Saturday we went to the new local dog park. It was a little over cast, so it was nice and cool. They were having a Howl at the moon festival at the dog park. I had never been to a dog park before. They had a Halloween costume contest and vendors set up to sell their doggie stuff. We didn’t make it in time to enter the contest, but it was nice to see Blanca get out and run around with all the other dogs. We saw a Dalmatian colored Great Dane. That dog was taller than me. I didn’t know they grew so big. My Blanca looked like his dinner running around his legs. She had a lot of fun prancing around and trying to sniff all the bigger dogs’ rear ends.  She would stand up on her hind legs just to get a whiff. She is very good at walking on her hind legs. I didn’t realized how good until that day. They had separate fenced areas of the park for small, medium and large dogs. We decided to take her into the small dog area and sat under a huge old tree. The breeze was cool and soothing. We met several people with their pets and chatted for a while. What a relaxing day. Blog at you later...Eva

Jolly Roger

I started making a Jolly Roger out of beads. I do not know why, it just seemed like a good idea and to see if it could be done. It will take over 10 thousand beads. I keep starting and stopping the project. I have been working on it for about 3 months. I live in Florida and we have been to several places they say pirates have visited. Someday I want to go to the Tortugas and the Dominican Republic. I would love to charter a boat for a couple of months and see all of the Caribbean.


I went to Mexico a couple of years ago. It was the first time I have ever been out of the country. It was a fantastic trip. To see some of the local Mayan people was the best part of it. The Mayan people are very nice and very polite. They are also very small. I am only 5 feet tall and I felt like a very tall person there. Of course the food was great, because I love Mexican food. We went to the local shopping center. There were silver shops everywhere. Rows and rows of them, lined up like little villas, draped with colorful hand woven blankets. There was a little park overlooking the ocean and two elderly Mayan men relaxing on a bench under the shade trees. We asked them if we could take their picture, they were excited and said yes. I have a digital camera so I showed the picture to them; it made them laugh. There were children playing all around, and we gave them pesos. We saw the ruins at Tulum, it was a real adventure. It is located on the fifteen meter high cliffs above the azure waters of the Caribbean Sea. My husband was taking my picture near the cliffs and the winds swept up, and I felt like I was going to be carried off over the cliff. Thank goodness I only lost my hat. The cliffs were so high we could not reach it. I asked one of the local Mayan workers at the ruins if he could get. Sure enough he climbed right down and got it no problem. I was so thank full, because it was so hot and I really needed it. I gave him ten pesos for his trouble. We stayed at The Riviera Maya, an extremely elegant place. It was on the ocean of course. We could see it out our balcony door. The room had a huge king size bed with a large Jacuzzi right in the middle of it. One evening we left the curtains open so we could awake to the majestic site of the big blue ocean. Blog at you later…Eva

Amethyst Fairy

Amethyst Fairy is one of my new designs. I love creating new weaves. I used real amethyst beads with brass rings.



Well I called my primary doctor yesterday and have not heard back from him. He sent me to a pain management doctor. They took an MRI and said I have spinal stenosis. I have had 2 steroid injection but my systems are much worse. I was only having pain in my arms and now the pain is in my neck, shoulders and arms. I am supposed to have another injection but I do not think it will help. Now they have me on pain killers and muscle relaxers. I cannot live like this. I am out of work and presently looking. How am I supposed to hold down a job in this condition? I am running out of money also. When I had the first injection they said it would only cost me $581 with my insurance and I paid it. The second injection they said would only cost me $280 with my insurance so I paid that. Then I received a bill for over a thousand and almost fainted. I looked up my diagnosis on the internet, and according to the Mayo clinic I do not have any options, injections or surgery. Now what??? Well I guess things could be worse. Blog at you later…Eva

