"I have such GOOD friends."

This is the statement I made as my friends Pam and Lorena left my house.
The reasons:


Pam brought me delicious Tamales and this adorable cupcake container, which I love!



Lorena thought of me as she was purging her garage and brought me lots of crafting goodness! Check it out!!!!!



Not only do they bring me awesome gifts but they bring their company too!
I can't beat that!

I have also been spending the weekend:



Estate sale shopping. I must say it is a very strange feeling walking into someone's house and looking through their belongings. But when I do find treasures that are drawn to me, I think to myself "wow, someone else out there actually loves these items as much as I do." It's a funny feeling.

and we celebrated my cousin's 31st:



I baked cupcakes for another birthday:



Strawberry on strawberry...yum! Cupcakes just bring a smile to my face.



and I played with this crazy beast!

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Picture Post

Sneek Peek for my partner of this swap





Have you ever wine tasted in Murphy's California?





Came home and found dead Pixie Monster (courtesy of a naughty Boston Terrier)



What do you think of the upgraded page? Oh and I fixed the "comments" button...anyone can leave a comment. Just hit the button and type away. I WELCOME them!

“'What is the use of a book', thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?'”
-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The calm after the Holidays.

Hello there blog land! Just trying to get back to normal life around here. Been crafting a little, shopping a little and have been given a gift too! Kevin surprised me with these:



don't you love the unexpected? I also received this in the mail the other day:



It's Teesha Moore's journal pages copied into 4 books. She is one of my favorite artists! So I was pretty excited to get these and thumb through the pages in ahhh. I adore her journals and wish I had the freedom to let go of any hesitation in my mind and create the way she does! I also purchased this book today at an antique store:



It's full of reproduction antique paper dolls. It's very adorable and I can use them in my craft work. The time in between has been spent crafting this:



and this




The shroom clips were created from Heidi's blog. But I went beyond just the clips and have something in store for the future! I also started sewing the heart garland in preparation for Valentine's. I created an Etsy account, I just have to work out some details and make more stuff for my little grand opening. I will keep you informed!

"As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, THINK BIG."
- Donald Trump

Rain Rain go away...

come back some other day. No, not really. I know we need it, but I hate seeing people crashing on the roads, trees splitting and Michael's craft store closed due to a power outage! Sigh.
At least Tar-shay was open and I got this really cute apron for $2.50!



They have all sorts of cute Valentines goodies for sale in there $1-$2.50 section. Kevin actually pulled me away from the section and said we really don't need heart napkins, he's probably right. But I did manage to put other heart items in the basket, hee hee. Since we're talking shopping, I have recently found old toy fabric panels during my thrifting adventures. Does anyone remember them?



These fabrics from another time evoke long-forgotten memories and emotion! My mother use to sew many stuffed animals from them for me. I loved them to the point that is was a scraggly piece of fabric that I was embarrassed to explain to anyone what it actually is or was. Mom use to stuff them with shredded poly foam and it soothed me to pick at this little pieces of foam in the doll. I know, weird right? I'm hoping to put a couple together sometime soon using the same kind of stuffing. Ah, I love nostalgia!

"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet."
- Roger Miller

Hello 2008...

you look good, so far! I hope you all had a no-hangover holiday. We had an intimate soiree with some close friends. It was quite fabulous. My new year's resolution is to live a healthier lifestyle (more spa visits, haircuts, yoga?) as with everybody else in the world huh? My backup resolution is to get an Etsy shop open! In the meantime I've been getting a little thifting done:



I also found this corn husk doll in really good shape:



I know a Ms. Rose that collects these and I think this will fit into her collection quite well!
Again, I hope you all had a wonderful New Years and may all your resolutions start off with a bang!!!!!

"I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you? Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second."
~Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

Happy Christmas!

Hope you and your loved ones have/had a wonderful day! Enjoy today and don't feel guilty for relaxing! You deserve it!


Mountains of chocolate, ready to be transformed into home baked goodness!


Cupcakes that are already gobbled up.


Some one's enjoying the holiday goodies!


I'm now a cobbler too!


My crazy viking...estactic about his gift


mmmmm...marzipan!


A new cute friend.

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
-Dr. Seuss

It's FINALLY beginning to look like Christmas...

I was starting to get jealous reading other blogs weeks ago and they had already had the chance to decorate for the Holidays. I just barely started to pull my stuff out and I'm Finally in the Christmas mood!





I also finished the advent calendar:




I went shopping...but didn't buy any gifts:(



Put together Deer Land (inspired by the latest Martha)





and finished cards



Whew! It's not even Christmas and I'm exhausted!


"Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall."
-Dave Barry

PS Mochi and I are both in good spirits!

A bit under the weather around here

That wee cold I mentioned in my last post...is full blown! Hopefully, this will be it for the season!
Mochi is also not feeling too well, I think her back legs are bothering her. So, we are definitely keeping our eyes open for better usage of those legs. I forgot to mention in the last post that I won a raffle prize at the Holiday Boutique



They are hand knitted booties! I'm calling them my little elf clogs...speaking of elf clogs, I have this project on my mind. I would like to make them for friends (as soon as this cold is gone). Also on my craft to do list is the Martha Stewart advent calendar I purchased from Michael's on sale for $9.



I need to get a move on it before the month is over :P
Hope all is well and healthy!

“Health is not valued till sickness comes.”
- Thomas Fuller

A great big Thank You...

to those of you who came out to support me! I had such a great time, I felt totally in my element. It was soooo nice to see friends I haven't seen in awhile. Thanks again for coming out. To those of you who are new to the blog (hopefully there are new friends here), Welcome and thanks for stopping by. Please bookmark me and check what I'm up to every so often.


Over all the boutique was a success! I wish I had more shows to do. As I was sitting there, I kept thinking to myself, how much fun it would be to open up a small online shop. I may pursue this but I need a wee bit of a break at the moment.
I had a great neighbor at the boutique, Amanda and Brett. They are tooo nice! and also the proud owner of Maybeline and Bundy (the 2 pixie monsters she adopted):

It's refreshing to meet like-minded people! Thanks Amanda for your company!
I finally made it to the Alameda Flea Market!


All man....if you haven't gone and love vintage items, this is the place to be! But be prepared and bring a cart, cash and be ready to bargain! Here are my goodies:




The best deal I got was a set of eight Halibut fish plates for $15 (originally $20). I was planning on gifting them to a couple that could appreciate their quirkiness, but I'm growing quite fond of them ;)
Hope you all have had a great weekend, unfortunately i caught a bit of a cold here and my bed is calling my name! Cheerio!

"Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone."

- Gladys Browyn Stern