Treasures....

Treasures, treasures... treasures! I spotted an ad for a yard sale located about 45 minutes away from my house that advertised that they had "beads and jewelry making supplies" for sale, which peeked my interest to say the least. Even though I was not the first person there-- I did manage to get a lot of the items that she was selling. Here is the bounty I came away with:
Let me unpack it for you.... Tons and tons of little baggies with great stuff in each one! The bottom left of the photo is a baggie full of ready to wear druzy pendents.

Here is a little closer look...

You know how much these things cost when you go to any hobby store....
Bags of wire, beading thread, cords, chains, and strands of beads all brand new...

Lots and lots of bezels for doing ice resin and also shadow box pendents...
I also got several plastic containers with beads and clasps...
Inside the wicker basket there was a lot of seashells. I added a triangle shaped filler piece to the inside of this glass jar my mother gave me and added the seashells to the jar. It will eventually be filled to the brim.
I also got a bag full of beautiful paper embellishments. Also a full set of "Artist Loft" water color pencils and "Rikota" Brush markers. What did I pay for all of this crafty goodness? Twenty five bucker~roos. At first I thought, blah... I overpaid for all this stuff. I always second guess myself! Then I saw a pair of new Fisker easy action bent scissors which retail for $22.99 all by themselves... and that "righted my sails" about the money I spent.

After driving away, I thought to myself, "Where on earth am I going to put all this stuff in my studio? I drove up to another yard sale and found this beautiful Ethan Allen four drawer night stand for only $10.00. It is going to serve double duty in my studio as a side table next to my comfy chair along with storage that the drawers are going to provide.
 
I got all of this jewelry for $5.00. The ring is 10k gold, the two box charms, the onyx pendent and the two bracelets are stamped 925 (silver)
I also got this pearl necklace for .50¢... Yep, real pearls. The necklace strands do not belong attached to the choker, those were added by someone at some point. An easy fix to unhook them. It would be garish to wear it this way, I guess that is why they didn't even give them a second look at the yard sale I bought them from. I can tell real pearls a mile away. Even without giving them a look with an eye loop, the weight of them gives you a good indication that they are real.

I bought six strands of drift wood for $5.00... Why do I need it? I dunno, but it all--> Had.To.Come.Home.With.Me. The metal basket was only $4.00.

Now comes the fun part of going through all of those baggies and playing with it ALL. Happy-happy-joy-joy~

big hugs,
Cheryl

Barney Rubble

This is my newest cat, Barney.

Barney is a Feral Cat, no hugs and kisses from this little fella. *sigh*

I purchased a large animal trap to catch Barney so I could get him neutered, but Barney was to smart and wouldn't go inside the trap. So, every day for about three months, I've been working with this wild cat to get him to the point where I can pet him, pick him up (if only briefly)... and ultimately get him into a cat carrier and get him neutered. Food is a good motivator when your trying to befriend a wild/feral cat. While the cat was eating, I would sneak up on Barney and pet him. The first few times were merely a touch, but over time I've been able to pet Barney the whole entire time it takes him to finish a can of food. Recently, I've been able to pick up Barney, for short periods of time without getting mauled. Success!

 So, I bought a large cat carrier thinking that would be easier than the trap. I set the cat carrier standing up with the door open and quickly picked him up and tried to put him in. Yup, I got scratched up. Undeterred, I tried several more times.  Finally, I picked him up and held him over the opening of the cat carrier back feet first, and just "let him go" and he dropped right into the carrier... which he then proceeded to go round and around like he was inside a washing machine... poor scared cat. But it had to be done..... Had.To.Be.Done. *sniffle*
Here is Barney at home the day after having been neutered... giving me the ol' stink eye for sure.... You can see they cut the tip off of his right ear. So, from a distance anyone who knows about feral cats will know this one is "shooting blanks" and to let him be.

Here is some information about ear-tipping or notching of feral cats.

Also, some info about the trap-neuter-return theory.

We have a great Spay and Neuter facility called, Hope. They do the "Trap Neuter Release" for feral cats but you have to bring the cat in-in a trap. I explained to them what I did, and that the cat is indeed feral--- and if they didn't believe me to stick their hand in the carrier.  Wouldn't you know it? They believed me. So, for $60.00 they neutered Barney, gave him a rabies shot, cut his ear tip and gave him an antibiotic shot to boost his health.
I had recently done some "artsy-fartsy" stuff for a friend of mine, and he had given me some money for my artistic endeavors. I really appreciate those that realize that your time is valuable and don't take you for granted. Anywho--- I told him that I was going to put that money towards getting a feral cat neutered. Well, of course I needed to make him a "Thank you" card right? Here is the card:

Sometimes simplicity is best, right?
Barney still isn't to happy with me, but he'll come around I'm sure. I think I'll speed up the forgiving process and give him some tuna fish, that should do the trick!

Trap, Neuter and return because every life matters!
big hugs,
Cheryl