GRUNGE PENDANTS I MADE FOR A GRUNGE CHARM EXCHANGE.....i didn't exactly follow the directions, did i???

Hi, everyone! I'm so happy to be able to blog this evening - I hate for more than two days to go by without you hearing from me - you ARE hanging on to my every word, right??

I joined a Grunge Charm Swap and I got excited just by seeing the name of the swap! "Grunge" - I LOVE grunge. I love pink, too, but grunge is right up there!
I gathered together what I had that I thought would do well in a grunge swap. I already knew that the "base" of the charms was going to be rusty flattened beer bottle caps that I find walking through parking lots. I've been collecting them for like forever because I knew I would use them eventually:)
Below you'll see many things laid out in anticipation of starting to make my charms. I swear, I had chills.

I also wanted to use these amazing red beads that I found this weekend at the Annual Texas State Arts and Crafts Show in Kerrville (up the highway). Oh, it's a great arts & crafts show but since I've become like a junker, there's little there to interest me. My how I've changed! Anyway, I bought 12 of the the beads, had the bottle caps, and had Frank the Tank go down to the barn and bring me some rusty baling wire.
Below you'll see the grungy things that I gathered together to add to the bottle caps. Looking good so far!

Oh, look, girls, they're all put together! Do you like them? What's that you say??? They look a little big to be a charm?

Well, yes, they do, so they're pendants which are just real big charms. I've written the moderator to make sure I'm not breaking any rules and to make sure that they want my rather large charms......we'll see what the boss says!
Check this first one out - do you love it??? Or is it just me? (My best friend would say it's just me. LOL)

These following pictures are close-ups of some of the 12 R.L.C.'s (Rather Large Charms). Take your time; enjoy;o) but also understand that you just can't see their fabulousness {i made that up} in these photos. They're so much better looking in real life....kind of like me............hahahahaha.
Yeah, I've already mentioned the red beads and the baling wire but when I uploaded my pictures they got out of order and I refuse to spend another hour trying to get them into the right place.....you're big girls, you can handle it! LOL
Oh, and here's the bottle caps out of order. This picture uploading is the one thing that causes me grief with blogger. So, I'll say it again, you're big girls, you can figure out what's going on because you're not only pretty, you're smart!!
The rest of the five pictures are more close-ups of the pendants. Do you like them? Should I make some to sell in my Etsy store? Would you buy one? I need feedback! And, NO lying!




I just want thank you for taking the time to look at my grunge charms.
I know how busy all of y'all are and that makes it so, so special to me that you stopped long enough to read my blog post. And, hopefully, you'll come back (at the top of my blog there's a "blogarithm" widget on the right side of the page that you can put your email address in and be notified when I post - then you don't miss ANY of my brilliance! Wow!!
Please let me know you were here by leaving a comment - I need some feedback, remember?

I think y'all are wonderful!!

XOXO,

LIST SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT ME....DOESN'T THAT SOUND LIKE AN OXYMORON?

I don't seem to get a lot of awards telling me how wonderful I am, how wonderful my blog is, how wonderful it is to have me in the blogging community....but what I do get is a lot of surveys for me to fill out and send on to about six more unassuming bloggers.
I try to pick the ones that don't have many awards either. I figure we should stick together. You know, sit together in the back of the class, eat lunch together and trade our Vienna sausages for her honey and butter on wheat, fruit cocktail and Fig Newtons, change for P.E. in the corner keeping our towels in front of our curvacious bods as well as one can with a towel the size of a Kotex. We go to the bathroom in pairs in fear of swirlies.

In an attempt to take one little baby step into the world of awards, I'm going to post this around pictures of my baby, Clay, that I took before he went to the prom this last Saturday night. He went stag as he couldn't make up his mind which chick to escort as they were all bugging him for a date. {that's what he said}

Oh, and he's the stud in the white pinstriped tux with the baseball cap that is permanently tattooed to his head.

Okay, back to the real reason I'm here.
I got tagged by Laurie, a really dear friend of mine. Really. She's a delight and we're very good friends (however, I haven't yet counted her awards...oh, dear) - and I'm supposed to list six unimportant things about myself.
Oh, please. UNimportant about ME? *eyes rolling*

So here are the rules straight from Laurie's blog:

1. Link back to the person that tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your entry.

Ahh!! Look up! Look up! It's a picture of Clay without his baseball cap! Wow, gettin' that thing off must have hurt. And look below at the photo of his mom and him. You can just feel the pride, the glee, the honor he felt having his picture taken with me with a rag on my head. He's a special child indeed. Okay, let's get down to business......SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT ME: {after hours of wracking my brain...}

1. I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan.(that counts as unimportant)

2. I went out of state to college - Oklahoma State University. (this, too)

3. I was in a sorority, Kappa Delta, which is simply something else my friends that grew up in the country find quite humorous - enough to make fun of me. ha. ha. (Oh, come on, let's leave this list on a jet plane and get to the interesting things!!)

