October Weekend Fun

Friday afternoon I had a fun art play date with my daughter's 1st grade teacher, Lois. She has a strong passion for arts and always had the best projects for the kids. I loved every project Rachel would bring home.

Lois made this adorable piece using stamped images on shrink plastic.

Saturday, we went over the San Francisco to watch the Blue Angels. It was a perfect day in the city and we had great seats to see the whole thing.

The planes did some sky writing and created this heart shape.

We were right there at Ghirardelli Square so of course we had to do some shopping and eating.

Rachel discovered a cupcake shop, Kara's Cupcakes. She was in heaven!

Today I had a wonderful day with my long time friend, Denise. We first did some shopping in Walnut Creek. We found some cute clothes at JCrew and H&M. Then we had lunch at a restaurant called The Door - asian fusion cuisine. You'll want to go for "small bites" where you can get order a varitey of plates that are so tasty. It was a day of great shopping and yummy eating!

Today Rachel made these two adorable softies for her purse. They are both from anime shows that she likes. The pink one is "Tokyo Mew Mew" and the black one is from her favorite, "Sailor Moon."

Birthday Paper Doll Puppets

This week, I took all the paper dolls my sisters made for me for my bday and created this little puppet theatre. I used one of Catherine Moore's lithographs from the Nesting Grounds - Collection II set and enlarged it to fit all the dolls. Some of the dolls are raised higher than others to create some dimension. I added string to each of their hands to simulate a puppet string. Thanks to all my sisters for helping me create this wonderful scene...I feel like the girls will start dancing any minute!

My Birthday Weekend

For my birthday this year, my sisters and I had a wonderful private class with Gina Gabriell. She has a great store in Dublin with wonderful goodies, you gotta check it out if you're in the area. http://elevenmorningstangerine.com/

Our project today was mini shrines. She provided lots of yummy vintage jewelry, trinkets, beads & paper to use on our projects.


Despite what it looks like, they're not arguing, that's just my sisters looking for the glue (JK).



The projects all turned out wonderful - it's me that can't take good pictures.


And here we are at the end of the class - what a fun way to spend the afternoon. In case you're wondering about the crown, Gina gave it to me.

For my bday gift, I asked my sisters to make me a paper doll, so that I could put them all together into one picture. They all turned out adorable. Dee, went above & beyond and made 6 of them and put them on a banner!

I haven't put them together in a picture yet, but here they are. I love the way they're dressed up for my bday party.


Tonight we had a fabulous dinner at Le Cheval.

And to top off a great week, I just picked up the latest issue of Haute Handbags. I was lucky enough to get one of my purses published in there. What a special bday present :-)

Julie Haymaker Class

Today, Julie Haymaker came over and taught us a wonderful class - made of paper clay, wood, fabric and other embellishments. Julie is from New Mexico and was out for just the weekend. Here's Julie's blog: (http://www.juliehaymaker.com/site/Home.html) . Thank you Diana for arranging this great class. The class included a delicious brunch & lunch. She brought over some amazing scones, chicken salad, croissants, nuts, cookies, drinks - what an amazing spread.

Our good friend Ruby joined us today too - we were really happy to have her create with us! Unfortunately, our other sister, Pat was on a bike ride and couldn't make it.





....and here's our finished girls - oh so sweet! I love how the group of women and girls look together - like going to a black & white party! We learned so many different techniques, & wonderful tips.

It was a great class - what a wonderful way to spend the day.

I also want to post these adorable cake pops Rachel made - they turned out yummy.

New Necklace & Tag

I made a couple new items this week. This one is a necklace made from a gift box top that I embellished. I was inspired by these necklaces made by Gina Gabriell. Mine aren't as great as hers, but it was fun to make and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Next, I just made this quick little tag, I call her my "ticket girl". If you go to the Alameda Pt flea market, there's this one booth that sells british trolly signs that I always stop and admire. I took a miniature version of it and used it for my background. The girl is a Catherine Moore stamp from her Inner Child collection.

Pottery Barn Friends & Family

To my family & friends, Oct 14-17th is the Pottery Barn Friends & Family event. I'd like to share with you this discount for visiting my blog. Email me your address and I will send you a post card for a 20% discount at our Pottery Barn stores!

Have a great week.

J-Pop Festival Today

Today was a great mother-daughter day. Rachel's favorite plush artist is Heidi Kenney from Pennsylvania. Heidi came out to the J-Pop festival at Japan Town in San Francisco for an outdoor festival. Here's Rachel with Heidi at her booth.

These are the softies that Rachel bought from Heidi today.

Many of the girls at the festival dressed up in this Lolita look...

Rachel was also in heaven with booths of mini cupcakes. Of course she had to sample a couple of them. This one was her favorite: peanut butter chocolate.

Then I found this booth that sold altered clothes. The artist made this bustle out of vintage doll clothes, it's so cute! The photo doesn't do it justice, but it's adorable in person. I had to buy it and I'm definitely going to wear it on my bday. She sold me matching cuffs too. The artist's name is Janay Rose. She was asked to be on Project Runway, but she turned it down! Here's her etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thewindowlady. She is also at Alameda Pt every month.

I don't wear cuffs, but I'll be wearing these with my bustle.

When we came home we did some baking together. Rachel found this recipe for Oreo popsicles. We froze them in these mini Starbucks paper cups. We have to wait 5 hours before we can eat them, so tomorrow will be the sampling.

So I bet you're wondering "where did she get Starbucks cups from?"...where else, Craft Depot! Don't worry, they were sealed in a plastic bag - not opened.

This is what they're suppose to look like when we take them out of the cups.

We also went to the book store today cuz Rachel couldn't wait to buy this cookbook: Cake Pop. Stay tuned for her creations from this one.