Meet Noble (No Bull)

It was a crazy week. Fun… Jam packed… Fulfilling.

I had a fun girls day with my friends on Thursday. We went to many garage sales. (Missed you G!) We had a fantastic dinner outside on the patio at a local restaurant.

I found some incredible vintage treasures… And found a treasure trove of volleyball clothing, brand new with tags on! Truly a lucky day!!

Yesterday I had a fun visit with Melissa and her Mom, stopped at a few antique stores.

I had a joyful visit with my sister at her store, Bloom Coffee & Floral. I took a few pics of her latest work to show you.

Meet Noble (actually NOBULL) lol. She is incredibly talented!

Here he is settled in his current home.

And here is my sister’s spring vignette.

I found the coolest rusty old drawers that I hoped would work for a display for all of my new cuffs…
I am so excited, they work perfectly!

And look who’s helping me take photos …
Mr Putter!

We celebrated the final track meet of the season last night… Brr. It was ccccold!

I am creating with a vengeance for my upcoming show. Hope you are having a terrific weekend! Kris

Happy Days!!

Happy Mother’s Day wishes to each and every one of you (Belated! Sorry!)

Special Mother’s Day wishes to my Mom! So thankful to have her with us to CeLEbRaTe!!

For all of you selfless Moms, I hope someone pampered you!!

My kids (and sweet husband) did a fantastic job of pampering me Saturday. It was so much fun! And we had a fun family day Sunday!

I have been creating with a vengeance since that time. Having a blast…

Here are a couple of my newest…

Okay, time to get back to work!
Have a great day! Kris

Go Pro Gone

Keegan begged for a GoPro Camera for about six months. For those of you who are not familiar, the GoPro is tagged as the world’s most versatile camera. It is an action camera, and has a helmet mount and a variety of uses including underwater.

Keegan looked at them in the stores, searched online and could not wait to get one. He mentioned it often. Right after Christmas he bought the newest version, the Go Pro Hero 3. He was so excited and started videoing immediately with his friends. They had a blast with it… Especially snowmobiling.

Less than a month later, Keegan got the opportunity to go snowmobiling with his best friend at their cabin in Northern Minnesota. He lives for snowmobiling so you can guess that it was a dream trip for Keegan!

Halfway through the weekend we found out the Keegan hit a deer carcass that was hidden under the snow, he flew off the sled and rolled it. Thankfully he was okay, no injuries. Whew! He got up, brushed off and they drove on down the trail. Can you guess where this is going?

You are correct, a little ways down the trail, they took a break and Keegan realized that his brand new “most prized possession”, his GoPro was gone. The mount had broken off his helmet and his GoPro was gone. They returned to search for it but in all the fine powder, the world’s most versatile camera must have settled down in the snow, hidden from the human eye. Despite multiple searches that weekend, they could not find it. Keegan was devastated. This teenager has some pretty tough luck. (Reference to his door slammed finger before Christmas and of course his multiple surgeries.)

Yesterday our friends were at their cabin and decided to go for a walk to see if they could find Keegan’s GoPro now that the snow had mostly melted. To say it was a long shot would be understating the obvious. They rode on miles of trails through the woods, and when the snow melts, it all looks different.

Can you even believe that my friend texted me totally AMAZED that after digging in the melting ice and snow they had found his beloved camera!! They had guessed the location!!! Keegan called me. He could not contain his excitement.

I was so happy for him! I did of course, as any Mom would, gently remind him that his camera may not work after being buried in the snow for three months. He replied, “But Mom, it was in it’s waterproof case!” Oh Keegan, I know, but three months in the frozen snow, in below zero temps laying in a ditch?? So much optimism.

Fifteen minutes later we get the news that not only does it still work, but that it has three bars remaining on the battery. What??? Now that is incredible design, isn’t it? Very few products actually do what they say they will, but when they said waterproof, they meant it. And on top of it, waterproof when a teenager places it in the case! And can we talk about the battery design? Seriously, to hold its charge in below zero weather through snow, rain, sleet & then warmer temperatures! That is downright dynamic!

It is truly an incredible story with a very happy ending!! Other than the mount, everything is in perfect working condition! What a testament to a well designed product!! Isn’t that a cool story?

Yesterday Kya and I went to a few estate sales, garage sales and a new little occasional vintage shop. Sadly we only discovered a single broken vintage necklace… But we had a fun day.

Here are a few cuffs I created the other day.

They are so comfortable and are adjustable.

The bases are in copper and vintagy silver…

I hope you are having a happy Sunday! Enjoy the gorgeous weather!!

