Loading the cookie press with dough

Audrey is now over 3 1/2 and although I used a cookie press (which didn’t like us last night) to shape the cookies, she always pats them down, mashing the shapes, but they still taste good! She was a good helper last night. She helped put ingredients into the bowl when asked and after the dough was made and chilled for a while she helped me spoon cookie dough into the press. She also got to use the press a bit with grandma’s hand on hers. We decorated the cookies with red and green sugar and some white snowflakes. Audrey tends to have a heavy hand with sugar. Instead of sprinkling, she likes to pour the sugar on – LOL! We did have to remove a bit of it.

We mixed up the dough and put it into the refrigerator to chill and then my son called Jimmy John’s to order sandwiches for all of us, which were delivered. My brother was visiting from Tulsa so we had four adults and two children. We had a great time. After supper we pulled the dough out and filled the press and put them onto the cookie sheets then decorated and baked them. Audrey and I only did two sheets of them before her mom and dad had to take her and her baby sister home. They took all of the cookies we had made with them but I will make more for them later in the week. My brother took the cookies I made with the rest of the dough after they left home with him. I don’t know if they actually made it to Tulsa or were eaten during his drive!

I made two of these for my mantle

‘Tis the season! Last Christmas my big sewing project was making stockings to hang on the mantle at my son’s house. The stockings were quite ornate and had curled up toes. This year I made stockings for myself. With my rustic mantle I decided on a simpler stocking. I had seen some made from beige burlap with cream ruffle. I liked them very much but wanted something with more color. So I came up with my own version and I am quite satisfied with them.

Owl friends for my granddaughters

I made two stuffed fabric owl toys for my granddaughters this week. They will be Christmas gifts, along with lots of other stuff. They were a combination of three patterns, two that I saw on the web and one that I bought. The one I bought was for owl pillows and it was huge, so I had to reduce the size to be much smaller to make the toys. I made the owls similar but different enough that the girls could tell them apart. The main fabric is the same for both. The contrast fabric for both is gold but different designs. The eyes, nose and claws are felt. I stitched around the eyes so little fingers don’t pick them off, which could happen if I just glued them. I goofed up on one of the claws and got it sewed on flipped but too late to do anything about it. I may clip them differently to fix it or probably not bother with it. I think they are really cute!

I went to see my mom at least once a week, many times more often. Often I would drop by during the week with a pastry from her favorite pastry shop – Andre’s Confiserie Suisse. I used to eat lunch with her at the facility every Sunday and then we would go upstairs and sit for a while in her room. My mom was deaf so I would write notes to her with what was going on and she’d answer. This was for about the last 7 years or so. She hadn’t been well for the last several weeks but at 99 years old, what can you expect? Hospice had been called in to lend extra help with watching over her and it was Hospice who called me last Tuesday to tell me things weren’t going well and then later their night nurse called to inform me that my mom had passed. It was peaceful, she had gone to her sleep in her own bed and quietly left this world for the next. Now she can fly free, unfettered by the infirmities of old age. She had wanted this for so long.

Yesterday we had a memorial service and it was mostly family plus a couple of friends (my contemporaries) and the manager of the assisted living facility. Then we had a reception at a local restaurant. My niece volunteered to find a place for us to go then made all of the arrangements. I am forever in debt to her for taking a hand in this and relieving me of the responsibility. Of course I had to pay the bill but that was minor!

I hope to get back to my jewelry soon but I suspect it will be after Thanksgiving. I did get a few new pieces loaded to my Etsy shop. I have more to load and hope to get that done during the week.

I went through almost two weeks of thinking that perhaps I had a gluten problem. I cut out wheat but that didn’t help. It wasn’t until almost two weeks had passed when I decided to only eat meat, poultry, veggies and fruit. I got instant relief. It was then that I realized it must be dairy products that were causing the problems.

