Da Weekend

It was one of those weekends I long for...one with not too much pressing, the energy to get some things done and of course, to be creative!

I took these pictures last year, but since the season is changing I thought I'd include them. Ahhhh...

Friday, I had some work projects that needed done, so I got those out of the way - well, most of them.

Saturday, was spent doing some catch up things and in the afternoon my sister-in-law and I went to see a movie. I hate to admit this, but I hadn't been to a movie in probably over a year. We went to the somewhat new theater in my hometown - very strange for a small town to have eight screens and in the process of adding four more. Growing up we didn't have even one theater in town. Strange indeed. We did the girl thing after the movie - we SHOPPED! Nicki is used to having two little guys in tow, so she enjoyed just browsing and an unhurried pace.

Sunday was a very quiet day - I got my long walk in, worked some more and have been doing the usual catching up things everyone has to do.

I am going to Las Vegas next weekend to celebrate a friends birthday. We'll be gone almost four wonderful days - it'll be good to get outta town, have some fun and do some different things. Meanwhile, I'm trying to find the perfect gift for the person who has EVERYTHING!!! I did manage to scope out some tickets for an interesting VIP performance while we're there. I don't want to let anything out of the bag since my friend reads my blog. You'll just have to wait until I can spill the beans and tell about our wild trip in little over a week.

Until then, get out your glue and have fun!
Joan

My ceramics pieces

Lindy and I got our ceramics pieces back from David. They are awesome! The techniques were so easy - can you guess what the black lines are made from on the vase? If you guessed string dipped in the glaze, you're right! Think of all the crafty accents you could use that technique on. That got me to thinking about using a feather for the same technique.

Lindy and I got so excited about our pieces that we just decided to take one lunch time EVERY week and get going on our holiday gifts. I'll share some pictures as we get going. Fun, Fun, Fun!!!
I have lots going on this weekend - I'll share as it all unfolds. I hear the balloon festival is going on this weekend - I'm not sure I want to get up before daybreak and head down there...we'll see.

Make it a great day!
Joan

Speaking of ceramics...

I was at my brother's home this last weekend and asked my 5 year old nephew if he would help me get some stuff out of my car. He came over to help and saw all the boxes and asked "Did you bring me ceramics?" I do believe he is enchanted with the whole ceramic thing. Just before he started Kindergarten a couple weeks ago, he and his brother (OK, Mom was included) painted and painted some more. Their pieces turned out fantastic! I can't wait to see where these two little guys go with their lives.

Joan

What a fantastic day!

Yesterday, I had the great PLEASURE of spending the day learning about ceramics from a world famous instructor - David Hoff. It was a day away from the office with just David and a co-worker, Lindy. The day was bright and beautiful and David's home was incredible with an amazing yard and great studio.

I am now writing/editing the ceramic instructions in addition to craft instructions so it was time to learn from the master. We went through the Creativity Guide (catalog) and talked about glazes and how they were different and what to apply them to. Then, it was time to make projects! We made a Wine and Dine plate and Saucer Vase.

David made us a wonderful lunch (he even bbq'd the chicken -yum) for our tasty salad. The day was warm, so we enjoyed chatting about ceramics in his backyard and watched squirrels running across the fence.

Our pieces went in the kiln yesterday and David will bring them by today - I can't wait to share with you.

It was a very informative day - thanks for sharing David! Lindy and I are already making plans for spending our lunch time making holiday gifts.

Joan

Bedroom Makeover, Seeing My Friend Lauren, Going to a Concert, a Party...

Seems like I could just cut and paste because I'm always doing the same things - but it's all very different...

My bedroom has been (shhhh, don't tell anyone...) a pile of boxes here and there, with a mishmash of stuff and things - certainly not the way I'd like it. I finally took some time earlier this month and went through boxes and took a tour through my local Target store with my skimpy budget in mind to find some girlie things. My parents had given me money a few months ago to buy one of those bed-in-a bag thingies, so I had a good start.

I literally haven't slept in 3 years, so I was on a mission to make my bedroom a sanctuary - my criteria was to find something to keep the light out of the room at night and to have some 'noise' to drown out the hustle and bustle of the city.

