Runny Nose and Necklaces

Woke up with a cold.
First, I was going to lay around in my jammies and sip a Mocha all day.....then I got dressed.
Second, I was going to lay around in my clothes and sip a Mocha all day.....then I opened a Diet Coke.
Third, I was going lay around in my clothes, sip a Mocha and drink a Diet Coke all day.....and then I went into my studio.
And this is what happened:











I still need to finish soldering the main center pieces and also attach the remaining chain to each end.




So between sneezes, nose blowing and general lousy feeling, I was able to get a lot done. I'm down to the last month before the boutique so I think I am starting to feel the pressure. Should finish these necklaces in the next couple days and then I just have my canvas art left to do. Almost done!!!!
My Hubby returned from his 3 day golfing trip and it is nice to have him back in the nest. He took me out for dinner last night and will BBQ steak this evening. I think I'll keep him!
Our daughter Jami and granddaughter Sofia flew up to WA to visit Bre and her family Friday evening. They are all having a great time and I am jealous. I want to be there. We have to wait until Christmas for all of us to be together again.
Now I am going to grab my new Living Magazine and cozy up on the couch. Hope everyone has a relaxing day.
XOXO Nancy

Under the Weather

No pics today.....I am fighting off a cold and not feeling well. Had a long To-Do list and was able to cross off several items on it before I just plain bit the dust. My sweet Hubby got home from a 3-day golfing trip with his buddies this evening.....just in time to take me for a bowl of soup and half a sandwich.
Now it's off to bed with a Tylenol. Hurray, tomorrow is sleep-in day!! Have a great evening!
P.S. Our son-in-law, Kyle, returns home to his family after 5 weeks in Texas for the Air Force. We know there is a lot of excitement in the Speck house tonight!!
XOXO Nancy

Art in the Making

Today was Art Group......always my favorite day of the week.....an opportunity to be surrounded by Art in the Making. It's such a good vibe. Erica has been working on this piece from her Girl's Weekend" for a few months now. (Is she a perfectionist?) Of course, me being the novice that I am, thinks it is incredibly wonderful as it is. But in her eyes it is not finished. So she continues to paint, paint, paint.

Isn't she darling? So is her personality. A real HOOT! She keeps all of us on our toes. Erica has been painting for many years and is extremely talented. Oh, if only I could steal a little of that talent away!
You should take a moment to check out Erica's website and view many more of her amazing paintings. Who knows, you might even find something you just HAVE TO HAVE! Erica's website:
Erica’s website at http://www.ericaeschmann.com

You can tell by Erica's picture that her girlfriends are a lot of fun....kooky glasses and all!

Meanwhile, I seam to have lost my Mojo. I just don't seem to be able to get it right. Actually, after taking 4 months off I think it's time to take a few more classes. Anyway, here is what I splattered together today.
I had some time to kill so did this little pic free-hand.

Our group has this sweet, energetic, little Chinese gal named, Fong Fong. She does the most beautiful wired flowers and origami. She starts with gold wire and wraps the whole length round and round a large knitting needle. Then stretches it out and shapes it into different size individual circles. The next step she take this stretchy fine colored fabric (from China) and stretches it over the circles and shapes them into petals.


Fong Fong gathers about 7 petals together with stamen in the middle and this is what she ends up with...................BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS!!

She took us to her house after Art Group for show and tell. She is a very talented Origami artist.
Take a look at some of the things she has made.

This was my favorite. It is about 12 to 14 inches tall and is a spectacular vase. I really encouraged her to do more vases and put them up for sale in an art gallery. This vase is made from newspaper!
I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be involved in this group of talented people. It's good for the soul. And hopefully I will continue to improve under their tutelage.
Tomorrow my good friend Sue and I are heading up to Scottsdale Fashion Square for an afternoon of shopping and then out to dinner. I can hardly wait. I love Girl Time. I'm hoping to find a dress for a wedding we will be attending in Texas in November.
Now it's time shower and think about heading to bed. Exercise at 5:30 AM tomorrow...UHG!
Nighty Nite All
XOXO Nancy

Seeing Purple

Happy Monday to you!! Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are refreshed for a new week.

We had an exciting Saturday:
at our good friends, Brent and Sue Smith's house
in front of the television
dressed in purple and gold
a big bowl of popcorn in front of us
watching our University of Washington Huskies beat USC.
It was a GRAND DAY!!!!
My Hubby is still dressed in purple & gold.

I know I should be unpacking my ghoulish Halloween decorations about now, but I am still in Christmas mode. Since RED is my favorite color I decided to do a few more Christmas birds in it.

Today we had a consultation with a solar panel company and we have decided to go SOLAR.
Not only will we be saving 40% off our electric bill each month, but we will be contributing to the "going green" movement. I don't think changing out one lightbulb in our house to the energy smart kind was making much of an impact on our bill.

Full schedules has given us the opportunity to spend some extra babysitting time with our little Sofia this past week. She is now sporting four front teeth, a lot of drool down her chin and the beginnings of a bad cold. But she continues to be happy and smiley all the time.
Here she is practicing her piano lesson.



