My 2 Pride and Joys

These beautiful little ones are my Son Aaron's babies. They are one of the reasons I wake up each day happy to be alive. Before they were born I couldn't imagine how wonderful being a Grandma could be.

My little buddy Brenden will be 4 in July. He is smart,sometimes a little to smart. He's creative, he likes to craft, color and build things and he has a wicked sense of humor. Best of all he is loving and spends a lot of time cuddling with Granny.

He reminds me so much of his Daddy when he was my sweet little boy, they are a lot alike.
My little beauty Lexiepoo is so much fun. She's funny, independent,fearless and frisky. She loves her big brother she also loves to aggravate him. Watching her grow is going to be interesting....
So Dear Readers thank you for indulging me with my Grandma pride and letting me share my 2 little love monkeys with you.......

Buttons, buttons and more buttons

I use to sew a lot and I always thought buttons were the finishing touch to the project. I would search high and low for just the right buttons. I don't have to do that anymore; if I want a button I make it.

I made the cute little buttons you see with polymer clay. Each one is hand formed,sanded and buffed to a glassy sheen. they measure 15mm and are the perfect size for a blouse/shirt,scrapbooking or maybe to embellish a quilt.

I made a bunch of each for me and some to put into my Etsy and Artfire shops for others to use on their projects.

My favorites are the pinstriped ones and the gold retro patterned ones.


Today Is Easter Sunday and I am having a sale in my http://Gingerbells.ArtFire.com shop
FREE SHIPPING! on all jewelry
and
Buy 3 Get 1 FREE on all handcrafted soap bars.

Sale ends at Midnight....

Happy Easter to all !!!!!

Here are some new pieces.....

It has been awhile since my last post as usual it's been busy at the Casa de Gonzalez....Some good things and some bad things.....
Let's get the bad news out before I get on to the good...
My beloved Father in law Jose Gonzalez Sr. lost his battle with cancer last month. He was a strong loving man who along with his wife of 56 years raised 5 awesome children one of whom is my dear Husband Jose Jr. He was a strong courageous man who over the last year dealt with learning of his illness,loosing the love of his life in February and the progression of his illness leading to his death. He was an example of grace and dignity, strength and hope. I loved and admired him very much and will miss him.

This year has been very hard for our family we have lost so much, both of my husband's parents and my Mom. But we have also gained through our losses. I have learned that above all else the people I love are the most important thing and that the love in my heart didn't die with them perhaps it has grown even stronger. I have learned that every second on this earth is a gift that I will never again take for granted.


Ok so now for the happier news......
My little Granddaughter Lexipoo turned 1 she is growing way to fast and has her Grandpa Jose enchanted.....
and...........
One day while Jose was out in the woods he found a little Chihuahua who had been abandoned deep in the woods he was 1/2 starved and lost a lot of his hair from a flea infestation. The poor little guy begged Jose to help him and he couldn't resist bringing him home.

We took him to the Vet the next day to see what he needed to get healthy and see if they could help us find out who he belongs to. The Vet said it was a good thing for him that we found him because he wouldn't have made it long the way he was. He needed food and de- flea-ed and he had ear mites. The worst thing is the vet said he had been abused and mistreated and that the people hadn't had him neutered and allowed his testicles to grow up into his belly. The Vet said we could have them removed in the future and that would help him a lot.

Well we never found his old owners and we have had him about a month now. We named him Chuy; he is happy has gained almost 2 lb's and his hair is growing in nicely, the fleas and ear mites are gone. He has a new dog house and plush bed in the garage that he like so well he spends a lot of time snuggled up in snoozing. He is such a sweet lovable little creature he likes cats and kids. I can't imagine why someone would have been so mean to him but he will never have to worry about that again.

The next hurdle for Chuy is the operation on his boy parts. After he has that the vet feels like he'll be fine. Right now one of the testicles is pushing on his bladder so he sometimes can't control his peeing so after it's done I will work on housebreaking him so he can come in the house. I have never had a dog before so this has been an experience for us.

also......
My 10 day craft show in October went really, really well so I have been working hard to replenish my inventory. I posted a few of my new pieces here on my blog.

also.....
I am having a sale in my ArtFire studio http://Gingerbells.artfire.com
10% off all items +
FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $20.00
this sale will run for the next week.

Beautiful Northern Michigan

When Mom passed Jose and I were on vacation in the upper penninsula of Michigan. We went to some of the most beautiful places I have been in a long time. In the 4 days of our planned 8 day vacation we spent our time in a place called Paridise and White Fish Point they are very small towns on the shores of Lake Superior.

One of the photos is of a waterfall that Jose hiked to see. No I didn't join him in the hike, no hiking for me until I get my knee replaced.

2 of the photos are from the 3 hour twilight cruise we went on at the Painted Rocks National Shore in Musining Michigan. Stunning rock formations.

