Hyatt House - Devine!!

Oh my, if you want to be treated like royalty for less than the price of an inexpensive hotel, run quickly and find the nearest Hyatt House!  After 6 nights at a hotel less than a block from the Anaheim Convention Center, we moved less than 6 miles away to heaven.  From a cramped room with a hard bed to a luxurious suite, with the most comfortable CA King in a separate room, divided from the livingroom by French doors, and pillows as comfortable as my own at home.  From $110 a night for that cramped room to $107 for a suite with a full kitchen, separate bedroom, balcony off the livingroom, with a smiling, friendly staff who genuinely seemed pleased to have us visit, it was the icing on my cake.

We shopped at a local grocery store for Laughing Cow Babybel cheese, wheat thin crackers, red seedless grapes, and vanilla ice cream to store in our fullsize fridge.  Not only were the cabinets filled with real dishes & silverware, but there were measuring cups, mixing bowls, pots & pans...everything we needed.  And even though there was a sink with dishwashing liquid, the housekeeping staff came daily to collect your used dishes and replace them with clean ones!  Get outta here!  It's true!

These are the photos from their website.  But it was even better than this looks. 

Now let's talk about breakfast.  We went from the usual muffins, doughnuts, cold cereal on styrofoam plates and plastic silverware to a hot breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, fresh fruit bowls and hot oatmeal with sides of raisins, brown sugar, toasted pecans...fresh juices, oh it was so wonderful.

You can tell this is my photo because just like at home, I've scattered my things all over that granite countertop.  They wanted me to make myself at home and of course I did.

Just look at that bed...makes you want to jump right in too, doesn't it?

And now let's rave about the staff for a minute.  I called to see if we could drop off our luggage early.  Willy said yes, but when we arrived at 11am, he said my room was ready.  I knew I was gonna love this guy and sure enough, I did.

I asked about parking the car at one of these places where you catch the double-decker buses for a sightseeing tour.  He had a better idea.  A private car and driver for a 9 hour tour of Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, the stars' homes, plus numerous beaches.  Did it cost me more?  Yes, but instead of $68 for a 2-hour tour on a bus full of strangers I had a private tourguide who let me wander as long as I wanted, wherever I wanted, and managed to show me a CA I'd never have seen otherwise.  Even though we'd rented a 2012 Mustang Convertible we'd never have found all these incredible places.  Money well spent.

Next time you travel, do look for one of these hotels.  I see they're located from Raleigh to Boston so you know I'll be booking rooms for my trip to New England in September.  And if you find yourself in the Los Angeles/Anaheim area of CA, tell Willy I sent you.

Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

I've been away for a very long time, both physically and mentally.  New year, new directions, leading me back to where I need to be.

There's nothing like 2 weeks in glorious CA to revive a person, especially when you return to NC and temperatures below 40, dressed in your wispy short-sleeved warm weather attire.  Reality revisited!

For the last few nights I've been unpacking from CHA.  Stacks of catalogs to look through now with no distractions.  One order has arrived with many more to come.  I've rearranged the studio yet again, moving furniture but also art.  New canvas art has been hung, art dolls have been shifted around the studio to new perches so I can appreciate them once more.  Everyone tells me how energized and creative they feel in my studio but without the occasional facelift, I tend not to see it.  So by shifting and reworking areas, I'm hoping to rediscover some of my inspirations from projects past.  Last night I was mostly discovering dust!

Look at that explosion of color.  My first visit to Disneyland in CA.   We arrived just in time for the parade and I swear I got all choked up when it first began...the music booming.  Felt like a little kid...overwhelmed.  Hate to admit it but we didn't know all the characters, which hardly mattered.  It was magnificent.  But I was drawn to all those colors, thinking about how I could transfer that to the pages of my journal.

New classes will be taught in the studio this year, including several guinea pig classes.  An acrylic album class, an acrylic CARD class!, an art journal of techniques class that of course will be my favorite, and so much more.

I placed a big order for tape at CHA...washi tapes in SO many patterns & designs, fabric tape, and wait for it...LACE tape.  There's a class for sure.

New stencils should be arriving any day and that will be another class...on canvas.  But students will have the option of a stretched canvas to hang on the wall or Claudine's sticky-back canvas so it can be adhered to a book cover, storage box,  tote bag, apron, or even cut up for cards.

