Adventures of the Art Junk Gypsy

Quick and Easy Elf Costume

2011-12-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a fun idea for recycling an old velour top into a child's elf costume... They make great outfits for the traditional christmas photo... Why not add a little elvish fun to the photos with upcycled elf costumes.

First, you need a ladies large or plus size pullover style velour top in red or green. Cut out the sleeves at the arm holes, which should leave you with a sleeveless tank top. Set the sleeves aside, be careful to leave the seam down the arm intact. Take the shoulder seams up so the armholes are the right size for your child. From the bottom of the top, sew up at an angle toward the armpit, creating an A line skirt.. Cut away the excess fabric up the sides and in the armpit until you are left with a childs tank dress. You should have 2 triangles with seams cut from the side seams. Open them up and sew them together to create the elf hat. Sew a large jingle bell on the point of the hat. Hand sew a white feather boa around the neck and armholes and hem of the dress for a more elfish look. You can glue gun it on, but then you won't be able to wash it if the dress gets dirty, the boa won't hold up in the wash.

Turning the sleeve inside out, cut a small slit with scissors in the cuff seam insert a piece of elastic or string tied to a safety pin all the way around the cuff, gather and tie tightly. Place the sleeve over your child's shoe and use a piece of ribbon around the ankle. Let the top of the sleeve bunch up and flop over to form a natural cuff on the elf boot. Finish the look off with jingle bells on the toes, and your little elf is ready for their photo op.

Extra touches can be added for a different look... Leggings and a skirt with a turtleneck and the elf boots, or leggings and a vest for a boy elf... A womens petticoat or underskirt from a prom dress can be cut down to make a tutu to go over the whole outfit...

So next time you are in the thrift store and it is bag day, take a look at things with a different eye. There are elf clothes hiding in almost everything.

Holiday Affaire

2011-12-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

I participated in a holiday boutique over the weekend in Costa Mesa. I met some lovely ladies and sold a lot of candy. I will really miss living in Orange County when we move back to the Bay Area next year. There is a group of artists that gather together once a month and do workshops. I missed the opportunity to join them, and now I am moving away. I am still glad I got the opportunity to meet them, and can always visit and network with them even after I move away.

Everyone was asking how I made the fudge and truffles. They are both super easy.

1 can of sweetened condensed milk
18 oz of chips, (chocolate or otherwise)
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract... (Use the real stuff, it makes a BIG difference in the taste)

Microwave chips and milk on hi for 3 minutes stirring after 1 1/2 minutes. It is VERY important that there is NO water on the utensil, or the container you melt it in. The chocolate will seize up and not melt successfully. when chips are melted, mix until smooth, add vanilla extract, stir vigorously until smooth. pour out into wax paper lined pyrex brownie pan. allow to set up for several hours. Cut and serve.

Variations can include: (add after chips are melted and stirred smooth)

1 cup of chopped nuts of choice
substitute vanilla for 1/4 cup of desired liquor
add 2/3 cup chopped marischino cherries and pour shreaded coconut on top and press in
chop one bag of mini peanut butter cups and press in to top
press andes mint chips into top
make with butterscotch chips and walnuts for easy penuche
This is by far the easiest and most tasty fudge recipe ever.

Enjoy and happy holidays

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:45:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you. To my family, who continue to amaze me with their great capicity to love and care. To my husband who works himself sick to provide for us with great love. To my kids, who have grown into incredible young adults. Their drive and optomism give me hope for the next generation. To my friends in the Bay Area whom I have missed greatly, and to my new friends in OC and on line who have welcomed me with open arms and hearts. You filled a deep void created by my loss of community after moving to a new town. I love you all, and I am so thankful to have you in my life. God bless you.

Journaling with Katherine England

2011-11-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Many people know her for her beautiful mosaic art... but Katherine is a fabulous art journaling teacher. I took a journaling class from her at my friend Sue's house on Saturday. Sue is the most fabulous hostess. Her lunch spreads are always to die for... She lives in Dana Point, in the most Zen home I have ever been in. The energy she sets in her home is tranquil and relaxing. Her gracious and giving personality so sweet. She was my first friend here in Orange County... I am so thankful we met.

Katherine showed us how to draw with our right brain... and it was a really amazing transformation for me. I can actually draw. and the more I draw, the better I get.

Here are some photos of my drawings I am just really tickled that they are beyond the stick figure drawings I usually do... So FUN... If you ever get a chance to take a journaling class with her, do it... She is really great, and so fun.. I love taking classes from different people and learning how to do different art journaling techniques. It helps me stretch as an artist. Pick up your pens and start doodling yourself and see what you come up with.

Playing with dryer sheets...

2011-11-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

I LOVE dryer sheets. I don't know why people throw them away. I make the coolest things with them. My husband and daughter know I will be upset if they throw even one away in the trash. We have a special box on top of the dryer where the used ones go.... When the box is full,... I pull them out and start playing...

Here is a necklace I made with some. I colored them with watered down acrylic paints. I love how vibrant the colors are, and it is very light and easy to wear. People are always amazed that it is made from dryer sheets... Sometimes I use Rit dye to color them, but I have found the paints work just as well and give you a lot more color options for a cheaper price. I am all about what looks good for cheap... Style on a shoestring is so in right now... And these bib statement necklaces are all the rage with fabric flowers. I love the light airy feel of the dryer sheets... If you don't like the smell of them, wash them all together in a load of whites with some bleach. It takes the scent out. I have put perfume oil on mine, and the scent lingers, so I don't need to wear perfume when I wear this necklace. It always smells like China Rain from my favorite store Body Time in Berkeley.

I would love to hear about what you like to make with them... Please comment with a link to your blog with photos of your own dryer sheet creations.

AHS Homecoming

2011-11-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

The whole family at the Game

my 4 babies all grown up

Zack and his girlfiend Skylar... I LOVE this girl... she is the best girlfriend.I could ask for for my son.

kayleigh and Casey Coffman before the dance at Savannahs house

Savannah and Kayleigh, (my brother Chip's daughter)

Zack and Skylar in their dance duds...

We went up to the Bay Area for the Homecoming celebrations last weekend. Zack was nominated for Homecoming King, and we all walked out on the field with him He did a great job as the MC at the rally. Everyone looked so great. He didn't win, but he is still the king of our hearts. At the rally, he had me introduce him, and when I finished he said "Thanks Mom, I love you.." all the women in the crowd went "Awwwww." Makes you feel good that your 17 year old son is not to embarassed to say it in public. It is hard to believe that this young man, is the same adorably chubby baby pictured above just 16 short years ago. The time flies by so fast, and before you know it, they are grown.

I look at these pictures now, and see how little and sweet they were. At the time, I was so overwhelmed with 3 small children, then I had a fourth, and with two in diapers, two rambunctious boys, a newborn and an adolescent, I felt like a crazy person. I lived in my car, the mom taxi, taking kids here and there. Plus I worked full time. I didn't appreciate how precious this time was. I didn't see that it would fly by in the blink of an eye. I will never hear those bickering kids again. Those chubby feet will never track dog poop in on my carpet again. I will never see all of them in the bath together again like that. The hectic holiday times, easter basket assembly and hiding christmas gifts in crazy places from curious eyes is no longer a concern. The huge delimma of what to be for trick or treat, or what to take for sharing days are over.

I want a do over. I want to go back to that young mother I was... hold her hand, look into her eyes and tell her, "These moments will past faster than you know... Hold on to them. Enjoy them... they are precious." I want to tell her to hold and kiss them more, because the day is fast approaching when they won't let you. I really want her to understand that the true miracle of motherhood, is that the difficult parts, the tiredness, the hecticness, the irritability, all fades with time, and you are left with funny stories to tell at the holidays, and embarassing photos and movies to show future son and daughter in laws. The rewards, if you are good at your job of mothering, are grown children who still say I love you and hug you when they see you. Grandchildren are the ultimate gift, and opportunity to do things differently than you did as a parent. I hope when that time comes, I will be wiser... and be in the moment more. Appreciating all of it as it happens, and not waiting for it all to pass, like I did when I was younger.

Getting ready for Christmas

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

With all the newly found and organized supplies I have at my disposal, I have been working at night while watching tv on a few christmas swaps I joined in... Here are the matchbox ornaments for an advent swap with the Diva's. The purple angel is a gift for a friend. I am making a bunch of these from toilet paper rolls. Yes Danita, I save them too, and a good thing, because I gave a bag of them away to a friend and then didn't have enough. So I used gift wrap tubes, paper towel tubes etc. I am making them for a boutique and filling them with homemade English Toffee... Now that I know how to make it like my sister in law Krissy does, (I learned her trick last year) it comes out better than ever.

Now I have to work on my 12 days of christmas swap with the Gilding the Lily thursday night gals... I got 11 pipers piping... and I have an idea... It seems to be coming out well, will post pix soon.

What things are you working on for Christmas? I would love to hear.

Moving, packing and more purging

2011-10-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

There is light at the end of the purging tunnel. Man does it feel good to get rid of things. I am so happy that the art community here in Orange County is as diverse as it is. I have met a lot of lovely artists at my sales. People who have become friends, art pals, and shopping buddies. I can see the floor in my studio. I can actually do a project start to finish and I can find everything I need to do it without a trip to Michaels. I have been making things for boutiques, and putting together class proposals for art retreats.

Hours spent at the scanner scanning old photos and ephemera have produced a hard drive full of images that need to be burned to a CD. Yards of fabric donated to the Fullerton School District for their ren faire, art journaling supplies donated to my friends Mel and Katherine for their kids art journaling programs... I feel good about where the stuff went... like a mother hen watching her chicks leave the nest.

We are moving again... Where? We don't know yet... An apartment here in OC, up to the Bay Area,... Maybe to Europe... China... Singapore... Australia.... Wherever my hubby can find a job. We are blessed in the fact that he is employable internationally. We aren't stuck in the LA or Bay Area job markets. I do want to find something here... My daughter loves it here... I have made a life, friends... I love the weather. But we just don't know at this point. Downsizing and getting our stuff contained to a manageable amount that can be moved and stored easily is not only prudent, but necessary at this point... So the packing and purging and going through boxes has no end in sight... I think it will be going on for a while now... I know God never takes you anywhere but up... It is we ourselves that hold us down.... so we are going where God sends us... Just wish we knew where that was...

Confessions of a hoarder

2011-10-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

Has it really been since June that I last posted? Man, where has the time gone? I have been busy purging the art studio, selling off a ton of my hoarded supplies, making my life simpler and easier to manage... It is so difficult to let things go... I am getting better... I empty 5 boxes of stuff and save 1/2 a box for myself. Then when my keep box is full, I go through it, really think about it... Do I have an immediate need for this item, can I make something with it in the next 90 days? Have I touched it in the last year? 2 years? Longer? If not,. I pull it back out, put it in the sale box and off it goes to a new home. Recovering from a hoarding addiction is difficult. I have always been a saver... but it has gotten worse since I started doing altered art... or should I say collecting altered art supplies... It is pointless, when you have so much stuff that you can't find what you need to even do a project... I found 5 different rolls of fusible web from different times that I needed it and went and bought more cause I couldn't find it... How ridiculous is that... ?

I am starting to realize I am NOT actually emotionally attached to the stuff per se... It is my attachment to the creative process and ideas I had when choosing that particular item. I am attached to the creative energy generated from that object... When I get rid of something, I feel like I am killing my creativity. Like I won't create ever again if I can't make that thing I have been saving that lace for ... Nevermind it has been in a box for 15 years, and now it truly IS vintage.... and I have not used it in all these years... I still have the idea... So... evaluating my need for the stuff... constantly comparing my stuff to my family and relationships... is this stuff more important than a happy family. Does it replace time with my family... does it hug me, make me a better person? If someone... say the police... came in my house tomorrow and said "Choose now, the stuff or your family." I would like to think that I would be able to let all the stuff go... but if I answer honestly, I don't think I could get rid of EVERYTHING. I get sick to my stomach when I think about it... I can't even have the discussion with my husband, because it stresses me out so bad I get a horrible headache and can hardly function...

I bring this up, because so many people I know are like me... Houses chock full of stuff, and yet it is never enough. Is it the creative process? Is it the need to collect and surround yourself with ideas? What is it? I would really like to know.... I struggle so hard with this.... I want to be better... I am getting better... I am getting rid of so much... and yet at the same time, it feels like it is not happening fast enough. I can't just throw it all in a bin./. There are tax records and memorabilia and family photos mixed in with the stuff. It is fairly organized, but so packed full it is difficult to find things... I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.... I think after this sale coming up on Sunday, we will really have a handle on it... It feels better already. I feel lighter and happier. I have been creating more... Making holiday gifts, and participating in swaps. Completing projects for class proposals. Spending time with my new art friends. I am happy. And all of this stems from a lighter load...

My mom does a meditation in her class, where you have to picture yourself getting on a train to take a long trip. You can never go back to where you are coming from. What will you take with you? You picture yourself filling large black trash bags with all your stuff and tying it to your belt. I had about 70 bags. I was pulling a freakin' train of bags... huffing and puffing along... Telling people, "I'm coming... I will be there in a minute... I just have to drag these bags along..." It looks so ridiculous when I think of it, that I laugh out loud... Who would really do that? Pull 70 garbage bags of crap around with them? Well, I guess I do. The stuff I have is my 70 bags. It weighs me down and keeps me from really moving forward in my life. Thanks to therapy, and some life challenges that have required downsizing... I am finally doing it... I think I will succeed this time.... I feel different. I imagined myself throwing the bags into the incinerator on the train, and fueling it for a long trip. Then I went and sat by the window, next to my hunny, and enjoyed the view...This is the only ride I get with him... This life... and I really want to make it count.

To those of you who struggle with hoarding or addictions of any kind... You can conquer them. You can overcome them and have a more fulfilling life... It just takes time, patience, and determination. Be kind to yourself in the process. Honor where you are at, and celebrate the little steps you are taking to attain your goal. You will get there.... and the closer you get, the more you will start to see,
life on the other side looks pretty dang great!

Mediterranean Panini with Heirloom Tomato Gorgonzola Salad

2011-06-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here is installment number two of the cook with what you have recipe list. We got a Panini Grill from my Brother and Sister-in-law a few years ago, and we LOVE it. It is the Griddler Gourmet. They carry it at Costco. If you don't have a griddler, try a George Foreman grill (I see them at thrift stores for cheap all the time), or a regular frying pan will work, you just won't get the grill marks.

Panini Recipe

1 chicken breast split flat to make thin flat pieces of chicken

or 6 tenderloins split flat to make 12 pieces

Montreal steak seasoning (or salt & Pepper is fine)

8 large basil leaves

1 1/2 cups shreaded Mozzarella cheese

1 large heirloom tomato sliced thin

2 thin slices of onion of your choice

4 slices of sliced sourdough. I usually use San Francisco style, or Shepherds Bread

Brush 1 side of each piece of bread with olive oil and set aside.

brown chicken with montreal seasoning until cooked

place 2 slices of bread on heated grill, sprinkle light layer of cheese, then add chicken, basil, onion and tomato in layers, top with more cheese.

Place top breads on sandwich and grill until golden brown

While sandwiches are grilling, cut up various style heirloom tomatoes to make 3 cups, chop 6 basil leaves, add to tomatoes. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar to your liking, we do a 3-1 ratio 1 tsp balsamic 3 tspns olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/3 cup chopped Gorgonzola cheese, toss together, serve with hot Panini.

This is a quick easy dinner for a hot summer nite. We are enjoying all our tomatoes fresh from the garden. And keep experimenting with new recipes. Lets see what we can come up with next week.

Funky 80's party dress re-do

2011-06-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

I bought this dress for $2.92 I don't get the pricing system at this store, it is the wierdest thing... Bit I figured the fabric alone was worth $3...

First thing I did was remove the top and pick it apart carefully. That gorgeous purple sparkly fabric is going in my secret for Karan only stash of purple fabrics to make a purple crazy quilt with one day when I have enough fabrics. I have been collecting a while, but still don't have enough to make a whole quilt.

I was left with a lovely flirty little skirt that I was going to make an apron out of. Instead, I decided to put a waistband and a zipper on it. I added this cute hot pink jacket I bought in the dollar bin a while back, and it looks darling. I am on the hunt for some black silk to make a halter top that can attach and detatch from the skirt, making it a dress and jacket, cocktail dress or skirt and jacket. Talk about getting to most bang for you $3,92!

Who do I admire most

2011-06-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

I made this piece for the Creative Therapy website in 2008 when I was a contributing artist. You can see the post here.

The person I admire most is my mother. She has gone through so much in her short 62 years. Married at 17, a mother to 3 kids by age 24. She was my everything growing up. My best friend, the one I told all my troubles to, the one who was always there for all my personal triumphs. Like the time she came to see me get an award at a color guard awards ceremony the same day she got out of the hospital after a month in there for major abdominal surgery. She was weak and pale, and I had to make the fruit salad, but she was there, cheering for me and smiling from the crowd with big tears in her eyes.

She is the go to person for many people. She learned in her 40′s that she has the gift of empathy. Before she thought it was a curse, but when she learned that she had the ability to feel other peoples pain, and show them how to heal it, she became a minister and spiritual counselor, and started exploring her psychic gifts. Now she teaches classes and does readings by appointment for people, and really helps them. She is not one of those crystal ball carrying, chime ringing, patchouli wearing hippie psychics. Just a normal lady with an incredibly abnormal gift.

I love this photo of her. She does a lot of inner child work in her classes. This little girl went through a lot, lost a mother to a nervous breakdown for a year, was sent to live with different family members, had all her hair cut off by an aunt who didn’t know how to fix “girl” hair because she only had boys. She didn’t see her parents or siblings for weeks at a time, in fact they had all moved into a new house, and she found out about it from a kid at school who asked her why she wasn’t with her family, and she said because they don’t have a house, (they had lost it in foreclosure) and the kid told her, “Yeah they do, they live next door to me, and your sisters and brothers are there, how come you’re not?” She was molested, and abused, and forgotten so many times by people. Put in the trash can upside down as a freshman and everyone saw her underware. She was picked on and teased for being little, and sensitive… the list goes on and on… Knowing these things about her, and seeing that in spite of all these horrible things, the beautiful look of bliss on her face in this photo. Wearing her older sisters bikini 3 sizes too big, her smile and dimples lighting up her whole face as she beams and radiates pure joy.

