SallyJean

Celebrate July

1. FREE CHAIN! Celebrate July at Sally Jean with Free Chain. Every order through the month of July will be shipped with a bonus of a 24" Nickel-Plate chain. Yippie!

2. Play beach ball tennis. Blow up a beach ball and find a friend and a fence. Bat the beach ball back and forth, over the fence, without letting it fall to the ground. Count the hits.

3. Run through the sprinkler...just like you did when you were a kid! Run under the arch and try to avoid getting wet...or jump over the sprinkler making funny poses as you fly through the air. This is a good time to try a cartwheel, too!

4. Celebrate America. Hang your flag today! Better yet...hang it up EVERYDAY!

5. Have a picnic in bed. Invite your children. Try the classic peanut butter & jelly. Don't worry...crumbs can be fun!

6. Spend the day at the zoo. Go early. Take your time...sit and watch the Tigers, Monkey's, Bears. A Petting Zoo will do...you can feed the goats there. During this past winter I escaped for a weekend to Bandon on the Oregon Coast (5 hours south of Portland). I could have spent hours (days) at the West Coast Game Park. Ice cream cones of treats for the sheep and goats roaming freely, up-close-and-personal (3 feet away) from full-grown Tigers and Lions (their growl vibrates inside you), and the ability to actually pet and hold a Cougar, a Tiger and a homely, cross-eyed possum. (That's me kissing a baby Cougar!...Sultan the 3-month old White Tiger I bottle fed...and the homely possum with a face only a mother could love).

7. Brush your teeth with a baking soda, toothpaste and hydrogen peroxide mixture. Refreshing.

8. Buy dinner for a homeless person. Sometimes they sit outside the grocery store. Ask what they would like when you go in...and bring it out to them. A sandwich...a cup of coffee...fresh water and fruit on a hot day. Not a huge gesture...but a helpful one.

9. Explore another culture. Pretend you are back in school and need to prepare a book report. Read up on the culture of your choice on the internet...then visit a related place in person...perhaps a museum or garden. Bring your family...culture is good for everyone.

10. Go garage-sale-ing! Spend Thursday night circling ads in the newspaper. Get up early Friday with map in hand and hit them all. Put your name on a list at an estate sale and wait in line. Buy something you absolutely don't need ~ with a budget of $1.

11. Braid your hair...just like you did when you were young. Add a ribbon. Wear your stylish new Doo to the supermarket.

12. Make a tradition of after-dinner watercolors. Get watercolor paper for the whole family. Cheap watercolors from the grocery store will work just fine. Each night, after dinner, choose a subject to paint. A tree...the cat...the sunset. Have everyone sign and date their painting. Find a wall in your house to hang your collection. When the season is over, pack the paintings in a special box to pull out and display next year...or in 10 years! Frame and keep displaying your favorites. (Enzo painted our orange cat...in this painting, he is blue!)

13. Become an ice connoisseur. Get ice from different restaurants, fast food chains, grocery stores. Take the ice-challenge...who has the best ice for chilling and chewing? Then get a funky ice-cube mold and make your own.

14. Happy Bastille Day! Find a French restaurant and enjoy the party. Or just eat a big slice of birthday cake (bake it yourself). Decorate it with a can of pre-made vanilla frosting custom-colored with food coloring. Don't forget to make a wish before blowing out the candle.

15. Take a field trip to a lesser-known Museum. In Texas, try the Toilet Seat Museum. In Massachusettes, try the Museum of Bad Art (some of which I like!). Or in Seattle, the Giant Shoe Museum. Wherever you are...there is surely an unusual museum to visit (or perhaps...to create!

16. Lay in a field and watch the clouds float by. Give them names. Do their shapes change as they glide across the sky?

17. Go camping in the yard. Not lawn-chair sleeping...but full-on camping. Pitch the tents. Cook everything on the grill. Toast marshmallows on real sticks. Rough it. (Pillows and bathrooms are ok).

18. Get yourself a Tattoo! No need to spend hours under the needle...get a rub-on at the party store. Put it somewhere VERY visible and show it off.

