Depending on the workload at my place of work I am occasionally cancelled for a shift of work. That was the case for today. It was nice because it made for a long weekend and I was able to sleep in this morning. The only problem is, is that I went shopping. Not only did I not make money but I spent money on top of things. I just couldn't help myself, I had the time to drive to an antique mall I had not been to in quite a while. They had many treasures and this time I decided to bring most of what I found home with me. My rule was if it was less than 10 dollars I would consider it. Here is what I found.

It is going to be a hot lazy day in the Lilylovekin home this Sunday. I've already made my weekly trip down to the farmers market and at 9:30 am it was 90 degrees out with no wind. I am not complaining because our summer was a long time coming this year. Our house is older, built in the 1930s and does not have air conditioning, we are lucky though because it stays cool. I will work on a new project and I hope my ARF thrift store is open today-I saw some plates I should have bought the other day and didn't do it. I am always doing that, and having to go back for things. Tonight the beets will be made into a salad with goat cheese and walnuts. Last week the golden beets I bought were delicious, I hope these are as good. Hope you all have a lovely Sunday.

Last night I finished the piece I started earlier this week. My husband offered advice and assistance in providing me with some black screen material that I sewed blue beads on and used as a final background for the piece. You can call this a joint effort from the Lilylovekin home! I also hand stitched and beaded around the edge of coffee stained felt. The center of the flower is an old earring that is part of my jewelry collection. The piece is mounted on foamcore that is covered in vintage book pages. It measures 12x15 inches and is very light weight. I've listed it in my esty store and will see what will happen. Click on the picture for a closer view.

In two weeks on a Saturday I am going to attend an all day work shop with Katie Kendrick. She will attempt to teach me to paint, collage and draw a little bit. This workshop is offered through the Artful Journey down in the Los Gatos area. I know it is a beautiful area. And reading about it on the web site sounds wonderful. I am excited about going and exploring this because the Artful Journey has a fabulous teacher lineup for the year and would make going to other workshops a possibility. I'm also kind of nervous about it because paper and painting is not my thing and it is always nerve racking to step out of your comfort zone.

A new project is under way. I love working with the fabric,ribbons, and lace. I miss the large supplies that are at my sisters house. I've been busy with some ebay auctions trying to buy some old laces and am impatient for my purchases to come in the mail. Working with what I have sometimes is a challenge for me. Today I went to a little shop to look for items to add to my pieces, the store was decorated so cute and with permission from the clerk I was taking photos. I kept putting my camera into my bag, the owner not knowing what I was doing accused me of shop lifting! Well I was quite taken back and shaken up by this. The cute little store has become a bitter memory in my mind and a lesson learned in being very careful about taking photos. Also it is a lesson in teaching me to try a little harder to use what I have around the house in my projects.

Yesterday I had the biggest surprise from Marsha at Tumblefish. Apparently she had been in contact with my sister and had gotten a photo from her. From that photo she made the most fabulous collage of my sister and myself and posted it on her blog. What a Shock! What a Honor! What a privilege! She is even going to give me the collage and as I write it is on its way in the mail. I can't wait to see it. Already I am preparing a special place for it in my house.I've already bought a piece of Marshas collage work and can tell you that it is beautifully done with much detail, thought and care in her design. Check out her stuff in her Etsy store at Tumblefish.

I never realized when I started this blog that I would feel that I really connected with people. But I have and have come to count on some as friends. I'm realizing that there are real people behind these words and that we can become friends as we share in our daily lives both good and bad. A big thank you to Marsha for making my day, my week, and my life a lot happier knowing I've made a friend who I look forward to sharing more of my life and little adventures with.

  

Sundays are the farmers market in downtown Martinez. It is a small little market but has the requisite flower stand, vegetable stall and kettle corn dealer. I've been going down to this little market for the past several years and this year have noticed that it is busier and maybe a little bigger then usual. I wonder if this has to do with the economy and people deciding to stay closer to home and help support each other. I hope so because I like to see our market thrive and survive. Speaking of supporting the market I really didn't buy anything today except for some golden beets. I wanted some flowers but had spent all my money yesterday at the antique stores so I'll have to wait until next week.

Martinez the little town I live in is full of antique stores and a couple of funky antique malls. As in most treasure hunts sometimes you have luck and sometimes you strike out. Today I had a lucky day. I was on the hunt for items to add to my poetry pieces.  My greatest find was an old hat with the neatest flower trim all over it that I plan to cut off and use in my pieces, the color is great. Also the old pens, I'm not sure what I'll do with them but they were to pretty to leave in the store. Laces are always a good find,  a girl can never have too much lace. My little town did me proud today and I was happy to call it home.

Today was a good day for me, but lately I've been blessed with good days. I've read some blogs that have left me thoughtful about loss and the preciousness of life. I've been working hard at staying in the "now" and living every moment as it comes. That means enjoying things around me and trying to be fully present for my loved ones. Somedays are easier than others. I love the poetry of Mary Oliver and will close with a portion of a poem that really seemed to speak to me. "Every day I see or I hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light----."

Going into  Berkeley to the Blick art store is always an adventure. It is in one of my favorite shopping districts, in the area of 4th street. There are alot of little shops including an Anthropologie,Castles in the Air, and numerous little galleries. This time I walked around with my camera taking pictures  of things I wanted to remember for my art work. I was drawn to the pastel colors, of course they are some of my favorite. I saw a posting for a poetry workshop that looked interesting but had already started. I ripped the info off anyway for further information. It was a successful day and the only money spent was at the art store but that was damage enough! 