The things she experienced turned her into the person she is today. She says they were all gifts. All these experiences have enabled her to help so many people. The mother in me wants to take that little girl and protect her from all those hurts, but I know that like a fine tapestry, all the threads of all our experiences make up the sum of who we are as beings on this planet. She wouldn’t be who she is today without those experiences. I am so proud to call her my mother. I am so proud that she has passed on some of her beautiful gifts to me. Every day I strive to be more like her. I ask every day WWJD? What would Judi do? The answer usually comes to me… loving and gentle, just like my mom… “Just focus on the love. Let the love in, and the rest will work itself out.”

This was made with a recycled chipboard letter box and wood circles from a placemat. Photograph popped up with recycled foamcore.

Fun in the garden

2011-06-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

We planted a vegetable garden in March. It is really growing, and we are learning in the process. We planted a lot of things, but only half of them grew. We have a holy ton of Zucchini, and other squashes that are the size of watermelons. The tomatoes are coming in great now, and the lettuce and other things have grown and gone to seed already and need to be replanted. I keep telling Pascual, "We need to plant more seeds". He gives me the look that all husbands give their wives when they use the Royal we.. so I say, "well, um.. the YOU part of the WE team needs to plant more stufff. "

We have never planted a garden before. This is all an experiment. A couple of years ago our next door neighbor took out her lawn in the front yard and planted a garden. Everyone would stop and talk to her, and say what a great idea. Her thought was, if she was going to water something, she would rather it be something she could eat. She provided the whole neighborhood with veggies, adopted our cat Persephone who hung out in the garden all day, and generally brought a sense of community to our little neighborhood. I have had a dream for a long time of creating a community garden where people can come and garden and plant things and share in the harvest. Maybe some day in the future we will have a yard large enough to do that. I find if kids participate in planting and caring for a garden, they have more interest in eating what they have grown. They become more adventurous eaters, and try things just because they grew them.

Here are some photos of the things we have picked. Even if you just plant a few herbs in a container, there is nothing like the taste of home grown.

Kayleigh's Easy Enchilada Soup Recipe

2011-06-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

So here is the deal. I am in a sling, and my family has been cooking, which doesn't happen often. My husband and daughter are both good cooks. Kayleigh is a baker and Paskie likes to do home style cooking. I usually do all the cooking, cleaning and shopping. Limited as I am right now with my mobility, they are pitching in. We decided to see how long we could go without a trip to the grocery store for anything other than milk and bread. Like most people, we have a stockpile (AKA pantry) full of dried foods, boxed foods, canned items, and sauce mixes... I will be posting recipes here for things we invent as we deplete the stockpile and save $$$ in the process.

I have been teaching Kayleigh how to cook with leftovers and what we have in the cupboards... so she made this with my supervision and it turned out delicious. It was supposed to be tortilla chicken soup, but it was thicker and tasted more like an enchilada, so we called it enchilada soup instead.

3 cans chicken (mine was the large cans from Costco) or 3 chicken breasts cooked till tender
1/2 large bottle spicy v-8 juice *
1 tbspn powdered chicken broth
1 white onion chopped
4 stalks of celery chopped
8 green onions chopped
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tbspns dried or fresh cilantro
1 can black olives
1 can mixed veggies which contain carrots, peas, potatoes, green beans (or 2 fresh carrots sliced)
8 corn tortillas
4 cups water

Break chicken up into shredded chicken.
Add to pot with V-8, water, taco seasoning, garlic powder, chicken boullion and simmer.
In frying pan, cook onions and celery (and fresh carrot if you use it) until tender. Add to pot.
Add olives and canned veggies.
Slice tortillas into thin strips and throw into pot. Let simmer for 1 hour. Tortillas will cause soup to thicken. Can be served immediately without simmering 1 hour, but will develop more flavor if cooked longer. Tastes delicious the next day. When serving, garnish with cilantro and cheese. If soup thickens too much, thin with water to desired consistency.
Makes 12 cups of soup.
* you can substitute the spicy v8 for a couple cans of tomato sauce, tomato juice, or 1 lg can of stewed tomatoes that you puree in a blender.
You can easily cut this recipe in half for a smaller batch. We freeze it and it holds up well.

Sorry there is no photo. We forgot to take one. Will post one soon.

Kids Garden Apron

2011-05-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

I made this darling apron from 2 pieces of baby clothes I got for .25 cents each at the thrift store. You will need a pair of overalls with adjustible straps and a heavy weight baby dress with a flat a line skirt.

First, cut the pants off of the overalls. I cut below the side snaps so she could put the whole thing over her shoulders and secure it easily herself with the side snaps. I serged the back part, but you can turn it under if you don't have a serger.

Cut the bodice of the baby dress off. This dress buttoned down the back, often times you will have one that doesn't and buttons at the shoulders. Eiter way, cut the side seams open, Trim the front of the skirt to fit the overall bib. Then take the back of the skirt, (I buttoned mine up) and cut a shorter piece to make the front pockets.. Turn under the top edge of the front pocket, and then sew it to the skirt, both good sides facing up. Then run stitches down the pocket to create 4 pockets, (I reinforced with backstitches at the top of the pockets for durability). Fold back side seams of skirt and stitch down. Sew skirt to overall bib front and you are done.

This is a super easy and fun way to reuse clothes your kids have outgrown. Althought my niece is a 3T, these overalls were 12 months and the dress was 9 months. The apron fits her perfectly. So next time before you donate those outgrown clothes, look at them in a different way and ask yourself, how could I make this into something else? Check back here often for more kids upcycled clothing tips.

80's skirt turned summer top

2011-05-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Remember these HUGE skirts we wore in the 80's. I found these at my local bin sale for a dollar, and wanted to turn them into a simple cotton top for summer. With my arm in a sling, I need things that are easy to get on and off. I recently made a pillowcase dress for my niece, and thought "Why not turn the skirts into pillowcase style tops?" It was super easy. First, on choosing the skirt, go for a print you like that has the following: elastic waist, and enough fabric to cover you from side to side. I try them on by placing the waistband above my boobs to make sure the circumference is right and there is enough length in the fabric to hang as long as I want.

Next, wash it and dry in hot water to make sure you get it to shrink first. Remove the waistband from the skirt. Now take the skirt and lay it down on your worktable with the sideseams on the side, and if there is a backseam, lay in on the back so the solid piece of fabric is in the front.

Taking a sleeveless shirt that fits you well, lay it on the fabric and trace the armhole with chalk as a guideline for how deep to cut it. If the skirt has pockets like mine did, I cut the armholes where the pockets were and it was perfect.

Turn under the arm seams., I serged mine first, but you can turn them twice and get the same effect.
Turn the top edges under 1 inch and form a casing for your ribbon or elastic. I cut mine in a V in front and straight in the back. You have to make a V shaped facing for the front if you want the V neck. It is a little more tricky, but not too difficult.

Once your casing is stitched up, thread a coordinating ribbon through and tie off. Be sure to try it on and measure the length of the ribbon with the top on you before cutting it. I run my elastic through the casing with a safety pin, and then pin one end to the other so it doesn't come undone. Then I tie it off where I want it and slide the knot into the center back to hide it. You can cut the ties so that you tie them into bows on both shoulders. I used a thin black elastic, and I love how it turned out.

princess t-shirt dress

2011-05-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the result of my first attempt to make a t-shirt princess dress for Loo Loo... It was pretty easy. I found this t-shirt dress at the TS and cut the bodice off...

I gathered up the netting, pinned it to the top of the skirt, then pinned the bodice back on and sewed it up. It doesn't take much sewing knowledge to do this... You could even do it by hand without taking the dress apart, just sew it on top. It would look just as cute... This netting was taken off a prom dress I cut short. It was a white underskirt designed to puff out the dress. It was originally white and went into the purple dye with all the other things. To finish it off and hide the stitches, I made a big sash out of the top of the netted skirt to tie in a bow on the side.

I hope Loo Loo likes it...

make mine Po Pull

2011-05-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were 3 or 4 and your favorite colors were pink and purple... Over the years. in my experience of raising girls and spending a lot of time around them.... here is what I have learned about color and little girls... and my opinion on how their love of color happens.  Most start out liking pink, because it is basically the only color they make little baby girl clothes in.,.. thus they are dressed in it constantly. Pink, real pale baby pink is the color of innocence, and it suits very tiny girls perfectly...

Then the toddler clothes start coming in orchid pink, fuschia, rose, blush, and even neon pink...sometimes mixed with brown or black. along with the introduction of lavander and purple.... the most regal of colors.    In medieval England, purple could only be worn by the Queen. Most girls start to gravitate to purple by about 3 years old, and usually from 3 to 6 it is in the favorite color scheme of most mini divas. I attribute this to them coming into their feminine power. Purple is a power color. A color of confidence. As a little girl gains her autonomy, and learns she is an individual and not an appendage of mommy, the wardrobe becomes filled with all the shades of the purple family.

In purchasing the clothing to make a princess wardrobe for my favorite 4 year old, I chose all white and pink fabrics and clothes that could be dyed if need be.   She was not too interested in the darling pink things I showed her, but she lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw the lavander dress I had made my other niece for her birthday. "Do you like this dress?" I asked her. She nodded, he big blue eyes going all round with amazement... "Do you want me to make you one like this?" Again another wordless nod... "What color do you want, pink or purple?"   Wiping her juice moustache off her upper lip, she says "Po Pull... Make mine Po Pull too please Auntie., and I want lotsa flowers on it..."

Do I have purple tulle to make it? Well.... not really, but I will have soon. With the help of my friends Rit Dye and a pair of BBQ tongs... Now, on the package of rit dye, it specifically states that nylon and other synthetic fibers will dye lighter, and to test dye a piece first. I am just too impatiemt... In for a penny in for a pound is my motto... I grabbed everything I had that was white, tulle netting like, and dunked it in the purple dye bath. Within a minute, it was all a lovely shade of grape purple. All my synthetic, drab, boring dingy tulle stuff was transformed!

After the success of the tulle, I threw in the cottons and was very pleased with the results. Now I am off to make the Po Pull Pwincess Dwess for Miss Loo Loo..... I hope to have it finished for posting tomorrow...

So go grab some Rit dye and get dying.... But be warned... it is addictive... You will find yourself scrounging for things to dunk in the dye... so grab more things than you think you might want to dye to have on hand for throwing in the pot.

Altered kids clothes

2011-05-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

I love finding things at garage sales I can redo for my nieces. I look for clothes with personality and character. I don't care what size they are... I convert them into what I need them to be. I spent $5 at a thrift store bag sale recently and bought all pink and white clothes to redo for Miss Breezie. Now I am on a mission to see how many outfits I can remake from these two bags of clothes. Here is a photo of the purchase.

The first makeovers are two tulle skirted dresses that were stained and shredded. I cut away the skirt from the bodice, removed the stained underskirt and ripped tulle, replaced the tulle with some sparkly christmas fabric I had left over from my wedding, and they are good as new.

Next I will be dying things purple, for the purple princess... stay tuned as I share the good, bad and ugly of dying fabrics and creating a princess wardrobe.

Garage sale goodness

2011-05-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

There are some days when I go garage saleing, and I can't find anything really great. Then there are days like Saturday... that go down in history as a GREAT GS day... Maybe it was leftover birthday Karma... maybe it was just plain good luck, but I SCORED big time.

I hit a few sales and got a couple of small things, then I arrived at an estate sale that was amazing. I found this dresser for $5 then bought all these wooden crates for another $5

While looking around some more, I found a bag of vintage laces for $3. I spotted these crochet hangers, which I was ready to pounce on.,.. she told me 10 for a dollar, and then sold them all to me for $3...

Then as I was leaving, I asked her if she was selling the workbench and cabinets in the garage. She told me, I could have them for free if I could get them out... Are you kidding? I got my hubby and the guy down the street helped him load it all up in our cars. It took 3 trips, but I got a workbench, 2 cabinets and 3 shelves, scrap wood, a maple bed, some wooden boxes, a picture frame and a door, 4 table legs, a root planter, some driftwood for mounting orchids, and a storage bin with sliding plastic drawers.

As I was leaving, she brought out a huge box of jewelry, and asked me if I did beading. I said yes, I did, and made jewelry with the girls at the shelter. She donated them to me for the art program!

Then after leaving that sale, I went by a sale I had stopped at early in the morning. and caught them as they were packing up everything for donation... I got these chandeliers and these two footstools for Kayleigh's room for FREE! We're going to paint the sides of the stools with spray paint and then cover the tops with a fabric that matches her room. She has been wanting some of these for a while now, and I am so stoked I got them for free! So... overall, I paid $40 and came home with 5 truckloads of stuff. Stay tuned over the coming months as I transform these items into garden decor and the potting shed of our dreams!

A royal birthday

2011-04-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

I have always been a big royal family fan. I remember watching Charles and Diana get married when I was in 11th grade. The cinderella story had me riveted. I feel a great sense of honor and excitement to be sharing my birthday with William and Kate. I remember, It was the night before my c-section with Kayleigh that the sad news of Diana's death was told to me by my aunt when I came back from a pre-birth dinner with my husband. I remember the shock I felt, and the strange sense of disbelief as I watched the news that night. I remember thinking, how sad, that she won't be there to see her beautiful sons grow up. How tragic that she will never hold her grandchildren. How truly sad I felt for those poor boys, who had just lost their only chance at having any kind of a "normal" experience of life.

I think Diana would be very proud of her sons. She left them with a legacy of love and kindness. But mostly, she instilled in them the sense of being normal boys in a world of priveledge. Two thumbs up for Wills, marrying a lovely girl, who is even more than his mother, "the people's princess" I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness. They deserve it.

Ode to Auntie Anne

2011-04-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

I have written about my Great Auntie Anne before here. She was a personal hero of mine. My Grandma was my favorite person ever in the world... Auntie Anne was the second. If I had to sum Auntie Anne up in one word, it would be Classy. Always dressed to the nines, only she could pull off pearls and tennis shoes and look casually elegant. From her mannerisms, to her dress, to the way she always smelled, she was every inch a classy lady. White Shoulders perfume never smelled the same on anyone like it did on her. I remember when I was little I would stand close to her just so I could smell her. She was always so pretty, and kind, and really listened to what you had to say, even if you were a kid.

Photo L-R Anna, Anne, Marie, Hank, Hans, Tony, Antone

She didn’t get her grace and elegance as the daughter of immigrant farmers., being raised on a ranch was not the charm school most would attend. And yet she grew with more and dignity and poise that any charm school debutante ever possessed. She was the family Fashionista. Loved the color blue, and never hesitated to tell you if anything you did was unladylike. She also never hesitated to tell you if the outfit you wore didn't look right, or ask if you had lost or put on a few pounds. I always made sure to "dress up" when I went to visit her. I got the most compliments when I wore blue (go figure)... I think she was born that way. A combination of solid grounded practicality, with an inner elegance and refinement no circumstance would alter.

She was a legend, and a great role model to so many. Kind, opinionated, stubborn, loving, funny elegant, a devout catholic, a talented artist and doll maker, a great gardener, a real FAMILY woman. She was a a person who triumphed over her losses, and grew to be a stronger and better person in spite of them. When she lost her first husband in the 1950's, she had teenagers and a six year old. She went through her finances and figured out she could provide for her family with the rental properties he had built, so she could be a stay at home mother. She went back to school to get a degree, just in case she might need it in the future. She did most of the repairs on her rentals herself, closed out his construction business and finished up his unfinished jobs, and was always a very independent woman. She showed her children that women could do anything men could do, and all while remaining every inch a lady. She took in another child and cared for her. She helped her family. She played the mother and father role for her youngest daughter. When a boy brought Susie home late from a date, Auntie Anne was there as the Irate Mother/Father to greet him at the door and chew him out. When Susie said “He’ll never ask me out again” Auntie Anne told her “Good, I hope he doesn’t!” She told me she didn't feel he was worthy of her daughter if he wouldn't respect her rules.

Photo L-R Irma, George, Hank, Hans, Anne, Tony, Marie

I asked her recently what it was like to live during the depression. She said "We really didn’t notice it too much because everyone we knew was in the same boat. You just made do with what you had, or you went without. Everyone helped one another. You gathered together as a family and shared the burdens. Big family get togethers, barbeques and picnics with everyone sharing what they had. We were never hungry. We had a roof over our heads. We were so much more fortunate than others."

I love the story of her and her Sister Marie (my grandma) and a fur coat. It was 1931. Marie wanted this muskrat coat, but couldn’t afford it, so she convinced Anne to pay half and they would share it. Kind hearted as she was, Auntie Anne didn’t have the heart to tell my grandma that she really didn’t want the coat, (she thought the muskrat was kind of yucky) or even like it… “but Marie really wanted it, and so I agreed.” After a few months of swapping the coat back and fourth after church on Sunday, Uncle Francis asked her “You really don’t like that coat do you?” She admitted she had done it to make her sister happy. So he took her out and bought her a new coat, and Anne gave the coat to Marie and said "You keep it Marie, it looks so much better on you anyway."

Auntie Anne became my surrogate grandma when Gramma Marie died. At 26, I assumed my grandma would be there forever, and that I would have PLENTY of time to visit her later. Then she was gone, and I had so many regrets over not visiting her more, and spending more time with her, and really sitting down and listening to her stories. Auntie Anne helped me ease the loss of my grandma. She was my connection to her. Sometimes she would say something like my grandma would have said, and I would feel like she was there with us. I would visit with her, and she would tell me all the stories of when they were young. We would look at all the photos and she would tell me who they were, what they were doing, and little snippets of memories of the day. My most precious ones are the ones of her and an old boyfriend and a cousin and my grandparents at Russleman park swimming in their 1930’s era bathing suits… clowning around and making funny faces for the camera. On the back of a photo of my grandma in a bathing suit hugging my grandpa, it says “Marie and Ben had a fight” we laughed at that one, because it was very typical of them… and she says, "well, obviously they made up… they got married after that.”