Atocha coins

My husband found an Atocha coin at a pawn shop yesterday. He wanted to buy it for me for our anniversary. He was not sure it was authentic; it had a certificate signed by James Sinclair. He asked me to check the internet about him. We have been to Key West several times and visited the Mel Fisher museum. We wanted to buy one of them, but a good one goes for about 3 thousand dollars. That’s just a tad out of our price range. Anyway I checked the internet and found out he was a partner with Mel Fisher when the ship was found off of Key West. I found an email address for James and contacted him about the coin. I gave him all the information about it. He said to check the picture; the coin must match the picture exactly on the certificate. It must also contain a raised corporate seal. He said he would look it up, but he was having problems connecting to the internet and he was out in the Atlantic at the moment. Later that day he contacted me again, I guess he was able to connect finally and said the original certificate did not contain a picture or weight of the coin. When we took a closer look at the certificate it did not have a raised seal at all, the picture of the coin matched perfectly but was very poor quality. I emailed him back to thank him for all his help. He saved us from making a 900 dollar mistake. I thought that was very nice of him to take the time to help someone he did even know. What a nice person. To think someone out there is going to such lengths to steal from others whom have put so much effort and time in to finding these wondrous treasures. Blog at you later….Eva

Today's work

Today I dusted the entire house. I made sure to get every little spot in every corner of every room. I also changed the sheets on my bed, did the laundry, scrubbed the showers, and cleaned up the kitchen. I made some phone calls to inquire about signing up for another craft fair. So far I have had a very productive morning compared to the last couple of weeks I have been sick for so long now! I think it has dragged on so long because I smoke. I have tried to quit so many times. Now my son is sick. He has been sick for only a few days and I hope he gets well soon because he needs to get back to school. I hate to see him so sick. It just makes you want to cry.


I finally finished a new weave today that I created. I completed it in about 4 days. It contains over 2500 rings and is made of solid brass. Brass to me looks like 18 karat gold, so I think it has an elegant touch. I am calling it Elves weave with a fringe. Blog at you later….Eva

My little girl

My six pound Chihuahua is warming up to my husband. She used to growl and try to bite him. I think she finally loves him as much as I do. They play together on the couch; it is so cute to see. She follows me all over the house; she is the sweetest little thing. She is so smart. She loves to chase the squirrels, rabbits and lizards that run through our yard. We did not even have to house train her. Her name is Blanca and she is 3 years old. We have had her for about two months. We rescued her from the pound. I went there on a whim with no actual plans on getting a dog, but just to look and see. My son has been asking for a dog for a long time. She looked so scared and tiny in that huge cage. I asked them why she was there and all they would tell us is someone just dropped her off. So I couldn’t help myself I had to rescue her from her from her doomed fate. We buy her clothes because she gets cold in our home. Her little feet get so cold on the tile floors.  She really loves to wear them. I bought some things from Baxter Boo on line; they are nice but a bit pricey. The clothes at Pet-smart are either two small or just too huge. They do not have a good variety of sizes. They unbelievably have a nice selection at Wal-Mart. I have had to adjust them a little to fit her correctly. She is so tiny but her body is kind of long. She is going to be a fairy for Halloween.  I also made jewelry for her. I made a pink collar with white crystal studs and a pink crystal and mauve pearl necklace.  Have a great day and Blog at you later…….Eva

Independent WE Stand

I am cleaning the house today. I guess I better take care of a few things before the family starts to complain. So I started the laundry, put a mud pack on my face and commenced the vacuuming while listening to Michael Bolton on my iPod.  I completed some awesome purple chains last night. Now I just have to figure out how to make clasps for them. No one makes them in purple copper. I found hook and eye clasp instructions on Google. What would we do without Google? The Ancient Egyptians invented the hook and eye clasp; this is the kind of clasps I am going to make. I just joined a web group called Independent We stand. Independent We Stand is all about independently owned businesses across the country reaching out to their communities and educating their neighbors about the many benefits of “buying local.” Small business accounts for 75% of all new jobs. The movement focuses on helping the little guys not just survive, but thrive…and all the while helping them to contribute to their community. It’s time for us to refuse to fuel this recession any longer and help get the economy back on track. I always look at what I am buying and check if it is made in the USA. I understand that sometimes we cannot always do it, but we need to try. Sorry if it sounds like I am preaching, but I think it is very important to do what we can for our country. Blog at you later…Eva