I love what I found at Target and they were all on sale - I think I spent less than $50. The swoopie thing on the ceiling is actually a velvet burnout TABLECLOTH that I thumbtacked on the ceiling. I gathered some ribbon and thumbtacked it at each corner and I had some tassels with rope attached that I put cascading down the wall and at the center of the canopy. I had a gold tablecloth (that had originally been the swoopie thing on the ceiling) that at the last minute I decided to tack to the wall. I had the framed flower image and hung it over the tablecloth.

Then on to a 'me' place - I bought a microwave stand (great for storage underneath!) for $30, draped another tablecloth over it and proceeded to bring in some of my favorite things without cluttering things up. Here's where my noise 'machine' comes in. Remember my fountain I'd made out of travertine tiles from a remodel job at my last house? I moved it indoors and it's the perfect trickling sound.

This weekend I'm going to ANOTHER concert - this time Big and Rich - I don't know much about them, but we'll have fun. A couple weeks ago, a friend and I went to see The Doobie Brothers and Peter Frampton - AWESOME!

Last weekend my high school class celebrated with a 50th birthday party - we had about 35 people there from all over. It was great to catch up with my classmates - one was a guy I went to elementary school with too and we hadn't seen each other since high school graduation. My college roommate (we went to the same high school) was there and we chatted about all those memories...It was a great evening! We're already planning our cruise!

We're expecting rain starting tomorrow - I love this kind of weather. I can't wait to spend some time indoors - it was a wonderful summer filled with trips, lots of exercise and family and friends but it will be nice to start making soups and thinking about my indoor projects.

Keep crafting,

Joan

Happenings...

Sorry that I haven't been posting a lot lately. You'll see why...I've been traveling, CRAFTING!!!, and having lots of fun.

I'll give you a little snippet of what's been going on the last few weeks and then more detail with pictures hopefully tonight.

Clear out the cobwebs...

Labor Day Weekend - My friend Frances and her husband Rudy (remember them from the wedding last October?) had a 'no special reason' party that Friday night. It was great to just kick back, chat with friends and enjoy!

The rest of the weekend was crafty! My bedroom was in a major need of a 'dress up' - I had boxes in the corners and it wasn't very nice. I cleared out the boxes, straightened things up and got to it. It was one of those projects that just evolved. I had purchased one of those bed in a bag things a few months ago and that's where my motivation started. You'll have to see the pictures to truly see what I did. It sure was nice at the end of the weekend to stand back and see my handy work and finally have a bedroom that was a sanctuary.

Doobie Brothers and Peter Frampton Concert - being a girl of the mid-70's Peter Frampton was IT! Well, almost 30 years later, he's on the road and it was fabulous to see him. My old cubicle mate from work and I headed to my hometown for an evening of music. Strangely, Gloria and I went to the neighboring town to have dinner since my hometown doesn't have much in the way of eating establishments. The town we went to is the county seat, so it's not a small town, yet, not huge. As we walked into the restaurant, I had a feeling that I was going to see someone I knew - just as I was thinking that I noticed out of the corner of my eye, my parents best friends and then looked at the couple they were with and it was my parents - yes, a small world. The concert was absolutely awesome - we decided to leave just before the concert was over to beat the traffic, but we found ourselves dancing, skipping and having a good ol' time in the parking lot! Thanks Gloria - I needed that!

Last weekend was again spent with my Aleene's friend, Lauren Johnston - Friday night we went out dancing (great exercise, by the way!), Saturday we went for a walk, indulged in a massage and after the massages we were so mellow we hung out watching TV the rest of the evening. Sunday was busy doing girl things and all of a sudden it was time to head home.

This weekend my high school class is celebrating our 50th birthdays with a football game and dinner the next day. We decided not to do the centerpieces - I'm disappointed, yet I'm relieved that I didn't have to paint all the ceramic cake pieces.

I'm sure I've forgotten all kinds of things.

Oh!!! My friend Pattie Donham filmed her web segments for Life Time last week. Check out her blog for great behind the scene photos - she even mentioned me! http://www.pattiewack.blogspot.com/

Make it a great week!

Joan

Road Trip, Capitola, Shadowbrook Inn, Friends, Awesome Get-Away, the Ocean, Beautiful Weather and of Course, Food...

