Some of my years highlights include...daughter Em's engagement...
First look at our new grandson....
Son Christian's family on baby's blessing day....
Savoring 40 wonderful years (it's a nice start) at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas filled with love and hope.
Joy to the World! I like to take a moment from our festivities to reflect on the reason Heaven and Earth rejoiced at the Savior, Jesus Christ's birth. Christmas eve we spend the evening celebrating that blessed event in a more spiritual, contemplative format, because come Christmas morning the gifts, the laughter and the games begin! Have a wonderful Christmas day! 
Congrats, Monica, send me an email at rspv@aol.com with your address and I'll get your earrings off to you asap! HUGZ!!!
I'm having a Winter Sale in my etsy store--- http://www.rickitic.etsy.com/ -- It's buy one item at regular price, get the second item of equal or lesser value for half price. Check out my inventory in my Picasa album or etsy store. Include winter sale in the comments at checkout and I"ll send you a revised invoice or if you've already paid via paypal, I'll send you a refund for the difference. I also have a clearance sale at my vintage shop--- http://www.allweneedislove/ check it out for destash and vintage laces and ribbons!
Here's my newest trinket with some lovely lampwork by Jena Fulcher---WinterWonderland Mauna Kea Style (did you know you can ski on the big island of Hawaii??? Ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon....how much fun is that!
Well the last drawing turned out really well and I appreciated all the grateful hearts that responded by sharing a few of the blessings in their lives...so here is another drawing with an opportunity to win these gorgeous carved pink amethyst and gold filled earrings. They are simple, but elegant and I hope you'll like them well enough to play along again. These lovely carved and faceted stones over 10mm and about 10 carats total weight.
Finally! After a long absence, it's time for another drawing and give-away here on my blog. I'll be drawing the winner on November 16, so you have several days to enter to win this charming pendant on a silk ribbon. The lampwork bead is a beauty by Melanie Moertel hung from a hand dyed silk ribbon and string in the most scrumptious colors! The sterling slider ensures you can wear this at your favorite length and I think you'll like it...soooooo.....
Who am I??? Just a little amusing anecdote...my blue eyed, blonde daughter went to her Halloween party tonight in this costume...and several of her younger friends were like..."who are you supposed to be?!?" It made her feel very old, because this was a character she was quite found of when she was a young girl....do you know who she was supposed to be, or are you too young too?!?!?!
Sneak preview (the blue painters tape is still on the ceiling, and every thing isn't put away...but here's an idea of what has been happening in my kitchen...used a black stain(stained instead of painted so the grain would show thru, not seeing it in this picture too well though..) on my old oak cabinets and put on some weathered chrome hardware, took down the old fashioned wallpaper...will take a better picture when it's all put together...but this is the work in progress....It's going to be such an improvement over the old kitchen...next step is change the ceiling lights in the ceiling and lighting under the cabinets, but that may take awhile to get finished...I'd forgotten how much fun and work it is, to take on a project like this...why don't I do it more often these days...and why I don't do it more often these days...lol!!!
I've been absent again...just took a week off to go visit my parents and sisters, since I was missing them! I also got to play with my adorable niece and nephew. The little guy was born just 2 weeks before my grandson, so that was an extra special treat to be introduced to him. He's just as sweet and good natured as can be and was the next best thing to seeing my own little treasured grandson! Plus the little princess (is it Ariel or Aurora today?) is always my favorite playmate when I'm lucky enough to be in her company!
Not really any new jewelry to show you, but I did just get a couple of books that I was fortunate enough to be published in. I'd put it off for awhile--I think I was afraid that I would be disappointed in my pieces or that they might not really have ended up making the grade, even though I had been invited to submit some designs. Quite awhile ago Karen Leonardo contacted me about doing two 'beginner designs' and tutorials with two sets of lampwork beads for a book she was getting ready to publish on Art Bead Jewelry. Since this was my first try at a tutorial, I felt a bit intimidated, but now that I have the book, I'm pleasantly surprised with the tutorial pictures and work, plus there are some other gorgeous designs with tutorials that gave me some good ideas that I'd like to try out. So, I'm glad I finally got a copy. It's really fun to be published in a book with so many other fine designers and lampwork artists. I was also pleasantly surprised to find 8 of my lampwork designs in the 1000 Jewelry Inspirations book by Sandra Salomony. I had submitted some pieces a year or two agon now, but wasn't sure whether they had used many, or any of my pieces, so I felt honored to be included. There's lots of eye candy in this one, and I'm surely going to use some of the delightful ideas to inspire me in other directions.
Check back in the next few days, as I'm planning to have an Autumn giveaway-- I hope it will be something you'd like. Details before the end of the week...and pictures of my kitchen...it's almost done!!!!
