Sunday, June 8, 2014

No beach today :(

Well....there seems to be a herd of bulls gathering round the old watering hole and it looks like we just might need to stay far, far away today. Now.....I bet I have you wondering "why in the world would Regi be afraid of a bunch of bulls". I mean they're just a bunch of silly male cows, ri iight? Not these ones.....they are bull SHARKS. Ya know.....those creatures with rows and rows of all them big, ole teeth. I so don't want the Chazman or me getting confused for the lunch buffet.

Since I'm not getting my mermaid soul time in at the beach today, I thought I would finish up the newest batch of shell jewelry I have been working on.


Someone asked me not long ago about how did I pick my groupings. My answer was......that I don't. They pick themselves. I just grab several at one time and thumb through them and it seems they just kinda pop out all on their own.  This one was no exception either. I love the simple light blue/grey hues that some of the shells have once they have been cleaned and sat to dry completely. This piece is hanging on an 18 inch natural polished hemp rope. The base is a scallop shell with three kitten paws (they look like lace to me) and the top of a broken spiral shell. Silver wire twist with vintage faux pearls hanging down beside shells. I used some more vintage faux pearls along with some pretty Tibetain spacers.


I love wearing these with my scoop neck tshirts and an 18 inch rope is perfect for that. This one has the scallop base along with a beautiful brown/green/grey moon shell and a natural piece of coral. Silver twist wire hangs over the coral. I used some of my amber quartz beads and tiny ceramic beads on the rope.


Now, I love to do groupings with my medallions but when I am given the gift of one of these....well....they are pretty enough to be all by themselves. This is called a baby's ear. Mother Nature even put a perfect hole in the top so that I could use it. I wanted to keep it simple so I used two wooden beads and a Tibetan turtle charm. Beads on the 18 inch (well...it must be 18 inch day....hehe) rope are black acrylic beads and Tibetan spacers.


Now here's one of my whimsical ones. I love the saying "Put your toes in the sand" and this is just what this piece is saying and AGAIN.....it's on a 18 inch rope. Scallop shell is the base with an oyster shell and a small scallop shell attached. The feet charm is one of my hand sculpted clay charms and the glass vial attached is filled with sand from Gulf Shores and tiny shells found on a beach walk. On the rope I used natural wooden beads and small bone beads. It has that "hippie" vibe, yes? Hang ten dudes and dudettes!!!

Until next time..........Hugs,
Regi


Saturday, June 7, 2014

Happy Saturday and psstt.....there's a gift waiting for YOU.

Happy Happy Saturday to all. It's suppose to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood today so that makes it a great day to go a treasure hunting, eh?

Did you come to visit yesterday? Did you notice the necklaces? Well...duhhh...of course ya did. (if ya came to visit that is..hehe) You also saw the cute shell bobby pins too as well as the matching earrings I made to go with them. OK so you're sitting there shaking your head saying ya didn't come a visiting yesterday. No worries...just click here to see and then come right back. Back now? Good!! I decided that I would make a pair of earrings to go with a few of those necklaces and give them as a gift to whomever purchases that particular necklace this weekend. Yes....I said "gift" as in FREE!! Here they are....so you can decide just which necklace YOU are going to buy. (see how I did that subliminal message thingie there...HAHA!!)

 Necklace

 Matching FREE earrings

 Necklace

Matching FREE earrings

I also have this pretty in my shop that if you buy this weekend then I will give a pair of the above earrings as a gift.

Necklace
Matching FREE earrings

Necklace

Matching FREE earrings

This offer/gift will only be available this weekend so don't wait around and then come Monday go "Argg, I should have ordered that necklace". ^_^

Until next time..........Hugs,
Regi

Friday, June 6, 2014

Take a moment....to remember them!!

D-Day is the military lingo for when an operation or event will take place. Most think of D-Day as one event, Operation Overlord that happened on June 6th, 1944. The largest amphibious military operation in history. The heroism and bravery displayed by troops from the Allied countries on this D-Day should always be remembered!!!

Happy Friday to YOU and thank you for stopping by. I hope today is just the beginning of an adventurous weekend. ^_^   Mine will be getting off to a slow start since the Chazman decided he just couldn't go to sleep last night (yes...he is a night owl. can't imagine whereeee he gets that from..hehe) and decided to sit up until 3:30ish and play one of his strategy games. So being the nice, sweet, caring momma that I am....I'm going to let him sleep until 9ish and then his hiney is getting up so we can be off exploring.

