Mosaic Garden Pole for My Mom

It was such a treat to make this mosaic garden totem for my mom for Mother’s Day.  She had asked for color in her backyard so I got to thinking and this is what happened.  I gave her color on one side with fun flower shapes, another side had hearts for each child, grandchild and great grandchild.  One side was a simple abstract knowing it wouldn’t be seen since it was the backside against the fence.  The other side had a windmill and sunflowers depicting the family farm windmill that is surrounded with wild sunflowers. The smile on her face warmed my heart.  I will be holding a mosaic pole class soon.  Send me an email to be added to the interested list.

#mosaicgardentotempoleclasscalifornia

FALL IS HERE!

And, I’m getting ready for succulent pumpkin centerpiece classes.  There are two classes at beautiful wineries (Templeton and Paso Robles) and one in Morro Bay.  Invite your friends and family for a time of relaxation, a little wine (sorry not in Morro Bay) and a whole of of creative satisfaction.  Here’s where to sign up - www.creativemetime.com

GETTING MESSY WITH MOSAICS 

I am working on a new mosaic project for 2023 and I’m getting a little messy, all in the name of creativity!  Check out upcoming mosaics, succulent and sea glass classes in gorgeous Morro Bay, CA at www.creativemetime.com

 

Students had so much fun creating sea glass and driftwood scenes from my huge collection of locally found items.  A variety of classes are available from mosaics to succulents to sea glass and driftwood scenes in beautiful Morro Bay, CA.  Check out all the classes at www.creativemetime.com

Shrink Plastic Tablecloth

Summer is here so let's celebrate with a custom tablecloth with shrink plastic accents - choose your fabric, grab your shrink plastic and let's get going. 

 From the Aleene's Archive

Come join Joan for a fun mosaic, sea glass wire wrapped jewelry or succulent class on the beautiful Central Coast of California.  Click here for more details

Polymer Clay Surprise

What's cookin?  Polymer clay for a special wine project.  Unveiling it soon!

Plates, Plates, Plates...

Pretty much every time I run errands / go shopping I'm on the lookout for plates for my mosaic classes.  I love looking for that perfect plate at that great price.  My stockpile is lookin pretty good!  Mother's Day is coming up so how about treating Mom to a fun day of mosaicing fun?  Private classes available - your time, date and project.  www.CreativeMeTime.com

Morro Bay

I had noticed the odd looking ship hanging out by Morro Rock yesterday but I was very surprised to read the paper today and see my friend Alan's boat in the picture of the multi-million dollar yacht. If you live in Morro Bay or visit our lovely town, Alan's Lost Isle Adventure harbor tours are inexpensive and fun - only $10 for adults and $5 for kids for a 50 minute boat ride. He'll even take you over to the sand spit - something you could only get to with a boat or walking a very, very long time.

I never know what oddity I'll experience living at the ocean...can't wait to see what tomorrow holds...

Morro Bay Kite Festival

Wildflower Photo Contest

Wow! I'm honored. I submitted my Morro Bay in Yellow photo to a contest sponsored by my local TV station. The photo appeared on the news tonight. Vote for your favorite at: http://ksby.upickem.net/engine/Votes.aspx?PageType=VOTING&contestid=15669

Morro Bay, Los Osos and Baywood

It was field trip time again for our photography group and we chose Los Osos and Baywood or the back side of Morro Bay. Spectacular!!! Once again, I have to choose only three of my favorite photos.

Morro Rock framed with bark from a eucalyptus tree.

Eucalyptus flowers

Wildflowers

Cactus...beautiful!

We're off to the tiny town of Harmony on our next field trip...old buildings, peeling paint and maybe even a few shots of blown glass at the Harmony Glassworks.

Firemen vs. Coast Guard

The competition - today was a fantastic day - my friend and I walked on the beach and then headed over to the firemen vs Coast Guard competition - it was a fundraiser for a local charity. The competitions were so fun, some typical, like a tug of war, but then there was one I'd never seen, but was hilarious! Each team had a paddle with a tennis ball on the small end. They had to place their forehead on the tennis ball and run around the paddle a certain number of times - those dizzy firemen and Coast Guard guys were stumbling around the beach in a relay that was so much fun to watch...

The Cotton Ball Morro Bay

This amazing tree is made from fabric!! I saw it at The Cotton Ball in Morro Bay - fantastic fabric and idea place to be!

Beautiful Day in Morro Bay!!!

I can't believe I have lilies blooming - someone told me this is an amaryllis - I don't know, I got some bulbs from my mom's friend and planted them. It's a gorgeous day!!!

Friends, Healthy Eating (well, mostly), Beautiful Weather

My Weekend

Morro Rock

This is a building along the freeway in Morro Bay - I love the Art Deco look.