I'm most excited about the order I placed with Ranger for Dyan Reaveley's new stamps, stencils and sprays.  Probably won't receive any of that til the end of March or first of April according to my email acknowledgment, but oh how worth the wait!

Another class I'm excited to offer is a small accordian book working with paints, ribbons & fabric on paper.  Woo Hoo!!  It's a twist on my techniques class, introducing a few new things.

Tonight I've got the girls coming over for a bit of fabric stamping.  That should be interesting.  Some are bringing totes and aprons.  I've got quite the collection of aprons pulled out but I'm thinking about one of my white men's shirts that I wear in the studio.  And I found a stash of little cloth drawstring bags that need a little something, so they may see some action tonight as well.

Since my one-day mini retreat in October went over so well I'm toying with the idea of another.  I can tell you felt beads, paper, buttons, wire, and more will be involved.  Interested?

Back tomorrow with a rave and a rant.  Do come visit, won't you?

It's the Holidays

Somebody was sick for 37 days and has now shared the bungus with someone else.  Not good.

Somebody got a new Lexus for Christmas with built-in navigation, back-up camera, and side mirrors that tilt down when you put the car in reverse.  Somebody still backs out of her garage looking over her shoulder while her hubby stands there hollering "use the back-up camera!".

Somebody spent Christmas Eve at the Emergency Room...the entire day...with a hubby who has kidney stones.

Somebody needs to start tending to her blog, once all the excitement dies down.

Somebody thanks you for checking in and hopes you'll do it again...soon.

Girl, Where have you been?

Sick, sick, sick, that's where.

Don't know what I've got but I've had it for 17 days and counting.  Cough, sore throat, earaches, no voice, and a nose on the fast track.  Don't I wish I owned stock in Kleenex!

It's no fun getting sick Thanksgiving weekend and still being sick going into week 3.  That's a fact.  The miracle is that I haven't given it to hubby, thank goodness, who's having a bit of surgery tomorrow.  Zithromax didn't touch this plaque, but the cough syrup with codeine is a godsend at bedtime.  I still can't sleep through the night, but the coughing calms down for a few blissful hours.

Ask me if my shopping is done and of course I'll laugh out loud which brings a coughing spasm, so please, don't ask.  We did get a tree set up in the living room on Saturday night but the decorations remain in the attic.  Wreaths are on the downstairs windows and carriage lights either side of the garage door, but not on the second floor windows yet.  The pumpkins and gourds were moved off the porch this weekend after sharing space with a snowman for several days.  Keep in mind, I haven't been leaving the house during this illness, so that snowman didn't get picked up on my radar as quickly as it would've in normal circumstances.  Tsk tsk.  And my fabulous wreath with all the big, glistening ornaments is somewhere in the attic with the stockings and reindeer and other mantle decor.  Can't guarantee any of this will get done since we'll both be pretty much out of commission starting tomorrow.

I've come up with THE MOST FABULOUS class ideas, and yes, the clock is ticking on me.  Surely this weekend I'll find the needed boost to climb those stairs and knock out some samples.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few holiday ideas with you so you won't feel too slighted with this post.

A tree for limited space indeed.  I'd never put that many nails in my freshly painted walls but if those Command strips would hold them up, I'd consider it.

I really like this simple giftwrapping idea.  Unfortunately I don't give wine at the holidays.  Mores the pity...

I am such a believer in "presentation is everything" and something about this simplistic array appeals to me.

As does this... what fabulous little gift bags.

I love these simple coordinated color schemes.

But I like this one the best. 
And I've got a couple of trees that would be divine for displaying tiny gift parcels like the ones below, if only I felt like making the parcels.

Did you collect any pinecones yet?  It's not too late.

I'll be back, I promise.  Do come again.

Nature at its best

Did you by any chance watch Super Soul Sunday on the OWN network yesterday?  It aired twice that I know of, so undoubtedly, reruns are still being shown.  Do tune in for the first segment on nature.  My stars, it was glorious.  So much so in fact, that I ran it back and set the DVR to record it.  Watched it in its entirety and then watched it again last night with ACC when he came in from toiling on the new pergola.