A friend invited me on a last minute trip to Capitola - a small seaside town south of Santa Cruz. I had been to Santa Cruz many times, but for some reason I'd never been to Capitola - it's definitely a place I'll return to.

The weather was WONDERFUL! We shopped at the quaint shops and had a delightful lunch of fish and chips at the water's edge. OK, I shouldn't have had the chips, but on Weight Watchers you learn to have a treat, but then you know it's time to get back on the wagon - tomorrow's weigh in will tell.

We took a long, brisk walk on the beach in Aptos, a town south of Capitola. We sure got our exercise and I'm glad because we went to the divine Shadowbrook Inn - a most enchanting place to have dinner. You park and then take the cable car down the mountainside to the restaurant. So charming. The redwood accents in the restaurant are sooooo very beautiful - I'm a huge Frank Lloyd Wright fan, so I was mesmerized by the wood and architecture.

We had a light dinner - I HAD to have the Artichoke Heart Soup - yummy! and then the house salad - this was no ordinary salad - select baby spinach tossed in a mango-chutney vinaigrette and garnished with cherry tomatoes, candied pecans and two large flame-broiled Gulf shrimp wrapped with bacon. We HAD to have dessert - I decided on the crepes (I love crepes!) filled with vanilla custard, drizzled with caramel sauce - with whipped cream and a strawberry, of course! OK, so tomorrow won't be a good weigh in...

Our trip was 3 hours each way - we laughed, swapped stories and laughed some more. What a delightful day!

Joan

Crafty Chica, Birthday Party Cakes, Friends, Odd Creepy Things, Weight Watchers, PBS Preview Party, Walking, Hip Hop, Kindergarten, Weekend Trip, Concerts...

Let's see, did I forget anything that's happened or going to happen soon? Probably...life has been interesting, creepy, fun, rewarding and exhilarating...

Our friend Kathy Cano Murillo AKA Crafty Chica is expected in the office today and I can't wait!Her amazing energy is awesome and I'm excited to see her reaction to a new product line we're working on for her. It will be her first peek at what we've been working on for more than a month.

I'm getting down to the wire on centerpieces for a 50th birthday party my high school class is having next month. It's coming up quick and I still need to paint ceramic bisque in the shape of pieces of cake. When you put 7 of them together in a circle they form a cake - too cute! Everyone gets a 'piece of cake' filled with 70's candies as a favor. More pictures as I progress.

Today is my friend Frances' birthday so I have my party dress on and we're getting together at a local restaurant with her husband and our friend Doug. It feels like I haven't seen her in ages - she lives about 45 minutes away - but that's NO excuse!

Odd Things - I had one of the oddest things happen this weekend - one of those where I'm scratching my head still trying to see what the message is or why it happened - perhaps I'll never know! I went for a walk where I live early Saturday morning. I came back the same way I left. On the way back, I noticed a gold box laying on the ground - it was smashed as if someone had run over it. I picked it up and found a 30 year old diary in it authored by what I'm assuming was a farm wife in a small town about an hour south of here - she was an artist - there were wonderful drawings of people, animals, art displays, the studio she wanted to build. My first thought was to take it to the management office where I live. I sat and thumbed through the entries and read the letters inside - in one letter she talked about death and on the reverse she had her to do list. I felt very odd going through someones private thoughts. Then, I had one of those 'is this really happening?' moments - she mentioned going to a nearby town to get some craft supplies. Well, where she got her craft supplies was at Cheryl Ball's store. I work with Cheryl!!! There were several entries about Cheryl and her mom - the woman used to have Cheryl's mom critique her work. I keep asking myself why in this big huge world did I run across the diary and why Cheryl????

My company offers an in-house Weight Watchers program and we got started again a week ago - I'm very motivated - walking every day and going to a hip hop dance exercise class once a week.

Saturday night I went to the preview of a new PBS program. My friend Gloria knows the host of the show (OK, I have talked with Mark at parties and dinner, so I kind of know him!). It was interesting meeting people of diverse backgrounds. The food was awesome - I was impressed with the mini hamburgers in a 1/4 of a pita pocket.

My youngest nephew started Kindergarten yesterday - seems like he was just born yesterday, but in looking back over all the things we've done, we've both grown a lot.

