New Beginnings

I just posted 2 more "Beginnings" bracelets and will be posting more in Garnet and Amber. This was the very first piece of jewelry I made to sell, thus the name. My sis and I attended the wonderful Sonoma glass bead show and she selected her own beads for the bracelet.

Then we returned to her house in Napa and played and adjusted and altered and played some more with the beads for quite a while before achieving the appropriate balance of color, size and scale.

I just love this style as it looks good in any color and is elegant, yet casual at the same time so it works with fashion from jeans & a tee to your little black dress.

You can see more photos and details HERE.

Oh and you have through tomorrow to take advantage of my huge 50% off sale on Cupcake & Heart jewelry!

Deluxe Garden Cupcake

How amazing is this glass??? This is the bottom view of my latest cupcake pendant.....

Pretty isn't it? I just love the unique design of this cupcake and that it is garden themed...WOW.

Just look at the amazing flower work and the lovely indentations on the icing....which is not just chocolate, but a deep mahogany color with just a touch of red in just the right light. Keeps it from being a flat brown. Beautiful, just beautiful.

The cupcake is listed HERE. Tomorrow is Easter. If we visit my husband's family there is a big dinner celebration. But we'll be home this year and we just enjoy the belief that we celebrate Christ's rising from the dead and all that it represents.

Our son is 22 so no egg hunts here!

More Garden Confetti

Here are some more die-cuts in my paper shop.
It was fun to set the sheets to look like a wallpaper sample
to display where the rounds came from.

Stripes, flowers & dots...you just can't go wrong!

I would love to see what crafters do with these on note cards.

The Jazz in Spring

Last month I showed you the first jasmine flowers on the vine in my front yard. (Former post) It is a month later now and the 8 foot strip that runs along my fence from entry gate to front door is in full bloom...but it's really just getting started!

Look at all the flowers above...and all of the plump pink buds below just waiting to explode!

I just love knowing that when I water and mist them each day that I'm part of this amazing burst of life.

Believe me, I don't NEED to water daily. These guys have found a water source that keeps them alive year round without my help. I just like to give them the extra water since they are working so hard to put on this pretty show. Don't they look wonderful shining white through the dappled sunlight?


I sat in this yard this morning with my coffee and newspaper and enjoyed breathing in their heavy scent. Ahhhh, spring.

What do you enjoy most in YOUR garden?

Pretty like Wallpaper

I got my hands on this pretty cardstock paper that reminds me of pretty wallpaper. I've got them listed in my Etsy paper crafts shop so I stacked the designs so that they would look just like wallpaper in a photograph. It's a good alternate view of what can be done with the quarter sized rounds I punched from them. These will be great for scrapbooking, card making, journaling and who knows what else.



I like that the papers are slightly distressed to provide a more homey decorating result. It can either go the shabby chic route or a flea market or country style. Now I just have to photograph the four other sets that have the same palette but different patterns. If you'd like to see more details, click HERE. And celebrate that it is Friday!

I feel so Chihuly

The Dale Chihuly blown glass exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco was a marvel. Left is the Macchia Forest, and below, the chandelier room. There were 11 rooms in all. Black walls and ceilings and dark floors were the perfect dramatic backdrop for the beautifully illuminated glass.

I spent most of my time in these 2 rooms. This may sound crazy, but the red chandelier? I wanted to consume it like liquid so it could become part of me. I know that sounds completely bizarre but that is how I felt...isn't art strange! The color of it, the striations in the glass tubes, the power of it...just wanted it to be part of me. No art has made me feel that before. These photos are from Chihuly's website and you can see more photos of this particular installation and others at www.Chihuly.com.

I didn't bother taking a camera and was surprised that snapping pics was acceptable as long as no flash was used. I spied one woman's photo on her camera and with just the lighting in the room against all that black, her shots turned out well, but I figure, hey, I'll just buy the book with the professional shots.

The Art of Chihuly book features this particular exhibit and was for sale at $45 which isn't bad but I told my son I knew I could get it for less online and I did. As soon as I got home, I searched and found a hardback copy still in shrink wrap for only $23 plus $4 for shipping...such a deal. Now I can relive the beauty and emotions whenever I wish.

My dad drove up from the central coast to join me and my son at the museum and he treated us to lunch afterwards in the museum cafe which featured all fresh food, cold & hot, and the prices weren't bad at all. We ate outside in the garden area.

The weather was overcast and wonderfully cool, just right for tee-shirt attire. It was fun to watch birds, from little Brewer's blackbirds to pigeons to one big seagull, munch on whatever lunch bits people dropped, be it on purpose or accidental. From our seats we could see the odd, multi-storied domes of the nearly finished construction of the new Steinhart Aquarium.

The domes are dotted with small round windows or solar panels maybe, and the rest is covered with what looks like moss. In the newspaper today an article stated this quote:"it is supported by recycled steel, insulated with recycled blue jeans and topped with a living roof." Interesting photos can be found here: Steinhart Aquarium.

Well, I highly recommend you visit the Chihuly site above to see if he's going to be near you any time soon. It's something not to be missed!