Jewelry Making: A dedication to A.W.Messersmith.

I have been inspired to make something special for my daughter.  Her wedding is in October and I'm making alot to help out in costs.  This is so fun.

She has her three sisters and friend in the wedding which was hard for her to choose.  If she had her way there would be 8+ girls in her wedding but common since took over.

Her favorite flowers are Calla Lillys so this was an experiment.  I think it worked out really well (after three trials and for me patience is a virtue) woot woot!

I'm proud of myself as my granfather devoted his adult life making jewelry for Petri Jewlers in Indianapolis, In since I was a little girl that I can remember 20+ years.  He did wonderful work and over the years made me a ring, earings, bracelets and repaired a lot of stuff our family owned. I have been privledged to have inherited some of his tools.  I have always wanted to learn how to make jewelry and maybe I will go back to school to learn one day.  I just learned that my cousins wife makes jewelry.  Awesome sauce! 

So dedicate my first work to Grandpa, Arnold William Messersmith. 

Arnold and Dorothy Messersmith memorial

I have dragged my butt on this project for a long long time.  It is an emotional post for me and I want to do it justice without being a blubbering idiot.

My Grandparents;

Arnold and Dorothy 25th anniversary

What can you say about maw maw and paw paw; grandma and grandpa; meme and nature boy; Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Arny/Arnold; my kids~grandpa GG and grandma GG.  Probably a whole bunch, depending on who you are and what they meant to you in your life.

Like many families, ours was crazy and had a matriarch that saw over ALL, rather you liked it or not.  I'm not here to point fingers and say bad thinks but give the truth of my life as a kid and adult with my grandparents.

I hope all children have the best memories of their grandparents.  I know I do. I could not even imagine a kid not having what I had.  Matter-of-fact, I just can't even fathom the thought because I thought everyone had grandparents like I did.  

mom, sister, grandma, grandpa, sister

grandpa, us girls going to a play

half-sister and brother, distant cousin

cousin, my uncles son

After my parents divorced at an early age in my life and non-memorable age of my sisters, my grandparents stayed in contact with my mom and helped her raise us.  Unfortunately they disowned their son in the process for reasons I will not talk about (just not important in this story).  So long story short, with my dad, he does reconnect with his parents with his second family (that's a good thing)!

Anyways, my grandparents provided everything they possibly could and really was a help to my mom and later step-dad (who was my father that raised me).  Now there was some head knocking between the parents and grandparents (grandma really).  There were dos and don'ts that were followed or not followed.  My mom called them "Strings attached" situations.  Nothing was for free (like if you watch "Once Upon a Time" on ABC, Rumpelstiltskin would help only for a price), that it self is another story too.

All three of us girls had free rein at Sweet Water Lake where my grandparents lived.  There were just a few, I mean maybe 5-6 neighbors at the time we were there that lived on the finger of the lake they lived on.  Very woodsy and private.  We ran like wild Indian girls and played "Charlies Angels" with our pop guns and chased bad guys in an old Nova that did not run, as our police car and jumped on the silver propane tank on the driveway, as our elephant that took us through the deserts and forest of our wild adventurous imaginations. There were set up doctor offices in the upstairs bedroom where my grandma would fashion pretend hypodermic needles to give shots to our stuffed animals and torn up sheets as bandages, pretend library with all my grandpas books, set up stage in the living room where we would put skits together and perform later in the evening when grandpa came home.  I grew up there and I'm sure it was a well deserved break for my mom and dad.  Again, I wish my kids could experience what I did.

Our grandparents supported us in art classes down the street where we lived at with our parents and funded our many many years in performing arts.   Both of my grandparents were dancers and performers in local theaters.  My sisters and I danced for over 15 years and then gained our certificate in the study of dance, theater and history.  I then began teaching at the age of 16-til I was 32 and retired.  I loved when my grandma and grandpa would spend time with us to teach us the old style of dancing ballet, tap, gymnastics and then vocal (which was a disaster) I think my grandma wanted a star in the family to live through.

Dance studio picture with grandpa in the center and I in the back in the blue dress

My sisters and I performing at a recital

Me at a dance competition winning first place with my partner

Adagio group, grandpa on the left and partners

As time goes on we started our families (at least I did at 23) and 4+ yrs after that my sister did, then my half-sister, half-brother and my cousin.  Now I say this not to knock or put down my grandmother, but she chose the family she wanted to be with.  If she could control one little aspect of your life or give a golden moment of "advise" you were in the loop.  So I did not know many of my cousins on my grandma and grandpas side of the family.  After the death of both of them I got to reconnect with many cousins and new family members but as at the loss of time.

