Life on the Coast

Busy dock, Morro Bay Harbor

Costume College

Destiny and I after setting up the Sassy Feet booth.

Sassy Feet  went to Costume College this past weekend
 to teachand have a booth at the Vendor's Marketplace. 

 Sassy Feet's amazing Glitter It! paint.

Parasols and puppets and a view down the vendor hall. 

Stylish hats and bags.

Skeleton toile fabric by Alexander Henry.

Small bustles,

big bustles.

 A touch of the macabre.

 The biggest hat at the event.

 Now that I'm retired I got to go along and help  and  check out all the amazing costumes.  We had a great time. Margot and Destiny taught very successful classes, the booth sold lots of product and we're already looking forward to going back next year.

Great Score - Not Much Cash!

Spent a fun time a couple of weekends ago with my 

friend Susan going from thrift store to thrift store.

I found lots of inexpensive little things

 that will find their way into assemblages
and collages over the next few months.

Several items were only $.50 each and I think the most 

expensive was the vintage receipt book at $3.50.

We had so much fun, we will definitely
being doing this again soon!

Journal Fun

Here are some pages from my daily journal where I used some of the techniques I've been learning while working on the tags over the last few months.

It's been fun incorporating them onto pages.

And trying different combinations of stamps and colours.

Thrift Store Score

 A couple of new thrift stores opened
up in town in the last month

so I spent a fun few hours perusing their wares.

Great prices, I spent under $15.00 and got some cool stuff.

Stay tuned to the blog -

you'll be seeing most of these items in up-coming art projects.

Good Omens!

 Stew's Milk Mart

As most of you know I've been going down to USC Medical Center once a week for chemo since the end of March. We go down the night before, stay in a nice little motel in Alhambra and then get to the hospital early in the morning.

 Pet Pet Dog Wash

On the drive between the motel and the clinic we pass three things that became "Good Omens" for me.

 Each trip I would make sure to catch a glance of each of these places and then
 I'd know the day would go well.

 Beautifully maintained palms at the entrance to USC 

The reason?  Well, how can you not love a teeny-tiny store called Stew's Milk Mart?  And Pet Pet Dog Wash - I mean really!  And the palms?  I love palm trees, yet so often they are not kept up.  But when they are and look this good - that's gotta be a good sign!

Here's a page in my current daily journal where I paid tribute to my "Good Omens"  And hey it's working - the chemo is going very well and I'm doing great!

Playing with Pictures

Had some fun the other day playing with old photos. 

 Printed them out on glossy photo paper,

 then used ink, markers and stamps to
give them a vintage-y feel.

This one is yours truly in 3rd grade.

These are a couple of suave sweater vest guys

who also now have the vintage look!

Life on the Coast

Early morning egret at Estero Bay in Baywood Park.

Last of the Tags

Perfect Splatter Distress

 And here are the last of the tags from
Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry  classes.

 Perfect Distress

I've been using many of the techniques in my daily journal,

 Perfect Distress Mist

and it's been a lot of fun to try them out
 on different paper and surfaces.

Rock Candy Distress Stickles

Thanks for "tagging along" through all these posts!

A Few More Tags, Part 2

 Crackle Paint Resist

This one has a great texture, love the way the stains

go into the cracks in the paint.

Shattered Stains Technique

Hard to see in the photo, but the chipboard crowns

actually came out looking like shattered glass.

You can get a better idea from this close-up.

Nostalgic Batik Technique

Another resist using embossing powder and  Distress inks.