Kris

With Joyful Hearts: We Thank You!

I am trying to find perfect words to describe yesterday. Tom’s brother was truly humbled by the support!

I keep erasing the words because they do not appropriately define the emotion and overwhelming gratitude that I have for our incredibly generous friends!

So many of our friends donated amazing items: gorgeous handmade scarves, baby blankets, gift cards, handmade stools, stained glass garden stakes, artwork, blu-ray players, hair care services and products, books, baskets and more. Many of our friends that could, took time out of their day to join us… I find it hard to find words to thank you! Some of you even brought along extended family! We are so very touched!

With Joyful Hearts…
We Thank You!!!
Tom and Kris

Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy!

Whew, I admit I am a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to paperwork. So it would not shock anyone to know that I continued to put off sorting and organizing until a few days before our appointment with our accountant.

I continue to live by the quote that
Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy!

My sweet husband and kids got me the best Christmas present this year and because it related to paperwork, it remained in it’s pristine packaging until yesterday. (I am so bad!)

Yesterday I bit the bullet & opened up my NeatDesk. It is a dynamic product that scans receipts, documents and business cards. It recognizes text, dates, and amounts and automatically enters, sorts and categorizes the fields on receipts to break them down into your expense categories! You verify the amounts are correct, but I even scanned a receipt from a paper bag! I must say it is incredible!

I scanned 156 receipts yesterday. It saves an image of each receipt too, I love it. (I am not getting paid to tell you my opinion either!)

So now I am in great shape for my meeting with my accountant! And I will be so thankful to have tax time behind me!

I hope you have an incredibly creative day! Kris

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Ahhhh, it’s amazing what a day of rest can do for the soul!

I had forgotten what it is like to not have to go anywhere! Pure bliss!

We are in the middle of a winter weather advisory through tomorrow at noon. We are expecting 6-10 inches of accumulating snow. My kids are so excited, they think they are going to have a snow day!

Let it Snow,
Let it Snow,
Let it Snow!

Wishin’ for a blissful snow day for you all!
Kris

Thunder: Icing on the Cake

Another delightful day with the Rocori Thunder at volleyball. It is incredible to see the growth of this team… This is the second year Tom and Lori have coached this team.

Yesterday he received some incredible compliments from other coaches regarding their skill level at 12 years old… compliments about how he works with the team and how the girls respond to him. It is so much fun to see him coaching this group of girls… To see the joy of working together and his joy in helping them develop and improve.

I am grateful to my husband for this experience and so happy he gets to share his love of volleyball with his daughter.

The icing on the cake is that the girls took first in the Gold Division against very competitive teams.

The after party at the hotel was such a blast… Kids and parent relaxing, having fun and an abundance of laughter.

Today it is absolutely unreal the we have nothing on the calendar for the day! Amazing! We are off to enjoy a free day!

Have a FUNtastic day! Kris

Caffeine Required!

An abundance of caffeine may be required today! For some reason, I only slept 2 1/2 hours last night. We left early for volleyball this morning and I find myself dragging already!

Thankfully not much concentration required being a spectator and the energy of the day should pull me through.

I hope you have an energizing day! Kris

Fun Filled Fridays

They are off on about a 150 mile snowmobile ride today.

We have a fun filled volleyball weekend ahead!

There should be plenty of time to create mixed in with family fun!

I hope you have a fun filled Friday! Kris

BeadSoup-a-licious: Meet Sandi

I am excited to introduce you to my Bead Soup Blog Party Partner Sandi Volpe.

I am thrilled to meet Sandi! We have a lot in common!

MEET SANDI:

I am mom of three boys, 15, 13 and 8 living in a soccer obsessed household in Northern Virginia outside of DC.

I have always collected interesting jewelry and made earrings with my mom’s vintage crystals and re-did jewelry pieces I owned. I designed my engagement ring with sapphires from earrings my mom gave me and re-designed them too.

I decided to stay home after 2 jobs and 2 boys wasn’t working any more. I knew it was the right decision I because I was on a dream project at the Library of Congress working on a digital library for the Motion Picture and Recorded Sound division, but knew I could not keep up the pace of the commute, etc.

I promised I would give myself at least of year of being a stay at home mom before considering work, that was 12 years ago and I took longer than a year to decide as I had my third baby.

I looked in to all the check book parties like tupperware etc. I hosted a Silpada party and decided I would rather design and make my own jewelry, so that’s what motivated me to start.

