MERRY CHRISTMAS...

Merry Christmas, all!

Had a fabulous day chillin' out w/ my hubby & the kids. Opened gifts, watched movies, had a fabulous dinner of grilled beef tenderloin & other yummy fixins, etc. It was a nice day.

We "do" Christmas w/ my in-laws a week or two before Christmas each year because they head south to Texas for the winter via Christmas in Phoenix w/ my brother-in-law's family. They've been doing this for a good 10 years now & my sister-in-law told me a few years ago that she felt guilty for taking them away from us each year & I told her to NOT feel guilty... that I just loved having all of the "family obligation" stuff (okay, I know that sounds awful, but you know what I mean) out of the way before hand so I can relax & enjoy getting things ready for my own family the days coming up to Christmas.

We have a traditional Mexican dinner for Christmas eve... taquitoes, refried beans (no spanish rice, though) guacamole, etc... just as my family has done since forever & my siblings continue to do in their own little corners of the country... sorry Dad, we drink Coke products, not the Pepsi w/ Mexican food that he insists upon, LOL. We played some games & listed to some Christmas music all evening & the kids got to open one gift each.

Anyway... it was a nice day.

Hope you had a very merry Christmas today, too... or whatever you celebrate this time of the year... I hope you took the time to enjoy those around you.

xoxoxo.....

me.

ps... I forgot... here's my Dad's Christmas gift... he liked it (ALOT, I hope!)... called the magnifying glass an "ant killer". LOL.
(click on image for detailed view)

Awesome, huh?? :o) Ivory, silvered ivory & DH Psyche. The letter opener & magnifying glass blanks came from Shawnette at Glassgoodies.

NEW PENS...

It's been a little while since I've made up some new pens & I had someone ask me if I had any in natural "leafy" colors... I didn't, but what the heck, let's see if I can come up w/ something.

I told her that I generally don't do alot of custom pieces, but that I was game to see if something different would work w/ what I'm currently producing & the kind of glass I'm using... so I made up a few for her to pick from...

She loved them & went for the black pen w/ the green bead. I love that one. I lighly etched the green glass ones, just to knock the shine off of them. It's Vetrofond Odd Lemongrass & it looks really awesome etched.

It was fun to do these. The ones on the left are my older style. You can see why I felt the need to try something new, can't you? :o) I like the organic-ish feel (in a contemporary sort of way) to the new ones.

Anyway... things are settling down. I've had a few days of torching fun, making some last minute gifts. I made an awesome magnifying glass & letter opener set for my Dad... I took pictures, will post them tomorrow... or maybe I should wait until after Christmas... in case he reads my blog?!! (doubt it! LOL!)

I'll be back...

HERE'S YOUR SIGN...

Okay... I finished up my last show for the season, I'm pretty worn out, but am happy that I'll now have a little time to chill & post some pictures of what I've been working on (AFTER the holidays!), but while you're waiting (LOL), I have just one more video for you...

...it features Pulie, Pill & "Mysterious E" (Julie...aka ME, my little sister Jill & my brother Scott E. Yes, he only has an "E" for his middle initial...no actual middle name... I still don't think we've ever gotten a believable explanation from my parents for that one!)

Anyway... we're up to no good the day before Thanksgiving in Littleton, Colorado. My brother saw a "NO OUTLET" sign in my parents' neighborhood a few days earlier & felt really bad that they didn't have one, so he decided to give them one. :o) Then he saw THIS one, which is on a busy main road as you're leaving my parents' neighborhood & thought "hey, they need one too!"... plus it would have more exposure to the public, LOL. So here we are... me: no makeup, contacts, etc... & in my pajamas... not pretty... good thing I had the video camera. :o) Never a good thing to turn a camera on yourself, but you get a quick glimpse...



in the credits, "Not seen, but here in spirit: Jeritol & Lysol"... is a mention to my older sisters, Jeri & Lisa...... yes, these are nicknames from the '70s. :o)

& of course, as my family gets home from Colorado & we're pulling into our neighborhood, we notice that the road construction that was just wrapping up as we left town was finished & they left us a new sign "NO OUTLET"... we never had one of those for the 16 years that we've lived here, how ironic is that??? Brad says "hmmmm.... looks like we need an outlet!" LOL.

BUSY BUSY BUSY... (& DEF LEPPARD)...

Crazy busy girl the past few weeks... my final show is coming up this weekend, whew. :o) I have had no time to take any pictures to post lately... sorry... haven't even torched since being back from Colorado... I've been making jewelry & such w/ pieces I already have. Will be spending a few days this week, though, torching... need to come up w/ some more utinsil sets... maybe some kaleidoscopes, too.

How about another non-glass related video?? :o)
I LOVE Def Leppard... & caught them on CMT Crossroads last week w/ Taylor Swift, who I think is kinda cute ;o) & seeing as I'm pretty girly, I really like her new song "Love Story"... I loved seeing them perform this together, I think Joe Elliott's gravely voice sounds awesome in this song... so I had to go in search of the video & found it. Check it out...

Taylor Swift

More CMT Music

More CMT Music Videos

You can find other videos from their Crossroads performance here...

SWEET VIDEO...

Okay... not glass related... but I saw this video & couldn't help but share it...