Sewing Cruise

I was in desperate need of a get away, a sewing get away, that is. All packed up and ready to enjoy the experience, I was ready to get on board and sail the seas for this exciting Bernina experience.

I picked the cruise, that my friend Sue and I were to embark, taking us to the many technique locales to experience some cool new techniques to use with our sewing and crafting projects. Our Cruise director was very cordial navigating all those on board through the ports of techniques such as: wild geese quilting block, Texture Magic and the fabulous Accuquilt, insuring that each passenger received their handouts and and patterns, if not partaking of a tasty treat or two! After the completion of the cruise we all received a balloon to pop to reveal a fun little gift from Bernina Southwest to take home with us!

What did I get? I took home the skills and materials to begin several super cute projects, both for myself and my wonderful Girl Scouts.

Happy Sailing!

Life Is Pink

It's a beautiful Day and along with the blue sky and the bright sun, there is a hint of Pink!

Sweet Peas from a coworkers garden adorn my work desk!

A view of the rear entrance of the shops along Main Street from the parking lot reveals this killer shark in his pink T and sun glasses!

There is so much beige and green in this desert area that it can be difficult to see any other color.

If you look carefully wonderful bursts of color, even pink, can be found hiding in the most unusual places!

Thank you for taking the time to visit this wonderful Pink Saturday! To indulge in more Pink this Saturday, please visit Beverly, the wonderful hostess, at "How Sweet The Sound", this weeks plethora of Pink is so very delightfu!

Have a beautiful Pink Day!

Altered Barbie

I was in my favorite paper arts store a few weeks ago, explaining how I didn't have the time to participate in this season's Altered Barbie swap. However, before I left the store Jennifer somehow convinced me that I could indeed make an altered Barbie and she gladly donated some of the materials she had left over from her "alteration"!

That evening I rushed home ready to begin the project!

Step One: Clean the Barbie components!

Step Two: Assemble Barbie on the newly constructed stands.(These were made from heavy washers purchased from Home Depot super glued together and spray painted black)

Step Three: Construct the tops: These would be the lampshade. (Instructions for this step found on this clever miniature website.

Step Four: Attach the tops of figure add some lace.

Step Five: Stand back and giggle!

For more delightful Altered Barbie's you can visit Mystic Paper in Downtown Mesa, Arizona or you can take a virtual tour at Mystic Paper The current swap has not be posted yet. However, I know it is only a matter of time!

Want to play?

The next collection is due May 26th!
Come join us!

Springtime

Today is a new day.......... spring has arrived!

The earth is in motion and growth: the mountains, hills and prairies are green and pleasant: bounty is overflowing: mercy is universal: rain is descending from the clouds of compassion: the brilliant sun is shining: the full moon adorneth the ethereal horizon: the great ocean-tide is flooding every little stream; gifts and favors follow one upon the other: and a refreshing breeze is blowing, wafting the fragrant perfume of the blossoms...........

Today is also the day we award the winner of the 200th blog post! Can you hear the drum roll as the random number generator selects the winning person.
And the winner is:

It's thrilling to be giving away this fabulous collection of Asian goodies along with the Penzy Arizona spice and cookbook to this lucky winner who posted the 4th comment ~and it is Melissa!

I would like to thank every came for a visit and took the time to post a comment, I really enjoyed reading them and plan to comment on your blogs soon!

I wish all of you a many happy and joyous days this spring !

A Celebration

It has been exciting to travel the Internet and meet so many bloggers last month! I spent many hours, like many of you, reading so many wonderful blogs and making new acquaintances. I found that the event left little time for creativity and household chores(o.k. so I really didn't mind about that).

Life was so hectic that I didn't have time to post a new entry before my wonderful trip to San Francisco.
I had intended to post a new entry while I was there, however time just rushed by and I found that I was on board the airplane returning to Phoenix before I had a chance.
While I was away I signed in to begin a post...and I discovered that it was my 200th post!

To celebrate this event I have some goodies selected during my trip to share with you!

San Francisco is a great place to find your creative muse. There are so many exhibits, galleries and parks to explore which are all visual delights!
I was very happy that my daughter was with me for our visit to Chinatown. As my daughter and I walked up and down the streets full of grocery items she remarked how it reminded her of her trip to China.

