Do you love lavender?

Do you love lavender?

Check out this treasury on Etsy here.

Pink "Decodence" on Etsy

I love Art Deco style and the color pink. So I created an Etsy treasury of the things I love that are both of these things. Here are just a couple of pictures from the treasury but you can see the whole thing here. What's your favorite item?

Love on the Rocks

As a kid I collected rocks. Bright ones. Semi-precious ones. Rough ones. I loved running my fingers over them to feel their different textures. I loved holding them up in the light to see how their colors sparkled. I never got into the supposed healing energies some people think rocks have. I just thought they were pretty. My own little treasure. I still have a lot of those rocks I keep in a vase in my house.

So it only seemed natural that I started using a lot of semi-precious stones and rough nuggets and druzies in my jewelry designs. And before I knew it, I had a new collection of rocks called druzies. These are crystals found in geodes or agates that form when molten rock cools and traps gasses when it becomes solid. Cavities and crevices form that are later filled by groundwater. Layers of minerals then crystalize on top of one another, forming a druzy. This can take hundreds or thousands of years.

It all comes full circle and I didn't even realize it at first. I was just drawn to druzies. They've made their way into a lot of my designs in my Etsy shop. And there's more in-the-works. Stay tuned.

The Circle of Life

This is the week of goodie bags, last minute RSVPs and a cake from Costco. My daughter turned three and yesterday was her first birthday party with friends joining the fun. But the art of preparation took two tracks after a phone call Tuesday. My grandmother died. Her name was Dorothy. Our family called her Dodo. I was not only her granddaughter, but her power of attorney.

So after the tears dried, I was suddenly in charge of planning a funeral, one plotted out years ago to take place in Dodo’s beloved old home of Chicago. She would travel one last time back to the Windy City, where she left for Arizona.

Who knew a permit was needed to plan her trip back? Who knew even though she prepaid for this day, the prices of “third party services” increased with inflation and a check for the differences needed to be overnighted to the mortuary? I needed to find a rabbi and gently handle relatives who had their own two cents on how things should be handled. There was the call to stop Dodo’s BlueCross coverage. And arrangements must still be made for her things in her room at her group home. My brother? He lives in Tokyo. Tough for him to help several time zones away. Settling Dodo’s finances is a task for a future day. After faxes and phone calls, the service is settled for Monday. And I can’t even go. I’m eight months pregnant.

But before the new week begins, I plan to take a breath. New toys must be assembled. Birthday party pictures must be uploaded. Two emotionally opposite events in two cities … and all in one week.

Dreaming of Dishwashers

On the everyday list of what's important, the following isn't: my dishwasher. But this week, it opened up a little reality. People pushed themselves out of bed at six in the morning to not miss Arizona's rebates for appliances. The government program is rewarding with rebates those of us who buy new, energy saving products.

By mid-morning if not earlier on Monday, the early birds exhausted the state's available money for the program. Wake up too late? Too bad. With the economy in slow motion, I long ago washed away spending money on a new dishwasher. But hearing stories of couples saving hundreds of dollars on washers and dryers and more, I wondered if resetting the alarm clock should have come the night before. That's when reality hit, the oh gee about getting a new GE. Did I fall off the top rack?

As a mom staying home to grow two small businesses, waking up along with the sun is a bit insane. Taking care of a toddler with number two soon on the way, sleep is something I only dream of. Each hour under the covers is coveted, and hearing the harsh sound of a six o'clock wakeup call for a dishwasher is not on the daily agenda. Good for the early birds who hooked themselves up. For those moms out there like me who need more hours in the day just to grab some zzzzs, we'll keep our GE. Let it hum, rattle and roll, my old dishwasher. I don't mind just dreaming of a new one.

Cool Retro from Fishbone Deco

I came across this very cool Etsy shop, Fishbone Deco, that sells unusual vintage items. Each one is handpicked. Here are some of my favorite items.