Moving on, she was a great help to me after my divorce and having a 1 1/2 yr old running around with me trying to finish college.  Of course I paid my way and worked hard and did what I could as a single mom. My grandparents automatically stepped in and helped with no questions asked (remember strings attached, I did not know until later).  I had a free babysitter when needed if money was tight.  My oldest daughter got to experience this special time like I did.  She spent weeks and weekends at the lake house, and I missed her terribly, but knew she was in good hands.  So between what my parents (mom/step-dad and father/step-mom) and grandparents, my daughter was loved and taken care of.  I was very fortunate and GRATEFUL for this.  Without these people in my life I do not think I could have done what I needed to do.

My second husband entered our life and then grandma was not happy.  She tried so hard to scare me from him as he is a strong military man that loved my daughter and took the reins with no questions asked.  He was great support to me in my unstable emotional life then.  This is when grandma realized she was loosing control of me.  Finally she and my husband came to friendly terms and became closer.  But still wanted a foot in our life and dictate what was to be done and not done.  LOL.  She never gives up.

I felt bad for my dad (birth father) as he had a long road of recovery to forgive his parents and them to forgive him, but had a wonderful family that he finally brought home to Indiana.  I love my step-mom, she has always been there for me and my family.  My father took the role as my friend and knew he had to accept that.  I grew closer to him and what happened with my mom and him was their business.  Anyone that has dealt with parents divorce you can get dragged in the middle and get the evil eye for loving the enemy.  Some families don't involve their kids like that "KUDOS" to them for good co-parenting.  Mine NOT.  Eventually my mom was able to stay in one room with my father, but after my stepfathers passing.  Anyhow, I had a half-sister and brother.  Woo Hoo it was like getting the prize at the bottom of the cereal box.  I love them and their families.  Unfortunately, my grandma had picked her favorites.  My poor sister always felt unloved and competition for her affection that never happened.  I wish I could have given her what I had.  My brother is my brother and he did not really care one way or the other and just respected her and loved my grandpa because that is what my father expected of him.

Dad and step-mom

brother

sister

Years go by and so does family history.  Moving from the lake house to town in an apartment where I took care of them and watched them slowly decline in health broke my heart, as I thought they would live forever!!!!  Eventually my family got to big and the responsibility of caring for them was hard.  My grandparents were lashing out at me for suggesting retirement villages or nursing homes.  Eventually their health was declining with depression because of memory issues.  I finally I asked for reinforcements of family that finally did the dirty deed of moving them in their forever home at the Westside Gardens, where they took their last breath and roam the floors of heaven.  I won't go into detail to much, as it is still painful.

Grandpa with his great grandbabies

grandpa, my uncle, grandma

Grandpa died with his whole family by his bed side and lots of tears were wept. He was a gentle and kind spirited man that worked very hard for his family and loved his boys the best he could.  He was a mama's boy and loved his mama, sister, brothers and my grandma very much.  I never knew much about my great grandpa, but my grandpas family was the LOVE of his life.  He loved nature and every thing that GOD put breath in and cried many many tears when he was sad.  When asked what was wrong when on our many nature walks he would sing "Nature Boy" by Eden Ahbez, song by Nat King Cole, and remind us to always love everyone and be kind.

Grandpas mom and grandpa

Grandpa in center holding his sister and his two brothers

Grandpa and I

my uncle and dad

Grandma's death was a long one.  She clung on to life and the spirit of life as long as she could.  She had such a passion for life and wished she was a movie star.  LOL  She loved acting and used it to her advantage  in life.  She had a sad childhood and was mad at her stepfather for so long and mourning the divorce of her mother and father.  Her grandmother was her biggest supporter and she earned the nick name of "Little Mimi".  She pretty much did what she wanted and when she wanted.  She had two brothers and a sister.  She told stories on top of entertaining stories of her life.  As we sit with family members and newly discovered family members we laugh at the stories we recall.  But she loved with a big heart and picked whom she loved with her big heart, which later in life caused her a lonely life after my grandfathers death.  I know this is what she did not want but sometimes our actions can be our poison in life.  She was greatly loved and disliked by her actions by many.  She mourned the loss of my birth father and to this day we wonder what the last minutes were like with him and her, a dispute that was carried to his and her grave and no one new what happened, but she mourned, cried and had many laughs in remembering him.  Grams definitely was the chatter with the staff at the nursing home good and bad.  Like I said, she had a temper, but then she overflowed with kindness as well.

