Well it sure wasn't dull

2011 is a year I'll never forget. I lost my mom...a big, ginormous event in any ones life. I am still not settled down from that and am dealing with it on a daily basis in the best way that I can.

I got a job in the corporate world, and found out soon enough that I am not cut out for that...
That suited me about as much as the size X sweatpants I used to wear.   I lost 20lbs... Goodbye, farewell, auf wiedersehen,  goodnight.    I've kept it off and this is the first New Years Day in my life where
 I didn't need to start a diet.

 I started my ETSY site. Set it up by myself, set up PayPal myself. Yep me, formally known as" she who was computer illiterate" now kicking butt and trying STUFF I WOULD  HAVE NEVER EVER TRIED BEFORE.

 I have stuck with a Yoga program and have not given it up.   I am a card carrying Yogini.
  I've created a new body...don't get me wrong..It is still the body of a woman who has gained and lost 20lbs.so many times that I have lost count. I still wouldn’t wear a swimsuit in public but if I am held together with black cotton and lot's of lycra I don't look too bad. But the stength, the flexibility, that has come from solid hard work and a firm desire... It did not come from reading a magazine article or talking about how I would love to do it but,  it came from putting in the time on the mat.

  I brought in more sales at my antique mall space this year than last year...huge,  considering a lot of places have closed down.. I just changed up my game plan and worked harder and put in more time.

My music has been taken to a whole new level, again through diligent  work and practice and meeting
new people in The Long Beach Uke Club.  I play with my rock and roll and blues boys and keep up
with them.

All in all a full year..I am hopeful for the next...I am going to work even harder. And mostly
slow down in the process and relish the moments, love and appreciate my friends, be a better
friend, give more, see more movies, play a lot more music, dance more, get outside to run and play, be a better wife, a better citizen and a better me.

 Thanks to you all for a wonderful year. You all have helped me in more ways than we'll ever know.


Cynthia

Peace, joy and happiness...

As I am winding up the year I can’t help but

think  of all the stuff that happened...both good

and bad, but mostly good and certainly promising.

I am trying to live my life with gratitude above all.

I am turning around my thinking...

negative thoughts are being replaced.

I am amazed sometimes at what the voices inside
my head are saying...and even more amazed that
I have been allowing it to happen.
Now I try and catch these thoughts and replace
them.  “Shut Up”...I tell myself...sometimes
over and over again.  

I struggle...

Trying so hard to let go of so much crap...

Letting alot of it go...just go.

just doing it.

Enjoying these last couple of days.

2011...certainly a year I will never forget.

Peace, love and prosperity to you all.

Thanks so much for being there.

Thanks Santa!

Santa Claus gave this very good girl a iPad for Christmas..
i do hope that all of you got your wishes fullfilled.

We made a promise of no gifts this year but my dear sweet husband
Just continues to amaze me with his kindness and generosity...he
Is always building me up...
Happy holidays to you all...

From My Casa to yours....

A JOYFUL CHRISTMAS TO

YOU AND YOURS...

BEATNHEART

We are messin with a new gadget.

We got a cool new toy that allows you

to scan your slides and put them on

your computer...well holy cow. I

took a huge trip down memory lane

and saw pics  that I took on my old

trusty Minolta SRT 101...my pride

and joy back in the 1970s.  

Downtown Sheboygan 1972

Me at 19!  In a Victorian wedding dress that

I got for $1 at St. Vinnies.

(wish I still had that!  dang..)

Jaya woman’s collective.

We were opening a shop in Santa Monica

on Main Street.   Rent $75.00 a month.  Ha!

I’m 19 here...the youngest of the group. 

Some of my best friends at that time...

Two of them have passed away. I Haven’t

seen a picture of them in many a year...

Looks like an album cover.

My beautiful nieces...

My brother Dave...we took a trip

around Lake Superior in his Vista Cruiser in

1972.  

Canada

Upper Michigan.

It was New Years Eve.  We celebrated it twice.

