Garden Stakes ~ Must be Spring!

It's been a l-o-n-g hard winter, especially for those of us working outside. Too cold, too wet.

Ahhhh! But it really feels like Spring all of a sudden.

And so I made a collection of garden art stake chimes. Copper supports with beach style glass and small chimes. It seems like forever since I last made these~ that's the type of winter it has been. And so I am very happy for the warmer days. To celebrate, I am offering a special on these. Buy two, and choose a third for free! Visit my website soon, as I only have six of them available for now. Enjoy!

Extreme Wind Chimes

A few days holiday at Whistler Ski Mountain got me thinking (oh, oh). Seeing how some people live, I decided some really large wind chimes might be interesting. This large, heavy natural beach stone is combined with extra-large copper chimes. It stands out. See this and other recently made substantial works on the 'Major Works' page of my website.

People who own multi-million dollar vacation homes are not the sort I hang out with. But last week I did get to spend a few nights at Whistler, soon to be the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The weather was crummy, so I must say, I enjoyed the luxurious accommodation:

But just because I was loafing around doesn't mean I wasn't working. I thought a lot about my designs, and I guess these oversized palaces got me dreaming of oversized wind chimes. So as soon as I got back home, I got going on some really large, new designs.

Who knows, maybe someone at Whistler will one day hang one of these at their little 'ol vacation hut.

Wind Chime Custom Work

Eight chimes instead of my standard five. Custom ordered as a birthday gift for a mother who has eight children. It's a pleasure to help people give a very special gift.

Two different people with similar ideas recently approached me regarding custom work.

The first said that for their seventh wedding anniversary (copper), he wondered if I could make a set of wind chimes with seven chimes for his wife. He's going to have something engraved (romantic, I assume) on each chime. What a wonderful idea.

The second asked if I would make a wind chime with eight chimes for his mother's birthday, as she has eight children. Again, what a thoughtful, charming idea. I'm sure his mother will be deeply touched, and reminded of all eight children each time the wind blows the beach stone clapper.

It's nice when people give some thought and come up with a special gift idea. That sort of special order is always a pleasure to make.

Aside from the very high quality and unique designs, being able to request such things is one of the benefits of dealing directly with the artist-designer. You can learn about custom work on my the special order page of my website.

Wind Chime Wondering

Three large smooth and rounded beach stones with high-quality copper chimes. Tung nut oiled red cedar. The beach stone clapper makes beautiful sound against the copper chimes. All handmade. Built to provide years of enjoyment.

For the price of filling a car with gas a couple of times, gas which is gone in days or weeks, people could have owned something that would have brought them pleasure for years, and no CO2 emissions. Usually offered on my various sites for around $177.00, I had this set on auction starting at only $97.50. That's an absurd price!

I guess this week people decided they would rather fill their tank, or maybe go out for a soon forgotten dinner at a restaurant. Too bad. I'll put them back on my various sites, but I'm going to raise the price. A lot. The point is, they are worth way more than $97.50. I know the right person will come along, and appreciate them. Maybe they will need to drive a little less for a week or two, or skip one restaurant meal, but they will have these for years of joy.

Against the Grain

With spring around the corner, these small beach glass inspired sun catchers seem like a nice way to celebrate. Something about them says 'spring.' I sell them in sets of five, three with chimes, two with copper spiral motifs. I have two sets on chime page of my website.

Being organized and neat is something that goes against my grain. I will never be organized and neat.

My environment is a mess.

But at times I do have to make a (for me) super human effort. For example, packing orders. I fully appreciate that when someone orders an art wind chime or sun catcher, their first impression will be the box and the packing. No matter how beautiful the work, something will be lost if it arrives in a tattered box with sloppy packing. I know that. And so I make an effort. I have to laugh each time the postal clerk complements me on my packaging, always telling me I have the best looking boxes of anyone she's seen. Believe me, that's not natural for me!

Another area I strive to be organized in is with all the different sites on which I have things listed. Ebay, Etsy, my own website, and several sites sometimes share the same works. So when something sells, I need to track down the other places where it is for sale, and remove it. This is oddly challenging for me. Just yesterday something sold on Etsy, and as soon as I saw the email my heart sank, as I was pretty sure this one was long gone. I'm human, I'm messy, and I make mistakes.

I strive to be organized, I strive to be neat, but it sure goes against my grain.

Spring Garden Tip, Wind Chimes

Large, freestanding, true verdigris copper wind chime with beach glass-inspired glass and a natural beach stone base. Just the thing for a lonely deck, or next to a pond. Year round use outdoors is just fine. To learn more about this wind chime, or to buy it, visit my website.

The time change is this weekend, I hear. Three weeks earlier than usual. That means Spring can't be far away, and thoughts turn to the garden, the yard. An easy way to make a dramatic improvement to your landscape is to add a special art wind chime or sun catcher. It's easier than planting flowers (and no watering!), and less messy than fresh paint. A special wind chime can be a focal point, and when the wind blows you get lovely sound as a bonus.

Yukon Pup Turns Five

How is it possible? My pup Yukon is just about to have his fifth birthday. Time flies.

It's been a super five years with this fellow. He has been excellent company, keeping an eye on me as I work all day on my wind chimes, sun catchers and home and garden art. Somehow, he always knows when I am at my toughest moment in a project, the moment that involves both hands and lots of concentration. That's when he gets up, finds his ball, and drops it at my feet. I know some people tease dogs. This dog enjoys teasing me!

Everyday, he reminds me enough is enough~ it's time for a walk. Sometimes it's hard to stop in the middle of a project. But never once have I regretted the time taken to enjoy a hike with Yukon. Most people forget in their stressful work filled days to take that time to smell the roses. Thanks to Yukon, I smell them everyday.

Often I think, 'Okay, I'll take you for a short walk" only to decide at the usual turning back point for a short walk that it would be best to carry on. So we hike on.

Yukon turning five already? Well, may there be many more years of hiking on.