I started stringing and soldering pendants and I loved it. I have been taking classes and honing my metal smithing and wire working skills and now lamp working. I love lamp work beads and decided to try my hand making them. I love making the entire piece.

This is my 5th bead soup party and I am lucky enough to see Lori on a regular basis as she lives 1.5 hours away.

I love the creative process and have met some amazing women through the BSBP as well as artBliss which is a retreat that is 10 minutes from my house. I have such easy access to classes in Virginia and can go to Bead Fest in Philly too.

I am hoping to create a more cohesive line this year and up production.

SOUP REVEAL:
And now I would like to show you the fantastic bead soup I received from Sandi!

Our reveal date is March 30th, so be sure to subscribe or bookmark my blog to see what we come up with! Also please check out Sandi’s blog to check out her creations with the soup I sent her! {I’ll reveal the soup I sent her in the next day or two and the final reveal will be 3/30/13.}

Sandi sent a fantastic soup and I am going to have so much fun with it!

I cannot tell you how excited I am by the elements she created for me and the gorgeous supporting materials.

To begin with I received the fabulous lamp work and enamel work she sent. I was in awe when I unwrapped them! I am excited about the waxed linen, as I have not created with it yet and will enjoy the challenge!

On the left, you will see her delicate craftsmanship in the clasp she created for me. I love the fly pendant too! Sandi and I are both took “flying lessons” and we have that experience in common.

And Sandi picked up on my Addiction for all things vintage and added some vintage love in her soup!

I am so excited to begin creating! Thank you Sandi for the FUNtastic elements to work with!!

{weekend update}
As I mentioned the other day, Kya’s hockey team had game four of district playoffs on Friday night. Kya had a terrific game scoring the second goal of the game and almost scoring to tie the game, but it was not meant to be. They lost 2-3 ending their season. It was especially sad because they won’t be playing together until high school. Our pace will slow down now without hockey practice and games!!! Whew!

Saturday was a highlight with her volleyball team moving up to Gold level and taking first place. Their first time winning championship in Gold!

Life is all about the lessons learned in losing and winning… But there is more to life than the wins and the losses… Being thankful for opportunities, teamwork, the ability to learn and grow and develop long lasting friendships… That’s what I am grateful for!

It is official, I mentioned a few months ago that Keegan has to have another surgery for his MHE (bone tumors that are not malignant but grow at the growth plates). He is scheduled for March 28, he will have the pins in his ankles removed (this is going to be pretty invasive and land him on crutches for another 4-6 weeks) and they will remove the 8-plate above his knee. The great news is that he will be hardware free for the first time since he was 9 years old, he is now 14! Guess we will need to prepare our living room to be an Xbox game room over Easter break!

I hope you have a fantastic Monday! Kris

Kris Binsfeld is a wire and mixed media artist. Her designs can be found in boutiques nationwide. You can like her on facebook here and shop for her creations in her etsy shop. Feel free to subscribe to her blog to follow her creative journey. You can request to be added to her private sale list by sending an email to cherishdesigns@live.com.

Home Sweet Home!

I happily arrived home last night to my family at 10:30 pm after a long day of travel. The hugs are fabulous!!

We had an amazing breakfast by the London Bridge…

My travels started off a little sketchy due to the fact that my rental car would not start! Turns out you have to manually shut the lights off after driving through the mountains and the desert! My bad!!

My Mom’s awesome friends rallied around us searching for jumper cables! It was kind of crazy, very few snowbirds had jumper cables! But each one of them said they always carry them at home. They were so sweet! Thankfully I started out with a lat of extra time and the extra hour didn’t matter!

It was hard to leave my Mom but it is much easier seeing how happy she is with her friends, planning dinners, playing bridge and golfing!

My drive through the mountains and desert was so beautiful!

Gorgeous! But the thrill of driving in our driveway with snow piled high was pretty fun too! Especially knowing how happy my kids were with the abundance of snow!

Here is a peek at a necklace I created while I was gone, many more to photograph!

Hope you have the best day ever! Kris

Beware: Approaching Whirlwind

I am hunkering down & preparing for the approaching whirlwind that is our life.

Tonight we have an away swim meet; Tomorrow a hockey game 2 hours away; Saturday a Volleyball Tournament, boys choir & hockey practice; Sunday a hockey game; Monday we have hockey, boys choir & ski club; Tuesday a swim meet & hockey; & Wednesday I depart for The Tucson Gem Show and leave Tom to fend for himself with our crazy schedules.

