Raige Creations

I have not been one to be very good at creative solutions. It is generally not my strong point. If you think of a solution, I can certainly get it done for you! I can help you, I can encourage, and maybe perhaps add to that idea, but creating one myself, all by myself - not so good at.  Even the solution to this problem. This is not a new problem. Nor are there many solutions to this problem. A paperclip is the common one. Unless you opt for the PROPER solution and go to the eye place and have them properly fix it. But me? Well today I HAD to find a fix and fast. The kids missed the bus, and at 7 a.m. I am not ready for contact lenses. And of course, I DID need to see when I was driving. (I won't tell you about the time in high school when I tested this hypothesis) So I resolved to find a quick fix. Upon investigation, it became clear that the screw hadn't just fallen out, it broke and there was still some left in! UGH. And I had brought ALL the paperclips t...

Featured Artisan - Share the Love, Blogger's Unite BreitWerk  is this week's  Featured Artisan ! You will find Unique & One of a Kind Handmade Accessories and Gifts in her shop! Deni Breitenbach,creates accessories, crafts, gifts and revalued items! She does EMBROIDERY and bead-work. Deni is incredibly creative ~ with a huge variety of items in her shop. Plus she is so helpful to us other creators ~ she is the first to promote YOUR items and help you in any way that you may need.    Mini Clutch Necklace ~ check out the bead work!! This is one of the items that is so great - of course it is purple (my fave) and a necklace! How cute it that?? On my wishlist.....  Please check her shop and see the many talents she has. You can find BreitWerk on: Zibbet       Facebook       Blog       Google+ Grab the code for your blog HERE! Are you On Fire for Handmade? http://o...

I am searching for a good playlist for my runs, which now I can call them because I run for the entire distance, well minus the warm up and warm down. I also measured the distance, and found I do run 2 miles on this path that I have been taking for the last several months, walking and running.  I need a playlist good for 3 miles now though, as I am joining the Arthritis Foundation this year for their 2012 Jingle Bell Run - my first public race. (And now I am only $35 away from my humble goal for the cause) It is a 5k, 3.1 miles. One more mile than my regular workouts. Hubby started the search, and somehow we got lost in the 1980's. (something that happens with regularity it seems....) With great songs like Dexy's Midnight Runners (get it? runners... heehee) , and The Proclaimers and 500 Miles . With a good beat, and a running theme, I think we were on to something. But when he played this song , I knew it had to be on the list AND today's Music Monday! It...

Wow. I did it. I ran non-stop today. No middle of the trail walk because I was so out of breath, no "I'll just walk for a little bit then run again" . I did my normal walk down the long driveway and up the first hill ~ this is my everyday warm up.  Then I ran. I did not slow to a walk at the road with the hill, I went straight, to the second school.  Then I turned and went down that road, and back up that hill, all at a run .  I dealt with others walking ~ meaning I had to reel LadyJ in and keep her from trying to greet each person as we passed. All at a run . This is not really an easy task when running, as she always seems to try to run right in front of me, tripping me. OR runs behind me tangling us up in the leash.  Then there was the other runner with his dog. He must have the same problems because he quickly got off the sidewalk and into the road so we could run past each other not too close, as both dogs seemed to want to get near each other. This mea...

One Organized Person - this is NOT my list.... There is much talk about 'how to handle' Thanksgiving:   How to deal with extended family , how to cook the bird, how to make the pies, how to make certain side dishes ahead , the secret to carving breast meat , how to set the table , what to wear on Thanksgiving , and there are even playlist suggestions for Thanksgiving music !  Now THIS could be fun to try to do..... Just reading all this stresses me out! Our game plan this year is much simpler. The big thing for me is I took today off, meaning 3 days in a row off for me. Ridiculously huge. So did I choose to spend today running around preparing home made desserts and prep-ahead side dishes?  NO. WAY.  I am sitting with my entire family, hubby and all three kids, enjoying the banter of video game talk, joking about being so hungry but everything to eat involves work (! - like getting a bowl and cereal out is tough...oh yeah, milk too...oh the eff...

A Name. W hat's in a name?    Sometimes a whole lot, sometimes absolutely nothing.  Looking for some inspiration from my 2 kids while taking them to school yesterday (missed bus), the car ahead of me had a license plate with BCK in it. This reminded me of my name - Beck. Most of you know me as Rebecca, but really this is a more recent preference of mine. I spent my whole life being Becky or Beck. (Sometime  Bekkage, Beckarooni, Roo, and even  Beth-a misunderstanding of Beck ). Not Rebecca. But here - and now - I am Rebecca.    The radio kept me thinking about names by playing 2 different songs with women's names on the ride - Allison , and MaryAnn (well, the song is Tree By the River ). And then there is the famous Peggy Sue or Delilah . There is a song Beth, and even one for my sis, Sandra Dee (except she is Sandra J, close enough), and my other sister Suzie Q , (tho she is simply Susie).    Names. Shakespeare really got it right: A...

Continuing on the difficult task of shopping for men, I have found a bunch of things that I think my own men might like. All found on Zibbet! Cigar Design Coffee Mug  by Mug Quotes Large Ceramic Mugs –  Black and White Starry Night   by River Rock Arts La Cafe Gift Basket  by Gifket Irish Breakfast Tea  by Brush Creek Wool Works Men's Leather Dragon Cuff  by Juju Bee Jewelry Designs Recycled Skateboard Custom Dog Tags  by All Deckd Out on Zibbet Men's Organic Eyes in the Dark Shirt  by The Mighty Squirm DNA Tshirt Graphic Science Tee MENS Shirt  by Nonfiction Tees Large Wet Shaving Lather Bowl Mug  by The Mud Place Shaving Soap For Men, Made with Natural Clays  by Scumsoaps If you have any ideas that you haven't seen here - please share in the comments. I know I can't be the only one who has difficulties. Happy Shopping.