She is still working on her crawling abilities and is managing to get around the room. She does and awesome "downward dog" and "plank" position. But what she really loves is to sit up in the chair and EAT! For such a tiny little thing (13 lbs. at 8 months old) she can sure put away a lot of food!!

I must now scurry around and get my art supplies together for tomorrow's Art Group. I am going to venture into painting with acrylics on canvas. If it is recognizable I will post it for you to see. Nightie Night,
XOXO Nancy

Sweet Dreams

WOO-HOO, my new bedding arrived while I was in Washington! I ordered this bedding in May. Eight weeks later I hadn't received it yet. After calling the company and being told that they still had not received the fabric from overseas, I canceled the order.
I think someone forgot to do their job!
But now I am happy they messed up......cause I have a beautiful new 10-piece set!

The fabric feels like velveteen and the detailed trim is wonderful.
The pillows are really cute and the whole set is very heavy and well made. I am so excited!!!
My old set was really starting to fall apart. I'm sure we will sleep much better under this pretty bedding.
I have been hunting for a small dress form to hold my soldered necklaces for the Christmas Boutique. Today I was at HomeGoods (one of my most favorite places to shop) and found the perfect piece.
I think I would have liked it better if the body fabric would have been a solid color, but this will work.

Already I am missing my daughter and grandsons (husband too). Running errands, getting a pedicure and dropping off thank you gifts to the two neighbors who collected our mail and took care of our house, made the day fly by. But now the evening is quiet and lonely. I've gone through all my new magazines and even though I have a ton of ironing to do, all I really want is to cuddle up on the couch with my grandsons. I'm envious cause I know Hubby is doing just that!
I will leave you tonight with a picture of Mt. Rainer. This is what we looked at everyday from right outside my daughter's house. I took this the morning we walked Coleman to his first day of first grade. What a spectacular sight!!!
Wishing all of you a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. And remember to take a moment to honor those who were lost and their families of 911.
XOXO Nancy

Leaves are turning gold and orange....

FALL is in the air in Washington.
The leaves are turning..............
and we Arizonians are loving IT

So the Fall decoration bug hit me and I sat down the other night and created these little Pumpkin Men. I got the idea from Viv's blog. I got a little carried away buying styrofoam pumpkins though. I could not decide which size would be best....so I bought them all!

TA - DA !!!

I happened upon these cute little furry spiders at a darling floral shop in downtown Sumner, WA. They were perfect for my Pumpkin Men. Unfortunately, they only had 3 left.

Frank and I drove up to see my mom and some other dear friends on Whidbey Island last week. There is a new paper store and my sweet friend, Vicki, just happens to have a corner in it where she and a friend display and sell some of their staging decor. I fell in love with the store. (I apologize, cause for the life of me I can not remember it's name....so sorry).


My mom couldn't resist, she HAD to make a purchase! I bet it was cards. She loves cards and buys one or two almost everytime she goes shopping. Honestly, she could open a card shop with all that she has at home!!Here is part of Vicki's corner. Isn't it darling? She is so creative and talented.
Of course, I wanted everything in there!


A couple nights ago we were invited to our close friends, Jon & Ludy Kellett's beautiful home in Tacoma, WA for dinner. She very bravely invited ALL OF US, plus her two daughters, son-in-law and two little grand babies. A houseful!!! And it was wild and crazy AND SO MUCH FUN!!! Our daughter grew up with their daughter, Tiffany and their husbands actually are in the Air Force, good friends, and work in the same office together. How cool is that!! So Bre and the boys really enjoyed the night out with old friends.

BUT....
their little dog, Lilly
was the hit of the evening doing her tricks!

She actually knows how to ring this little bell.
When she sees someone holding one of her treats, she
starts slapping the bell with her paw.
TOO CUTE!

So this week I have been working on redecorating Caden's room. Part of his 4th birthday present. I painted the whole room a taupe.
Then we found these darling car and truck Wallees. So I stuck them on around the room.
A picture will go in the middle of these.
We moved out a big toy box from Cole's room into Cade's and replaced it with a short table and chair for him to use as a desk......now that he is in the FIRST GRADE!!
Helped Bre get some fall decorations going around her house. I didn't make this scarecrow, but it is handmade. I think he is so cute. A lot of time and detail went into creating him.

THE BIG DAY!!!
Here is our oldest grandchild, Coleman, just before we left the house to walk to school for
FIRST GRADE!!!

His new desk along with his new school supplies.

His teacher, Mrs. Nykieam
(this morning his Auntie Jami called to wish him a happy first day and askedwhat his teacher's name was. Cole was having a hard
time remembering and then said,
"I think it's Mrs. Nightgown"!!

Mom with her boys (trying to hold back the tears)

We are excited to all walk back down the street to pick up Cole from school in a couple hours. Sure hope he had a good day.....cause there are a lot more to come!!
Tomorrow we head back to the Dr.'s for more of Bre's test result. Then I will fly back home to AZ and Frank will stay here with Bre and the boys for a few more days to help out.
It's been a full and rewarding 3 weeks. Not to mention the wonderful cool weather!
Got run and try to squeeze in a little nap. Until next post,
XOXO Nancy