Beth's Babble

2010-05-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

I am really so embarrased that I haven't posted to this blog since 2009!!! My life has been very busy (as I know all of yours have been too!) and hasn't left me much time for altered art, but I have made quite a bit of jewelry. I will post some pictures of the pieces soon. I do have some exciting news though about an altered art piece (the one pictured on the left) that I made back in 2008! My buddy Barb put together an amazing 4x4 collaborative book with pieces made by many different artists for a call for Black & White entries in one of the Stampington publications and they will be publishing some of the pieces from the book in the Summer 2010 Somerset Studio Gallery!!! It was quite a surprise when we heard the news since the book was sent in 2008 and we hadn't heard anything about it since then. That's it for now and I promise to be on here again SOON!!! Hope I still have some readers :)

2009-10-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Made a different version of the popcorn below and this one has a lot of Oreo's in it! :)

2009-10-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is some yummy Halloween Marshmallow Popcorn that I made. I want to share the recipe, but am having issues trying to copy and paste the link. Please leave your e-mail address if you'd like me to send you the recipe!

2009-10-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

Been sick lately and sometimes I get very bored lying around, so I got out the beads and made these two necklaces. Most of the beads on these two necklaces are from an awesome bead store in Surprise, AZ called Confetti Beads. If you are ever in the area and love beads, you must check them out! Hope you are all enjoying your autumn so far :)

2009-09-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

Two more! Enjoying playing with the fall color palette :)

2009-09-05T14:32:00.001-07:00

Another couple of necklaces...I'm on a roll! I really, really, really love the one on the top :)

2009-09-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

An autumn inspired necklace (even though the cool air of autumn is nowhere near showing up here! :( How is the weather where you are?

2009-08-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have finally had a little time to create recently and I have been wanting to make jewelry. Here are a few of the necklaces I've created. Of course, the pictures do not show off the beauty, vibrancy and sparkle of the beads. What have you been creating lately?

2009-06-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how long it has been since I've posted anything here :( This is the first art I have made in months! Once it gets warm enough to get the pool out for the girls in the backyard, I should have more time to make art. I love getting my stuff out to create on the patio table while they're having fun playing outside. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying life! :)

2009-03-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am still here! The weather here has been so nice lately that we have been going on tons of walks and to lots of parks...basically just having a lot of fun and enjoying the outdoors. I had a little bit of art time with my friend Carmen over the weekend and I made a fun necklace. It isn't scanning well, so sometime soon hopefully I can get a good picture of it with the camera and get it up here. I am also doing a colloborative project with my friend Sandee for something, but I'm going to be hush-hush about it for now. I have also become involved with Facebook (which is quite time-consuming) but is so great in the fact that it really does help me keep in touch with a lot of people better! So, that's what's been going on with me and I am really going to try and be better about updating my blog more often. Hope you are all doing great :)

2009-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

This is a box I altered for an 'Altered Candy Heart Box' swap in one of my groups. It started as the usual red box with a tacky picture of a rose on it. It measures 12 in. x 13 in. The only thing I knew that the recipient liked were the colors blue and purple. It was then filled with all kinds of art goodies, chocolate and a handmade bracelet. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day :)

2009-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

The winner of my OWOH giveaway is: TIFF! I will be e-mailing you shortly to let you know you've won and to get your mailing info. Congrats and thanks to all of you for playing! :)

2009-02-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

I have not forgotten about my OWOH giveaway! I will post the name of the winner and e-mail her/him sometime in the next few days. Thanks for playing and good luck!

2009-01-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a 6 x 6 mixed-media collage called 'Celebrate the Journey'. Had a lot of fun making this one! I would love to hear what you think of this piece and please make sure to check out my OWOH give-away below! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend :)

2009-01-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

I am very happy to be able to give something away this year for the 'One World-One Heart' giveaway (http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/! I didn't have a blog last year at this time so I was not able participate. Up for grabs is a handmade bracelet by yours truly. Just leave a comment on THIS post to be entered! Winner will be chosen on February 12th. Good luck and thanks for playing :)