An apology is in order. I got so excited about finishing three pieces of art work, flying home, posting about my activities that I forgot all about showing you the actual completed work. I have shown bits and pieces of it and my sister has shown them on her blog but I totally spaced it off. Any way here are the finished pieces that I completed this past week-end. It seems rather amazing when I look at them that I got so much done. But it just seemed to sort of flow out of me and did not really feel like work at all. Click on the images for a closer view.

Flying home from the visit from my sisters was bittersweet. I missed home, my husband and my dogs. But I was going to miss the fun times with my sister and all the creative energy that was flowing through her house. My plane ride was uneventful except for the fact that I brought an extra suitcase home and two pieces of artwork. It was fun trying to manhandle the luggage out of the airport and to the car. Yes I know I should have rented one of those little carts but 3$ seemed like a lot of money when instead I could use my oh so helpful 3rd arm to carry the load! I recharged my batteries by taking a long nap, unpacking, touching everything I brought home (lots of supplies for further projects). Tomorrow I restart the process and see how it goes minus my sister.

My visit to my sisters is drawing to a close. It has been a very productive week-end for me. I am excited about what I have learned and what I was able to make. My sister was even more excited about what I did over the week-end and with her encouragement I have decided to make a series out of my initial project of stamped words on fabric and submit it to Somerset for a possible publication. I have wanted to find a way to display my poetry besides in my journal pages and I believe this stamping on fabric with extra embellishment is my answer. 

I've been busy with my sister creating a fabric piece that has my poetry on it. First I hand stamped the poem on a piece of muslim and then waxed it with beeswax. You can see the progression of the piece, in the first photo I thought I was done but when I saw the photo I realized it looked unfinished. This is where I got a lesson in design from my sister. She explained about continuity and the law of repetition also about using texture as interest. She is an excellent teacher and I learned alot. I've continued to add to my piece and the little stamped piece I started with no plan in mind is becoming a regular work of art. I will keep you posted. P.S. Click on the pictures to enlarge them and see the work in closer detail.

Saturday morning, it is a beautiful day in the desert. I've been sitting on my sisters patio watching a mother mocking bird feed her little baby bird. You can see the nest from the patio and watch its little beak stick out of the nest crying for its next mouthful. It is a hungry greedy little thing and I think it has doubled in size in the few days I've been here! Any way I've been busy working on a stamped and waxed piece of art work. I've never waxed anything before so it has been a rather tense, anxious but rewarding experience. The best part was getting to go through my sisters trunk of vintage laces. I love the textures of the different lace and ribbon. So far it has been a great week-end get away.

Thursday morning and I am sitting on my sisters patio in Scottsdale AZ. As you know we live some distance apart and we try and get together every couple of months. I usually come and visit her in Scottsdale because my mother lives here and I can "kill two birds with one stone." These are always great weekends because it is just girls. We will eat out, create art, sleep in, stay up late, take naps,  shop, and maybe even have a spa day. My sisters pantry is full of goodies, the birds are singing, I am happy and tired after a busy week at work. I am suppose to be taking a nap but I am too excited about the fun weekend ahead so I've been wandering around in blog land,my eyes are getting heavy now so I think I'll try that nap. I've posted a couple of journal pages as inspiration to myself, since maybe that will be one of my art projects this weekend.

It was hard to get out of bed this morning and drag myself to work. All I could think about was the wonderful weekend that had been too short. I kept remembering ocean breezes, sunny skies, beautiful flowers, pretty arrangements of shells, sparkling gems,vintage tulle petticoats dyed in shades of pastels, laughter,and the full moon the night of our bonfire on the beach. All day long I remembered and all day long the hours passed and I got through with a light heart because of all the wonderful memories of the days before. And so this evening I sit on my deck tired after a long day at work, but my spirit is rested because it spent the day reliving a magical weekend.

I have returned from the sunny warm south to the cool land of the north. It was a busy, creative, fun, adventurous, beautiful and exciting two days. Sandcastle Sirens a two day workshop with a vendor sale held in the beautiful beachfront home of Jan Pollack of Art takes a Village. Jane donates time to a center for women in recovery and a 30% of the sales from the vendors fair went for this cause. My sister Julie Haymaker Thompson taught the workshops and I got to attend as an assistant and moral support. Sat. I flew in and took a taxi to the event what an adventure with a taxi driver who does not speak English, does not have a map, does not know where we are going, and ME! Two hours later with a fare of 130$,and having seen areas of San Diego I'm sure no tourist is suppose to know exist I arrived at my destination. The rest of the week end was glorious. To calm my self down I walked to the Coronado Hotel(beautiful), took a nap on the balcony of my bedroom(see my view the beach). Sunday I helped my sister with her class she is an amazing energetic woman full of so much patience and information. It all comes out as a teacher and if you ever have the chance to take a class from her you should do so. The vendors sale was Sunday afternoon and I helped my sister with her booth I also sold custom bead packets. My sisters highlight of the weekend was being the top vendor in sales at the event and being able to give Jane a large donation for her cause. All in all it was a great weekend. I met many nice women who became friends and I wished I lived closer to. I know this is a long post for me but there was so much to say. I have tons of photos that I will share during the week, but here are afew right now.