Cute animals are proven to be great for stress relief

You know how life sneaks up on you and before you know, time slips away and you are sitting there, wondering...what just happened?

That's been us for the past few weeks. 

I work, come home, do more work at home, sleep (maybe)...repeat.

On the weekends, we have had so many obligations, there has been hardly any time to do anything creative. It might be slowing down, but not for another week at least.

So!  I have been painting more Cthuluhs, but do not have pictures yet.  After doing some major cleaning on the house today for a party next weekend, I am hoping I will be able to take a break after work this week and clean.  

But, I did not want to leave you with nothing to see...so I thought I'd share pictures of a day trip we took recently to our favorite donut shop in the entire world, along with a mini animal park.

First, some cute goats from the animal park.  These guys just wanted to cuddle and be fed.  They were so adorable!  I want goats.  Badly.

The park also featured very pretty and flamboyant peacocks!  This guy followed us around with his tail spread, showing off. 

It was a fun trip and a beautifully cool day, so all of the animals were active, which was a great way to spend an afternoon.

This Tooth Only Looks Sharp

You might remember from my last post that I picked up a couple of Megalodon teeth at a local fossil/gem/mineral show.

The one on the left will be opened by my Dad later today as a birthday gift.  Ever since watching Discovery Channel's Shark Week, featuring Megalodon sharks years ago, we have both been fascinated by these massive creatures.

This gigantic shark lived for around 15 million years, before disappearing (one could hope) around 1 million years ago.  It has been classified as either Carcharodon megalodon, which would put Megalodon in the same family as the modern day Great White shark or Carcharocles megalodon, which is an extinct family of sharks.  Prehistoric-wildlife.com has a great amount of information on the Megalodon shark, as well as plenty of other fascinating creatures!

The teeth are the only part of the skeleton of a shark that we can find, since the rest is cartilage.  You will also notice that fossilized teeth come in a rainbow of colors...this is due to the type of soil sediment the tooth lands in when it is either shed or the animal dies.

I saw one tooth at the gem show that had a lot of rust colors, streaked with black.  I asked the finder if he had located it in an area with iron and sure enough, he found it in soil that was rich with iron oxide.

Here is the smaller tooth that I wire-wrapped this weekend.  I think I might embellish a little bit with a dangling Swarovski crystal or two...but I like the beauty of the piece itself to stand on it's own.  Who would have ever thought a tooth could be so fascinating?

Where does the time go...

It is amazing how time flies when life pulls you away from your favorite things!

So, I'm still working overtime on Cthulhus...lots of them.  This little guy was from last weekend, but he is joined by two more brothers.  All ready to be painted and accessorized!  

I went supply shopping yesterday, using a coupon at one of my favorite supply stores.  When I got home, I was all ready to do some creating, which Arkham was obviously going to supervise.  However, we ended up having an impromptu dinner and night out with friends...which to be honest, was much better for me!  The creativity was able to percolate and I have even more ideas than before.

Today, I went with a friend to our local fairgrounds for the weekly flea market.  They were also hosting a gem/mineral/fossil show in one of the buildings.  I was so excited to talk to vendors, get some great deals and find these awesome Megalodon teeth.  The one on the left will be for my dad's birthday in a couple of weeks.  The one on the right I am going to practice wire wrapping with and create a necklace for myself. :)

Lastly, my friend and I wandered into the yard sale section of the fairgrounds and I stumbled across this beautiful Lenox witch kitty!  Isn't she perfect?  I am absolutely in love with her...she has such a mischievous smile.  And yes, that is a vintage Tupperware cake storage container in the background   I found it for a $1!  I did a happy dance...I am not ashamed.  I love vintage Tupperware.  How did you spend your weekend?