farewell 2008!

We are headed to J & G's for some New Year's Eve festivities!

They live just behind us and a few doors down so no worries

about being on the road tonight.

Hope your evening is safe and fun.

Happy New Year!

xo~dale

ready for spring!

FantasyLand ava, originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

Well, Christmas is over and I am ready for tulips and bunnies! And guess what?? It FEELS like spring here in the Dallas suburbs... nearly 70 and sunny! ~~smiles~~
I am still in the holiday* (*lazy) mood and am s l o w l y getting to work on some digital orders and packing away Christmas decorations.
I send my sympathies to all of you folks who are shivering in the (bad word) snow! Egads! Well, perhaps you like it. I hope so!
It is 85 degrees today in Tortola... sigh...

twilight jewelry

twilight jewelry , originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

Whew! Well, we survived Christmas! It was actually very nice.

Now, I am ready to get busy on digital orders and a few other goodies like the "Twilight" bracelet above (in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=23439 ). I have also listed some new "Twilight" pendants.

I hope your holiday was filled with love and joy!
xo~dale

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Eve has dawned clear and much warmer! I do believe we are ready for Christmas. The kids and I have a mountain of cookies to frost, but everything else is finished. Whew!
Last night sis, K,W,C, J and I went to see Twilight (yes, my 2nd time) and it was great fun to watch those pretty vampires. I have always has a fondness for vampire movies... The Lost Boys (original version), Interview With a Vampire. Brad Pitt was so charming in those lacy shirts...

Ah, well, back to reality.
Hope your Christmas is merry and bright

and filled with delightful surprises!! xoxoxo~dale

I'm dreaming of a Caribbean Christmas...

Just imagine, a snow white beach, palms with sparkling lights, a hammock full of gifts for loved ones, the gentle carol of the Caribbean surf... Yes, I am dreaming of islands while the temperature plummets here in the suburbs of Dallas.

I have no doubt that Santa would find my stocking

hanging on a palm at Cane Garden Bay.

Afterall, he's no stranger to the island lifestyle...

In fact he and I have the same favorite cocktail...

a frosty PainKiller from a thatched roof bar

on the leeward side of beautiful Tortola.

If I could...

I would most joyfully spend Christmas with my beloved ones aboard a ship, all sunshine and blue water!! Oh, yes...
but I am here and neary ready for THE DAY! Presents are wrapped, cards sent, house presentable and now we have to bake cookies to share with friends.
Our lovely balmy weather is gone and it is very cold, but if I'm not on a ship in the Caribbean, it might as well feel like Christmas, right?

getting ready....

I'm almost ready... a few more gifts to buy, cookies to make, some wrapping.

It was in the 70s here today! I LOVE IT!

Sometimes Texas is a wonderful place.

I made a dash out to restock my shop space in McKinnney with "Twilight" pendants

before the weekend. The Square was busy with lots of shoppers on this spring-like afternooon.

Hope your holidays preparations are going well.

xo~dale

a treasury!

One of my banner images was selected for a treasury on Etsy! How nice!!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=36380

Divinity Reach

Divinity Reach, originally uploaded by bldgblog. Image by Daniel Dociu.

A dreary day here in Texas... misty and cold, very grey.
My daughter and I Christmas shopped and had fun hanging out together. She's a cool kid.
I am to busy with real life for much art right now and that always seems to make me a bit grouchy. I keep telling myself that in a few days Chrismas will be past and I can return to creative pursuits.
My inner voice reminds me to be in THIS moment, so I enjoyed shopping and laughing with my daughter and tried to dismiss all thoughts of waiting digi orders and such.
I love the artwork above, snagged from Flickr and apparently from an on-line game called "Guild Wars". I think it is a lovely and magical image. Those red flags are spectacular! I do admit I have a fondness for strings of flags. Perhaps it reminds me of past lives as a gypsy or a circus performer. ;)

holiday blog banner

holiday blog banner, originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

Here's a banner I made last year before I fell into the magical world of digital art. I still like it and it was fun to make.
It's SNOWING here! I so need to move to Florida... or Mexico... or Tortola...
Will is having the best day ever! He and his pals are running wild and acting like it's the Blizzard of The Century! LOL! Hey, we're Texans! A flake or two is enough for us!

And the very best news... on Thursday it is supposed to be 70!!

Now that is what I call winter!

"snow" day

Sweet neighbor girls including Will's darling future wife in the front!

Wacky boys... mine is on the left.


Well, there are a few icy patches here in Dallas suburbia and so the kids are having a "snow day"! I've been making hot chocolate and slice and bake cookies for Will and his sweet pals. They are nearly estatic and why not! A day off school AND Chrismas is next week! O, yes!!!

