ART Party Club Matchbox Swap

 This month at Art Party, a club that I belong to at our local Stamping Store Stamping Details, we swapped altered matchboxes made into houses with a Christmas theme. Everyone did an amazing job, and the creations were so much fun to see! Above left is the lovely house that Mary Ann created that I was the lucky recipient of, and right is the house that I created, which was for Ginger.

 This beautiful gem on the bottom was made by Lorraine, and the cute house on the top was made by Rosa.  I believe Lorraine's went to Mary Ann and Rosa's went to Vicki.

The feathered beauty was made for Lorraine by Ginger, and Santa's house was made by Vicki for Rosa. All the houses have cutouts in them so when a candle is inserted inside the matchbox the light shines through!  I am so fortunate to be a part of this wonderful club.  It's so fun to get together each month with this fabulous group of creative ladies.

Marie Antoinette Explosion Box

My wonderful girlfriend, Lorraine, taught me how to make Explosion Boxes, and I have caught the bug.  This one I made with a Marie Antoinette theme for mon amie Mary who I was lucky enough to go to Paris with and visit Marie's home of Versailles.  We loved Versailles and especially loved Petit Trianon, which was Marie's little escape on the grounds, and her Hamlet, which was a replica of her town in Austria that she had built on the grounds.  Tres magnifique!

 Marie slept here!

 Petite Trianon

Her Hamlet

Christmas Cheer Tin Swap

I was lucky enough to be a part of Wendy's Christmas Cheer Altered Tin Swap.  I love her swaps because I always feel challenged and use the opportunity to try new things.  I've made a few altered Altoid tins in the past but I have never taken the tin apart to create a house.  I used the top as the stand and used the bottom to create a little house.  I made this for Marfy, and was the lucky recipient of her tin, which was a gingerbread house.  Thanks so much Wendy for another wonderful swap! And, since this is pink, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to put in Beverly's Pink Saturday Link party.  Happy Pink Saturday everyone, and Happy Holidays too!

Brady's Painting

Look what my son Brady painted today!  It was for a class assignment in history, to create a painting in the "romantic" style.  Brady you are an artist!

Dia Del Los Muertos Alter of My Dad

Happy Dia De Los Muertos! Here is my alter to my dad. I like to remember him every year at this time. Amidst the Katrina dolls are some of his favorite items: Coors Light, potato chips and a tennis racket. I love you and miss you dad!

My "Ghouls"!

Here are the "ghouls" that I created out of cards and housed in my altered altoid tin. I just love creating different little witches and making a deck of cards with them. These ladies are all good witches! Too bad Halloween is now over. I guess it's now time to go Christmas shopping!

Halloween Altered Tin Swap

I participated in a fabulous Halloween Altered Tin Swap hosted by the wonderful Wendy Aspinall at www.blissangels.blogspot.com. Here is my entry for the swap - inside the recipient will find a deck of "ghouls", altered playing cards dressed as witches. Thanks Wendy, this was great fun!

Paris Peat Pot

For Art Party this month we did an exchange of altered peat pots. Here is my offering, as all of my art now seems to be with a Paris theme! My husband wonders of it will get worse or better after I go to Paris in October? (I think worse, of course!) The peat pot was a very inexpensive and interesting thing to alter - and once I got started I just couldn't stop. I have now tried stamping, embellishing, and painting them, and I even created a hot air balloon out of one. I have yet to photo it, but it will end up on my blog when I do.

Happy Pink Saturday to the wonderful blog visiters from How Sweet the Sound. To follow others visit http://www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Paris Angel

Bon jour mes amis des Pink Saturday! This Angel is a gift I created for my mon ami Mary. Mary and I will be heading to Paris together in October, and I was so lucky that she figured out how to fit a quick stop for lunch with me in San Diego on a recent trip she was making to points north. We dined at Cafe Chloe in downtown and feasted on wonderful French food as we perused our Paris books to plan our trip. I just can't wait for our Parisian adeventure to begin!

To visit my other friends who post on Pink Saturday visit www.howsweetthesound.blogspot.com

More Comic Con Craziness

Comic Con just takes over San Diego each year. We are so fortunate to be able to host this crazy event! Although we didn't attend, we were at least able to get into a little of the night life action and get some great photos of our adventure.

Zombies Walk The Street of San Diego!!

