I Finally got it! Groovy Baby, Yeah!

When I was in high school, Kaycee B, my best friend of many years, and I had big plans for when we graduated high school. Yep, we were going to buy a van, paint it in groovy love and peace colors, fix up the inside with love beads, curtains, cushions, etc. and travel the world. We even had a list of what all we wanted inside the van from color scheme, type of curtains, rugs, cushions - you name it and we probably had it listed. Not only that, but we had drawings of what our groovy hippie van would look like. It was a groovy van indeed.

High school came and went. We each got married and went our separate ways. Years later we caught up with each other and reminisced about our "groovy hippie van" and although we got a chuckle out of it, we truly wanted to see that dream through. It never happened... until the other day - well, sort of.

Mark has known about my "groovy hippie van" practically since the day we met. Most of my family and friends know about it as well. The closest I've come to having my love n peace van is with our utility trailer. While doing shows and such, Mark thought it would be fun for me to paint it like I would have with my van. Cool idea yes, but never had the time. That brings me to now...

Mark came home the other day and said he had a surprise for me. Yep, it was my groovy hippie van at last!

It is a very cool van indeed! Rather roomy inside and good on gas.

Plenty of trunk space for, um... traveling gear.

The only thing is I haven 't quite figured out how to fit my 5' 2" body inside this 5"x2" van. At least I don't have to pay insurance.

I love my groovy hippie van honey - thank you!

Groovy peace & love,

Rocki

Twitter Shop of the Week: RoseBush Designs

As a team member of Twitter I would like to introduce you to RoseBush Designs. Please enjoy this repost of one of our talented members!

Beth Wietrzykowski is the guiding light ( and hand! ) behind RoseBush Designs' beautiful cards, gift bags, journals and accessories. Beth's designs ship internationally as well as in the US, and offer the beauty and individuality of a hand-crafted card for any occasion, something many of us wish for when confronted by racks of mass-produced cards.

"All of what I make is something I would give to someone myself. I cut, stamp, color and put all these together by hand. I do not have any kind of printing machine or mass produce cards (wouldn't it be nice though!). All of my products are available in multiples and I'm happy to do custom orders or change colors if desired. "

A stay-at-home mom to two boys, Beth finds creating an outlet for her inner girl.

"Most of the time, we are playing outside getting sweaty and dirty so being able to play with ribbons and glitter is a nice treat for me.

My inspirations come from anywhere! I get ideas from nature, magazines, friends, anywhere really. I'm still learning every day about new techniques, ways to make my product better, ways to photograph and edit my pictures as well as new crafting products. It's a never ending lesson for me and I think that is what keeps me going and excited about my craft. "

Beth also has great tips for using Twitter as a means of promoting your work:

"I try to engage. I see it as a big room full of people who want to chat. When I see something that is funny, sad, inspirational, odd or whatever, I comment on it. I try to be fun and lighthearted. I don't see twitter as a forum to air my, or anyone else's, dirty laundry. I promote items that I buy, items I want, my fellow twits on the team and my own items. "

Follow Beth on Twitter @RoseBushDesigns
Read More on her Blog: http://rosebushdesigns.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!

Jason, my youngest son turned 29 yesterday. Wow. Where on EARTH does time go?! It truly does feel like yesterday when he was just a little bundle wrapped in my arms. Now he's a big bundle, still wrapped in my arms.

The picture above is on Jason's MySpace with the caption "Hello Ladies" - he's so shy. He's actually a very good guy. Very helpful, opens doors for others and most who meet or know him say he's like the guy next door. He's always been there for me. When I was very sick years ago, he would take me to my doctor appointments and practically carry me - literally. The night my mom died at the mere age of 53, we were at Jason's Band Banquet where he won an award. It was such a special night for him. When we arrived home to many messages left by my dad and heard the unexpected news, Jason, at 17 years of age, was right there for me, picked me up off the floor, carried me to my room and comforted me right along side with Mark.

He's also my little comedian. Well, not so little, he works out and has been given several nick-name at work, such as "Buff, "Hulk", "Superman" and so on. But let me tell you, he can make you laugh in a heartbeat! He's in the process of becoming a Fire Fighter. He'll be taking an EMT course soon and will go from there. No matter what he does in life, I'm proud of him and always will be.

Jas works at Trader Joe's and has ever since he graduated from high school. He has a great deal of customers that know him well and many ask for him. In high school he and Jeremy worked at Dairy Queen, so he's pretty much worked ever since school. Like mother like son.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday at his choice of restaurants: Mimi's Cafe. He even got a special birthday pie and special birthday wishes. No singing though, bet he would have loved that.

There's is so much I would like to say about my baby boy, but I don't want to embarrass him with all the mushy stuff. He knows already because I tell him all the time. We're very close, he's my buddy and protector. My nick-name for him is "Bud." However, I will mention that every single school picture, he sports bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes or a broken arm. He makes jokes about it of course and it is funny to look at them, but in every picture, he has that adorable smile.

I know most of you know this already, but I've been very blessed with my boys as both Jason & Jeremy make it easy to be their mom. I never had any problems with raising them, they were model students and... well, I just couldn't be more proud of them and who they are. I love them to pieces.