She loved her family, and we spent a lot of time talking about her grandchildren and great grandchildren, and even her great great grandchildren. She would say she never ever would have dreamed she would live so long to see great great grandchildren. She was always amazed by her longevity. And boy did she pack some living into those 96 years. She was so proud of her children and all that they have accomplished. What great parents and grandparents they turned out to be. When I pointed out that a lot of who they were was a direct result of the kind of mother and role model she was to them, she modestly sidestepped the issue and said they were just born good people, and that she was lucky. I say she was blessed. In so many ways. She had that no nonsense, practical Boeger mentality, with the stubbornness that goes along with it. She liked things done her way, which was the RIGHT way, and when she wanted it done, it had to be NOW. Like when she was out in her garden and tripped over the hose and fell in the rose bushes, slicing her arm. Does she call 911, heck no… she wraps a dish towel around it and drives herself to emergency. And God forbid she ever miss her Friday hair appointments. I asked her once why she wouldn’t take a cab, after hearing of her falling a couple of times while walking to the beauty shop. She was indignant. “If I can’t even walk a couple of blocks, I might as well be an invalid!”

I helped her with a garage sale a couple of years ago, and she was so funny. First she wanted to get rid of all this junk… I pulled everything out, and she would tell me who got it for her, and then it was a gift from so and so, and would they be hurt if she didn’t keep it, and so on… so half of the stuff went back on the shelves in the garage, saved for her family… I’m sure it’s still there… She just hated to get rid of something that still had use or life left in it… She was shocked when my daughter Megan took all her 1960’s dresses and wore them. “They are fashionable again? Aunt Gert was right, everything always comes back around about every 30-40 years! I guess it’s good I saved them then.”

She LIVED all 96.3 years of her life. Her family, her art, her dolls and her love are the legacy she leaves behind. Our tradition of playing We are Family at weddings and dancing around the bride just won't be the same without her sweet smiling face joining in the fun with us all...

She struggled with where to be buried... with her first or second husband. When I asked her if it really mattered where her body ended up, she agreed that no, it really didn't. But she had decided she wanted to be buried in the historic cemetery with her first husband, since he was the father of her children. I also think he was the love of her life... She laughed when she told me that she was going to be buried with Francis, and that her two husbands could fight over her when she got there. Then she wondered if it would be polygamy, and if it was legal in heaven...

Surrounded by love, her kids there with her, she layed down on the couch, freshly coiffed from her hair appointment, full makeup and dressed to the hilt, she slipped away peacefully, with the quiet and dignity she had hoped she would see in the end. I like to think that her big heart, so full of love, just finally gave out from all the loving she had done here on earth. God came while she was napping, took her by the hand and said "It’s time to go Anne." And she went, toward a light filled with all the love of her family that had passed before her, the sound of a harmonica playing Roll out the Barrel faintly in the distance and Uncle Bill hollering "Saddle Up Anne…"

I was talking to her in my head while driving up for her funeral. I was saying I hoped she was happy, and that heaven was everything she had hoped it would be… and to give a big hug and kiss to my grandma for me... then I turned up the radio and she answered me… the words “We are family, I got all my sisters with me”… was blasting out the radio. I saw a picture of all of them up there, in a circle, dancing and singing.... "Have faith in you and the things you do... you won't go wrong... this is our family jewel."

The hole that her passing left will never be filled. I want to honor her memory the best way I can, by remembering her with love, and humor... She told her family when she moved herself back into her house after leaving the retirement home... "I'm not leaving my house again unless it's feet first..." And as usual... she got her way.

More Estate and Garage Sale Madness

2011-03-04T08:59:00.000-08:00

I met a local gal that I have been emailing for a while. We headed out after dropping kids off on Friday to a couple of estate sales. My mission of finding garden stuff and patio furniture as of yet unfulfilled.

Beka and I drove to Garden Grove, 20 minutes away, to get an early preview of what the guy said would be a "BIG" garage sale. Well... some people's BIG is anothers no BIG deal. The man was very nice, but there wasn't much to choose from. I got 2 patio chairs that will make a cute bistro set if I can find a table to go with it. I also took 2 drawers from a junk pile in the driveway, and an old blouse I plan on making into an apron for my ETSY site. Becka got an old washing bucket rusted out and full of black widows, an old piece of chipped pottery in good condition and a towel ring from the trash pile. She scored the best stuff for free.

With enough time to go to one more sale, we headed out to an estate sale in Fullerton. This is one run by an estate sale company. But a different one that I have seen before. When we saw the nice displays and prices, we figured it would be to costly to shop here... we are quarter garage sale gals... But, I picked up a few things that interested me, and the prices in the end were actually negotiable... The photo shows the things I got from the 2 sales, along with a trip to a GREAT salvation army store Beka told me about that I have never been to. She is going to be a great person to know. She knows all the really good places to shop and find the best deals. Thanks for a fun day Beka, and for telling me about all the other fun places to explore. I look forward to more thrifting and saleing adventures with you... BTW... I went back to the sale on sunday, and bought up all the other things I wanted on the first day for a fraction of the price. I got the bodies to the doll heads that Beka bought on Friday... and a huge bag of vintage trims and fabrics and clothes for $20...

Estate Sale Madness

2011-03-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

I love a good estate sale. Unfortunately, with the economy the way it is these days, many estate sales are charging such high prices, they compare to new things at TJ maxx and Home Goods. The great deals are harder and harder to find.

I got up at 5:30 to go shopping at one that sounded promising. Armed with a wad of cash, shopping bags and a determination to find garden stuff, I headed out. It started at 6:30, When I got there at 6:00, there was a crowd standing outside the garage peering in... The Estate sale guy, a very hip, bald headed, earringed bohemian wearing a beret, says "OK, start pulling the boxes out, this is how we do it." and it was complete madness... I beelined for a chandelier hanging in the garage, and saw a couple of dealers pawing through boxes. I could hear glass breaking everywhere as people literally threw boxes to each other. Many of them worked in teams. Whole families working together digging and passing boxes like a bucket brigade. We were bumping in to one another and some were elbowing others out of the way. I tried to get more things, but my hand was full with the chandelier and I didn't dare put it down. I put my things in a pile on the driveway, the designated spot for all claimed things, and started digging through boxes. As I unpacked things and sat them on the ground, this lady was scooping them up and running off with them, and my :"hey, I wanted that" went unheard. I was digging through a box of stuff a dealer had passed on, Franciscan Desert Rose china, a full set... and another guy comes up to me out of the garage, sees what I have and says "Oh, that's mine" He was nowhere near it... and said it after he saw what it was... because I had been standing in that same place the whole time... but whatever... He paid a lot for it all... I have been looking for that china for a long time, but it was out of my price range. In all the hubub, I still managed to get some cute things... Many of which will be going up for sale on my ETSY site... So check it out in the next few days.

Flea Market Style dining room

2011-03-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

As anyone who knows me, or follows my blog knows... I love old stuff. My mom was a flea market style decorator WAY before it was fashionable and had it's own magazine dedicated to it. On sundays she would go to the local drive in flea market and buy stuff for a few dollars, bring it home and redecorate the house with it. She was so good at using what she had, and completely changing the look of something by rearranging and changing the color. Every couple of months I would come home and the house would either be rearranged, or in the process. We would help her move stuff around so she could have it done by the time dad got home. I never really realized what she was doing until recently. She was moving energy unconsciously. She wasn't the trained psychic she is now, back then. She didn't know feng shui or anything about energy. But she did know the house "felt" better after she moved things around.

Whenever I feel stuck energetically, I clean and then I purge, and then I rearrange. All lessons taught to me by my mom... She was down here recently and helped me decorate my new living-room-turned-dining-room. Together we make an awesome team.

I showed you the dresser and cup shelf I had done previously. I also had this china hutch I bought at goodwill for $40. I had intended for Paskie to use it in the garden with his plants on it. It was dark brown, and too shaded on the lower shelves for the plants. So I painted it white and brought it inside. By placing it on the other side of the fireplace, it balanced the dresser and cupshelf I had on the other side. It also gave me space to display the rest of my tea collection. Mom had also regifted me with a dining room set we traded back and fourth a few times. It was silver and gold metal. I painted the base white, and stuck the chairs in the tack room for another days project. I took the chairs I had left from an old farmhouse table set I bought when I was pregnant with Zack 17 years ago, and spray painted those white as well. It took 2 coats to get the right coverage, but they look great. The mirror I got from friends when they closed their business, and the pictures above it, I had purchased a long time ago at a garage sale. They all came out of the tack room (my storage facility.) We placed my grandmas trunk, which my dad painstakenly refinished for me, under the window for now. It will eventually go in my bedroom.

Then mom went digging in the garage and tack room some more, and found these pictures, frames and shelves to create these spaces. The chair was one I bought to recover, but it goes perfectly now in the space the way it is, so I am leaving it for now. All I have left to do is recover and paint the matching dining chairs and paint the long dresser I have in the tack room, and my flea market style dining room is complete.

Making "actual" not "virtual" friends

2011-02-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

The internet is a wonderful resource. It has been my main mode of communication with family and friends since moving to Orange County. I met my husband on line when he was still living in Barcelona and I was in the San Francisco Bay Area... and we created a relationship across the world from one another via the internet. He talks to his family in Spain on web chats every saturday morning, and his 2 year old nephew thinks he actually lives in the computer. I love how I can always find a new blog to explore when insomnia strikes. I can check the weather anywhere in the world while looking for a recipe that will please all the picky palates and food needs of my family.

But the greatest tool I have found the internet useful for by far, is connecting with new people. From my husband, to the new friends I had over for tea and art making on Saturday. I don't talk about it a lot on my blog... but moving has been very lonely for me... I can't work, so I have no social outlet there. I am trying to meet with others as much as possible, but all the classes I go to where I would meet like minded people cost money, and like everyone, there is never enough of that to go around these days... so what is a gal to do? Yahoo Groups! I met some people through various groups, and after emailing for a while, invited them over for an art play date and get together tea... It was a smashing success. I had only met 2 of the ladies, and by coincidence, some of the ladies knew each other from other yahoo groups and art groups in the area.... I finally feel like I am a part of a community down here. I have made some great connections, and created new friendships that I hope will lead to many fun gatherings in the future. I can't believe these are all the photos I took of the day. I am hoping some of the ladies will, post them soon so I can add them here... What a fun day.

We made gratitude journals. My mom Judi Garcia is a psychic up in the Bay Area. She came down to play with us, and agreed to guide us through some meditation techniques, and gave us some tools for finding the gift in a negative situation. We ate, drank, laughed and arted up a storm. Before we knew it, 8 hours had passed, and it was time to say goodbye. I was sad it was over so quickly... but very happy with how it turned out, and excited to know that there is another one coming up again in March and I will see everyone then... So hooray for Virtual friends turned into ACTUAL friends.... I love the internet...!

Repurposed dresser and cup shelf

2011-02-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

I have a lovely teacup collection that has been stored in a box in the garage for 5 years. I have a living room with no furniture in it, and no space in the dining room for a table... So I had an idea to somehow make a dining room out of the living room... I could take this $5 dresser I bought at my favorite thrift store, and somehow create a space to display some of my teacups. and then scrounge around and see what else I could come up with to make a dining room.

I puttied the holes in the dresser top and drawer fronts and had Zack sand the whole things down with a sander. Then guess what I did? Yep... painted it white... and spray painted the oxidixed bubbled up silver metal knobs blue... Joke all you want family members, but it looks very cool now....

I found this oak cupshelf I have had for years in the back of the garage... pulled it out and painted it white too... and Ta-Da... a great teacup display and place to store all my tea party goods. Napkins, teaspoons and strainers, tablecloths and linens, candlesticks and more are stored in the dresser drawers. Now when I have my OC art sister friends over for art day, I have a place to store all my tea party stuff! I LOVE the flea market style!

Garden Art

2011-02-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

I have been at it again... Dumpster diving for treasures... in the form of plastic bottles, cups and aluminum cans. I used to volunteer at the Depot's transfer station at the recycling center out in Benicia... I HATED to see the amount of plastic and aluminum that they trucked in every day... I think plastic food containers should be outlawed... everywhere. But since it probably won't be, I am trying to think up more creative ways to use it to brighten up our lives, rather than cause more blight.

I am also trying to create some art for my garden with no money... OK, so I splurged on a few cans of spray paint... But a lot of it I got for free at the HazMat facility in Martinez on my last visit there. You can use left over house paint, acrylic paint, glass paint, whatever you have laying around... I like the way the spray paint looks. But be sure to wear a mask if you will be spraying a lot... It is hard on the lungs...

I made these flowers by cutting the top of the can off like this

then I trimmed the rough edges off the cans and bottles like this

Using the pattern on the bottom of the plastic bottles, and by creating my own patterns, I cut strips down the side of the can, bent them out, and then cut petal shapes on the tips.

I layed them all out and spray painted them. Once they were dry, I layered them on top of one another

punched a hole through the middle, ran some wire through and tied it on to a small piece of doweling.

They make a really bright addition to my garden. I can't stop making them, it's addictive!

Vintage Luggage Redux

2011-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

I collect old suitcases... Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder to find the really cool ones. Once in a while I come across old hard sided train cases and larger luggage pieces at garage sales. They are usually really ugly and beat up and have very little personality. These three pieces were Navy blue, yellow and burgundy. I wanted a matching 3 piece luggage set that I could use for hauling my art stuff around.

Spray paint is the great equalizer. I LOVE spray paint. Gather up your stencils and anything else you can spray a pattern through, scrapbook laser cuts, lace, plastic tablecloths, paper doilies, rubber rug mats... really think outside the box with this...

I started with white, and layered the stencil down, spritzing the white over the suitcase in random patterns. Then I added pale green, aqua, pink and yellow. The colors seemed a little muted, so I then used a bright royal blue metallic and purple spritzed lightly to make the stencils really pop. The secret to this is the layers. You really need to keep layering one stencil over another to get the depth. If you don't like something, let it dry for a bit, and then spry over it again. Using metallic silver or pearl paint will give you a cool damask effect.

So drag out those old suitcases from the garage, go to the hazardous waste materials restore in your area and pick up spray paint for free, and go to town with all the cool colors and designs and see what you come up with!

The train case in the front left was painted by my daughter Kayleigh. It started life as a black textured leather case. She went for a more goth rock kind of look... she keeps her makeup in it. Next time you see one of these at a yard sale or thrift store, POUNCE on it... they are very cool when done up.

What would you do.....

2011-02-17T12:23:00.001-08:00

with a plethora of frames like this...? I love them ALL... I can't get rid of them.... I was going to paint them all gold back in the day... that day has passed.... then I was going to paint them white... and still might... then I thought to paint them all black as a base coat, and then paint them with colors and sand it off so the black shows through... which I could also do with the white.

Here is my delimma.... I have no artwork hanging in my house, no photos, nothing... I hung a couple of pictures I like, but they don't go with the house... it is a ranch style house with a hideous wallpaper of blue and gray marble texture in the dining room and kitchen wall... All my stuff is green, paintings with green, furniture that is shades of sage and celery green... and lots of white frames... (I had pale yellow walls at my old house and it looked GREAT!) so this blue gray thing just ain't workin' for me... I have one large wall that I thought I could hang the frames on temporarily until I figure out what to do with them, thus killing the proverbial two birds with one stone. Getting the frames out of storage while putting something on the walls... but I am unsure... I would love some advice people... I have posted a previous post on the 15th about the wine and glass cabinet I made in the dining room, and you can see the ugly wallpaper behind it... I need serious decorating help from all you artistical and decorational types... I am good at making the stuff, and merchandising a store, but not when it comes to my home... why is that? Maybe because it is a rental, and I am stuck with this wallpaper as it is... and I really don't like it... maybe I am just feeling stuck in general when it comes to decorating. I am loving the clean uncluttered feel of everything... Having not much stuff to begin with really gives you a clean slate... but it does make it hard when you try to do something with very little... Am I overthinking this?

So far I have come up with 2 possibilities... paint them all black and fill them with family photos in black and white and hang them in a grouping on the wall to create a gallery wall... the other is to paint them the soft aqua blue color I am in love with right now, and hang them all on the wall empty, and just appreciate all the lovely detail on them.... Anyone wanna give me an opinion?

Repurposed Sideboard and shelf unit = china wine and glass cabinet

2011-02-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

I got rid of a great china cabinet on Craigslist before I moved, and now have no space to store my china and favorite pieces. My mom was visiting a couple weeks ago, and was scrounging through my garage for things to help me decorate, when she saw this sideboard and shelf unit I had buried in the back of the garage. I said, "Hey mom, what if we put that on top of the sideboard in the kitchen and use it for glasses and wine and stuff?" She measures, and then she and my stepdad brought it in, cleaned it up and did this with it! How great is that? A garage sale sideboard we bought for $40 and had shoved in the garage, along with a bookshelf my neighbor gave me when he moved a couple years ago... 2 unrelated pieces, that when put together, made a very functional and cool looking piece in my dining room! I am stoked! Now I am on a mission to see what else I can make with what I already have lying around! Check back soon for more thrifting and repurposing ideas.

Repurposed Tackle Box

2011-02-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

I picked up this tackle box a couple weeks ago at a church rummage sale for $5 It was full of gas powered remote control car parts. This little case had seen a lot of use. I spray painted it white, and then painted the drawers with flat black. Now it is a perfect traveling case for all the art retreats and classes I plan on attending in the future. It holds all my necessary supplies and is compact and portable. So remember next time you see something at a yard sale that you might not usually buy (I always pass by the "guy" stuff) think of it from another perspective. What could I do with that...? It could be an art kit for your kids holding all their crayons, pencils, stickers and such. It could be a jewelry making supplies case... or embellishments for scrapbooking. The possibilities are endless, if you think outside the box.

upcycled garden art

2011-02-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

How cute are these? I met this lady at Swan Day in Martinez last year. She made all these things from stuff she diverted from landfill... Old broken and chipped plates, soda bottles, water bottles, aluminum cans and golf clubs... I am going to make some to add color to my backyard. I will be posting the results, what I learned while making them, and the actual how to's of doing it step by step in an upcoming post.