I am happily warm inside and can report with a smile that it is 83 degrees and sunny in beautiful Cane Garden Bay, Tortola today. It is all there waiting for me...

EGADS!

Well, here I am with my daughter, enjoying some wintery fun.

Okay, okay, it is not snowing here, but it is in the 20s and SLEETING!

How do people live for MONTHS at a time in this sort of weather?? It is really

not a good environment for human beings.

It is horrid for fashion. Even my faux Uggs aren't cute enough

to make me love the cold. And coats! Don't get me started!

Big, bulk, heavy, unflattering! Tell, me Northerners,

how do you bear it?

Sigh, it's just that I'm a mermaid, a CARIBBEAN mermaid.

My kind simply can't tolerate ice, except in a cocktail glass, of course.

On the plus side, by Thursday it will be MUCH warmer.

Until then I am curled and tucked into my heated throw,

dreaming of Tortola and white sails against a blue, blue sky.

"Twilight" pendants

Oh, look what's new in my Etsy shop!!! And there's free shipping, too!
These were fun to make. Edward is so lovely to look at.

Find them here... http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=23439

It is crazy cold here!! In the 30s! AAARRG! This mermaid is FROZEN!

I adore this! This man is a god! Look how well his priorities are ordered... beer, wife and THEN food! Does such a man exist?
Doubtful, but it is a lovely fantasy!
Good morning! I am BURSTING with ideas today! So much to do and all I WANT to do is lose myself in a cloud of glitter and paper snips!
I am making a few mini-wonderlands this morning for Christmas gifts, working on digi orders and then I need to fly out to restock my shop space in McKinney and shop a bit, wrap gifts, get ready for a party... thank's basically it... well toss in a load of laundry or two and that's my day.
I love waking up early filled with energy and ideas!!!
Oh, I made some "Twilight "pendants last night and I'll post a photo later.
And how about that MOON last night!?! AMAZING!
~xo~

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

My day started early with a quick dash up to the North Pole. Some gfts just really must come straight from Santa! After a stop by Starbucks for 2 Peppermint Mochas I swung by and picked up Sissy.

So, here we are out shopping in our seasonal finery. It was surprisingly warm, though Sissy had to bring her (faux) fur muff. Fashion overrules sensibility, as always! We had great success in finding gifts, though I am not done.

Of course we did a little window shopping, too. And needless to say, we saw lots of things for ourselves, but we resisted (well, except for those rhinestone birdies!). Hopefully, I'll finish up soon, because if not, well... the day will be upon us!

Now, off to finish up a few digi orders.

a snowy peek at Wonderland

a snowy peak at Wonderland, originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

A blizzzard has come to my house... inside only, thankfully!
In fact, it is supposed to be much warmer here today, in the upper 50s! Yea! I am going to take a wee break from digi-land a create a few tangible items before I go into glitter deprivation shock!
I am going to make some"Twilight" inspired pendants, all dark and dreamy!

winter

What do I know about winter after 20-plus years in Texas? Here our grass dies and the temperatures fluctuate from spring-like to shivery from day to day. Snow? Rare and short-lived. I do love summer, but perhaps if we had a BIT of real winter it might be nice. Romantic, even. I know...I think about the weather too much. What can I say?
Tonight it is soooo cold here and the wind is fierce. Oh, I just can't find a way to love winter, but I am trying to make peace with it. I really am.

Xmas looms!

jana xmas, originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

So, this is J's holiday banner. Festive, no? It was fun to make and it suits her. Sorry, J, but this is how I see you, sweetie! You're a Party-On-Wheels! xo
So, today I making banners (yes, Shery & Christine!!!), laundry (well, duh, I'm breathing!), making my Christmas cards (yes, yes, a little late) and making some phone calls to insurance company, school, etc (which I HATE doing).
We had some scarey wether here last night. I do so love TORNADO WARNINGS (not watches) in DECEMBER!! What's with that?? We get hail instead of snow. Not that I'm wanting that awful white mess!
Everyone knows what I want... palm trees, turquoise seas, one hand full of seaglass and the other one wrapped around an icy Caribe...
Sorry, I drifted off...
Back to the grindstone. The digital factory is O P E N!

You know how somebody asks you in April to do something in December and you're like..."Sure! No problem!" Then come December you're going.... "What was I thinking??"

So, I agreed to help out with props for our church's first Drive-Thru Nativity. I'm not sure how historically accurate we were, but everything turned out very well. The weather was fabulous... only a little cold. The camel was calm and we didn't run out of hot chocolate! Yea!