Happy Birthday Bud, I love you!

Mom

This studs for you!

Yippie, yahoo and all that jazz - it's FRIDAY!!! That makes me a little giddy because it's been a long hard week for me - a good one mind you, but a very busy one and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Plus it's Jason's birthday, my youngest son, and we're celebrating at Mimi's Cafe.

Anyway, back to the studs. Helloooooo, I'm down here. HELLLooooooo? Eyes down here please...

I truly have SO much that I want to blog about, fun stuff, cute stuff and just chit-chat stuff, but as I mentioned, I've been quite happily busy. So, thought I would share another item that.... hello? (clears throat) HELLOOOOO?! I'm down HERE everyone... eyes down here now.

Sheesh.

Sweet Studs is what came to mind when... excuuuuuuuse me? Can you reach over to the scroll button and hop on down here for a minute? The stud above isn't even real - I mean, come on, look at him! Errrr, never mind, just follow me.

Now this stud is rather cute and adorable, but not exactly something I could add to my shop. I did have a Buckskin Mare and a Shetland pony growing up though.

Studs? Car parts, boy toys, found in drawers all over the house, "can't have too many tools", etc. Nope. These are not the studs I'm referring to either.

Um, ladies? You're drooling all over your keyboards. That's not pretty.

Awe. Here we are! My new Sweet Studs. Yes, I know, these are nothing new. A stud is a stud is a stud. EYES DOWN HERE PEOPLE!

I love studs and wear them in at least one of my ear holes, usually the top. Sometimes in all of them. These studs have a cute round shiny ball and.... the earring studs people, come on now, grow up!

I better end it here because this post is going south. Now STOP it you guys!

Happy Sweet Friday,

Rocki

Chemical Element Cu

Bueller. Bueller... (work with me here. Have you seen the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off?)

Yes class, Cu is the symbol for Copper. Okay, school has been out a long time for me and I admit it - I had to look it up. But I honestly loved when we studied about Chemicals and their symbols in class.

Soooo, as you can see I've added a new metal to my shop. And what is is pray tell?

Put your hand down Petunia. Yes, I know you ALWAYS know the answer.

Class? Class? ClaaaaAAAAAssss!
(think Cheech and Chong here folks)

You guessed it. Copper! Pure natural copper.

I'll be creating several of my handcrafted findings that I already make (and then some) with Copper as well. It is so very pretty and can be as organic, rustic, southwestern or elegant as you want it to be. I did not realize how enjoyable it is to work with. Nice on my wrists and...

Johnny sit down and quit pulling Susie's pony tail!

Oh and yes, I'm playing around with different oxidizing techniques as well. Above is my Antiqued Finish and...

Barnaby! That is NOT where a test tube goes! Take that out of your nose right now young man!

Anyway, I have more oxidizing to play with and look forward to playing around with it.

Well, class is just about over and I'm turning gray here, so I'm going to dismiss class early and ....

Whoa!, watch out! Let me.... da du thump thump thump (being run over by students)

Happy Monday!
Rocki

My hubby, I'll convert him yet!

Mark is the love of my life, my best friend, my soulmate in life after life, my partner in crime, my rock and the best hubby anyone could ever ask for. He does dishes too.

The photo above is from a couple years ago at one of the local handmade craft shows. Yep, he did ALL the shows with me: packed the car, unloaded the car, set up the big stuff, helped with customers and even made food runs for those around us. He's a keeper.

He's an accountant/bookkeeper by day and a loving hubby & daddy all the time. He's also known as JOAT MON. (Jack of all trades master of none). Below is one of my favorite pictures when we went to pick out our first little girl: Maelyn. For those of you who do not know our story, I'll condense it...

Mark & I are one and the same and have been together in previous lives. We know this as we have WAY too much in common. We both have 2 boys each: Jeremy's & Jason's. Yep, 4 boys and 2 share the same name each. In fact 2 of them share the same middle name. If me & my ex would have had a little girl her name was going to be Jessica Mae. If Mark & his ex had a little girl her name was going to be Jessica Lynn. Since we couldn't have kids together, we decided to name our first 4-legged child "Maelyn" (by combining the middle names). Oh yes, there's more to this love story, but I'll save it for another time. He does laundry too.

Although Mark is very proud of my work, he lovingly refers to it as "car parts" - yes, he's a guy, what can I say. Oh, but let me tell you, he's picked up the lingo quite well. To hear him come off with "you have a convo honey, it's a transaction" or when he uses the exact term for my metalwork findings instead of "car parts", it melts my heart. Did I tell you he irons?

So the other day while at the hardware store he came up with an idea for earrings (above). Yes, I know the design in and of itself is not new, but hey, MY hubby, Mr. Car Parts, came up with it so I just had to honor him. I told him that he could name them. He came up with "Put a Hex on You!" We compromised with Spellbound. I just love them, but maybe a little more because of how they were created. Did I mention he still opens doors for me?

That got me thinking, so I have now added Sleepers to my shop. I'll have more styles to add as soon as Mr. Car Parts comes up with them. See... I TOLD you I'd convert him!

Happy day everyone!
Rocki