2009-01-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've ever complained on my blog before, but I just can't stand this problem anymore and I want to know what you do if this is happening to you also. Are you around someone a lot who is ALWAYS texting, using their iPhone, Blackberry, etc.? I am and it is driving me CRAZY!!! Am I the only one with this dilemma? I would LOVE to hear from others with this same problem! Thanks and sorry to complain :)

2009-01-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

After a leisurely walk to get ice cream with my family in some gorgeous Southern California sunny weather (in the 70's!), I was able to make some jewelry today! These pieces look so much better in person! Sometimes I sit down with my beads with the best intentions of making a piece or two and I just can't get a combination that I like. That did not happen today though! It all just 'clicked'! I know that most of you can definitely relate to what I'm talking about :) BTW, these pieces are not meant to match by any means. They are two completely different combinations of beads.

2009-01-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I am finally posting some new art! Now that things are back to their normal groove here after the holidays, I have a little bit of art time :) These are Zetti Hanging ATCs that I made for a swap. I LOVE hearts and red, so I LOVE Valentine's Day!

2008-12-31T15:42:00.000-08:00

Hello!!! I am still here, alive and happy, but soooooooooo busy, as I'm sure you all are as well this time of year! Just wanted to pop in quickly to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope you all have a very wonderful 2009! :)

2008-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

Had a little bit of time today to make something while my 2-year-old was making stuff too! We had a lot of fun :)

2008-11-29T21:42:00.000-08:00

These are two ornaments I made for the Zetti Holiday Ornament Swap I am hosting in the Zetti Zoo Yahoo Group. The ornaments are not necessarily supposed to be 'Christmas' ornaments since not everyone participating in the swap celebrates Christmas. Everyone was open to interpret what their version of a 'Zetti Holiday Ornament' is and go from there. It is my first time hosting ever in any group. Participants only needed to make 1-3 ornaments (they get the same number back as they sent in), which isn't such a huge and stressful commitment as some of the other swaps around are. I know that I can't participate in anything that I have to make more than just a few things in because I don't have the time and I get very stressed out! Both started as plain paper mache ornaments that I obviously altered A LOT!!! They both measure about 7-1/2 to 8 inches in length (including the hanger pictured). Please feel free to leave me a comment letting me know what you think of them. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season so far! :)

2008-11-26T17:44:00.000-08:00

Been super busy lately, as I'm sure you all are too! Here are a few pictures of my girls from a big party for my 13-year-old

nephew last weekend at this beautiful Hyatt hotel (http://valencia.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp. We had a blast! We all love to dance, so it was a lot of fun! Hope you all have a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving! :)

2008-11-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

This is a 5 x 7 collage called 'Do You Really See?' This piece is a bit darker than the others I've been making recently. Someone I love very much is suffering from major depression right now. It hit her like a brick wall and she's never gone through anything like this before. It is very hard for me to see her like this, but she is getting help so hopefully we will see a positive change soon. I made this piece as I was thinking about her.

2008-11-12T22:05:00.000-08:00

We went here (http://www.davincilb.com/) after the CPR class for some awesome desserts too! I must go to bed now. I have to get up really, really early tomorrow! :(

2008-11-12T15:51:00.001-08:00

I'm going here for dinner tonight http://www.originalfishcompany.com/home/default.html with a co-worker and our boss. I will probably have my usual...the Mesquite Broiled Shrimp on a Skewer. It comes with so much extra stuff too and it is all soooo good! Then we will be off to meet another co-worker and take a CPR re-certification class that we have to do every two years. Gotta go finish getting the house picked up! Bye :)

2008-11-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to have time to make some art yesterday. This is a 5 x 5 piece on a gallery-wrapped canvas called 'The Gift that is Thee'. Did you get a chance to make anything this weekend? :)

2008-11-07T21:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a Zetti-ish gift tag I made to put on Sandee's (http://www.sandees-sanity.blogspot.com/) birthday gift box that I mailed to her last month :)

2008-11-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged Megan http://peachesandpeonies.blogspot.com/ and Angie http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/angiesartfulllife/and now I must to say 7 random things about myself. Here they are:

1. In college, I sold my saliva for $ (it was for dental research).

2. I am really good at playing 'Wheel of Fortune' when it's on TV and I happen to see it. My husband wants me to go on the show!