Once in Michigan then crossed the time line and

celebrated it again in Wisconsin.  In those

days the bars had a full spread of food and

noisemakers and all the rest. 

fond memories of: 

cole slaw

“cannibal sandwiches”

rye bread

smoked fish

herring

potato salad

roast pork sandwiches

jello molds

macaroni salad

poppyseed torte

The memories are flooding back

and my mind is filled with it all.

Simpler times.

I’m getting homesick.

Lake Michigan in Sheboygan.  New Years Day.

The Polar Bears yearly swim.  The city would come

out at noon to watch a bunch of crazy people go in

the freezing waters.  Lake Michigan is freezing

in the summer...winter?  I can’t even imagine

doing such an insane thing.

I only have about a thousand more slides and photos to go.

It is going to be so much fun and I’m looking forward

to it.  The beauty of it all is that I can mess with the pics now in” iphoto''

and clean them up and crop them.  That old cardboard box of

slides is taking on a new life.  They were getting all faded

and blotchy.   I mean, who looks at slides anymore?

I think this new gadget,  the “ION Film and slide Scanner”

also does black and white negatives because I got

a whole folder of those...that was when  I got

really serious with photography and took classes

at Santa Monica College...There should be

some real dandies in that lot.

It is odd that we are doing this at the end of a year...

a year that has been so filled with a flood of tears,

emotions and memories.

Perhaps these photos will spark some new stories...

Braggin on the old man.

water feature

Prarie Style door.

copper fence caps

San Diego residence.

bathtub turned into desk

handmade handle

work in progress

finished piece in place in an office.

Not QuiteLast minute gifts from Beatnheart Etsy Shop.

handcrafted by moi.

Amethyst beads..vintage rhinestone rondelles

Art Deco connectors.

Luscious Vintage.

SOLD...THANKS PENNY!

woof...woof...I need a home.

Vintage cutie pie from England.

Someone in Seattle?

Bang   bang

Holiday Glam.

I love these...

These too...Frequent Flyers.

Very Vintage...made by me.

Love, love, love...

Glorious Blue...

Pimpin my wares...thanks for indulging me.

Kohler Art Center Sheboygan, Wisconsin

The fabulous folk art collection in

the garden of the art center.

This art center is world class...amazing

for such a small Midwestern town.

Wisconsin has alot of folk art.  The Kohler foundation

has a program for artists from all over the world to

come and work at their foundry.

Look at your sink...

it probably came from the Kohler Company.

more than half of the people in Sheboygan work there.

The family is a huge supporter of the arts.

These pieces attest to that.

want to see more?  click here

John Lennon

John Lennon was taken away from us.

gone but not forgotten.

1950s Christmas Tree Ornaments.

I found these ornaments at an estate sale.

Do you remember these from back in the day?

These were in a box, unopened, unsed...

Memories from the 1950s !   

My family didn’t have these but I knew a few people

who did.  I don’t think I’ve seen them since then.

and oh boy...I’m selling them in my Etsy shop...

(also in my space at the Wertz Brothers Antique Market)

Earrings that I’m making.

I’ve got a new jones.   Making earrings.

I have struggled with necklaces...and hassled

with bracelets.   But making earrings?  

Easy.  Fast.  Quick gratification.

I made these modern day Mourning Jewelry ones

the day Amy Winehouse died.  A tribute to her.

I used jet Victorian buttons on these.

Old Amethyst beads, vintage rhinestone spacers,

old Art Deco connectors.

Citron colored crystal beads saved from a decayed

Art Deco necklace found in a shop in England.

These blue beads are Czech Picasso Saturn's.

Love, luv, love these.

These purple ones were harvested off of a 1920s Art Deco

necklace that I found in a dusty old box at the  Newark Antique Market

In Northern England.

I have never worn swinging, dangling earrings.

I always went the modest route with studs and silver hoops. But these feel so cool to wear and

  they feel great swinging under my hair.  I’m hooked on them now.   

I am not a bragger...  or a very good self promoter.  People

often say to me.."Gee, I never knew you could do that!"

I dislike blowing my own horn.  In la, la, la “L.A.Land"

everybody is always bragging about something that they do.

Heck I’m from the Midwest...we don’t do that kind of stuff.

So I quietly made these earrings at my kitchen table.

They are for sale in my etsy  shop.