Many thanks to my fellow decorators... Heidi, Staci, Anna and Susan. You gals ROCK!

My youngest son was Joseph and and my husband was King Herod.

I think he really like sitting on that "throne".

TGIM!!

paris rose banner preview 2, originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

Thank God it's MONDAY!
What an exhausting weekend! I need to do some housework so I can RELAX! I'll post some photos of our weekend project in just a little while.
Right now I think I'll have another cup of coffee and do something fun, like toss in a load of laundry!

winter dream.

winter dream. , originally uploaded by Sea Dream Studio.

SO, I have recovered from being pepper spayed (previous post) and am feeling all the tougher for it! Those holligans can't faze me!
I am super busy, but am making great progress in crosssing thing off my to-do list. Still up to my neck in digi work, but I am really wanting to get my hands in some glitter!
Well, I am off to find some weeds to serve as proxy herb bundles. I am helping do the props for our church's drive-through (I want to say drive-by... probably an effect from my recent experience with thugs!) nativity.
Stay warm!
xo~dale

Dallas crime report...

You know, I like the city. I live in the Dallas suburbs where it is nice, quiet, tidy, but Dallas looms to the south, lush with museums, pro sports, music, art, shopping, you name it. I like knowing all of that is nearby.
Today Sis I went to Harry Hines Blvd., which is a strip of shops with all sorts of jewelry and other goodies... imports, cheap, sparkling wonders! In truth, it is not the best part of Dallas, but we have never had any trouble except a loose rhinestone or two.
So, there we are in one of our haunts, trolling for glittery earrings when I notice a group of young... what's the word?... oh, yeah... THUGS are in this shop of 100% girly crap... cheap stuff, not worth stealing. There behavior was aggressive and I tried to move away from them, hoping they would leave soon. The shop owner apparently thought the same thing. I later learned that he saw them stealing and asked them to leave.
So, I'll cut to the chase. They DID leave, but one of the group came back to leave a parting gift... blasts of what I now know was PEPPER SPRAY! I did not see this, but soon the shop ownwers were coughing, my sis feeling a burning sensation in her eyes, nose and throat and I, unfortunately went rapidly from coughing to gasping for air. I stumbled out of the shop into the cold, windy day. I gasped and fought to breathe. In a short time (though it seemed long) I could breathe again, but all of us were coughing and basically in a bit of shock!
The Dallas Police rolled up a leisurely 45 minutes later and the building (that had the double doors open the whole time) still smelled so strongly of pepper spray they would not enter it.
The thugs were long gone, probably laughing their asses off. I felt so bad for the shop owners, a kind Asian couple, that were so apologetic, as if it were their fault! Sigh... they were just trying to make a living. I know this is a minor crime, but it is sad and reminds me that life in the city is not all plays and nice resturants, a pretty skyline. There are misguided kids headed toward bigger crimes, an over-worked police force and immigrants who are victimized as they go about their honest work.
Well, we DID get some nice gifts purchased before the incident, but I think I may shop in suburbia for a while now.

the weather outside is frightful...

Brrrr... it is crazy cold today, but sunny... high in the mid 40s! EGAD! Do I live in Texas or Michigan?? Well, despite the chilly weather Siis and I are headed to Harry Hines for some Chistmas shopping. For those unfamiliar with Dallas, Harry Hines is a road that is lined with the most wondrous shops all chock-full-o-cheap-bling! YES! SPARKLES!!!! I could tell you my favorites haunts, but of course, then I'd have to kill you. Suffice to say, if I am willing to go outside in this sort of weather, there are deals to be had!
Well, I am off to put on every piece of clothing I own and some cute boots and hit the road.
Hope your day is also filled with sparkles!!

Oh, joy... I am finally catching up a bit on my digi orders. They sort of snowballed on me. I love this work so much, but I hate to make people wait. Hopefully, by next week I will be back to a pretty rapid turn-around time. I am one of those goal-oriented folks who loves nothing better than checking things off a list.

It is a gorgeous day. I observed that on my big outing to the mailbox!
I have been strapped to this computer most of the day. I have had "It's a Wonderful Life" playing in the background courtesy of...Classic Cinema Online.
http://www.classiccinemaonline.com/a/
It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

I'm back!

Ah, I have recovered from my mystery illness and I back in my usual fine form!
I have spent this hideously cold day inside, working on banners and the massive pile of laundry that sprung up while I was feeling lousy.
How nice to be needed! ;)
Lollishops is up and running and appears to be FULL of TREASURES and DELIGHTS.!!
Here's the link to my shop... http://www.lollishops.com/sea-dream-studio