3. I love to wear fun/funky socks (if it isn't flip-flop weather!). I have some fun ones on right now as I write this :)

4. I am addicted to Diet Coke. I do not drink any coffee, tea or alcohol.

5. I am in quite a few football pools (for NFL).

6. I cannot resist warm, right out of the oven cookies, brownies, cakes, etc.

7. I wear my hair in a ponytail about 99.9% of the time because I get hot so darn easily (and I haven't even hit menopause yet)!

Here are the 7 people I am now tagging to tell us 7 random things about themselves:

Christy - http://www.artchickadee.typepad.com/
Theresa - http://tmartinjournal.blogspot.com/
Heather - http://speckled-egg.blogspot.com/
Patti - http://pattis-creations.blogspot.com/
Marilyn - http://wwwmarilyninmyroom.blogspot.com/
Tracey - http://www.sunshinefactory.net/blog/
Joanne - http://joannethiemehuffman.typepad.com/

Bye for now! :)

2008-11-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I actually made some art! This is a 5 in. x 7 in. gallery wrapped canvas called 'Wander'. It says 'it made her feel wonderful about life itself.' I know it looks very busy. For some reason I always think I have to put 'more' on. It sure felt good to make something! Enjoy :)

2008-11-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

I still have not had any time for making art, but I've been having fun making some edible 'art' with my 2-year-old. One of our neighbor's gave us some Fun Doe (http://www.nwfundraising.com/catalogs/fundoe/fundoe.html and we have been making all kinds of silly cookies. Now that Halloween and all the festivities leading up to it are over I may actually have some time this weekend to play with my art stuff! :)

2008-10-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have been so darn busy and I'm so tired, but I wanted to post a few pictures of our fun time at this cool Pumpkin Patch near us. Hope you are all doing well! :)

2008-10-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hubby took me on a surprise date yesterday and the surprise was 'Wicked'! We have both been wanting to see it and it's leaving LA soon. I am so glad we got to see it because it really is a fabulous show!!! If it's anywhere near you anytime, I highly recommend that you see it!!! Have you seen it yet? :)

2008-10-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post tonight...I have to go to bed right after this! We got back last night from a 5-day trip to Reno to hang out with some good friends. I did get to make some art while I was there and I will post more about the trip very soon! For now, I will leave you with a picture of one of the two desserts I made for a bunch of people while we were there. It was SOOOOOOOOO yummy!!! :)

2008-10-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

How could I forget to add this picture?!?! Here we all are! Back row is Sera, me, Jen (http://www.artisticallydesigneddiversions.blogspot.com/), Audra and Tally (http://www.tallyoliveau.blogspot.com/). Front row is Kelly(http://www.soulhumming.typepad.com/, Ruth (http://ruthrae.blogspot.com/, Julie (http://julbie.blogspot.com/, Pegster (http://wwwpeggysamusement.blogspot.com/) and Mary.

2008-10-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

FUN! FUN! FUN!

I was so happy to be able to play with a bunch of my art friends last Saturday at Julie's (http://julbie.blogspot.com/ fabulous house. She is such a generous and wonderful hostess! I didn't get very much art done, but it was so fun to just play, socialize and be silly with everyone :)

2008-10-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

How do I get the writing to not be all weird next to the image? This happens on my posts a lot and I don't know how to fix it! In the last post I did use some bold and different text, but that I meant to do. Also, for whatever reason, I cannot figure out how to title my posts! I'm sure that both of these things are easy to do, but for some reason I'm having major brain farts when it comes to figuring them out! Argh!

2008-10-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

THE WINNER OF THE COLLAGE CALENDAR GIVEAWAY IS...

Miscellanea!!!

I will be e-mailing you shortly to get your snail mail address. A lot of you were interested in buying one of these if you didn't win, so here is the link for that...http://www.amazon.com/Collage-Artplay-Creative-Spirit-Calendar/dp/1602370605/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223475983&sr=8-1. Thanks so much for playing and have a WONDERFUL day! :)

2008-10-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

This is a mixed-media collage I made for a very wonderful family in our lives using a picture taken on a very special day. The top picture is of the 8 x 10 canvas completed and the bottom picture is how it looks matted and framed. I believe the dimensions of the completed piece are 16 x 20. For the record, I do not make my own mats and frames as some of you have thought in previous posts. I do pick out the mats and frames and put it together myself, but I do not make them myself. Have a great day! :)

