My Wish

It is my wish for all of you that stop by my little place here to have......

Thanks for taking time to read and sometimes comment. It means a lot.

To you all

To all my friends, followers, fans and most of all family near and far.....

It has been strangely gray all day around here. About 2 hours ago the thunder started. Shortly after that we had hail followed by rain. All of this came with a lot of rain.

Since we rarely see anything white on the ground here in the valley of the sun I decided to record the event with a picture and this post. I am certainly glad it is nothing that needs to be shoveled although I still think snow covered ground is beautiful.

For Your Tree

I kind of wonder if a lot of folks on Etsy are thinking about swimmie tonight. Old timers will remember that.

Big Orange E News

Although I closed my shop on Etsy I still follow the news and lots of blogs related to it. You tend to see a lot of the same names on many handcrafted sites and many of them are amazing people I like to follow. Not stalking, I just find them interesting.

So in my following today I ran across some big news. Maria is moving on and Rob (one of the founders) is coming back to be CEO. There is a thread on the Etsy forums about all this with some spit your coffee on the keyboard quotes. My favorites so far are from Andy Mathis who said, "maybe Maria decided it was time to quit her day job and sell on Etsy. . .It could happen, you know." Someone else mentioned that since Etsy is now profitable maybe they could put money back into advertising and marketing. I doubt it since what I remember about Rob was grass roots, we are all in this together, get out there and blog you sellers, type of attitude.

What I think? The profits did not and never have come from sales. They come from listing fees and selling ad spots on the site. That is why they have never actively marketed to buyers. What will or won't change? Don't know.

Thoughts you care to leave here anyone?

Arizona Style

This, while not a tree, fits with my life right now. This is my third year down here in the desert and I must admit I am still struggling with enjoying life here. Phoenix has a lot of great things but I miss mountains and real trees and even snow.

This comes from the shop Embroidery Designs and More on Etsy.

Happy to You

Here she is. This is my oldest child. Her birthday is today. I know that because 33 years ago today I was at a hospital giving birth and missed my sister's wedding. She was born just about the time they would have been saying I do.

Happy birthday Tammy!

My Favorite

As I create things I try to keep in mind how they would be used. I imagine my scarves being worn and wrapped in different ways. I put together in my head how I would wear it and hope someone else likes the item too.

I have always thought this scarf would look great with a pair jeans. You know when you find the perfect fit you should buy several if you can. I see it put together with a white long sleeved t shirt or thin sweater. Throw in a great pair of boots and you are ready to go. That is why it is one of my favorite creations.

Would this scarf fit in your life?

Relief

It is always a relief when I know that what I shipped has made it safely to its new home.

That happened with my Warm Cream Shawl this week. I was holding my breath waiting for the buyer to let me know everything is okay. There is no need for an AED now. It is there and I got some lovely feedback to let me know it was exactly what she wanted.

I hope it serves its purpose of supplying coziness for many years to come. Now I can breath and move on to whatever comes next.

A Powerful Song

I was hearing this song on the Holly music station we get from Direct TV. The song is simply and I think beautifully done but the message is not so simple but very powerful.

What do I get from it? The feelings it brings to me touch my life on so many levels. The message I get is to identify your first and last and let that relationship make you strong.

Listen and let me know how you feel?

Ahem

 

Ahem, cough, cough. Santa you know if I have been good or bad.

I've been good for goodness sake. This teapot would certainly make my life cozy.

It is from this shop on Etsy.

Trees and trees and trees

From Etsy today and the shop Poppy Go Round. The set of 3 trees and the gourd snowman are sold separately.

I really like the shaping of the trees. I could see them used all year in a cabin or lodge decorating scheme. Couldn't you?

Gorgeous!

Just can't think of another word to describe this bracelet. Gorgeous is exactly what it is. I love the colors of the crystals, the way the whole piece is put together and the gold settings.

