Summing up the weekend with photos...

CREATED...


PLANTED...



BOUGHT...


DECORATED...


WALKED...


SAW...

Justin Timberlake

FINISHED...


"I was merely reading the Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I do love knitting patterns."
-Harry Potter, Half-Blood Prince

Felix Felicis...

is also knowing as Liquid Luck Potion in the Harry Potter world (I'm a HP nerd).
I feel like I got my hands on some of this potion, let me explain...
When I got home from work today, it was a bit to dreary to work out in the yard which is something i've been itching to do. So, I decided to catch up on all my newspaper and magazine reading. The first thing I pick up is my Michael's ad and there on the front was a 50% off coupon any regular priced item. This usually excludes the Martha Stewart Line. I kept on reading the coupon and there was no mention of Martha. I said to myself "this is gotta be a misprint" as I grabbed my coat and rushed out the door to Michael's. I read and reread the coupon over and over while I was driving (at red lights of course). I even thought about how I was going to approach the cashier if she decided this is also a mistake. I drove into the parking lot as someone was backing out of their front row parking, pulled in thinking...the 18x18 scrapbook I have longingly wanted for soooo long is got to be sold out (because I'm not the only one who wants this scrapbook and discovered this misprint). I ran in found the black scrapbook staring back at me. I looked around to make sure no one else was eyeballing this, grabbed it and ran to the cashier with coupon in hand, ready to battle (if I got any flack). She rang it up, scanned the coupon, no fuss! A $5 gift card and $39 later I am the proud owner of this black scrapbook that's too big to put anywhere in my house!
But I still love it and felt I got away with a great deal!
As Martha would say "This is a Good Thing!"

Whole lotta eating going on...

Hi blogger peoples! Haven't written in awhile, thought you lost me again didn't ya? Well as the title above states, I have been stuffing my face with good food lately. It all started with a great dinner, cooked up by my sister-in-law to be.

It was an Italian feast! We started off with this caprese salad, very fresh and yummy. Then of course we had Italian sausage and penne and ended up with this...lemon cake with beautiful long stem candles. She also gave me some goodies purchased from Wee Wonderfuls. As a Thank you I made Miss Bunny.


She was one of the Wee pattens I'd received. Hopefully Miss Bunny has arrived on her doorstep. We also had our last camping hoorah for the summer at Big Sir. I can't believe there are so many gorgeous places that are located less than a few hours away! Mochi (as shown in the above photo) had a wonderful time. She met a cuople of new buddies Naama and Lila...super sweet dogs! Oh and I had the best eggs benedict at Deetjens located at the Big Sir Inn. If you get a chance stop in and have a taste! Hope you all have been well and healthy, until next time!

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

P.S. I know I've promised Bird Box pictures...I will hatch them soon!

Back to the old grind.

Hi everybody! How are we? Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I was able to achieve most of my goals this weekend. I made it to the DA Flea Market. I went prepared to shop...but there wasn't much. I just bought 2 books. Don't you hate that? When you are ready to spend but the means are not there. I didn't make it to Napa, however we did have the opportunity to explore Morgan Hill wineries: This is Clos La Chance (http://www.closlachance.com/), I love winery doors!
Can you believe I was able to enjoy all those magazines I posted about last time and I finally finished Order of the Phoenix. I recently just started to read the Harry Potter series and I just got through the thickest book! Whew....yes, I am way behind...please don't tell me the end! Lastly...did you hear about the huge fire in South San Jose? This picture was taken at my dad's place. I couldn't believe how close it was! Scarey!


"Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young...and I seem to have forgotten lately." -Albus Dumbledore, Order of the Phoenix

P.S. I also finished the bird box that I hinted about before, but the poor lighting I have at the moment will not do it justice. I promise I will upload photos soon!
P.S.S. I'm thinking about getting a new camera that will take nice macro photos, any suggestions?

3 Day Weekend...

is finally here! For those who are working fools (like me), know it is a relief to have an extra day off without having to use PTO! Yeepee! I'm so excited that I just don't want to spoil it by sitting around. I'm going to hit up the DA Flea Market, Napa and find me some Bar-B-Que! I also have much reading to catch up on:
Yikes! I recently got together with my party gals and had such a great time (like always). I swear I can't find another group of people I can party with on a Wednesday night! I received wonderful gifts from them too (who can beat that?)


I will have to add more images of other fun gifts on the next posts (save some for later). I hope all of you enjoy that extra time off and find some good eats!

"Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow".
~Douglas Pagels

Good Friends, Good Wine =

Good Times! I had a most enjoyable weekend. Went to world famous wine country, Napa to witness some old friends get hitched. I had such a fantastic time catching up and seeing old faces. If you haven't had the chance to tour Napa (even for just a weekend getaway), I HIGHLY recommend this. We checked out a couple of wineries, see purchases below:

I've been told, the further you drive down hwy 29 the better it gets. I will need to do some research in the near future to see.
I was able to sneak to a small antique shop in Downtown Napa and purchased vintage shelving trim, plastic cocktail umbrellas and blue beaded earrings, pictured in the photo:

I can imagine the umbrellas sheilding some mini birdies perched on their little tulle nests...we'll see. The other items pictured are fun things I've recently purchased. Oh, and the Halloween Martha Stewart Items are in store (I bought the plastic BEWARE tape) I'm always excited to see her stuff! I heart Martha!
Last post I think I had mentioned I was going to clean my messy desk....and I did. However, I started pulling more things out and this is how it looks now

Can't say I didn't try right? Hope you all had as good of a weekend as I did!

"Wino Forever" -Johnny Depp
(The tattoo once read 'Winona Forever'!)

