Guess This Project...

Hmmm...

Having already told you that my Grandma taught me to see with "different eyes" you can imagine what I see here.

While shopping at Costco with my girlfriend one day last week we turned an aisle and I stopped dead in my tracks. I immediately knew I must have these and what they will be. My girlfriend thought I was crazy until I shared my idea with her. She is learning from me to see with different eyes and I am having fun watching her learn.

So I scooped up a few of these and put them in my cart. It never hurts to ask. When I got to the checkstand I forgot I had put these into my Costco bag. The bagger guy looks and can't believe I have put "trash" in my bag. I asked him if I might have these pieces. He is fine with this however he must ask the checker guy. Now he looks at them and at me. As I ask if I might have them he laughs and says, "Yes, I would just have to make my rounds and pick them up as trash." So I thank him and tell him I am happy to save him the trouble.

Now...

What am I going to do with these little pieces of "trash"?

Girlfriend and I will be in the studio today transforming them and I should be able to reveal my idea in the next post.

Yesterday was Sunday and Mr. C and I drove a couple of hours to spend the day in a car show. The weather was perfect and the show was small and casual. Of course I took my camera but got so busy chatting with people I never took any photos. I also was walking a 5K so that took a lot of my time. I ended up walking 15,355 steps just at the fairgrounds. That was 4.36 miles! Yay!!! I even went through 3 different pairs of shoes doing so much walking. It felt great and of course I was energized as the DJ was playing all my favorite era music. It was a long day as I began at 4 am after only about 3 hours of sleep but it was a great day. We ended at In N Out for my favorite affordable meal. I really slept good last night!

May you have a week filled with creative and pleasant passions...

Thank You Donna of Brynwood Needleworks

I want to thank Miss Donna of Brynwood Needleworks for her brilliant post today. I think most of you follow Donna and her beautiful blog however if you don't you will want to. Today she is thinking of a wonderful monthly stroll down memory lane. I agree that I often go down memory lane, especially when being creative as my mother and grandmother were super creative and taught me so much. It will be fun to read what stories we bloggers share. I believe the first date is Monday January 31st.

I also wish to thank Donna for sending me one of her giveaway mug mats. It arrived wrapped in beautiful green tissue, soft beige ribbon and an adorable acorn tag with her handwritten note. This photo is after I already opened the package as I just could not wait to see inside. :o)

And inside...pure sunshine! Donna is an extraordinary quilter and seamstress. I can guarantee this little beauty is not going to get mugs of any kind sitting on it for spills of anything. I have something much safer in mind to honor it's beauty. Thank you Donna as I adore your mug mat.

Today Mr. C and I took a stroll in our little town as the sun was shining there (but not at our super cold and wet wintery home just 1.5 miles away) and the temperature actually got to 60F. Oh the sun felt so warm and wonderful as it touched my face. We sat at a little outdoor coffee house and enjoyed watching all the people out and about. We spent several hours just enjoying the day. Then it was off to get ice cream before heading home.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend just as you most like doing.

Happy enjoying...

Following My Own Words...

As I read my very own recent post I realize it is so easy to say, "relax and enjoy the season". Fortunately I am following my own words and I truly am relaxing and enjoying this wonderful magical holiday season. I took some overview photos yesterday at my very favorite place to go.

This is the conservatory at High Hand Nursery in Loomis California. It is a wonderful place to visit and have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Shop for plants, accessories or fine gallery art pieces.

I was enjoying a very nice long relaxing lunch with my dear girlfriends. We were also exchanging our holiday gifts with one another. No rush, no pressure, no stress...just geniune friendship and laughter and sharing.

This is a large pointsettia blossom that sat on our table in this tiny little pot. I was entranced by the beauty of this simple blossom. The decorated trees in the previous photos are redwoods and are so beautiful with the simple red ornaments and small white twinkle lights adorning them. The hanging pointsettias are huge and so amazing.

So, do I naturally not have stress in this hectic time of the year? No.

I am truly working at being able to enjoy.

Am I behind on everything including personal and holiday? Yes.

However, I am finding it isn't the end of the earth if something is not getting done and must wait until another day, week or month.

I am enjoying my family, friends, and everything involving Christmas.

I do hope you are enjoying your favorites things too.

B R E A T H E and enjoy...

