...Candie Cooper's Blog...

My Roomate...

Rocker.  Good ol' Rocker.  We wake up, go on a long walk and then this is his station allllll day.   He sleeps in his new pillow bed up on the couch.  And I am so envious sometimes.  He's been up clickity clacking around on the wood floors the past two nights.  Last night because I forgot to fill his dish to the brim with water.   The night before because I forgot to bring his food into the bedroom (both Butch's jobs).  And yes, we carry his food in and out from the kitchen to the bedroom nearly everyday.  He's a prince and we live to serve him.  LOL.  He's also a killer because he wakes me up and then I have a hard time falling back to sleep and it seems he can be sawing logs in 2 minutes flat.  Typical man, I guess. ;-)

Links...

Butch and Rocker just came in from a diet coke run.  "Rocker's got a new girlfriend" were the first words out of Butch's mouth.  "What happened to Kiki?"  "She's out, Spotty's in," he said.  I keep meaning to take my camera down to take a movie of Rocker and Kiki playing cat and mouse.  She's three times his size and likes to beat up on him while he cuts in and out of tight spaces so she can't get him.  Ah, love.  I'm working on some deadlines at the moment and as I crazily spun around to get something I see Rocker sniffing out some beads I left on the couch.  He's getting an early start on his Mother's Day gift, I'm pretty sure. About.com Jewelry Making Catch up on some jewelry product reviews and sign up for the About.com Jewelry Making bi-weekly newsletter.
Art Bead Scene Step into the world of faux-tiques and impossible objects. It isn't Alice in Wonderland, it's the world of Lynn Davis!
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie offers a rare glimpse into an even rarer sight: her clean beading studio!
Jewelry & Beading Need a new idea for bead embroidery? "Treasure Chest" will have you running for your stash!
Katie's Beading Blog Make these Butterfly Bliss earrings in an evening (okay, so they're really moths...)
Make It Mine Magazine New online content: shrink art videos and a downloadable pendant project
Naughty Secretary Club The king of the chain gang, Justin Giunta’s Subversive Jewelry comes to a Target near you.
PearlEsq. What a Hoot! Check out the artfully individual Owls of Massaustraliranger. HUH?!
Savvy Crafter It's a Pearl! Click over to Candie's blog to see where pearls come from and a pair of earrings!
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! My cool bracelet which I made with wonderful components by Green Girl Studios!
The Impatient Blogger Madge is off to Japan for a designer exchange between the CHA and the HAJ! Check out this e-newsletter excerpt for the 411.

But then again, a nap sounds pretty good too.  Hope you're all having as relaxing a weekend as Rock is.

Please help...

 

Some of  you know, we adopted Rocker from a lady here who rescues dogs that are sick and homeless.  Rocker had skin problems, been scratched up by wild cats, and could barely stand up when she found him under a tree.  She nursed him back to health and three months later we took him.  I don't have to tell you how much we love this dog and how much joy he has brought to our lives.  If you hop around blog-land you may have seen calls for donations to A Place to Bark-Bernie Berlin's shelter.

Here's the scoop copied and pasted from her website....

HELP A PLACE TO BARK WIN A $50,000 GRANT !!!!!
A Place to Bark is participating in a challenge being offered Six Degrees, partnered with the Case Foundation and Parade on America's Giving Challenge. The four USA charity badges that have the most unique donors through the America's Giving Challenge will receive $50,000 for their cause. We are entered in this contest and need the help of each and every one of you. The Challenge ends on January 31, 2008 at 3:00 pm EST. Each $10 donation gets us one step closer to winning a grant of $50,000!!!

So please, go to A Place to Bark, follow the instructions, and donate. You can also see photos of the animals you will help by donating.  If it weren't for people like Bernie, there would be no Rockers.  Let's help her to give these animals a safe and loving shelter.   Remember---You only have until January 31st at 3:00 EST!!!  Thanks in advance, you guys are awesome!--XX, Candie

**Edit 1-30-08--I finally got the badge (below) to work so you can donate directly from here.Yay!**

Sorry Rocker...

I've been working on some projects lately that are for Rocker's people.  I made the mistake yesterday of letting him test-drive one.  He loved it so much, I had to wrestle it away from him!  Which is good and bad.  This is him staring up at it on the shelf...whimpering. I tried to explain to him that the folks probably don't want these things pre-blessed with his slobber.  He didn't care.  Fifteen minutes later he left the sewing room.  "He's ticked," I yell out to Butch.  "I know.  He's trying to tell me all about it."  I go out to the living room to find Rocker curled up on Butch's lap, sulking.  That's life with the perpetual 3 year old.  It's on the list to make Rocker a toy of his own.  Have I told you he sleeps in the bed with us now?  Suckers.  We are (happily).

Another Rat in the House...

