It's a Magical Place...

My backyard is. Protected by the garden fairy that Glenn and I created with some stuff we had lying around the yard. I still have to make her a face but isn't she great. She is very perky.

Because it was about 7,452 degrees in the brick oven that is my store I spent much of the day in the backyard. I got out bottle caps and my metal tools and came up with these cute little flowers. If I get enough ambition I am hoping to get quite a few made for this weekends show downtown. If you know Wisconsin you know we love our beer so I am sure they would be quite popular! They are rather simple to make but figuring out exactly how I will assemble them is the tricky part. I want to figure out a way to hide the wires but like most things the thrill of the project is fading so if I actually make them or not is still undecided.

As I was sitting in the backyard I noticed the birdies had nowhere to escape the heat in our backyard. I went in the store and got some pieces of bamboo and some old bowls and e6000end them to the sticks. Of course being the completely impatient artist that I am I put water in the bowls before they were even close to set so a couple of the bowls are a little wompy but I just stuck them in the ground a little crooked so it works out great. Hopefully they hold up to the birdies if not I may have to work on the design a little more than 4 minutes!

Speaking of water this is Glenn's little fountain he made. I added a few plants that will hopefully take up the space. I am in love with my new grass too but I of course do not know the name of it. None the less it is a funky plant that has lots of height which I love.

So what did ya'll do to beat the heat? Hopefully you to were able to escape to your outdoor retreat!

A super fun weekend of music and art.

This year's Metrojam was my favorite so far! Not only did I get to see my chair I made for the event get signed by all the amazing artists that played for the 2 day FREE festival but I got to meet and hang out with a few of them.

This is Danielia Cotton. She has an amazing voice and a very kick butt band. We had a blast with them at Shooter Malones. Glenn and I are however not rock stars and partying like we were was not good at all for us the next day. Oh well sometimes you have to suffer for a good time.

This is The Trews. They were Awesome! A great band with really good taste I may add. Jack the bass player with the hat on got a few of my pendants for himself and the band and I got a cd in return (which I love by the way). He is even wearing his pendant in this picture but you can't really see it. If you get a chance to see them don't pass it up. Better yet go out and get their cd.

Last of all these fun boys from a local Sheboygan band Cedarwell were really fun and goofy. I am thinking they will be playing for my summer party this year. Their music is crazy fun and I think would be perfect for a little backyard summer night good time.

The whole festival was filled with great music and Heather and I had our art for sale and a little chair painting party for Chairs for Charity. It was a fun day to make a little money, paint some chairs and soak up the sun. Since the headliners Fastball were not able to make it due to bad weather next year's festival will be even a little bigger and better so I cannot wait!!

Metal stamping.

I really wanted to get the basic metal stamping tools when I was at the Bead and Button show last weekend but ran out of money. (boy o boy was it fun) So I checked on etsy and found a ton of great sellers selling the tools for way less than the show folks. I could hardly wait to get my goodies and made this little number as soon as I did. Now my original idea was to make personalized pendants for people. Just plain little copper discs with their names on them but I very very rarely do anything simple. I took a little inspiration from the book Semiprecious Salvage by Stephanie Lee and created this pendant and a few others. It is so much fun! I see it as my stepping stone to getting all the metal smithing tools and making jewelry jewelry. This one is on a great hand dyed silk ribbon from my friends at Class Act Designs. Those ladies are so nice I bought 100 of their beautiful beautiful silk ribbons to bring back to the store. They look so great with a simple pendant or mixed with chain...the possibilities are endless really. I have a nice selection of fantastic colors at the store right now. The best part is they are only $8 each! What an inexpensive way to showcase any pendant!

Inside Persimmons.

I spent the day yesterday cleaning and rearranging the store. A trip to Door County (Tuesday) does that to me. It was in desperate need so it was good. I sold some of my baubles to the lovely Lisa at Something Fishy. If you are in Egg Harbor check it out! Anyhow back to my crazy little store. The fresh new look makes me happy and renews my love for my store. This is what you see when you walk into Persimmons. It is funny how a picture makes it look so much more complicated than in real life!

This is the wall to the left. Love that display cabinet my fantastic husband Glenn designed and made for me. It holds beautifully colorful fused glass from my good friend Kate Gadd. She is in the process of adopting the 2 most beautiful boys on the planet...much luck to her and Rit!!! My trip to the Flying Pig gave me the idea for using old doors to display jewelry. Loved the look of Amanda Davie (amazing jewelry artist) display there so kind of made a similar one for my jewelry too. This is the fun part of the store...or at least I think so. It is the back where there are piles and piles of old books, magazines, ephemera, vintage fabric, a drawer full of buttons, game pieces and beads. The kitchen table donated to Persimmons by another good friend Margarette makes a perfect little worktable! This is where I have classes and where people can hang out and bead or craft. All my books are just $1.00 and magazines and other booklets are only 75 cents!!! After my trip to the Bead and Button show on Sunday there will also be a ton more beads!

And last but certainly not least is Holly the beautiful, fuzzy and sometimes sassy shop dog. She never really hung out downstairs with me but she is getting old and wants to be my shadow now. Besides the occasional freak out from seeing a new mail carrier she is a very loving little girl who will usually just sniff you and then go back to her pillow or couch.

So that is the tour. It will likely look like this for a few weeks and then I will tear it all apart and rearrange again. I am after all a compulsive artist.

Facebook.

I am totally addicted to Facebook. I am not sure what aspect of it makes me have to check it a dozen times a day or so. Maybe it is the keeping up with friends who have moved away or seeing funny pictures of relatives in another city? I think it actually may be the fact that I have always loved sharing my thoughts with others in hopes of inspiring some creativity or open thinking. According to one of the many Facebook quizzes that makes me very annoying. (Love those quizzes and it really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.)

One of the really fantastic things about Facebook is the fact that I have met some really cool people. I have even connected with some old high school acquaintances that have become some great new friends. It opens doors to talk with people I may have not otherwise had the chance to meet. A couple of times I have run into people who before didn't say anything to me or me to them but now that we are Facebook friends we exchange a nice hello and a little small talk. It is nice. I like people and connecting with them in anyway is always a good good thing. One of the really nice benefits of this connecting is that it has also improved business a little. How great is that? Great I say!

Today I made these ATC's for a little Facebook ATC exchange. I love ATC exchanges so much. So when I get my cards that I will be trading for these little dictionary page story ATC's I will share them with all of you! These were great to make. I wasn't sure at all what I was going to do with them when I glued the dictionary pictures onto my poker cards but I just started painting and it came to me. I love old dictionaries and love making these cards.