Orchids in Balboa Park

We cruised the amazing Balboa Park today here in our home town. There’s an orchid bonanza going on at the Arboretum. Feast your eyes and hopefully plan your next trip…

 

a beautiful yellow basket to catch its prey

 

Quick Flower in the Rain: Vinca

I came across this flower pic last night when I was posting and meant to include it.

Today I decided it needs a post all its own. The lovely Cora Cascade Lilac Vinca after a spring shower (from the archives).

It’s not rainy here today…just remembering another soggy day while I’m stitching along. (I signed up for some jewelry making classes soon – so excited to try a new thing!)

Hand-stitching a garment

So this is what I’ve really been up to in the past few days.

Alabama Chanin stitching – left side has been cut out and right side hasn’t

 

Chanin stitched corset pieces (some are backwards so you can see the knots on each leaf)

 

Geranium in the mix

I bought some great beads a few days ago that I think will make great embellishments. I’ll keep you posted…

I Love Gazanias!

I started out to post first about what’s been taking all my artsy-craftsy time in the past 5 days, but I ended up starting with gazanias. They grow at the edges of my front yard and the sun today was brilliant. What I love about them (besides their ability to radiate sun) is all the different patterns found in one kind of flower. I’ve learned over the years to especially appreciate the variations on orange and brown (the yellows are most common and profuse).

Sunset in a flower

Solid circle

Dots!

Sending Official So-Cal Sun your way in these day shots (these flowers are the type to close up and sleep at night – my favorite: living in the moment and getting lots of rest in between!).

Cool Cigar Boxes!

My Significant Lovie got his hair cut today, and his haircut place happens to be next to a smoke shop that apparently has been featuring empty cigar boxes at cut-rate prices for some time now. He now knows how important such things might be to me (crafting maniac that I am) and he texted and offered to bring some home. Uhm…yes please, how many will the car hold?!

This is my new stash and I’m awash with the possibilities. Please comment with any ideas you might have for these beauties!

Stack of cigar boxes!

They needed to be in the garden with the baby squash…I’m not sure why.

Romeo and Juliet y’all!! It’s the same picture inside the lid, with a nail holding the lid down on the box…so official…

I’m heading back tomorrow to purchase the other 75 boxes.

Humbly Learning Pine Coiling

I watched a few videos and read a few stitch guides…and I’m pretty happy with the results! These are “mini-baskets” so I could learn some new stitches and play around with different lashings. I learned many things…

artificial sinew in a v-stitch

blue button in the middle

 

 

black waxed thread with beads

I think the black thread should go all the way around…(I was going for half/half…didn’t work out)

 

Black jewelry wire (see the diamond shapes?)

inside button – I’ll go for less wire wraps next time

 

the bottom of this mini-basket…might be nicer than the inside…or maybe not…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was a fun week of weaving and coiling (kind of rough on the fingers – lots of great ideas…). I’m reading through my Alabama Chanin Stitch book and ready to do some hand-stitching next!!

Proud to be a Liebster Award Nominee!!

YOWSA! I have been nominated for a Liebster Award!

I’m really enjoying sharing my crafts here and reading all of your new blogs that I discover every day. You are all so inspirational and creative!! So let’s get to my duties as a new Liebster nominee!

#1: Give Thanks!

Liebster Award: Online recognition from fellow bloggers for fun new blogs.

THANK YOU Hooked for the nomination! Please take a moment and check out her amazing blog: go for the delicious eye candy pictures of all things yarny…stay for the inspiration and free patterns! (Plus she has a facebook page – so much family fun and crafty goodness!) Thanks for this opportunity to recognize other cool bloggers like you…and to bare my soul to the internet (we’re all friends here, right? 🙂 )

#2: Spread the Love!

Now I get to nominate five of my favorite bloggers (besides Hooked, of course!). Please click through on these fantastic sites and let them know how much we appreciate their blogs…I start my mornings with their humor, art, travel and life stories.

Leaf and Twig – I appreciate this blogger’s photographic ability to capture both the spirit of her subject and her own experience of viewing it. And the poetry…sublime!

Sleepy Kitty Stitches – I love checking in on what this blogger is stitching up (such fine detailed work!) and her DIY instructions are very helpful!

Little Rivers – I enjoy following this blogger’s progress through a cool creative design university class she is documenting. Her photography is stunning and it’s fun to see the creative processes she is experiencing.

The Crafty Mummy – This blogger is SOOOO creative and shares detailed pics and patterns for every step. I instantly want to make 12 of everything I see on her site!

ChiliSarang – I love seeing this blogger’s posts to photography challenges and her travel advice is detailed and so interesting (makes me want to go to those places!).

#3 – Tell Us a Little About Yourself

Here are the questions my nominator asked me to answer…

1.What is your favourite colour? 

Yellow

2.What was the name of your first pet?

Jason (a miniature Schnauzer)

3.If you could marry any film star who would it be?

Liam Neeson

4.If you could be any animal what would you be and why?

A hummingbird, because I want to be able to fly and I like they way they do that (flying sideways and swooping high/low looks like a lot of fun!)

5.What would your dream job be (doesn’t have to be realistic)?

I would like to design outdoor art installations involving landscaping and plants.

6.If you could name yourself, what name would you give yourself?

Rosalee…no Anna…can I change it every day?

7.What is your favourite pudding?