We had so much fun, we went to many little shops to look at all the clothes, jewelry, and housewares. I had to pick up a few things to create art with, it was hard to resist all the treasures available, so I picked up some playing cards, tiny coin bracelets and red coin envelopes, if you look at the photo I have selected some of these treasures to share.

For lunch we left the orient and took a trip to what's known as little Italy for the Bay Area specialty.... Gilroy Garlic!
We ate at The Stinking Rose for a full garlic fare, including the ice cream which is served for dessert. We consumed part of the 3,000 pounds of garlic this restaurant serves monthly. It was delicious.

It was back to exploring after this great lunch, and while in town Gabrielle had to experience Japantown with their unique shops. So we jumped in the car and drove up and down the streets until we arrived at our destination.
There are so many shops with so many fun and interesting items to look at. However I wanted to go to my favorites to pick up some Japanese products I don't like to be without! The Kinokuniya Stationary and Gift Store is a must. They have some wonderful blank books, journals, planners as well as cards, postcards and washi papers. They have pencils and pens and gel pens with so many choices colors. And they have a cute area with lots of little items which are all cute! The reviews for this store are fun to read, too!
After spending a small fortune we headed to the Kinokuniya Bookstore. The Japanese have such interesting books. I have fallen in love with many of their books, magazines and their manga. I left this store with one craft book, complete with patterns, of course its all in Japanese! Then I introduced Gabrielle to the Daiso. It's a Japanese style dollar like store with all kinds of merchandise. I picked up, among several things, these little containers made to store cigarettes, they are the perfect size to store a collection of ATC's!

When we were ready to go home, we purchased a treat to share from Cafe Hana, which looked as gorgeous as it was delicious! What a fabulous day!

We spent the next two days outdoors at the Golden Gate Park. It is a great place with many attractions such as the Bison Paddock, the Tulip Garden with a large windmill, The Botanical Gardens, with plants from all over the world and the most beautiful Japanese Tea Garden.

Before we left to go back to the airport, we went to Menlo Park to look at some shops! There was a great shop with handbags and gift items. I purchased the most stunning umbrella with the Eiffel Tower printed on it and with it, a lovely sheet of handmade paper to share by Midori, it's so pretty, I could not resist!

Our final stop was the Penzy's Spice Shop. It's a great place to shop for any spices that you may need , as they are the finest! The shop is wonderful, if you haven't been and there is one in your area, you must go, I highly recommend it- you won't be disappointed! I am so thrilled that one of the goodies is a jar of Arizona Dreaming spice and the cookbook, so you can whip up the most delicious dishes.

Please take the time to leave a comment with your contact information or better, become a follower, so I can contact you if you are the winner of the San Francisco 200th Post.

Among your "goodies will be: I jar of Arizona Dreaming Spice with cookbook, ATC container, Midori Eiffel Tower paper, Chinese coin envelope, Strand of Chinese coins, Japanese glue, Japanese printed tape, Chinese playing cards, Japanese postcards, and some Asian newspaper and the Stanford Course Description Catalog (Love to use this for altered paper or for recycled text). A winner will be chosen at random on March 20th.

I love to read your comments!

Pink is so hot!

It's difficult to believe that it's Saturday already, so grab a chair and start hopping, blog hopping that is. This big pink chair is actually one of the sculptures which are located all along main street. Which is in the downtown Mesa area. This is a beautiful time of year to walk through the downtown area and enjoy the many sculptures and grab something to eat from the several restaurants that are there as well!

If you love pink and want to enjoy more, head over to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and have some pink fun!

It's Pink Saturday

It's a beautiful Saturday.

The kind of day to stop and enjoy life, to smell the pink roses.

A day to revel in the pink which surrounds you.

For more pink....and green, please visit How Sweet The Sound!

Have a wonderful pink and green day!

Happy Pink Saturday

I'm a Barbie girl and I think that pink is a fabulous color. As a make up artist I find that pink is a great pick me up and is oh so flattering to use on most women, so when I saw Beverly's Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound, I just had to join!

While I was in the town of Menlo Park California, I saw this wonderful pink all around, so I snapped a couple of photo's to share on this my first Pink Saturday!

What a great Pink Shop Sign!

A giant size gumball machine with yummy pink gumballs!

How about a great reading chair for a modern bedroom!

Some fun stuffies and the sweet princess on the pea!

Fun party hats for an Easter Celebration!

What beautiful flowers lining the street!

Thank you coming to visit my pink parade today, I wonder what pink things will cross my path next week!