Field Trip!

I'm a student at UW in the department of Environmental Science and Resource Management.  This means basically means we study the outdoors and we still get to go on field trips.  Our last field trip was to study wildlife population dynamics, specifically of amphibians in local forested areas.  Blah, Blah, Blah, I know :)

Anyway, I just thought I'd share a cute picture of two of the little guys we found:

The first image is of an Ensetina Salamander we found, the second is of a Western Red-backed Salamander, though a little bit out of focus.  We actually found 27 of these guys, but we made sure to put them right back where we found them.

google.com Tags: Field Trip, UW, Amphibians, salamanders

Moss Kick

I can't get enough moss!  I've been really interested in little plant terrariums, inspired by some of the finds on Etsy.  Yesterday I was visiting a park that had so many beautiful moss clumps everywhere and I was inspired to make terrariums like the ones I've been drooling over for so long now.

The result:

I just mixed some leftover peatmoss soil I had lying around and some of the humus (decomposed leaflitter mix) from the forest and plopped the moss on top.  I have at least 3 varieties in my little jars and fish bowls. 

Terrariums are cool because the humidity within the glass containers will create a little rain effect, allowing the moss to take care of itself most of the time.   Hopefully they will take and I can get some little miniatures (I want teeny little animals) to place in them.

google.com Tags: moss terrarium

Meet the Pets

I want to introduce everyone to my beloved pets, Snufflufugus & Buhgzee.  They are my shih tzu children whom I miss very much right now.  As a college student, I live away from home and very close to school but I could not bring my "children" with me.  They stay home with my mom and I send her "child support" to cover the costs of their food.  I do however try to go visit them every weekend and its always a very sweet reunion. 

Meet Buhgzee:

She is my sweetheart who is always happy to be near you.  Buhgzee got her name from her puppyhood when she used to chase little bugs on the porch.  She is 10 years old now and still as curious as ever.  The picture above shows her investigating my beta (she never quite understood what a fish was and why she could never play with it :) )She is Snuffy's daughter.  She isn't necessarily a lap dog like a lot of other shih tzus because her and her father are very close, but she is still very attached to us.

Meet Snufflufugus:

Snufflufugus or Snuffy for short is my old man but he's really only 12 years old.  His dark beard has always made him look like a wise old man since he was a puppy.  Snuffy is a very calm and responsible dog.  Sit him in front of a litter of kittens and he will guard them and make sure they are safe.  Snuffy came into my life when I was only 10 years old so we are very close as you can imagine.  He's my buddy.  The picture above shows Snuffy asleep in my suitcase when I was trying to pack to go to college in Hawaii, it's one of my favorite memories :)

 

 

New Designs

I made this darling pair of earrings and I'm in love with them so much I think I will make one in every color!

I hand-forged the metal to form medium-size hoops and wrapped 4 shades of Swarovski crystals to make these beauties.  Keep your eyes open for more designs and holiday-themed colors!

Etsy Love

Do you ever have those shops on your favorites list that you just admire so much?  I mean, you LOVE their shop and always find your self drooling over it?  Well, here's one of mine:

Uzura's shop is based here locally in the Seattle Area.  She designs lovely bags made out of eco-friendly hemp and organic cotton.  Sounds good to me... :)

She has such lovely designs, I think I know what I might be getting myself for Christmas :)

Go check out her shop and support handmade!

Introducing...

Its here! I've finally finished my first piece in my new line of designs, a little something I like to call LuxeLilly.

My first piece: Prasiolite and Andalusite Starburst Necklace:

Ooh, I'm so excited for more to come!

What I want to do with my life...

So I may as well tell you now that I am a HUGE animal lover.  I'm sure you would have found that out sooner or later... :)

Anyway, I found this adorable picture through http://holy-cuteness.blogspot.com/ where cute animals are blogged about 24/7.  This picture depicts orphaned baby orangs at Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation where they are being prepared for a life out in the wild again.  I would love to help these little guys out!

I used to work as a keeper aid at the Woodland Park Zoo here in Seattle, taking care of the 5 wonderfully intelligent and awesome orangutans that live there.  I miss them a lot, but I always go back for visits :)

I was featured in a treasury!

One of my photos made it to a treasury!  It is Casablanca-themed and my photo is the one of the Sepia Lilly.  Oh I'm so delighted!