Ahhhhh Arizona warmth… Giggling with friends… Bead shopping… Trying not to feel sorry for my hubby racing between the 10 events my kids have in five days… Believe me, I will spend time being grateful for the most selfless husband ever! And I promise to try not to micromanage schedules from the desert!

Well, I better get the laundry finished so I can start packing!!

Have a FUNtastic day today! Kris

Sleet, Snow & Sweet Surprises

We had a quick opportunity to run through an antique mall before Kya’s hockey game yesterday.

From the street, the shop looked pretty small. Upon entering, the shop let me around corner after corner of sweet surprises, booth after booth of antiques, this place was huge! I think it was called Main Street Antiques.

It was such a joyful surprise of a shop.

I could have wandered for hours, but was thankful for the moments of discovery!

The boys had a blast skiing and snowboarding…

The conditions were perfect… Until the rain and sleet started.

It was glare ice at before the sleet and snow hit…

Check out the snow flake separating Tom and Kya… They were life sized snowflakes. Love this pic of Kya carrying her huge hockey bag discussing the game with Tom.

I had some fun creating and worked hard at not paying attention to the roads while Tom drove us safely home.

Now to wake my children and share the disappointing news that school is on!

Have a terrific Monday!
Kris

Joyful Days: Giving So It Feels Good!

What a great couple of days for swimming! Sawyer has been steadily improving his diving skills and got to dive Varsity Thursday night, pretty fun for a seventh grader.

He finally nailed his inward dive and I must say his reaction was priceless as he saw the scores from the judges… His highest score ever… crazy that he would get it on his most challenging dive.

He took 4th overall and broke one hundred points with a score of 100.3.

I really have enjoyed this sport as they are so great at cheering each other on and applauding the winners as well as the last swimmer in every heat. Love that!!

I have not had much time creating the past few days…

Yesterday we started working on a fundraiser for Tom’s brother John who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in the fall. He is very brave in his battle… He just received his Doctorate Degree in Psychology a few days before getting his diagnosis. Sadly he is uninsured and along with fighting for his life, he has a major financial battle ahead of him. His family and friends are pulling together to host a fundraiser for them and I will be coordinating the silent auction. Let me know if you know of anyone who would like to donate.

As we were planning yesterday, we started talking about what each person would do in our group… Not everyone is comfortable in every role. I responded that we want people to Give so it feels good, not until it hurts. This is something I have been trying to teach my children. Giving should make you feel great! We want everyone to feel Good about helping, but not to be in a role that they are uncomfortable.

We are off and running to hockey today. I hope your day is filled with joy! Kris

Live Like There is No Tomorrow

My chickadoodle will take self portraits on my phone and I will discover fun shots of her. This one she added the quote, Live Like There is No Tomorrow!

Guess I’ll have to scroll through my photos more often for fun surprises.

This weekend has been a whirlwind of hockey and play practices. Fun and busy times.

I sold this necklace recently, it will always be one of my favorites. So happy it has a new home!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and making the most if your new year!

Kris

Ringing In The New Year!

Wow! I can’t believe I made it to Midnight!! Happily Ringing in the New Year! Quick to sleep …and awake at 6am… Embracing the new year with Gusto!!

Yesterday was a day I was looking forward to! I had the pleasure of spending a fun morning with my friend Chris and her family.

My friend Chris is an incredibly giving person! She is one of those friends that even though our crazy lives do not allow for us to spend a lot of time together, when we do, it’s is like there was no time lost between visits. When we moved here, she so generously offered to watch my kids when I was in a bind… Always willing to lend a hand.

She was such a great support with our Relay for Life team and we bonded through my Mom’s cancer diagnosis. She has a special connection with my Mom having lost hers to cancer. Sadly she also lost her father and sister to cancer. So you can imagine how heartbreaking her diagnosis was this fall. I tear up every time I think of how challenging it must be to muster the courage to face this disease after having lost so much to it. Chris is such an inspiration!

She has been known to deliver a meal to many families over the years. I had been trying to come up with some type of memorable gift to give her, that would be treasured more than a delivery of hamburger helper {smirk}. Knowing that Chris and her girls are very crafty, I thought it would be fun to have an earring making party.

I brought all of the supplies, and we had such an amazing time creating funky wire earrings.

Here is a snapshot of a few of their fantastic creations:

They did such an amazing job of creating! Here is a photo of all of them wearing their new accessories. {I wasn’t really photo ready!}

It was a day I will treasure… Her Sweet daughters are so mature and gorgeous! I am so thankful that she is feeling well after three chemo treatments have been conquered! Thanks for a FUNtastic day!!