Got that over with and have now purchased Lactaid tablets to take when I am going to eat dairy products or are eating out and am not sure what might be in a recipe. I still haven’t gotten back to work because now my aged mother has weakened and the assisted living center where she lives has asked Hospice to come in and check on her.  She has had several days when she didn’t want to get out of bed and wasn’t interested in eating. Did I mention she’s almost 100 years old? Now they have all these extra people prodding and poking and asking her questions.  And me, I’ve had a mountain of paperwork to fill out! Of course everyone is worried so one of my brothers came for a visit to see her. He stayed with me for several days and I had to put away all of the beading and craft stuff so he’d have a place to sleep!

Crazy Lace Agate Pendant Necklace

I tried to scan a few pictures of the jewelry pieces that I had made before all this started. I seem to have lost my touch as I can’t seem to get good pictures at all! There are 17 new pieces of jewelry. Most of them were fall themed so a good portion of the opportunity for people wanting them has passed. There is nothing I can do about that except to get them done and uploaded to my jewelry sites anyhow and hope for the best.

© Camilla Walton and Adventures In Color, 2012. All rights reserved. See
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Add candy and serve

It is almost that time of year that drives me nuts – Halloween! Oh it’s lots of fun, but all the candy that is around is hard to resist. I always try to buy candy I don’t personally like for handing out to the little ghouls and monsters. That usually means Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups will be given to children when they come to my door. This year I am trying to decide on a project so I can give my grandchildren their treats in a special Halloween themed container. Last year I made Witches shoes from scrapbooking paper (found the design on the net) that I put candy in for my granddaughter and I also gave one to my mom. Right now I am on the hunt for another good small box to use for Halloween candy. I could do the Witch Shoe again but I’m looking for a Frankenstein box. I found one that uses a take-out box to start with but I really want to find one I can make completely from scratch. I also found a Pumpkin Pail that I might use. I have to make a list of supplies needed for it. It basically uses a pillow box template to create the basics for the pail. You cut three pillow boxes to start and then build on that.

Elf Shoe to hold small gift

I like to do holiday themed items. At Christmas last year I made Elf Shoes for a group of my friends that I meet monthly for lunch and I filled them with candy. I also made one for my granddaughter and my mom. I made lots and lots of boxes. Most of them were boxes for gifts. I also made “Milk Boxes” to hold homemade candy and such. I also made fancy boxes to hold the gift cards I bought for my son and daughter-in-law. You can find templates for small gift boxes that fit an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of cardstock all over the net.

Pillow box for my jewelry

I use handmade pillow boxes to package my handmade jewelry. That way I can use my own logo design for the boxes. I have three sizes of templates and use the size that best fits the piece of jewelry. The boxes are then wrapped in bubble wrap and then inserted into USPS Priority Mail boxes I get from the post office.

Well, time to get back to my jewelry making. I had two sick days this week that put me behind. I have two bracelets to complete and then I will price the items, write descriptions of all the pieces then take their pictures on my scanner. One of those pieces is shown below, a lovely black, white and copper bracelet made from Czech glass and copper.

Copper Leaves Bracelet

© Camilla Walton and Adventures In Color, 2012. All rights reserved. See
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The necklace project I am working on now started out with me deciding that the round wood jasper pendant was too plain I wanted to “fancy it up”. First I made a coil to put at the bottom with the wire running up through the bead with small beads above and below and created the loop which I would attach to the main part of the necklace, which was unmade at that point. That looked good but I wanted it to hang from something special made with more wire. I started curving and looping wire. Ugh! The original decorative wire piece ended up too long. Stuff got twisted the wrong way, etc. So then I decided to make a Celtic Teardrop to attach the pendant and the necklace to. My plan was to make the beads that would create the necklace portion into wired bead links rather than just bead after bead. But then I thought about making links between the bead links as S-links.  Then I changed the links to look like 4 leaf clovers.