Thrifty Valentines Day Treats

2011-02-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have to check my blog archives. I may have posted this before... I took an old heart shaped box and deconstructed it, covered it with a world map tissue paper and filled it with candy for my husband. I saved the box from a couple of years ago and just reused it again. He didn't care that it was reused and regifted. The contents were new...

And here is something my daughter and I made after seeing this on a blog somewhere. We bought Jolly Rancher flavored candy canes after christmas for like 10 cents a box, layed them in a heart shape and filled them with melted chocolate chips. We put the melted chocolate in a ziploc bag, cut off the corner and squeezed it into the heart. She held the heart together while I squeezed. Then we added a lolipop stick and some colorful sprinkles and made valentines giveaways for all her friends. The kids loved them, being in Jr. High, food and candy are more appreciated than cards. It was easy and so cheap. A great way to repurpose leftover holiday candy. Another thing I do is buy after christmas candy like hersheys kisses and peanut butter cups. I sort out the colors, red, green gold and silver and use the gold and silver for New Years, the red for Valentines Day and the green for St. Patricks day. If you think ahead, you can really plan it so your party favors and little giftie treats cost almost nothing...

The handmade truffles recipe follows here:

Liquor Truffles

8 oz chocolate (I use the large dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe's)
1 cube of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup liquor (I used Macadamia Nut, but you can use Amaretto, Frangelico or Kaluah)
1 pound of chocolate for coating

Melt 8 oz of chocolate in double boiler. If you don't have one, a metal bowl floated in a pot of boiling water will work just as well. Remove from heat. Be careful not to let ANY water come in contact with the chocolate or it will sieze up and glob together.

Vigorously beat butter in to melted chocolate until light and fluffy (mine never got light and fluffy, but well mixed and it was still ok)

Continue beating slowly and add liquor slowly to chocolate mixture.

Chill for 1-3 hours. I did one hour in the freezer.

Dig a melon baller into the frozen mixture, creating balls and place in a bowl or on a wax paper lined baking sheet and re-freeze. Melt rest of chocolate, and coat frozen truffle balls with melted chocolate. I use 2 bamboo skewers. I stab one into the top of the truffle, dip it, tap off the excess chocolate, and then set on the wax paper lined baking sheet, using the other skewer to hold it in place while I twist the other one out of the truffle.. You must work quickly and leave most of them in the freezer until ready to dip. If you don't tap off the excess, you will have a large "foot" underneath your truffle where the excess chocolate will pool. When ready to decorate, dip top into more melted chocolate (I used white) and then dip immediately into sprinkles. Or cover skewer hole in top with a candy conversation heart or other festive decoration. Place in paper candy cups, available in the treat aisle or at Michaels in the baking section. These truffles are3 really yummy, but for adult consumption only. I will post a non-alcoholic recipe later this week that is great for easter treats.

Playing Card ATC's

2011-02-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) are very popular at art retreats as trades. I know a lot of artists who trade these cards religiously. It is really cool, to have a little piece of art created by an artist you admire.

I like to use old playing cards as the base for my ATC's. Collect images from your stash that are the right proportion to use on a playing card. I use the decorated side of the card as the back, and put a sticker with my name, the date and if a series, the series number. On the face side of the card, I lightly sand the plastic coating off and gesso the card. I use white, clear or black gesso, depending on my mood that day. Then I use paint, ink, stamps etc to color the background. Sometimes I use a magazine image or patterned paper as the background. Then I collage the rest of the images on the background, finishing with some text cut from an old book.

These can be glued to the front of a handmade card and used to make a lovely greeting card. They can also be used in small frames for home decor. Try a few for yourself and discover how addicting they can be.

One World One Heart

2011-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

UPDATE**** The winners of my giveaway are... Just Jenn Designs, Bliss Angels and Electra. I have notified all the winners by email. Congratulations, and thanks so much to everyone who liked my stuff enough to enter my drawing, and a big thanks to those who are now following me. I love having visitors, and plan on visiting all the blogs of the people who stopped by in the next couple of weeks. Thanks again to everyone!

I am late to post this, but I am participating in the One World One Heart blog giveaway. You can read about it here. I have participated in years past, and it is a great event. I have met some really amazing people over the years through it. Since this is the last one, I would like to be a part of it. I will be giving away 3 prizes from the studio...

A journal made with recycled clothing, ribbons and notebooks.

A soldered glass pendant

A fused glass heart made with dichroic glass (much prettier in person)

All you have to do is post something in the comments section of this post. Names will be drawn randomly and posted on the morning of the 18th, since the event ends on the 17th of February.

I am a mixed media artist living in Orange County California. I recently moved from the San Francisco Bay Area, and I am still in transition. I blog about art, travel, kid crafts, reuse crafts, decorating, and thoughtful musings about life in general. Poke around my blog a bit and see what I am about. Thanks so much for taking the time to visit! I look forward to meeting many of you through your blogs in the coming weeks and months. (I have found it takes a while to really "visit" all the blogs on here during the event)

Spa box made with recycled goods

2011-02-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

This beautiful spa box was created with all reused materials. I started out with a pretty box that I could recover with beautiful gift wrap. It had stationery in it, and a cool removable lining that would hold all the spa materials perfectly. I deconstructed the box, and recovered it carefully with gift wrap glued down with soft gel medium. I like gel medium, but you can use wallpaper paste, or glue sticks. Liquid glues cause the gift wrap to bubble... Gel medium is perfect, doesn't wrinkle or bubble. I used a credit card to burnish it down well to the surfaces, and then used heavy gel medium to glue the box back together.

Take some used dryer sheets. Make sure all the softener is off the sheets. I run them through the washer once after using them to dry. This gets any residual softener smell off the sheets. Press them lightly with a low iron and set aside. In a glass bowl combine 1/2 cup of rock salt, 1/4 cup epsom salts, and 1/4 cup existing bath salts that you have laying around. Add a few drops of food coloring to tint the salts the desired color. Add a few drops of essential oil or perfume oil if you have it lying around. Scoop 1/8 cup of the salts onto a dryer sheet. Tie up into a tight bundle. Trim the top of the bundle into a round shape, tie a bow and finish up with a satin rose glued on with a glue gun.

Next, take some of those watch part tins or mini tins you have in your scrapbooking stash that held eyelets back in the day, and fill each one with different kinds of bath salts. I have TONS of different kinds of mud bath, clay mud mask, healing herbal bath etc. You can use epsom salts tinted different colors if you don't have any bath supplies at home. You can get a 1/2 gallon of epsom salts at the Dollar Store. I cut strips off of one of the dryer sheets and rolled it on my pants to create a shabby looking ribbon/twine. Glue a punched circle of the coordinating gift wrap on the top of the tin, then tie it up like a little package, finish off with satin rose. Write the name of the bath product on the bottom of the tin. Now dig out those hotel toiletries you have laying in the bottom of the bathroom drawer, and cut matching paper to cover the existing labels. Glue the papers on to the toiletries.

Spray paint some poker chips with gold paint, punch a circle out and write the name of the product on the poker chip tag. You can cut circles out of cardstock or chipboard if you prefer. Tie label tags around the neck of the bottles, glue ribbons down with a dot of hot glue and embellish with roses.

Arrange items inside box, tie with a big bow and give to a friend who really needs some pampering. These gifts are always a big hit, and people are blown away that you made it all... Start looking for boxes and little containers at yard sales, and around your house that could be used for a similar project.

Placemat Beads

2011-01-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

I love to buy placemats at the local discount and thrift stores. Ross and TJ Maxx seem to usually carry an interesting assortment. But I buy them wherever I find them. Usually one placemat will cost between $1.99 and $10 depending on the material it is made from. But you will get over 100 pieces from one mat. I also buy purses, trivets, coasters etc. from thrift stores and garage sales and deconstruct them for the pieces.

These beads were made from a placemat made with wooden circles. They had brown and black, I bought one of each. I punched out circles with a circle punch sized to fit on top of the wood circles. I glued them down with Gel Medium, and when they were dry, I topped them with Crystal Laquer. You can use Diamond Glaze, gloss gel medium, polymer acrylic, spray varathane, or any kind of glossy sealer. I am so excited to make something with these beads. I will post some projects with them later in the month. Bear in mind when using vintage papers, sometimes the gloss finish changes the look of the paper significantly. You never know what you will get, which is part of what I find so fun about this project. Check out my etsy site if you would like to purchase these beads.

Peanut Brittle

2010-12-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

It's the holiday time again, and we are sweet makers, cookie bakers, candy breakers around here... I started making cookies when I was a kid... and still have the cookie book my grandma bought me when I was a teenager and inscribed this lovely note to me... I admit, I was her favorite... I think she tried to make up to my mom through me, but however it happened, she had a special spot for me, and I worshipped her. Baking and making candy always brings me back to those days I spent at her house, testing cookie recipes, learning how to cook standing on a chair pulled up to the stove next to her. She taught me how to make Rouladen when I was in the 3rd grade and I won a blue ribbon at the 4-H cooking contest with it. She was so proud!

I made this peanut brittle recipe today, it is from the family cookbook I made a while back. It is from my cousin Donna Wrfight, who I think got it from the Joy of Cooking... Let me say it BLOWS AWAY the Sees peanut brittle if you are a fan... here is a photo, and the recipe follows. It calls for 1 lb of peanuts. This makes a very peanutty brittle... you could use 1/2 pound and be fine. I have also made it with other nuts and it is just as good. Try your own version using macadamias, marcona almonds, pecans, pistacios, cashews, whatever nuts are your favorite. I make one batch at a time, because the pot I have boils over when I add the baking soda mixture if I double it... so beware of the foaming in the end....

I will be posting more family favorite holiday recipes all this month, so check back.... or subscribe and follow me on facebook....

Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cups light corn syrup
1 cup water
3 Tbspns butter
1/2 lb shelled unroasted peanuts (I have used the roasted salted ones too and it comes out fine)

Butter 2 cookie sheets and set aside.
Mix baking soda, vanilla and 1 tsp water together, set aside
Mix sugar, water and corn syrup together in 3 qt saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until 240 degrees or soft ball stage. Stir in butter and then peanuts. (recipe calls for 1 lb but I use a ½ lb and make a double batch that way I get more and it is still just as good) Continue cooking to 300 degrees, or hard crack stage. Be careful as it can burn easily at this stage… remove from heat and add in vanilla baking soda mixture. Candy will foam up and double in volume as well as darken, quickly spread out on cookie sheets and stretch with wooden spoon to desired thinness. You must work fast. Allow to cool. Break into pieces and serve. Can be stored in an airtight bag for 2 weeks.

Ode to my uterus

2010-12-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

This is an art piece I did when I found out I was having a hysterectomy. I was really bummed out about it for a lot of reasons... Mostly I was angry and resentful at my ex for insisting I have my tubes tied cause he was too chickenshit to get a vasectomy... because I really wanted 2 more kids... I would have them now and they would be 5 and 3... little versions of me and Paskie... with big eyes and dark curly hair and chubby cheeks... probably fluent in english and spanish... I cried for those babies that would never be born. I cried for being so controlled by my ex that I allowed HIM to decide what would happen to my body, instead of taking a stand and saying, "No, you get snipped if you don't want more." But then he never would have had his other daughter, who was a miracle, since the new wife wasn't supposed to be able to have kids... so she never would have existed if another choice was made... I started to be sad for the loss of the should haves and could haves, and got so lost in it, that for a time, I had to just be with it and cry. Then I decided I had mourned enough. I needed to find the gifts. So I looked at all the things my uterus had accomplished and been through during her working years... So here is my eulogy for Aunt Mary...

Aunt Mary we affectionately called her here in our house... her and her monthly visits. She loved to go on trips, and always managed to show up just as we were leaving so she could tag along for most of it., She had a rocky start in the early years as a teen. We had endometriosis and a couple of surgeries, and wondered if we could even carry a baby... But like the little engine that could... she chugged along in spite of the doctors warnings. She provided me with four awesome kids. She and I survived induced labor, pitocin and no epidural (ouch) and a beautiful quiet easy breezy natural delivery without a doctor for the first half of delivery. We had our water broke, and she hung in there like a champ as she pushed baby number 3 out with one push. She was poked and prodded and cut open with a c-section when baby number 4 decided she liked her butt tucked snugly under my pelvic bone. She watched her friends Fallopian Tubes and Ovaries say a final goodbye, as I debated with the doctor over tying both tubes or only doing one and rolling the dice. I wish I had been a gambler. She worked very hard to help 3 different couples become a family through surrogacy. She did her part, but their eggs just weren't healthy enough to implant in her......

Then a few months ago, I started noticing she was tired... worn out, and literally falling out of me... Poor Mary. We had a good run... Wish I could have put you up in a hammock with a mai tai and let you retire in style... but we had to part... you and I... I will miss you. You were very good to me. I will remember you fondly. I never thought of you as a curse. I celebrated every single time you visited. and also the times you didn't.. I wish you well Mary. Rest In Peace....

Classes with the Fabulous Katherine England

2010-12-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

So I took some classes this past weekend at Katherine England's studio in Fullerton. She is such a sweet person. Spent Saturday doing a fused glass class, and Sunday making a Wizard of Oz journal. Learned some great techniques and made some really cool stuff. If you are ever in the area and want to take a fun class, check her out... http://www.katherineengland.com/ I am planning taking some of the classes next year.

The journal was a color copy of the book front and back, glued to birch boards 1/4 inch thick. We used PVA and a credit card to stick it down, and then minwax polycrylic to seal it. Then we used the 140 lb watercolor paper sheets to make 6 signatures, and sewed it together using the coptic stitch technique. She gives you all the materials you need to make the book. I would suggest if you want to add jewels and bling bling to the stitches, you bring that along with you. I bought this sparkly red faux leather at the fabric store with one of those... "I don't know what I will use it for but I am getting it anyway" kind of moments... and LOVE how the sparkly red looks on the spine.

The houses were all made with Dichroic glass. I cut and nipped the pieces, and made a holy ton of houses for a future mosaic piece. I also experimented with making pendants, sandwiching 2 pieces of glass, dichro to dichro with clear on top, and got some pretty cool results. I can't wait to get more and make a ton more things. I want to make pendants for my etsy shop... I have some steampunk themed ideas rolling around in my head that would be really cool....

Surrendering

2010-09-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

Remember when we were kids and would play tag or capture the flag and you would hate to be the kid who yelled "I surrender!" because it made you the "loser"? I have been experiencing these "loser" feelings a lot lately... Buckling under the weight of all the things I need to do, but have yet to accomplish, I feel overwhelmed. In a new town with absolutely no friends... Alone in ways I have never experienced before, I am faced daily with medical issues, doctor visits, insurance company and attorney phone calls... Some days, it is hard to get out of bed... I was trying to remember if I have ever felt like this before, and then I remembered the post partum depression I experienced with Kayleigh... No... It couldn't be THAT... not the D word... But then I just let go once I recognized it... It is depression... It is a lot of things, all rolled into a big ball of surrender... and I think that is what is depressing me... The surrendering... as if by surrendering to my life and my current limitations, I am a loser... Intellectually I know this is not the case... But the fighter in me says, "that's it, it's all over once you surrender.."

Will the world stop turning if I don't get my boxes unpacked? Will the art supplies shrivel up and blow away waiting for me to use them? Can a person actually die from too many unexpressed creative ideas? These questions haunt me, and keep me awake all night... What I really need right now is some grandma therapy... When I was a teen ager and feeling blue, I would visit my grandma, and tell her all my troubles... she always had wise advice on how to help me, and if she couldn't think of anything else to say, she would put her arm around me and pat my back and say, "then just have a good cry, let yourself really feel it... you will feel better." So here I sit, a box of permission slips (tissue) on the table next to me... trying to have a good cry... I have my grandma's permission.... and I feel like if I start to cry... I might crack apart and never stop...

I feel blocked at every turn... In more ways than I even want to put out there into the world in print... but some, like decorating my home, getting organized, creating a nurturing environment for my family, starting the Christmas gift making, and creating my "Creative Business" I started so many moons ago and never finished... these are the things that frustrate the hell out of me... because all these physical limitations and other things are happening that prevent me from doing the things that are literally BURNING in my soul to do... And every time I come up with a solution, it involves getting or hiring help, and that appears to not be an option.... So I am stuck here... Knowing I need to just give up and let it go for a while, and refusing to let go because then I will be a loser...

I am trying a new tactic today... Little by little, every single day, I will try to create one thing in my life that is a step toward the life I want... I can see it so clearly, what it looks like, what it feels like, even what it tastes and smells like... So instead of focusing on how far away it is, I will focus on how much closer I am getting to it every day. Accepting myself the way I am now, and embracing my limitations is a step in the right direction. Taking the time to nurture myself and care for my poor body right now when it really needs some kindness and love is another step... Doing little, manageable projects that I can accomplish on my own, will give me a sense of satisfaction, and quiet the creative whispers that are becoming screams in my heart. I can only do what I can do, which is my best... the rest will just have to wait... and every day I repeat these words to myself over and over....

"What God leads us to... He leads us through...." I saw it on a church billboard here in town the other day... and it really jolted me... So I am surrendering it all to God... I am letting Him handle the details for me, because it is just too big a job for me on my own right now...

Healing Journal Day 1 (how to make it)

2010-08-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

I took this Dollar Store journal filled with brown paper, and flipped it over so the pattern on the cover wouldn't show through the semi transparent fabric.

Then I deconstructed my daughters t-shirt so I had a front, back and sleeves.

I put a generous coat of heavy gel medium on the cover, pressed the fabric on to the book board, then flipped it over.

Using more gel medium around the edges, I folded the extra around the edge, being careful to make sure the corners stayed really flat. I then took one of the book pages from the book, lined it up with the holes and covered it with gel medium, sticking it down over the inside of the cover. This gives you a very nice custom finished look.