Remember the beads I was waiting on to use my new Swarkies from artbeads.com with? They arrived and this is how the design turned out. It's almost an embarassment of riches, getting to work with Manuela Wutschke's exquisite beads one week and Jena Fulcher's the next!
This was a custom order for a chacha charm necklace loaded up with dazzling lampwork and other pretty things! Jena's Oceania beads are in yummy colors, so it was easy on the eyes to play with these lovelies! 
A few earring sample ideas for my customer to choose from and it's almost ready to ship! 
Between redoing my kitchen, I've had the opportunity to work on a custom necklace using some of Manuela Wutschke's exquisite lampwork beads. It's really brightened my day to have these to look forward to after hours and hours of sanding and painting...so thanks E! 
These freeformed beads were such a delight---something new to discover every time I pick them up and the colors are to die for. The coloring subtleties on the little birds look like they were done with oil paints and no detail is too small. Then there is the amazing stringer detail..can you tell, I'm a fan? IMO no one does it better and it always puts a smile on my face to have some of her lampwork in my hot little hands! 
Manuela's lampwork needed space to be savoured with something bold and modern, as well--so lots of silver-- over 75 grams of silver in fact with just a touch of aquamarine here and there, a dash of amber, and a pair of Turkish sterling silver leaves--so the little birds don't get homesick for a bough to rest on. 
Time to fly away home, little birds! As they come to rest around your neck may they bring a smile to your lips and a song to your heart! 
I was still playing with my Swarovski crystals from Artbeads when I picked up this sweet lampwork bead. I purchase a small set from a artisan on etsy named Diane (no last name) a couple of months ago. She had used a tutorial she purchase from Linda Muell to make the beads and I liked the colors very much. They had been sitting off to the side and as I was playing with my pretty aquarmarine briolettes my fiddling brought me to this pendant.
I loaded three different, diminishing sizes of bead caps together for a very frufru ornate bead cap and tied it altogether with an aquamarine Swarovski on either end. The bead is very 'watercolor'-y in styled and the colors are quite vivid, in spite of the fact that it is etched, which typically mutes color quite a bit. Here's an idea of how to wear it on a silk ribbon, but a pretty sterling silver chain would work just as well.
I did something this week that I rarely give myself permission to do---started a project with no particular goal in mind. I hadn't worked with Swarovski crystal beads
I love the chandelier and teardrop cut briolettes that I found in the swarki pendant section at artbeads--Swarovski pendants . Although I love working with gemstones, there were some unexpected pluses to the Swarovski's--great price points, larger beading holes and perfect consistancy of size, clarity and sparkle (and I didn't break any beads while trying my heavy handed wirewrapping, hooray!). They won't replace my gems, but you'll be seeing more of these great shapes in my future designs. My only complaint is the limited size and color selection--some of my favorites were missing.
Yes, this is the bracelet I mentioned yesterday and below is my knarly hand--veins, freckles and all! I love these beads, even though getting a good picture is practically impossible! The lampwork focals are by Julie Wong, one of my favorites, who alas doesn't torch very often anymore. These little treasures remind me of pressed flowers--each one different and special in it's own way. The colors include every shade of purple from palest lilac and lavendar, to rich wine and amethyst. Tied together with black Swarovski crystals and tiny vermeil beads, it's finished with briolette charms of carved pink amethyst and rutilated quartz. 
A hand model I do not make, but I love the contrast of asymetrical quirkiness and elegance in this finished design.
I don't do all that many whimsical fun pieces anymore, but these adorable beads from Lori Peterson were just too charming to pass by. I attached the charms to a hammered sterling ring with little round clasp findings...so you can rearrange them, or even take one or more off, if you like to simplify with a single charm or two. The silk ribbon is adjustable in length with a sterling slider, so it's short or long---you make the choice. You've got a bat, three pumpkins, even a couple of little vessonite gemstones for a touch of bling.
It was nice to just play with these beadies and after that I made a bracelet...but I'll share that tomorrow or the next day....one of the 'nice' things about having a 20-something artsy daughter, is that she points out how old fashioned and outdated my homedecor has become. Fortunately for me she is always willing to come 'help' me make it better...soooo we've taken on the project of first) removing the wall paper from the kitchen and dining area which was today's project (note to self: NEVER wallpaper a room again, removing it is a p.i.t.a.!) and after we're thru with that, we're going to redo the kitchen cabinets, so I won't have to hang my head in shame when visitors come, lol. I updated the appliances a couple of years ago, but it seems the rest of my world is stuck time and needs a little facelift! So do I, but it's not happenin' !