19. Become a books-on-tape addict. It's great for us multi-taskers. Easily download books into your iTunes (where you can preview the voice of the narrator to see if you like it or if it will drive you crazy), or buy at your local bookstore or Amazon. Listen while you exercise (ha!), get ready for work in the morning, or drive. Try a trashy novel for fun...or a biography for knowledge. Try language tapes while you sleep (let me know if they work!).

20. Go to a parade. Go early. Set up your launch chairs. Bring a cooler for drinks and food. Buy a giant balloon from a street vendor for $7 (which will pop before you make it home). Wave at every float and band that goes by. (The parade floats going by my studio window on their way to the parade)

21. Paint rocks. Get a bag from Michaels or the rock store (yes...there are rock stores)! Use acrylics. Paint them to look like ladybugs, oceanscapes with sailboats, or faces. Or try a little collage and put an initial on each one. When dry, fill a bowl with them to play with later.

22. Go on a road-trip to nowhere. Just get in the car (before gas is $7 per gallon) and drive. No map. No reservations. No itinerary. Stop at mom-and-pop diners. Go for just 1 day, or spend the night (or a few nights). If you do stay out...make sure to call someone and let them know you are ok! And don't talk to strangers at rest stops.

23. When disaster strikes, the American Red Cross is always there. Help them help others by giving...even if it is just a little.

24. Discover a little tiny cafe. Forget the big chain restaurants, find yourself a quaint little place to eat and drink. Nothing fancy...just fun. Become a regular. In Portland, I found LE HAPPY. For years, I thought it served Asian food. Duh! To my amazement, it offers the most delicious crepe's...sweet and savory! Grilled onions & goat cheese or coconut & nutella! Red walls, disco balls hanging from the ceiling, fake plastic flowers reaching to the ceiling, stacks of board games to play, a drink called 'Here Kitty'...and only a handful of tables. Open 5pm-2:30am (unusual hours for Portland)...Le Happy makes me HAPPY!

25. Celebrate Christmas in July! Put up a tree. Hang lights on the house. Play Santa Claus is coming to town - for all the neighbors to hear. Invite your friends (they should wear something red and/or green). Serve "snow" (aka snow cones). Have a traditional Christmas dinner. Exchange gifts...all wrapped in Christmas paper...and each a $1 or $5 limit. Ho Ho Ho.

26. Ride your bike or walk (when you usually would drive). It's good for you. It's good for the environment. And it's good when gas is over $4 / gallon! (Photo of bike in Monterey by Brad)

27. Learn a new Photoshop technique. Visit DeviantArt and take a tutorial. Download some Free brushes and play.

28. Simplify your life. Begin by cleaning out your closet. If you haven't worn it in a year...you're not going to wear it. Donate it to Goodwill or a shelter. Get rid of those "old" undies (granny doesn't live here anymore). Make sock puppets out of the one-of-a-kind socks as the mate escaped from the dryer (or just mate them with another lonely sock for an un-matchy).

29. Grab your camera and photograph tiny details. House numbers, door knobs, feet. Make a montage of your theme. Print it and frame it...then find another theme and do it all over again.

30. Play with water balloons. Fill them with water. Draw your own target and try to hit the bullseye. Or play catch with a friend trying not to break the water balloons. If you do...well...you'll just get wet!

31. Wear sunscreen.

Dreaming of Italy...

I have just been going through my treasure boxes of treats to take to Italy and dreaming about the treasures I will find there. It's funny...the simplest of things...that can make you happy. During our stay in 2006 for my Reliquary in Sterling Workshop, we were lucky enough to be there for the little Cortona flea market...tables set up under the trees with boxes of religious objects, stacks of antique books (I especially loved the ones with the torn covers), piles of lines, and dishes, and metal trinkets. There was a hanging lamp made of tiny hand-blown glass bubbles. I found it right away and carried it all morning. Had to set it down for a moment...and someone tried to buy it! (Don't set anything down at the flea market)l.

Cortona was just the little one...we had a field trip to Arezzo (not far away) where the streets were lined with booths (some with tents, some without) and where you could spend days and a zillion dollars. Lucky me! There was everything from hand-painted antique dressers to bicycles (that were falling apart) to old paintings and tattered trims and broken crystals. It was a dream-come-true type of flea market. Whatever I bought, I had to take back in a suitcase...although, for a few moments I considered a "container"! Ha!

