Raige Creations

I write about pressure quite a bit. I am under quite a bit of pressure. And I am so tired of it. When I signed up for Blogher.com 's January NaBloPoMo , I hesitated when I saw the month's theme was pressure . I wondered how much more I could write about pressure !  Image courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Then it brought on the more relevant question of 'How much more pressure could I endure?' I have felt so much unpleasant pressure in the past year. I went through the pressure of trying to make a struggling business grow, closing said business , moving all the crap out of said business, then the pressure of what to do now? All while struggling to meet out obligations moneywise. This is heavy pressure. I am sick and tired of this kind of pressure. So I took on the pressure of posting a blog every day ( NaBloPoMo ) for January, since it gave me such pleasure when I did it in October and November . But I was not as successful ...

source - Pinterest I am sure I am not alone in wishing for the temperature to start going up!  In this vein, I am sharing some of my warm weather creations for us to dream about no wool socks and slippers , no fuzzy socks , not being covered in quilts when watching tv , etc etc. Let's dream about being barefoot ! Natures Green Rose on Sunshine Yellow Toekini's Alices Blue Flower Garden Toekini's Let's dream of a nice Valentine gift too. Red Open Heart Toekini's Beating HeartToekini's These make you feel too cold still? How about some with a little more cover? Purple Mesh Barefoot Sandals Sunshine Yellow with Groovy Red HeartBarefoot Sandals All that is missing is the beach I would be on wearing these..... (click on that beach link to see the beach I mean.....) Well, now back under the blanket, because it is really only 27 degrees outside, even though the sun is shining like it is Spring. Stay warm!

I made a goal to feature more creative people this year, so along these lines, the Zibbet Exhibit is a great way to show many interpretations on a single theme or idea by many different talented artisans and artists.  Today, the idea is burlap . I love the look of burlap, and have even tried my hand at being creative with burlap . It is a challenging thing to work with, so that these creations are so well done tells you something about the talent of these creators.  There is so much you can do with burlap, these are just some of the possibilities.  Coffee Pillow Cover by Texas Eagle Gallery Rustic Burlap Roses by Accents & Petals Sunflower and Burlap Bow by Knitting Nadia Ivory and Burlap Mason Jars by The Vintage Artistry Coffee Sack - Little Bookend Owl by Tailys Little Burlap Bows – Bobby Pin Set by BE Something New Deep Purple Burlap Wreath by Trend to Trend Wreaths Purple Felt Pinwheel with Burlap b...

If you haven't heard, the south has had a bit of a snow storm . (and if you haven't heard, I would ask what rock you have been under) Now, having grown up in the Buffalo area, then moving BACK to the Buffalo area (after my other life in the Caribbean) before moving here, to the mountains of NC, I am quite familiar with snow. I grew up with snow, and my kids spent 5 'love-slash-hate' years dealing with it. This? THIS is snow. photo: Raige Creations I can drive in it, I can shovel it, snow blow it, and basically deal with it. I have even shoveled it off a roof when we got more than 5 feet of snow in one day. (yes, that happened.) Nothing closed up there unless there was a blizzard or sub zero temperatures AND a blizzard. School was open that day we had 5 feet of snow in a day.  Yes, that is several FEET of snow. and there still was school, and everything stayed open. photo:  Raige Creations So now we are in the mountains of a 'southern' state. (...

This week, we have more beautiful jewelry and fiber items by Nancy, a talented creator from Massachusetts.  Nancy says:  Crafting is my hobby. I love jewelry making, knitting, crocheting, painting. I love trying new things to create new designs. Generally, I design my own items. I rarely use patterns and if I do, I will change something about them to make them unique. I do a lot of exploring in youtube for tutorials on basic techniques and then apply them to the stock products that I have. I hope to make very unique items. Anything you see in my store, especially knit, is very flexible and can be made in different color to tweaked slightly. Also if you are looking for something, please contact me and I will search for patterns.   Enjoy her creations, and be sure to find her online. jazz it up with Designs by Nancy Featured Artist on Share the Love… Blogger’s Unite Jazz it up with Designs by Nancy   is this weeks Featured Artist on Share the Love, Blogge...

What a whirlwind of a weekend we had. It was the weekend of my daughters graduation, in this post she will be known as Little Buttercup, as that a pet name her daddy used since she was born . Let me tell you, she busted a$$ and graduated.  She finished a semester early , with High Honors to boot, and a designated NC Scholar!  (meaning she achieved excellent grades in several honors and AP classes) 2014 Grad Our Little Buttercup (we are so proud!) source:  Raige Creations We could hardly believe this is our Little Buttercup! She used to be a littler 'Little Buttercup'... with eyes so blue.... Little Buttercup, at about 2 years old source:  Raige Creations Daddy used to sing My Little Buttercup to her since she was a tiny baby, trying to make her laugh. He would get through the song with no response. Then he sang it from the point when everyone joined in, imitating the Mexican response. The giggles came fast and hard when he got to this: My Littl...