2008-10-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

My girls, mom and I went to IHOP today for a very late breakfast/very early lunch. My mom has been craving liver and onions (YUCK!!!) and couldn't really think of anywhere else near that has it. She has been pretty couped up lately since she broke her ankle 2 weeks ago. She and my 24-year-old nephew were in New York and she fell down the stairs to the subway on their last day there. It was already a bad day for her that day since it was the one year anniversary of my dad's death. She has a cast and crutches and will probably have it on at least 2 months. Her ankle starts hurting a lot if she doesn't have it propped up, so she really can't do much right now. This is really frustrating for her because she is someone who is always on the go. The cute pancake pictured is what my 2-year-old and I shared. My 1-year-old was sleeping, so she didn't get any. It was very tasty, but of course did not look quite like this one! :)

2008-09-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

I am sick! It hit me like a ton of bricks Thursday night. Thank goodness for the drugs that stop the runny nose, help with the aches and pains and help you sleep and for the antibiotics that will hopefully get rid of this infection ASAP! Hope you all stay well because this sucks! :(

2008-09-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

I had been thinking about making a Halloween/Fall themed art doll for awhile now, but wasn't inspired to do so until my bud Sandee (http://www.sandees-sanity.blogspot.com/) made her adorable 'Boo' doll! Thanks for the inspiration, my friend! :) Her name is 'Queen of the Night' and she stands about 6-1/2 inches tall. She is all hand-sewn.

2008-09-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a new art doll called 'From the Heart'. She is all hand-sewn and stands about 7-1/2 tall.

If you haven't already, please see my giveaway below for a chance to win an awesome calendar for 2009!

2008-09-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!! All you need to do is post a comment after this post and you will be eligible to win this new and sealed amazing calendar for 2009! The 'Wish' piece below is a piece I made and it is the 'June' page. Please remember to leave a contact e-mail in case you win! I will pick the winning name the morning of October 8th. Good luck to all!!! :)

2008-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our day trip to Port Townsend last month. It was our first time there and we loved it. I can't wait to go there for an Artfest someday!

2008-09-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

I was able to make this piece today and continue work on two other pieces as well. It is a 4 x 4 collage called 'Dream Girl'. I sure hope I can get this green paint off my hands! :)

2008-09-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics from our trip to Whidbey Island. The top two are of my daughters at Doublebluff Beach. My older had a blast, but the younger one fell asleep right after we got there, so she didn't get to enjoy it at all :( The other pics are some of the spectacular views and sunsets we were lucky enough to see. I do have an art project in the works and I'm hoping to finish it this weekend. It is a gift, so I won't be able to post a pic of it until after it gets to it's new home. I am hoping to make some other smaller pieces this weekend too. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

2008-08-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece I made in the past when I was going through a very heartbreaking time. On the top you'll see the piece by itself and on the bottom you'll see how it looks after being matted and framed. I thought of this piece today because I am very, very sad. Tomorrow will be the anniversary of the last time I saw my dad alive and well (or so we thought) when he dropped us off at the airport. Thank goodness I hugged him and told him that I loved him that day. The next time I saw him he was in a coma and died 3 days later. Today would have been my parents 42nd wedding anniversary. Lots of emotions going on right now and the next few weeks are going to be really hard too. Thank goodness for chocolate...

2008-08-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

This is a 5-1/4 in. x 6 in. mixed media collage I made called 'A Creative Soul is Born'. I'm so happy that I found some art time! :) Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that the week ahead will be a great one!

2008-08-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from a beach down below Deception Pass of the bridge the pictures below were taken from and one of each of my girls by the water :)

2008-08-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from a bridge at Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. What a breathtaking sight it was! The skies were such a gorgeous blue and it was all so incredibly beautiful!

2008-08-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've been able to post anything since we were on vacation. We spent a week on Whidbey Island (Washington) and had a wonderful time! We just got back last night and I am so behind with everything, but I wanted to pop in here to post a couple pics. I haven't even seen all of our pics yet, but these two I wanted to share now. The first pic is a sign we saw as we were waiting to take the ferry over to Whidbey right at the beginning of our vacation. The second pic is of the fabulous house we stayed in that is owned by hubby's cousin's. I'll post more soon. Hope you have been having fun too :)

2008-08-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Didn't get any art done this weekend. Saturday we went to a memorial service for my aunt who passed away a week ago today. Sunday a friend and I went to lunch at The Crab Pot in the Alamitos Bay area of Long Beach. Doesn't look promising for getting art done here in the near future either...