Bread pudding

8.What is your favourite flower?

(today it’s) Freesia
(bonus: tomorrow it will be Gazania)

9.What hobbies do you have (or did have as a child)?

as a child: Reading, sewing, collecting…stamps, spoons, dolls, pill bugs (aka ‘rolie-polies’) and army worms (eww!!)

10. What is your favourite toast topping?

(Forget what you just read and think about yummy food now…)
I like peanut butter, apple and a drizzle of honey on my toast.

11. If you could meet anyone who had lived ever, who would it be?

Sacajawea – smart as a whip and oh the stories!!

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That was fun! Thanks for asking and thanks for listening!

#4 That Wasn’t Enough – Tell Us a Little More About Yourself

Phew! this feels like a lot of thinking about myself…kind of like therapy…

Here are 11 random facts about me:

1. I have completed over 20 sky dives, and I packed parachutes and manifested loads to pay my way.
2. I worked a fishing season in Petersburg, Alaska, fresh/frozen side during the day and cannery at night.
3. I know all the words to “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
4. I’ve worked at the same company for over 20 years.
5. I can type 100 words per minute.
6. I used to work at an answering service.
7. My first job at age 14 was dog washer.
8. I wore braces (on my teeth) for 6 years.
9. When I’m waiting for a plane at the airport I like to listen to music and pretend I’m in my own music video.
10. When visiting the Redwood forest, my mom and I drove our car into the tree with a tunnel for a photo op – then realized we couldn’t open the doors of the car (reverse, I hop out, forward, I run around: photo op ready!).
11. I had the following pets as a child (not all at the same time): dog, hamster, duck, goose, rabbit, fish, salamander. (Bonus: I recommend a guinea pig as a starter pet for kids over 6 or 7 years old – manageable and they hardly ever escape and hide behind the refrigerator to scare the bejeebies out of you.)

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That was a fun walk down Random Lane for me – hope you had fun too.

#5 – My Questions for My Nominees

Here’s what I’m hoping my nominees will share with us in their “acceptance speech.”

1. What is your favorite drink on a hot day vs. a cold day?
2. Where would you say is the most beautiful place you’ve been so far?
3. What is your favorite spice (or condiment) that you use most often?
4. What is your favorite pizza topping?
5. Did you teach yourself the skills you highlight in your blog, or were they handed down and/or taught?
6. What is the best movie you’ve seen recently?
7. What is the best book you’ve read recently (you don’t have to be done with it yet)?
8. Do you enjoy answering surveys? (an easy “yes/no” as a breather…)
9. Describe what you see outside the nearest window right now (hopefully there isn’t a lot of travel involved in answering this one).
10. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
11. What’s your favorite museum?

Another Phew! I went for “interested without being invasive or obtuse…,” hopefully I landed somewhere close to the target drop zone.

#6 Logo Time!

The last requirement is to post a Liebster image, and I chose the ‘Celebratory Chic-ster’ version:

That was pretty fun, and I hope my nominees take a moment to share some version of this beeswax with the rest of us enquiring minds (I think it’s obvious: I’m brazenly looking for my next favorite libation, movie, book, spice/condiment, museum, etc. – share your knowledge!).

Sending extra love to everyone reading this – we all need a hug today and every day.

Now off to today’s crafting!!

Sea Grass Basket

Thank you Donna Sakamoto Crispin for the base pattern!

Sea Grass Basket

Shells from my collection – Ocean-drilled spaces…

the bottom of the basket

front of basket – overlapping braid end

purple sea grass braid

surprise surfline beads inside

It works upside-down too!

 

Basket front

I’m having so much fun with this basket (it clinks when I move it!).

It feels, smells and sounds like the ocean…

Geography on the Dinner Table

I completed this project about 15 years ago when I attended my daughter’s first grade orientation and heard that geography was last on the list (e.g: they might get to it on Thursday afternoons).

I had a wooden dining room table from a relative with water marks all over the top. So I adhered a National Geographic map to the top, then varnished the top (with what turned out to be old shellac – turned out yellowish, which makes the whole thing look like it belongs on a pirate ship: bonus!).

Change chairs…whole new world!

I used the wrong adhesive and there’s wrinkles-turned-into-holes over time…but the idea stands solid. And every parent who has seen it or heard about it seems enthralled, so I thought to share.

“My Educational Geography Plus Plan”: Start early in elementary with a map on the table and play games (e.g. I Spy, Hot/Cold location, etc.). Then move the table or switch chairs, so the focus is different. As a family, we ate three meals a day at the table and it’s a great way to bring geography and learning into the daily family chatter.

What’s with the name?

I’ve realized that “Annabellabooboop” probably doesn’t mean to you what it means to me (for reals? hello? waking up over here…)

Here’s the haps:

• My daughter (MAIN LOVIE) = Chloe Ann
• My upbringing (Texas Hippie Rock-n-Roll) = sources too many to mention (Janis Joplin must be named!)
• A song from my childhood = “Tutti Frutti”

So when my daughter was a baby (many moons ago) I sometimes sang her a song that went something like:

“Annabella-boo-bop-a-loo-bop-a-boom-bang-booty-tuity-fruity-oh-rudy.”

Sunset in So-Cal; #40daysoflight

So with this post I’m sending artistic love to all those “boo-bop-a-loo-bop-a-tooty-fruity-oh-rooties” out there.