2014 Holidays

Always loved decorating for the holidays. This year a box of vintage ornaments were in my stash and for a moment, I couldn't remember where I got them. A few months ago we did the final clean up of my family home. These ornaments have been up in the attic for over 50+ years. My mom never used them after we moved to the "new" house in 1969. Fun to bring them out and all the young ones think it's so retro!

Carmel Thanksgiving 2014

Carmel - Thanksgiving 2014

Walking on the beach is a favorite for both Annie and me. We love the early morning walks before the tourists hit the beach and the low tide. Annie loves the water and does a little body surfing to cool off.

Thanksgiving 2014 Carmel

Last year I started hosting Thanksgiving down at the beach house the weekend before to take the pressure off my children. I always thought it was silly for people to rush from place to place, eating several dinners in one day. Now that I'm divorced it made it even harder for kids. Getting to spend the weekend with them, cooking in the kitchen together and hanging out at the beach is the way family holidays should be. It's also fun to add the next generation of little ones, teaching them to enjoy being outdoors.

2014 Halloween Pumpkins

AWC 2014 Halloween Pumpkins. Kettle full of Kittens by me and Jack Pot Pumpkin by my night crew - Chris M.

Halloween 2014 - Mad Hatter and the Rabbit (sort of)

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday. Loved making the kid's costumes and decking out the house. It's not easy finding a costume for Annie, they just don't make a whole lot of XXL dogs.

I don't get any kids at my place, hills way to steep so plan to spend the time in the kitchen baking things to fill the studio with wonderful memories. Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

 Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for me. Always fun to dress up the kids. Annie will be going as the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I will be going as the Mad Hatter. Having the space to do a whole Halloween set has been fun, just wish more people could see it.

Working on the design set for Christmas.

Crafting Meet Up group

A few months back I joined a crafting Meet Up group. I wanted to learn some new skills and people who share the same interest in crafting. With so many of the mom and pop stores closing, find affordable classes is slowly fading away.

I found this Meet Up group that charges $5-$10 per class, which is super cheap. The group leader isn't in the business and the classes are held in her conference room at work. Very little over head. I like the format so much I offered to do a iris folding class for them. It sold out in less than an hour. Two cards = $5.00.

First class with be the simple fan and circle. Second class will be the Christmas ornament and Michael Strong's kimono.

Team Annie - Champion Circle

Team Annie raised $2,200.00 for the Alzheimer's walk. 

Annie also took top honors as the winner of the biggest fundraiser along with winner a cash raffle prizes. 

Family Home To Be Sold

It's the final days for the parent's house. We hand the keys over on Monday and the house goes on the market in November. Sad the house couldn't stay in the family but there are too many of us for that to happen. Lots of fond memories.

Craft-a-thon wrap up 2014

The craft-a-thon this past weekend was a success! We raised over $1,100 for team Annie. It was a very long day for me but everyone attending had a great time, so much so they are asking when the next one will be!

Annie's Fundraiser - ALZ

We are starting to prep for Annie's ALZ fundraiser later this month. It will be a fun day filled with craft project while supporting a great charity.

Straw for Sale $8.00

It's been a busy month at work getting ready for all the special events. We used bales of straw to help keep people from hitting our sprinklers when we did some event parking. Now I have the task of selling them off.

When Annie was a puppy, I trained her to walk on things that were unsteady, through tunnels and walk backwards. I had thoughts of doing rescue work but realized that I didn't have what it took looking for bodies and I didn't want to take Annie into hazard zones. Still when I can work with Annie on something different I give it a try. The straw bales are stacked but not all that stable if you stand on them. Annie is searching for her stick I threw on the stack.

Cornflakes Card Club

Some of the cards from my monthly card group, "Cornflakes". It's always fun to see the creative styles from everyone. It was a nice evening sitting outside and talking crafts. I also enjoyed eating a gluten free pizza, which is alway a special treat!
I made the wire cat card, my first try with wire work.

Washi Paper and Crane

Every evening after Annie has had her play time outside, I focus on using up my craft supplies. Amazing how many project boxes I have filled with scraps. Someone gave me a huge box of tiny cranes and I have used them some of my classes but there are still tons left.

I have random scraps of washi paper that I can't use for classes but hate to throw out. This card is very simple but you do need a good paper cutter to be able to add that very thin mat edge.

One Die, two looks.

It's been a few years since I've been up to meeting with my card making group. Since things have settled down a little in my life, it was time I get back with my creative gang of friends.

These two cards use the same die cut but the look is so different. Took us a few minutes to figure out it was the same die.

Can't wait until next month and see what the ladies come up with!

More Cards

I'm really a night owl but Annie isn't so most of the time I have to be in bed by 10:00 pm. Annie gets up a sunrise having to go outside and wanting her breakfast. With the heat wave we've been having we can't hike after work. Instead we nap through the hotest part of the day after work.

Annie gets to play and I get to stay up pass midnight working on making cards and getting things done are the studio. I always liked working late into the night because it's a nice quiet time.

My focus is making simple cards because it doesn't take a whole lot of thought and uses up tons of supplies! :-)

Sassy Cat

This stamp always makes me smile. Not sure who would send it out as a birthday card thou.

My goal is to use up what I have and if I don't by the next used rubber stamp sale, I have to sell it off. I have so much craft stuff even after the big purge/divorce a few years ago. Time to let go of what I don't really use.

Every night at least for a few hours I stamp. I may do nothing else other than just stamp the images and make a huge stack. At some point I feel like coloring, so I pull out my Copics and get to work. Nice to use up all the scrap paper and ribbon I've had stashed for years!

Hiking with Annie

Yep, this is so true. Annie and I hike over 250 miles in one month. I love to hike on quiet trails and with Annie along never really worry about anything other than rattle snakes. One good thing about the mountain bikers if they pass you, good guess there isn't a snake on the path. ;-)

Start of a new challenge - before and after

I've been in a funk lately even with making about 100 cards to restock my card racks. Decided I needed a creative challenge to help me focus on the positive.

Someone gave me this very old card making book. It's very dated but the techinques are still the same. I will challenge myself to taking each sample card and add my own twist and style. I will post a before and after shots.

Step Tansu

Another great find at the auction house this past weekend. I don't have a lot of space in my studio so this step tansu is working out great. The drawers can be opened from either side so makes a nice room divider. It also helps keeps things dust free. Amazing how dusty things get!

Fitbit

My kids got me a Fitbit for my birthday. Not being a high tech person (even living in Silicon Valley) it's something new to track what I do all day. I know I walk a lot (on a slow day 5 miles) so it will be interesting to see how much I really do each day. I've been having problems with leg cramps and I think now it's because I don't drink enough water. I can track it now with my Fitbit.

With the much needed rain we had the past few weeks, I've been dealing with all the mud Annie and I track in. Still, I love being on two acres in the middle of the city. Annie can run full out and sniff until the cows come home.

Going on a hike today so see how many miles Annie and I really do!

Tjaps - Batik

The Hidden Lamp Book Club

Very excited about the start of a new book club here at work. I found saw this book while on vacation up in S.F. but didn't get it. Mr. B gave me a copy for Christmas. I will be tag teaming with Nancy Burns hosting. Sunday morning is the tenative day we picked. Will update when I know dates and time.