Part of a Treasury...

Dear sweet faerymoongoddess has included my fabric wrist cuff in her beautiful new treasury which you can view by clicking here. I wanted to post her beautiful treasury in it's complete glory however my blogging skills are still not enough. I keep learning as much as I can. :o)

Please give her a visit and see all the lovely items she makes and shares.

On another note...

Are you completely busy at this time of year? Running errands for the usual groceries, gasoline, dry cleaning, laundry and such along with wrapping gifts, delivering gifts, mailing gifts, writing Holiday cards and mailing them. Getting together with friends and family as often as possible? This is definitely a very busy time for so many of us. This year I am choosing to do a lot less of the errands and chores and more of the quality time with family and friends. Yes, the gifts are much less but the sentiment is much deeper and more meaningful. Oh I am certainly helping the economy and doing more than my fair share of spending but much smarter this year. I am really enjoying my time as I stop and smell the "pointsettias", watch the lights twinkle, see the glitter sparkle and simply enjoy this amazing time of our year.

Take a deep breath, sip your favorite tea or cocoa or beverage and truly be in the moment.

Now I am happy to get back to my creating...

Local Concours...

After spending days cleaning and primping and cleaning some more we headed south to a local Concours show. Leaving very early in the morning and in the rain...yes all over the super clean car!...we arrived at a beautiful location with overcast skies. The rain subsided and more cars arrived and were very carefully parked on their respective greens. Oh I am in heaven...Aston Martins and a Lotus Twin Turbo Esprit!

The British Marque was being honored so they had their very own green for parking. Jaguar was honoring their 75th year so lots of fanfare and very new gorgeous cars for viewing and special ones for test driving.

This black Rolls Royce was a 1959 and very beautiful down to the enth degree of detail.

Of course the new Ferraris were also featured as so many attendees must drool over them.

I love it when there are beautiful restored automobiles that I have never seen before. This one very unique.

This is the most unique automobile ever and it stole my heart! She is a one-of-a-kind 1914 Princess Petite Speciale. I love chatting with the owners of such rare automobiles and learned her entire history. She won an award however I do not know which one as we had to leave during the awards ceremony.

All in all we enjoyed a wonderful day and met so many interesting and nice people.

Next...Bonneville Salt Flats for Finals Week.

Happy week ahead to all who love to live, laugh, love and create art...

Happy Birthday Mom...

As I sit here at my desk and take care of business details I am reminded of the date today.

This would have been the day to celebrate my mother's birthday.

However she has passed on and so no celebration. No cake. No gifts.

Merely a wonderful day to remember all that Mom meant to me.

So I wish her a Happy Birthday in memory and know that she is happy and enjoying herself.

I am grateful that I have her genes for creativity.

I am grateful I enjoy the wonder of the world.

Thank you Mom.

Chillaxation...

This is another view from my Kitchen and Great Room deck. It is our pond Mr. Createology built himself. He went to pond college and then got busy creating this masterpiece. I can truly say that nothing gives me greater pleasure than this spot of nature and all it's wonder. As the summer progresses I will post better photos of it however for now this is a sneak peek.
Yesterday was the most relaxing day in a long time. It was also one of the busiest days. How could it be relaxing?
We visited with friends at a local open house for a super interesting business that just happens to have set the world land speed motorcycle record at Bonneville Salt Flats last fall. I had not seen the production plant and I love all the equipment and parts and what it takes to produce product.
Then we stopped by a local car show for Mini Cooper cars. They are so cute and quick. I just love seeing what people do to make theirs unique.
Then we went to town where all the super excitement is as Amgen preparations are in full swing. It begins here today in a few short hours. Lance Armstrong is here again folks.
Where are my pictures you ask? I forgot to take my camera along with me yesterday. How thoughtless of me. I do apologize.
Last evening we celebrated Mr. Createology's birthday with friends. We each bring food and that way no one person has all the burden. Dinner was delicious with BBQ Tri-tip, baked beans, potato salad (made from scratch!) and cibatta bread. YUM! Then we had birthday fudge brownies with home made vanilla ice cream. Yes, that would be Margaret who brings dessert. She is a master at desserts...especially chocolate. Lots of eating and lots of stories and lots of laughter with friends. It doesn't get much better than that.
Such a great day. I think we shall have another one today!
How are you relaxing this weekend?