Since I have some time before I drag, pull, use ice water get him up, I'm going to work on some more necklaces. These are going to be mermaid tails. I just love the broken whelks and conchs that show their inside swirls.


Ohhhhh....I forgot to show you what I made the other day for *ahemmm* myself. Well....I like to wear pretties too ya know. I like wearing the top and sides of my hair back and letting it hang down. I use to use scrunches and now I use bobby pins. So much you can do with bobby pins but they are soooo boring and plain. Sooooo, I made some non boring ones and got so many compliments on them. I'm thinking of making more sets to put in my Etsy shop.

Yeppers...I even made some matching earrings.

Yesterday I spent time going through some new shells (thank you Diane) and came up with some new designs. I was able to get four done and I LOVE them all. My muse was so so happy happy happy yesterday.


I used natural polished hemp rope (I like the polished because it doesn't scratch like regular hemp can), a scallop shell for the base. Oliver shells and a broken conch for the sunflower or would that be olive flower, hehe!! Coquina shell for the butterfly. The rope part is 19 inches (yeah, don't know what happen to that extra inch) and has bone beads and polished amber quartz stone beads. Did you know that amber quartz represents warmth and brings out creativity and also is believed to bring relief from burnout and give a joyful outlook? I love using healing stones!!



This beauty is 22 inches long and is of course made from the polished hemp. I used a scallop as the base with a large piece of barnacle for the focal. There is a natural piece of coral poking out from the barnacle with two polished rose quartz beads and a tumble quartz stone.On the rope are more polished rose quartz beads. Rose quartz is believed to heal one's heart from pain and disappointment.


Now here's one that I would put in my mermaid inspired pieces. I LOVE it!! I think of bubbles when I see it because of the circles that are in the design. All created by Mother Nature too. I do not paint my shells...I just use as the gift they were given to me as. This one is on a 18 inch hemp rope. The shell medallion is about 4 inches long, that's from the top of the shell to the bottom of the wee tiny vial. A scallop shell was used as the base. On top are a piece of coral, kittens paw, moon shell and another scallop shell. Don't ya just love those natural circles on it? Me too.The vial holds sand, tiny auger shell and tiny conch from Gulf Shores. I used tiny rose colored Swarovski crystals and polished clear quartz stones on the rope. Clear quartz is believed to bring clarity to your communication and amplify your thoughts, which may assist you by stimulating clearer thinking. We can all use that....clearing thinking!!


Here's one of my whimsical ones using one of my handmade manatee clay charms. They have such sweet lil faces...ya just want to pinch em. (ya know...like Grandma use to do when she hadn't seen ya for so long..hehe) This one is 20 inches long. That measurement, on all of my necklace, is the actual length of the rope part....the medallion will add more length to the whole piece.....of course. A scallop is the base with a kitten paw and moon shell attached. A tiny scallop shell fans out on the top. Simple but pretty black acrylic beads and Tibetan beads were used on the rope.

I had FUN yesterday and plan on having even more today with designing. I hope that your day is filled with everything you love to do. OK...well....perhaps you can't do everything you love to do but at least try and pick one.

Until next time............Hugs,
Regi

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Tacky Jack's was a total success!!!

OMGOSH....I have never smiled so much in my life. OK...well...perhaps I have, but it's been a very long time to have smiled as much as I did yesterday and it made my face actually hurt. In a good way though, a VERY good way. ^_^

My pieces were liked by all and even a bit of oohing and ahhing going on. That to me, as an artist, is the greatest compliment...when others truly like your work. I'm feeling like this is just the beginning of a very good relationship with Tacky Jack's and this quirky artist.

The displays should be up by the first of next week and rest assured that I will be popping in and taking some photos to share. There are going to be some really great works by some really talented artisans in our area.


While waiting to meet with Tara, I discovered that Tacky Jack's isn't just a place to eat and shop. During the summer months Tuesday thru Friday's, they have some things a going on. What things ya ask? Well, let me tell ya.

Tuesdays: Hands on Habitat 
(Free for ALL ages. 11am-12pm)

This is a day of fun and learning.
You will learn about our ecosystem
(and boy do we have an interesting one)
You'll get to interact with some of the
animals that live here, thanks to the
great folks at our little zoo that could.

Other sponsors for this day will be
Gulf State Park Nature Center
Ocean Camp
Down under dive shop

Wednesday: Art al fresco
(Fee:Child and Adult prices based on what's being offered)
11am-12pm

What could be more fun than creating new works of
art? Well...not much if ya ask me..hehe Some of the
events going on will be painting, clay work and yesterday
there was a class of Ductigami goin on. FUN!!