The time lapse photography was magnificent...watching seeds fall & germinate, vines begin to grow and climb in the dense forest.  Or a tree in Australia that grows in salt water.  Who knew?

Awe inspiring.  That's what it was. 

Last week's cool temperatures are gone and today its sunny and glorious outside.  Too late.  We've already begun moving the big pots of outdoor plants inside.  The biggest, heaviest of them is still on the handtruck, sitting in the middle of my front porch.  Need to find a strong body to help get it inside tonight.  Maybe the plumber due at 5:30 could be persuaded since I'm not sure he can squeeze past it anyway.

But you know that cold weather is coming and it will be here before we know it.  I found this photo on the BH&G site and instantly it sent me back in time to the street where I grew up, near Five Points in Raleigh.  Mr. Peebles, right across the street, owned one of these huge cedar trees.  I can see it in my mind, as real and true as though I just looked out the window from across the street more than 40 years ago.  Funny how your mind can play tricks on you like that. 

Where has the time gone?  Did I really move out of that childhood home 40 years ago?  Sure did.  And yet I can remember it like yesterday.  The year I fell in love with yellow and orange and Robert Wagner played Al Mundy on It Takes A Thief.  I had his picture on my wall, next to a huge sombrero. 

And I can see the crepe myrtle trees by the front porch where I got my first kiss at 12 (my word), and all the hybiscus planted along the property line, and my play house in the backyard.  I can even see the shade of pink on the walls and the curtains at the windows.  And that big old apple tree pecked entirely from top to bottom by that pesky woodpecker. 

Might be time to cruise back by the hood and see what's changed since my last drive by.  Good Grief, my drive by...makes me sound like a gangsta.  Have mercy.

I digress.  You should check for a rerun of that fabulous nature segment.  And stick around for the short with the big mic.  No Impact Man was less worthy so you have my permission to check out when he comes on, or at least after a few minutes.  Giving up toilet tissue and electricity was not a good thing, Martha, and you don't need to be witness to it.

Time to Gather

Pinecones, that is.  We've had rain, and lots of it, last night and today.  Which means pinecones are falling from the trees.  And it's time to gather them up and stash them in the basement til they dry out for use around the house.

Like this.
Did I tell you I took my parents to the beach last weekend?  The weatherman predicted cold and rain, and he was wrong, wrong, wrong.  We had sunshine and warm, lovely days.  Of course we stayed inside for 3 days playing dominoes, so it hardly mattered.  But we did have hot chocolate, which makes me think of Fall.

I gathered up all the Halloween decorations yesterday.  So sad.  But I've still got my overflowing pots with pansies and cold weather plantings on the front porch, plus my pumpkins and gourds, and my wreath, so all's not lost.

I just need everything to last til it's time to start with the holiday decorations.  I can almost hear the jingle of bells in the background, can't you?

Assemblage Projects from Mini Retreat

For the mini retreat assemblage project I chose to repeat a Stampaway class using Tim's die cut houses of chipboard and my specimen boxes.  They're covered with a sampling of the papers created during our first project.

These first 2 photos are of Lynda's assemblage project showing the houses in process and then the completed piece.  The first house on the left has a pleated roof made of tape measures and the dimension in person is fabulous.  The roof of the third house is metal flashing tape run through a texture plate and the 4th is actually done with rows of paint from a Viva Pearl Pen.  And I don't know if you can see it, but look closely at the third house.  The door is actually hinged and she has a clip art lady standing just behind it as though she's stepping out.  Very clever.

These houses in progress belong to Laurie and the background below was taken at the same time as the houses.  Check out the house on the right; that background shows off a stamped image made with the Clearsnap Magic Stamp on the right and tiny polka dots on the left created with drywall tape.  The second house from the right also showcases that Penscore stamping with a stencilled flower near the roofline.

I thought this background paper was fabulous so imagine my surprise when I took the photo below of her finished piece.

Look how the colors changed.  She decided it needed more contrast so she darkened it with blues.  Simply amazing.  And if you look closely you'll see a rub-on alphabet letter on each house which denotes each member of her family.  And the token on the roof of the second house from the left has a W, which is the initial of their last name.  Way cool baby.  We were digging through my many stashes, looking for an embellishment for that roof and it was perfect.  Kismet!

