Today we decided to take a little road trip over to Monterey and introduce Tucker to the ocean.

The drive over wasn’t too bad, a little traffic and we actually found parking - this can be quite a difficult task in-and-of itself. Anyway, we put his leash on and took a stroll down to the water.

It was a little busy, as Monterey can be on a nice summer day. Tucker didn’t mind the sand but he kind of looked at the water for a moment. The waves were very tiny, but they were still waves and I think he wondered what they were. Then my husband took off his shoes and led him in. He walked around a bit getting his feet wet, but one things for sure, he’s really not a water dog.

We had a good time - got out on a beautiful day, sat on a grassy hill and shared a soda (Tucker got some ice cubes) and just hung out for awhile.

My parents redid the windows in their house awhile back and I was lucky enough to get some of them. I don’t know why but I just love old windows. This one is hanging on a wall that’s next to the computer.

Awhile back I had gone into Starbucks and they were writing on one of their blackboards using a pen. I asked what kind and the person said a “chalkboard marker”, they even let me try it. I immediately had to have some! I’m not compulsive, really. :)

I went to the craft store and they kind of looked at me funny - “liquid chalk you say?”

I turned to the internet. I found them on amazon.com but they were a bit pricey for a set, plus they since they shipped from a third party I’d have to pay shipping which made them pretty over the top in cost. So I refrained, for the moment, trying to put them out of my mind. Out out out!

One day while I was out-and-about I found a set, reasonably priced so I purchased them. I brought them home, tried them out on a chalkboard I had and loved them! How cool, no chalk dust and they wrote wonderfully. So I thought, for a not-so-ordinary memo board I could replace the glass in one of the windows with a chalkboard. But come to find out these markers write directly on glass! So I didn’t have to do anything to the window.

Anyway, just something cool I found. These can also be used on mirrors, so you could check your lip gloss AND read the little note you wrote to yourself to remember what it was you were supposed to remember. Not that I have trouble remembering…oh wait, now what did I come into this room for?

I just wanted to say thank you for everyone’s prayers and heartfelt wishes, I really do appreciate every one of them.

I’m trying to get back into my life’s routine this week - home, laundry, puppy school, and running eat cake graphics - filling orders, getting through all of my emails - oh my goodness things can get behind quickly. :)

Anyway, thank you, so very, very much.

Friday afternoon my father-in-law lost his battle to cancer.

He’d been fighting it for a few years but this summer things started to go bad. It seemed with every step forward of good news, there were two steps back with bad.

It’s very sad to know that for my husband his father is no longer here.

Why does death have to be so…final.

We went camping a bit ago - it was Tucker’s first time in the Great Wilderness.

We camped across from a little river - it was lovely to hear the water so close. We went with my brother and his family, including their VERY much a water dog, Bailey. Anyway, we went down to the waters edge and Maggie, our ol’ girl, just got right in and started swimming. Well Tucker didn’t like not being able to get to her. He was going up and down the shoreline, not sure about getting his paws wet. He finally took the plunge! He hopped out a bit and then started dog-paddling. Once he learned to keep his paws more under the water and less on top he got going.

After a good swim and playing we headed back across the road to our campsite. Other than giving about a pint of blood to the mosquitoes it was a lovely little getaway. Especially now that we have our little T@B trailer - I enjoy camping but no more tents for us (I think the dogs enjoy the cushy bed as much as we do)!

I’ve been doing a little stitching and thought I’d give you a sneak peek at a couple of the blocks for an upcoming pattern.

This quilt will be similar in style and color to my “Home in the Middle” but will focus on pets and baskets.

Usually when I start a quilt I have a pretty good idea of the content but not the final version. I make some sort of drawing in my sketchbook and then scan it into the computer. In all honesty I never thought I’d like formulating ideas that way, the bright screen staring at me, the cursor blink-blink-blinking, waiting for me to do something. But oddly I’ve found it to be creatively freeing.

I started these blocks but have found when making quilts with multiple blocks - only when I lay out all the finished blocks do I know where the quilt is headed. If I try to plan the finished quilt I always change my mind, so why fret over it now. :)

So I suppose we’ll all be surprised to see what it looks like when it’s done.