The other 2 photos are of the beautiful beach we spent a lot of time at, it was quiet and relaxing. We spent time BBQ'ing and relaxing often we had the beach to ourselves.

The weather is beautiful and cool there and the pace is relaxing and the air is clean and hardly a cornfield in sight. I could for sure live happily there, I think Jose could too. We have talked about finding a small house there to spend our summers and then come back to Indiana for the winters.

Our vacation was beautiful while it lasted but it ended horribly sad. Jose says we need to plan to finish our holiday before to long because it would be good for us; we'll see but right now my heart just isn't into it.

Look who's 3

My sweet Grandson Brenden turned 3 on the 6th.

My Son and Daughter in Law hosted a Star Wars themed party. The little guy is obsessed with Star Wars.

He had a really good time and was surrounded with family members and lots of love.

He is my sweetie and I couldn't be more proud to be his Grandma.

Super Bowl Sunday

How do you spend this day? Is your family sporty?

My Son and Husband are sports guys so Super Bowl Sunday is an fun day for them. My Son and his wife and the babies will be coming over tonight for a little Super Bowl party .

Today I am going to do a little house work and a lot of cooking to get ready for tonight. My Hubby Jose has a weird menu made up filled with junk food and beer( ah well it's once a year). So I better get my bootie in gear. I need to start the chocolate and Carmel cupcakes for little Brenden. He's 2 1/2 and he calls them "baby birthday cakes"

I am having a Super Bowl Sale in my http://GingerbellsGifts.etsy.com shop
FREE SHIPPING!!! till midnight
add Super Bowl in the notes to seller and I will refund all shipping costs...

My little pumpkin

Well little Lexie is now 6 weeks old.

When her Mommy left her with me yesterday I put on her little Halloween out fit on. The little Jack O Lantern blouse is a little big on her but that's OK she is growing fast and will be filling all of her outfits out in no time. It is so fun to watch them grow; her big Brother is 2 1/2 now and it just seems like yesterday he was a little one just like her.

She is starting to show her personality some she smiles a lot, loves to be cuddled, { good thing}, and responds really well to being talked and sang to. She is only 6 weeks old but has her Grandpa Jose totally in love, he never has been able to resist chubby little red heads. I knew she had him hooked when he came home from the store the other day with a little plush dolly for her that has chubby cheeks and red hair. He said he got it because it reminded him of her awwww, not bad for the worlds most MACHO Man. He also bought her some little pink onesies I was surprised they were pink and not Camo.

I have been making up little gift sets for my bath shop. I like putting them together. The other photo is of another new bangle bracelet for my gift shop. I like it it is comfortable to wear even on my chubby wrist. the center focal is one of my polymer clay cabs.

Ho Ho Ho More Christmas Ornaments!

So While the Grandson was napping this week I made these cool ornaments. He sleeps for about 2 hours so I was able to gets some work done.

I made the red and green one with Fimo Soft Effects clay. I like using it when making holiday items because the subtle glitter effect is very pretty with several coats of finish.

The others are made with Premo Pearl and Fimo Effects. I used my most favorite texture sheet to make these ornaments. I love snowflakes and I will be bummed when I finally wear it out.

I accented the snowflakes in the pearl ornaments with Swarovski Crystals. Each ornament has at least 21 crystals adorning it. I love the curve on each of the 6 panels on them.

My favorite is the blue and pearl one. I love blue and white pearl for the holidays it reminds me of winter.

I am going to post these over the next week or so in my Etsy shop. I am also going to be opening a second DaWanda shop and I will be adding these to it.

I am planning a busy week end. Jose went camping with our Son, our nephew and my Brother in Law. It will be a real testosterone weekend in the woods. So I am going to take advantage of the time by myself to get some creating done and I make take a break and do a little housework [probably not].

Angela's visit

Our 17 year old niece Angela came to visit us for a week. She is a lovely young woman and we loved having her.
She lives in Chicago and is very much the city girl so it was quite the culture shock for her because we live in very rural Indiana. She was a good sport and even though she is not an out door girl she went hiking in the woods with Jose she also let him teach her target practice ax throwing with him. I took photos because none of her friend would believe she did it with out them.
We spent a lot of time in my studio making bracelets for her friends and making a sculpture for her Drama teacher. She is a very creative girl we have a lot in common.
Another thing we did was go to The Newport Aquarium in Newport Kentucky, I am posting some of the cool photos we took.
I hope she enjoyed her visit as much as we did.......

What I do 3 days a week

I take care of the little guy in the photo....

Who is that little cutie? He is my sweet little Grandson Brenden he turned 18 months today. Thank God I am a young Granny [48] because this little stinker never stops, he wears me out.

His father is my Son my only child I had him when I was 17. My Son is now 31 [yikes] he and his wife Ashley were married last Sept.

My Son goes to culinary school full time and works nights as a chef. Ashley is an elementary school teacher. They both work very hard to make a good future for little Brenden and his future sisters or brothers. I am very proud of them.