Oh the Cuteness!

Instead of my usual Fancy Friday post, I wanted to take a moment to talk about a special lady. My grandma Gloria passed away last Friday, so needless to say I was in no mood to get fancy or do a photo shoot. She was 91 years old and had a stroke a couple months back that left her mostly paralyzed, and she had another a few days before she passed away that left her in a coma till the end. She was a very special lady and will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her. Almost two years ago we all got together to celebrate her 90th birthday party in southern California and it was a wonderful event, and I'm so very glad I took the time to travel there as it was the last time I saw her. A lot of people in my family say I take after her and I like to think it's true. I don't know if she ever knew it, but having people tell me that I was most like her out of all the kids and grandkids was always a major point of pride for me. She was always so positive, sharp as a tack, and sw...

I have to say I am in hog heaven with this  new craft room  of mine! There's been a big pile up of personal and business-related ufo's for some time now, so I've been going down the list finishing one business and one personal at a time. Today I finished a special secret project for my etsy shop that's been in my head forever, and to celebrate I took a little me-time and made a gigantic owl! I call him Gordie since he's so pudgy! He's made from some leftover felt and hand-me-down canvas material. Probably he will end up being a mascot at my craft booth. But! I made him for a very specific reason, namely this: I know I've mentioned before that I try to run a no-waste sewing studio. This means that every scrap of fabric, felt, and thread ends up in this bin and will eventually end up as stuffing for plushies. Right around when I moved house I noticed that I was not keeping up with using my scraps and the bin was completely full. So I decided wh...

Happy Fancy Friday! This week I was inspired by this cute look and wanted to try the whole belt-over-cardigan look: We were going to a local production of "Reefer Madness" that night, so I thought a fun splash of purple would be nice.  I got the minidress and belt at a local thrift store for $4 a piece! I added my purple amethyst slab ring and some cloisonne and rope bracelets that also had touches of purple, and a mood ring on the other hand. The cardi is from Target.  Since we were going out in the evening, I did my eye shadow a bit darker that I usually do with shades of green and black, and I added some watermelon pink wet-look gloss to my lips. The necklace was a birthday gift from a friend. The purple tights are from Target - they always seem to have a great selection of fun colors. And the shoes were found at a discount shoe outlet for a song! (Haha that's my anklet I can't get off under the tights.) For my hair I did a simple mess...

Welcome to the most image-heavy post on Earth! I wanted to share a complete 360 degree tour of my new craft space that I finished setting up last week! It's my favorite place in the whole world and I know it's the perfect place to inspire me to get creative! Here we go: When you first walk in the door, this is what you see! In July I'm picking up a jeweler's bench from my dad's old workshop that will sit next to the long desk in the center of the photo. Paper lantern lights and garlands are all over the ceiling and I'll add to them over time I'm sure. I hung up every piece of art I had (well, actually I have others but they're hard to find frames for), plus some childhood trinkets to make a huge wall of art! Local artists, friends' work, and random vintage pieces galore! My wall pocket from jfish designs ! The original plants got smushed in the move so I repotted some other succulents and a moose! Ganesha was the first ...

During Johnny's first camping trip we stopped in old town Cayucos to browse some of the great antique shops. I was drawn into one that had gobs of Jadeite displayed by the front door, and wound up purchasing this little beauty from a dear old man who said it belonged to his late wife: Oh the cuteness! It's my favorite color and it really works ! Yup, it sews, and it's only about 6 inches long. I was so happy to have this to display in my craft room, but I secretly wished I had the instructions for it. But, as fate would have it, during the last couple days of the same trip we went to the antique shops in Paso and Johnny spotted this on the bottom shelf of a display case: And lo and behold, it was in its original box with the accessories and instructions! Look at how stinkin' cute that box is! It's the metal details that get me. And as an added bonus, the little girl who previously owned this kit sewed one of the tops together and it...