First up, a beautiful pair of green and gold dangle earrings! I'm an earring collector and these are gorgeous! You can find these at Painted Easel, owned by a talented painter who also makes jewelry! Or maybe she's a jeweler who paints? Let's just say she is a multi-talented artist and you can find all sorts of items that you'll love in her shop!
So while we're looking at jewelry, here is a very cool necklace! The artist took three pieces of broken jewelry to recombine and make this chunky blue beauty with the extra long chain, and it can be yours for -- you guessed it -- $5.00! Check out the necklace and the rest of the shop at Valkyrie of Odin.
Now how cool is this? It's a piece of the box from an old Bingo game that the talented artist at Duct Tape And Denim upcycled into a notebook. I LOVE stuff like this! For $5, it's yours! (Unless it's mine first!)
As a watercolorist, I can really appreciate these hill country turkeys! This is a great deal -- a set of four notecards, each with a print of the turkey watercolor. The shop is Texas Hill Country Art -- check it out -- there are lots of other notecards, and also original watercolors. I was in the Hill Country recently and I saw this artist's work in a shop in... Dripping Springs? Way to go for getting your work out there!
Look at this adorable baby hat -- could anything be cuter? The colors remind me of a watermelon! I know lots of younger (much!) friends having babies these days -- a handmade gift is soooo special! Click on over to the shop called 2muchstuff2day (I hear ya on that!) and see what she's got!
While we're talking babies, doesn't your little buckaroo need a pair of these? I LOVE the bandanna print! Would you make these for $5? I wouldn't! Let's face it -- I couldn't! You better snap these up quick! Check them out at Piqua's Favorites!
The artist at BooBooZoo makes these in all sorts of animal shapes. "What is it?" you're wondering. It's made of flannel, and filled with rice, and when you have a booboo, or an aching muscle, or even a headache, you put one of these in the microwave or the freezer for your choice of soothing heat or cold. This one is Paul the Puppy Booboo Bag -- looks like it'd be great for children of all ages!
This is a passport cover, and the pattern is called "Birds on a Wire." It's made and sold by Owl Say Designs, who sells "practical products with stylish flair." And she does! I personally just bought three checkbook covers from her, and they have really glammed up the inside of my purse! Check out all of her MANY items that will help you get organized in style!
How many times have I fumbled through my black hole of a purse looking for a lipstick or lip gloss?? Wow -- here's a way to have it right on your key ring when you need it, and with all that handmade quality! Check out the items over at The Lavender Lizard -- she also has some handknit face cloths I am coveting! $5! What am I waiting for?
Here's a really cute hair accessory made out of stacked buttons! Sump'n Sassy has lots of cool upcycled accessories -- where do these creative people come up with their ideas? Great colors for fall -- or anytime!
What a deal for 5 bucks! You get 72 double-sided tags made out of acid-free cardstock! What you do with them is up to you -- use them for gift tags, scrapbooking, or open your own shop -- you've already got the tags you'll need! Gorgeous colors! The shop is KatiesScrapNSupplies and she has lots of other cool stuff you'll love!
I would like to avoid saying "how cool is this?" again, but really, how cool is this? Think about how many plastic sandwich bags you've thrown away in your lifetime! It doesn't have to be that way! Aside from the environmental impact, wouldn't it just be nicer to open your lunch and find this handmade sandwich bag inside? What a good idea! For only $5 and a trip to 2sleepyheads this can be yours!
And, finally number 13 in the baker's dozen is my own item for the $5 Monday. At first I thought I wouldn't have much at $5, but I've been selling these minicards for $2.50 each, so I've paired them up for $5.00. The pairs I've listed so far are either Halloween or autumn themed, and I'll be listing a lot more in the next few weeks. You can find these and others at CynART.
This is a passport cover, and the pattern is called "Birds on a Wire." It's made and sold by Owl Say Designs, who sells "practical products with stylish flair." And she does! I personally just bought three checkbook covers from her, and they have really glammed up the inside of my purse! Check out all of her MANY items that will help you get organized in style!
How many times have I fumbled through my black hole of a purse looking for a lipstick or lip gloss?? Wow -- here's a way to have it right on your key ring when you need it, and with all that handmade quality! Check out the items over at The Lavender Lizard -- she also has some handknit face cloths I am coveting! $5! What am I waiting for?
Here's a really cute hair accessory made out of stacked buttons! Sump'n Sassy has lots of cool upcycled accessories -- where do these creative people come up with their ideas? Great colors for fall -- or anytime!
What a deal for 5 bucks! You get 72 double-sided tags made out of acid-free cardstock! What you do with them is up to you -- use them for gift tags, scrapbooking, or open your own shop -- you've already got the tags you'll need! Gorgeous colors! The shop is KatiesScrapNSupplies and she has lots of other cool stuff you'll love!
I would like to avoid saying "how cool is this?" again, but really, how cool is this? Think about how many plastic sandwich bags you've thrown away in your lifetime! It doesn't have to be that way! Aside from the environmental impact, wouldn't it just be nicer to open your lunch and find this handmade sandwich bag inside? What a good idea! For only $5 and a trip to 2sleepyheads this can be yours!
And, finally number 13 in the baker's dozen is my own item for the $5 Monday. At first I thought I wouldn't have much at $5, but I've been selling these minicards for $2.50 each, so I've paired them up for $5.00. The pairs I've listed so far are either Halloween or autumn themed, and I'll be listing a lot more in the next few weeks. You can find these and others at CynART.If you want to browse other shops, just go to www.etsy.com, and in the search field under "all items" put in teametsytx ETC5 for the $5.00 featured items, or check out this list of participating shops:
Happy shopping!
After awhile other fire departments were called, and you can get an idea from the photo below that many emergency vehicles made it to the scene. (About half of these photos were taken by Guy, Ann Marie's son. Thanks Guy!)
Long story short...much damage. The picture below shows the loft, over the atrium, which is right next to the section of the attic where the fire started. Unfortunately much artwork was stored in the loft, including several of Ann Marie's large mixed media pieces. It hasn't been determined yet how much of the artwork can be cleaned and/or restored.
This slightly different view has the loft at lower right, but also includes the high atrium windows, boarded up by the time I took the picture. The condition of the sheetrock revealed at left is typical all over the house, and what my pictures don't show is that much of the roof is gone. It was boarded up and tarped the first day after the fire, but with all the rain we've had, it hasn't been effective in preventing rain from pouring in.
In the picture below, the center section just above the daylit doorway is another area that was completely open to the outdoors and is boarded up. 
Many of the ceilings collapsed, I presume from the huge amounts of water sprayed in on the fire. The floor in Ann Marie's bedroom is pretty typical of what the floors look like throughout the house. What you don't get from a photograph is the strong odor of smoke and wet burned stuff.
I know there are some artists reading this blog, and how heart-breaking would it be if your studio looked like this? The plywood panels cover the opening where sliding glass doors used to be, presumably broken by the firefighters in the course of what they needed to do. The items remaining -- plastic bins, solvents, etc. -- testify to the fact that this room didn't get that hot, but smoke and water were very destructive. 
Seeing the house from the outside is very deceiving, and I think some neighbors and acquaintances assume that the damage was minimal, after doing a drive-by. Really all that can be noticed is the blue tarp on the roof at upper right. The worst damage was at the back of the house.
Doug and Ann Marie will be moving into a rental near their house by the end of the week and will continue to move forward. You just never know what's going to happen! The lesson is to make a list, take pictures, video your house room by room to be prepared in the event of something like this. The blessing is that no one was hurt -- it truly could have been a lot worse.