news clipping of my grandparents opening their dance studio

The Matriarch

As I sit here and try to narrow this blog down to the essentials, with many more things to say, I look at their little boxes their ashes are in and recall many many memories that make me smile.  It took me about a year after my grandmothers death to finish the video I did of them that could have been a movie with all the stuff I wanted to put in it.  I was lucky, one lucky little girl that new the love of her family regardless of the spits and spats that went on.

I hope you enjoy this and think of your family and love each other as much as you can.  Sometimes decisions are made in life that just are not what we want, but best for us.  I know I have bridges I need to work on that are "under construction", but I pray and love all of the ones that stand on those bridges.  Learn to give love and compassion without "strings attached" as it will leave you alone in your last hours of life.  Do not pick and choose who you love, but try to love without conviction.  I am not perfect but a project that God is working on, but I know one thing Family is Family and once that is gone it is gone.  

Youtube video- Arnold and Dorothy messersmith memorial: http://youtu.be/tE2YxJb3zK0

Visit: www.uniqueimagesbyacmccue.weebly.com  for rates on memorial videos.

Home made Mother's Day Gift.

Good Day Everyone,

I had a brain storm for Mother's Day.  I am the worst person in the world to remember dates and sending cards.  I however, love to make hand made gifts.  I seem never to find what I want to give or if I do I alter what they say and look like.  How many of you have been in this spot?  I love Pinterest, I call it my personal brain fart notebook.  I hate trying to remember where I saw the last good idea that I can make.  My computer was getting bogged down with "my favorites" and before you knew it was so out of control that I would role my eyes when I had to scroll through it to find what I wanted.  

My brain storm was, "wow I would love to have a picture of all my kid's hand prints."  Now my girls are 22, 14, 9, 1 1/2.  I was only successful in getting one baby foot impression out of all my kids.  Yes, I have great ideas but then procrastinate in doing the project, as my husband will say.  So off to Michael's I went and to my luck there was a sale on canvases 2 for $4.  Wow can't beat that.  But wait I only need one.  Well then I thought what about my mom, mother-in-law and step-mom.  My kids are not theirs but I am and I know they would love this and too it was coming from me and my husband so that counts as a Mother's Day gift.  LOL

I will post step-by-step of the Sunflower hand prints.  

1. This is what I started with.  A blank Gessoed canvas.  It is very important that the canvas is Gessoed,  as it keeps the surface semi smooth and your acrylic or oil from bleeding into the material.  Don't worry if you are saying "what", your canvas should state that it has been primed with Gesso. 
   
2. I bought acrylic paint 4 for $2.  (I hit the jack pot), I just kind of sat on the floor in the isle and put together all the yellow paint to get four different shades that would help me get the visual effect I was looking for.  
   
3. I used a pie pan I had because it was big enough to put all the paint in.  Now i started out with all of the girls putting their hand flat in the pan and then putting them on the canvas.  Found out later that was not the affect I wanted, so I switched things up and started to paint the fingers to get the finger prints I wanted to make the petals.  
   
   
   I liked this better, left the center clear to paint the center of the flower.  I did not paint the thumb.  
   
   
   
   
   
4. I estimated how big to make the sunflower, so that called for a bigger canvas, (you may not need one so big if you have less than four kids). DON'T FORGET to paint a stem on your canvas.  I did forget on my first flower, but that turned out ok.  I painted the stem and estimated where I was going to put the hand prints.  Now you want to paint the fingers and place them on the canvas in a repeated circle. You can over lap them.  I DID NOT PAINT THE THUMB.  Over lapping I think made it look fuller.  (I started with a dark color first and then worked to the lighter color and then reversed the colors on the other canvases.  I liked both ways.  LET THE PAINT DRY BETWEEN APPLICATIONS OR USE A HAIR DYER, BETTER THAN THAT GO OUTSIDE AND ENJOY THE WEATHER).  
   
   
   
5. Now the second child do the same and estimate just 3/4 or more down the petals of the first child and repeat pattern around.  YOU MAY HAVE TO GUIDE THE YOUNGER ONES.  
   
