a cold night.

I pray for myself, for my own healing, longing to be out and about doing the work of Love.  I pray for the ones in my life who have asked for prayer and the ones who have not.  I think of my dear Cousin Mickey, asking his help as I do the work he did so many many times.  I dedicate the time to divine Love, sending loving prayers and blessings to all the world.

Especially, I think of the one who will purchase the rosary and the one who will pray it.  I ask abiding blessings for them, the sweet consolation of spiritual union with the Divine, a life filled with joyful service to Creator.

Often, as I work, I feel the presence of my angels draw near. I feel the shift in energies as spirit fills the room.  The air gets that feeling of heavy peacefulness that one often finds in ancient cathedrals and in the midst of dense forests.  Even Mr. Murphy knows spirit is present, as he flops beside me and heaves a heavy sigh, then settles, watching me and the ceiling before drooping into sleep.

As the beads are strung, one after the other, Hail Mary's and Glory Be's in succession, insights come.  Everything leads us back to love, I realize.  Everything is holy.

A wayward space fights me, skipping away from the beading wire.  I recognize my own stubborn nature in that of the bead.  As I patiently, finally get it in place, I am reminded of God's own patience with the stubborn children that we are, running from the one reliable source of comfort we could ever find.

Working with the tiny delicas, I see that I have miscounted the spacers between two beads and slide the decade from the wire.  After restringing, I discover that now there are too few spacers between two different Hail Mary beads.  Puzzled, I remove the decade again and restring.  And then do so again.  I cannot figure the puzzle; I am being so careful - how could I continue making the mistake?  I am not angry or irritated, only wondering at the mystery.

As I remove the decade yet again, a tiny delica falls from within a Hail Mary bead.  Ah, the mystery is now solved.  The delica had nestled so close to the larger bead that it slipped within it.  I replace the delicas in their tube; I cannot make a rosary that will have its user doubting her sensibilties!  Another delica falls from the center of another Hail Mary bead, and I realize that like the delica, I too am surrounded by the love of Creator.  It is the safe place the scripture writer speaks of, the secret place of the Most High.

But the Hail Mary beads have a lesson for me, too.  They are crystal, but an odd colour, a beige-y brown that could be rather unappealing.  The transparent aurora coating, though, highlights the reflective nature of each crystal, and they glow with fire.  Truly, despite their drab colour, they are stunningly beautiful.  Much like prayer, the beads are more than what they seem.  To the uninitiated, the rosary or mediation or other prayer tradition may seem dry and sterile.  Ah, how wrong they are.  They will only learn the truth, however, when they set forth on the path that seems so uninviting.  Only then can they discover the richness and joy of spirituality.

Little by little, the rosary is made and the afternoon is half gone.  I debate momentarily whether I will stop and read my book or string another rosary.  It's no contest; I am reluctant to leave the place of deep peace in which I work.  It is what I wish for other pray-ers as the prayer beads slip between their fingers: that they, too, my find themselves dwelling in the peace and security found in the presence of the Most High.

Thinking Red'n'Green!

Today in NOTL:  A gorgeous day - sunny, breezy and cool with a high of 57F/14C.

Today is rosary-making day.  I got some lovely centerpieces from a nearby retreat center that will no longer be selling them, so was able to get really nice centerpieces at a bargain price (which is about the only price I can afford, lol).  It's a good thing, as Martha would say.  So today I'll be busy in that gentle, prayerful, peaceful way of rosary-making.

When I work on rosaries, I think of my dear Cousin Mickey.  He was my father's first cousin, and since my dad was an only child, very much like a brother to him and an uncle to us.  His wife was my mom's very good friend; I recall a Mardi Gras photo from the 30s or 40s of my mom, Cousin Clara, and one of their friends, three smiling clowns posing merrily for the camera.

Cousin Mickey and Clara had six children do my parents' five, a mix of girls and boys as opposed to our all-girl brood. When I was young, Mama and Dad would take us to visit and it was such fun. The older boy cousins would tease us, and we'd battle them alongside our girl cousins who were conveniently aged to befriend my elder sister and me.

The adults would play cards or cook or just chat - whatever they did was accompanied by the gales of laughter you hear when good friends get together.  We kids' bedtimes were forgotten, and we'd get to watch the late Saturday night horror movie.  I remember being terrified by The Blob, as my older cousins teased me mercilessly.

As much of a tease as my dad was - and he loved nothing better than teasing us - Cousin Mickey was his match.  I remember when my youngest cousin fell asleep on the sofa, rather than simply waking him, Cousin Mickey took a broomstraw and began tickling his upper lip.  We all smothered our laughs until Mom and Cousin Clara took pity on my cousin and made Cousin Mickey quit.

Devout Catholics, they sent their children, as did my parents, to the local Catholic school and were fixtures at Sunday masses and devotions.  Making rosaries was both a way for Cousin Mickey to share his faith and to create beauty.  I once saw his beads spread on the table, gorgeous sparkly crystals of many colors.  How they took my breath away!  He made my First Communion rosary, which I cherish even more today than I did as a first communicant.

As I string the beads, Cousin Micky comes to mind.  I remember his smiling teases and laughter and even as my eyes mist over I smile.  I hope he helps me now, as I make my rosaries.  It would be so like him to do so.

I'm late, I'm late!!

Today in NOTL:  Rainy, grey, and chilly, with a 4:30 p.m. temp of only 50F/10C...brr!

What a great day.  I finished the rosary for the friend of a friend.  OMG, it was sooo sparkly I had trouble focusing on my hail mary's as I worked!  I guess it might sound a bit...unreligious...to get off on the sparkle and beauty of rosary beads, but I figure, who made that beauty in the first place?  Or gave me the gift of sight to appreciate it?  Sackcloth and ashes...not for this girl.  Give me a bit of flash! ;)

I have enough beads to make both a pink rosary and a gorgeous golden one as well.  I'm going to do those next, and hopefully they'll find homes!

This is a rosary for a friend of Ms. C.G.  I love it - you can't tell, but it sparkles like nobody's business - those are aurora borealis turquoise crystals.  These are Swarovski, but I would like to try a differenct Czech maker sometime...

Friday.....

Today in NOTL:  Sunny, cool, and clear, with a high today of 61/16.  Gorgeous!

Sometimes you really need a weekend...and this is the weekend to have.  Goodness, it's just beautiful outside!

Today we'll be working on angels and pendants, I think.  We keep promising ourselves a day off, but there always seems to be more to do.  I think that's everyone's life, though!

The all-knowing 'THEY' say that our ancestors had more leisure time than we do, despite all the labor and time saving devices we use.  I can believe that.  We just heard someone speaking about the time it takes to check in each day - between email and instant messages and texts and social networks and so on, 'checking in' was a major time commitment!

When I get a call while a visitor is here or while I'm on the phone, I normally ignore it to continue with the visit or call, saying, 'That's why God made voicemail....' or whatever.  Folks usually chuckle and urge me to take the call but I rarely do.  My feeling is that, hello, I'm BUSY.  I'm not available, so leave a message.

From my observation, though, that's not the case with most people.  A text or phone call gets their instant attention, and I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard people say, "We can talk about this later..."  to a caller who has interrupted our visit or reading.  Clearly, the call wasn't urgent - so why the call, at all?

What happened to the ability to wait?  The ability to delay gratification - that is, to wait for what you want - is one of the strongest predictors for future success.   Maybe instead of being so available, we would help our loved ones more by stepping back, turning off the cellphone, and letting them wait a bit.  Who knows, perhaps they'll do more for themselves if we do - and maybe we'd get a little more leisure!