Holiday Madness . . . .

For the first time in nearly fourteen years, we had all six of our children gather in one place to celebrate Jim's 70th birthday in mid-December. Pictured above in the back row are son Dave Hornak (of Indianapolis, Indiana), daughter Elena Seaberg(of Albuquerque, New Mexico), son Scott Vorenberg (of Seattle, Washington), and daughter Melissa Davis (of Albuquerque, New Mexico). Bottom row is daughter Jennifer Flowers (of Pojaque, New Mexico), Jim, daughter Mandy Vorenberg (of Knoxville, Tennessee), and moi!


I was determined this year to make an afghan
for each of our children and as many of their spouses as time would allow. Nearly made my goal with the exception of one still to come.
This is my son-in-law, Dave Seaberg, grandly posing with his very own afghan!








And here is son-in-law, Nick Davis, admiring my attempt to match Notre Dame's colors in his afghan.










Daughter Elena is surprised at receiving this afghan -- she was so busy with birthday celebration preparations, she never noticed me working on these squares right in her own home!









Daughter Mandy's kitties are absolutely certain that her afghan was made specifically for them!












The last time I made our son Dave an afghan he was eight years old! Knowing how cold this winter has been already in Indianapolis, I think he will get a lot of use from this one.










Daughter-in-law Shelley has a birthday two days before Christmas and we always try to make it special for her. And her gift was the impetus behind the idea of making all these afghans for everyone!










And here is the true test of how comfy an afghan should be -- daughter Melissa's cat, Iggy, soaking up some warmth.


We don't have photos of two other afghans that were made for son Scott and son-in-law Anthony, but at last report they were being put to rather good use in this long, cold winter.

Time really does fly!

When I looked at the date of my last post, I nearly fainted! How could so much time have gone by without writing anything on this blog?

Hmmm, let's see -- there have been 22 book signings for Tierra Red since last March, several cross-country travels, momentous occasions such as milestone birthdays in the family (Jim and I both turned 70 in 2010), and all six of our children and their families traveled to New Mexico in December.



Then there was the madness of making afghans for each son and daughter and their spouses and all the jewelry making for gifties. But I'll leave those photos for another post . . . .

It's a Mystery!!!

And I do mean a MYSTERY -- the past few months have found me scouring books on rocks and semi-precious stones to no avail.


When I received an order from Fire Mountain Gems in January, I was so excited to discover just what would be in a large assortment of cabochons. I was able to determine all of the others but the majority of the stones I received were those pictured here.


I emailed Fire Mountain Gems to see if they could answer my riddle. The first contact thought the stones might be brown zebra stones. The second response was certain they were red "malachite". After researching both suggestions, I doubt seriously these stones are either of these.
















Thoroughly frustrated, I began to wonder if the wood-grain appearance was a faux finish. So, being a good detective at heart, I took a hammer to one of them and sure enough, the surface grain runs straight through the stone.


If anyone has any idea what these stones are, I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, I am still trying to puzzle out just what to do with them!

And the winner of the OWOH Giveaway is . . .

The random number generator worked it's magic and spun up post number 113 as the winner! A signed copy of my novel, Tierra Red, will be riding the magic carpet to Diane of Turn Left at the Pigs in the next few days.

Congratulations, Diane!

This year's OWOH was a blast -- I can't believe that I visited over a thousand blogs in the past few weeks. That sure was one heckuva carpet ride . . . .

One World One Heart Giveaway 2010

Wow -- it's hard to believe a whole year has flown by and here we are participating in the fabulous OWOH giveaway again! A huge thank you to Lisa for organizing this "magic carpet ride" and the biggest get-together on the internet.

I will be giving away a signed copy of my novel, Tierra Red -- 428 pages of mystery, adventure, and romance at a thrilling roller-coaster ride pace. Set against the backdrop of territorial days in New Mexico, a Gibson Girl heroine and an unforgettable cast of characters sift through clues on two continents in their search for truth, justice, and love.

The full synopsis for Tierra Red can be found at http://kpvorenberg.blogspot.com/ or simply click on the book cover in the right-hand column of this blog.

I will also include a Victorian-inspired beaded bookmark with the book.

Be sure to leave a comment and a way to reach you if you are a winner of my giveaway. Have a happy ride on Lisa's magic carpet and I am looking forward to meeting all of you!

April 2009 BJP

(My selected theme of memory books for this year's Bead Journal Project is based on the four elements: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.)

Fire Element

I recently read two very interesting books by Katherine Neville -- The Eight and The Fire. The Eight was written twenty years ago and it's sequel, The Fire, was published earlier this year -- imagine waiting that many years for a sequel!



The ultimate point of the stories is the quest for eternal life, hence the use of the Phoenix bird on this month's memory book. The bird's head and neck were embroidered in satin stitch with cotton perle and metallic thread. The focal stone is a piece of Sunset Calcite from Mexico. I used size 15 beads for the wings and Robin Atkins' method of "bezeling" a cabochon for the first time.

March 2009 BJP

(My selected theme of memory books for this year's Bead Journal Project is based on the four elements: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.)

Water Element




Ten years ago this summer, Jim and I spent the night in a cabin at Yellowstone National Park. We were driving from southern New Mexico to Spokane, Washington for our son's wedding. Before we left Yellowstone, we covered as many of the highlights as possible. Unfortunately, time did not permit to visit the most impressive area -- the Grand Prismatic Spring.


My grandson, Marcus, gave me a marvelous polished stone slice several years ago. It has sat on my desk begging to be used in a project. When I saw the issue of National Geographic featuring the Grand Prismatic Spring, I knew I had finally found the perfect use for this object.


The stone slice is surrounded by seed beads. The rocky, stony areas are made up of fossil nuggets. Can't wait for Mr. Marcus to see what I have done with his gifty!