I Heart Books...

have you noticed? If not there will be more posts on books I love I'm sure. I have wanted this Mark Ryden book forever! I first saw it at Comic Con a year or so ago, but my friends El and Rob recently gave it to me as a gift...I could of just kissed them! I love, love it! I also got this next book on my doorstep. To tell you the truth I have tried to learn to crochet about a dozen times and have never learned it. It's really sad because I love this craft. If you are good at it and love plush, this is an awesome book! It is very easy to follow and gives you easy, intermediate and advanced projects. If you do pick up the book and make something...please make the hamburger for me! I haven't had to much time to craft but my craft table seems to show otherwise:












Well I shall go clean this mess! But I will leave you with this qoute "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

P.S. Have you seen LA Ink (http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/la-ink/la-ink.html)?

Hibiscus Grumpy Head

YES! It's mid-week....today was one of those days that I wanted to throw up my hands and quit my day job. There was a couple of times where this following quote I read last night kept reappearing in my mind "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined" -Henry David Thoreau. Does anyone else ever feel like this or is it because I just woke of grumpy? Well, on a brighter note...I did end up putting together hibiscus hair clips for a Luau I'm attending this weekend. They have a little bit of glitter on them, it's hard to tell in this photo.

Have a nice rest of the day!

Dollies from Far East

Good Day Everyone! Can you believe it...I've posted 3 days in a row Woo Hoo! Well, I had the opportunity to craft a tinsy bit today but that will have to wait for the next post. However I did want to show you the dollies I received from my sissy. They arrived to me from Far East...Taiwan? They will get along just fine with the rest of my dollie family.

Also, I received this fantabulous book in the mail today A Passion For Parties, it has gorgeous photos of different themed parties. If you know me...you know I love to party but, I especially love to plan and decorate for them too!
Hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday.
"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right...."
-Martin Luther

Little Bo Beep...

Mary had a Little Lamb and Simple Simon are one of the many projects that are pending in my project basket. Does anyone else have any project baskets lying around? These embroidered panels will eventually become a sweet little baby blanket. A few years ago I had purchased Aunt Martha's Hot Iron Transfers from www.joann.com and they have been sitting for years until I was looking through my craft drawers and "rediscovered" these sweet little designs. Embroidery has a very calming effect and you can take your project almost anywhere.
Speaking of project baskets, this photo of the bird in a tulle nest will be made into something fabulous when I have a moment of inspiration!
Hope you all had a moment of calm on a day full of chaos...Happy Monday!

I'm back...I think!

Hi everybody...it's been too long and I apologize for being absent. 2007 has been VERY eventful, some good and some bad. However I'm not going to bore you with details. The blog has been missed and I really thought nobody was reading this, however I've had several of you who check my blog and are sadley disappointed that I have not posted, especially when I'm so bad in returning calls. I think about the blog daily and always say to myself...ohhh I think someone out there can relate! Anyway, enough chit-chat and let's get down to business. This weekend I have focused my energy on my deserted doll house and I pretty much finished the living room. It is very rich looking:


Sorry, for the terrible photos. One of the photos is with flash and the other has no flash. The electricity really makes the room pop! Like my make-shift bear skin rug? (no animals were harmed in the making) I feel like a little wee one when I work on my house, I love it and can't believe I've neglected it for soo long. Well, I just wanted to drop a small post to tell you I'm still alive and hopefully back in action. I've missed you all and hope to visit with you soon! Love You!

Girlfriends, organization and Kitty Meow Meow

Hello lovelies!

The beginning of November has been treating me good so far. There's been a lot of meeting up with friends. There's a certain group of gals that I love to hook up with because they are always up for food, drinks, gossip and good times. We recently got together to celebrate Jen's Jen's 30th Pictured here with her cake...which I will add was pretty delicious. The Gelato on the side just topped it off! It was actually a rare occasion because I had my camera...I never remember my camera. So here are other photos of the evening
I love the one of Pam and her Big Bow! Just being silly! You wouldn't believe how many times it took us to get a decent group photo. I also got together with the girls we call Art Book Chicks. We get together once a month to learn new things, network and show and tell. Unfortunately I forgot my camera to this meeting :( However, my friend Nancie asked "How do you organize all your craft stuff in such a small space?" One word....ORGANIZATION! I try to keep all items pretty organized but when I start a project I have to pull everything out.



My everyday pens are organized by color in a drawer. The drawers you see are all located under my craft table. Plastic boxes are filled with pom poms, sequins and such. A Printers tray holds my scrapbooking embellishments and plastic trays hold paints, pencils, etc. Vintage luggage is my friend! It stores papers, books and projects! Now, what do I do with all this stuff? I have fun and make plush toys like this KittyThe free kitty pattern was from the wee wonderfuls website. I adore the kitty and so does Mochi (which is not a good sign). Well that's the update for now I hope all is well and to those who are first-timers to my blog welcome and please check back! Here's a short quote to leave you with "progression not perfection."

Halloween's Over

I hope everybody had a wonderful Halloween. I certainly had a good time! It was one of those Halloween's that you don't get too hyped up for and it ends up being the best! I was Chinese Opera (again) and I must say that costume has never let me down! I had to resurrect the head piece...which was covered in webs and dust! The costume won me a $15 gift certificate to Starbucks! Anyhoo, my brother saw me waiting in the car and said I looked sooo bright he had to take a picture. On another note, I took a couple days off from work and made these festive cupcakes. They didn't come together as easy as I thought but I still had a good time making them. I also planted up my miniature garden pot. It's so refreshing to work in the garden again. During the past 2 days I have been reminiscing of the good o' days of not working a full 40 hour week and having time to do the fun things in life, such as cooking for friends, gardening, hanging with the dog and of course crafting. I miss that! Well, that's all for tonight. I hope everybody had a good first day of November. The rains just started here-a good night to snuggle up!