Satisfaction Saturday & Sunday...

A very simple watercolor and stamped post card using my favorite inspirational stamp. Can you believe the adorable charm to match? I found those and knew I had a match. I shall be doing more creative things with these two in the future. For now I mailed my little post card minus the charm to my sister just to say hello. I will give her the charm in person. Sometimes the mail handling is a bit rough and things get lost or mutilated on the way to their destination.
So for Satisfaction Saturday & Sunday...
My Finish It Friday was a success. I completed all five of the top priority projects that were on my desk. Today I mailed two packages that were deadline critical and I feel so much better to have them on their way. Now I feel like I can enjoy my weekend and spend some time relaxing with my DH who has been going through a very troublesome root canal for almost a month now. It is so not like him to feel so poorly and exhausted. This morning with no rain we ventured into town (remember our quaint National Historic Town in the Gold Country) and not only got the mailings done at the post office we also did a little walking. We happened on the monthly book sale at the historic library and managed to pick up several good books. His for reading and mine for artistic endeavors. Our purchases will help the floundering library system here locally. I always knew about the monthly book sale but now that I have actually been to it I shall for certain be going again. What a wonderful way to purchase some interesting books for so little. Then we stopped in the local coffee house and had a window seat to sip our beverages. We watched lots of people coming and going. It is always good to see visitors come to our tiny town. Upon driving home we stopped at one of my favorite neighborhood parks and we walked a short trail they have there. It was invigorating and led us right up to lunchtime. So home we came. Now we are settling in for an afternoon of reading in front of the fire and for me some hand sewing in order to complete some more projects.
I hope you and yours enjoy and have a Satisfaction Saturday and Sunday.

Take time to breathe...

As the holiday season is here and people are rushing to accomplish all that is expected of them I do hope everyone takes time to breathe.

This year I am not doing much of what is "expected" for the holidays.

I am not putting up a tree with all the decorations and the frustration and hassle that goes with getting out all the boxes stored away. It is something I cannot actually do by myself and there is no one else that wishes to deal with it so therefore I am taking this holiday season off. I have no family or friends to miss any of it as they are not able to visit this year. I certainly will not miss the incredible mess it leaves when the time comes to take the tree down and store away all the decorations once again. Of course again a job I cannot do by myself.

Instead...I am enjoying this holiday season so much more than I ever expected to be doing. I am thrilled when I see a decoration since I am not surrounded by them at home. I smile when I see a child with their eyes wide open looking at the wonder of Santa and of course the presents.
I hear the Christmas music and it makes me stop and listen.

I am enjoying wrapping gifts for my chosen friends and family to receive. This year we have opted for fewer gifts and requested everyone not to spend money they might not have but to buy food and utilities for their family.

Hand addressing handmade and some purchased Christmas cards is a relaxing task and a wonderful way to think of each recipient as I cross off their names on the list. I get out last years cards and letters and reread them as I do my addressing. It is a reminder of the year we have just experienced.

So for those of you who are feeling stressed and harried and rushed, please take time to breathe and realize you can do less and still enjoy more.

Happy Memorial Weekend...

Meet Bella and Ginger who are the cutest Beagles ever. Very sweet and loving. I am posting this pic to show all of us how to relax and enjoy our holiday weekend. Bella and Ginger certainly know how to snuggle up in cozy style.
I have been working in the yard and it seems like I never make any progress. I have plants that don't belong at all (some would call them weeds) and need to be plucked and disposed of. I have plants that have struggled through the harsh winter and need lots of pampering and pruning. We now have lots of warm days and the watering system is not happy as of yet so lots of hand watering to do which I thoroughly enjoy. Mr. Hubby built all of the drip system irrigation and every year it is very labor intensive for him to turn it on and bleed it and get all the dirt and bugs and debris out of the lines. And of course Murphy is always making a recurring visit with his law so that things do not go well or smoothly. I just get the hose and hand sprinkler nozzles and spend time enjoying the beauty of it all. Of course I do not like bugs and for some reason this year have accumulated the most mosquito bites ever. I seem to be covered and of course they drive me crazy and keep me awake at night.
I wish a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend for everyone. Maybe some time to do your favorite activity, get together with friends, have a BBQ or just relax.