Here is my finished journal, ready to be hole punched through the fabric in the existing holes, and tied with some cool fibres I have... This project is very easy, and the cool part is, if you mess it up, pull it off and do it again. This one took me 10 minutes start to finish including taking the photos. You can use old book boards if you want, just be sure to cut a strip 1/2 inch thick and the same length as the book board before covering with fabric. This will allow you to open the book without damaging pages or the cover.

Healing Journal Challenge...

2010-07-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

I looked up all the things that are wrong with me in the Heal Your Body Book by Louise Hay the other day... I found it really interesting that everything boiled down to the same core issues... I decided to create a healing journal with the illness/diagnosis, the metaphysical reason for the illness, and the affirmation to change the belief causing the issue... I will be posting it here. My friend Danita is joining me in a healing journal project as well... Anyone else out there have some body issues they want to look at more closely and release? I am hopeful that the process of making the journal, really looking at the issue and then releasing it will help me to heal myself and my life in ways I am not even able to imagine... Stay tuned in the weeks to come as I share what I learn here....

First step is creating the journal.... I bought a TON of these little books at the dollar store about 7 years ago and have had them in a box all this time... I had been covering them with recycled clothing from the depot and selling them at art fairs and craft boutiques... So I am starting with one of these... covering it with an old T-shirt and then gessoing the pages to give them strength.... I will post the finished book tomorrow with instructions...

Looking for the pony

2010-07-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

I know I have told the story before... but for those who don't know it, my grandma was always an optomist... She loved to tell this story about the identical twins, one was a pessemist and one was an optomist. Their mother took them in for a medical study, and they put the pessemist kid in a room full of toys, and the optomist kid in a room full of horse poo.... They left them alone for 15 minutes and went back to check on them... The pessemist kid was crying in the middle of the room, saying that there was no use playing with the toys because they were just going to make him leave anyway and he couldn't really enjoy them if he couldn't keep them... Then they went to check on the optomist kid, he was nowhere in sight. In the far corner of the room, they saw movement, and he was elbows deep in the poop, scooping it up and throwing it over his shoulder, digging another huge scoop and flinging it over his shoulder. The doctor asked him what he was doing, and the little boy wiped an arm across his sweaty brow and stated "With all this horse shit, there has GOT to be a pony in here SOMEWHERE!"

That is my life these days... Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes your the bug... I just keep looking for the pony, and hoping and trusting that it will all be so much better on the other side of the room full of horse poo....

Family, Friends, shopping and cocktails

2010-07-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

I spent the day yesterday with my friends Pat, Debi, Joanne and Mel... As always, we had a really great time eating, power shopping and getting caught up on all our lives... We only see each other about once or twice a year, but when we do, the fun is ON... I love that we can come together, appreciate seeing one another and catch up, and then go on with our lives, picking up where we leave off the next time we see each other. They are incredibly sweet and talented ladies with the greatest sense of humor... I LOVE being around them...

Then I spent a few days of quality time with my mom, stepdad and nieces.... and a day with my wonderful daughter Megan... Nothing beats hanging out with two of your favorite females on the planet. Megan, Mom and I went and saw Inception... what a GREAT movie... You can't really describe it, you have to just experience it... Megan was on the edge of her seat in the theatre... Mom and I got a kick out of her.

After the trip up north this time... I realized that I am missing a sense of belonging somewhere. I don't really belong here yet... and with constantly taking a trip up there every 2 weeks, I am not really here or there.... I am in limbo, still living out of boxes, struggling to unpack things between various doctor appointments and making sure not to overdo it with the arm... Taking the time to take care of myself has been one of my hardest life lessons... and I think I am still not learning it very well... But I am also getting clear that part of settling in and getting comfortable with a place comes with time... I just need to learn to flow with the timeframes a little better. Patience.... I need it... and I need it NOW!

I haven't had much opportunity to make friends here in the OC. I did meet one sweet lady named Danette from the Kelly Rae Roberts flying lessons class that lives about 40 minutes from me... She was really lovely, and we chatted for a couple hours at Barnes and Noble about art, and our dreams of where we want to take our art... We are planning on creating some art dates to get together and actually DO art here soon. I have been trying to create some community for myself down here... I went to Katherine England's studio, which is in Fullerton, and met some gals in her Monday Nite Class that were a hoot... She is an incredible artist. I knew it was her house before the GPS told me... It is Periwinkle blue with chartreuse green trim with the cutest whimsical fence... I went to check out the studio and see if it was a class I would be interested in taking. I felt really honored, because she told me initially that I couldn't be in that class because it was full, but several of them talked to her and voted me in... I was stoked about that... They were so welcoming and fun... Eating dessert and drinking wine... My kind of gals! I am looking forward to getting to know them better. I also posted a note on the Artfest website about looking for OC artists that wanted to get together regularly for art play dates... I had a few people respond, and I am collecting names so I can start a group. I even met a scrapbooker at the Wal Mart in the magazine aisle who I plan to call and contact about getting together to scrapbook... So it is all coming together slowly... I think things will pick up once the kids get here at the end of the month....

God Bless America and Flea Markets...

2010-07-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

We spent the morning at the Pasadena City College Flea Market... Let me tell you, these people got it going on... They have the actual market at the college. You park in the far parking structure and ride the golf cart shuttles in the the market. There are 2 lots on either side of a 3 story parking structure. The market is inside the parking structure, and in the 2 outside lots. There is no admission charge like Long Beach, Rose Bowl, Alameda and some of the other antiques markets I have been to. They do require the vendors to sell items at least 20 years old and the prices are the best I have found down here so far. Lots of record dealers, and vintage clothing people... And jewelry vendors galore with all the fun costume jewelry from the 30's thru 60's. I did see some great furniture buys too, but was not there for furniture that day. Definately check it out. It is worth the trip.... It happens on the 1st Sunday of every month.

We spent the evening at the park in Yorba Linda with our friends Mike and Claire and all their British friends. It was a fun way to kick off our first official holiday here in So Cal. Really great fireworks show.

I thought I was a Gypsy

2010-06-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

My husband Pascual tells me I am probably descended from Gypsies. My great grandmother's last name was Montoya,. He tells me that is the most common name for Gypsies in Spain. I have always loved traveling, and journeys, be they physical or spiritual. I have always had a fascination with horse drawn vehicles, and love camping out under the stars. I love oracles, like Rune stones and Tarot cards and palm reading. My mom is a psychic, and I have learned to read people from her.  Something in my soul just lights up whenever I hear any strong rythmic music with heavy tribal beats and the soft yearning sound of a violin. The first time I heard Flamenco music and saw real Gypsies dancing in Madrid, I felt like I was at a family reunion.

But then I have the same affinity with Hawaii. The feel of the tradewinds on my face, the smell of the damp earth and the Plumeria on the breeze. The taste of a Mai Tai, the slice of pineapple all juicy as it runs over my hand. The soothing sounds of the surf crashing as it lulls me into the soundest sleep ever. The feel of waterfalls crashing over me, and the tang of salt on my lips after playing in the surf. The sounds of the Conch horn and the tribal drums and listening to a ukulele while dancing the lovely soft motions of the hula. The sad inexplicable feeling I get when leaving the islands that I am leaving home forever.

Then there is Italy. Land of my grandfathers people... Tuscany, the lovely stone villages with tiny winding streets and beautiful cathedrals. The chatter of the Italian language that always sounds like an argument, even when they are just discussing the weather. The gorgeous blue oceans, and the glorious foods, so wonderful each bite is like a miracle on your tongue. The art, the sculptures, the timelessness of a place where people have lived for thousands of years.

Our plan is to travel all over the world together starting in 3 years with small trips, and escalating to monthly residencies in other countries to really immerse ourselves in the culture and feel the experience of being there.... Traveling to new places, seeing new things, experiencing new wonders with the man I love. what can be better than that?

Then I talked with my Great-Auntie Anne... This lovely woman in the photo with me is 95 1/2 years young. She has LIVED all 95 years of her life.  4 children, numerous grand, great grand and even a few great-great grandchildren are the legacy she leaves behind. But believe me, she ain't done yet... She was the last guest at the wedding on Saturday. One of the first ones there, and the last one out after all the tables were folded and the chairs put away and the presents loaded and the catering trucks were gone, she was there, chatting with everyone. Visiting and reconnecting with family she hadn't seen in a long time.  All the way to the car she chatted about the old days, when she was young, before all of us were born, when she and her 6 siblings lived on the farm, and dreamed of the lives they would have when they were grown.

I was thinking that in another generation, the family won't even remember any of them. The ones that do are getting older, and passing away. She is our last stronghold on the past. On our German heritage and the remaining member of the original 7 kids that started this now 600 plus extended family of cousins and aunts and uncles. She outlived 2 husbands with a poise and dignity and grace that is unfathomable in these modern times. She is devout, and raised her children to love God, but to enjoy life as well, and embrace all the beauty of life. She has traveled all over the world with her husbands and family, experiencing and living through things most of us can only imagine. But at the end of her days, in the sunset of her life, with all the experiences and life and love behind her, the one thing she wants is to be home... In her home... surrounded by the memories of her family. Living in the house her husband built with his own two hands, Their heir little family had grown too big for the small little dollhouse cottage he had built next door when she was his bride.  The cabinets and countertops custom made for her height. Her lovely paintings hang on the walls, a home full of love and memories.

I realized in that moment... I am NOT a gypsy. I may love to travel, and to experience new things... but in the end, after a few weeks, I want what she wants... to go HOME. To be in that place where I create the energy, where my memories reside. In the end, after you have outlived your life partner twice, all you have left are your memories. But she is never bitter. She faces each new day with a smile. She says if she wakes up, it is always a good day, and cause to celebrate for the simple fact that she DID wake up. She lives each day now as if it is her last. Thankful for what she has, and grounded in the knowledge that she is exactly where she wants to be. Her kids worry about her. But she is the most stubborn person you ever met. I think the stubbornness is what keeps her going. Her inability to give up on living her life. Her insistance on walking to the hairdressers across the street every friday to get her hair done. Her simple acceptance to stop dying her hair at 95 because she is old enough to have white hair now instead of blonde. Her decision to live out the rest of her life on her own terms, the way she wants, and against her kids wishes. Still sharp as a tack,. with a memory like an elephant, she reminds me of things I told her years ago that I no longer remember saying.

I hope that one day way in the future, I grow up to be like her. So strongly grounded in who I am, that I KNOW without question where it is I need to be. That I have experienced all the things in life there is for me to do, and yet I still find joy in a visit from a family member or a walk to the beauty parlor. The sight of my garden coming in fills me with hope and joy mixed with a feeling of renewal as I watch another spring being born.   I hope with all my heart, that this gypsy girl learns what Auntie Anne has learned, that home is where your heart resides, inside of yourself...  and that the greatest art in life is the fine art of being human.

10 things I learned today at the flea market

2010-06-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

1. Wear 50 SPF sunscreen when your lilly white body has not seen the sun for 10 months

2. Start in the back where the cheap stuff is and work your way forward.

3. Don't buy from the first vendor that has something you like.

4. Make friends with the vendors. If you shop there every month they will hold things with you in mind.

5. Bring lots of water and a lunch.

6. Wear a hat and sunglasses.

7. wear comfortable shoes.

8. bring your husband or a friend to help carry purchases.

9. There are a lot of other people in the world with the same taste as me

10. There are no original ideas.

What happened to the whistlers of this world?

2010-06-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

I was getting gas recently and a man was walking in front of me whistling an old tune. I remember my grandpa always whistled. My father in law used to whistle too. I wondered, "Is it a thing from the depression era?" Do only old men whistle anymore? Even the old wolf whistle when a guy saw a cute girl has been replaced with texting and IM chats. I miss the whistling. We need more whistlers in the world. I started thinking about how maybe they did it during the depression as a way to shake the blues... Thus the reason for the song Whistle While You Work, which was written in 1937 during the depression era. Maybe whistling was our grandparents and great grandparents form of old time Prozac. My Auntie Anne (who is 95 and still kicking) says they never noticed what they didn't have, because everyone was poor. But you took care of what you did have. You made it last through many hands. An old dress that was too small became a new dress to a younger sibling. People were creative and decorated their homes with simple things made from dumpster finds and scrap wood and chicken wire, and called it a pie safe or a cupboard. All this LONG before the Shabby Chic and Flea Market Style or Country Home trends became popular.

I like simple things. I got rid of most of my furniture when I moved, and now I am having fun scrounging flea markets and antique stores and thrift stores and garage sales for the perfect pieces that will make my new house feel like a home. I have looked at the furniture stores which are a dime a dozen down here, but I never get the thrill in those commercial showrooms like I do in a junk or antique store. I found a cool place, Old Town Orange in the city of Orange has a BUNCH of antique stores, and they have flea markets in many of the cities around here every weekend. I am in Junkers Heaven right now... I found these items at some local thrift stores and I am going back for some of them today. I love the patina and rusty peeling paint, I love the old hand carved wood, and the craftsmanship of old things. I think, like all old soul people, I tend to gravitate toward things with a history, that had meaning for some depression era lady or gentleman. It survived with them through hard times. It was used, and loved, and taken care of until some future generation decided they no longer wanted that old thing. Then I come along, and it is there, for sale in a place that I would find it, in the exact moment that I was looking for exactly that thing.... and I am in love with it as much as the person who owned it before. I take it home, feeling the thrill of another fabulous find... and as I load it in my car.... I hear whistling in my mind...

Moving....

2010-05-28T19:33:00.001-07:00

The day is finally here. I have been talking about it and posting about it for months, and now it is upon us. I have been so busy packing, repacking and purging that I haven't had time to really think about what it will be like to NOT live in the Bay Area anymore. I have been focusing on getting ready, keeping my family somewhat together and living between 2 places for 6 months now. The finish line I have been racing toward was the ultimate goal of finding a house and settling down to start a new chapter of our life in Southern California. Initial thoughts were "Hey, it's only a 1 hour plane ride or a 6 hour car ride. I can come back and forth as much as I want." and now I am saying "I HATE that drive down I-5 and once I get to Valencia, it is STILL another 2 1/2 hours home because of all the lovely LA traffic." Where did my time go to appreciate all the old things I am leaving behind, and the new discoveries ahead of me?

I think every town and area has a "vibe" or "groove" that is unique to itself. I have been many places in the world, and although I have loved visiting them... there were very few that took my breath away enough that I would actually want to live there. Maui is one... The Amalfi Coast in Italy is another... and then there is my hometown. Martinez, home of the Martini and Joe Di Maggio and the father of the National Park Service John Muir. Is it home just because my family has lived here for 5 generations now? Is it that I know where everything is? Is it because I know so many people here? What is it about this town that has cast a spell on me. I know many who leave, but they come back. Why does this place feel like home to me? Why do I think of this town when I think of going home?

I think it is like the famous old saying, home is where the heart is. My heart is here, or a large part of it anyway. My roots, my friends, my family, my memories and history are all here in this tiny little town on the Carquinez Straits that many people don't even know exists. I will miss it here... I will miss my life here.... and everyone I love, but I can't help but be excited for the changes to come. New adventures waiting to be had. New friends to discover and fall in love with. So many opportunities ahead of us with a clean fresh start. Standing on the threshold of terror and excitement, I am ready to jump into the unknown. I am ready now because my wonderful husband has already paved the way for us to make it easier. He is braver than we are. He has done this before, leaving his country and all that was familiar to come here for a better life... How can I not do the same with him as my example? How can I not support him as he has supported us? I am ready now, because he has made sacrifices that have made life easier for the rest of us. I am ready to do something difficult for love of him, and all he has done for us. I would follow him anywhere. So now I must go where my heart is... with him... to this new life we are creating for our family...

Wish us love.....

Nini's Garden

2010-05-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

My son Austin lives with his Dad and Grandma Nini in Walnut Creek. She has one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. Not just because it is pretty, but because of all the love that went into creating it... His grandparents bought the property in the 1950's and raised a large family here. Gardening was Papa's passion, and he would spend hours puttering in his garden. He is gone now, but Austin's dad takes care of the garden, and it thrives, a lasting legacy to all the love Nini and Papa and their family have put into it through the years.

Spraypaint-a-palooza

2010-05-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

I talked about this on Facebook but I want to share how AWESOME my day was yesterday with my pals the Bay Area Art Sisters. I met these ladies on the Artfest website a few years ago, and we have been getting together once a month to do fun art projects. This is one talented group of women with a collective pool of knowledge that is fathomless. I always come away from these get togethers inspired, rejuvinated and wishing the hours would slow down for the time when we are together so I could do more.

We spray painted all kinds of things. All my stuff is packed up, so I brought paint, and some vintage wallpaper, and suitcases (I had 10 of them in storage, I thought it was 9, but I found another one today.) At first I was really feeling challenged. The other ladies were going to town with a sense of purpose, and I didn't know what to do until I saw this piece Michele did. I was so inspired, I tried a sheet of wallpaper and then boldly started in on the train case.

I knew I wanted a pastel look to it. I plan on using them in my studio to hold my vintage fabrics. I chose all the easter egg colors, with a darker purple and blue for contrast. After layering the cream, pink, green and blue, I needed something to make the images pop, so I used the purple lightly and loved the look., Then I tried the blue and started to really see where this would go. I just kept layering the colors and images over one another until I liked the way it looked. Using silver on one of them created a damask effect that was cool, but too different from the other two, so I layered more color over the silver until I got the results I wanted.

I love how they turned out. My favorite was a stencil Michele had that I used a lot. The checkered rubber rug mat made cool checks and a neat mono print that I loved. The plastic doilies made cool floral motifs that all blended really well together with the stencils I used. I like the pastel paisley hippie look they have.

Here are some of the projects the other ladies did. As you can see, their talent abounds. I am addicted now, and can't wait for the rain to stop so I can bust out the spray paint and go to town making pages for journals.

I have been missing the ability to create. I am really limited on the things I can do with my arm, so this was perfect for me. I think I want to get a small air compressor and an airbrush kit so I can do more types of painting.