   
   
6. Now to the third child and repeat step #5. 
7. Now you are looking at this and thinking, "what! this is a mess", trust me it gets better.  Now with a brown paint you want to use your finger and dip and dot the middle of the sunflower to get that sunflower look.  
   
   
   
   
   
8. Now at this point I thought "Ewww I'm not liking this".  I added a little lady bug and had my girls figure out where to put it and used their fingers in red paint and made a dot.  Woo Hoo.
   
   
   
   LET THE PAINT DRY AND TAKE A BLACK CRAFT MARKER TO ADD DETAIL TO THE LADY BUG.  cute cute cute
   
   
   
9. At this point you may like the way it looks and that is great, but being an artist, I felt the flower needed more depth.  I got out my black acrylic paint, watercolor pencils and my paint brushes.  I started with  stippling black paint in the middle of the flower on top of the brown to give it the sunflower seed look.
   
    
10. Next I took my watercolor pencils and used a reddish brown and black to shadow around the outer edge of the center of the sunflower.  Then took my other colors and tried to match a shade darker on all the petals.  I then started out lining the petals and putting some color between the front petal and petal behind it to give it some depth.  
    
    
    
11. After getting everything out lined and colored, I took a little bit of water and wet the brush, patted semi-dry and started spreading the watercolor pencil marks.  At first when you get started the color seems dark but it dries lighter. If you step back and take a look you will see where you need to add and take away.  You can also use a paper towel to blot if you need to.  
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Now I'm done with the flower and I wanted to add the lyrics of the song "You Are My Sunshine" to the borders of the picture.  I then found a font I liked on my Microsoft Word and sized the type as I wanted it and printed it out.  I unfortunately did not have any carbon paper, so I used a graphite pencil or you can use an ordinary pencil, to shade the reverse side of the printed strips so it could act like carbon paper to trace on the frame.  I will say I wish I had carbon paper. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. I taped the pieces of paper back to the frame and took a blunt tool or embossing tool to trace the words around the frame.  Once that was completed, TADA, it was transferred and I used a fine tip craft marker to trace the words to make it permanent.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. Now you pretty much are finished with this.  You can paint the outer part of the frame on the canvas or leave it white.  I put a little personal touch on  mine by putting my daughters initials or names on the petals that were their finger prints so my mom, step-mom and mother-in-law new what print where who's.  

Now looking on Pinterest I saw another cute thing to do. This will be a neat God Mother gift with a little poem on a canvas.

  

Hope you liked this.  Happy painting and crafting and Mother's Day to you all.  I'm enclosing a video from Youtube on blending your watercolor pencils.-------->  Sunflower Mother's Day project

I love to crochet, but......

Good Morning Everyone ~ 

I had a crafting epiphany over the weekend.  I love to crochet, knit, cross stitch and all the things that are fun to do.  But my hand, thumb, wrist, and elbow begin to hurt and swell.  So needless to say I have countless of started crafts that take forever for me to finish.  I suffer from carpal tunnel in my hand and elbow that eventually ends up as tendinitis in my shoulder.  All started many, many years ago in my dental assisting days.  

I have been crocheting for years dollies, blankets, slippers...etc.  I was so frustrated that I could not finish a lot of my Christmas gifts this year because of how bad my hand and elbow would start to hurt after a while.  So I looked online and you can buy crochet hooks that have bigger handles and comfort fits but the problem is that they were not big enough to relieve the stress in my hand and I had a collection of needle anyway and did not want to put out the cost of $6. and over for new on some of the products.  So I started storming and I realized I still have tons of polymer clay that I use every now and then.  

This was my crafting epiphany.  I got out my polymer clay and started working with it and rolling it into a tube, then pressing it flat.  Took one of my many crochet needles and placed it where I wanted the cushion to be.  Now you ask, "you cover up the size of the needle," you say.  Yes, you do but I wrote the size down and made an imprint in the clay after sizing it in my hand.  Now sizing depends on how thick or thin you want it.  I like bulky, it relieves that stress on my hand.  The really neat thing about this is that you can adjust the size and you can bake it in your oven at manufactures directions.  Let it cool and TADA! 

I did over 10 crochet needles and this is some of them 

now don't forget to put indention of where your fingers will go or make grip marks.  I chose not to.  And as you can see on one of them I have #1 indented in it so I know what size it is (as noted above, you will cover that part of your needle up.) 