2008-08-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

I have had no time for art this past week, but I wanted to post something here. Here are two pieces from the past that made it into some Somerset Studio publications. I have a few others that made it into some Stampington publications also, but these two are my favorites of them all. I'm hoping to have some art time this weekend, so I'll be sure to post if I make anything :) Hope you have a great weekend!

2008-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Have had a very nice past few days. Have had two very nice relaxing lunches (which means no babies obviously!) at two of my favorite restaurants (www.waltswharf.com and www.originalfishcompany.com). Hubby and I each got an hour long massage (http://www.wellspringsbodywork.com) yesterday. Hey, you gotta treat yourself sometimes! :)

2008-08-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more ornaments...

2008-08-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some ornaments I've made in the past. With the holidays not that far away, I need to start thinking of making more. Most of these had some kind of theme that I had to follow for a one for one swap with my very talented art friend Martha (http://m-is-for-martha.blogspot.com/). We did it throughout the year for a lot of the holidays. My life just got too hectic to continue doing it. I sure miss getting my ornies from her! Some of these were made for Secret Sister gifts and one was made for an art friend going through a very hard time. Have a great weekend!

2008-08-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

Another pin called 'Laugh'. She is about 3-1/4 inches tall.

2008-07-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

People have been asking me if I sell my dolls and I haven't really in the past. I decided this morning to sell two. I wasn't able to post them here earlier, but one has already sold even before I was able to get to this today. The one pictured here is the only one left. She is called 'Dream' and she stands proud at about 7 inches. Please e-mail me at artbeth67@gmail.com if interested. Thanks! :)

2008-07-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here's another mixed-media art doll pin. She stands about 3-1/4 inches tall.

2008-07-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here is my first ever fabric art doll pin! It is all hand-sewn and is about 3-1/2 inches tall. Can you tell I'm having fun with my new goodies? :)

2008-07-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

I was itching to make a doll with some of the stuff I bought at the Quilt Festival over the weekend and this is what I came up with. This doll is about 6-1/2 inches tall and I made her for my mom. 'Imagine' is one of her favorite words and I bought this piece specifically to put on a doll for her. She's having a really rough time right now with a lot of things, so I'm going to give it to her 'just because'. I know she will really love and appreciate it :)

2008-07-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the International Quilt Show with some friends. It was here in Long Beach for the first time. I'm not a quilter (I'm not that patient!), but I do love fabric. I did get some cool stuff to use to make more of my art dolls. There was a huge area where hundreds of gorgeous quilts were displayed. I was just blown away by the amount of work that goes into some of these. Absolutely amazing!

2008-07-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today is my mom's birthday. Today is going to be a very hard day for her since this is the first one she's had since my dad passed away very unexpectedly last September. She has always loved to spend some time by herself and today that is what she wants to do. She will most likely be going to spend time in one of her favorite places to unwind and that is Ventura. The card you see is one I made for her a few years back. It is one of my first altered art pieces.

We did get her presents, gave her a coconut cream pie and took her out to dinner yesterday. She wanted to go to a Benihana type place near us called Tokyo Hibachi. My two-year-old had a lot of fun discovering different uses for chopsticks! She was feeding us all rice with them at first, but then decided to use them as drumsticks most of the time!

2008-07-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a collage I did of my older daughter a few months after she was born (she recently turned two). It is about 5 in. x 7 in. I really love making these as you can probably tell! This one is called 'Beauty'.