4. When I married Frank the Tank and moved to the ranch I wanted to raise chickens because it sounded so "ranch-y". So Frank the Tank built me a chicken coop (I helped some) and we picked up our chickens, I named them, and put their names on their nesting boxes.

Unfortunately for me, before anyone NICE could tell me that chickens don't know their names nor do they use the same nesting box exclusively to lay their eggs, my best friend found out what I had done. Annette (she's the best friend AND she's from the country) doesn't let the public see it, but she can really be mean about chickens.

5. I dried our cat in the dryer while workin' for the Lord and the P.T.A. at the same time. It's a sick story but interestingly enough, it was funny enough for me to write a short story about it. It's kind of a black humor. I like black humor.

6. I have translated the Bible into three languages.

Well, that should do it. Oh, before I list the lucky bloggers that get to carry this on, I must tell you that I have not translated the Bible into three languages. I was lying. Just checkin' to see if you were really reading my list of UNimportant things.And, in the words of Laurie, it's been a long time since a game of tag has gone around, so hopefully the tag-ees will have some fun with it. I have tagged people that I always would like to know more about:

Keesha @ Lemoncholy's

Sarah @ Vintage Lily

Tina @ PaperMojo

Juliet @ Little Miss Crafty

Patti @ 7 Rose Petal Path

Theresa @ Garden Antiques

now, girls, don't forget to link back to me so I can be up on all of your unimportant facts! LOL

xoxo, my sweetest friends!

I LIVE IN MY OWN LITTLE WORLD challenge

My new friend, Pam, at Blog Cabin Fever , has convinced me simply through the words on her blog, to enter the I LIVE IN MY OWN LITTLE WORLD challenge at Blog Cabin Fever.
In the title space on your own blog write: I Live In My Own Little World Challenge. Then blog photos of where you create your blog (don't forget a pic of your computer) and all your favorite, inspiring places around the house and yard.
You can post anytime between now and Sunday, May 18th.
For more detailed instructions just sashay your wee bitty bum over to her blog and join in the fun!
But before you go, you must check out MY blogging world.....I do my blogging in my bedroom - first photo is of my bed, which I fondly referred to as my cave when I was so sick these last nine months. I'm happy to say that it's a bed again:) heehee
Across from my bed is the sitting area. This is where I blog. I sit in the chair to the left, put my feet up on my padded ottoman and type away. It's a lovely area and I do consider it part of my sanctuary since it's in the same room as my fabulous bed.
Ahhhh, my fourth child, my laptop. This is her below, oh, and look, she's settled in on Pam's blog. How sweet is that???
You can't tell, but she's sitting on my lap. That's where she's happiest.

I'm not sure what we're watching on the t.v. as we blog but it looks like a lady with a giant toilet brush. I'm changing the channel. Oh, and see how swollen my right ankle is? I had my legs on too long today - it was probably that last run to the Dairy Queen. (I'm kidding)
When I'm blogging I have this window to look out....it's usually a beautiful view when Clay has his jeep at school and Frank the Thank remembers not to park in front of my view. I see goats wander by in the pasture, antelope, I see the dogs, sometimes the postman comes up with a package (that's always a good day:). It's a nice view.
Ahhh, this is Mr. Angel - he lives in the window. Hangs real nice but you're not getting a good view in this photo. He's a beauty however, my best friend thinks he's odd looking. I think he's cool.
The dresser sits to my right and I love to gaze over at it. I just recently re-did it and love the simple look. I love the hydrangeas - I added a wee bit of glitter to the edges of some of the petals - not too much, just enough to give the flowers some personality. I stuffed tea dyed cheesecloth into the vintage vase.....the lamp was my mother in law's and the paper dole purse was made by my mother. Its a classic, like the gloves lying in front of both.
And before I start typing one word or uploading one photo I must have a sip of my Diet Coke or water (I'm trying to keep the Cokes down to no more than one a day)...anyway, as I was saying, ...a sip of my Diet Coke or water poured over SONIC ICE. Oh, yeah, baby. THAT'S livin'. Did you know that you can buy ice at Sonic in 10# bags? Totally worth it. AND, a sack makes a lovely gift. That's what my son, Clay, gave me for Mother's Day......I cried.
So, as you can see, I'm all set up to blog. Seein's how I just did and you can see that most of my Diet Coke is gone, I'm closin' this fascinating piece of literature. Will you leave me a comment so I'll know you were here and took the time to read this literary giant? It also makes me look popular and that's one of my favorite looks. You're a doll!

Y'all have a fabulous day and know you're loved!

XOXO,

Don't forget to go to Pam's and join the challenge! This has been fun!!

SOME FAVORITES

I went through my flickr photos and picked out 16 of my favorites to make a mosaic. Then I was given the option to blog my mosaic FROM my flickr photostream.
Oh, really? I can do that???
So, this is my attempt at blogging straight from flickr.
We'll see what happens:)

Tomorrow is Mother's Day.
I've already blogged about how much I love my mother (scroll down a few posts if you haven't read it yet). My thought tonight???..............that my boys will feel the same way about me someday if they don't already.

Happy Mother's Day, y'all.
Love you!

xoxo,