Monday, July 12, 2010

Collaged Quote Book Day One

Here is a cute little collaged quote book I made over a series of Friday Art Dates this summer with the girls. It didn't start out as a quote book but I decided to collage it so heavily that the smallish spaces that were left seemed like a great place to write my favorite quotes. The best part is that if I find a new quote I love I can still add it to my book. :) Here's the beginning...

Sunday, July 11, 2010

FYI

The last thing I should be doing is searching skull cameo on Etsy! I thought I would see if I could find the seller but I think it will be safer just to wait and ask Deb. LOL! (Do it I dare you! It might be sfer for you than for me.)

Speaking of Etsy I have to tell you about two sellers that I recently bought from that are really cool! The first one is Skull And Crossbuns. I noticed these cute little mustache stamps on one of the daily emails from etsy.


When I went to check them out I also loved these trees.

These stamps are so cute in person and I have no idea how she is carving so many yummy stamps!

The second shop is Mommies Ink. If you are looking for invitations of any kind I would totally recommend checking out this shop! Jen, the shop owner, is amazingly fast and has great comunication! I also think her prices are amazing! Now, I can't show you exactly what I bought because it is still top secret but here is one of her yummy designs!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Yesterday

Yesterday was an amazing and bittersweet day and although I usually limit my blog posts to topics that are rainbow and sunshiny this would be far to big not to mention.

Ayesha and I FINALLY got to take Jessica out for her birthday! Not that she was resisting just that we finally remembered to set a date. We went to 35th Ave. Sew & Vac. and out for lunch at Pedro's in downtown Glendale. Now if you have never been to 35th Ave Sew and Vac. it is hard to describe its fabulousness but if you love fabric as much as Jessica it is like your own personal paradise. All three of us found fabric we could not leave without. :) We had a great time!


Now if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you may have noticed that Deb, Ayesha, and I are often adventuring about together. We have been known to be a little inseparable. We found out a week ago that Deb will be moving to Texas before the end of the month and it has been a little difficult to say the least.

Deb had already planned to be out of state this weekend for a family function before she found out about the move and when she returns her fiance will be loading up the house to drive to Texas. We will still have a few days before Deb leaves but as you can imagine her schedule is crazy. Yesterday happened to be the last day that we could all get together to do Girl's Night Out in our traditional form. We also scooped up Amber because we like to bring her along from time to time and because we love her too. We went to Postino's and had a lovely dinner of yummy bruchetta, we shared a delicious salty caramel sundae (salty for the chocolate covered cornnuts and cute pretzel rod), and we even got to sit in the couch area by chance and that was fun too! For those of you that know us in real life you will be happy to hear their were minimal tears but only because we tried really hard at the end and we know we will see each other next week. :)


(Deb is sitting on my side just in case you didn't know)
I also want to add that I am happy that we now live in a time of Facebook, free long distance calls, and Skype and Ayesha and I are looking at this as a great opportunity for an art exchange that we will be starting as soon as Deb is settled in. :)

As I was dropping Deb off she said, "Hey, do you want your birthday present tonight?" I knew she had bought my gift weeks ago even though my birthday is not for months because she was so excited about it and like I'd say no. LOL! Check it out.


So me. It can be worn as a pin or pendant and I know she found it on etsy but am not sure of the seller. I can't wait for October so that it will be cool enough to wear it with a cardigan and I'm starting the search for the right chain too. Yay Deb!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

One Size Fits Most

Yesterday I made what I am affectionately calling my one size fits most skirt.


I decided that I need to call it this morning when I tried it on again and realized just how generous I was when I cut the elastic. The elastic does stretch a little bit right at this moment and I am fairly sure I could loose 10 pounds and it would still fit without going in to make the elastic smaller, but I am also fairly sure I could gain at least 20 pounds and it would still fit, hence the name.

I discovered the fabric to make this skirt in the fashion district on our trip to California earlier this summer. I actually found it in the Michael Levine shop that sells fabric by the pound. I think I bought enough fabric to make two of these skirts plus about 3 yards of black lining material for something like $4! Outrageous right? I loved its texture and while a one size fits most skirt might not be the most form flattering, (Just think about adding extra fabric around your midsection.) I still think it is cute. LOL!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

An Exceptional Artist

I had the great pleasure of working with an exceptional artist today! It was my niece Keegan! (Formerly known as Baby Kakes and then just Kakes when her little sister came along. I now have permission just to call her Keegan from Buffy.)


My mom was watching the girls so I called up to ask if I could come play. Usually when I arrive the girls meet me at the door but today I could hear Keegan calling my name excitedly from the kitchen when I walked in she was already wearing her artist apron that my mom made for her and she immediately said, "Nene can we paint today?" My mom had told her I was coming to do a project and they had already taken all of the art supplies out of the closet.

(It is important to note that Keegan can say Jeane but I think because she calls my mom Nona she thinks that Nene is like my cutsy name for Auntie. I like Nene. :)

I had planned to read the book Elmer by David McKee and make handprint elephants.


We were having so much fun that when we were done with that little project we kept painting. Keegan titled this one The Storm. (She's a genius what can I say.)


And this one is Tinkerbell's House. (More in line for a three year old. :)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Summer of Obsessing

Apparently this summer my theme is obsessing over things. First it was the Showtime TV serries Dexter. I seriously watched the first episode of this series the week before school was out and did next to nothing until I was finished watching all 48 hours of seasons 1-4. Now, I never thought that I would find myself rooting for a serial killer but I never thought I'd read vampire books and somehow Twilight snuck up on me too. I am seriously thinking about adding Showtime to my cable package so that I can watch season 5 with the rest of the world! You should totally check Dexter out but only after you have put the kids to bed. I guess that probably is true for any show on Showtime though. LOL!

My next obsession, again a little surprising, is The Spiderwick Chronicles. One of my co-workers recommended I read these books over a year ago. (Yes, I only read fiction books from the childrens section. I'm a teacher, does that count? Adult non-fiction is so much more interesting.) I was at the used book store on Tuesday and noticed them in the young adult section and decided to pick up the first book. I just finished reading the 5th and final book in the series and learned that it was made into a movie. Guess what's next on my Netflix list?

Finally, I have been spending lots of fun time obsessing about planning the perfect wedding parties with Buffy and Krista but those are things I can not talk about here. 10-10-10 is just around the corner and Shannon is an investigator. (Can you hear my evil laugh?)