Between the Tuscan countryside, the food, the wine, the festivals and the flea markets, I knew it wouldn't be long before I went back again.

In a few months I will be returning to Cortona, Italy for my new workshop Candelabra di Cortona - A Chandelier of Scavenged Fragments! The first day of this workshop is what my dreams were made of...a trip back to the Arezzo Flea Market to find our own treasures which we will incorporate into our chandelier. I just can't wait! And then we will be using a myriad of techniques to create a chandelier of our very own with the treasures we've found in Italy (and perhaps some special momentos we've brought from home).

Just in case you are wondering...we have room for a couple more flea-market-loving chandelier-making girls (ok...boys are invited too) to come and play! For all the details, visit Arcangelo Productions. Ciao!

Where Have All The Flowers Gone

a.k.a. Where Has Sally Jean Been?

I always know summer is here by the Peony offerings at the local farmers market. But it wasn't until just this past weekend that I was able to go (and am enjoying the bouquet as I write ~ the pink ones are my favorite). Not necessarily because Portland hasn't experienced "summer" until this weekend and I didn't "notice" it was summer! It's just that from time to time as you go through life...life happens.

I have so much to share from my fabulous workshop in Asilomar where I spent 15 minutes sitting on the beach in Carmel to a week later...a great week in Hampton for the Art & Soul Retreat where I was able to escape between checkout and the airport and spend 15 minutes sitting on the beach at Virginia Beach. It was like a landmark vacation...the kind where you touch the Eiffel Tower just to say you did. There on Virginia Beach I sat...watching the waves crash on the shore. There is really a difference between the way the ocean moves against the shore on the Atlantic and the Pacific. I know which I like the most...but I would take either in a heartbeat! So 15 minutes of solitude, watching the waves crashing, wondering how one could rent a white chaise lounge when the chaise lounge renter guy isn't around and guessing how many photographs Brad was taking of Neptune at that very same moment. There you have it...15 minutes of important thoughts.

Back to Portland where life happened (some to be shared later). And a most amazing Tiara Workshop in my studio. I could go on and on...which is why I suppose it is good to post more often!

For now, let me just say that I know I've missed Celebrate May...AND...Celebrate June. I hope you were able to celebrate anyway! And I promise you that on July 1st there WILL be a Celebrate July! It is summer, after all.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

Today I celebrate my father (that's him in the picture above)...a man whom I admire and love deeply. Not so much for what he has accomplished in life. But because he is a good, decent man...an encouraging father...and a loving grandfather. Beyond the evening walks around the neighborhood when I was growing up, the annual celebration of the first snowfall where we would watch together no matter the time of day or night, the little league practice (I forgive you for the baseball in the face), the driving lessons, the furniture building in my first apartment, the daily Pizza Hut lunch runs during my accident recovery, the jubilant welcoming of my husband into the family, the cat-sitting (all 6 of them), the hidden $20 bills, the grammar lessons, the technical Q & A's, the...

Beyond that and more...my "dad" is the one I know I can turn to no matter what. He does not judge (although sometimes he shakes his head in disappointment). He'll listen, offer advice only when it is requested, and be there in full support. He's the technical type, and I think it pleases him that I now have a MAC (he was an Apple aficionado from the beginning) and know what HTML stands for. Not an outwardly emotional man, I know that he loves me even if he doesn't say it. I can see that he is proud...by the twinkle in his eye. After he read my book PRETTY LITTLE THINGS he called me to tell me his favorite page was 89. Mine, too.

I love the type of relationship we have. There's a silly bantering from time to time. Like when he told me I was a mutt...made from many different European heritages...and that my butt came from the Polish side. Or when he moved our entire family from Nashua, New Hampshire to Portland, Oregon because he read that Portland was "one of the safest places to live" according to some book. Years later, Money Magazine came out with a list of the best places to live in the U.S and Nashua, New Hampshire was #1. Well, I bought that magazine, circled #1 in red, and wrapped it up to give to him. He chuckled.

That's what my dad does. Chuckles. And hums while he eats. And eats all his dinner before he has one sip of a tall glass of milk to wash it down. And reads stories to my children as they sit on his lap. And collects hats (especially those in Dobbs hat boxes). And watches the news endlessly. And golf. I never quite got the news-watching until now...as I must have inherited that gene along with the Polish butt gene from my dad.

