Now This Is Exciting - I'M IN A BOOK!

I just received an email that said basically, if you got this email then your contribution has been selected by the editor and you will be in our new book!

The book is published by Quarry and is:

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse by Garth Johnson
I sent the editor over a dozen pictures of my necklaces made of recycled paper and cloth and I guess at least one of them made it into the book, along with my name and website address!
If you want to see the book ahead of time and browse some of the pages, then check out these links:

• In the United States, the Amazon link is: http://www.amazon.com/1000-Ideas-Creative-Reuse-Restyle/dp/1592535402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1256053237&sr=8-1
• The link on BN.com is: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?box=9781592535408&pos=-1&EAN=9781592535408
• And the link on Quarry.com is: http://www.quarrybooks.com/description.asp?isbn=9781592535408&topicid=2

ISBN: 9781592535408 November 2009 $25.00 $31.99 Canadian £16.99 Paperback 1000 photos/illustrations 320 Pages Size (in): 9 x 9 Size (mm): 227 x 227

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew Garth Johnson Artists and crafters have always been recyclers, but for many, it has not only become a thrifty choice, it has become a moral imperative. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse contains a cutting edge collection of the most inventive work being made with re-used, upcycled, and already existing materials. The work in this book ranges from clever and humble personal accessories to unique and important large-scale works of art, including paper art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, interiors, and installations. Garth Johnson is a studio artist, writer and educator who lives in Eureka, California. In addition to maintaining the website "Extreme Craft" (www.extremecraft.com) Garth writes for CRAFT magazine and his writing has been featured in museum catalogs, magazines, and books worldwide, including a contribution to the upcoming book Handmade Nation from Princeton Architectural Press. His first DVD, ReVision: Recycled Crafts for Earth-Friendly Living will be released by Eyekiss Films later this year.

I get to order a book ahead of time from the publisher - I can't wait to see what to see everything in there.

This is such a good idea! I have fallen in love with recycling!

One of my teacher friends (who teaches sewing) and I (who teaches Earth Science) are doing an integrated unit on recycling. The students have to bring cloth or paper and design jewelry or wall decorations from all recycled products and the products they produce must be viable products, ones that people would actually use.
I'll have to blog on how it goes with pictures and all. We're thinking of actually making the products those few days before Christmas when hands-on lessons are a God-send!

My next public venue is the Family Christmas Gift Show

at the South Towne Expo Center on 9500 South State Street in Sandy, Utah

Nov 13, 14 and 15th! See You There!

or - just call or email and I'll get you the item you want!

No More People's Market for Me in 2009!

This Sunday, Oct. 25, is the last People's Market for the 2009 year.

I don't think I will be attending.
It looks too cold for me.
Two weeks ago I returned to the market after being ill and Sunday Oct. 10th was COLD by me.
I had to call it quit at about 1:00pm.
I called the hubby to come help me pack up and I went home and sleep under a heated blanket to warm up.
Now last Sunday, the 17th, was spectacular!
Warmed up to 80 degrees they said on the weather report.
I couldn't get enough of that weather.
But this Sunday I hear is going to start out at 35 degrees and go up to 53?
That's just not going to make it for me, so I think I'll bag it for this year. Email with your special orders or requests!
I'll mail them to you with free postage!
bbwright98@hotmail.com

I will, however, have a booth at the Family Christmas Show at the South Towne Expo Center. (9575 South State Street in Sandy, Ut). --------->


This is a 3 day event starting Friday, Nov. 13 from 10:am to 9pm, Then on Sat. the 14th from 10:00am to 9:00pm and Sunday Nov 15th from 10:am to 5:00pm. It really is a fun venue to do. I will have my recycled products jewelry along with soy candles for you to give as Christmas gifts.

Give Earth friendly gifts this year!

Two Gorgeous Special Order Necklaces! Sneak Peak

On the top is a picture of a piece of toile cloth my friend fell in love with.

"Could you please make me a chunky, long, 3-strand necklace of this beautiful cloth?"

Voila, the finished product is below the cloth! (I hope you pronounced all that with a French accent to make it more authentic!)

I used antique copper caps and spacers with ernite green and some copper Swarovski crystals in between the spacers on the middle ten beads of each strand - just for a hint of glamour.