Rocker's favorite baby-sitter and I were at Ikea the other day.  She came up to me with this in her hand.  "I think Rocker needs this."  "You're his Aunt!" I say as I chuck the disgusting, yet sort of cute rat into my ginormous Ikea yellow shopping bag.  Spoiled.  Really.  I didn't give it a second thought.

Turns out Rocker is in love with Rat.  Rat hasn't left Rock's sight in the last week.

Mr. S says it's Rat's paws (or is it feet?) that make him gross.  I disagree 100%.  It's after Rocker chews on Rat's tail for a half hour that makes him gross.

Sigh.  (I know you know what I'm going to say next)  We just love this dog...even if he does have a crush on smelly ol' Rat.

Lazy weekend...

Well, for Rocker anyway.

It was an uneventful weekend.  Pretty low-key as we say back home, well, except for the howling typhoon winds. Yep, it's typhoon season which equals a lot of staying inside and thoughts of crafting a holster for my umbrella. I like the rain, but the idea of getting "taken out" by a flower pot that's blown off someone's balcony doesn't exactly thrill me.  Therefore, we hold an umbrella when we take Trocker out.  We worked on the apartment a little more.  It's a slow gig finding homes for all our stuff.  Yesterday, I walked down to the studio to do a few things, then came back and fixed chili.  Yes, I'm now the proud owner of galoshes....or galosheRs.  Have galoshes, will walk in the rain in Ch!na!  We also watched the scariest movies:  1408 and Mr. Brooks.  Yikes!  Two in a row!  I do love to be good n' scared once in awhile.  After this I'm thinking of putting in 16 Candles (to wash away the scary-ness).  A favorite of mine since I don't know when.  I've seen it a kagillion times.  I can still hear my dad groan when he would see what was on the television.  I not only owned it on tape, but I think TBS played it once a week or something.  And if it wasn't 16 Candles (btw, I own the DVD now)  it was Dirty Dancing.  More groans.  (I'm laughing, poor dad)  But, they're classics, absolute classics. And on that note, I can't type another second, because I'm off to find the DVD case.

I hope you all had a nice weekend. :-)

If looks could kill...

I'd be dead.  Check this out!

OUCH!  I once was told, when thinking about adopting the Rock, that having a dog was like having a perpetual 3 year old.  I get it now.  I didn't get it then, but I get it now.  It's been a little hectic around here with some deadlines and projects and Rocker has had about enough.  You know, it's tough getting petted 2 hours out of the day instead of 6.  Sheesh.  Every time I got up from the couch to get something, I would return to find him in my spot.  You know the saying, shuffle your feet, lose your seat!  He knows it by heart apparently.  Such a funny dog-we love what he has added to our lives. 

In other news, I'm on the Granny Square wagon. I found this book in Hong Kong that has some really inspiring projects in it.  ISBN 4834724700  After a little poking around on the internet, I learned that Granny Square blankets are very popular right now.  There's the flickr group, Granny Along, Posie Gets Cozy, and Molly Chicken to name only a few.  Some of the sites I c^nn0t access anymore, but oh well.  It's the trade off of living here I guess.  On another note, I seem to be feeling the need to nest a bit.  What does that mean?  I don't know.  I just know that someday, I will not live here anymore, so I'm working on a few projects (GS blanket being one of them) and collecting a few things from here that I will save for when I move back home. I think I'm craving permanent residence-yikes!

It was a good day.  I awoke to 5 emails from people I have been thinking about a lot in the last month. 2 of which I tried to email, but they got bounced back.  It's strange the way intuition works.  I believe in that stuff.  Thank you for checking in and I'll be emailing you all back this weekend.

Thank you Cynthia for the blog shout out and for having such cool products in your store!  Someday, I will come hang out around the studio table with you.  Looking forward to that.

Let's Face It....

this place was just naked without a picture of Rocker!

There I feel better.  For those of you just now tuning in, this is my our weird little dog, Rocker.  We adore him as he's very nutty and playful.  Lately his new trick is to hop from the couch to the coffee table in search of food or coffee or to simply be nosey.  Good Lord, he loves coffee! I don't give it to him freely, he helps himself by digging in the trash for Starbucks cups or getting onto the table.  Addict.  This whole coffee table thing started a couple of weeks ago.  We were reading and then heard a strange slurpy, lappy noise rather close by.  Looked up, and Rocker had two front paws on the coffee table drinking out of my glass of water!  Too lazy to get up and go to his dish!  He's in his Terrible Twos, I'm sure of it.

In other news, it's raining cat's and Rocker's today.  I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, but it's coming down equally as hard right now.  I love the sights and sounds of heavy rain when I'm indoors working on the computer or better yet, engrossed in a book.  However, I'm hoping it will let up a little because I'm off to learn how to knit at 2:30.  Selfish, I know, but rain, flip flops, and the country in which I live just don't go together.  Icky.  This is my third attempt at learning how to knit---let's hope it's a charm.