This time I plan to hammer the wire pieces with the ball end of the chasing hammer to give them more texture. I got out the WIGJIG and this will help me out a great deal. This is a tool that looks like a very small pegboard. You put wire pegs in and you are able to loop your wire around to make a design such as the Celtic Teardrop or the 4 Leaf Clover links I am using. I got my Celtic Teardrop and the clover shapes made. The latest brain storm resulted in perhaps alternating the 4 leaf clover links with S-links. The wire links would go between the bead links.

Wood Jasper Pendant Necklace project in progress

I don’t have any of the S-links made yet but you can see what I have to this point. The pendant and rusty green beads are wood jasper. I am using brass wire and copper glass seed beads also. I really like the look of the Celtic Teardrop to suspend the pendant from and to attach the necklace links to. I think it is a very graceful look. Who knows how this will turn out in the end? It’s a process…

Antique Map Mini Purse

I don’t just make jewelry, I also sew. For a time when I first had a website I made and sold fabric handbags in addition to jewelry. Although I sold some, I didn’t sell many so I gave it up. I still have a number of them at home, wrapped up in plastic bags and hanging in the closet in my craft room. I’ve also made Christmas stockings that some people say I should make to sell. They are very fancy and intricate and although I made them as a labor of love for my son, daughter-in-law and my grandchildren I have no intention of making more. My back ached for days and my fingers were full of holes from sticking myself on the pins – LOL!

Felt Easter Hand Puppets

Last spring I made felt bunny and chicken hand puppets for the older granddaughter and her cousins to entertain them during dinner at a nice restaurant on Easter Sunday. The kids ran around a lot and fortunately we were in a room where families with children had been placed, no doubt to keep us from disrupting the patrons who wanted to enjoy a peaceful meal. There is a picture somewhere of the kids and the bunnies posing with me and Alex is making bunny ears behind my head. Typical boy stuff – classic…

The latest project is one I have been thinking about for quite some time. I saw some stuffed owl dolls. I call them dolls because they are more like dolls than owls, very stylized. They were quite expensive and would have to be shipped from abroad. I looked around on the web and downloaded a pattern for a stuffed owl. It wasn’t quite what I wanted. I found another pattern to buy that was for owl pillows and it arrived last Saturday. When I opened up the package I discovered they were huge. What did I expect? After all the pattern was for owl pillows!

I put one pattern on the scanner and shot two pictures which I then put together. So now I had an owl body pattern that fit onto an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper. The pattern was basically a drawing and all the outside seam allowances were drawn in. I still had to cut it out in sections for each pattern piece and add the seam allowances to the other edges. I did this all on paper and I have the pieces waiting for me to work on them. I plan to use the pattern I bought as a model. It is only a body with a face and it has a mid section that calls for a second fabric. The pattern I downloaded has wings you add and feet. My plan is to add wings and LEGS to the owl pattern I bought and I want to add an additional feature to the face. I have a feeling that I may have to create some preliminary “Owl dolls” before I get the final ones for the girls. They will be fanciful, done in brighter colors than you would see on an owl. Think parrot – LOL!

Right now I am still working on jewelry so I can upload a bunch of new items to my online stores and can send out a newsletter reminding my customers that I am still out there and have new goodies for them to see. THEN I can get to work on the owls. I need a clone…

Falling Leaves Charm Bracelet

I have a group of friends who also like to make jewelry. Some sell their wares and some just make jewelry for themselves and for friends and family. All of them make gorgeous jewelry.

About once a month we get together at one of our houses on a Friday night for an evening of eating, drinking and beading. Not everyone in the group can make it every month but we usually have at least 5 people or more. Last night the hostess made chili and put out a tray of raw vegetables and dip, Trader Joe’s Light Margarita mix and tequila. The rest of us brought food that would more or less complement the chili. I made Pepper Jack Cornbread. Someone brought a tray of cheese and small bread rounds. We had Red Velvet cupcakes and home-made brownies (I love the corner pieces). It was wonderful, the whole spread was yummy. Life is good when you have good friends and can enjoy a delicious meal and chat away an evening together.

