New Foodie Favorite

Extra Virgin on the Cooking Channel has to be one of my new favorite foodie shows. I kind of love Debi Mazar anyway, such amazing style, so watching her cook with her husband at their house in LA is greatness. They're kind of hilarious but serious about food which is also greatness. I mean they built a pizza oven in their backyard (new summer project for hubby?!) incorporating tiles from Italy. Also, the food looked amazing.

Speaking of food, I'm to a lunch date with the hubby.

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(image wikipedia)

This has been the kind of week I've had, also, I love to work in the Greek myths when I can just to make sure all the schooling hasn't gone to waste. Seriously, I can not wait for the weekend and some random fun. Also, I'm beating myself up for not going running tonight even if I have made it to the gym 3 days in a row and want nothing more than to snuggle into bed and sleep for a day but instead came home and worked for a few hours.

The good parts of the week are that I've got 3 pieces almost ready for additions to the etsy shop and all the Christmas stuff should be cleared out of the garage so I can get back to my soldering and torch area. Jewelry fun goodness will ensue! I'm also thinking about redoing some of the garage/workshop space so it's more inspirational and studio like. I think it can take my mind of the 110 heat while holding a soldering iron in July. Well, it will be inspiring at least.

I am showing restraint and not adding whining as a tag and appreciate you guys letting me just wallow for an entire post. Now, I'm definitely heading to bed. The puppies have the right idea.

Snow!

We had all kinds of fun playing in the snow last weekend and it's actually been cold enough all week that it hasn't all melted. Seriously, I was in winter heaven. I don't think we're getting more snow but cold and rain work as a back up for a long weekend of cooking, playing in the studio and a little football in front of a fire.

Sublime Gift from Suzanne

My friend Suzanne and I love the patterns from Sublime Stitching but I had no idea she had spent a large chunk of time becoming an embroidery whiz! I found out when I opened my Christmas gift to see this beauty. She even made the scarf!



I love it and now with the cold temps it's perfect for bundling up and snuggling. Also, the pink and the image are beyond awesome. Seriously, thoughtful homemade gifts rock!

New Friends

One of the reasons I love living out in the suburbs (ignoring the commuting issues for the moment) is because it reminds me of growing up in a small town with lots of naturey goodness everywhere. Even though we're only 20 or so miles from Dallas proper (urban sprawl actually has major shopping in about 5 minutes) we still have lots of small town charm.

These guys are one of my favorites. One of our routes home takes us by a large plot of land with a barn and an older house where these cuties live. The hubby noticed a new addition and took my to see him/her last weekend. They ran right up to the fence and I wished I had snacks for them. Next time I'm thinking of sneaking some apples. They were super sweet and the little guy was ready to play but a slightly camera shy.

Clog Obsession

Yeah, it's not every day that you type out that headline! But, I have in fact been obsessing about clogs lately. I wanted to find some that were comfortable and didn't look like I might start taking up weaving (not that there's anything wrong with that). I also didn't want to spend a large amount of money. Surfing around I found these.



Turns out they are surprisingly comfortable! Super excited about the purchase but the husband informed me that he could hear me coming with the first step. Note to self to remove shoes in case of any super sleuthing that may come up.

Works in Progress

I snapped a few pics of my current works in progress scattered around my desk. They are so clear and crisp because I was too lazy to get the good camera and just used my phone. :)

This one is going to be put under glass as a new shrine. I just decided on a few more finishing touches then it's glass cutting and soldering to finish.



These are a couple of new boxes that I think will need the addition of vintage paper, a few more layers of paint and charcoal as well as a doll head with a rhinestone necklace. Then two new recipe holders will be ready for the etsy shop. I'm hoping to get several pieces done each week and restock the etsy shelves. It's easy to have high hopes on January 4th!

Time for a New Year

Hope your year is filled with love, laughter, and tasty goodness!




Happy New Year!

Flea Market Finds

The Friday before Christmas I hit my favorite antique spot in downtown Dallas. Set the tone for what's been an awesome vacation so far.

Here are all of the goodies I picked up and I was beyond excited to get the "Queen Mother" cabinet card for $5.00!



I love these taxidermy animals and can see why the Victorians had so much stuff collected around the house. An era I can definitely get behind.