I'm very excited about the upcoming weekend! A friend, her sister and I are going to a town south of Santa Cruz to shop and play! I've never been there, so I'm looking forward to the adventure and to see what kind of crafty things are available.

This last weekend I picked up tickets for a couple upcoming concerts - Big and Rich (they're a new one for me!) and Peter Frampton and the Doobie Brothers...so, it's concert month in September and birthday party month too!

Until next time - keep craftin'

Joan

I DID IT!!!

I faced my fear and gave blood today!!! Thanks to the moral support of my sister-in-law Nicki and the great staff at the blood bank, I survived! I do have to admit they had to get out a couple of ice bags to help me through it.

I have thought about giving blood many times, but my fear always got in the way. My coworker, Patty and I had talked about giving blood a couple of times, but we always decided not to. Giving blood today is in honor of Patty - she has undergone three brain surgeries in the last several months. My fear of giving blood seemed very small in comparison to what she's been through and her situation turned over a leaf for me to face this significant fear. Patty, you are in my heart and in my thoughts as you recuperate from your surgery.

I did it!









So, just as I had predicted, my nephews and I did Sonic for dinner Friday night and then went to the bookstore!


On Saturday, we went to the local zoo with the intention of them having a good time and me facing one of my fears - snakes!

We were greeted at the reptile house with lovely ceramic turtles, snakes, etc. That kind of took the edge off going in for me. I do have to admit that even though there was thick glass between the snakes and me, I still had some uneasiness. Can you tell from my picture? I tried to step back and look at them and take in their beauty - the designs and texture really are beautiful. It was interesting to hear my nephews talk about snakes - the oldest was almost giddy!

I'm not sure what this accomplished, but I did it.

My younger nephew Brandon fed the giraffe - I think he enjoyed it - he asked if he could feed it some more. I had no idea a giraffe's tongue was so long!

To me, the highlight of the day, (besides spending it with my nephews) was going to the stringray exhibit. It was fun to have the stingrays gravitate toward us, running their bodies over our hands so we could feel. Cool!
We had more fun tootling around town - my nephews are 5 and 11 and then there's their Aunt Joan who's, well, older than them, singing at the top of their lungs to Bon Jovi - the 5 year old and I like the same two songs on their new CD - go figure!

Be on the lookout for my post on Wednesday - Nicki, my sister-in-law and I are going to give blood (need to make an appointment tomorrow!). Yikes, am I really going to do this? Yesssireeeee...

Make it a great week!

Ohhhh, I almost forgot! My day didn't end there - my friend and I went to a jazz thingie Saturday night - many restaurants from around town bring food, there's a silent auction and then there's the music, ohhh, and the train! This was the third time I've been to this event - the evening was beautiful - great weather, great food, great company. The event was held at a place that opened when I was in kindergarten - it's called Storyland complete with Mother Hubbard's shoe and a castle! For the last three years we wouldn't miss riding the train around the park - the fun part was that it was dark and we sang railroad songs as we rode around - I know when I'm with Jenny we'll ALWAYS have fun! There was a foreign exchange student from Brazil with us - I'm sure she was wondering about these crazy ladies! Oh, well!

Joan

Busy, busy, busy...

My life has been a whirlwind since I came back from Lauren's last weekend. Let's get caught up...

Let's see, last night - I had the most delightful long dinner with someone I went to high school with. I ran into her shopping last November and it took this long to get together. I lost her phone number and ran across it recently and just picked up the phone and called. Bonnie and I knew each other in high school - there were about 250 people in our graduating class so pretty much everybody knew everybody. We hit it off and chatted for 3 hours! We have a similar history and it was nice to compare notes and see where we've been, what we've done and talk about what we're going to do! She is very insightful, so I need to just kick back tonight and think about some things she said. AND, she's crafty too - she scrapbooks, so she invited me to her rec center where she lives so we can do some projects. She only lives a couple blocks away - why we haven't run in to each other more I don't know!

I am slowly facing my fears...my little nephews and I are heading to the zoo this weekend and I'm going into the Reptile House - I hear (not sure about this part!) they will actually let you touch them . On to my second fear - giving blood. My sister-in-law and I are getting together next week - moral support is good! I am very inspired by a co-worker. Patty has now had three brain surgeries in the last few months. We just got word this morning that she has a catheter through her chest applying antibiotics directly to the infection in her brain. My heart goes out to her family.

