Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I grew up associating St. Patrick's Day with green leprechauns, shamrocks, rainbows, and gold. Today, I mainly associate it with green beer. Well, I finally looked it up and apparently St. Patrick was an Irish Catholic Bishop who, according to legend, used the shamrock to teach the holy trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people. I had no idea! Or if I did, I completely forgot. Another interesting little tidbit I found is that the very first St. Patrick's Day parade in the whole world was held on March 18, 1737 in the U.S.! Anyways, here's wising everyone a wonderfully green and feisty leprechaun filled St. Patrick's Day!

Nesting

I've been playing around with the Vintaj wire and starting making these precious little bird's nests. I actually found a great tutorial on YouTube by Denise Mathew http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBLL5M1dgcs. I decided to make mine with more of a bottom to cradle the eggs, but Denise's video was a great start. I like to use gemstones that look more like real eggs and also experiment with different sizes.

Back in Brass

I'm finally back on the creative bandwagon and totally in love with brass. Vintaj brass. Vintaj is 100% natural brass that is nickel and lead free. Each piece is hand embellished and made in the U.S.A. I love the rustic and vintage look of the pieces and how they contrast with sterling and brass. Be sure to check out my shop at Etsy, as I will be featuring the latest in Vintaj stampings very soon.

Grey Frog Has Moved to Orlando

I'm back home! I'm a 5th generation FL native and it's good to be home. I grew up on the gulf coast and have been living in Phoenix the past 7 years due to my Husband's job. But we finally got a transfer to Orlando and it's so beautiful here. We live on the East side where there is still more woods than neighborhoods and we're blessed with deer and bunnies right in our backyard. Living 30 minutes away from Disney and Cocoa Beach is not too shabby either! My shop is open again, so please stop by and take a look. I'm so happy to be home that I'm offering free shipping until November 19th!

To Infinity and Beyond

This is an amazing story of a Father and Autistic Son lost at sea. They were swimming at the Ponce Inlet, just south of Daytona, when they were swept out by a current. Christopher, Walter Marino's son, is 12 years old and has autism. He is mostly non-verbal, but says a few phrases from Disney movies that he watches. Walter called out "To Infinity and Beyond" to his son throughout the late afternoon and night until they drifted so far apart, that he could not hear him anymore. He feared for the worse. But after 14 hours in the water, they were both rescued by the Coast Guard. This child is truly amazing to be able to tread water for that long all alone in the dark. I can't imagine this happening to my own son. This is such an amazing testament of the strength and determination of this special little boy and his father. I'm a FL native and my husband is a Coast Guard veteran, and my son has Aspergers, so this story is incredibly inspirational to me. Here is the link to the entire article and video: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26639098/

Really worth reading!

I Can't Wait For Halloween!!!

So, it's the beginning of September. I don't care, I can't wait for Halloween! It's always a HUGE holiday for us. We have 9 x-large plastic tubs in the garage full of decor and not counting our inflatable graveyard, huge snowglobe and monsters. We have an annual Halloween party especially for the kids that is always a huge success. Last year was the only year we haven't had one because the baby was too young. Our son isn't scared of the scary stuff, so we are able to go all out. Our house is not for the faint of heart come October! It's just such a magical time to me. I love the smell of the air and the feeling that the season has. I love to go to the local pumkin patch, load up our treasures, and let my Husband, the amazing carver, carve a truly horrific masterpiece! Hopefully this year will be better than ever!

Before and After

So, I've been working with my photo cube and then uploading and editing the pics on Picnik. Picnik is free and has very simple, easy to use editing. It makes a huge difference in brightness and quality.