*a bit of serendipity*

Bella Enchanted Mermaid Swap

Genevieve hosted this fun fun swap.  The theme was mermaids, and we could choose any medium we wanted ~ a doll, collage, painting etc.

Genevieve was my partner and her favorite color is red. 

I swear I tried to make a red mermaid, I really did.  Nothing I tried looked right.  So I decided to stay with neutral colors and just add a bit of red as a highlight.  Here's a few photos.  I hope she likes it!

I used crumbled up reindeer moss to cover the dress form.  I tea stained cheese cloth and used that to make the skirt/tail.

I had this pin with red rhinestones and thought it would be the perfect touch of red for Genevieve.

This flower came from a package of potpourri I had.  I took off a few of the petals from underneath and used that to make the mermaid's bathing top.

As soon as I receive my package from Genevieve i will post pictures...

San Francisco III

A little San Francisco fashion:

(I was taking so many pictures through glass, I started making myself crazy trying to get the shots without reflections.  After I looked closely at a few of them, I found that I kind of liked the reflections in them.  Some of the reflections were of great buildings or landmarks, so I decided to just go with it.)

The next photo is of my favorite movie theater in San Francisco.  It was in the block I lived.  It was sad to see that it was shut down ~ I hope it's only temporary, it is a beautiful theater.

I thought I would end this post on a sweet note...

Sweet dreams...

San Francisco II

There is a shop I visited in San Francisco that, if you haven't been there, I think a lot of you would love.  It's called La Place Du Soleil and it's on Polk St.  Here are a few photos ~ some of the things I know you'll be familiar with...

So you get the idea...they have a lot of fun things.  They had all of their off-season items out because they're having a moving sale.

They are moving to Ghiradelli Square this summer and becoming a Tea Salon called Crown  & Crumpet.  The good news is, they are going to have a much larger space and are still going to have a retail area where they will be selling similar items, but also serve tea as well...definitely on my list to check out this summer!!!

Here's their new ad:

This is their write-up:

Come and join us for the whole English Afternoon Tea Experience.  Maybe you will want breakfast (we'll have it), or a light lunch (we'll have that too) and after tea you can indulge in our English Aperitif bar with a fine selection of Sherries, Ports and Madieras (very Jane Austen), with other libations and of course, loads of nibbles...all set in a doily-free zone!  It shall make the Queen proud and our Mums too!

San Francisco I

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! 

We decided at the VERY last minute to spend the weekend in San Francisco.  We wanted to take our little cutie, so we drove.  Luckily we found a place to stay that allowed dogs!

Many of you know I used to live in San Francisco, and that I really really miss it there, so this was a lot of fun for me!  I took tons of photos, but I will only post some of my favorites.  Maybe I'll even break up the posts so I don't drive you crazy.

Of course one of my first stops was here:

This store was at a different location when I lived there, so this is the first time I've seen the new location on Fillmore and it is absolutely beautiful, as you might expect.  This poster was hanging in the front window.

This next picture breaks my heart a little.  I so very badly wanted to see this exhibit.  It ended yesterday, and no tickets were available when we were able to go.  The exhibit tour is finished in the states and is now going international. 

I love taking pictures of signs, posters, ads, etc.  There is so much creativity in the art, photography, writing..., so I took a bunch when I was there...this is one of my favorites:

I should run, I'll post more pictures soon.

Karla & Beth's Birds & Bonnets Swap

Karla and Beth hosted this fun swap.  They teamed up with The Vintage Workshop and had all participants make four two-sided panels using the same images from The Vintage Workshop.  It is really incredible to see all of the different ways people have used these same images on their panels.  There is a flickr group you should check out ~ wow is there a lot of creativity out there!

Each person is going to receive back, four different panels from four different people attached with book rings to form a screen!

These are the panels I sent in.  I decided to keep it simple since I had to do eight of them, so I just used one image per side and used different stamps and inks to make the backgrounds.

As soon as I receive my completed screen, I will post pictures.

Karla's Great Aunt Caroline

Some of you know one of the things Karla is doing for her Great Aunt Caroline for her 100th birthday.  In case you don't, she had a really wonderful idea ~ to ask anyone who wanted to participate, to make a card for her Aunt for her birthday.  Her goal was to have a hundred cards to give her on her birthday.

Karla has been posting pictures of the cards as she receives them, and there is also a flickr link on her blog if you want to check out all of the cards people have been making.

I feel so honored to be a part of this.  Oh how I would love to be there, and see the look on her face, when Karla gives her all of the cards!  Here's the card I made.

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Ours was really nice.  We decided to have brunch at my Sister's house, so I picked up my Mom and we headed over.

It was such a nice day, it wasn't too hot so we decided to eat outside on her patio.  It was so beautiful out there ~ her entire yard seemed to be in bloom all at once.

This is what I gave my Sister for Mother's Day ~ this lavender bush in the bright yellow pot (yellow is her favorite color).                                                            

For my Mom I pre-ordered the first season of the HBO series In Treatment.  I think she'll love it.

Then my Sister and I are taking her to San Diego for a weekend, on the train. 

Our Mom will NEVER give us any gift ideas for her.  All she says she wants as a gift, is to "spend time with my girls", so that's what we try to do.

Simply Perfect

We received this wedding invitation the other day, and when I first opened it I was a little bit surprised.  I guess I am so used to more traditional invitations. 

I had it sitting out, and the more I looked at it the more I liked it.  And now I love it.

For a Southern California summertime wedding at the beach I think it's perfect in it's simplicity. 

Kentucky Derby Hat Swap

Well, it's here!  The day we are supposed to post pictures of the hats we made in the Kentucky Derby Hat Swap.  As much as this swap was a challenge (see previous post), I had a really great time.  Bristol was my partner in this swap and I hope she is happy with the hat I made her!  Here are some photos.

This first photo is mainly just the tag I sent along with the hat, it's not really part of the hat.

It's hard to see the details of the hat so I have posted some close-up shots. 

Hopefully you can tell that is a bird and the fan is his tail feathers ~ If you click on the photo I think the detail is a little better.

I kind of went with a theme for the hat - Shopping With Friends in Paris.  I don't know if you can tell from the photo above, but that's a purse hanging from the bird's beak.  I also had a boot covered in vintage glass glitter hanging from the side of the hat, but I didn't really get a good shot of it.

The photo above is kind of the back/side of the hat.  The French quote translates to ~ I am wealthy in my friends.

You can find links to all of the other participants in the swap, on Bristol's blog.

Bristol, I hope you enjoy your hat as much as I enjoyed making it! 

Thank you so much for hosting such a wonderful swap.