From Cozy to Corn Dawg?

It's been raining for three days and we're experiencing flooding throughout our state of Maryland.

Despite the rain, I've been at Jack's school every morning helping with the Used Book Sale.

It's also time to think about school fundraisers.

Remember the Cozies (posts here and here) that were such a fit with my friends and family?

Well, I have been on a committee for a few years where we made gourmet gift baskets to raise money. In the past few years, these have not sold as well due to the recession so we're searching for new ideas for this old committee.

What about a Cozy, I thought? They're great for keeping you warm in the Winter when you can't afford to keep your heat up high...

I sewed together a few more and tried to make a version with the school colors -- blue and gold. Last time I made Cozies, I wrapped them in tulle and made pretty Christmas tags...this time I was trying to make the wrap more rustic and masculine since Jack goes to an all-boys' school.

And the name? Well, "Cozy" sounds a bit too girly so I'm looking for ideas for a name for these microwaveable heating bags...

I drew inspiration from my oldest niece's boyfriend who received one of my Cozies for Christmas last year. She told me he refers to it as his "Corn Dog"...

That gave me an idea for a name...

I showed the idea to a few folks at the school yesterday -- we would sell them at a fundraiser Fashion Show that is held the end of October. I won't find out until next week what everyone thinks.

I'm heading back out to school to sell books again and it's still dark. My biggest concern is the flooding that started yesterday in my home town of Ellicott City...

Here's a video of Main Street yesterday...

YouTube Video: Ellicott City flooding

The sun hasn't risen yet today but it has been raining all night long and is supposed to continue all day today. The river has already flooded its banks and today the question will be how high will the river get before it recedes.

Don't worry about me and my house. We're up on high ground but the Patapsco River is just down the hill in the valley and Ellicott City, an old mill town, is built along that river...

I'll check in again later.

Beading Heart Art

Look what arrived in the mail over the weekend...


It's a desk set I won from the Beading for a Cure Auctions held every year to benefit the Colorectal Cancer Research Foundation in memory of Layne Shilling. And, OH, how I wanted to win this set!

That's because I followed its creation every day on the blog, Beading Heart Art, of my friend and of very talented bead artist, Lynn Batt. The auctions are put on a schedule so that only 5 or 6 pieces are auctioned off every week. I circled Lynn's week on my calendar and I waited...and waited...and then I pounced.

I am absolutely in love with Lynn's artistry on this desk set. And I absolutely love that it is functional art. The fact that the auction proceeds go to a good cause is icing on the cake!


I love the edges she chose for both the rope and the crossed design.

I love how she looped this flower coming out of the top of this bead.


I love the contrast of the black velvet with the sparkle and shine of the beads. And the fan shapes that she repeated on the frame and the note pad with bugle beads.


I love having a piece of inspiring art made by a friend sitting on my desk.


Thanks Lynn for making it...it's stunning and I promise I'll take good care of it.

All of the participants have a specific kit that they base their designs on every year -- you can see all of this year's entries here. (Check out the entry of my other talented beading friend, Dot Lewallen or Speedie Beadie!! It's this incredible hippo which makes me smile every time I look at it!)

Lynn lives near Niagara Falls and got her start when her local historical society was offering a bead embroidery class taught by a native American woman from the Tuscarora Nation. Just recently, she attended a lecture on Tuscarora beading and there were so many great pieces to share that she's holding Tuscarora Tuesday where she details all of the items and history that she learned at that lecture each week. It's great!

She's also got me interested in participating in the Haute Couture Inspired Wearable Art Contest! The idea is to pick a haute couture image from the list of options here and design a piece of jewelry using it's color, style, shape or technique. Mixed-media are allowed though the majority of the design must use seed beads.

The design isn't due until November 19, 2010 but Lynn is a whippersnapper and is already well underway on her entry and it's GORGEOUS! Here's the dress that inspired her...


And here's what she has worked up so far....


Isn't it GREAT!

I'm still struggling to pick my inspiration dress....It's either this one...


Which I love because of the layered swirls over the embroidered underskirt. Or this one...


Which I love for the color, the pleats, the layering...those SHOES!

But I have plenty of time to decide. You probably won't be seeing my finished project until November...that's the way I roll!

Have a Lynn-inspired day everyone!

And the Artist was Happy...

And so was my friend Maura -- She was the winner of the purse and bought it for $275! Maura was also the one who invited me to participate -- she's been on my blog before -- incredible Iron-Man-athlete-mother-of-five, humanitarian, and very very good friend...


And here is me talking with Pearl. Pearl fell in love with the purse, with all of its details and the little cards --


And the beautiful lady to the right is my swimming friend Natalie (she's been on the blog too since we swam Alcatraz together) -- she has that funny look on her face because Maura (who wanted the purse) is taking the picture...and Natalie was there to watch the table and drum up the price...and to protect Maura's interest. So Natalie is keeping tabs on Pearl's bid so she can report back to Maura... And my sister came too to support the event but I didn't get a picture of her *frown.

Anyway, imagine our delight when the bidding closed and Maura had won!

But the only problem with one person winning is that somebody has to lose. So, unbeknownst to me, while I was celebrating with Maura and Natalie, Pearl was very sad.

Pearl had bid $250 and lost.

So, Pearl and I agreed that if she were to donate $250 to the Women's Giving Circle, I would make her another Giving Purse...


And then Pearl was happy. And Pearl wanted to make sure that The Giving Purse II would still have the little cards included...

And I said, "Of course. It wouldn't be The Giving Purse without them." And now I'm off to find out more about Pearl and how I might make her purse unique.

And to all of you, I hope you'll take this card, print it out and fold it and pass it on.


As a sign of my thanks to you for all of your enthusiastic comments. I enjoyed each and every one. And for those asking how you could bid, I did check into that but they did not have an online auction option this year.

I didn't take many pictures but I thought I'd show you a few of the other purses...This one is made by a wonderful woman named Karen Geary. It's a bra...a big bra...and you're staring at one cup of the bra.


The two women who bought this had gotten it for their friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

And this bag was knitted with wire by glass artist, Bonnie Granek.


And this one was a ceramic purse (actually there were two in different colorways) made by artist Rebecca Bafford...


The whole idea of the Power of the Purse was great and I loved meeting the other artists and the women who attended the event.

So, I'll leave you with this last contribution by artist Trudy Babchak...


The donated artwork raised close to $2,500 for the Women's Giving Circle of Howard County. It's amazing what women can do when they get together.