Happy New Year my friends!! Kris

Feeling Blessed: Grateful & Happy

Goodbye 2012…

It is amazing how quickly time passes and a year slips by…

While the year was filled with challenges, it has also been filled with many accomplishments… I am filled with GRATITUDE for the amazing blessings of both challenge and opportunity, for with out both, the blessings would not have been so sweet!

I am grateful to my FRIENDS here on my blog. You lift me up in your presence and friendship and for that I am incredibly THANKFUL. I am amazed that my blog readership more than doubled this year and I welcome all my new friends. I am so excited that you are here with me.

2012 offered many lessons… I am always eager to look at my experiences and discover the lesson to improve.

I am blessed by new business relationships in 2012, boutiques new and old that do such a fantastic job of selling my jewelry, I appreciate you!

Working with Creative Co-op has been a rich blessing in my life… Designing for them has brought such joy to my heart. I love hearing from customers & boutiques that purchase my jewelry all over the country! It is such a gift!

My FAMILY: the health of my kids, husband, parents, sister and family I am so grateful for. Even challenging news like my Dad’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s was a blessing in disguise as doctors feared ALS or a brain tumor. We successfully completed 2012 without a surgery for Keegan! While we know that 2013 has a surgery in store for him, we are so thankful for great medical care.

I am incredibly blessed by the opportunity to create and do what I love.

I wish the best for you and your family for 2013! Please be safe as you celebrate New Year’s Eve!

May your WILDEST DREAMS come true in 2013!
Hugs & Love!
Kris

A Mother’s Love: Personalized Bracelet

Finally I have the pleasure of showing you one of my favorite Mother Gifts of the Holidays. I love it so much, I plan on making myself one!

I created this bracelet for a special Mother of four.

I showed you a sneak peek here, before Christmas, but i didn’t want Mom to stumble upon the post! The word is that Mom loved it, which makes me so happy!

This bracelet is a double wrap bracelet and features her four children’s names. I had to source extra long blanks because of the length of a couple of their adorable names. Attached to each name is a wired crystal representing their birthstone.

It was fun to make and fun to coordinate the delivery to Dad as a surprise to Mom too!

I hope you are enjoying your holidays and precious moments with friends and family! Kris

Family Love

I am excited to share a custom order I had the pleasure of creating for a special holiday gift.

Via Facebook, I reconnected with a friend I haven’t seen in years. She contacted me to create a meaningful gift for her Mom and her daughters. It had to be personal, special and hip enough to span the generations. It felt important that each of them have a matching necklace showing the family love and uniting them.

We wanted the option to wear it long or to double wrap it and wear it shorter. I created it 34″ long.

The pendant spells LOVE in a funky kind of way. I created a separate pendant with swirls and crystals, it can be worn layered as a double wrap or together hanging long, or individually.

It was so much fun to capture the love of a family that has endured and survived life’s challenges in a unified way.

It made so much sense that Mom, Daughter & Granddaughters have matching necklaces.

I hope they are treasured for many, many years to come. Thanks Lori, for the honor of capturing Family Love!

Have an incredible day! Kris

Merry, Merry Christmas!

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring… Except Mom, relaxing on the couch, enjoying the quiet anticipation of Christmas morn… Amazed at how well my little sleepers are sleeping.

Yesterday was a very fun day of family time, wrapping and Holiday preparation.

My Chickadoodle baked cookies…

With a little festive help from Dad, unwrapping kisses and delivering them in true holiday spirit.

I was thankful I left most of my display set up as I had two last minute shoppers stop by! Fun stuff!

We had a joyful Christmas Eve at my sisters house last night. We started early, which was fun! We Face-Timed my Mom in Arizona for a couple of hours…

She opened the gifts we sent her while we watched. The retro phone attachment for her iPhone was a big hit!

Sorry Mom, I had to share this cute photo of you in your Naughty shirt in your new Phone!

I can just see all if the strange looks you are going to get while walking around Havasu with your new phone on your ear!

I love this photo of the kids gathered around the computer visiting with Gram.

A favorite board game received was Hedbanz. They loved playing this game!

I might get in trouble for posting this photo, but someone tried on their new googles. If you recall that he crushed his finger about a week ago. After he was bandaged up in the ER, and we were walking out, the jokester in me took over. And I asked, who’s Number One? (Because when he was holding his finger up to elevate it, it looks like he is holding up Number 1!!)

We have been joking about Number One for the last week! So last night I captured the moment!

We are having such a relaxing day today. I hope you have the opportunity to do what you live today!

Have a Merry, Merry Christmas!! Kris