pookieville

The first step...

They say that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I have a problem. It seems that in 3 days I have become completely addicted to ancestry .com. I'm telling you- finding dead family members is like crack. It all started so innocently- just going to try out the free offer- now I stay up late, and spend ALL my free time tracking down all sides of the family. I have been able to take my fathers maternal side back to 1750 in Germany, and really- who cares?!? Well, sadly I do. When I get a link and prove it with historical records I actually want to high five- myself I guess. H. has a kinda glazed look to his eye when I start to tell him about his own family.. Very little was known about his family, but I found his grandparents- which was a really big step. AND- here is the high five part, I found an aunt who is still alive. Yeah- I already called her, I mean really the lady is 81, I don't have time to waste here. O.k. I gotta get back to the hunt, I'm not ready to give up my addiction, I am just at the point of admitting it might be getting in the way of sleeping, and working and bathing..and blogging.

say hello to Pascale ~

This is Pascale- a doll that I did this weekend. She has been shelved along with another doll for some time- I was kind of stuck. My super talented friend Paul saw it, and gave me kick. We met up at Zinnia and built a frame and crafted a wonderful new doll that will be used as a sample for the class we are going to co-teach! Then I came home and finished up Pascale and worked on the other doll that is not quite finished yet. Very very little house work was done this weekend, but I did uncover the old balls from the pool table and decided they needed to be cleaned up and on display... I am happy with how they look- Other news- I helped my friend Denise get her etsy store up and running. We made the banner etc. which is a big deal if you don't know how to do that stuff. We were both pretty pleased with the results- please stop over and check it out! O.K. that is about it for me- it is just too hot to remain upright, I will follow the lead of the cats and find a cool place to lay down for a bit.

Weekend projects and Artful Living-

Dang- I can't believe how fast this week is flying by! Last weekend was so full, and I am just getting around to sorting it out! I taught at Zinnia on Sat. - we made charms, and it was a great class. We all "fit" really well, and had lots of fun, and no finger prints were permantly removed this time ( yes Kim I am talking about you!). On Sunday, I don't know what happened to me, but suddenly I was in overdrive and was just crafting like crazy... getting ready for the holidays, and finishing projects overdue. This is an alter that I made for a show at Zinnia- I'm late in getting it done, but I made this on Sunday, and scraped the one I had been working on for weeks. Funny how that works sometimes. I am pleased with how it came out. My Grandmother is pictured on the left, and my Mom on the right. I also finished off some magnets for some sales that will start soon- I always love how they look in big groups like this. And, I worked on my dear bunnies... AND, a new creature came into my craft world.... Kitty makes me smile every time I see her. I am having lots of fun coming up with new names and stories for them all! But wait there is more!!! This coming weekend, I am going to Ojai with Paul Murray and Joe Carrion to teach at Artful Living! We are doing 7 classes in 2 days!!! I think it is gonna be lots of fun. Paul will be teahing his embelished canvas, and tin dolls Joe will be teaching polymer bead making and wire wraping, As well as making sock creatures. . And I will be doing soldered houses and mini quilts!! This house is a students piece! For info about signing up contact Artful Living at (805) 640-0800.

Oct. 18th and 19th at Zinnia

Oct. 18th 12-4 - Soldered Charms- Class price $60.00 Learn to make your own one of kind soldered glass chrams to be used for jewelry or other art pieces. No soldering experience necessary. Students will have materials and time to make several charms in class. All Supplies provided, but if you have special images you would like to use, bring along a nice copy. Class size limited to 5 Oct. 19th 12-4 – Your personal Charm Bracelet- Class price $60.00 Do you have a favorite button or bit stashed away? Maybe several? Lets pull out those bits and pieces that seem to talk to us and add them to some vintage buttons and new charms and some beads and make a very personal charm bracelet. Using simple attachments we mix and match and play to create your one of kind treasure. Materials provided- Chain bracelet, an assortment of vintage buttons to choose from, charms, beads and attachments. Call Zinnia at 626 441-2181 to sign up!!

work in progress - really

Hey- I forgot to post pictures of stuff I have been working on! Silly girl! I am working on this shadow box, and a little stuck, so if you have any ideas etc. send 'em on over- I could use the help... And, Miss M.A. Moss from Dispatch from L.A. inspired these postcards...having fun putting them together.

work in progress~

I noticed in my last post I mentioned "naps" a lot, well here is the thing- I managed to hold 2 separate dinner parties last weekend hosting a total of 20 people. I was kinda tired on Monday. My first gathering was dinner for Keith LoBuee- who was teaching at Zinnia - he unfortunately got sick and couldn't come, so we toasted him, and ate lots of chicken enchiladas in his honor. I got to see the metal etchings that my friends had made in his class that day, and they were AMAZING. I can't wait to see the beautiful things that came from Sundays class. I was super tempted to take Sundays class, but I was again hosting a dinner- a birthday party for 3 people no less! More chicken enchiladas , ( you can make a lot in 3 hours!! Which I wisely did on Sat. AM) and some yummy take out my brother brought along. The fun part was bringing out a birthday cake, singing "happy birthday", running back into the kitchen and doing it again, and then again, and again ( we had an extra cake and an extra birthday visitor!) So it all worked out. My brother accused me of running some kind of dinner house business... but I think I do too many dishes for it to be lucrative. We had lots of great conversations, LOADS of laughs and some good food. Pretty fun weekend all together. So see, I don't sleep all the time.

dumpster dives, bracelets, buttons, and mirors...

So I finally sorted my dumpster dive loot, and I realized that I gave most of it away. I sent some really great old printed material off to Michelle Caplan, and gave lots of tin and doo- dads to Paul. I kept hand written material and containers for myself. I actually had my containers already filled, and had to empty a few for this picture. Yesterday, I treated myself to some alone time at my favorite swapmeet. I am usually not an early riser, but I like to get up early for this meet, get my goodies and head home for an afternoon nap. I picked up some great buttons for a class I will be doing soon called "your personal charm bracelet" It will be a mix and match, fun charms and old buttons and anything else we can attach to it bracelet. I also got some nice thimbals for that class. I am going to drill holes in them so we can attach them. I think they are going to look great. AND, I scored this mirror or my mirror wall- love it! This is a sample bracelet that I made... but I think I am gonna make a chunker, funkier one.... and my mirrors... That is all I've got for you today- it is somewhere around 110 degress here right not ( o.k. maybe just a tad cooler) and I feel a lazy Monday nap coming on. Have a great day!