RSVP is required for this day, space is limited.
Oh yeah...the fee will included supplies needed
for the event AND lunch. YUM!!

Thursday: Coast 360 Beach Games
WOOT WOOT!!!
(Free for ages 6-11 years.11am til 12pm)

Have a fun loving competitive edge? Come play then.
Relay races, challenges and brain teasers galore.
Prizes for winners and all participants get free lunch.
(that's makes everyone a WINNER)

Parents won't be left out...they can play in a game
of water balloon dodgeball...hehe

Friday: OBF (Oyster Bake Fridays)
(11am til 4pm)

Come and enjoy some delicious oysters made right
in front of you and "Umm Umm Ummm" grilled to perfection.

There will be LIVE music, Corn hole, sand pile, FUN and games
for the whole gang.

Start your weekend early!!!!

See what a great place Tacky Jack's is? Make sure you stop by when you come down to visit. Ya know ya want to!!! 

The Chazman talked me into lunch there and OMGOSH, talk about being full and happy, happy afterwards. I soooo went off my diet but HEY, I can cheat every once in a while, ri iight? We had one of their famous appetizers, Mexican garbage. This big, ole pile of goodness makes a meal....believe me it does and DID!!

Yummy!!

Before any one ask....NOOO, I'm not a spokesperson for Tacky Jack's...HAHAHAHA....but I do love the place and I sincerely hope that when given the opportunity that YOU will come and find out for yourself what a FUN place this is.

Until next time...........Hugs,
Regi

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

1-2-3 little boxes

As I told ya'll yesterday, I was working on a pair of smaller barefoot sandals for my niece's birthday. It was actually on Monday but her party will be this Friday. The Chazman is excited about it because it's at an arcade and pizza joint. My sister laughs and calls it a casino for kiddos. *Gulp*...guess I better have lots of quarters ready!! Wait....Hold UP...is my 11 year old going to a casino before I ever even get to go to one. I guess he is and might be a good thing. I don't know if I could walk away from machines that promised me money!!

OK OK I'm getting way off what this post was suppose to be about.....hehe. So easily distracted I am. I was talking about Banana's gifts. I did get the sandals completed and added a bracelet and one of my shell necklaces too. I think she will be quiet happy with her grown up jewelry pieces.




I made some of my paper gift boxes to put each item in. I so love making these boxes. Remember that I posted a how to on these if you want to make some yourself. I cut these out so they could be stacked together and make a gift tower. The smallest one is 6 inches...the next 8 inches and the bottom 10 inches.
They are all tied together with some of the hemp rope and a tiny natural shell and gift card placed on top.

Now....we just have to patiently wait for Friday to get here. So happy that the Chazman looks at the calendar himself these days and I won't be hearing 24/7 "Is it time yet"??

Until next time...........Hugs,
Regi

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tomorrow's the BIG day!!

Tomorrow is the BIG day and I'm so excited. Today was suppose to be the BIG day but I was feeling a wee bit puny.....BUT still excited. We thought it best if we waited a day so that I didn't bring any unwelcomed guest along...hehe  I so don't want to make anyone ill especially at Tacky Jack's, eh?

Tara made a great meeting time (as in 12ish) which means after we meet, the Chazman and I can grab us some lunch. Yeppers, lunch at Tacky Jack's. Mexican garbage....YUM!!!

Since I'm hoping that this will only be the first of many orders that will be placed by the gift shop, I have been very busy designing. I told ya'll in my past post that Tacky Jack's has the mural of the manatees on their elevator shaft and that had me thinking of making a clay charm to use with the shell necklaces. Here's one of the manatee charms along with another clay charm I made. Footprints...."Keep those toes in the sand".


While I was waiting for these to bake and cool I worked on some more barefoot sandals. I will get them listed in my Etsy shop hopefully in a few days. If YOU do macrame and know how to do the simple twisted square knot and switch knot, then I will be more than happy to share my design pattern with you. I have been keeping a log with photos and details.

Natural polished hemp rope, wooden beads, bone beads,quill beads and natural shells

Natural polished hemp rope, wooden beads, glass beads, dragon egg (ceramic bead..hehe) 
Natural polished hemp rope, tiny glass beads, medium glass beads, Howlite fish beads

I'm working on a pair for my 9 year old niece and will get those and her other gifts posted tomorrow. It was her birthday yesterday and when I called to wish her a Happy Birthday she said that she wanted some of my jewelry. Big girl pieces not baby ones....hehe!! I guess she is growing up, yes?

Until next time...............Hugs,
Regi