Flora

I do have a hobby, damnit! Tyler bugs me all the time - you need to get a hobby, you need to start doing something. Then he looked at the plants all over the house. I guess you do have a hobby. Uh, yeah!

Back in CA, I was inspired. 

A little curiousity shop tucked away in the Mission. Flora and fauna and natural artifacts. I've been trying to find a good way to experiment with these little wonders ever since. 

A few years later, I am finally working on this project! Found bags of shells at Christmas Tree Shoppes for $8 each! Must be 5lbs of shells in each bag! While I cant use them all, most of them are perfect vessels for my little creatures. 

 

             

They even hang! Tyler is quite brilliant when it comes to solving problems. You'd never know there's a little button inside there keeping everything together on a string.

                            

Felt a little primitave gutting this little sea star

One of the greatest compliments Tyler has given me in our lifetime is saying how professional they all looked and how impressed he was in the outcome. Thank you!!! 

Project Placement

I finally found some posters I've been coveting of places we've been for a reasonable price! I got the New Orleans one from DeeDee:914 on Etsy. I found the other two art prints by Hero Design Studio on Fab.com * (which truly is Fab). I love that the San Fran and Chicago prints match, but wish I had looked around a little more. I found some awesome Chicago prints on Etsy. But I love that these three have the teal sky blue theme and wanted a common thread through our travelogue series. 

So then I framed everything, getting awesome prices and fitting all my odd sizes from Art to Frames. I usually get all my frames from Christmas Tree Shops, but they dont have large sized white wood frames. If you look at the rest of our house (besides the historical documents below), EVERYTHING is in Christmas Tree Shop white wood frames. Had to find something to match. Now, we're not sure about placement in the house, or even order of these prints. I do love them against the orange walls though. What do you think?  

*disclaimer: If you sign up for Fab using this link, you will get a $10 credit. I will get a $25 credit from your first purchase. And if you get people to sign up, and so on.

Mea Culpa

If someone else posted as little as I did, I'd be pissed too. I expect something once a day, if not three times a day from other blogs I read!

I'm working on it. But the phone is missing, and that's my camera! More to come soon!

Oh, but! I just did these quick save the dates for my friend at work - what do you think?!

How's your Fancy Fascinator?

You may not know it, but my parents are pretty damn creative. My Dad loves to draw, collect and decorate, and artfully build sculpture. And is a self made mason. My Mom likes marketing, knitting, and has great ideas for making things already out there. For instance, fascinators. I had a ChristMake party yesterday at the house for those of us who can't really spend the big bucks this year, and really just want to make something anyway.  Wondering what I was going to bring for the party and what the heck I wanted to make myself, my Mom whips out a bag of feathers, barrets and a glue gun (and glue sticks, yes). I was going to make these for the church fair, but didnt, want this stuff? YES! And I found ribbon and beady baubles in my holiday centerpiece mismatch stash. And voilà! Thanks Mom for planning ahead for me - as always! The girls at work better like these!

Vase 1 complete!

So lines aren't perfect, but it's a good first attempt!

Vase project - Part deux

Taping is done, and we are on to spray paint! My nice hazy coating turned out a little dark, so I had to go back over. Obviously I need to clean up these lines a bit or I'm not going to have the crisp edges I want! All that burnishing time will go to waste! Well, this is what you get for spraypainting in the dark by the light of the hallway. Good tip - old carpet is a great thing to paint on. However, make sure it's flat, or you will get smudge lines like I did. Again, so much for that light hazy cloudy coat I was hoping for. Next coat tomorrow! In daylight, yes 

Paint says "no drip". Ha. Not true. To get the smooth finish I want, I had to scrape out the whole section. However, I think I got more drips in other places as a result of repainting it. Only daylight will tell! You might even be able to see the color of the paint then too!

Ritas

Hmm, what an interesting bike. Sarcrifice? Where'd all those bones COME FROM? Funky? Intimidating? Gross? All of the above? 

Market

We stumbled upon this guy who made a video about train hopping and bumming around the US. He actually cast people and played a role in the movie. So, on one side the travellers are all cast characters that have a plot to stay within, but everyone they meet and interview are not sticking to a plot, and then he integrated the whole thing. Great soundtrack and stunning views of the country. Check out Cure for the Crash. Excellent website too, I just found out. 

                    

some expensive art at the market

Creative fleur de lis. I swear this town
is full of wit and creativity.

Need cash! so we went to every restaurant on the strip, and all had bogey ATMs. So we ended up at El Gato Negro. The ATM didnt work, but the drink sure did! 

Raspberry Rita. I got talked out of the Carrot one.
I really wanted to try it. Our waiter said not so much.
I still think I should have tried it, but this was
so delicious, it's not like I was disappointed.

Miss!

Watermelon Rita

MMMMM, perfect yummy tiny bites. And you think Tyler's sandwich fixation didn't rub off on me yet?

Have never seen this beautiful color of hibiscus!
So melancholy and moody.

Bathroom art at ... Ryan's? Ty? I don't remember. I just remember Shock Tops to go.