We are busily creating new products at work - things you'll see in a few months. I can't wait to share them with you - they are VERY exciting.

Not much crafting has been going on in my world, just a lot of sitting in front of the computer.

This weekend will be fun - I haven't spent much time with my nephews lately, so I'll get my fix - they'll spend Friday night with me (here's my guess as to what we'll do...Sonic for dinner and then to the bookstore where Aunt Joan will spend way too much money - I'm not complaining, really, I am more than happy to buy them books!) Saturday is the zoo in the morning before it gets too hot. Then, a trip to take them home and back in town to get ready for an awesome jazz concert at the park - this is the third year I've been to it - different restaurants bring in food, so it's a tasty treat too with auctions, etc - it's a fundraiser, so it's all perfect. Last year, the saxophonist brought my friend and me up to the stage area to dance - yikes! I don't do things like that...but facing those fears again - it was OK.

Oh, yes! I started a Hip Hop exercise class this week - I took a similar class last year and everyone in it could MOVE! This class was different - we were all about the same experience level so I didn't look so bad and I kept telling myself that we were all there for the same reason - to MOVE!

Details next week!

Joan

An Awesome Weekend with my Aleene's Friend, Lauren

This beautiful spread looks fresh out of a magazine, but no, it was the fabulous food my friend Lauren prepared this weekend. I'm used to cereal and a stop by Starbuck's for a Venti Black Iced Tea on weekdays on my rush to work. So, to sit down to this scrumptious fratatta, Caramelized Bacon (glazed with Canadian Maple Syrup she'd brought back from a recent trip - very yummy, by the way!), fresh fruit and a Bloody Mary was a great gift.

We had a delightful, but short weekend. We crafted, crafted some more and experimented with some products. We caught up on everything since our last trip to San Francisco in May.

Sunday, we lounged around and took the short drive from Lauren's to the ocean where we did a lot of people watching at a concert right on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was delightful to relax without a care in the world!

We're already planning our next get together where crafting will reign, I'm sure!

Make it a great week!

Joan

Yummy!!! Baked Banana Macadamia Nut French Toast and Coconut Syrup!!!

Today was a friend's birthday at work and he recently enjoyed a vacation in Hawaii, so we thought we'd continue his experience. We celebrated with a Hawaiian Breakfast. I got so many compliments on what I made, I thought I'd share it with you. Should have taken a picture, but I was running behind this morning. It's super easy - you make the french toast the night before. Enjoy!

Baked Banana Macadamia Nut French Toast

4 eggs
1 cup milk
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon nutmeg (I used cinnamon)
1 banana (sliced)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 oz loaf French bread, cut into 1” slices
2/3 cup butter, melted
½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped


Blend eggs, milk, sugar, nutmeg, banana and vanilla in blender.

Spray jelly roll pan with Pam. Melt butter and place in pan.

Pour egg mixture into shallow dish. Dip both sides of bread in mixture. Place in buttered pan. Cover and refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove covering from pan. Place in oven for 10 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for 10 minutes.

Coconut Syrup

1 cup sugar
½ cup water
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Combine sugar, water and butter in saucepan. Bring to boil; boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in flavoring. Serve warm.

More about my Zipline Trip!

I flew into Vancouver and was met by my bro and family. It was the oddest thing to have it still be light after 10:00 p.m. The next morning we drove north to Whistler - the countryside was absolutely beautiful - I saw the most gigantic waterfall I've ever seen (minus Niagara Falls) and some of the greenest landscape I've seen in ages - just gorgeous!

We had a whole day and a half to meander around Whistler before our big adventure. There was great food, great company, great fresh air and I even got a little (gasp!) Christmas shopping done.

OK, so it was finally time to harness and helmet up and go ZIP! It was so very awesome! I was never afraid for one minute but I certainly thought I would be. The guides attach you to the zipline (it's a metal cable that's only 1" in diameter!) You can see the steps to nowhere in the 'launch pad' picture - you just walk down the steps until you can barely touch one, you lean back and you're 'zippin'. We were hundreds of feet above the ground with a huge raging river below us...we were done all too soon. Now, I'm searching for my next adventure...hmmmm...what will it be?

