Colorful & Fun!

I'm working on a blog to post later on today, but in the meantime

thought I would share my Viva Mexico Treasury I made this morning. It was great fun making this treasury as there are SO many talented artists on Etsy!

Oh, and the cute little guy above is a creation of Aardvark Art Glass.

Have fun and see you soon!

☼ Rocki

Even Squares Love Peace!

Due to being overly busy with family life & dealing with carpal tunnel issues, I haven't been able to keep up with my blog or create much. So, thought I would post one of my newest peace sign creations until later in the week when I hope to have something good to blog about :)

Feel free to visit my shop to find out more about my

"Even Squares Love Peace" creation.

Have a happy day!

☼ Rocki

It's Alive!!!

Our Bougainvillea lives!

We have several Bougainvilleas (referred to as Bogies) in our yard that I just love! The colors are absolutely magnificent and the leaves are a stunning green, but the thorns are a big owie! We don't mind that they drop their pretty little flowers into the pool as they look so lovely in there, kind of like rose petals.

Well, we had nasty frosts the past couple of years. Yep, I said frosts. Right here in Arizona land of the sun & fry an egg on the sidewalk heat. Some people refer to our weather here as "hot as hell", but I like it really. Hmm, that reminds me of a comment that my mom used to make. Whenever we asked her for something she would say: "when hell freezes over" - well, I guess it did.

Anyway, we thought our bogies were gonners this year because they were so scrawny and pathetic looking. Mark & I seriously talked about removing them and replanting something else, or more bogies. Then one day we noticed them blooming a little, so we waited. Alas, they live! A couple are a bit on the homely side, but we have high hopes for them!

One more thing...

My other favorite plant is a Yellow Bell. We have one in the yard already, but I wanted to add one more. This is my new baby that I planted this weekend. It had little pods on it when I planted it and now they are starting to open up. She's going to be gorgeous!

Happy Day everyone!

☼ Rocki

How To Tame A Dragon

Seem a little strange to you? A smiling dragon, sitting atop a river rock? Naw! He's harmless!

I came across Strange Child's unique creatures one day and kept going back to peak at them. It was as if I was being drawn to them by some unseen force. Since I read that they were easy to tame I just could not hold back any longer - I finally bought one today!

Jenn, the creator of Strange Child, lives in the top floor of an old farm house with her husband, their dog, and 2 bearded dragons. She has been creating her Bright Eyed Creatures for 3 years now. She creates her Sun Dragons, which are her favorites, Moon Dragons and Imps primarily with river rocks, glass marbles and polymer clay. Oh, what's an Imp?:

Imps are unpredictable little creatures with hornes that often live near Sun and Moon Dragons.

Jenn is helping out a friend of hers, Lady Greenfeet, who is working on setting up her own Etsy shop. So in the meantime, you can see her creations in Strange Child's Etsy shop.

The cutie below is on his way to me. This is a Sun Dragon and their favorite thing to do is to bask on a rock in a brightly lit spot. Hmmm, I think he'll feel right at home with me here in my Arizona Rocki's Rock 'n Beads studio!

You can find more of Strange Child's creatures in her Etsy shop, DeviantArt Gallery, Strange Child Production and Flickr.

I can hardly wait for my new arrival! Oh, I picked up some flame retardant clothing just in case the taming goes awry ;)

Happy day everyone!

☼ Rocki

We have concrete!

Isn't it beautiful? This is part of our new patio! Hmm, maybe beauty truly IS in the eye of the beholder.

We've been wanting to do some home improvements for a very long time and are so happy to finally be able to do it! One being extending the back patio and adding an arcadia door to our bedroom which has the view to our pool. Okay... so maybe it's because it will give us easy access to the pool. In either case, the patio is coming along swimmingly ;)

My brother-in-law, Tony, is our contractor and is doing all the work himself. He's doing a fabulous job too. Well, he does have help every once in a while - our 'kids' (4 legged furry kids) help him with the digging and watering.

I'll show you the final pics once completed.

Happy Monday everyone!

☼ Rocki

With Loving Thanks!

I had another blog in mind for today, however after this morning I've changed my mind.

This morning I was working on another custom order when I received a couple emails along with corresponding Feedbacks in my shop. I had to stop working as I couldn't see clearly - my eyes were filled up with water... okay, tears. I wasn't boo-hooing mind you, but I was rather touched so very deeply that the emotions got the best of me.

My heart is so full of love and gratitude right now that it feels like it is about to burst. I'm not joking or padding this - I'm an emotional, touchy-feely type person anyway... or as my boys refer to call me their "flowerchild mom".

I put my whole heart into my creations and appreciate every single buyer! A few years ago I had no idea that I had this creative side in me. Just thinking of how Rocki's Rock 'n Beads was born is so very rewarding - it makes me feel whole again (maybe I'll blog about how this came about).

Thank you to all my buyers, friends and family. Actually, "thank you" just doesn't seem to be quite enough for all your kind words, your purchases, custom requests again and again and for the friendships I have made. I truly am happy when I hear that my buyers are happy - its such a good feeling! Please know that much love and gratitude goes into every piece I create. May this be felt every time you open your pretty little package :)

I'm going to try and finish that custom order... now where's the tissue box?

Much love, peace and happiness,

Rocki