Girls Road Trip- Cayucos 2011

Last weekend me and 3 of my girlfriends went to Cayucos for a weekend of shopping, crafting and relaxing. Why Cayucos, well Andrea owns a little condo up there that has been a family vacation getaway for years. The condo itself was adorable, but the VIEWS were amazing!

Andrea and Annette on the deck, a glass of Chardonnay and an view

Andrea at a stop in Arroyo Grande

Earleen getting her shop on!

Annette in shopping Bliss!

The next morning, kicking up my feet and waking up to the sound of waves crashing....

Some of Andreas beautiful solder work. Her home away from home is filled with beachy eye candy.

The bottle to the right was a new edition found on the way up in Arroyo Grande

My little hostess gift for Andrea. I know from her reaction that she loved it. Yay! 

her adorable wall art

bedroom decor

We followed all the rules, well except for eat seafood....that was the hardest part of the trip for me. I am not a seafood eater and I actually even have a hard time with the smell of seafood, but it was a small sacrifice to hang out with these girls...my husband was like, "And I can't get you to go to Market Broiler with me???? No Right!"

Love this shop in San Luis Obispo called Vintage Etc. 

Vintage Etc.

Our lovely hostess, I could see she loved this shop too as I saw a lot of goodies she already had back at the condo

Me and Annette hanging outside the Brown Sugar Cookie Company in Cayucos.

Earleen scoring some Brown Butter Cookies! These cookies are kind of hard to explain, they are like little flat round balls, that you bite into and are sweet on the inside but are somehow dusted or sprinkled with salt to give you that delicious salty sweet taste I love! Yummmm

The tide pools below the cottage

Annette spied this lovely red starfish, and picked it up for further inspection and photography.....then when she put it back it didn't stick back on the rock. Earleen claimed "you killed it!!!" But Andrea assured us, that starfish love to just tumble in the water and our little star will hook back up with a rock when she feels like it!

The next day we went to the shop we were all anticipating. Lina G All the Trimmings shop

umm  filled to the hilt with vintage lace, trim, butting, ect

a bit overwhelming....

vintage flowers anyone? Where does she find this stuff??

so preciuos..

Then you can dig in all of the drawers...

my little goodies bag.....I have a lot of ideas of what to make with my finds! Lina does not have a web site, she sells on ebay here!

we swung by the shell shop...

look at the smile on Andreas face, that girls loves her some shells!

we stopped at Robins for lunch the next day in Cambria

me and Andrea

Then on to more shopping. This shop was too cute! Called Home Arts, such a cute shop. But all over the place were little signs form the owner "don't steal me I am only $11", " I know you think your getting one over on "the man" when you take something, but you are actually stealing form a woman who works hard to keep her business going". It was weird....like she is assuming everyone is a thief, but then again maybe a scumbag who would think of stealing might think twice about it. Such a shame that people steal... maybe I should put some signs up in my store..."please don't steal my razor blades, when you do I have a bad inventory, then I have to write an action plan on how I am going to stop you, then I have to go to a meeting and have a big entourage of people come to my store to investigate what I am doing wrong...when you are doing wrong..." tee heee

umm homemade sugar body scrubs...yummmm. Cant remember the name of this shop but its right across from Home Arts!

A walk on the pier before dinner

nothing clears the mind like the smell of the ocean...

I like this pic of Earleen, the look on her face like she is going to say something that will make me laugh!

Sunset in Cayucos....

I love these pics, Annette in her top siders, Earleens "there no place like home" clogs, my shoelace-less cons, and Andreas cute flip flops.....all a little piece of who we are.

Cayucos gone, but not forgotten. Thank you to my dear friends Andrea and Annette who this summer opened up their families vacation treasures to us. I am so glad to have these memories, thanks girls!

-Denise

Beheaded Kit listed for Sale

Okay, so I relented I am putting a few of these kits up for sale. A limited supply as I need so for sale at Glitterfest!!! Link is to your right--->

This kit includes all of the pieces to make this necklace. It hangs about 14 inches long and is designed as a lariat style, just slips over your head. This is a kit for those with previous soldering experience, not for beginners.

you get:

1 inch glass bevels

chain

rosary chain

assorted beads

wire

headpins

rhinestones

skull bead

full tutorial with pictures and video

you need:

soldering set up: flux, copper tape, burnisher, iron

safety gloves

clothes pin or other clamp/holder

E6000 or other strong hold glue

Novocan Patina (optional)

Denise

Weekend Away!