Afterwards we got out our beading supplies to work on our “project du jour”. I chose to make another one of those leaf charm bracelets only this time the leaves were semi-precious gemstone leaves in various colors. They were leftovers from projects I’d made over the years. Most were various types of jasper and I had a couple of agate varieties too. All were the same size. I added some lapidalite jasper round beads and used the same brass bead caps on each leaf and bead. These all went on a simple antiqued brass chain. The bracelet chain came with a lobster clasp but I changed that to a leaf toggle clasp.

Of course we didn’t just sit there and work, we chatted, passed around pictures of one of the gals’ brand new grandson, passed jewelry projects around to examine, exchanged critiques about our work, etc. It was amazing how many different types of projects were being made. One gal was making up a three strand bracelet made from small pieces of silver and Swarovski crystals in various colors. She had seen a very expensive version of it in a department store. Another was putting groups of two colors of pearls together with wire to make pearl flowers which she will make into a necklace. It’s amazing how varied the projects are and what beautiful work we all do. I had a great time and I am sure we all did!

© Camilla Walton and Adventures In Color, 2012. All rights reserved. See
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Latest Earrings

Seemingly earrings are a dime a dozen when it comes to quantity. When I go to a department store I see displays full of gold and silver earrings with set “jewels” and then also more “handmade look” items in antique brass and copper and hammered metals, usually with beads. Personally I prefer the handmade look items but that is my personal taste. I’m sure my elderly mother never would have worn the type of jewelry I wear. She is from the “string of pearls” era. She had pierced ears as a young woman but she quit wearing that type when they went out of style and the holes healed up. Yes, you heard me right (read me right?) – pierced ears went out of style! I don’t remember seeing earrings for pierced ears when I was young.

Most of the jewelry I have from my mom (she doesn’t wear it anymore) is predominately pearls and rhinestones but there are a few pairs of earrings that really appeal to me. One is a pair of long drop earrings of blue lapis set into marcasite. Another is round green turquoise set into sterling silver with beaded edge trim. By beaded edge I mean the silver edge has the effect of small beads. The last ones are button earrings. Both pairs have screw backs on them. If I don’t tighten the screws enough they fall off. If I tighten them too much I end up with aching ear lobes. Plus some of the older ones tend to loosen as you wear them and can easily drop off without me noticing. I don’t wear them as I am not about to lose antique earrings.

As I mentioned above, I wear clip earrings. I just never got my ears pierced since it wasn’t in style when I was young and now I feel like I am too old – LOL! I have a hard time finding the colors of clips to put on my earrings when I shop in stores around me. Finding antique brass or antique copper or bright copper clip earring findings in shops is almost impossible. I have to order those online. They aren’t difficult to find online so I’m not sure why the brick and mortar stores where I shop don’t stock them. I know I am not the only person in the world who doesn’t have their ears pierced.

The earrings I make for sale are for pierced ears and they are not the stately traditional jewelry of old. Mine have the handmade/handcrafted look because they ARE handmade! I buy beads, metal pieces, Czech glass, etc. and I play around with designs. Mostly I use the French hook/Shepherd’s hook style for hanging in the ear lobe but occasionally I will do them with lever backs or studs. I used to offer different options on my StormRising Designs standalone site but rarely did anyone ever request that I change then from what I had, not even to clips. Of course I put clips on the ones I make for myself. Hopefully if a person prefers lever backs or clips to wires they will ask me if I can accommodate them. I aim to please!

Here is a batch of earrings (see below) that I worked on over last weekend and on Monday. They are all for pierced ears as usual. Right now I am finishing up a necklace made from some openwork brass leaves, poppy jasper and picture jasper and I am trying to come up with a design for some unusual shell beads I have. They may end up being in a bracelet because of the odd shape. I also have an idea for a chain necklace with various colors of gemstone leaf-shaped beads from my stash. They are leftovers but they can end up being very tasty! I like to strike when the muse is hot so I will create everything I can before I finalize names and write descriptions.

© Camilla Walton and Adventures In Color, 2012. All rights reserved. See
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