My friend is a statuesque, coppery brown haired, green eyed beauty who can easily pull off wearing this 36 inches-in-overall-length attention grabber!

I'm glad she asked me to do it.

I had the best time.

The cloth beads are, of course, soaked in a poly-acrylic sealer so that don't pick up dirt or body oils and can be cleaned with a damp cloth!

Now this set of pictures is pretty fun also.

Without giving too much away, (in case the recipient of this gift reads my blog... hey, it could happen!) a women who I see often at the People's Market asked me to make a necklace for her boss.

She wanted me to use papers with the logo of their place of business and with some of the wording from their directory information.

I used blue iris spacer beads with a "volcano" Swarovski crystal between each paper bead.

The volcano swarovski is mostly blue/gray but when in the sun it shoots out orange sparks which match perfectly with a small orange glint of color on the business logo,

which is otherwise blue.

The necklace is 3-strand and about 28" in overall length.

Well, this is all I have done since being off sick.

I'm feeling way better today.

Almost like my old self again, except my husband says I sound French when I talk (all nasal I guess), Maybe I just sound French from touching so much French Toile cloth!

P.S. Who is sneaking off to Disneyland next week????

You better take a TON of pictures!

I think I better whimp out on one more People's Market

If the weather prediction was for sunny and warm this coming Sunday, I was going to sweet talk my hubby into helping me go to the People's Market, Sunday Oct. 4th. But frankly, I don't think I ought to risk the chance of getting worn down too much with the cold (expected high of 55? Please!) so I am hoping for a beautiful Sunday, Oct 11th! I can not tell you how excited I am to get out of the house and into fresh air, with my friends and sit in the park all morning - I'm STIR CRAZY!

Currently not working on much. One special order for a longer, 3-strand necklace made from material that is a green on beige Toile. I'll use antiqued bronze for accent beads. and I promise to take a picture before delivering!

See you hopefully Oct 11th at People's Market,
Sundays through Oct. 10am-3pm
1000 South and 900 West, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Super Science Week: Let's Learn About IIH

I got out of the hospital last Friday. Only 4 days in ICU, and one day in a regular unit then home, home, home. I honestly cried when my husband walked in to get me Friday at about 11:00am.
I feel... um... well, tired, achey, nervous, scared, stiff and sore. That about covers it all.
It seems my doctor, Dr. Peter Ventura of Tooele, Utah is quite the bulldog. He kept shakin' until the pieces started coming together. I love that kind of doctor, he wants to know "why".
First, before starting the operation they kept me awake to do a spinal tap and to monitor the pressure in my spinal fluid because the pressure changes when you go to sleep.
Then Dr. Ventura didn't just fix the obvious leak, he says he remembers that in my initial MRI that I had fluid in one of my upper sinuses. Initially he thought it just spilled over from the hole he found at the top of my nose, but figured since he was up there he'd patch the top of the sinus also, just to cover all bases. So he took a skin graft from my stomach, used glue made from blood taken from punctures on both my ankles. He finished up with a "rhino rocket" packing and out I went from surgery.
Now the hard part; every hour the nurse had to drain 10ml of spinal fluid from my back. I could feel every molecule being pulled out and as they were pulled out, my headache got worse and worse. Thanks for blissful morphine induced sleep!
One day, maybe Tues or Wed, the doctor tells me the problem with my spinal fluid pressure. He says most people are under 20 (whatever the units are, like cm/H2O maybe?) and actually most of those people are 5-10. I, however, was at 30! crap. With that high of pressure I am in serious danger of losing my eyesight. The pressure on the optic nerve as it leaves the eye, going to the brain can lead to permanent damage. So Dr. Ventura sends in an eye specialists to see me immediately in the hospital. Good news, so far no noticable damage!
The next day Dr. says he has been talking to someone and/or researching and there is a drug now, a diruetic, that reduces the amount of CSF and therefore reduces pressure: Diamox. He puts me on this immediately and from Wed afternoon to Thur afternoon they only monitor my spinal pressure without withdrawing any liquid. It stays down around 18! With that, out came spinal tap and out of ICU and to a regular hospital bed. Friday he unpacks the "rhino rocket" and I go home.

