By The Teashore

 Took two of my buddies out for their birthdays. Getting to the age where I think we should celebrate more as we don't have many more left! 

By the Teashore in Half Moon Bay opened up last year. I went the first week they were open and it's nice to see they worked out all the hiccups. There aren't many high tea place around. Makes for a nice special day outing.  It was scorching hot in the valley but by the ocean it was perfect! 

ATC Still a working in progress

I'm working on making ATC cards for when I go to Craftcation next year. I have more than enough supplies to make thousands! I made some of the background papers using a gel plate years ago and have hauled it around with me during all my moves. I still haven't picked a final layout but they will be all different. The best part is I found the plastic sleeves for ATC cards at Dasio during my search for incense. 

I'm thinking maybe I'll do a side hustle of iris folding kits at Craftcation. Doing my ATC cards with a mini iris circle or the seahorse. Teaching people how to do from my hotel room and selling the kits at the pop shop. All this is OK to do at Craftcation. Maybe I'll make enough to cover all my expenses!

Honey Bee Water Station

Bee Water Station

I can't remember where I saw this idea but it was cute and more importantly I have all the parts!  Now I'm testing it out if bees really use it. One mistake I made was not pointing the shell up a little more so the water doesn't run off. I only have small shells so it doesn't hold a lot of water and dries up pretty fast. 

I finally found a parking space at the new Campbell library. I've stopped by several times in the morning and the parking lot was packed. Now I know in the morning it's story time for the toddlers. It's better to stop by during nap time. It's a state of the art new build so the AC was working great. Three floors of steep stairs and of course the elevator wasn't working. Not sure how the moms with strollers handled all that. It's a very noisy place with all sort of buzzers, high pitch pings and people (including the staff) talking like they're at a crowded bar. Chairs were comfy and I'm hoping maybe on my next visit I'll get one of the booths. 
 

Another Great Find at GoodWill

Before - at Goodwill

I'm still in my shadow box phase so when I saw this at the Goodwill for $9.50, I picked it up. Selling off  the little tchotchkes inside should more than cover the cost of the frame. For now I'll use it as a display piece in my $5.00 booth. This booth is where I sell off death pile before it gets donated away. 

When the boys come out this summer, I'll add their photos and what ever rocks they pick up when we go hiking. After that I'll sell it off. 

After - in my booth

 

Going down the witchy rabbit hole

 One of the down sides to only being able to read and speak English. I like doing creative projects with things I already have. I've been watching "witchcraft on a budget" by Laura Bailey and it's a crack up. The thrifter in me just loves it! Going down the rabbit hole looking up spells, I have most of the stuff in my spice cabinet or out in my garden. One thing I use to do when I lived up in the Cupertino Hills was light incense sticks in my zen garden. It's the Buddhist in me. :) I really didn't want to drive to Japantown in downtown San Jose because parking is so bad. I instead went to Daiso because their website said they sold incense sticks. Looking at just the picture, I thought I was buying a whole kit. The few words in English said "set". Well something got lost in translation but it's just an empty case. You fill it with things you would take to a Buddhist cemetery ceremony.  

I then wondered if people would buy premade spell kits. I have two of these containers that I need to fill. Thinking as Laura said, I could use birthday candles. Candles are a big thing in witchcraft. Then I remembered I have about 2 pounds of bees wax. I could make my own small dipped candles. How witchy would that be! Something else to add to my list of projects to try. 

Result of sachiko test with cross stitch canvas

Well you can tell which side was done free hand and the other with a cross stitch backing. :) 

Using cross stitch fabric took a super long time. Pulling the threads out wasn't that bad but it does make the stitching loose. Thinking about it, if I used wider cross stitch fabric it probably would have been faster. I used what I had for this test run. I know I can draw lines using tailor chalk, which I'll try at some point. This is a project I'll do while I'm dog sitting. Doesn't require a lot of supplies and easy to put down if something comes up. 

 

Apple Award Win

My son in law is in town for some Apple award for an app he helped developed. The guy smiling in the photo is Jip. Not sure what the awards means but he's very good at what he does, even if I don't know exactly what it is. :)

But in true baby boomer form I have long list of computer questions to have him fix before he heads back home.

Cyanotype Garage Set Up

Garage Set Up

 My sun printing set in the garage. I even have a special shirt that I wear. Well it's special now because I got ink all over it. :) Doesn't matter how careful you are, splash marks happen. The storage clip boards (got at FabMo for .50) I use to hold the treated paper and the 8X10 glass. The drawers hold all the stencils and leaves . Under the table is all the fabric I'm hoping to dye. Just having to decide what image I want to use. 

I picked up two Tim Holtz die cuts (like I need anymore dies!) that I thought would work well with sun printing. Only $2.00 at Cottage Crafts, so I couldn't pass them up. 

Tim Holtz Die Cut sets $2.00 each

Shuei-Do Manju Going Strong

I finally had to break down and go into Japan town on Friday to buy the incense I wanted. Couldn't find it in any of the places close to me. I was lucky to find a meter with an hour left on it, so I walked down to the manju shop. I've been following them online and they talk about what flavors will be available. It's pricey, $3 a piece but I wanted to support a local small business. 

Rasberry

Melon

Butter (that's the best)

Bean something I can't remember the name of. 

The other thing I found out most of the stores don't open until noon. Since my meter would run out at 11:54, I decided I dropped enough money in town and didn't need to hang around. 

 

Lucky or Manifested?

Ginger plant in my yard

Did I manifest a Japanese incense burner and alter caldron? Is it because it's now on my radar that I see them? I was thinking I needed a better way to burn incense since I don't have a zen garden anymore. After watching several witch videos using a small caldron, thought that would be nice to add to my growing collection of witchy stuff. Both came up on Maxsold sold this week. These are things I don't see at thrift stores and rarely show up at the auction houses. I went a little over budget but if I set my alarm to watch the online auction, it means I'm serious about it.

 

Cast iron incense burner $20.00

              Brass caldron $29.00 

 

 

Cyanotype II

I had a lot of cyanotype paper prepped and the directions say not to leave it for more than two weeks. Well it's been over two months. I decided it was time to see if it really made a different. 

I took picture with the stencils and leaves before exposure and then the results. I don't see any difference but I'm a newbie so what do I know. :)  My next step is to move up to fabric. I have a bunch of canvas tote bags washed and waiting. With the bright California sun it only takes a few minutes to get it to change. 
 

Sashiko Stitch on Cross Stitch Fabric - Does It Really Work?

I've been in a crafting mood and now have the time to dive into my very long list of projects. I've had all the parts to do Sashiko stitching including a cut up pair of jeans. After seeing some different ways to do it, I thought why not try the more interesting ones. Someone posted for the more complicated stitches you can use cross stitch fabric to keep track of your pattern's stitch lines. After you finish, you pull the threads out from the cross stitch canvas. I decided I wanted to see how easy it really was to pull those threads out. This will be one of my night owl projects!