I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit.  I hope this may help my fellow crafters.  

Here are some of the products I used to make these and they can be found at any crafting supply place.  The crocheting needles are samples of what i was looking into.  

To host or not to host a home party!

Have you ever been asked to host a party!  Well I have several times over the years.  Your first reaction is "Oh crap, what do I say; Oh I would love to, but I'm so busy with the kids and we have to go here and there and we have a sudden family get together."  Well I have used I think all of the excuses.  I know it sounds horrible, but I have had such bad luck hosting these parties.

Recently I have been asked to host a party and I also have volunteered, like a good friend, for a good friend.  I had a Scentsy party, which I will say again, was not a big turn out for the amount of people I invited.  Let me tell you this party was well worth it.  All together we had five people including me.  If you have never held a Scentsy party you are crazy not to.  

Now let me tell you what Scentsy is.  Scentsy is a brand of wickless candles.  Here is the website, http://scentsy.net/.  They have the cutest candle warmers and I strongly recommend them if you have small children, pets and crazy pets.  I have a tendency to forget I have lite a candle and leave it burning while I'm gone.  Boy oh boy, has that put me in the hot seat with my husband.  So when you come over I usually have notes posted on the front, back and garage door to remind me THERE IS SOMETHING  BURNING! So this was exciting news when I discovered it through a friend.  

I don't know about you but I love when I walk in someplace and the smell is absolutely delightful, with this being said I keep a clean house so clean you could not tell I have pets until one springs on you.  It was absolutely fun to have my friend over and show her Scentsy collection off.  We looked like a bunch of junkies getting a hit off of scented wax.  Nothing like walking into a Scentsy party with everyone having a container attached to their nose.  It was the best time ever.  I did however had a very hard time deciding what I wanted out of the many that was brought to test the smell to.  I did settle on a warmer for my husband (really for the house, but it looked and sounded better with the Marine logo on it) and settled with a pack of six scents that was very cost effective!  Now saying that, I do want to let you know I do not sit on a gold mine.  We live pay check to pay check just like everyone else.  After thinking all of us were setting our goals on a Scentsy warmer guess what else was introduced to us, Yes, ladies they have a line of body perfumes, soaps, sprays and lotions.  Holy crapy!  So now I have a wish list started for Christmas, birthday, Valentines Day, Mothers Day.  Not only do they have that they have hanging room fresheners, travel tins and most IMPORTANT Velata chocolate fondue warmers! http://www.scentofawarmer.com/blog/2012/05/01/velata-chocolate-fondue-warmers-available-now/ Yes that is what I said.  OH MY GOSH, even better the chocolate is Belgium chocolate.  

My consultant Agena https://agena.velata.us/Velata/Home; https://agena.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home (check her out) suggested that I have some snacks available to try out this wonderful chocolate.  Well I had some fruit and best of all graham crackers, marshmallows to have smores.  I think that was the best part was eating the smores.  Agena brought over milk chocolate and I'm not a big fan of milk chocolate as I am of dark chocolate.  Well let me tell you, that was the best milk chocolate I have had in a long time, so sorry for you Hershey, Ghirardelli and Lindt you were out beat by Velata.  I like the little package it came in it is pretty handy.  You warm it up in the microwave and pour it into you ready warmed fondue warmer.  Neat thing is that this package has a nozzle on it you can recap and save again for later so you only need to put out what your going to eat.  Well as self centered as I become when it comes to chocolate (I have hidy holes everywhere) I will warm it up and quickly make a journey to the garage or bathroom and drink it right out of the packet.  LOL Pretty sad, huh!

If you think things are sounding good now just wait!  Agena contacted me after my wonderful party and said they are opening a line of purses, wallets, note books, makeup bags, jewelry, scarfs, etc... https://agena.graceadele.us/GraceAdele/Buy.  WHAT! are you kidding me.  I have not yet had a party for this yet but I soon will. 

So don't be to hasty to say NO to helping a friend out.  I have also have had numerous parties for another friend of mine Jill who does Beauty Control and I will say this line of makeup and face and body care is one of my favorites to and affordable.  If you have not had a SCENTSY party you really need to call or contact my friend.  She is amazing and made the whole process absolutely fun.  

The gang at my party.  I also had a silent party too that allowed others to order from a catalog.