2008-07-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics of some food I've made recently. The brownies are topped with chocolate chip cookie dough (with no egg) and are super yummy! I made this plate of goodies for my neighbors. The other plate has a filling breakfast for hubby on it. He woke up last Saturday morning and this was waiting for him :)

2008-07-21T17:15:00.001-07:00

Got some really small canvases a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to use one. What a fun size to work with! This one is 2 in. x 4 in. :)

2008-07-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

I seem to be on a roll here and have some time to do it, so I'll show you another piece as well. I made this a few years ago when I was going through a really dark time in my life. That time seems like such a long time ago (thank goodness)! This piece is called 'Promise Mocked by Visions'. It started out as a piece not much larger than an ATC and is now 24 in. x 28 in. hanging on the wall above the computer in our office. It is not on the reddish wall anymore since we had to switch rooms around because of the girls. It now has 'Zen Garden' green behind it. I really enjoy matting and framing art and photographs. I sure wish I had a larger house with a lot more wall space to be able to do this more!

2008-07-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

A while ago I posted a piece of art I made for my girls' bedroom. I said I would post a picture soon of what it looked like after I had it matted, framed and hung. One of my nephews reminded me recently that I didn't post the 'after' picture yet. So...here are pics of it before and after :)

2008-07-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our day in Seal Beach. Our company leaves on Monday morning, so I will soon have more time to blog and hopefully make some art!!!

2008-07-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

Still super busy with company and don't have time to write much now, but I wanted to let you know about this amazingly yummy gourmet popcorn I had the other day. It is Cinnamon Toast flavor and here is the link (http://www.popcornopolis.com/ if you 're interested in possibly trying some. They have so many great flavors...I would love to try them all!

2008-07-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy! Some of hubby's relatives are visiting and we have constantly been on the move. We just got back from staying in this awesome Marriott Hotel - the two larger towers in the left side of the picture are the hotel.(http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sandt-san-diego-marriott-hotel-and-marina). My oldest daughter turned two on Saturday and we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/index.html. I haven't been there in about 20 + years and I do not remember it being so incredibly hilly! My feet were killing me up until this morning. We also spent a lot of time both days at Seaport Village (http://www.seaportvillage.com/) walking around, eating, drinking, shopping, etc. Hope you are all enjoying your summer so far too :)

2008-07-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a necklace I finished a few weeks ago. I'm not too happy with the scans/photos I've taken of it, so this is the best picture of it you will get to see. It is so much prettier in person!

2008-07-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our 4th of July. We spent the day at my older brother's house who lives about an hour away. My girls loved playing their piano. I think the second picture is so funny because it looks like she is totally into it. We spent a ton of time in their pool and jacuzzi too. Most people there got to sit in the jacuzzi and watch the fireworks show. We had a very nice time! We hope you had a wonderful and safe 4th as well :)

2008-07-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures from a walk we went on recently. The top picture is digitally altered, but unfortunately I forgot to make a copy of the original to show the comparison between the two. The bottom picture is NOT altered at all. I have a vision of using this one in an art piece. I am planning on trying a new technique very soon, but I need to get some new materials to try it. Hopefully I can get the stuff I need in the next few days sometime because I'm dying to try it! What new technique(s) are you wanting to try?

2008-07-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is a 4 x 4 in the theme of Black and White Zetti. We were supposed to use part of our local newspaper as the background. Barb (http://123lavenderlollipoplane.blogspot.com/ is coordinating a collaborative book in one of my Yahoo groups in this theme to submit to Somerset Studio for possible publication in their Black and White issue. Let me know what you think! :)

2008-06-30T07:19:00.000-07:00

After Hurricane Katrina hit, a bunch of us in one of my Yahoo groups decided that we wanted to do something creative to make some money to donate to the victims. We came up with the idea of making a deck of cards and any sales from them would go to the victims. These five cards were my contributions. We named the deck 'Wings of Hope' and we sent the original deck to 'Oprah' to see if she would be interested in helping us with our mission. We did hear back, but not with the news we wanted to hear. Unfortunately, nothing has been done with these cards since and I would love to do something about it. Does anyone know where we can get these original cards made into decks of playing cards? I know a lot of people who would love to see this happen! Any info would be very helpful and appreciated!

2008-06-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the main two reasons I don't get much art time :) I am the luckiest mom in the world! Hope you all have a great weekend!

2008-06-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a wonderful dinner at Ruth's Chris (http://www.ruthschris.com/) in Anaheim. Hubby and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and 13 years together :) I'm so stuffed...it was SOOOOOOOO good! Bye for now...