So today I celebrate my dad. For all the things he is...especially the little things! And it is the little things that mean the most. Dad...I love you...today and every day.

XOXO

I also want to celebrate another father (and son). Tim Russert of Meet the Press passed away Friday. I'm not a big political follower, so what I know of Tim Russert mostly is that he celebrated the relationship between fathers and their children. Last year, on Father's Day, I gave my father a special hard-bound autographed copy of his book WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS. This year, it is Tim Russert's first book BIG RUSS & ME. As I watch the coverage of this man, I come to see what a good, decent man he was. An honorable American. A respected journalist. A loving husband, father, son. He has always reminded me of my dad...the constant smile and rosy cheeks and general happy disposition. In my family, when we try to explain something that is going awry, we just say "Florida Florida Florida" (after the 2000 election coverage by Tim Russert). I am heartbroken for his family and friends that it is on Father's Day weekend that he passes away but know that he has left a legacy that inspires me and many, many others.

Eye Candy - The Joy of Flicker

1. Untitled, 2. Very old book from 1752 . . . . . . . HAR! Nothing scandalous, offensive or indecent, but > 4,000 views anyway, 3. this was inside a knitted dress, 4. Venice, Italy, 5. birds, 6. rubyjulia 004, 7. without a word, 8. Very old book from 1752 (17), 9. madrid-escorial-library, 10. Fixer-upper in Coudersport, PA, 11. Untitled, 12. Kashmir, 13. Vintage Cardboard Mannequin, 14. old book 01, 15. Antique insect catalogue, 16. Sachs-Villatte 1884 (6), 17. Untitled, 18. ancien 02, 19. antiqueshopping 004, 20. anthropologie_newspaper, 21. Door lock and knob, Petit Trianon, Versailles, 22. speller, 23. Mercerie, 24. chandelier

I am completely taken aback by the incredible talent of amateur photographers...the composition and lighting and content, oh, my! Just traveling through Flicker albums gives me great joy. It is sometimes the smallest of pleasures that tickles my fancy...the torn spine of an old book, granny's bowl of pearls, the budding tip of an orange blossom tree on the edge of spring. All of this is eye candy for me.

Here I offer you a peek into what I call EYE CANDY...according to the world of Flicker. Take a peek...join...save to your FAVES...and then visit Big Huge Labs to create your own personal mosaic (among other treats). You'll be hooked. Now, if I can just find a way to convince my hubby to move into that fixer upper in #10!

While the cats away...

...the mouse will play!

Just back from Asilomar...a very beautiful location for an art retreat hosted by Art & Soul. The location is dreamy, my students were amazing - every one of them, and the week was way too short. Virgins were de-virginized, Big Red went caput but we lived to tell about it, and stunning Flower necklaces were worn (or will soon be worn). We had a roaring fire during class, and found the secret Diet Coke locations...AND the secret SINK LOCATION (hidden behind the sliding wall in the classroom). Glenny did it again and I have heard that it is indeed again...Art & Soul Asilomar - May 2009!

Yes, I did walk on the beach...about 3 minutes in Carmel. But if you had to choose a beach, that would be it. Carmel was also home to Katie's Place for breakfast...with at least a dozen variations of Eggs Benedict (the craving was satisfied!). The little spray bottles on the ledge of the deck outside are to keep the pesky birds at bay (or quench their thirst, perhaps).

I popped into a darling little fabric store called FINDINGS. Owner Nancy was a kindred spirit, giving home to this lost little bunny that was truly loved once upon a time (can't you tell?). I couldn't get out of there without some fabulous French ribbons and trims.

Then a quick jaunt around the block to Picadilly's where we bumped into students who were gathering more ribbons and other fabulous treats! I just so happened to come upon a package of theatre images which I had seen several students using during class...oh, they made me drool! (I'll post an image tomorrow).

We raced back to the San Jose airport, stopping at UPS to ship 6 boxes directly to Hampton, Virginia for next weeks Art & Soul Retreat! There was about 20-degrees difference in temperature between Monterey and San Jose...and another 20-degrees or more back to Portland. Imagine our shock when the pilot told us to expect snow this weekend in Portland (enough already, Joyce!!!)!