I don't wear much jewelry but I do love rings and pretty bracelets. If you like this and would like to see more check out Beaded Jewelry for You on ArtFire.

Visit Beaded Jewelry fou You's ArtFire Shop

Charming Tree

Really charming. At least I think so, how about you?

A tree on an ornament the is also a photo frame. A stand is included so you can keep your Christmas memories in sight all year.

You can find this and much more for Christmas and all year in the shop of RF Colorful Creations on ArtFire.

Wordless Wednesday-Handmade on My Tree

Useful Trees

I am having a lot of fun looking for my tree themed items for this month. I may keep this up in the coming year. What do you think about monthly themes as a reader and/or a blogger?

Today the trees are in the form of salt and pepper shakers and come from the shop  Blue Sky Pottery on Zibbet. As of this post the shop has a version of these in blue as well as a tree decorated platter. What are you waiting for? Go check it out. I don't mind if you leave me.

Turkey and Tunes

Two things start the holiday season in our family. The first is the Thanksgiving meal. This year it included a smoked turkey done by my husband. It tasted wonderful and Jim was so proud of how it looked he took a picture as you can see here.

The second thing is that we play Christmas music as a background to the meal. Jim put up some speakers on the patio and we played the music with his itouch. That's right here in Arizona we were able to have Thanksgiving dinner outside on the patio. It is such a great way to feed a crowd and there are no worries about kids making a mess!

I found a shop on ArtFire that has a Christmas CD for sale. You might want to take a look if you are considering a new tradition like ours. Just click on the picture to find out more!

Very Happy Birthday Wishes!

aycee is having a birthday today!

Even though we can't be with her today we enjoyed her visit last week! This is our last picture of her from the Thanksgiving visit. She and her family were setting out on their long drive home.

Happy birthday Kaycee!

Wordless Wed. because I always wanted to do one.

Curious

There was a whole lot on the news about Cyber Monday. Etailers were hoping for lots of customers and lots of sales.

Without giving away any of Santa's secrets did you shop online on cyber Monday? What websites did you purchase from? Did you shop for any or all of your gifts at a site that has a handmade focus like Etsy, ArtFire, Silkfair or Zibbet? For ease of shopping which do you like best?

Sorry about all the questions but I really am curious and would love to hear from more of my readers.

Zibbet

Okay I did it. This place (Zibbet) better last awhile. I bought in to the $100 for life deal. I am one of 100 accounts they are offering. When I signed up there were about 60 accounts left at this price. If you miss it they are also offering $7 a month for life and have about 2000 of those offers left according to the site. To get info go to Zibbet's sell page. I am busy with company this week so I am just posting and running. I will tell you more about the happenings for A Cozy Life next week.

Just Wandering

Just wandering around our home town with out of town guests. We took a drive to Canyon Lake and had lunch at Lakeside Cantina. All the shopping has been done. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Sidetracked as usual

I was going to do some kind of getting ready for Thanksgiving post but I found something else I just have to share with you.

The Lavender and Lace Tea Set you see is from Whimsical Bliss Studios on ArtFire. This set and so much more like it in the shop just took my breath away with the delicacy and beauty of the designs. Just a hint if you love things like this as much as I do. Use the shop link to get details on an exciting holiday sale!
Check out this shop and come back to let me know what you think.

Why Blog?

That is what I wonder sometimes. Why do I keep adding to this blog? The truth is that this blog is mostly for myself. This is a place to pull together the scattered pieces of life in one place to remember them. I hope that every once in awhile I post some little thing that is of interest to others. It is a lot about family with no dirty laundry so that means it might be a bit boring, a bit about crafts, a bit about books or restaurants or events. It is a bit of posting that I get some mad money for and enough to pay my monthly fee on ArtFire.

So what do I want to remember this time? I want to remember that on Friday we got to go here-

Thanks to a kind and generous invitation we were part of a group in a suite to watch the truck series race last Friday night. Since we got there early enough we were able to wander around the infield for awhile and see the qualifying rounds for the big race that was held on Sunday.