Some of my dearest friends were getting together to work on a kit project they had all purchased earlier in the year. We got together at our friends house in beautiful Coronado Island, Ca.This was a weekend of sitting in jammies, no make up, no cameras (okay so I cheated a little). Just being friends and creating together. So I am totally cheating by blogging about it! But it was great fun and my friends house was so amazing I just had to show the pics. I also brought a surprise project along and snapped some pics of them. Enjoy this amazing house!

{everyone made amazing grab bags of goodies}

{loved this little starfish bag}

{okay who do I have to kill to get this kitchen??}

{super cozy family room off kitchen}

{my table for the project}

{looking out to her jacuzzi}

{beautiful staircase}

{here is where we spent most of our time creating away}

{yummy baked goods}

{one of her beachy collections}

{my guestroom}

{her hallway}

{looking down into the foyer}

{loved this spa like bathroom}

{our collage project}

everyones came out a little different, we just passed the pieces around and added out own touch each time we got it.

Thats all for now, I made some pretty cute soldered projects that weekend I will share later.

-Denise

Craft for a Cure Announced!

I am so happy to be hosting this great event. I have been doing a crafty fundraiser for the last 4 years since my Mom was diagnosed. This year I decided to do it on a grander scale!  I hope you will join us! Please click on the link to the right for info and to register! Visit the blog here for pics and more details!

Denise

I am getting published again!

Just got the email yesterday and this time I am going to be a featured article for Somerset Studio Gallery. I get 800 whole words :)
"Congratulations! Your 4 witches in a cages have been selected to be featured as a technique-based article in the Winter 2011 issue of Somerset Studio Gallery, which will hit newsstands December 1, 2011." One thing I learned was to take pictures of my submissions. Duh, it seems very obvious, but I really don't take pictures of everything I make. I had to ask the editor to send me pics so I knew the exact ones!LOL! Oh well next time..... I haven't taken anything else down but I need to, it really is fun to see your work in print.

{this is an example of the birdcages being published, I DID get a pic of at least this one!}

-Denise

Halloween Has Arrived!

Yes, it's here. Halloween has arrived. How do I know? Just walk into the craft and dollar stores and there it is, right in front of you. I swear we retailers really are friggin stretching it! As it is, I get shipped my Valentines candy before Christmas is over. Then before Valentines has even happened make way for Easter. There was a time and day that you didn't even see fall colors until after Labor Day. Oh well. This is one Holiday I look forward too. NOT because of costumes, I HATE dressing up for Halloween. I love it for what it does to the environment; the spicy smells, the pumpkin lattes, the candy corn, the Gothic decorations, and most of all when Disneyland changes the Haunted Mansion over to the Haunted Holidays version filled with its Tim Burton-ness! I also enjoy creating my own decor for Halloween and this year  I have been creating a lot in my blue room.  Of course in anticipation of vending at Glitterfest fall. I have made a ton of artwork and jewelry AND I have created kits....lots of them! So why haven't I posted any of these goodies? Well I have been waiting for Halloween to arrive, and  HERE IT HAS-according to Joanns, Michael's, and Dollar tree!

{I have created a series of "Make it in a Mason "kits. They are Papercraft and jewelry kits. This one is a Halloween mini banner all tucked away in a sweet little mason jar!

{includes everything but the glue!}

{so cute on a door way}

{loving Halloween!}

Oh and how would you like to make this little monster?!!!!! This kit will come with a FULL tutorial including pics and video

{I tiny little scull encased in beveled glass and soldered, with required bling attached!}

{found perfect little 4oz Masons for this kit}

{Oh and I have a bunch of these collage plaques that look so cute hanging on doors! I have made a bunch and will be selling cut and primed blanks as kits}

So excited and having so much fun creating......onward I may have to start making Christmas soon!

-Denise