On the way to the Zipline drop off point, our guide pointed out that what we were driving by was Curve 16 of the bobsled run for the 2010 Olympics - that will be so neat to watch the Olympics on TV and know that I was RIGHT THERE.

Back into civilization, we took an afternoon trip on the ferry over to downtown Vancouver where the Expo was held a few years ago - I had been to the Expo and it was odd to see the white sailed building still there at the waterfront.

The vacation ended by attending my sister-in-laws family reunion (when I heard there was a Zipline where they were going, I invited myself along!). It was so fun to see how other families celebrate - there was a game about Canada's history - since the rest of the family was from the US we had to really tax our brain to figure out the answers (and some we didn't know at all!). The prizes were Canadian items.
What a great trip!

Zipline Trip!
I just have to get caught up with some work projects, but I HAD to show you pictures from my trip to Canada to do the Zipline!!!

More about the trip soooooon!

Crafty Room Makeover!!!

OK, I had company coming two weekends in a row - so I challenged myself to spruce up my guest bedroom on a tight budget.

I already had the Caribbean Blue bedspread and brown and blue pillows, but nothing on the walls and dustbunnies on the bedside table.

I ran across the drawing of a sandal I did a couple years ago when I was 18 and the paper was pretty crumpled. I decided to tear around the edges to remove the torn section. I knew I wanted to frame it and it needed some color to draw it into the room colors. I brushed water on a piece of Vellum paper and sprinkled on Tulip Soft Fabric Paint that I'd watered down a little. It was fun to watch it spread and have no control over what it did. The white showed through too much, so I watered down the Chocolate paint and did an antiquing wash over the whole sheet. I let it dry and applied the sandal drawing with some Aleene's Original Tacky Glue. It is so much better to have a home for my little sandal instead of in a roll in my closet.

So, the room still needed some pizazz. I found this braided rug for $4 and decided it just needed to be cut in half and used as a valance over the vertical blinds. I ran a line of Aleene's Fabric Fusion along the cut edges to keep it together.

I found the great Caribbean Blue candle, large tropical leaf and glass sprinkles at my local craft store to add a little more color. Later, I added a beautiful picture of the Hawaii coastline to the table.

Perfect! And within my budget too!

Birthday Present Fashion Art Fun!!!

It was a friends birthday recently and she was talking about needing to buy some new clothes - that sent the creative spark to my brain and I created two fun shirts - I really got into it! I didn't want to stop creating and you'll see from my next post that I went on to make more fun stuff!

Pretty in Pink and Sparklies
Here's what I did:

I used Fuchsia Tulip One-Step Fashion Dye. For easy clean-up, I put a plastic garbage bag in my shower, placed my crumpled up T-shirt on the bag, added water to the dye bottle, applied it and just let it sit. Later, I ironed on the Tulip Iron-On Fashion Designs - I had so much fun!

Lovely in Lavender

On the lavender T-shirt, I used the brand new Tulip Sticky Fabric Stencils - the adhesive is already on the back, so I just placed it on the T-shirt, dabbed in some Tulip Soft Fabric Paint but then it needed just a little something more so I added Tulip Iron-On Crystals. Again, it was a fast, easy project!

Now, to wrap and pack up the creations! I can't wait to hear how she likes them!

Candy, candy, everywhere there was candy!

I just had the most delightful weekend! I even got a little work done in there, but the highlight was DEFINITELY having my long time friend Pattiewack here!!! She and Scott were here to tape a ceramic video. Pattie wasn't in front of the camera this time, she was here to help out behind the scenes.

Pattie's working on a project and decided to craft faux cakes and cupcakes (I talked her into cupcakes after seeing so many in San Francisco recently) decorated with CANDY!

Here's how the weekend progressed...Pattie and Scott whirled into town (I really mean - whirled - Pattie comes with her awesome energy that radiates wherever she goes!) I knew they were coming for business and that being able to see them for even a short period of time would be terrific.

Things worked out for us to go to dinner and we had the most delightful food - tapas - I'd never been to the restaurant but heard it was excellent. Water was served in these huge bubble shaped glasses and I found out tapas are samplings of different types of food. We're all dessert lovers so flan and a chocolate espresso cake rounded off our experience. Unfortunately, it was an early evening and I thought my Pattie fix was done for the weekend.