My long anticipated weekend with a former co-worker at Aleene's was wonderful. The weather was great, the sunset was spectacular, our walk on the beach was invigorating and the company inspiring. Erin used to bounce ideas off of me 'back-in-the-day' and this weekend there was great creative energy as she told me about her latest idea. We talked a lot about it and by the end of the weekend she said her concept had totally changed. Thanks Erin for sharing your weekend with me. I can't wait to see how your idea comes out - and I accept your challenge to a duel!!!!!!!!!!!

Frances and me on my patio...

After Erin's far too short of a stay, my friend Frances and her husband Rudy stopped by - they hadn't been to my new place, so I was terribly excited for them to come for a visit. The weather has been very warm, so we sat outside and enjoyed each others company. This weekend the creative ideas were overflowing at my place - after Erin and me sharing our ideas on Saturday and then Frances and Rudy with theirs on Sunday - AMAZING!!!! I am so honored to have such creative souls as my friends...

After all of the creative talk this weekend, this morning, I got up and organized my supplies and got working on my next kids' book - I really want to share with you all about it, but I can't right now, but it's going to be soooo good! The things I do for creativity...can you tell what I'm making from the picture???

It's so very hot today - 99 degrees on the beach around noon today. I had no idea it got this hot at the beach. I'll have to remember this when summer comes and I can't see the house across the street because of the fog.

Enjoy the day!

Joan

I NEVER know where I'll find creative things...

I was surprised to walk into an office on the Cal Poly campus last week and there was a clock made from a flipper - amazing! I had to laugh.

Another creativity sighting - I walk the beach a lot and was surprised to see a bit of the sand dunes fenced off. The fence is to protect the Snowy Plover I found out. Along the fence were many posters drawn by local children showing their support for the endangered bird.

The kitchen photo is just a pretty kitchen - another surprising place though - it was at a garden center.

I am busily preparing for a dinner party on Friday - my camera is in the shop, but I thankfully found out today that it's a $20 fix instead of the $250 send it off to the manufacturer's fix they thought it would be. I have some exciting food and craft products I'll be sharing - the attendees to the party are not crafters and they do not know they will be crafting. It will definitely be interesting.

Anticipate warmer days!

Joan

My Home

It's been over six months since I moved and I keep meaning to share my small living creative ideas.

In my small home, everything has to have a function - the coffee table has one of those lift-up tops so I can craft while I'm sitting on the couch.


The wicker basket holds the craft project I'm working on at the moment. The red round box holds wine glasses (now, if I can remember that they're there when I need them!) The metal art work is going to become my 'to do' board - this weekend I took all of my projects I need to work on and wrote out my goals for each one on a separate piece of paper. Since the artwork is metal, I'm going to use magnets to keep my to do lists visible and when someone comes over, I can easily take them down and stash 'my secrets'.


This antique buffet was given to me a zillion years ago by my Aunt. It was made the year I was born (it's stamped inside one drawer). The buffet holds my treasures and in the cabinets below are my DVD's, photo albums and stuff I want to keep out of sight.

I don't have a true closet (I know, it's so hard!!!), so I attached hangers inside my clothes 'cabinet' to hang all my necklaces. My earrings go on the fabric covered styrofoam wreath.

My bedroom. I'm still looking for ideas for nightstands - I love the columns but I need more storage.

The printer drawer holds all my tiny treasures.

My bathroom - tiny, but functional. My theme (no surprise!) is butterflies!!! I keep all of my costmetics in a clear glass antique vase.

My office is in my kitchen and I put it there because I HAD to have a view as I worked, since this is where I spend the majority of my time. I got this fabulous desk that fits perfect in my small area - it folds into itself and everything is at my fingertips.

This 'credenza' is perfect to back my computer desk - I found it for $25 at a furniture store - I had no idea where I was going to use it at the time, but it's perfect!

I had this great 'goodie' server that I just couldn't leave in storage, so I now have it on top of my file cabinet and it holds little things that are dear to me - if you look really close, you can see an ancient bottle of Aleene's Glitter that sold for 69 cents.

Here's the pride and joy of my home - the kitchen - I LOVE IT!!!

I got the table from Target for $99 - my UPS guy doesn't really like me anymore...especially after delivery the table and huge vertical blinds.

My baby stove - it's original to the house that was built in the early 60's and works great!

I needed more space to hold things in the kitchen, so I bought two of the crates from Michaels, painted them, found a dish rack at Ross and I now have plenty of storage.

I made the curtains from fabric from a fantastic local fabric store - The Cotton Ball. I love leaves, so I added leaves hanging from each point - they're made from shells (appropriate since I leave at the ocean).

That's it for now!!! More to come.

Joan