2008-06-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Amber Lotus Wall Calendar 'Collage: Artplay for Your Creative Spirit' is now on Amazon.com for pre-order. My 'Wish' collage seen here is in the calendar. I'm actually not sure what month I am yet though. Guess I'll find out soon! The cover is by one of my favotire artists, Karyn Gartel, AKA as 'The Altered Diva' (http://altereddiva.blogspot.com/). I have a piece in their 2008 calendar also. I was the February page and the collage used was the one on the right side of my blog, 'Scarlet'. If anyone is interested, here is the link to pre-order it:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1602370605/ref=s9subs_c3_img1-rfc_p-2991_g1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0RCB22YQTB6351YWBJJ1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240801&pf_rd_i=507846

2008-06-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a thing art-wise since we've been back from vacation. We're not too motivated to do anything because it is just so darn HOT!!! We have nothing planned for the weekend at all really (that's a nice change!), so I can probably sneak in some art time. Here are a few 4 x 4's I did quite a while back and I still really like them. Do you ever look back at some of your old artwork and wonder what the heck you were doing? I sure do! Hope you all have a great weekend and aren't too hot wherever you are :)

2008-06-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

I am finally caught up reading my favorite blogs. We were gone for 10 days and unfortunately I was only able to use a computer 2 times (and very briefly each time!) the entire trip. I am so tired and should be in bed, but I thought I'd leave you with one picture of my babies playing until I can put some more up from our trip to this awesome place: http://kalahariresort.com/wi/waterparks/Default.aspx. I am now going to get ready for bed! Goodnight :)

2008-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a 10 day trip to visit hubby's family in Wisconsin. The best part of our trip was going here: http://kalahariresort.com/wi/waterparks/Default.aspx. I am totally jetlagged and exhausted still (just got in last night and had to work today, but have off tomorrow:). I will try to post some pics from our trip in the next few days...maybe even tomorrow.

2008-06-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to have time to make anything for a little while so I wanted to share some of my past art dolls with you. Some of you have seen these in the past, some have not. Their height averages about 7-8 inches. They are all hand sewn. Hubby got me a nice sewing machine a few years back, but just trying to keep it threaded was such a chore and I got frustrated, so anything you see sewn by me is by hand. Now I just don't have room to put it to try again. If I ever get the time to clean up my art area, I can probably move it out there and try again. Someday... :)

2008-05-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the 8 x 10 collage for my girls' room. The picture here is of it before it was matted, framed and hung up. I will post a picture of the final 11x 14 piece hung up when I get a chance. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

2008-05-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Been busy lately with life. One of my niece's (she's 10) came to stay with us for the Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time. She made a cool little Zetti-like heart pillow. She wanted to make something on a canvas with pictures of my girls on it, but we just ran out of time. I'm working on a piece for my two daughters' room. It should be finished no later than this weekend, but I'm hoping it'll be done before that. I will post a picture of it here when it's done. I'm really happy with it so far. I should have been in bed a long time ago since my girls are going to have me up and running at the crack of dawn...gotta go!

2008-05-21T07:37:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this doll for weeks on and off. Finally finished her this morning. She is about 8 inches tall and is all hand sewn (since I don't know how to use a sewing machine!) These dolls are really so fun to make and very, very hard to part with!

2008-05-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

We went to my older brother's house on Sunday. He lives near Magic Mountain and it was hotter there than here, but we got to go swimming in their beautiful pool. It felt great! We had a wonderful day there. They were going to barbeque, but it was way too hot to do that. We ordered food from Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill and it was delicious! We've been meaning to go to the one a few miles from us, but just haven't yet. Now we will go soon for sure!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend :)

2008-05-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

I was able to finish another piece on Saturday. We ended up hanging out in the backyard even after it was dark. It was so hot during the day, but it felt really nice at night. Two neighbor boys came over to visit us and saw me beading. They decided that they would like to make something too. They are 6 and 12. The 6-year-old made a bracelet for his mom and the 12-year-old made one for his little girlfriend. I really enjoyed doing this with them!

2008-05-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've been dying to make some necklaces with the gorgeous heart pendants I got at the Sunset Beach Art Festival last weekend. I'm hoping to get at least one more made this weekend. We're going to be busy all day tomorrow, so if it doesn't happen today, it aint gonna happen :)

Hope you are all staying cool wherever you are! It is very hot here today and we are just dragging!