Pretty in Pink

I finished the bracelets for my daughter’s. They are both so into pink. I wonder where they get that from ha, ha. The first one is a half Persian weave and the second is European weave. Well the weather is so nice today. It has been so hot for so long.  Last night it was about 60 degrees, nice. It was actually comfortable to sit outside. I am still trying to get my husband to build a cover over our patio. He wants to screen it in. That would be nice if he would just start it. I have been asking for about 8 years. Well at least we got the patio done. It is very large but we cannot use it there are too many bugs outside. I love my husband, but he is a dreamer not a doer. I have to go for now, I have a lot of chain maille to make before the craft fair in November. Blog at you later……..Eva

Yesterday I went shopping. I went to Verizon; my phone has been acting up. The touch screen doesn’t work as well as it should. I bought the insurance plan but it has a 90 dollar deductable. I can get a new one for that.  I went to Joann’s to look for more wire. They didn’t have much. I went to Macy’s; they had a huge sale 50% off. Well I have the flu, I feel so lousy, but I have still been busy making jewelry. I am making bracelets for my daughters with pink copper. When they saw how pretty my new stuff looked they really wanted one. I spoke to my mother yesterday; she said my Aunt will be visiting in January. She is my favorite Aunt. Unfortunately she is my only Aunt, but I do love her. I have always thought of her as a very sweet and beautiful person. I cannot wait to see her again. Last time we got together was for my Grandfathers funeral. She sold her house in Colorado and is now traveling the country in an RV. Her son lives only 150 miles from me. So we are going to see him also. Oh man I need to lay down not feeling well at all. Blog at you all later………Eva

Birthday Party

Today I have been getting ready for my daughter’s birthday. Cleaning and picking up the cake. I am just starting to get over the flu. I have had it for a week and a half. I am still feeling a little weak. When I went to pick up the cake I fell getting out of the car. I was so embarrassed. The store was packed, and when I looked up there were only about a dozen people looking at me. My daughter spent her actual birthday with her boyfriend at the new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. At least I get to have an evening with her. She is so busy with work and college. She is working on her bachelor’s degree. She worked so hard to get her scholarship. We are so very proud. My other daughter will be coming over also. It’s going to be a real treat to have most of my children together. I have been trying to finish off some new bracelets I started. I am using colored copper. I found some awesome pink, blue and purple copper. I signed up for a local craft fair Friday. It will be in November; hopefully it will go well as it is so close to Christmas. Well gotta go, I have a lot left to do. Blog at you later….Eva

Funny thing

Funny thing is I learned to make jewelry from books. My mother, a great inspiration, gave me my first book on chain maille about 4 years ago. The Art of Chain Maille was a great starter to expert book with loads of beautiful illustrations.  I have been remarried for seventeen wonderful years after an abusive first marriage. I was literally suffocating in that relationship. I met Mike and his two daughters and my life has never been the same; his daughter’s were 5 and 7 years old at the time. I had finally found true love at the age of thirty. We raised them together and after 5 years we had a beautiful baby boy. My wonderful husband Mike has been so supportive; he truly has been my strength. When my father was ill 2 years ago, and he asked to me take care of him, Mike was right behind me, even though I quit my job of 10 years to move 3,300 miles away. I have been looking for work for oh about a year and a half now. That’s life it really has its up and downs. As I sit typing this blog I glanced over at my husband and thought how very lucky I am. We are sitting on the patio in our comfy Good Will patio furniture, both of us with our laptops in hand. Blog at you later..Eva

In the begining

Well I never thought I would be blogging but here I am. I also never thought I would be making jewelry for a living, but my hobby was so much fun, I made so many pieces, I decided I needed to sell some of them. I started out making Chain Maille. It was used in Medieval Times as armor for battle. Men would wear sheets of woven metal rings covering their entire body. They use it now for underwater protection against sharks. This almost lost art form is now used for making chains. The true art is in the making of the rings out of metal wire and weaving them together. They are made from Sterling Silver, Stainless Steel, Brass, Copper, and even oxidized Aluminum for a wide variety of colors. They are quite beautiful. There are so many types, Byzantine, Turkish, Japanese, European, Dragon Scale, Elf rope, Helm and Persian to name a few. I have made so many types of jewelry using Swarovski crystals, semi precious stones, chain maille, glass beads, pearls, Tanzanite, Larimar, and Lapis. I have made necklaces, earrings, bracelets, chokers and my new line Pretty Puppies. I also recently started bead weaving. Well that’s enough for now, blog at you later, Eva.