Late Merry Christmas!!

Sometimes things just plain dont work out as planned! We had a wonderful time at my daughter Jessica's house on Christmas Eve. She really went all out, trying to make it memorable for everyone, and she succeeded. Great food, beautiful house and good company. It doesn't get any better than that! We then went to a candlelit church service as we do every year. I got completely spoiled by Jess and her husband. They gave me several lovely gifts, the most amazing thing was the 2008 annual Swarovski Crystal Snowflake! It is breath-taking. I was shocked. I don't know if I have told this before, but the only ornaments I have on my tree are snowflakes. I have white lights and snowflakes on the whole tree! Its really pretty.
Anyway, we went to my step moms house on Christmas day and had another wonderful time with her. It was hard being the first Christmas without my Dad, but we all spent some nice quality time with each other. Then, the part that didn't go as planned. We got home to find Maddux on the couch in the midst of another fever. He went up to 105.3 but with wet towels, rimadyl, aspirin and much babying by mama, he went down to 101 in about 3 hours. Hes still running a low-grade temp today. The normal time span for these fevers is 36-48 hours. I am hoping that since it went only to 105, maybe he will be spared the strep and staph infection this time! Wish us luck! Late Happy Holidays!

Mr Buck has progressed!!

I know, I know, it's been WAAAY to long since my last update. Life has seriously gotten in the way of my creativity. After I finished with all my special orders, I had to do what I had planned on for Christmas, which was making an ornament for all my kids, their spouses and my Grandbaby too! I finally finished finished with them, finished my shopping today and all I need to do now is wrap. yes, that's W*R*A*P not R*A*P. I am not quite THAT talented...lol. We are expecting 4-6" of snow tomorrow night and another 4-7" Wednesday night! Yikes! We have about 1 foot on the ground already. Don't get me wrong, I think snow is beautiful, but i am thankful I am not the one to have to shovel or snow blow it! Poor hubby. I think he will survive though.

Here is my update picture of Mr Buck. He was tossed to the side last month to give me time to work on various other pieces. I did find some time to work on him a bit Sunday while we watched football (Go Giants) I had such a nice relaxing time doing so. I had forgotten how relaxing it really is! I have Decembers piece all worked out in my head. I am really going to be stretching the creative process this time. I will boldly go where I have never gone before....and no, i am not writing an episode of Star Trek either! I want to learn some new techniques and i am really excited about this piece as i will be learning lots! Of course, I will finish poor neglected Mr Buck first. I am quite happy with how he is turning out!

Please add Pam T to your prayer list if you haven't already. She is going through some tough times right now and can use all the support she can get. Thinking of you Pam!

WHEW!!!

I am DONE finally with special orders! No more for this year. As you can see, I have been beading my fingers to the bone...lol. I could have done many more, but I just don't have the time, nor the physical stamina to do so. My poor back has been screaming at me to stop. Now I can! Maybe Mr Buck can get some work done to him. Then I am way behind on Decembers page, so I will have to play catch-up. I am proud to say that I made enough just with my beady orders to pay for ALL of Christmas! That's no small accomplishment for sure. On my minimal pension from GM, its hard to come up with the extra money for Christmas. I hope everyone who receives one of my beady gifts will appreciate not only the gift, but the creativity and time behind it too. So many people underestimate the work involved. Each of these Ornaments took 4 hours to make X 14! That doesn't even include the pins which take another 3+ hours. I hope everyone else has there shopping done! Now I am off to do some of that! Hugs Everyone!

Maddux the 10th reindeer!

Isnt this just the most adorable puppy picture you have ever seen? This is Maddux at 4 months of age! He was such an adorable puppy. He grew into a beautiful big boy. We had a blast putting these reindeer ears on him and the look on his face is precious! He looks bored out of his mind. I had to laugh when my Mother in Law sent this to me today. She was kind enough to make it into a stat for me! I know its not bead related, but I had to share!

Tracey where have you been?

RIGHT HERE! I did not disappear. I did not drop off the face of the earth either. I have been hit hard with special orders for Christmas this year. Its a good thing money wise, but not so good time wise. Here is what I have been working on. Add another 15 pins and 6 ornaments to this picture and you will have what I have done so far! I guess my specialty so to speak is dog pins. Most of the patterns are my own, some are not. I have several others I make. All stitched in peyote stitch which is very time consuming. I once did an order of 50 Chow Chow pins for a dog show! I have also done 75 Shar Pei pins at one point! The hard part is making a pattern in the little over an inch wide space that actually LOOKS like the breed its supposed to look like! Not an easy feat for sure.

I am so disappointed in myself that I haven't finished my November project. Mr Buck sits looking forlorn at me while I work on pins! I have 3 more Yorkshire terrier pins and 6 ornaments and then I am all caught up and can finish him. Wish me luck! I have to say I am missing the relaxation of doing embroidery. Its a bit less relaxing working from a word chart or a pattern.

Maddux continues to get better everyday. His spirits are high, he is spunky, happy and eating and drinking well. He is chewing on a pig ear right now, having a blast!

Wishing you a...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This time of year, I have to stop and think of all the blessings in my life. My family, my husband, my dogs, my friends and just living this life! Even though I have some rather severe back and neck issues, I still am in relatively good health compared to a lot of people out there. I am thankful for that! This year I have added 2 son in laws AND a grand baby to my family. I love how our family continues to grow. The circle of life goes on! I hope everyone out there has many things to be thankful for. I want to thank all of you, too! Have a wonderful day, enjoy whatever it is you do. Huge Hugs to you all!
PS. Maddux is doing pretty well considering what he has gone through. He has a long way to go, but he is better. Thanks everyone.

Mr Buck, will you ever be done?

I am feeling like I will never finish this page! I dont know why, but I am not enjoying it like I did the other pages. I just feel kind of blah about the whole thing! I have been so busy making sure Maddux is ok and doing everything for him, filling last minute Christmas orders with various people and worrying about Thanksgiving, the Wedding etc that I just cant get into this project. Maybe after Thursday huh? I miss looking at everyone else's progress and making comments on them too. Just to darn busy right now! Gotta slow down and take care of myself too.

Hubby is deer hunting for the weekend. He will be home tomorrow in about enough time to eat and leave for work. He works a strange shift, 2pm-11pm. Makes it hard to get anything done. BUT, at least he is working! The GM plant is closing here in another month. I feel so bad for those people. Then we all have to worry about losing our pensions and medical coverage if General Motors goes bankrupt. Lets pray that doesn't happen! Geez, some good news would be nice for a change! Thanks for stopping by. You will know when this page is done because it will be a happy day for me! You will probably hear my woo-hoos wherever you live. I just hope hubby doesn't come home with a real buck or doe. He would be upset with me if he knew I was saying that, but its how I feel!