I love getting together with other creative people and sharing ideas. There is a consciousness that is created, as we all go into the zone and work on our projects together. Sometimes there is chatting, and sometimes we are quiet as we concentrate on the process, but no matter what we do, it is always cool, and it is one of the best ways on the planet to spend a sunday afternoon.... I am going to miss these ladies, and plan on trying to make as many of these playdates as I can even after I move. I urge you to plan regular art dates with friends to play and make art. It pushes you to stretch out of your comfort zone and try new things. I can't wait till I move to LA and make new art friends down there. These ladies gave me some ideas on where to go to meet people, and I have my super awesome friend, the fabulous artist Sharon Soneff down there who I have been dying to spend time with. I am looking forward to a creative summer!

Birthday Joys

2010-04-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Although today is my actual birthday, Mom and Megan and Kayleigh and Savannah took me out to tea for an early birthday treat, since I was going to LA on my birthday. We went to the tea shop in Pleasanton and ate in the garden. The food was so beautiful, and we all had a great time visiting and giggling and drinking copious amounts of tea. Savannah and Kayleigh thought of a dozen different party themes and are planning a tea party of their own. They discovered peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwiches. Kayleigh says they are hecka good.

Packing and Purging

2010-04-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

I am getting things organized for the movers. I found things that have been packed away for 5 years, most of it going to the Goodwill. I have eliminated about a third of the stuff in storage, trying to reach a goal of being able to pack it all in to a 30 foot moving truck. Thanks God for my friend Kerry who has been an absolute miracle worker, helping me get my stuff together. We are almost done and soon will be packing the apartment up.

I am spending my birthday this year in LA with my sweetie. I am driving down to find a house. We found one that we love, and we hope we get it. Just in case, we are still looking at others, but our fingers are crossed. Finding the right house has been a challenge. We want to find a place we can make our home. A place that our kids will love, and that has all the amenities we are looking for. We love the town we are moving to, and are really looking forward to getting settled and being together as a family.

I don't know how people do these cross country moves, or international moves for that matter. I am really struggling to keep it all together and organized.

I am dying to do some artistic project, but between my recovering arm and being so busy, I just haven't had the time... My hope and goal is to get it all organized in the new house the first week of June, so I can start creating things in my new studio right away. I am really looking forward to a new space, organized and clean where I can spend HOURS making cool things. 6 more weeks and it will all be over.

Breezie Loo turns 3

2010-04-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

My niece the adorable Breezie Loo as I call her had a birthday today. SHe was so funny singing happy birthday to herself. Here she is opening her presents, wanting to play with each one and getting mad at us when we took them away so she would open the next one. I love little kid parties. Reminds me of all the themed parties I threw for my kids when they were little. Clowns, pirates, space robots, renaissance faires, tea parties, the jungle, Chuck E Cheese... Those little people birthday parties are over for me now, but man I miss them.....

Easter Break and Touring through LA

2010-04-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

The kids and I came down for a week to see Paskie and have a little vacay. We ate at Forest Gumps the first night and passed the Forest Gump trivia test with flying colors. It is our all time favorite movie, and we quote it all the time.

We visited the Long Beach Aquarium on Easter Sunday. We had fun petting the stingrays and the giant crabs were incredible. I loved the seahorses. We have been to a lot of aquariums, and I prefer the one in Monterey, but this one is really nice, and has an arboretum outside with sweet little parrots that perch on your shoulder and drink nectar from a cup.

We went to Knotts Berry Farm, Had the famous Chicken Dinner and the Berry punch. I couldn't ride anything with my shoulder still in a sling, but had a lot of fun walking around with my honey looking at all the museum exhibits and shows. It was fun to watch the kids running from ride to ride deciding on which one they wanted to go on first.

Pascual had to work during the week, so the kids and I went to the La Brea Tarpits museum on Tuesday. It was cool because it was free day, but there were HUNDREDS of elementary school kids running around on a field trip and it was difficult to see some things. If you are in the Los Angeles area with kids, definately check this place out. Kayleigh enjoyed seeing all of it because she had just studied it in school. Standing next to a mammoth skeleton, you really get a feel for how huge they actually were. It is a cool experience, and they have the lab there with glass windows where they work on things and you can watch the technicians as they clean the bones.

We went to Philippes for lunch after the tarpits. My great Grandpa used to take my grandpa here, and my grandpa took my dad and his siblings. This has been here since 1907 or something like that. They make the ORIGINAL french dip sandwich. The legend goes that a police officer came in to get a beef sandwich and the sandwich maker accidentally dropped the bread into the meat juices. The police officer told him to use it anyway. He came back the next day with several friends for another of the french dipped sandwich. They aren't sure if it was called that because the owner Philippe was French or because the officer's name was French, but the sandwich was born. They were so good, Zack ate two of them. It was a quick but fun trip. We haven't been on a family vacation in 5 years, and it was so fun to get to experience a new area, and see some of the touristic parts of our soon to be new home. I think we are going to love living down here, once we get settled in.

working eight to cain't

2010-02-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

As my husband's boss says... that is what I have been doing for the past 2 weeks. I went down to LA to see my hubby, and help him with interviewing a secretary and getting some office logistics, paint colors, furniture delivery etc. Lots of phone calls and computer work at a desk that was not comfortable for my sling toting arm. I guess it was premature of me to go so soon after surgery when I am on pain pills and still have to sleep sitting upright, I can't fix my hair or put on makeup or dress myself without help.... We were there from 7am till 8 or 9 pm every night... even weekends... I wasn't working all this time, just hanging out.... I watched a lot of movies on netflix in his friends office in a nice cushy chair. and cried every night around 7 cause I was so sore and wanted to go home to lie down... only I couldn't lie down..... so going home wasn't a comfort either...

I was reading that moving and changing jobs are two of the top 5 most stressful things a person can do... Lets add getting jammed up by your kids school mid semester for a inter district transfer cause you moved out of the district, even though you are in the same damn town and now they are going to kick your kids out if you don't get it from the other district yesterday... and oh yeah, let's add that the IRS pulls you for a random audit, and doesn't care that you just had surgery, that your records are deep in storage and some destroyed from flood damage caused by the rain a few weeks ago that ruined a box of tax records along with your irreplacable childhood photos... And let's also add coming home with your arm in a sling on the airport... extra screening and a pat down by homeland security, plus the drug sniffing dogs... coming home and having no ride from the airport, and your car still at the mechanics after 11 days... No car for the first two days you are home.... then you walk into your apartment to find it smells to high heaven like a litter box... the poor cats box has not been cleaned in 4 days, (there are 3 cats) you remember the lysol and all air freshner things are in storage, and you have no car to go get some... and on top of that, the windows take two arms to open... big sigh, another big sigh... small meltdown as your nostrils and eyes try to adjust to the horrible smell as you clean the cat box and light incense out of desperation. Now it is worse, cause your lungs burn from the incense, and the cat box has already destroyed your sense of smell.... You go into your room to discover that all 3 cats have a a WWF kitty wrestling championship on your bed and it is so covered with cat hair that you have an allergy and asthma attack. Perfect... the meds for that are packed in storage also.... so you sit out on the doorstep, wheezing, sneezing, coughing, eyes watering... and you look up and say to God... ' Bring it on... I'm not dead yet.... what more have ya got for me?"

I am waiting for my life to "get normal" again, and then I had a horrible realization.... this IS normal... well... I better start looking for ponies....

Fish Market Saturday

2010-02-13T17:18:00.000-08:00

We were up at 5:30 am to go to the fish market in San Pedro. The fishing boats bring in their catch after midnight and the market opens at 3:30 am. We got fresh Ahi Tuna, a live crab, scallops and fresh sardines for $17... they even have ice there for you to ice your fish down, but since we live 2 minutes away, we just bagged it and left. Pascual was in fishy heaven. I forgot to take a photo of all the fish, but I snapped this photo of one of the boats docked at the pier. As we drove away, a cruise ship was pulling into the port. It was a pretty cool experience, even if I had to get up at 5 in order to do it. If you have a fish market in the area where you live, I really recommend checking it out.

Rainbows and hailstorms

2010-02-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

The weather is so surprising lately.... We saw a beautiful rainbow as we were driving home from school today, and then drove straight into a hailstorm. The clouds of the hailstorm were so beautiful. I love it when it rains and hails when it's sunny.

Here is Mt. Diablo with a dusting of snow on top. It doesn't happen every year, and this wasn't the first or most beautiful display this year, but I love to look at this mountain as I drive around COCO County... I will miss this view especially, the one from hiway 4 by the airport and from the top of Willow Pass Road. I am looking for a painting of Mt. Diable to take with me to LA... Anyone know any local artists who have painted it?

the long and foggy road

2010-01-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

we left at 5am and headed for LA in a pickup, with all Paskies papers and clothes in the back of dad's truck. It was cold and foggy all the way down I-5... as evidenced here in the photos...

these political signs are posted all along the croplands of I-5. I don't ever remember so many farms without crops in them. The dust storms are really bad here because of the lack of planting.

The temperature was 41 degrees all the way to th bottom of the grapevine. We stopped at starbucks and when we came out, the fog had lifted and we could see the mountains. We drove over the hill and when we got to Santa Clarita, it was 82 degrees.... I think I am going to LOVE the weather in LA....

This is the lake at the top of the grapevine. I forget the name of it. You can see it when you are heading south on I-5. I am happy with how all these turned out, considering I was snapping them as we were flying by at 80 MPH.

here we are at the Grand Del Mar for a black tie event with Paskie's work. I LOVED this dress... it was from Nordstrom,Kayleigh and Megan helped me pick it out. It had little ruffles all the way to the floor and looked like a flamenco dancers dress. I didn't think it would look good on me, but I was pleasantly surprised. Too bad I didn't get any full length shots of us all dressed up. We looked really great. It was a lovely place and a very fun event. We are really having fun with all the new adventures his new job is taking us on.

Moving into the new year....

2010-01-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

Literally. Pascual is moving to San Piedro in Los Angeles to a home that has a view of Catalina Island. The kids, cats and I are moving to a small apartment that I can manage on my own after shoulder surgery this month. We are selling most of the furniture and household items, so if you need stuff, give me a call. I already purged the studio last sale, but there are still some things out there that will be going as well. Big garage sale on the 14th and 15th this month Leftovers will go to the Hall Closet and then everything we are keeping is going into storage until the big move.

I will be commuting to LA a couple times a month helping him get his office ready. We are all very excited about the new adventure of living close to the beach. Zack is thinking he may want to go for Baseball again in high school down there. I support whatever my kids want to do. At least with Lacrosse down there, the weather is 70 degrees in the winter instead of the freezing cold we have here. I will be creating my non profit down there, and providing art with dumpster diverted materials to youth, elderly and veterans. I am very excited about getting the new program started, but sad to leave my students at Juvenile Hall, and my friends at the Juvenile Hall Auxiliary, the Hall Closet, the Contra Costa County Probation Department, the Martinez Art Gallery and all the people who have helped make my little art program a success.

There are many things I will miss about living in the Bay Area. So I decided to take the time to post a list of things I will miss with a photo. This is challenging, since my cameras are all broken and the computer is dead and this little notepad I have doesn't have a card reader... but I will figure it out somehow. I will persevere, and I shall overcome my obstacles.

One thing I will miss are the lovely rolling hills and the view of Mt. Diablo from highway 4 and 680. Especially the rare sight of them covered with snow like we had just before Christmas. I have only been to the top once, but I intend to take the kids up there before we leave and take a picture of the East Bay and the Carquinez Straits behind them. My goal is to post one thing a day I will miss until I leave. I may live in Orange County soon, but my heart and roots will always be here in Martinez and the East Bay.

Garage Sale SUCCESS!

2009-10-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

What kind of scrapbooker am I? I had my record BEST garage sale on Saturday and sold $1000 worth of art supplies and various junk and didn't take ONE photo. All of it was art and craft related. I put the add on Craigslist and included my phone number. I got a lot of calls from people about the sale in advance. People were very respectful and didn't come early. I was happy to donate the leftovers to the Hall Closet and get it out of my garage. It feels really great to have all those things gone. Now I am looking at how I can get rid of even more and have another huge sale in November or December.

Some of you know I have been struggling with a frozen shoulder for most of the year. I just found out that there is a significant tear in my rotator cuff, and I will probably need surgery. OK... that will happen after the first of the year. I can't be limited in my mobility before the holidays. I need to be able to do all my holiday baking and crafting. I am selling in 2 boutiques this year in November. At least they are letting me see the doctor I want, the same one who did my nephew and sister-in-law's surgeries. I will be glad to get the mobility back in my shoulder.

Check out this adorable little Breezy Bug I photographed in my front yard this morning... Invasive pests, they're here and they're hungry... Anyone heard those adds on the radio by the California agriculture department? They crack me up. Like them, Breezy never met a plant she didn't like... and enjoys picking flowers and pods and some of the last tomatoes.

Letting Go....

2009-10-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

It seems as if everyone I know is in a state of loss.... Jobs, homes, income, lifestlyle, pets, family members, mobility, cognative function, health... With so many people losing so many things, doesn't it seem logical that we would want to HOLD ON to the things we can? Hmmmm... Why can't we lose the things we want to lose, like weight, gray hair, bad memories, painful and ackward situations. It would be so much easier if those things just disappeared.

My mom and stepdad and my 2 year old niece have been living with us. Having a two year old around all the time takes me back to that person I used to be when my kids were two. I remember now how harassed I was when the boys were little. How hard it was with them so close in age, and how I couldn't wait for them to outgrow another difficult phase. Now they are both taller than me, and I look at them and wonder where the time went. In 6 years Kayleigh will be off to college. We will be empty nesters...

No one WANTS to spend time with me any more except Kayleigh. The boys are here, but usually in their room watching tv or on some technoligical gadgetry of some kind. I REFUSE to get my kids cell phones. Austin was the only senior to raise his hand in school when the teacher asked who didn't have a cell phone. He said he felt like a big DER... I say technology is turning us all into a bunch of unsociable idiots. I spend maybe 5 hours a week on the computer. I check email and once in a while post on my blog or facebook. I suppose if I had one of those newfangled phones with internet and all the apps, I would be on line more often. I am kind of thankful for my old jankey Nokia from 7 years ago. I have dropped it a hundred times and it still keeps working. But it also enables me to have a fairly technology free life. When I get in the car with my kids, we TALK... What a concept. We listen to Alice Radio in the morning sometimes, and laugh along to the crazy talk with Sara and Vinnie, but basically, it is great time for us to chat, about our lives, and things that we have going on. No one is texting friends of searching on their ipod. Family dinner nites are sacred in our house. Tuesday and every other Sunday is family dinner nite. All of us are here together around the table, eating, yelling, carrying on and just being a big ole loud blended family. I like to call us a modern day Waltons. We usually play a game after dinner, or watch a movie. Video games and internet are banned on family nites, and on weeknights in general for homework purposes. We only have one working computer that barely limps along, so the kids are allowed to use it only for homework. The boys tend to obsess on the games otherwise and spend a lot of time on x-box live and WOW if I don't monitor it.

SO what does all this babble have to do with loss... I guess as I look at it, I am seeing ways that I have lost... contact with my kids, and good friends. People I see rarely because we are "too busy with our lives". I have been cleaning out the studio and turning it from a crap collecting room to an actual studio. The plan is to have art friends over for regular get togethers and make things from all the cool stuff I have collected. I want to start collecting good memories with family and friends. My family and friends mean more to me than stuff... but in the face of so much loss over the years, I found myself collecting little things here and there, until I had a TON of things that filled my space, and life, but not my heart. They say that clutter is emotional baggage... I say it is more than that... For us altered artists, it is also stifled creativity. All these things we collect to one day use to make something cool and artsy. I had a room full of that. Now I am getting it to a place where I have a lot of supplies, but they are all organized, and put away in a way that I can use them to create, rather than collect them to maybe do something with one day...

Purging is hard for me. But nonetheless, I take a truckload to the store every week of things I am getting rid of. And adding another run every few weeks to the depot to get rid of the artsy stuff the closet can't use. I get a sense of freedom, a big release every time I get rid of something. And I am loving all the negative space in my house! It is like a Flashdance moment "What a feeling!" I am getting there, a little more every week.

Art Gallery Show

2009-09-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

We had our show at the mARTinez Art Gallery on the 18th. The turn out was great, and I was very pleased with the work that was done by the young men on the YOTP unit. Please check out the Green Youth Project blog here to see the wonderful artwork these talented young men have created. I am so proud of all of them, and their accomplishments, and very honored to be working with them.

I get mixed feedback when I tell people what I do. Things like "Why do you want to work with 'those' kind of kids?" I say why not? It takes a certain type of person, to have passion for teaching, passion for art and creativity, and you have to really love kids, especially troubled teen agers. I can check yes to all the above. I have had many tell me they think I have found my calling. I don't know about that... but I do know, that in spite of having my time slot moved several times, and dealing with a lot of internal politics, I am NOT giving up on these kids or this program.

I need space for a reuse center. I want to provide a safe place for the kids to go "on the outs" as they call being outside of incarceration. A place that will help boost their self esteem, where they can work and earn some money and where they can connect with other artists to mentor them through their transitions. So many of these kids have nothing to go back to once they get out. With a 60% recidivism rate, the odds of rehabilitation are not in their favor. I think we need to spend more money on programs for these kids while they are still young and able to be rehabilitated, BEFORE they end up in prison. Programs like the one I am putting together, that connect them with mentors and positive role models. There is really nothing out there like it. I have the dream, the vision, the business plan, now I just need some money and the space to house it....

If anyone reading this knows of a space in Contra Costa County we could use for a while to house a very worthwhile program, please let me know....

A funny email today

2009-08-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

I get lots of jokes form my Uncle Bob, but I rarely forward them. Not because they aren't funny, but just because I hardly ever have time to read them. I store them in a jokes file and every once in a while when I need a laugh, they are there waiting for me. I clicked on this one for some reason, and laughed so hard I had to share it. I have been complaining to Pascual about ALL of these things.... Being the Insurance Man that he is, he tells me that they are going to have to write me off as a total loss, and maybe some mechanic will buy me cheap and part me out.