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Sounds ridiculously fun, no? Well, my bird thinks it is! Orange Soda Bird House source: Raige Creations She crawled in the soda box at the opening at the top, slid down, then stuck her head out the handle. I thought she might be stuck in there, but no, she was just having fun! Dangling Boxes - Joy for the Birds source: Raige Creations Ever since I got lost on the internet that one day, and found I could MAKE bird toys, I have actually  been  making my own bird toys. It started with the register paper rolls. I used up the ones I had, even bought more and used those up.  Then I discovered I could use boxes and tee shirts. I got lots of ideas from here , and have since found this Pinterest board . I now recycle in a completely different, and fun, way. My mini recycling center source: Raige Creations I hoard boxes, paper towel cardboard rolls, toilet paper rolls, tee shirts, anything I think I can use. The area by the bird cages looks like a messy r...

Today, meet  Ruta Budrikiene , of  Ruta Jewelry. Source: Ruta Jewelry on Etsy She says: My passion is art, fashion and design. All of my pieces are hand made and unique. I make jewelry used beadseeding, beadweaving, soutache techniques. I use seed and glass beads, semi- precious stones, metallic details, leather, wire . Beautiful creations, detailed and thoughtful designs.  From Ruta's blog, rutajewelryideas . Go check it out yourself! Featured Artist Ruta Jewelry is this weeks Featured Artis t on Share the Love, Bloggers Unite! You will find beautiful Handmade Jewelry and Gifts Ideas in her Etsy Shop! You can Find Ruta on: Etsy Facebook Page Twitter Blog Facebook Are you On Fire for Handmade? http://onfireforhandmade.com Shop at On Fire Gift Guide !

It's been............... 3 days since I have blogged. (so much for posting every day! this NaBloPoMo has been extremely difficult for me to keep up with!) It's now........... One Week until daughters graduation (well less than that now, it's Saturday! But on Saturday this song kept playing in my head, because it WAS one week until graduation. Somehow, I am not ready for this......) Plus, the other day, hubby said to me,  "It's been one week....", and then he paused. Boom - the  Barenaked Ladies filled in the rest. I can't even remember what he said after that. How can you NOT think of this song when someone says something like that? Over and over, in my head... It's been... One Week ...  And then the rest fills in. Chickity China the Chinese chicken Have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin' Watchin X-Files with no lights on We're dans la maison It will still be two days 'till .....family arrives in town for th...

source My alarm just went off, (for the first time...I am a snooze button addict)   and I was glad that I could snuggle back in bed for 10 more minutes until it went off again. Just as I crawled back under the covers, the phone rang. Usually, a phone ringing at this time of morning (6:14 am) means only one thing - SCHOOL DELAY OR NO SCHOOL! I ran to the phone, somewhat irritated but somewhat happy with the thought of getting more sleep. Too late, missed the call.  Sitting anxiously on the couch in my PJ's, (which was just a tank top...brrrrr!!!) I waited for the voicemail to finish recording the recorded message and dialed excitedly to hear the good news. I hear this: Good morning. Although there are patches of lingering snow and ice throughout the county this morning, for the most part roads are okay. The worst conditions are in the Enka and Erwin District, so ONLY ENKA AND ERWIN schools will be on a 2-hour delay today, Thursday January 16, with no buses on ...

I finally forced myself. I finally started gathering all the year end stuff, in preparation for tax time. Actually, I stressed myself right into it.  Image courtesy of anankkml / FreeDigitalPhotos.net We were going over our monthly expenses (always so much fun) and I realized I should really go ahead and get everything in a spreadsheet so we can better budget this year.  So I had to find all the expenses, and doing so I realized I needed to update quite a bit businesswise to have good totals for year end. I was quite behind. (I am sure, if you read this blog regularly, you are not at all surprised , you know I teeter between giving in to the pressure (aka LATE)  or pushing through .) I like to have a handle on things at least by February so that all I have to do is wait for all the reports to arrive from the various places they need to. Not early, but definitely not late. This is one area that I refuse to be late. So far, I am on track if I keep at it. But...

Tuesday's Featured Artist is Adore By Nat. From the On Fire Team . Meet the Artist I love custom orders! Most of my orders are custom orders. Let’s plan and create one party package for your special one. I love custom orders! Most of my orders are custom orders. Let’s plan and create one party package for your special one. Adore by Nat Featured Artisan Adore by Nat is this weeks Featured Artisan. You will find quality handmade party decorations for any occasion. http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/adorebynat Find Adore by Nat On:   Artfire  Blog   Twitter   Facebook   Pinterest