by lynn krestel

bits...

 
vintage button bracelet - in fall colors! (i just love vintage buttons!!)

bugging me today!! well, i hate to say that once something starts to bug me -irritate me - you know, that pit in your stomach feeling of unease - sometimes i have a really hard time letting it go!! i think about it, analyze it, hash it over!! and sometimes over and over!! so, i was thinking - maybe i should blog about it! get it out of my system!  .....but then maybe it would bug you! irritate you! and give you that yucky in-the-pit-of-your-stomach feeling!!

has to do with friends. 'kind of' friends - but you know they arent wholly invested - i'm an all in kind of person. i share with you, trust you, yak at you kind of friend. and when i think i have  a true friend and then find out their not really there....honestly - it just really stinks!! know what i mean?! or maybe i am just being oversensitive! and over analyzing!.....

ok, so enough ranting for tuesday!!

working on a tutorial....not so much a how-to but more of an about my work...why i use the materials i do and how i create..i guess more informational then tutorial...what would i call it though? i'm preparing it for another blog so cant post it now - but i will when its up - or at least i'll link it!

on another note! i started a partnership with papernstitch.com - as another venue for showcasing my jewerly.
it is a really gorgeous collection of indie artists and their work. i feel lucky to have been accepted and to be a part! so please check them out!!

also - just got to share this pic of jayme...taken by a photographer during the wedding preparations last july.
her hair and makeup were done, she was waiting to get dressed... she is such a sweet girl! (and she is my baby!!) i think she was feeling kind of unsure of herself and all of the attention!

any hoo - this is a much nicer note to close on!! thanks for stopping by today!

hugs!

a little bit of spring...

i was working away...and this flurry of movement outside my window caught my attention...chickadees. foraging for tiny bugs and seeds in my bare garden! by the time i grabbed my camera, they were almost gone. but happily i snapped this sweet mama bird before she swooped away to the trees....
sigh. i could just watch and watch those sweet angels dart and dash, hop and flit. the males with their stark black and white markings...but even the mamas - though plain but bright eyed inspire me!

do you also spy those uninvited daffodils pushing their heads above ground. its january! we usually don't see them until end of february early march!

here in vancouver - olympic fever - winter olympic fever is raging...but alas we are also experiencing one of our warmest winters on record. the local mountains - which will host some skiing events are scrambling to move snow down to bare slopes from higher elevations.... but here at sea level, we are enjoying warmth!! with fingers crossed that we don't digress to winter and freeze our bulb-y blossoms!!

i will be posting some olymipic related photos and activities...we live a few blocks from the brand new long track for speed skating. in a week the olympic flame will be 'run' a short distance from our own front door!! so stay tuned!! its going to be interesting, for sure (and inconvenient and crazy and more!!)
blessings!
lynn

its a new year!

2010 crept on me - it came swiftly ...decemeber was crammed with activity - orders in my etsy shop steadily came, crafting christmas gifts, gathering with family and friends, beth coming home from college...really - it seemed non stop.

so i solaced myself with the thought that the week christmas to new years i would put my feet up, revel in the successes of the year, and just generally enjoy myself - catch up on blogs, read , bake, and sleep!! ha! the best laid plans!!

i am so thankful that my business has grown steadily and that i have business...as i reflect on where i was last year compared to now - i am amazed. and excited. and challenged. with the year that looms ahead!!i feel excited and awed to be able to - in reality create a home based business that allows me the freedom to focus  on my family - yet help provide that necessary income to sustain added expense of a 'growing older' family!

we were able to see beth complete her first semester of college - debt free!! it meant for a meager christmas -  gift giving to family and friends - but such sweet satisfaction to see our labors enable independence and good heartedness and maturity in the life of our girl....

my whole purpose in building this little design company has been to be able to aid our daughters through college/university and through their first years of independent living! i honestly didn't imagine that it really would happen...but fingers crossed - it will continue to be so!
so as i've longed for quiet moments to sit and reflect and share here in blogland - i am unapologetic in my brief hiatus! but happy and hopeful to be back in the swing of things!