Watching from the suite was amazing. The noise was bearable because we were behind glass. The food was awesome. If you had a favorite driver you wanted to follow scanners were available with headphones. We were also lucky enough to spend part of the day with a young man who was a real racing fan. He was kind enough to answer a lot of my silly questions about rules and drivers and other things.

Here is my other random thought. Why is it that most men seem to look great in pictures no matter what? While for ladies or myself I only really like maybe one in a thousand of pictures taken of me and this is not one of them. These were taken at the entrance to the tunnel that takes you to the infield.

I will tell you what I do like though. I am really liking bloggers new way of handling pictures. 

Colors of the Season

This scene was in Zion National Park a couple years ago. As we get some cooler temperatures here in the desert I think about the beauty of places like this. By cooler I mean we may get down to the 60's in the day time in the next week. I get to wear some of my favorite long sleeved shirts and start thinking about making warm, comforting foods like pots of soup for dinner.

My Veteran

My husband is a Navy veteran. His career spanned 20 years from 1973 to 1993. That career brought out the best in him and helped shape who he is today. I am going to share with you the ships he served on. All the images link to a Wikipedia article about the ship if you are interested. He also had shore duty tours at the Technical Library, Naval Station San Diego, Fleet Training Group, San Diego and Naval Reserve Center, Salt Lake City.

Some days when he thinks about each and every one of them no longer in service it makes him feel old. Even his rate of BT (boiler technician) no longer exists.

First is the USS Proteus. He was part if Operation New Life while stationed on this ship in the 1970's.



Next is the Norton Sound. This was the ship he was serving on when we met.



When Jim was serving on the USS Pyro we went through our first WestPac. A WestPac is an extended cruise of the Western Pacific that lasts about 8 months give or take a bit. My brothers joined him for a tiger cruise from Hawaii to California.



Below is the McKee. Jim is or was a plank owner of this ship. That means he was a member on the original crew. He became a chief while serving here.



Jim served on the Henry B. Wilson in the 1980's. I got to go on a one day dependents cruise on this ship and even sit in the captain's chair on the bridge for awhile at the captain's invitation. I guess that chair is kind of a sacred place so the invitation was unusual.



The last ship in Jim's career was the Duluth. Our son was able to join his dad on a tiger cruise on this ship. Jim served as Command Master Chief and he retired from the Navy in a ceremony on her deck after 20 years, 3 months and 1 day.



To my husband and hero, thank you for your service. To all who have served or are serving in any branch thank you.

Weekend Work

We got carpet in what has become a guest bedroom rather than DH's home office. We moved a lot of furniture around and exposed a lot of dust bunnies. We are getting ready for visiting family this holiday season. I wish they were as cute as this one from Purrfect Knits on Artfire. I would have kept her if that was what I found. So cute!

What Happens?

This is what happens when your DH who obsesses about a green lawn puts down pounds and pounds of winter grass seed on the backyard. He seemed to act as if I should spend my day scaring them away. I would rather take their pictures. The lawn will be fine. I am sure of that.

What's New Today?

I have made it a policy of not putting the same item on multiple sites. I know it is not as if the world of online shoppers is causing servers to crash with traffic to my shops. I just never wanted to be in the embarrassing situation of having to tell someone that the item they wanted was bought out from under them at another site.

Rather than waiting for things to expire I have started moving off of Silkfair. With all my days interruptions I got two things moved. Now available in A Cozy Life on ArtFire are a scarf in shaded blues and a headband that has colors that I really love.


For the scarf I used a shaded yarn that goes from deep indigo to a cool icy blue. For visual interest I created a pattern that angles the colors at the ends.

I can't help myself. I love calico prints. I think the turquoise crocheted edging makes a pretty frame for this fabric.

As I keep going with this process I will keep you posted right here.