Zombies rose from the dead and walked the streets of San Diego during Comic Con 2011. My family decided to head down and watch, and boy what a blast it was! San Diego is transformed into a crazy land during Comic Con, and it is really fun just to head downtown and observe all of the hoopla. There were hundreds of zombies walking through the streets. From dogs to brides to cheerleaders to The Joker, it was such a fun sight to see.

Lorraine's Little Cake Boxes

Look at these beautiful little "pieces" of cake that my wonderful friend Lorraine made for my 50th birthday party as party favors. They are each created out of lovely papers and embellishments. She handmade all of the flowers on the tops. She really is so talented and I just love that we both feed off of each other's work. You can visit her blog at http://rainebeau.blogspot.com/ Thanks so much Lorraine!

50th Birthday Tea!

For my 50th birthday I hosted a happy tea party, which is a tea party with cocktails of course! I had my very best girlfriends over to celebrate this milestone with me. Everything was decorated in a pink French theme. Tasty tea treats were served (recipes and photos will come in a future post) by my daughter Cassidy. We toasted with Lavender Champagne (soooooo tasty and refreshing!). Here is the recipe for Lavendar Champage:

For simple syrup: Bring 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in 1 T. culinary dried lavender. Remove from heat and cool. Refrigerate overnight. Strain lavender.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons lavender simple syrup to glass of champagne and garnish with fresh lavender sprig.

Enjoy!

Happy Pink Saturday, and for more Pink Saturday posts visit www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com

Gypsy Travelers

While visiting a local fair I was lucky enough to meet a few ladies with wonderfully redone little vintage travel trailers. These photos are of the marvelous spaces they have created inside their trailers. Don't you just want to move in?

It has been hard to find time to blog lately. My daughter graduates from high school on Monday, so life has been crazy and a little sad for me also. Maybe I can redo one of my own little trailers and follow her to college. (She would be appalled!!!)

Happy Pink Saturday! Visit http://www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for more Pink Saturday fun!

Vintage Marketplace

Happy Pink Saturday! Yesterday I worked only half a day which allowed me to spend the rest of the day at one of my favorite shows held in the San Diego area. I was lucky enough to attend the Vintage Marketplace, a wonderful event that used to be called Chateau de Fleurs. It has been held in Fallbrook but this show was moved to the tiny town of Rainbow, a quaint town off of the 15 in between Fallbrook and Temecula.

The vendors were absolutely wonderful at this event, many of them also attend Glitterfest. Their wares included some wonderful pieces of handmade art and many beautiful vintage items. I went with my girlfriend Lorraine and we had so much fun.

An Angel for my Angel Friend Pam

Happy Pink Saturday! My girlfriend Pam and I were lucky to spend a past Saturday together. It was a fabulous, beautiful day. We started out for breakfast at the Kensington Cafe. This place has wonderful egg scrambles, rosemary breakfast potatoes and toast made from the best whole wheat bread I've tasted in awhile. And, the San Diego weather was just perfect that morning for breakfst outdoors. We then headed off to a local art fair.

Before we left the house that morning I presented her with this little gift of an angel that I made. My friend Lorraine created the original angel like this one out of a toilet paper tube. I just loved her idea and used one my my own designs of ladies for the head. Thanks Lorraine for such a great idea and thanks Pam for such a fun-filled day.

And I Call Her Camilla

I saw a class at Paper Tales to create a lovely Angel like Camilla but I was unavailable that day, so I set out to create one on my own. Once I got going I really saw the value in taking that class, so perhaps the teacher will be back another time. But, I did my best on my own and here is what I came up with.

After I was almost finished with the process, which I really got lost in, I was looking in a book for some text to add. The book was a steamy romance novel set in Hollywood. And what I fond was so many wonderful names of very interesting sounding ladies. So I decided to call this beauty Camilla, and to save the rest to create more angels like this one.

A Tea for Two Babies!

A friend at the office is hosting a Baby Shower tea for a family member who is pregnant with twins! And she is lucky enough to know that she will be delivering a baby boy and a baby girl. So I couldn't resist creating this special hat for the new mother to be to wear to her tea! Best wishes for a lovely day and a wonderful life with your new babies.

And Here's Jeanne's Box

Jeanne was also a super swap partner! Here is her lovely matchbox which included so many wonderful vintage items: wallpaper, millinery flowers, ribbons and lace and so much more. Thanks so much Jeanne!