2010 lies ahead - an open slate to plan and write upon! i going to keep dreaming big things...
i have applied to teach at a well known bead festival (fingers crossed), submitting a few designs for magazine publication, and continue refining my lines - and work to garner a few more wholesale accounts...

personally and emotionally 209 was quite a challenge. i have opened the door in my life to begin to deal with some issues from the past - i want to clear them from my soul - heal and move on...didn't get there last year -but began the journey! i think i just have to keep at it...

and i want to make a greater difference in the lives of our african families and others!

no new years resolutions to break - but plans and goals set out with great anticipation for the coming months...
in the wide world of blogging - the trend of picking a word or two for the year is quite predominate...i have mulled it over - can't say i have one...do you? is there a defining word or phrase that will shape your year....? for now - i'll carry on...

happy january!
blessed 2010!

enough already!!

ok, enough already!! we have had h1n1 flu ravage through our family these last two weeks..and it has been rugged! i keep anticipating each new day - this would be the day i feel better...so far...not yet!

it comes on softly with a sore throat, bit of congestion...seems innocuous at first - and then wham! it hits you! coughing, aches and pains, headache...stomach ache sets in even a few days later.

one especially good tip i read - gargle with salt water - and even a bit of warm salt water in each nostril...it helps combat the virus - as well as helps prevents passing it along. drinking hot fluids also helps to kill the virus, as well as soothe sore throats.

so as much as possible - stay well.

words

i've been thinking alot about words...some are used in haste, carelessly, w/o much thought...and some are spoken with care, with love, or hurt ... unfortunately, words once spoken cannot be retracted...we may try to clarify or restate our position - but what is said, is said.

i am from a family of 'wordies'!! my g-grandma, grandma, mom, uncle, sisters - teachers, authors - they know how to put words together creatively, spontaneously, fitly! what i miss most about my mom, gone now for 5 years - are her words. her cheerful voice on the other end of the line, teasing, caring, cajoling. she was our biggest cheerleader - i miss that most in my life - a mom to send/speak words of encouragement, wisdom and advice, love.

there is a proverb: 'a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver' (proverbs 25:11). fitly: an adverb which describes how the 'word' is spoken - in a suitable, proper manner... i'm not saying we have to speak shakespearean! but speaking love. truth. comfort. in an appropriate way and time.

 

so many times, my soul is hungry for someone to say a word -that reaches to me deeply, feeds me, cheer me!!  and oh so many times, i have hoped to be the one to say the 'word' that would be just what somebody wants and needs to hear... and i know i've failed, been too busy, consumed, or not knowing what to say - i avoid... i'm sorry!

so i am feeling the challenge. going to try to be more aware! gonna (try) to make the most of a word!

keep watching - today, i'm starting a new line of resin 'dictionary word' charms... i think they are going to be keepers!!

 

oh my!!

oh my! one month since since my last post...it has been a summer of transition, busyness, lightning speed passing... i would say welcome back - but you probably never left...it was me! out of sorts, adjusting, avoiding... leaving the safety of my routine, holding on to each moment..hoping for the same, but knowing what was inevitable.

so as my youngest girlheads out the door to her first day of school - dressed in red houndstooth sweater, jeans and flip flops!

 

and my oldest girl has already launched into a new phase of life - freshman at college... i should share of our trip to california - to take beth to school - but i can't go there - yet. 

for now it is time. her time. to grow. stretch her wings. she is ready!! i will get there!!

so for september - i look forward - with great anticipation! - of returning to routine, (a new)normal, and getting creative!!

happy fall!!

to inspire

above my work table - oh they are so beautiful!!

 

and so they inspire me... calming, natural, in vintage jars, soft green and lavender....

they make me smile!

summer sunset

 

a saturday summer sunset!! right before the storm rolled in!! it was absolutely beautiful!

 

musings...

 

what a picture...i wish i had taken it - i did not... my sister captured the fresh spring greens, papery thin petals wet with rain drops.....i think nothing inspires me more than this...

tomorrow this time i will be up to my ears in flowers! i think as i said before - in a moment of insanity!! i agreed to go back to floral design - and work for two weddings this spring. one this weekend. i am looking forward to it..this bride wants simple clean lines - nothing fussy - and some things i've never done before! - i'll post pictures next week!!

so i'll leave you with a simple new jade neclace with hydrangea silver pendant. i actually took the small hydrangea blooms and made a mold with them. then created the pendant - it is a real fav of mine!!

happy weekend - happy beginning to summer!!

vday

celebrated vday a little bit today...but alas - i forgot my camera!! i took cookies and some of my vintage valentines to my rwandaise kids!!they laughed and giggled, seemed happy to be remembered... its important to me that every time i speak to them, i tell them i love them. i guess i think that five siblings living alone probably don't hear those words too often. i want them to know they are loved...

anyway, back to the talk of valentines. they used to exchange with friends in elementary school. they said everyone dressed in red and black - sounds good to me!! i don't think they thought about receiving valentines...here.. today. the loved the cutie animals and flocked details. they opened their envelopes, nibbled their cookies. oh their smiles! (where was my camera!!?)

about my valentines day - i will post tomorrow -it will be for my mom!!

hearts.....