Nest Feathers and Twine - Formally Artist's Block Studio

The things that make a house a home and the stuff that holds is all together.

Years ago I started this blog with a mindset and goals that I have found have changed direction over time. I am excited to say that this blog has a new name.....Nest Feathers and Twine. I hope you come by and visit often. Feel free to get comfortable and kick off your shoes and join me on this journey of metamorphosis.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

another project underway


black swarvoski, black onyx, amazonite, blue quartz, and turquoise........
after this piece i need a break from all that is blue in color
maybe some solder work next, or maybe create another neck piece
with beads in oranges, yellows and reds, bright sun-shiney vibrant and alive colors
.... somehow i will just know what direction i am suppose to go in next .....
divine inspiration maybe

one thing that i do know is that i am so very grateful
for the inspiration and ideas that seem to
come about the time i begin to want to hit
the panic button, which happens when
i find myself staring into a pile of beads
thinking .......what am i going to do with these
to do them justice????......

i close my eyes
i breathe
and poof

below is my latest poof.........

Posted by Picasa

Saturday, May 17, 2008

wahlaaaaaaa!


here is my second necklace. look down to see my first one!
Posted by Picasa

Friday, May 16, 2008

Check out my Slide Show!

wired wearable art

this idea came to me while i was in the shower this morning.....
for some reason i receive alot of my inspiration there.

it has some kinks i need to work out, but not bad for my 1st one.....i like it!
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, May 15, 2008

not much sleep last night, again. i tried laying on my 'good ear' , to muffle noise, and
pulling the blanket over my head
hoping i would pass out from inhaling over and over
previously exhaled breaths.

as my restless and snoring, but sleeping husband hogged the bed, i tried to get comfortable
on my pie shaped wedge portion of the bed that was
left after he rolled over yet once again.
thoughts from the day's activities
running through my mind
like a skipping record, something
that i normally don't have a problem turning off at night.


mmmm.........but once everyone was off to work and school i crawled back into bed, layed right in the middle of it, pulled the blanket right up to my chin, closed my eyes and listened to the oh-so-gentle patter of rain drops and the birds singing as though they were serenading the rain. i slept like a baby............until the phone rang moments later.........
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

because they chose me......


i am so very lucky.....because they chose me to be their mom. they are the best mother's day gifts i could ask for. each of them so unique and special.

i love them from the very bottom of my heart, more than i could ever tell them in a million lifetimes.
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, May 08, 2008

where did the time go today?

i can not believe how fast the day has gone today!
where did the time go?
i have about an hour before steph is home from school
and peace and quiet will no longer be for me.....
i still had not had even a cup of tea today, or written in my
gratitude journal, or snuck a treat in.
once my daughter comes home, we have about an hour before the boys burst through the door, and then about another hour later before my hubby is home and it
is noisy and at times chaotic until about 11:00pm, if i am so lucky.
so, i dropped what i was in the middle of, went to our little
snack cabinet, grabbed a tea bag, and a rare treat,
my sweet and thoughtful hubby brought these
home for me last night, shhhh...don't tell the kids where i hid them!
grabbed my gratitude journal and sat at the kitchen table and appreciated the heck
out of my last few minutes of peace and quiet!


Posted by Picasa


Posted by Picasa

more new life around our yard


it is hard to see but there a many little tadpoles in this cup.....right after max brought this in and we snapped their photo the little tadpoles were safely returned to our little pond to rejoin their thousands of brothers and sisters.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

sweet babies


spring has always been such a meaningful season for me. rebirth. renewal. a fresh start and new beginning. the smells. the sounds. for me the new year begins not on january 1st, but on the first day of spring. spring is something you feel in your soul, somehow you just know it is here. it is not a date on the calendar......it does not matter who saw their shadow when.

every morning after everyone has gone to school and work i crawl back into bed for just a bit. the window is open. i pull the blanet up over me and just listen to the birds singing. breathe in the smell of dirt and grass and flowers. feel the chill in the air that seems to have an undercurrent of warmth to it.

max spotted this nest earlier this evening and crawled up in the tree to snap a quick picture of the new life stirring in the nest as their momma nervously chattered just above.
Posted by Picasa

Monday, May 05, 2008


an hour of playing with beads and wire and watching eckhart and oprah.....lots of red wire in the trash. i have learned that sometimes you make more trash than usable art, but that is how you learn and grow.

the red beads in the small square plastic container are at least 15 years old......they are older that both my boys!

ended up heading upstairs before the eckhart and oprah class was over.....i started to notice it was toooooo quiet upstairs. i found my daughter had snuck a nap in under her daddy's nose, and my wonderful hubby who is not use to running the show, and who was in a 'csi' coma, did not think to make sure our daughter was not sneaking a pre-nights sleep nap in, and she should have been sent to shower or at least sent the boys in to shower.

so, as i sneak off down here to my studio to wire wrap a few more beads and add a last blog entry for the day i hear the all too familiar sound of the boys aggrevating the &!*@%$ out of each other for the umpteenth time tonight that must mean they are both out of the shower and back in their room............................i love them.....i love them......i love them.....this too shall pass......someday i might even find myself missing that noise and thinking about them while they are all grown and at home with their families. so as nuts as it can make me i am thankful for this moment in time that all too soon will be but a memory.

good night.......
Posted by Picasa

eckhart tolle

in just a few minutes the last of the eckhart tolle/oprah classes will begin. this will be the first one i will get to see live. the other 9 weeks there has been dinner, homework, family stuff to attend to. tonight is for me.
Posted by Picasa

organized chaos



my next few projects, but the one i am constructing now is pink and turquoise crash......
Posted by Picasa

while putting away the red velvet beads and crocheted beads and idea popped into my head, so i put down the beads i was wire wrapping above and started raiding my bead drawer for some pink glass beads that would be perfect! in a day or two we will see if the idea in my head and the actual piece(s) turn out the same......as often as this happens i am sure i have a serious case of add...adhd....i don't honestly think i would be able to function any other way though, i like it....the more i play the more it happens.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, May 04, 2008

friday night fun


bill has this outing planned for months. one of the few things in life he loves beyond words. the sights, sounds, smells.......who doesn't love the smell of racing fuel?

all week the weather had been predicted to be severe storms for friday.....all day. thursday night's weather broadcast did not bring any news of change in the forcast. severe storms all day. no worries i told bill, no worries. it will all work out. he did not show it at all, but i knew he was very disappointed. friday morning the weather played out just as predicted....it figures this one time the meteorologists had to get it right......by friday afternoon we were being drenched not by rain but by the rays of the sun! no worries.
Posted by Picasa
Posted by Picasa

i am not a city girl


but i love the lights. i love the lights of the stars in the sky much more though, and after we rode around the city after the races for about 10 minutes i had enough. (breathe i kept telling myself) people are nuts.....(breathe) just nuts. everyone has to be first....first in line....(breathe) whohoo buddy ya made it one car in front of us at the stop light...(breathe) ewww you get a prize......he almost took off the good side of the suburban! (breathe) then the 100 proof guy giving us gestures as he tried to cross the street at the same place and time we were driving on it.....(in and out, breathe, breathe)

there were several times i thought we were going to end up with a sobriety-challenged individual as a hood ornament. (breathe, breathe, breathe......)
Posted by Picasa

after the races.......


max, pooped out from the adrenaline rush of an evening at the racetrack, he fell asleep while we drove a bit through downtown st. louis.
this is a glimpse at the new stadium. it is the first time i have seen it.....pretty neat. but this is still the city and i had seen enough!
Posted by Picasa

Quote for the moment



"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."

Harriet Beecher Stowe

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed