Flea Market Studio

My Best Friend's Wedding.....

Well it's finally here... Claire's Wedding. She always dreamed about having a big wedding... I am so honored to be a part of her special day. Have to share her commercial that she was in last year, Claire's commercial just click on the link. Pretty cute.  I also wanted to thank everyone who sent me an e-mail and well wishes on my big announcement. The advice I received was really appreciated. Thank you! I have been a stress ball..... so much on my mind....... so much to do....... and don't know where to start. I guess one day at a time. What gets me through stressful situations?

* My morning walks (a necessity)

* My Art time

* A cup of tea and a good book (right now it's iced tea in 111 weather)

* A long hot bubble bath

* Renting  clever, silly TV shows like The Office, Reno 911 and House

* Reading to my daughter before bed time

* and if all doesn't work...... a nice huge glass of  wine (or 2)

Leaving you with some Art before the weekend: a handmade Baby book with pages.. 

I will share more of the pages when I get back and of course some pictures of the beautiful bride.... have a nice Labor Day Weekend!

Going Back to Cali, Cali......

Well it's official.......We are moving back to California. Back to my home. Back to where my family and best friends are. Back to the beach. Back to  the traffic. Back to the rat race. Back to perfect weather. It's been a crazy summer of change. I moved to Arizona March of 1997. I gave myself at least 10 years to be here...... kind of funny how that works. It is 10 years now.  My hubby will be here for 2 more months... then he will go on without us, until we fix up the house...... then we will follow. There is so much I love about this beautiful State: the desert landscape, climbing Camelback mountain, the colors of the desert right around Sunset, My Mother in law (this is a hard one for me), the weather during winter, My small group of great friends  (Angel,  Matt, Toni, Kat, Jenifer) , Debbie at Frenzy Stamper (love that lady! and of course that store is my home), Thrift stores, my little home and so many things to name.... but just thinking about them will get me so sad. Now just trying to get in a Cali state of mind. So that is where My mind has been! Kind of scatter-brain. But I am back! Unsettled, but happy. I worked on some Art last night and here are a couple of things to share:

Kind of crazy art...... see I told you my head is a little wild right now!  What else?.... Ive been doing my walks every morning, and I could swear that Uncle Junior, June Bug, Corrado Soprano or whatever you want to call him is walking every morning also! I mean, he looks exactly like him! I almost stopped him today...OK, watched too many Soprano's episodes this past month!  what else? I asked one of the students why he didn't know something when he clearly did, he answered "because I am not smart, uh hello?! kids are rascals! Keep you posted on the Big move...... but here is one more piece of Art:

Sunday Night Dinner........

Started a new tradition in our little family... Sunday night sit-down dinner. I was inspired by get this.... The Sopranos. Yes, I love Mafia movies . The funny thing is I cant stand violence in Movies. I cant figure this one out either. The tradition is this, Italian food, Sinatra or Dean Martin, candles and the best dishes I own (vintage of course and cheap). Then a walk after. It is so hard to get the family on the same page during the week. My husband eats late at night, and I like to eat real early. I feel like we have lost allot of this in this with our families. What a shame. Enough on that...... Look at Rascals new Apron, made it Friday night..... She did Art all weekend. Made a mess of the home...but she had to make 5 cards for Daddy's Birthday. She also went in her piggy bank and came out with a dollar to put in one of the cards. How cute is that? What else?  Found some time Saturday morning to go Thrifting........ haven't been in a while and needed a Cheap Thrill..... I am loving these Reader's Digest condensed books and here is why...

The covers are just so pretty! The covers do not need any altering. 20 cents a piece! Loving them........Ohh the pages are just waiting for some Art! Speaking of Art here are just some things I am working on:

Just a couple of new Book making classes in the works. Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend.

Where I have been.....

   Where have I been? Well.... School has started this week. What a week and so much to share! This is the only little piece of Art I have done for 1 week, some little hand-drawn Bird tags. Tonight is my night to Play...... Yay! I probably wont last past 10:00  but that's Ok, I have the rest of the weekend! Well Rascal is officially in Kindergarten. Here  is her first day....  She already has herself a boyfriend........ that's just great! A few things to share about the week........

* A boy in our class was asked what his favorite color is and he said " I like the colors from the dark-side, black and red, for blood". I am watching over my back big time.....

* Hubby and I have a huge life-changing announcement to make and will share about it next week. I will give you a hint, I will probably not melt in this heat ever again!

* Shared the best bottle of wine I have ever had in my life last night and it was almost as old as me, a Bordeaux,  the year 1973  Grand Vin De Chateau Latour. Wow..........no wine will taste good enough ever again! I am forever ruined!

Here are some pictures from My Class:

Montessori Materials are my favorite!  I cannot show the children, but we do have the best class! Funny kids.....and be careful what your children hear from you or what they see, they do tell us everything!

Saturday Morning Routines.........

Saturday Mornings are important in our Home.....I usually have a routine. Here is the usual routine on Saturday: (subject to change due to just LIFE!)

7 am: 4 to 5 mile Morning walk or Jog

8 :20 am: Make breakfast for family and have hubby make the much needed coffee

9:00 am: wash all sheets first and do the rest of the laundry. Of course this is an all day process

9:30 am till about 11:30 am: The maid arrives (that would be me!) I first start in the kitchen then head over to the back of the house. Hubby has his own chores on a list!

Noon: any extra projects like sewing buttons, ironing,  cleaning patio etc.

Guess who is now part of the morning Maintenance crew? Yup, its The big 5 year old! here is her bed making process and she is ohhh so proud! So am I.........!

She is such a help! She also helps me dust the living room and put her clothes  away and her toys away... starting her real early. The rest of the day is Play day! I think that is why I love Saturday afternoons so much. Everything is nice and clean and we can just kick around with nothing to do!  You have to see the little bird clips I found for Darianne's hair:  I love them, I think I need to get more in every color! Well, I better finish the laundry and the rest of the cleaning, did I mention I take a few breaks in between? After all it's Saturday I have permission to lolly-gag.... Here is the project that I have to tackle for the day: Organize this girl's closet! Hope everyone is having a great Saturday, don't you just love them? I am kind of curious of what you do on Saturday mornings..... ? Please share.

A great new item.....

Found these cool index card books at Target. I am a list girl. I work so much better with Lists, and just love going to bed with everything crossed off for the day! These are color coded and easy to tear. Fits perfect in my purse.... with a zig pen. Ok, I'm a nerd. We already know that though right? I get happy over little things like this. I spent the other day washing my down pillows. I did not know you could do this... I must have missed that Martha Stewart episode. You don't even want to know how long Ive had my favorite pillows. I  am not saying I don't wash my sheets or pillow cases, once or twice a week in fact.  What I am saying is I thought the pillows got ruined in the wash. Well I chose the wrong time to air dry them. They were the saddest looking things when they came out of the wash, so I hung them to dry. Well wouldn't you know it, I was in the middle of grocery shopping and heard that it was raining outside. I mean really raining! As I was walking out I looked at a convertible parked and was just thinking how bummed that poor chap is going to be when he sees his car all soaked..... and then I thought of those pillows! I flew home and you guessed it, all in the mud on the ground! I washed them again and put them in the dryer. Martha didn't tell me I could dry them in there, but I did anyways. It took forever for those suckers to dry! But they are fluffy and as good as new! So please! wash those pillows! Mom would be proud. It is one more day before a busy School year for me. I did get a chance to put things in my ETSY. Here are the newest additions:

I will be adding more things throughout out the week. Hope everyone is happy today!

Getting ready for Etsy.....

Well here is a sneak peak of the things going in my shop on Sunday..... Ive been working like crazy, and all this before a class at Mystic Paper and  I start my new teaching job.  Can you say Loca?! I will give more details on Sunday. I also made some of these for the Flower Pots..... I had to spray them with a thick coat of Krylon glaze. Love this stuff, it keeps everything from getting ruined outdoors. It's Friday night, "Art Night" and if anyone is up for a Art challenge tonight, just e-mail me I will be around watching Dateline and 20/20. Lia....... Mendy........??? Anyone? Hope everyone is hugging their loved ones and ignoring anything that Lindsay Lohan is doing! he he!

Found some pretty things today...... Vintage metal flower pins at 50 cents each. I just love them, they make me happy. I also found a huge bag of vintage chenille fabric. It was 80 cents... I don't know what I will do with it, maybe make a couple pillows? Or some baby books with it. I don't know but I know they make me happy.

Rascal made these paper plates for Claire's wedding.... she said she was going to walk with them down the aisle and hand one to the Bride and one to the groom. She is not in the wedding party, but is somehow finding a way to fit herself in. It sure makes me happy. What makes you happy?