But for some light reading check out: www.ihrfoundation.org Click on "What is it" under the title and go to symptoms. Under "other symptoms" it mentions:

"spinal fluid leakage from the nose is the result of high intercranial pressure erosion of the bone separating the skull from the nasal cavity". Hmm, sounds familiar.

Also, for women, it seems that weight loss often helps relieve the cranial pressure problem, not always but often.
I see Dr. Ventura again tomorrow and maybe find out where I go from here besides to Weight Watchers!

I will not be out in public for the next few weeks, BUT...

I will be selling from home and from over the internet!
Read my sad saga:

For those of you who have known me for over 12 years, you may remember my horrible, very bad year of 1997. It started in February with a continually dripping nose - ok, not exactly dripping, more like I had literally sprung a leak! Doctor after doctor kept saying it was allergies and try this and try that. I DON'T HAVE ALLERGIES - NONE, never have!
Well then one month later, in March, I find a lump in my breast and off to the races I go with breast cancer. Surgery at the end of March. Radiation starting in April, ending the first week of June.
But in the mean-time a great doctor decides to test the liquid coming out of my nose and eureka! it is Cerebral Spinal Fluid! "IT'S WHAT?" I said. "My brain juice is dripping out of a hole in my nose!"
Well with all the breast cancer stuff I was going through, we decided to postpone the patching of my nose until beginning of July. They took a patch of skin from inside my right nostril, shoved it up my left nostril and then to make sure the patch takes and doesn't spring a leak again, I had to have my spinal fluid drained down to very low levels and so I lay quietly in a hospital bed for 4 days with a horrendous migraine headache! But, it all worked and by mid-August I was myself again.

That was 12 years ago.

But last Monday, Labor day, I woke up to moisture on my upper lip, didn't think much of it (maybe I drooled a bit?) but as my husband and I were walking up the walk to a restaurant, a giant stream of liquid poured embarrassingly from my left nostril. We were both horrified to say the least. The dripping of liquid got worse each day so today, the 10th, I spent the entire day talking to doctors, enduring scopes pushed up my nose, having MRI and CT scans.

YES, I have sprung a leak AGAIN! WHY ME? Sure it can be fixed and I can most likely get the surgery within the next week but I KNOW WHAT IS COMING UP! The 4-day migraine from HELL!

Anyway now that everyone is bored to tears, that means:

No Bowenwright booth at the Avenues Street Fair this Saturday the 12th!

No booth at the People's Market for probably the rest of September!


BUT...

I will spend all this time away from People I love loading stuff on to Ebay and Etsy!

AND....

I can still mail out purchases from email orders! You can pay by check or paypal!

I EVEN PAY THE POSTAGE!
So keep in touch, I'm just vacant for a bit whilst I deal with "CSF Rhinorrhea"

It's Labor Day - the End of Summer 2009? I Think Not!

Saturday, 12th of Sept.

on 9th Avenue between D and I streets!
from 9:00am to 6:00pm
see: www.slc-avenues.org
for more details of events!

I will be between F and G avenues on the north side of the street,
11 positions east of "F'' street.
_____________________________________________
So, was it windy yesterday or was I just having a very BAD hair day?

I have to thank all those who braved the wind to come and be apart of the People's Market yesterday. Those of us who are vendors were exhausted by the end of the Market from pulling down tents, chasing blowing merchandise and produce, and holding onto table legs! I was so tired when I got home. I felt I had run a 10 mile marathon!
Several visitors dared say they "liked" the wind because it kept the air from being so sultry! Get me hot still air any day!

By the end of the day my hair was in dredlocks,
My eyes were literally blown tearless - dry to the bone
and my skin was like an old used baseball mitt!
my tongue so parched my lips stuck to my teeth as I tried to talk.
And don't say I look like that everyday because I'm old,
I promise, It was a very windy day!

Dani, your Harley ankle bracelet is ready. I'll be there next Sunday or I can mail it to you or you can come to the "Salt Lake Avenues Street Fair" remember:

Saturday, 12th of Sept.

on 9th Avenue between D and I streets!
from 9:00am to 6:00pm
see: www.slc-avenues.org
for more details of events!