I worked most of the day Saturday (we're getting ready for the big trade show in Chicago this month!), but Pattie kept coming by and saying 'hi!' They had plans for dinner, so I wasn't sure if I'd see them again before they left.

I called Pattie on Sunday morning to see how their taping was going. And told her about this grocery store nearby that had bins and bins of candy, etc. that would be great for her project. She decided to escape with me and we giggled and giggled and giggled some more looking at all the candy at the store - a guy even came up to us and said "you two are like a couple kids in a candy store!" Wherever Pattie and I go it's an adventure. We decided to catch lunch and sat outside and chatted for quite a while - it's never long enough in my book. We talked about our pasts and our futures - there was even a pinkie swear in there too.

Now, back to cleaning my place - another Aleene's friend is coming next weekend and I have to get ready! If you were an Aleene's fan you wouldn't know Sharon's name or her face - she was a terrific behind the scenes person - when I became the editor of the magazine, Sharon became the instructions and features editor. I am working with her again and it's great fun to catch up. Next weekend, more fun stories!

Make it a fantastic week!

Joan

50's and 60's Sock Hop Dance!!!


I had sooooo much fun this weekend!!! I did not know that so much dancing was humanly possible!

A friend invited me to a Rotary Club Sock Hop and we had to dress the part - she and her friend did way more so than me - especially Dana who dressed in a Poodle Skirt she made herself along with an embellished blouse. She even had a poodle purse she won at last year's event - Dana won first prize this year for her awesome costume! Way to go Dana!



I searched high and low for some black capri's to wear, but for some reason they weren't to be had - I found a great black flowy skirt and wore a white blouse. I needed a scarf to top off the outfit and Aleene's Fabric Fusion came to the rescue. I took a scrap of black and white fabric, hemmed the edges with Fabric Fusion and I was set. I discovered that in hot, hot, hot weather the Fabric Fusion dries almost instantly! Thank goodness because I was running behind schedule!

I thought I'd share the centerpieces from the party - I was the lucky recipient of one when we left - it was adorable! It was a Coca Cola lunch pail with a Coke glass full of candy and an ivy plant along with some red silk carnations and polka dot ribbon. Adorable!

I had a most wonderful evening Friday with my friend Frances. We no longer work together, so it was great to have a nice, quiet dinner to kick back and find out what's been happening in each others lives. The evening was a reminder how important true friends are - something I can't loose sight of even with the hecticness of my life. Friendships are too important to let life get in the way! It was great to hear about her new studio that's shaping up - we're planning a trip to San Francisco to hit galleries and get inspired for more creativity!

My family had brunch with my sister-in-laws family for Father's Day. Nice! We spent the rest of the day relaxing and I played games with Brandon, my nephew. He loves to craft and asked me to bring him some crafty supplies when I am in town later this week - I'm always eager to help out with that kind of request!

Now, to fit more crafting in this week - I went to a Keith Urban concert last week and I wanted so badly to wear my T-shirt from the concert, but after seeing the great ideas for altered T's at http://www.duncancrafts.com/ I just couldn't wear a plain ol' T-shirt. So, I want to alter my T this week and wear it for casual day at work this coming up Friday. That's my crafty challenge for the week!

Make it a great day!
Joan

• Cool Color Summer FUN
  
  OK, I snapped this shot just before leaving for work....
  
  Tulip Cool Color Spray for Fabric made this project super easy and I'll let you in on some techniques I used to make it even easier!
  
  Here's the scoop:
  
  What you'll need:
  ~ 100% natural fabric shirt
  ~ Rubber gloves
  ~ Tulip Cool Color Spray for Fabric (2 colors)
  
  1. Prewash shirt using no fabric softener. Do not dry shirt. Leaving the shirt wet will help the colors to 'melt' together.
  2. (here's a great tip and it saves on cleanup time!) Place a large plastic bag in your SHOWER (Yes, your shower) crumple up your shirt and place on the plastic bag.
  3. Wearing rubber gloves, spray on one Cool Color leaving white areas.
  4. Spray other color on shirt to fill in white areas.
  
  You're done! Let it dry and it's ready to wear.