IF MY BODY WERE A CAR.... If my body were a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model. I've got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish, and my paint job is getting a little dull. But that's not the worst of it. My headlights are out of focus, and it's especially hard to see things up close.My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather. My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins. It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fuel rate burns inefficiently. But here's the worst of it -- Almost every time I sneeze, cough or laugh, either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires. CASH FOR CLUNKERS..........I QUALIFY

Pizza Night

2009-08-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

Homemade pizza last night, Kayleigh was the chef. We make it in a 2 1/2 pound loaf bread machine and it takes 1 hour till the dough is ready. If you don't have a bread machine, get one at a local thrift store or garage sale. We use ours all the time and make fabulous bread with it. It kneads and proofs the dough and gets it through the first rise, then you shape it, let it rise again and bake... very easy. Even I can do it, and I am not the bread baker Paskie is... I am the cookie, cake and pie lady.

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons bread yeast

1 tablespoon flax seed (optional)

Place all ingredients in bread machine pan according to the above order exactly. (wet ingredients always go first) Program the machine for the pizza cycle, and press start.

When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, remove the bread pan from the machine and turn dough out on to lightly floured surface. Divide dough by cutting with a knife into desired number of portions. Roll out to desired thickness. Transfer to baking stone or cookie sheet, spread sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until pizza is desired golden brown doneness.

1 batch makes 3 pizzas as pictured, 18 inches wide with thick crust. I double it and make 4 large pizzas with my extra large cookie trays. We often make mini pizzas when the kids have friends over.

My favorite gourmet version is ranch salad dressing for the sauce with roasted garlic mixed in, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese, diced chicken breast browned in garlic, crispy crumbled bacon, chopped green onion, diced fresh tomatoes from the garden. It is delicious and it disappears fast. Some make it with Alfredo sauce, we tried both and you don't really notice the difference.

Give it a try. It will only cost you the price of the ingredients, which I guarantee will be less than half the cost of one pizza, and your kids will love making it.

Making Pizza

2009-08-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Mom and Teen came over for the weekend and I made Pizza with Adrianna and Breezy. I love the photos of them rolling out the dough. Breezie was really into it, and wanted to eat the dough and threw a fit when we took it away. I love spending time with the family. I forget what it's like to hve a 2 year old around... She is into everything. She calls me Auntie and Pascual is Tio or sometimes Tito, and she tells us over an over "I low-lu" which is Breezie language for I love you. It just melts your heart when she says it... Ahhh... almost makes me want more...

Youth Poetry

2009-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

I am starting up a new blog here specifically for the youth art program. I wanted to share a poem that was an honorable mention in the Juvenile Hall Poetry Contest in April, for National Poetry Month. Please check out the new blog for updates and info on the project featuring some of the art and poetry created by at risk youth.

No More!

You smile at the edge of sight,
and I turn to see you. No More!
You whisper between words,
and I hush to hear you. No More!
without you I am in darkness,
and the sun hides beneath the world.
No More! Will I ever be held down,
or be a menace to society. No More!

Mother's Day at Tilden Park

2009-05-11T08:01:00.001-07:00

We spent yesterday at Tilden Park with my mom and stepdad Teen. We had a great time with a picnic, and then a tour of the Botanical Gardens and ending at the Merry Go Round. I have never been to Tilden Park. My mom hadn't been since she was a kid. It is a lovely regional park with lots of picnic sites, and activities for a fun family day. Located off Fish Ranch Road just before going through the Caldecott tunnel, it runs out over the hills between Berkeley, Oakland and Orinda. On the way in there are some vista points with fabulous views of the entire San Francisco Bay. There are some lakes, a steam train, the Brazilian Room which is rented out for weddings and parties, horseback riding, pony rides. I was amazed at all the things they have out there. Donald, our friend from the Hall Closet runs the Merry Go Round out there. They do it up special for Christmas, and a special haunted house spooktacular theme at Halloween. If you live in the area, give it a try. Spring was a nice time, everything is in bloom. Pascual was surprised that such a large forested area even existed on the border of Berkeley and Oakland. I thoroughly recommend taking a look at your local regional parks website, and go see what is available in your area to explore. You never know, you may discover a new favorite place that you've never seen before. Here are some photos from the day.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Traveling for treasures

2009-05-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

As anyone who knows me is aware, I will travel FAR with a big empty car to find cool art junk. I stop at all yard sales and flea markets, and I am always on the lookout for something I can use in my art classes with the kids.

My brother is turning a small box truck into a motorhome, with a garage in the back for his son to haul his motorcycles. I am thinking... hmm... I would like one of those for myself... I could fill it with supplies, and take it around to all the art retreats around the country, sell stuff at the vendor nites, and have lots of space to store stuff, and a place to sleep at nite while traveling around. It is the new gypsy wagon. Can't you see it, with a cool painting on the sides that says the art gypsy... It gives me a lot of ideas...

Soul Collage

2009-03-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

Pascual and I went to a Soul Collage workshop on Valentines day, and he was such a great sport... Helping me make collages and visiting with all the ladies. He did some really cool ones himself. You can learn about Soul Collage here. It is a process of making your own personal power or divination cards, to help you look at issues in your life. It is a very personal and spiritual process. I want to start doing them with the kids in Juvenile Hall. These are the first two cards I made on Valentines Day.

When you are done making them , you go around the room and everyone reads their own card in what is like a channeled space. Another person scribes what you say and reads it back to you. I found this lady Sandy the facilitator on meetups.com and she is wonderful. If you live in the Bay Area, I would recommend a trip to her workshop to make some cards, it was a wonderful experience. I took my mom on Saturday and we both had such a great time...

I liked the fountain image, but when I turned it upside down, it looked exactly like the image I picture when I meditate, of what source energy looks like pouring down over me. I found the planet images to represent universal energy, and this is what came out... "I am the one who is the universal source of energy. I am the one who brings all the posibilities of the universe into being. I draw from many existances throughout the universe. I am all that is."

I loved the pregnant belly image, and I love clocks, I collect a lot of clock imagery. I had chosen the background of a firey star galaxy photo because I loved the colors. I put them together, and then went looking for a earth photo and found this one was perfect. I made the card in less that 5 minutes, the energy and creation if it just flowed. This is what I channeled: "I am the one who creates a new time in the world. I am pregnant with the possibilities of a new way of BEING on this planet. It is time to nurture and give birth to new ideas, taking the time to love ad grow while treating the planet with reverence and respect. My time is NOW. "

These cards I made on my second workshop day with my mother. Mom LOVED it, and had a lot of great information to share with everyone. Of course, she ROCKED at the channeling... but then she is a pro...

"I am the one who is drowning under the weight of unnecessary burdens. I add to these burdens by continually taking on more. The universe sends me tasks and challenges in small manageable pieces, and yet I let them overwhelm me. I need to be like the ice cube, and learn to float on top of the emotions, to stop fighting the current and let my life flow."

"I am the one who takes time to nurture herself. I am the one who moves effortlessly in a pain free body. I am grounded and centered when I make time for myself."

I have been trying to get the boys in my class to see beyond the images they are selecting... to find something different in the images that could make them something else entirely. I showed them these collages, and they were inspired. The light bulbs were popping on all over the room, and now I think they are getting it on a whole new level.

I love this medium... Any other Soul Collagers out there?

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

I had a sweet valentines day with my honey... I made a Paella and tapas for him, and homemade chocolate truffles. Of course I forgot to photograph them... He bought me lots of Chocolate... In Catalonia they celebrate a sweethearts day in April where the women buy the men books and the men buy the women a red rose... We usually attend a Catalan party celebrating this holiday in the city with our Spanish friends. Pascual is getting more accustomed to American traditions... He says ours are Hallmark holidays and Spanish holidays are religious... and the Spanish have many more holidays that we do. No wonder they are so relaxed over there, they get a long weekend every month just about.

Here is a photo of the heart box I got in the Diva Swap from Jeri. I LOVED everything in it... So many cool things, and some I have never seen before. She altered a chocloates box and filled it with all kinds of artful goodies. Thanks so much Jeri... it was PERFECT!

Art at the Alameda Antiques Show

2009-02-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

Wow is all I can say... a beautiful day spent by the bay with my very oldest and dearest friend Kellie... we celebrated 30 years together as friends last year... We have been together longer than any of my husbands. She has been through it all with me over the years, marriage, divorce, childbirth, deaths in the family, sports, sleepovers, drunken teenagers... We live a 5 minute drive away, and yet are both so busy, we never see one another... We made a promise to make time to hang out and do crafty things together....

I was walking the show snapping away like a tourist, and she would hightail it away from me when I started snapping. I usually ask first when taking photos. but one lady kind of got mad, and asked me to ask first... I told her it was to post on my blog, so people could see all the awesome things at the show, and then she said OK and was really nice about it...

I was so inspired by all I saw out there today... If you need some ideas, or are feeling creatively stuck... take a stroll to a local art or antiques show... Just being around different stuff can be inspiring... I was looking everywhere for the german doll man... This guy has a friend that sends him dolls he digs up from an old doll factory in Germany... He had a ton of them last time I was out there... If anyone knows where I can get some of those dolls, please send me a link or email me with some contact info.... I bought some sari's for $5 each, and some little bottles for $1 each... and a photo of a WWII Japanese American Soldier in uniform at one of the camps... oh and a bag of jewelry for $10....

If you have any favorite flea markets and would like to share them with me, I am compiling a list, and will be posting a directory on my blog soon... so please email me with your tips for the best places to find cool vintage art junk... We will post it on the Art Junk Gypsy resource list... I will travel FAR for good art junk...

SO I am sharing some photos of all the COOL things I was inspired by at the show... I saw more and more vendors making things with old objects and turning them into art...

Green Youth Project Art

2009-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here is some artwork the young men at Juvenile Hall have been working on in our classes on Tuesday nights. They will be finishing them tonight, and I will share more photos. The assignment was to use images of President Obama to create the artwork, and then to use words and journaling to describe their own Yes We Can message... changing it to a Yes I can... Some of them were hesitant, and started in with, "Well, he never went to juvenile hall, or jail..." and I asked them if they were going to let the circumstances and things that happened to get them incarcerated define who they will be for the rest of their lives... "Well, no..." they agreed... I asked them, "So what do you want to do when you graduate from Juvenile Hall University? What are your dreams? Talk about them in your books..." I am excited to see what they come up with, and was pleasantly surprised with the work they have done so far. When I asked what they liked about Obama, they said he was "real" They especially liked the photos of him with his family, and shooting hoops and pool.... they all agreed they hope he can "Keep it real" during the tough challenges ahead of him in his presidency.

OWOH

2009-01-19T09:01:00.000-08:00

UPDATE!!!! I have chosen all the winners, and I will be contacting them and announcing them tonight. I have had connectivity issues here at home, and hope to have them resolved today so I can make the big announcement. I will post the winners name under the photo of what they have won here on this post. Comments are now closed on this post. Thanks to all of you for visiting me, I will be making the rounds to all the bloggers who posted to mine here in the coming days. I love this event, and have met so many incredible people as a result.

2/17/08 Finally I am able to access internet and post the winners. Thanks to everyone for your patience. All winners have been contacted for addresses... I have posted the winners below each photo.

Vicki Priebe is the winner of the paper bag album...

Jennifer Bowen is the winner of the CD book

Ozylynda is the winner of the garland heart.

Kate Tracton is the winner of the heart ornament

and awtemnymf is the winner of the bottle fairy...

Congratulations to all of you!! Thnks so much for visiting and participating in this awesome event...

It is that time of year again! Last year I participated in the One World One Heart giveaway event. You can learn about it here. Surf a bunch of blogs, and get to know some fantastic people in the process. I will be giving away some prizes here on my blog for the giveaway. To enter for the drawing, just leave a comment on this post at the bottom. You will be automatically entered to win one of 5 prizes I will be giving away. The drawing will be held on February 12th and I will announce the winners on the 13th after 8am PST. Please be sure you post your contact info in your post so I can get hold of you when you win!

As many of you know, I am the "Art Junk Gypsy" I travel far and wide for good "art junk". With my friend "The Dumpster Diva" scrounging cool things to make art from garbage, we are creating the reuse center of our dreams... All of the things you will win are things that have been created with dumpster diverted materials. A bottle fairy made from an old Sake bottle, a heart ornament made from garland and old jewelry, and a little photo album made with CD's, scrap papers and old 1950's jewelry... A paper bag album, a glass heart decorated with metallic trims and an old earring.

My goal with this giveaway is to have people look at garbage in another way. We are on our way with the reuse center. Watch my blog for info about Trashopia... the reuse center located inside Facchini Salvage's new location on w. 4th street in Antioch. It will be a one stop recycle shop, for all your reuse and recycling needs. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or are visiting, you gotta come see us... You will be AMAZED at all the beautiful things that can be created with garbage. If you are a reuse crafter, please post links to your favorite reuse centers and flea markets... and browse my blog to see the ones I have visited... Thanks so much for visiting, and joining in this awesome event....

Altered books altered lives

2009-01-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

The class last night went well... I am not allowed to take a camera into the hall, so I will photograph some of their work later and post it here...

It started out with 8 volunteers. Some of the guys I had met at a christmas luncheon a few weeks ago. One boy was kicked out for bad behavior. He tested me from the get go. I knew if I didn't stand up to him and deal with it right away, I would have problems with the rest of them, and him for the next 6 weeks of class. After he was kicked out, I told the rest of them... "Look, I am here volunteering my own time, using my own money and supplies to create this program for you. I thought it would be fun to do art, and learn about something other than studying for your GED. I don't want to butt heads with anyone. I don't want anyone here who doesn't want to BE here... So if you don't want to be here, please excuse yourself, so the rest of us can get on with the class." They were all quiet, and one kid says "Uh, I am down with it, and I wanna be here for the whole 6 weeks... I can't wait to learn.." Now THAT is what I like to hear. One of the boys even came in early to help me set up the next week, and apologized for the other kid and said he hoped I wouldn't hold that other kids behavior against the rest of them, because they were all excited to be there...

There is incredible potential in these young men... kids who many consider the "throwaway" members of society... Some are poets, some are incredible artists, some are so good at speaking in the group, they could be politicians... I look forward to watching their growth as we move forward in the class... I am excited for the day I can get them to really create art, and not just collages with bottles of Patron Tequila and Kim Kardashian as the focal point... One step at a time... we will get there.

Holey Moley

2009-01-06T14:09:00.001-08:00

How long has it been since I came here to post? I just blew the dust off of everything, and took a look around.. BOY is this place sadly neglected.

I am here briefly, to tell you about the adventures of the youth art program, reuse center and my work with the kids at juvenile hall.

Christmas was a hectic time. I helped make gift bags for the 400 residents of juvenile hall, the girls home and the boys ranch on top of all my mom duties, work as an elder care provider to an 87 year old woman with alzheimers, volunteer manager at the thrift store, carpool driver, craft boutique coordinator, fundraiser and all around general work horse for the art program.

I have met some of the kids there at the hall, and am learning my way around the building. The most touching thing, was watching a young man open his bag, getting a wallet and saying to the guy next to him "Man, a wallet... I ain't never had a wallet before." and even more touching, the reply of the boy next to him, softly saying "S$#%, I ain't never even had a Christmas Present before." You would have thought these kids were given gold... instead of Axe body wash and deodorant and socks and a few little candies. It takes so little to touch a persons life. Truly, I am humbled and I grow and learn every day working with these kids. They frustrate you, they humble you, they make you laugh and cry... but every day is a new surprise. I start my altered art journals class with them tonight. I can't wait to start showing some of the work here on my blog. Some of the art they create is incredible, and the poetry they write brings tears to your eyes.

I have been selling some vintage wallpaper on ebay to raise money for the program. It is going really well. Check out some of the auctions under ksimoni on ebay and see what pretty things we have for sale. Some of these papers are perfect for altered art but many of them have flowers... I keep a lot of them back for art projects. But as the therapist told me, "remember they're guys... they don't wanna do doilies and flowers..." So I hope I can keep it fresh and interesting enough that they will feel inspired and want to create some awesome work.

I move ahead into the new year refreshed, with a new purpose. Many of the old issuse that have plagued me are hanging on, but I just keep persevering. I know it will all be resolved, and I will come through this year gloriously triumphant... I am holding on to that thought... We just got word, through my friend and soon to be new partner RC aka the Dumpster Diva that we are getting the space for our center finally.... In a one stop recycling shop to be located in an old abandoned glass factory in Antioch.... YIPPEE!!! I will have full details Friday after I tour and photograph the place....

Happy New Year to all !

Finally, some beach action

2008-10-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

well... after 11 days here in Florida, I FINALLY got to the beach. WHAT a beautiful place it was too! We stayed at Danielle's boyfriends parents condo on Anna Maria Island... We slept in, ate breakfast and went to the beach. I was amazed at how many shells there were on the beach. They were literally everywhere... TONS of them. I filled TWO plastic grocery bags with them. I had so many, I was afraid they would make my suitcase overweight so I left them with Danita to mail to me. She was complaining that the surf was too rough and the water was green... I thought it was beautiful. She said normally it is very calm and the water is a beautiful turquoise blue... The shells are not usually so plentiful either... apparantly all of the swells and shells were a parting gift from Hurricaine Ike.. Watching the sunset and drinking pineapple juice and captin morgans parrot bay rum was the final touch to the ending of a beautiful trip. I have to thank Danita and her family for the awesome hospitality. I had a great time, the BEST time I have ever had on a business trip.

I left the next morning for home, sorry to leave Thelma and our most excelent road trip adventure... but I know there will be many more of these to come.

More reuse centers

2008-10-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Our next road trip was to northern Florida. We stayed in Gainesville with Danita's kids Danielle and Milo, both students at the university there in Gainesville. We toured 4 centers in between Gainesville and Jacksonville. The directors there were awesome and again let us take some stuff for Danita's class at the YMCA. So far the weather is holding, sun wherever I have gone and lovely tropical humid weather. I have given up trying to straighten my hair... and just let it doing out as it is want to do in humid weather. I actually like my hair better in humid climates... but that is another story...