Now we are home, recovering from "same-time-zone-jet-lag" and catching up as well as preparing to leave next week. It did snow (just a smidge) and the 85-degree Portland day, just a week ago, is a distant memory. The studio is a mess...and now I know why! I could have blamed it on myself, the tornado that occurs just before leaving for a workshop. But really, Stinky and Lucy were naughty little studio guardians! Apparently, Stinky & Lucy didn't take care of teh studio...they went out for happy hour at the Paragon and it was just a little too happy! Those two...and their hyjinks!

Celebrate April

1. Be a tourist in your own town. Take the day and stop at the Visitors Center. Find the top attractions. Take a bus there (if you can). See your town from an outsiders eyes.

2. Obsess over organization. Make your own artful labels (or buy vintage Dennison labels with the red borders). Use shoe boxes, plastic bins, jars. Separate your goodies, label them, roll matching socks together (if the dryer hasn't eaten them first). And for at least this month, put things back where you found them.

3. Plan a "dream" vacation. Get on the internet and look up fabulous beachy resorts, glamourous European hotels, far-away lands. Money is no object (for this project...you've just won the lottery). Fly first class. Stay in the Presidential Suite. Bring all your friends and family (or maybe it's just YOU on this "dream" vacation. Close your eyes and imagine that you are THERE.

4. Go for a bike ride. Circles in your culdesac, with a basket to the grocery store, a 10-mile trek as a serious-bike-aficionado. If you don't have your own bike...borrow your 10-year-olds. Even a tricycle will do (and be a REALLY good time). Wear a helmet.

5. Window shop for jewelry. Stop at every jewelry store window. Ohh and ahh. Maybe, just maybe, go inside and try something on "for size".

6. Be a Sunday driver. Take a long drive to the next town over...to the country...to nowhere. Stop for lunch (or eat in the car). Make a wrong turn. Find your way back.

7. Spring clean...detail your own car. Wipe it down, vacuum it out, hunt for the lone french fry under the seat. Wash it on the outside and finish with wax. Put a stuffed animal in the back window!

8. Sit outside on your steps and watch the world go by. If it's chilly, throw a blanket around you. Say hi to the neighbors, wave at the people driving by, sip hot chocolate (or wine) and stay a while. You may even meet your mailman!

9. Doodle on the bottom of your sneakers...you know...like you did when you were in high school. Write your sweeties name. Jot down your best friends phone number. Doodle flowers and faces and lines and spots.

10. Have a family "pot luck" dinner party. Each person in the house is responsible for a different part of the dinner. Of course, the men want to barbeque! Little ones can tear lettuce to make a salad. Nine-year-olds are good for milkshake desserts. But who is going to do the vegetables?

11. If your hair is straight...curl it. If it's curly...straighten it. If all else fails...wear piggy tails!

12. Go on a field trip with your children. Take them to the museum. Bring their friends. Learn. Go out for ice cream afterwards.

13. Throw out your old make-up. It's old. And if you still have it and it's old...you don't use it...so throw it out. Now go on a make-up shopping spree at Sephora.

14. Find a vintage crinoline petticoat skirt. Put it on and twirl.

15. This time, do it with a CPA.

16. Search garage sales and flea markets for vintage hard-cover books under $1. Tear the inside pages out (you can use them in collage). Separate the front & back covers (leave the fraying canvas). Now, use the covers as your "canvas" for art. Attach seam-binding ribbon to the top and hang here and there.

17. Get with the times and get yourself a Facebook!

18. Don't forget about the American Red Cross...an organization who is there for all tragedies big and small. Whether you donate money, donate your time, or take a class in CPR, show your support for the American Red Cross and for your community.

19. Play silly car games...ie: "who stole the cookie from the cookie jar"? In case you forgot, it goes like this:
Person A: "___B____ stole the cookie from the cookie jar".
Person B: "Who, me?"
Person A: "Ya, you."
Person B: "Couldn't be"
Person A: "Then who?"
Person B: "___C___ stole the cookie from the cookie jar..."

20. Take your mom and dad out for lunch. Don't meet them...pick them up and be their chauffeur. Make sure all talk is "happy" talk. Treat them.