Five weeks is a long time to be gone fishing, and it's nice to be back with a basketful of precious memories and spiderwebs taking over my front porch (that part's not so nice, lol). While we were gone we missed the heatwave and smoke from the fires, so it was a good time to be gone on our big adventure. First there were two weeks in Montana and environs--mostly in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks--where we were once again overwhelmed by the beautiful mountains and streams, wildflowers, geysers, and glaciers all around us and delighted with every encounter with the flora, fauna and nature surrounding us. This first picture is my beloved Many Glacier Lodge in the northeastern corner of Glacier National Park--I've been alot of places in the world and this still might be my very favorite of all. If you love nature, western Montana will do wonders for your soul and spirit. We saw nesting eagles, bison, bears, birds of all kinds, wolves and marmots, fat little chipmonks and mountain goats, sheep and trout of every hue and size. We fished, relaxed, searched for bears, and relaxed, fished some more, relaxed, explored, relaxed, saw mountains and streams, valleys and rivers, relaxed some more, and...well, you get the picture!
Did I mention the bears? One evening we saw 6 different bears foraging for huckleberries and licking up ants under rocks (the area around Many Glacier is full of bears, bighorn sheep and mountain goats). Driving up the Gallatin from Yellowstone towards Bozeman there was a young black bear that had just downed a pronghorn and was feasting on dinner--what a sight to behold. Mitch fished for trout on the Madison, Gallatin and Yellowstone Rivers all in one day (three days in Livingston was a little bit of heaven all by itself in our own private cabin right on the Yellowstone River)--Montana is an excess of riches and delights that almost sends the senses into overload. I'm a mountain gal, and my heart was overflowing with the bounteous beauty of the earth every day. Summer in Montana is for me a glimpse of heaven. (And would you believe--no internet, no news, no worries and I totally and completely did not care!) Sooo, just when we thought it could not get better.....IT DID!!!! Talk about the icing on the cake.....
Just as we were returning home, the call came that a precious baby boy decided to come to earth a few days early and was waiting to meet his Grandma and Grandpa, so off I dashed across the continent (out of the woods and into the city, groan) for a first hand look at our beautifully handsome, sweet tempered and precious new grandson. , OH MY!!! It was love at first sight---he knows just how to melt his Grandma's (and Grandpa's) heart. I could go on and on, but I will just say that we adore him and felt so priviledged to be invited to share in the arrival of the sweetest little bundle of joy. I'm already missing him--two weeks, well two seconds really, was all it took to become attached to the dear little snuggly charmer--and it was so much fun to watch his Mom and Dad as they tenderly tended to his every need, with patience and love, despite their sleep deprivation, lol. 
Well, my little 'sneak it in' customer appreciation went off without a hitch. I repriced three items in my etsy stores at 20 cents plust shipping (a bracelet, earrings and some vintage laces from the other store) to the first who found them. It took a bit longer than I expected for them to be purchased, but they were found (must be Saturday in the dog days of summer that kept them in the store several hours longer than expected!) I'll be shipping the lovelies out on Monday, so enjoy your goodies and pay it forward, 'kay?
Was it really almost 40 years ago I married my sweetheart? How did our children grow up so fast--my oldest will be 31 the end of August and my baby is turning 27 two days before we celebrate our anniversary. My goodness, how time flies! There have been lots of highs, a few lows (funny how the lows have faded away and the highs are precious memories forever!) I attribute 40 happy years to committment, covenants and lots and lots of love, consideration and common goals. Yes, I feel like a very lucky lady--or better stated-- blessed with a husband who always puts his family first, and who good naturedly put up with a quirky, crazy me when lesser men would have given up long ago, lol. 
My bracelet--Sailing to Mykonos is featured in an etsy treasury running over this weekend---what a lovely surprise! There are some really lovely things in this treasury--drop by for a look-see if you get the chance!
I'm soooo sad...my good camera has the dreaded E18 error....which means the lens isn't retracting or focusing correctly. I guess it is a VERY common problem with Canon cameras--a defect if you will that their cameras often have. Since the camera is out of warrenty and it's $250 to have them 'fix' it...you're better off getting a new camera! So my husband has been trying all the 'hint's' online to try and fix it himself...so far without success. Drat! Drat! Drat! Not really wanting to spend money on a new camera right now, but the other camera's we have aren't as nice for the super macro pic's I like for my jewelry...so I'll just have to make do for awhile. 
Certainly not me! My goodness, I had no idea there was such a market on etsy for vintage ribbons and laces! I've had 12 sales since opening last Wednesday! It's almost enough to make me go into the business of trolling antique and estate sales....notice I said ALMOST. Listing all these little items for sale is a real time eater. , 
Wash, iron, stage for photographing and then trying to jog my memory or look up the names, history and materials in all these things takes lots of time and they are small ticket items for the most part. Soooo...I think I will just be happy the things already in my stash are now going to a good home and not tempt fate by adding to the craziness trying to become a dealer in antique laces and ribbons, lol! 
