Bronwyn's Coming!

Older daughter Bronwyn is coming for a 10 day visit today!  Probably not dressed for Ren Faire, but I like this picture!  Can't wait; lots of chatting, thrift storing, ocean walks, and other fun stuff.
Hurry up plane and land!!

Progress - Slow, Sure

Progress is being made on the Cornwall Journal -

 my wonderful Margot volunteered to drill the holes 

through the cabinet cards and postcards.

She's great at this sort of thing, and it's not my forte

so I was glad to hand it off to her expertise.

It was quite a stack to get through!

Planning embellishments for the front,

and have everything for each spread in it's own envelope, 

so I wouldn't forget anything.

Tomorrow will start the affixing with

 heavy gel medium and matte medium.

Hope to have it finished sometime this weekend -

 not bad for a project that got started last November! LOL!

Nachos, Roses and Bakelite - Oh My!

As those of us with February birthday know, since it's a short month we get to celebrate our birthdays for 28 days - all month long.  This is pure logic, if you're February-born - to the rest of you it probably makes no sense, but we do it just the same.

Younger daughter Jenny, though born in October does realize the fact of the month long February birthday and she did her bit by coming over last week and helping me celebrate a couple of weeks after my actual birthday.

With a lunch of Taco Temple nachos,

two absolutely stunning pieces of Bakelite jewelry,

and beautiful flowers!  Thank you Jenny for a trifecta 

of fantastic birthday delights!

Older daughter Bronwyn will be coming out from Missouri to visit on the last day of the month and has purposely held on to my present to stretch my February birthday to the last possible moment.  Did I raise wonderful daughters?  You bet I did!

Life on the Coast

Fog on Morro Rock - now just send us some rain too!

Frightening Toy Friday!

A bit of a departure - not a beloved toy from my childhood, 

but one that ended up being rather scary from my daughters' generation. 

Remember Teddy Ruxpin?  How he was supposed to cuddly, and sweet and tell bedtime stories? And how in reality, the tape recorder in his torso made him painful to hug with all those sharp corners, and how the batteries would begin to run down and his bright cheerful voice suddenly sounded like Boris Karloff on crack?  It was the toy every kid wanted that Christmas in the mid '80's and then it went horribly wrong!  My little sister was so excited that she was able to purchase one for my girls and the girls were so excited.  Oh well, every toy can't be as cool as a civil war set, LOL!

Marinating's over - time to create!

Back in November I started hunting and gathering for a new project, a travel journal of  two young women on a holiday to St Ives, Cornwall in May of 1910.

I've amassed quite a bit of ephemera, embellishments and written the journal entries.  And it's all been sitting on the studio table "marinating" and today I began the process of turning it all into a Cornwall Travel Journal, 1910.

Getting the journal entries ready to attach

 to the backs of the cabinet cards.

Sifting through ephemera to decorate the pages and the covers.

Fun little crocheted flowers, skeleton leaves and 

a penny-farthing bicycle charm, all will find their place.

Will keep you posted on the progress.

Art Swap

I was asked by Bobbie Howder of Cottleston Pie to 

join an art swap and here's the bundle of delightful 

goodies that came in the mail.

And some lovely bits of ephemera to use in my journals!

Thanks for including me Bobbie - this was fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Vintage Valentine's Day!

Birthday Score!

Birthday score!  Several Tim Holtz items,

 including, portfolios-big and small- letterpress blocks,

 "found relatives", and a rubber stamp. 

And Rare Bird of Fashion -

the story of Iris Appel's amazing fashion and jewelry collections.

Wonderful black cat from Marylinn Kelly!

The new Joni Mitchell CD and a coffee card!

A vintage punch card and retro Christmas price tags.

A very vintage suitcase made of leather with a wood frame,

decorated with Oregon State labels,

and fascinating old hardware and straps.

Happy Birthday Girl!!

Fun in the Mail Box

A few yummy goodies from eBay and Etsy.

Vintage Master combination lock - check out the graphic 

in the center and the word "Champ".

Very vintage Cracker Jack harmonica.

And 4 retro locker tags with numbers and mysterious writing.

All waiting for assemblages to come.

Crow's Apothecary

Crow's Apothecary 10 x13"

Several months ago my friend Destiny
 found this old spice rack at Goodwill, 

bought it and challenged me to "do something
steampunky and cool" with it.

And Crow's Apothecary was born.

 It was so much fun filling all the little bottles 

with skulls, badger toe bones, wish bones,

rusty nails, and blueberry syrup!

I backed them all with tea-dyed cheese
cloth and added small number labels.

A vintage key, Mr Crow and his sign and a handful of 

vintage receipts with stamps finish it off.

Destiny says I met the challenge, and I agree!

It's my Birthday Too!

My first birthday party at the age of six, 57 years ago.  My big sis Becky Anne organized the party as part of a girl scout badge she was working towards.I remember having a lot of fun and being happily amazed that people brought me presents. Somethings never change - I still like chocolate cake and still am always happily amazed when people give me presents!

Santa Barbara Score!

  

And here's the lovely score from the Santa Barbara Trip.

From Art from Scrap - Appliques - flowers and nautical, 

and vintage Oriental wall paper,

vintage postcards,

old envelopes and a time stained pair of child's socks,

and prize ribbons from long ago horse shows.

From Antique Alley - a small tin Easter egg that opens to hold a tiny treasure.

From The Random Store - Pink and white cameos

 and a faux Bakelite jewelry finding.

And from Paper Source - a retro-looking Periodic Table, 

a constellation chart and colourfully painted clothes pins.

Can't wait to start using everything in future art projects!