It's not an easy task, shopping for men. But we all have to do it, at least once a year. Here are some great ideas for your men from Zibbet. Practical ones, sophisticated ones, silly ones.  Tightie Whitie Mens Underwear Adorable Charms  by Chubby Chico Charms Vintage 1970s McCalls 3436 Sewing Pattern Mens Classic Retro Pants  by Sew Mrs P Mens Necktie in Bright Blue Cotton Print   by White Cross Designs Gray and Black Mohawk Hat  by Unexpected Treasure Men's Stimulating Scalp Massage  by Beazers Garden Ultimate Campfire Gadget for Men  by Grate Outdoor Solutions Money Clip  by Glass Half Full MEN AT WORK - Tiny Holographic English Pin  by Portable Graffiti I actually had so much fun looking I have a whole other post planned. So stay tuned......

I could say I took a vacation of sorts, just not the vacation I wanted. I took a vacation from my run/walks. I took a vacation from even just walking. I hadn't been exercising in about 2 weeks!  This morning, as I sat in front of the computer, a usual morning event, I scrolled through FB bored, I checked email finding nothing exciting, I avoided my spreadsheet knowing full well there was lots of work to be done, I sat looking at my Artfire and Zibbet shops thinking of all the listing I had to do. I kept pushing out of my head the bills coming due and the panic of how the heck we were going to pay them.  Suddenly I knew my exercise vacation was over. I needed to get out there and clear my head. I think my companion really missed our walks too.  So off we went. But dang it was cold out. Frozen bird bath and everything. Looking at this reminded me of my mosaic projects. Another bunch of projects waiting to be done. I didn't even finish getting the tiles from...

Little Hearts That Say So Much   Meet Mary Cahtherine Lunsford I am known as the 1969-71 Polydor Records recording artist Mary Catherine Lunsford. My performing career was cut short when I developed head and neck cancer. Years out from treatment, my heart and spirit was disconsolate until now. Hide A Heart® has turned into my story of hope and healing. Read More… Hide a Heart This weeks Featured Artist is Mary Catherine Lunsford,  Hide a Heart ! Little Hearts that say so much!  Keep the language of love alive with one of our glass hearts to create an enduring, positive, sentimental, romantic, fun and charming expression of affection for a lover, family member or friend. You can Find Hide a Heart on : Etsy     Facebook Blog     Twitter Are you On Fire for Handmade? http://onfireforhandmade.com

Whenever life gets you down Mrs. Brown, and things seem hard or tough, and people are stupid, obnoxious or daft, and you feel you've had quite enough.....just remember: It helps us get through days like my experience with the 'daft' staff at KFC last night, where "fast food" took close to a full 20 minutes. I had to deal with baffled looks and ' you didn't get your order?' , and 'oh she must have given your order to those other people' . Duh. Particularly frustrating because my order included an unusual request that the cashier had to ask for help with. Not the normal 'blend in', 'I'll have the Number 8 combo meal ' order. You would think she would have remembered me!! Anyhow, my son was right. 'Just calm down mom!'  that he had to repeat about 5 times as I was getting more and more frustrated.  It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. We got our food, and even tho my thoughts kept going ba...

A simple question, without a simple answer. Or is there? There are many studies on happiness , theories on how to be happy , web pages dedicated to telling you how to find happiness , discussions about why we are NOT happy. We have complicated something that really isn't that complicated.  It really can be simple. Over at the Zibbet Community , a great thread asks  Is Everybody Happy ? Here we, quite simply, name 3 things that were positive about our day.  That's it. Just 3 things. It is said we will love how it makes us feel. Some days it is hard to find 3 things that made us happy during the day. But if you really think about it, I bet you realize you do not spend every part of every day unhappy. There are little things that bring you out of the grump, the negativity, the unhappy.  You may have to dig deep to find them, but they are there. In fact, I have found that often if I am having a bad day, I can take that negative and turn it around to a p...

Today I am featuring 2 very creative artisans from the On Fire Team . (to make up for my lack of motivation-thus-lack of posting last week) First, Gina is a wonderfully talented creator - and of course I love that she is using vintage flatware in her pieces.   Featured Artist This weeks Featured Artist is Regina Mcdonald -   Chrysalis Designs by RM . Stunning creations, works of art you can wear! Quality  handmade jewelry  created by Gina. She truly has a gift in designing jewelry pieces! Her cuff bracelets are beautiful works of art and she now has beautiful upcycled vintage flatware, silver plated, serving piece bracelets too! All of Gina's designs are  One of A Kind! You can find Chrysalis Designs on : Website Etsy Artfire Twitter Blog Facebook Grab the code for your blog HERE Are you On Fire for Handmade? http://onfireforhandmade.com Second, Michele is multi-talented with a shop of all of her unique and beautiful cre...

Thanks to my children and hubby who were discussing this when I got home from the grocery store today. Don't ask me...as I am sitting here listening to it they are 'gangam stylin' across the living room. Making me laugh - and the dog go crazy, which makes me laugh even harder. So -  Heeeeeeeyyyyyy Sexy Lady!   It's good to laugh on a Monday. Now if we could get Dad to do it....that would be the best gut laugh ever!