21. Make snow-angels in your freshly vacuumed carpet. Do it with your children. Or just do it alone.

22. Bring gourmet cupcakes to the office. Treat yourself to Saint Cupcake (if you are in Portland or soon-to-be-shipped-across-the-USA). Or fake it and make your own buy buying store-made cupcakes, scrape the icing off, and add your own icing (pre-made icing with food coloring). Don't forget to add the sprinkles!

23. Zap your cat. To take the chill off (which is still out there)...get yourself a microwavable Kitty Wrap (or Bunny, or Leopard, or...)! Within 3 minutes your cat will lay on your belly, relieve a sore back, and keep your feet warm. This kitty is even willing to pre-warm the seats in your car every morning. The best part? You don't need to feed it...it won't shed...and you can rub its belly without getting bitten! For your very own heatable kitty, visit Warm Whiskers.

24. Wear a candy necklace all day long. Re-string it if it's too tight. Eat it if you're hungry.

25. Get yourself a pair of Levi's 501's...the BOY jeans (they look really good on girl-butts). And the button fly is fun.

26. For those with a little snow left...make a snowman and watch him melt!

27. Wear 3 necklaces at the same time (layering). Pearls with rhinestones with vintage chain. Make a statement.

28. Outbid someone on eBay at the last minute. Remember...it's not about the iterm...it's about WINNING!

29. Dress up your reading glasses. Buy mini-rhinestones and super-glue them on (be careful not to glue your fingers!). Make a beaded cord to hang them on around your neck, too.

30. Indulge in Spring and go Tulip Hunting! There must be a farm-field of tulips to wander through...picking your own. Or a small pot at your local garden center just to add that "yes...I promise...spring is here (or coming soon)!"

What a Wonderful Workshop!

It has been a couple of weeks...but my, how I wish it were that special weekend in March again, when I welcomed into my studio the most amazing, silly, generous, artful, sharing, and friendly women for a weekend workshop. It wasn't the first group of girls to come play with me...and I am truly blessed that each and every weekend workshop that I've had has been filled with such amazing ladies. Some (bless their hearts) travel from as far as Florida, Virginia, Rhode Island, etc. Some bring loads of goodies to share with their fellow artists... some bring their fellow artists! A few (6) were named SALLY (great name)! A few were named SIS-TAH! A few pet Stinky (most just made fun of his big belly and little legs). Some made a mess at their hotel (you know who you are!). Some made a mess here AND their hotel! And one special girl brought vintage U2 memorabilia for me to make into art (my headphones are warming up!) We laugh. We cry. We wear dozens of bandaids when we go back home! Oh, if you all could just move in, stay, play, and make art! Thank you for bringing JOY to my little studio...I treasure the memories and look forward to the chance meetings again someday (maybe for THE pajama party!)

I am now just a few weeks away from the ART & SOUL - ASILOMAR WORKSHOP (in Montery, California)...one of the most lovely places. This time I will actually walk on the beach! My classroom has a fireplace in it, I believe...I hope those of you that are attending like the ambience of a fire! Ha!

Then, next month, off to ART & SOUL - HAMPTON, VIRGINIA (yet another beach nearby!). I love the atlantic coast in particular...the waves just move differently. I'm so looking forward to seeing my friend Rodney, who helped me immensely at the Hampton Inn last year. Rodney, if you're reading this, the boxes WILL be blue and white again! All 17 of them! I just can't wait to make new friends and re-connect with my art pals! "YIPPIE" to whoever invented workshops!

All this excitement...just as ARTFEST kicks off in Port Townsend, Washington! I won't be there this year...but hope those of you that are making the trek have a fabulous time!

That being said...for those of you that want to play with me here or there...I'm thrilled to let the birdie out of the bag about my 2008 Workshop Schedule!