The Jacksonville center is HUGE... and old high school converted into a reuse center. They are not open to the public either. You MUST be a teacher to get in. They open once ever quarter and there is a line around the building to get in. Their opening was the day before we arrived, so some of the shelves were bare, but still, a TON of cool and useable items there. Chris and John gave us a tour, and let Milo get some things for some art projects. Milo plans on going back and working with them to create murals around the building in exchange for materials. He is an incredible artist, who inherited him mom's art gene... I have rarely seen this kind of talent in a person so young.

Dodging Ike

2008-10-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Since a lot of the reuse centers were in southern Florida from Melbourne south, and since Ike was headed for the Keys, we decided to go south first, and so after going to visit Casey in Ft. Lauderdale, we headed on down toward Miami to visit my friends Ray and Maritza and their son David. They were in the process of moving, and so we hung out and swam while they worked on the house. In the evening, I made cheezy garlic bread with the San Francisco sourdough I brought, and us gals sat in the jacuzzi while Ray brought us drinks... Maritza was calling him the butler all night. We chatted about life, marriage, kids and just being women, and happy to be visiting each other. I missed Pascual a lot while we were there... He and Ray get along so well, and they were so happy Danita and I were there, but we all wished he could have been with us. They are such fun... what is it about the latin people? Pascual and I met them on a sunset booze cruise in Aruba... we sat down and started talking before boarding the cruise, we visited the whole time and had a great time, and then we went to dinner at a brazillian restaurant afterward. They told us if we ever came to Florida, we were welcome in their home... So when we went back to florida in July to take Megan for her graduation present to Disney World, we stayed with them for a weekend and became great friends. They opened their hearts and their home to us with such love and generosity... Danita was amazed and so tickled at their warmth and hospitality... and so unused to people being so kind to strangers... She is starting to see, that if you look for the good, and see the good in all things, they rise up to meet you... and your experience is a great one... Ike was threatning the entire state...and yet we were unaffected by weather at all, and had beautiful sunny skies wherever we went the entire trip...

We spent the night with them, and most of the day. we drove to the Ft. Lauderdale airport to add Danita on to my car rental policy, so she could drive us home in the dark. (I don't do night driving) and the GPS wanted to take us through Alligator Alley, which Danita refused to drive at night... so we relocated ourselves on to a main highway, and off we went into the dark night... Along this one long lone stretch of highway, she stops the car in the middle of the road and switches off the lights so we can see the stars... well, I FREAK out... because the night before, I had a dream that we did the same thing, and a car was driving behind us doing the same thing, they didn't see us stopped with no lights in the middle of the road, and they were driving with no lights looking at the stars also, and BANG they hit us and it was a really bad accident... as I am sitting there feeling the sense of deja vu. I am having a major anxiety attack, telling her to get off the road at least, and pull into the dirt road on the side... almost hysterical.... It didn't happen like in the dream, but I was so shaken up... it took me quite a while to calm down. We got back to Danitas house after 2 am, and were up and on the road early the next morning headed to Gainesville, Jacksonville and surrounding areas...

Walter the Reuse Guru

2008-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Melbourne to meet with Walter the Re-use Guru... And little did we know... but he IS reuse in Florida. He has helped many of the centers get started. He has consulted and helped many people with their programs. His background is in early child development and education.

We went to lunch at an organic restaurant in Melbourne, where we talked about our program, picked his brain a bit and he shared a bunch of information with us. We went back to the center and he did some work while we went to Kinkos to copy some of his paperwork. When we got back, he put on some soft music and started making art kits with open ended materials for us to play with. Danita made something for him to display, and she looked to be having so much fun, I want to make something too. The energy in the room just seemed make you want to make something!

The music he played provoked creativity. It didn't distract with lyrics, but generated a highly focused creative space that felt nurturing. I quickly slipped into the "zone" he spoke of and time seemed more fluid. I felt myself rushing around within a timeframe that seemed expansive. I remember asking him if he needed to leave, and him saying no because he were getting things done, and I dove right back into it again. I don't allow myself to just play and be creative much anymore, because I have so many more "important" things to do. I learned in this session, that play IS important, in fact it is vital to the human spirit. Making the time to just let your imagination run wild while you create something with a pile of stuff is very liberating. Having no set structure, rules or guidelines was fun. I could make whatever inspired me... I knew I wanted to make a shadowbox, and was pleased with how it turned out, but the real creativity began when I decided what to put in it... I wanted it to be like a stage, and I couldn't find any people, so I made the harvest sprites out of a fall floral spray that he had there. It turned into the harvest sprite ballet theatre, and I was really happy with how it turned out. My only regret was that I didn't have time to really finish it the way I would have liked... The internal critic in me started overanalyzing it and wanting to pick at it and tweak it and make it perfect. I just had to walk away at that point or I would have been there all night. I learned that when I jump into creative play, the critic in me is silenced until the end process... so learning to walk away, and actually hand it over to him was a new experience for me... I would usually take it home unfinished, and then never finish it because I can't turn that critic off... It was a very healing process for me to just let it all go and create. I LOVED it, and will be sure to schedule more time like this for myself, and together with my children as well.

Unfortunately, we were so busy having fun. we forgot to take a photo with Walter. He is the only one we forgot to photograph... I guess that just means we need to take another trip there to visit with him. I encourage anyone who is a teacher or works with children to take his play coaching workshop. You will be amazed at what you learn.

I urge you all to go out into your studio, randomly pull things from the shelves and put them in a pile, and then PLAY with it... let your imagination run wild as you glue and twist and stamp and paint... I would love to see some of you post your creations here.

Cars, Planes and Hurricanes

2008-09-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

And a crazy British GPS lady who gets me lost every time. That is how the Florida trip went... I arrived at midnight in Tampa, went to pick up my rental car, and was almost knocked over by the heat and humidity, the likes of which us Northern Californians never experience. I have been to Florida a few times before, but I don't remember it being so bloody hot... and sticky. You need to run the air all night long. The closest I can compare it to is a trip I made to Hawaii and there were no trade winds for a few days and it was miserable hot... but even that doesn't really compare. It took me a few days to get used to, and I still couldn't stop commenting on it every time I went outside...

I had this wierd rash that got itchy during the night, and was putting some natural remedy on it that gave some relief, but not a lot... I arrived at Danita's house at 2am after some lovely detours from the airport where I ended up in a construction zone, and a nice dumptruck driver with a southern accent showed me the way to the highway.

We visited for a bit, went to sleep for a few hours, and it was time to wake up. I met her daughter Ciarra and her husband Mark, and we took off for a bit to go shopping. We returned and she had to go to work, and I went and did some shopping around the area, and got back in time to go to dinner with her family for her mother's birthday. Her family is my kind of people. Nice, and friendly and very easy to know... or maybe it was all the parrot bay rum and pineapple juice I was consuming...

In the summer in Florida, apparantly you don't do anything without watching the weather channel and getting hurricane updates. I arrived right after Hannah hit land, and was on Ike watch the main portion of the trip. We had scheduled many visits on the east coast of Florida from Melbourne to Miami, but with Ike making his way toward Southern Florida, we decided to mix it up and head south first before the storm, and do the central and northern parts after Ike passed, all of this depended on what Ike would do, as he seemed to change his mind every hour.

We spent the first weekend visiting the center Trash to Treasure in Fort Lauderdale. Casey, the director there is such a sweet lady. She gave us a tour of the place, and we filled a bag of goodies to take back for Danita's art classes at the YMCA. Their center works with teachers and the public. They were the only one we toured that looked like what I am accustomed to here in California... Lots of great materials for art and assemblage, with some great environmental messages to some of the pieces... Here is Casey holding up a reuse art doll she made.

Moving...

2008-09-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone! Wow it's been a long time since I posted. Sorry for that. I have been traveling and moving and packing and moving, and rearranging and moving and clearing out and moving... Oh, did I mention I am moving? Every time I say I am moving, I state emphatically that I will eliminate all the CRAP from my life... and I take several loads of things to charity. But still, it is not enough... My house, that felt so new and clean when I moved in, now has a crowded, cluttered feeling... So I am on a mission to box things up and take them to the Hall Closet. I am learning that things come back to you in ways you wouldn't expect when you let them go. So much stuff comes in that store, that I have learned, if I put the thought out there that I need something, usually within a few days, it shows up at the store, and I get it for a few bucks, instead of the new department store prices... Got a digital camera, bedding for my king sized bed in a color I LOVE and a laptop, all with this same flowdreaming stuff... It really works. You tap into the universal flow, and direct the energetic flow of your own life, and things start to HAPPEN...

So we have moved to downtown Martinez to be closer to the schools for the kids. They can both walk, and love it. The kids have friends in the neighborhood, and we have met many of the neighbors already. We have been hoping for a neighborhood where the people are friendly and we got one. We love our new place, and the house is amazing...!

I have been compiling a post about my trip to Florida... It is LONG... so I will break it up into sections... We visited Several reuse centers out there, and on the last day I went to the beach and had a GREAT time... My new BFF Danita is an awesome person and fabulous tour guide... We had a real Thelma and Louise adventure minus Brad Pitt and the Cliff... (we did have a convertable!) and I can't wait to tell you all about it and show you photos of all the centers we visited...

Greg Brumfield Art Show

2008-08-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

The AMAZING Art of Greg Brumfield

2008-08-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

You know what a reuse and repurposing nut I am... I was in Starbucks about 2 months ago and saw this really COOL art made with cups and straws and cup sleeves from Starbucks. I asked who the artist was, and wanted to talk to him. He called me back a few days later, and we chatted for quite a while about his art and creature building. Let me tell you, his pieces in Starbucks are NOTHING compared to what he entered at the Marin County Fair. He entered 8 pieces and all 8 of them won awards. A true renaissance man, who has a visionary gift to turn garbage into amazingly intricate art. The things he does with a glue gun will fascinate you. Making ships rigging and chain links from hot glue. Balls and braids and sculpting faces and people also entirely out of hot glue. His work is on display at the Pittsburg Civic Center for the Month of August. In September, the exhibit will move downtown for the Annual Seafood Festival. If you are anywhere near the Bay Area and want to see a truly incredible show, check out Coffee Break at the City of Pittsburg Civic Center! Don't forget to go upstairs to the third floor to see the other pieces.

Pittsburg Community Art

2008-08-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

I went to the Pittsburg Civic Center and got caught up in appreciating the beautiful floors and tapestries in the building... Blue Lapis and another type of blue and gray stone with irridescent veins flowing through it. These pictures don't do it justice. They have these amazing fabric collages hanging on the walls that are called tapestries, but they are not woven... they are pieced together with different textiles. Some of the photos didn't turn out too well... I will try to shoot them another time in better lighting.

RAFT

2008-07-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

Recource Area For Teachers is a COOL place... You have to be a teacher or non-profit organization to shop there. You need a membership or a day pass... they have TONS of projects and kits for teachers to teach math and science based art projects. Go check them out. Their Website has a lot of project ideas. Here are some photos I took of all the COOL stuff they have. I bought 2 shopping carts full of stuff for $28 !!! They have a die cut room with 19 machines and every die Ellison makes. You can bring your own paper or buy theirs by the inch. They have a laminating machine, and all kinds of projects displayed. Make sure to allow a few hours to really browse. You an get great yarns and fibers for 50 cents a ball, and used computers for $50 to $85 donated from local Silicon Valley Companies. I bought 8 oz liquid watercolors for $3 each. I got a recipe for making sidewalk chalk with the watercolors and plaster of paris! Check them out for more project ideas....

The Hall Closet

2008-07-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Many of you know I am one of the managers at the Hall Closet Thrift Store in Martinez. It is a very cool store, with tons of great stuff at prices like a thrift store should be... Here are some photos of the store I took recently. We are closing soon for 2 weeks to prepare for Halloween. Ruthie, our resident costume expert has been compiling the BEST selection of funky stuff for halloween! Come check us out... Open Monday and Tuesday from 10-2 and the first Saturday of every month.

Been MIA

2008-07-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

To my 5 fans out there in blogland... sorry I haven't posted in a while...

I am up to my eyeballs in stuff for the center... business paperwork, networking, getting ready for the Peddler's Fair on Aug. 2nd... Thanks to my pal Mel and a sweet volunteer Bonnie for helping me with all the sewing on the bags..

I have some COOL stuff I am making for the PF out of vintage fabrics that are looking quite cool. I will post photos.

I am off this morning to RAFT to meet with the director about their program and to network with another center... If you live in the Florida area, there are TONS of reuse centers... I found the Mac Daddy of reuse centers in Florida, and I am flying out there in September to meet with him and learn the ropes...

My computer is on the fritz and I can't load photos right now, so sorry for the text only posts... I will give a full recap of RAFT this evening with photos... I will figure this out,... I swear.

East Bay Depot for ReUse...

2008-06-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

Another reuse center located here in the Bay Area... The East Bay Depot is AWESOME!!! The director Linda Levetsky is so nice, and so supportive of the community. We (Shannon and I) went in there and talked to her today. She donated a bunch of fabric to us to be used to make reuseable shopping bags. The girls at the girls center will help me make them, along with some sewing experts. We plan on selling them at the store, and at Art in the Park in August. The proceeds will go to help fund the art program. We are also starting a recycle drive. Collecting cans and bottles from friends and family and companies. The money from the recycle program will also help fund the art program.

So check out the East Bay Depot, and see what treasures await you. I always find such cool stuff there... But if you see it, buy it, because it will all be new stuff the next time you go...

Smoke and San Francisco

2008-06-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

Southbound on 101 heading to S. San Francisco. You can see me in the reflection on the back of the truck in my white Yukon

Shot on sports mode by holding up the camera and pressing the button. This was the only shot of Coit Tower that turned out.

The name on this truck just cracked me up... no significance beyond it made me laugh.

This was also shot on sports mode and was the only one to come out with the Transamerica building centered between the cables, and with a decent shot of the skyline. Hey, I DID have to watch the road... I just pressed the shutter button and took like 30 photos... I think these photos are not bad, considering I didn't once look in the viewfinder.

These were all snapped while driving (don't tell anyone) across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco... Looks like a normal day in San Francicso, right/ WRONG... it is not fog, but SMOKE you see there... (with a little fog mixed in) from all the fires we have burning up and down the state... I drove with the top down on the convertable and my lungs hurt from breathing in all the smoke... It didn't seem that bad just looking at it, but I did get a lot of soot in my eyes as well... So no going topless for a while... The air feels like when I go to LA... We are not used to air we can see up here like they are in LA... The fact that the valley we live in is like a bowl surrounded by foothills and a mountain doesn't help, all the smoke stays trapped in the valley... We have had cooler temperatures and winds, which are helping... Now if we can just get the fires to stop... We might actually have clean air again by maybe Labor Day Weekend...

Fashion Shows and Bonfires....

2008-06-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy day. In the morning we got up early to prepare for the Girls Center Fashion Show. Both my daughters were in the show. We started hair and makeup at 8am, arrived at the center at 9:30 and it was a frenzy of curling, pressing, hairspray, quick changes and giggling. I have been working with the girls for a few weeks altering dresses, and helping with the other Auxiliary ladies and the Soroptimists in fitting and finding clothes for all the girls. We had 12 girls from the center, and 7 extras, the librarians at the Juvenile hall, my girls, an auxiliary volunteer, and a couple of girls of the other volunteers in the program. Megan was slow to get on board with the idea, but she was really glad she participated. The head of Volunteers in Probation was impressed with Megan and wants her to be a Jr. Volunteer, until she turns 21 in a little over a year. She will be a peer counselor with the girls. Kayleigh was thrilled to be able to participate. She chose all her outfits with such thought and care. I only have these photos because cameras were not allowed for security reasons. The girls are all protected under the juvenile offender privacy act. I wish I could show you the pictures of these young ladies, and what a boost it is for them and their self esteem. It is also good for my girls to see the difference that having active, involved parents in your life can make. They appreciate me more. The girls at the center see my girls as an example of what they could do with their own lives if they made different choices.

Dress rehearsal Wednesday was so cute.. All of them with their hair in various stages of being done... Some with weaves hanging half done in the hair, some with little ponytails all over their heads, and some with do rags and shower caps on... all in formal evening gowns with their high heels... They were so excited, all the primping and preparation was so worth it. These are girls who come from difficult situations. They are wards of the court for various reasons, and sentenced to serve 6, 9 or 12 months. They all have mentors, who coach them on positive life skills, encourage them, and help them with the transitions from life on the street to completing high school, getting jobs, and graduating from the program to be productive members of society. It is amazing to see these young women blossom and grow under this program. I feel so honored to be a part of it.. Here are my girls after the fashion show. It was over 100 degrees and they were roasting in the sun, but humored me enough to snap these two pictures at least. I am so proud of them.

Then in the evening, it was off to a San Juan party at our friend Juan and Neves' house in Sunnyvale. We met them through the Catalan Society here in the Bay Area. Many people from the Catalonia region of Spain and also other parts of Spain all belong to the group. Many Spanish festivals were originally pagan celebrations, that were changed to religious festivals when Spain was christianized. This festival is a summer solstice party. It is in celebration of St. John the Baptist. In Spain, people gather (usually at a beach) and cook a big Paella, and dance and drink and sing all night. They light the bonfire after the food is done, and you write the things you want to be rid of for the year, throw it in the fire, then you make a big wish, and jump the bonfire to make your wish come true. In Spain, the parties usually start at 10 and go until morning, when everyone runs and jumps into the ocean to cleanse themselves (the St. John Part)

Last year, a neighbor wished for two children, and within a few months, they found out they were expecting.... twins!!! We saw the babies, 8 weeks old, at the party, living proof of the power of these rituals. The kids have the most fun, lining up over and over to jump the fire... at first it is all about the wish and throwing the paper in the fire, then two dads will help each child jump the fire... After one little girls 15th trip, one guy asked "Aren't you out of wishes yet?" she just smiled and said, "Yeah, but I like the jumping part best.." After, the guys get out their guitars and play music. We had all kinds of songs played, from I been working on the railroad to You are my Sunshine to Flamenco songs and Boleros and Spanish campfire songs and even Baby Beluga... After each song, you must shout "Ole" really loud... Much Cava and Sangria and Mojito's later... we didn't get home until 3 in the morning... which by Spanish standards is WAY too early... It was fun. I love exposing the kids to other cultures and sharing other customs with them.