2008-05-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

This bracelet I made consists of very vibrant crystal and glass beads. The silver middle bead says 'Wish'. The beads are SO much prettier in person! Have to go to bed now, so that's all folks! :)

2008-05-14T09:08:00.001-07:00

Not too much has gone on since my last post a couple days ago. I did manage to make this ATC just for the heck of it. I'm feeling more creative lately and I've even ordered some of my favorite collage papers and images to boost my motivation. Still waiting for the images to arrive. Hopefully I can squeeze some art time in this weekend!

2008-05-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, my mom wanted to go to the Third Street Promenade (http://thirdstreetpromenade.org/visitors/index.html and eat at the Gaucho Grill (http://www.gauchogrillrestaurant.com/). I hadn't eaten at a Gaucho Grill in quite awhile and unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as I had in the past. We shopped around awhile after lunch, but the only thing I bought was this delicious drink! I did get it without the whipped cream, even though I LOVE whipped cream! I saw someone walking around with this drink and I knew I had to have one! Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T09:31:00.003-07:00

We had a very nice weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Sunset Beach Art Festival (http://www.beachcalifornia.com/beach/sunset-beach-art-festival.html) that is held every Mother's Day weekend. Bought some cool handmade items. I think we found more things to buy this year than past years. After the festival, we walked across the street to have lunch at Westbay Cafe. We were planning on taking the girls to the beach, but it was too cold and windy, unfortunately. I did get a nap in as I had hoped to, but didn't get any art time. I was just too tired (as usual). The girls are now sharing a room and they keep waking eachother up (and us!) at night, so I am very lacking on sleep! We watched the movie 'Juno' to round out our pleasant day.

2008-05-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the front of the tag I did for the collaborative tag book for Barb's 50th birthday. We were each assigned a number to use (1-50) on our tag and the theme was vintage children. It was supposed to be white with another color or two. I find it very hard not to use a lot of color! On the back of the tag we were supposed to put a picture of ourselves as a child. Funky suit there, huh? I'm sure I didn't pick it out! I wonder if I was a heart lover even back then?

2008-05-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my hubby, two daughters and I will celebrate Mother's Day doing what I want to do. A tradition we have started is that we go here (http://www.beachcalifornia.com/beach/sunset-beach-art-festival.html. We will have lunch at some point at a restaurant right across the street from the festival and I cannot think of the name of it for the life of me! It's a very casual place with tons of choices on the menu. It always takes me forever to order when we go there because I just can't decide on which one thing to get! Hubby is in love with their Chicken Caesar salad, so he always knows what he's getting. We will also go to the beach and let the girls play. They love the beach! I'm also hoping to get a nap and some art time in that day too! On Sunday, we will celebrate Mother's Day doing what my mom wants to do. My mom wants to have lunch here (http://www.gauchogrillrestaurant.com/ and then hang out here (http://thirdstreetpromenade.org/visitors/index.html for the rest of the afternoon. We haven't been there for awhile, so it'll be nice to go.

2008-05-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the card I made for my friend Barb's (http://123lavenderlollipoplane.blogspot.com/ 50th birthday. I also participated in an amazing tag book project for Barb's birthday hosted by the super sweet Tamara (http://magicmolecules.blogspot.com/! We just did a big overhaul on our computer, so when I can find the pictures of my tag, I will post them!

2008-05-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest ATC I've made. It seems like I haven't made an ATC in SO long!!! I made this a few weeks ago just for the heck of it and I really like how it turned out!

2008-05-05T08:15:00.002-07:00

We went here (http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/parks/el_dorado_nature_center.asp) on Saturday. Saw lots of very cool turtles and beautiful nature. When you go to this nature center, you feel like you are far away from the city. They have 1/4 mile, 1 mile and 2 mile trails. Great place to go!

2008-05-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

OK...I actually have a blog! Better late than never!!! I have a ton to learn about this, so it may be awhile until I have anything interesting to post! At least I can play around now :)

We're going here (http://www.knotts.com/camplace/dine_restaurant.shtml ) for dinner tonight with a friend. I've lived here in So. Cal. my entire life (except for 3 years in Boston for school) and this will be my first time eating here!