Taking a Break

I am taking a break from blogging for now.  The children and I have had a fun time making Christmas crafts and our holiday celebration is well under way.

I had a visit to the doctor and it looks like I will have to move forward with the next round of chemotherapy before Christmas and maybe as soon as next week.  I am disappointed that my break from chemo is over, but am prepared to take my fight to the next level.  I appreciate your patience and will come back for a post when I can.  Maybe Isabel will also do a guest post or two, we'll see.  Thank you again for reading my blog.

Here are a few recent photos:

Isabel napping.  She looks like she is being attacked by a hair monster.

What!?!

I went to the rest room and came back and someone was asleep in my chair.  I've had the chair for a while and Luci hasn't gotten into it until now.  It was cold so I think she wanted to get cozy.

I love the way Luci wrinkles her face when she's sleeping.

I hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season!

We're Going To A Craft Fair

Happy Cyber Monday!  We're busy preparing for a craft fair this weekend.  Here is a peek at what we are making:

Who?

Having fun with fabric, brass beads, buttons, crystal nose and wire twisted feet.

I love the textured foxes, so sweet.

I'm twisting some fancy ornament holders.

The photos are not great, but this ornament has a glass pendant in the center that can be removed and put on a cotton jewelry rope that is included as pictured below.  So you get an ornament and a necklace.  I'm making three or four of these, I think they are so lovely.

Well that's what we are working on, I Hope you are enjoying the transition into the holiday season.

Black Friday-Cyber Monday Etsy Shop Savings

Our Etsy shop also called My Laughing Lion is having a big sale this weekend 11/23-11/26.  Use coupon code LION20 to get 20% off your purchase.  You can get to the shop by clicking here.

We specialize in miniature beaded trees and hand wired jewelry.  Here is a look at a few of our items:

Each tree can now become a Christmas tree ornament with the wire tree holder included with every tree.

I urge everyone to take a look at Etsy (the online handmade marketplace) this Holiday Season.  The online marketplace now sells giftcards.   There is also now a process to use credit cards without signing up for a Pay Pal account.  Etsy also has a wide variety of amazing items that are produced by artists all over the world.  Definitely worth a look.

Have a great shopping day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am Thankful for so many things and want to share some of them with you.

Isabel Sophia.
She is sassy and sweet and spices up life every day. I love spending time with her.  Isabel is becoming a baker and has made two amazing cakes in a row.

I love to see her laugh.  Here are father and daughter laughing on an outing recently:

Esteban.
He is so funny and goes the extra mile every day to take care of all of us.  I am so lucky to have such a great life partner and friend.

Sebastian.
He is strong and smart, warm and funny and I am proud to see him becoming a fine man.  He also is a big help for me every day and I appreciate him.

Lucy.
The dog of  dogs.  She is so sweet and loving and obeys (most of the time).  We love to watch her dream and make little barking noises in her sleep.

I am also Thankful for my Dad and his lovely wife.  They have been so supportive, encouraging and loving.  I was so glad they were able to visit earlier this year.  I also love my kid sister Marina, she is pretty and smart and just sassy enough.

I am Thankful for my Brother, his lovely wife, their sweet angel Libby, Emily and Sam.  I am so bad at communicating sometimes but I want my brother to know that I love him very much.  I often think of the good times we had together as children.

I am Thankful that I am able to explore my creativity and grateful for the love and support I receive every day.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Our Trees are Now Christmas Ornaments!

I have been trying to create a holder that allows our tiny trees to become a Christmas tree ornament.  I know the trees would look so pretty on the Christmas tree but I wanted anyone with a tree to be able to put them on a dresser or desk after the holiday.  After several prototypes, the holder is now ready!  Let's take a look.

 Here is my red tree (January Birthstone).

Here is the light pink tree.  So pretty.

The Christmas tree ornament holder has a little wire worked basket that fits just under the beaded top of the tree.  I tested each holder by shaking it with a tree in it.  This design was the best by far and your tiny tree won't fall out.

I made the holder in gold for sparkle and also in dark green so it would fade into the Christmas tree and the tiny tree would stand out.  Let's take a look at that one.

I love the green one, but appreciate the sparkle of the gold Christmas tree ornament holder.

If anyone out there has a tiny tree and would like a Christmas tree ornament holder, just send me an e-mail with the number needed and gold or green wire.

I am updating our Etsy shop today so each tree listing shows that the ornament holders are included with each tree.

Our shop is participating in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales so stay tuned for great discounts on that day.

Have a Treerific Tuesday!

Like Santa's Elves without the Hats

I haven't been posting very much because we are busy making up a storm.

We have a few events coming up and are making ornaments and other things.  Here is a sneak peak.

We used fabric for all of these.  So fun but with little time left over for blogging.  Bear with me for a bit longer.  We are trying to make this holiday season the best one ever.  Hope you are having fun getting ready for the season.

This is Christmas Tree Day!

I like to declare tree day on occasion and share the trees I've made recently.  This week I have been focused on finishing a few Christmas trees.  I love them and hope you do too.

I will start off with a few trees I tried as prototypes.  I think there are too fragile, but look pretty.

I love the polar bear, he makes the perfect winter prop.  This tree was fun to make but I don't like the cone look that much.  It is pretty and sparkly though and will be part of our miniature Nativity set.

This tree is pretty fragile but I love the texture and the star.  I am going to make one out of thicker wire to see if it can be perfected.  

Ok, here we go.  The stars of the show.

This tiny Christmas tree is made with gold wire so it has a little extra sparkle.  I love the deep green color of the glass beads.

This tiny Christmas tree is made with green wire, so I think it looks a bit fuller than the gold wire tree.  I love how they both turned out.  They are not packed with branches so look more like real trees to me.  This green wire tree is my favorite.

Esteban and the children love this tree the best.  It is fuller and takes more beads and time and is actually a little heavy for it's size.  I prefer the skinnier trees.  Which do you like better?

I have a few other things I've made and want to share.

This tree reminds me of trees that architects draw on building plans.  It has a unique textured top that I really like the look of.  I made it with very thin wire and will try a few in thicker wire, but I love the design.

It is a pin with a wire work cloud and glass bead rain drops.  The idea is that it's a cloud with a silver lining.  

Whew.  Thanks for taking a look at my latest wire creations.

I hope you have the best Tree Day ever.