Four Generations Photo

Great Grandma Baumgarten with daughter, grandson and great-grandchildren on the Fisk side.
Pastor Jonathan Fisk, Grandma Lynette Fisk, Great Grandma Ruth Baumgarten (front) with Fisk grandkids (l-r) Trinity Promise, Anastasia Aviella, Chloe Elkanah and Fides Athanasius. Photo taken November 2011 in Naperville, Illinois.

Jonathan's Recent Installation

Bethany Lutheran Church in Naperville, Illinois, installed Jonathan Fisk as their third pastor in November, 2011. Check out the podcast.

Pastoral Staff with their wives and family.

It was a great week, which included celebrating Thanksgiving. Great-grandma Baumgarten was there and got to spend time with her Fisk great-grandkids.

Jonathan and first son, Fides, enjoyed a moment at the post-ceremony congregational dinner. (no, he wasn't really choking, but trying to get his fist into his mouth, like any normal 6 month old.)

Jonathan and his family had just moved into a house in Naperville a week before installation day and house-guests.

Beaded Christmas Trees

At Eclectics Gallery's Ho Ho Ho Show last Sunday, people commented on my beaded Christmas tree earrings.

While I like these, I think they are a bit too "conventional" so I've been working on some others which I like more, though they take just as long to make...but I like that fact they are not the same and not "perfect" trees.

I really like my Charlie Brown trees best...

Vintage Brooch Re-purposed

This vintage brooch with its unusual color combination of brown, green and pink, was in a stash of a customer's mother's jewelry, entrusted to me to make into something wearable...

 It just didn't fit with the other brooches, which mostly went into one large, "statement" piece...

So this week I took beads from another piece from the same customer - a set of various glass beads knotted onto gold-toned cording - and use the best ones to make the square brooch into a wearable necklace.

Not all the beads here were created equal - some were made of colored glass, others were clear with a color coating, which was coming off. But there were plenty in the brown and green shades needed.

In my own stash, I found a near perfect matching earring - just had to replace one bright green rhinestone with a deep pink and I had a perfect match.

The strung beads on the necklace were augmented with a large Swarovski crystal and a few other vintage beads.

The clasp was custom made from shiny brass wire to fit the scale of the piece. Sure hope Marjorie enjoys wearing her mother's unusual brooch.

Faerie Wings and Animals Mashup

Laura has knitted another doll - this time a faerie, complete with little knitted wings!

This one was a commission for a friend at work. Faerie doll and hat for a small relative. Turns out, the buyer likes the doll so much, the little girl might NOT receive this gift!!

Next project - Santa hats!