July 19 - 23
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Returning to FOUND
Workshop & Trunk Show details coming soon

August 9 & 10
Portland, Oregon
STUDIO WORKSHOP
Totally Tiara - 2 days (there are just 2 spots left)

August 23rd
Pleasanton, California (near San Francisco)
THE BELLA GALLERIA EVENT (workshop details to be announced soon)

September 6-13
Cortona, Italy
CANDELABRA DI CORTONA - A chandelier of Scavenged Fragments
(just a few spots left)

October 1-6
Portland, Oregon
ART & SOUL
House of Style - 2 days (still open)

and for those VIRGINS that didn't make it into SOLDERING FOR VIRGINS...
THE LAST WORKSHOPS OF THE YEAR:

Tuesday, September 30
SALLY JEAN STUDIO SOLDERING FOR VIRGINS
and
Tuesday, October 7
SALLY JEAN STUDIO SOLDERING FOR VIRGINS

I'm not sure what 2009 will bring, but if you have any ideas and/or suggestions...be sure to let me know!

Happy Creating!

Look what I found!

Every once in a while you pop into a little non-descript antique shop...the kind filled with man toys such as floor to ceiling racks of vintage match-box-cars, hunting artifacts and model cars. There are always a few kid toys (such as vintage Weeble airplanes, which I confess that I was SOOO tempted to buy) and girl toys (rhinestone this and pearl that). On this day, in this tiny little shop on my way to the candy store (yum), I took a leap of faith and wandered in. After quickly passing the match-box-cars and pausing in front of the airplanes, under dusty puzzle boxes, low-and-behold...a vintage box of Anagram game pieces! At first, it was the faded color of the box that caught my eye (surely, there would be a use for it in my collages). Just knowing that YES! Anagrams could be found at Antique shops still (and not just on eBay) made my day. But looking inside...BONUS! Stubby little yellow pencils with giant eraser heads (sharpened just for me) and half a dozen green dice. Need I say...SCORE! The little Anagram game pieces with their raised my-kind-of-teal-blue letters were just what I needed. The best part...the worn-out price tag of $10 (search for these online and find that they go for at least triple that...without pencils and dice!). To find your own, just search on eBay by typing in ANAGRAMS. Happy Bidding!

With just a few minutes to spare on the parking meter, my hasty walk to the cash register was halted as something a similar shade of faded green caught the corner of my eye. An old book, tattered, torn, tearing, faded, and certainly unwanted...but the little birdie on the cover was calling my name "Tweet-Sally-Tweet". I couldn't resist the $4 price...but even if I could...I couldn't resist the sweet embossed golden birdie on the cover. For those of you that love the birdie, too...did you know that you could go to Amazon and type in the title to find other booksellers who have this book for sale? Search for A FIRST BOOK UPON THE BIRDS OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON. (Just email the sellers to make sure the cover is the same).

Just imagine what you could do with this book? Cut up the birdie words inside to use in collage your collages. Remove the inner pages and use the cover for an altered book cover. Frame the front cover making sure to show the rips and tears. Cut the back cover into tags. Stack it along with other same-colored old books on the table next to your bed. Tease your cat with the birdie picture.

I thought I had nearly made it out of the store when I came across another pretty little faded box with a 40% off sticker on it. Inside...not just one...but two pairs of baby shoes. Loving their soft feel and knowing that someday I will do something magical with them...they came along, too.

So, my 15 minute quickie into a tiny antique shop was a good thing. And yes...I did make it to the candy store...and came out with a 15" long French marshmallow!

Let It Snow!

There is something magical about snow. Sure, when you are shoveling 3 feet for 5 months straight it may not seem that way. But in the Pacific Northwest, snow is a rarity (except in the mountains). When half an inch falls, sanding trucks are making the rounds, school is closed, and snowmen-a--plenty are created! (Imagine a snowman on a front lawn made from 1/2" of snow...melting away atop a bed of thorny green-brown grass). Last year, just the "possibility" of snow (predicted by weathermen) was enough to close school the next day. Well, you-know-what hit the fan when the snow never showed! (The kids weren't complaining, of course). This year, the only day it snowed was Christmas Day...which made the falling puffy white flakes even more magical!

Needless to say, the other day after being tired of the constant gray-ness, I asked Joyce, a special customer, to send snow my way. She could spare some...she lives in Minnesota! Imagine my absolute delight when the very next day I awakened to snow! And the next day! And the day after that! It didn't stick for long, but it fell, off and on, for the last 3 days! Today we even had hale, impersonating snow, as it covered the streets and cars in white.

So a shout-out to Joyce...for making the magic happen. And if anyone else has some snow to spare...bring it on!