Now here are 2 shots of Bonnie's finished assemblage.  Notice the metals she used and you'll see how someone who loves to create jewelry using metal objects can incorporate that same talent into other projects.  She's got flashing tape rooftops on the 2 houses on the left, but lots of metal elements are on all four.

But look more closely.  On her background she'd used punchinella of stars to create what looked to me like smoke from a chimney.  And sure enough, the next time I looked, she'd added a chimney to the house.  But the biggest hit of all are the 2 wire trees on the left.  When she worked on the layout she was unhappy with the empty space and said it needed trees.  So I suggested wire, and before you could blink she'd created those two coiled trees.  Talk about the perfect finished result!  And check out the 8 on the door.  Wonder if she likes 8's as much as I like 4's?

The photo above is Moneta's houses in progress.  I wanted you to see the 2 pieces of eco board she used as a door and a window, inked and stamped. 

Here's here finished piece above.  The paper on the largest house was a page torn from a textbook on how to build your own home.  I found it at the library book sale and knew I could tear out pages to use in art, and sure enough, these little die cut houses screamed for just this touch.  Can you see the stamped spiral near the top?  It was created with the plastic canvas circles I provided to be used as stamps.  Works everytime.

The photo above is Carol's completed assemblage and I wish I'd taken more photos of her houses in progress because her layering process was wonderful.  On the first house on the left she added a clip art postage stamp, then on top she layered a small square of masonite from Coffee Break that she'd collaged, and then she added a key from an adding machine I'd disassembled years ago.  Made the perfect doorknob.

The third house from the left is my favorite and not just because I watched the transformation so closely, but because it was truly unique.  I'd given everyone collage sheets I'd purchased from Teesha Moore so they could accent some of the pages of their books.  But Carol focused on one of those images early on in the assemblage project because the shape of the doodling matched the shape of the house.  If you look closely you'll see she added perfect little pearls with a Viva Pearl Pen, but then in true Teesha fashion she added the striped accents in black with a pen.  That's a button in the center of the house but she inked a red bingo marker to add that black element of N39 on top of the button.  And yes, that's some of Tim's tissue tape across the bottom that reads Pasadena.  Another favorite element of mine: check out the Blue Goose cigar band from Coffee Break that adorns the roofline of the house on the right as well as the metal token atop another piece of ecoboard.  These girls were so intense while they worked on these projects but the end results showcase their many talents.

Now for the last 2 photos which are Sharon's project, both before and after.  First she chose one of her background pieces which was antique sheet music inked and stamped with the Clearsnap Magic Stamp.  It was and still is beautiful, and in a color palette she doesn't normally use.  In the above photo you'll see the 2 houses in the middle that showcase her usual palette which includes Ranger's Adirondack Stream and Lettuce with a hint of Wild Plum and Red Pepper.

Now look at the finished project.  Everyone was given a piece of glossy black cardstock and she chose to use that as her background instead of her sheet music.  I've got to admit, I'd never have considered it, but wow, it's perfect!
So now let's talk about details.  Check out the roof on the 2nd house from the left.  Again, she used a Viva Pearl Pen to create all those polka dots of dimension.  She's got one of those adding machine keys as her doorknob, and the base of the house is a piece of the aluminum flashing tape run through a texture plate and colored with Viva's Inka Gold.  The little glass marbles along the roofline were a nice touch for added dimension.

The little house with the rounded rooftop needed an accent so we dug around in my stash and found the little string of jewels.

These photos can't begin to showcase the fun, creativity, talent and whimsy we experienced during the retreat.  But I'll tell you that the best thing about a retreat in my studio is being able to dig into drawers and bins for that perfect element, and that's something I can't replicate in a class, no matter how many boxes of supplies I ship.  Everyone will tell you that their kits at conventions are generous, but until I figure out how to include these little surprises, it's never going to be the same.

A heartfelt thank you to all the ladies who came to play, and to Carol and Moneta who were here from Illinois, because it was their persistence that convinced me to play hostess for a day of play.

I'm already trying to come up with a date for the next one, so no matter where you live, make sure you contact me if you're interested.

And thank you all for coming back to take a look at the photos of the finished pieces.  Aren't you glad you did?