A cabinet I'd love to try and make room for but unless The Doctor, preferably this doctor, (a la Doctor Who) comes to share his Tardis technology I'm outta luck.



Favorite shopping spot is Country Garden Antiques and I think I may need to check in again before this vacation is over!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Santa brought all the goodies on your list!

Festive Decorating

Tree in the kitchen.



Vintage tree in the dining room. All the ornaments except church, tree topper and magenta flowers are all yummy vintage ornaments.



Bird tree in the bedroom



Snowmen in the hallway bookcases



Some favorite ornaments on the big tree in living room




Sugar/glitter houses in the dining room



Studio tree



Another studio tree



Glowing Santa from my friend Bo the girl.



Large view of Christmas tree in the living room.

New Camera Goodness

I have been coveting a Lecia for a few years but it's totally out of my price range. A friend suggested this one as a great affordable option. Hubby found a super awesome deal so for $100 bucks it's mine. I couldn't resist pictures right away so this is the view out my desk window.

One of my favorite things about Dallas is the neon Pegasus that lights up downtown and luckily, it's my view when I'm sitting at my desk (which is almost never) but there you go. Some days I get super lucky and get to see the morning and evening glowy goodness!

The buildings with red roofs off in the distance are the Dallas Farmer's Market barns. Close enough I can easily check it out at lunch.

Time, Time, Time...

I have a two week vacation coming up and I'm giddy with the possibilities for what I can do with that time. Unfortunately, I'm also terrific about the over booking and over committing leaving myself with little vacation. Here are a few of the things I really want to get done.

1. Reorganize my studio space and garage workshop
2. Play with all my new goodies from Sublime Stitching
3. Start some of the bread recipes from the Tartine Bread book
4. Look at next year's calendar for art events, workshops, shows, etc I'd like to sell at or just attend. This year was supposed to be the year of art and that didn't go so well. I'm just moving it on to next year since it's still a priority. I've already started by booking this class
5. Create more pieces based on my Stephanie Lee's online class
6. I've also got some plans to hang out with some friends I don't see very often: Suzanne, Yuri, Bo the girl (although we do get in a fair amount of girl time :) ) and even Bo the Boy and the old True gang if they're around. Holidays are challenging for schedule synching.
7. Read about a million books I've been collecting: Urban Fantasy, Travel, Cookbooks, and at least my weight in magazines.
8. Go to the day time yoga classes I haven't had time to check out
9. Visit the DMA (Dallas Museum of Art whose website seems to be on the fritz)
10. Sleep in past 6 am!

Any terrific holiday plans you are super excited about?

Unintentional Hiatus

So I definitely didn't meant to take such a long blogging break but sometimes life gets a away from us. November flew by and I can't believe it's already Christmas time! Luckily, we're on top of it with the trees and outside lights. Most of the shopping is done and I've got two cookie doughs in the freezer with butter thawing. This holiday will be wrangled whether it wants to or not!

Here's a quick update on some of what's been going on. We went back home to Missouri which looks like this in the fall.



I love this picture looking down into the valley. I always forget how beautiful it is back home and then when I visit I want to stay!



We also saw Rolland's family, and Anita makes friends wherever she goes!



The main reason for our visit was my nephew, Hudson's first birthday, here are us kids with my Mom at his party. He was super cute and seemed to have a blast. He is adorable and just such a happy kid. It's awesome, my brother and sis-in-law are definitely aces in the parenting.



Next post, pics of the trees and holiday decorations! Now, I'm off to shower post gym and head into Big D to hang out with my friend Bo (the girl). I haven't seen her for a few weeks and can't wait to catch up! Also, I see a cheeseburger in the near future. :)

I hope you guys are having a fun filled Saturday!

Art from desk clean up

In trying to clean up my desk I came across this canvas that I had started but never finished. Slowly I've been adding to it over the last 3 days and when I got the blue paint mixed up I had a lot left so now I have 3 boxes drying along with two more canvases. When I get the desk finally cleaned I should end up a lot of finished work.

I'm pretty happy with how this one turned with all the layers and a row of sparkles. I tried to use only materials from my desk so it was all pieces parts that I've tried to use up.