The metal stamp masters arrived from Owosso,Yahoo!

Even after eight years of owing my own stamp business there’s still nothing like seeing little sketches turned into stamps. The thrill of pressing that first sheet of rubber, attaching it to a wood block, inking it up and kissing it to paper. Sweet indeed.

That and it’s always thrilling to see what fellow stampers create - stuff I never even think of! I really feel blessed to be able to make a living doing something I love. To see what started as a hobby, slowly (and a little bumpy) move into a business and now blossom into something I never thought possible.

Anyway, I still have to put the specifics up on my website and will shortly, but it’s been a long day, a very California heatwave-hot, long day so I think I will sign off for now and watch General Hospital (yes I’m addicted and thank God everyday for Tivo).

I flipped up the month of July on the numerous calendars we have around the house. I see the staples holding the pages together which means it’s half-way through the year.

We stayed home this year for the 4th of July festivities. We live directly across the field from where the city’s fireworks are launched. Our street becomes a zoo of cars, people, bar-b-ques and fireworks GALORE. Maybe it’s a good thing we all have composite roof shingles!

I found out that my new camera actually has a fireworks setting. How cool was that to find - especially BEFORE the fireworks and not the day after, which is usually what happens. :)

And I am happy to report that Puppy Tucker did quite well with all the noise. He didn’t really like the fireworks that whistled loudly but he didn’t run and hide. Our ol’ girl Maggie took it all in stride. I suppose at 13 she’s seen and heard it all. Besides, I think she was much more interested in what was on the bar-b-que. :)

Anyway, I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July.

(P.S. The picture is of our kitty Katie, although she is no longer with us I just love this picture and decided to post it.)

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to design fabric, here’s your chance. There’s a new internet based company called Spoonflower. What they do - take any design you send in and print it on fabric. Right now they’re in a beta phase and you have to sign up and then get an invitation through email - so of course I signed up and then tried my best to be patient. :)

I’ve been working on this little sketch for quite some time and it finally came together. It’s a row of kids saluting the American flag. At the bottom I wrote “If it weren’t for the brave, there’d be no land of the free” and then behind the kids, very faint, is the Pledge of Allegiance. I’ve actually just finished a new rubber stamp flyer and this image will be one that I offer (hopefully I’ll be getting the stamp molds back late next week and will send out a newsletter).

Anyway, I’m just thrilled with the way it turned out. Of course, now all I can do is look at it as I’m too afraid to cut into it! Good grief. :)

Today was the second of my little summer courses - soldering (taught by Steven James). It wasn’t the kind of soldering done with a soldering iron, we actually used a butane micro-torch.

We were given some silver circles, along with wire and some bits of copper and let loose! I used three circles - large, medium and small to create a kitty. I cut out the ears and paws with a jewelry saw and used metal stamps to write “MEOW”. It really was a ton of fun and unlike the resin class I took earlier there was instant gratification. :) As I was working my mind starting thinking about all the other stuff that I could do…now just gotta find the time. It was also a lot of fun to step out of my element and learn something new. I hadn’t really worked with metal before, or a whole lot of soldering for that matter.

I have one more class, although not through the junior college but rather through a bead shop. It’s in August and I’ll be learning about PMC clay - silver clay, used much like polymer clay, only we’ll be using the butane torch or a kiln to fire our projects. I’ll be sure to post that days project too!

Almost too hot to function. There are only a few times a year when having air conditioning would be nice and today is certainly one of those days. But I guess if we had it I might be more inclined to find more than a few times of year to use it.

I ran an errand today and the temperature on the large digital display in front of the bank said 106! I feel like the witch in the Wizard of Oz only water is not the cause of my current state of melting. I mean, there is only so much a girl can take off and still be decent.

I’m actually supposed to attend a quilting workshop tomorrow. Textile artist Marcia Stein spoke at our guild and will be teaching us some of her techniques. The only less than thrills-ville…I just found out the classroom doesn’t have A/C. I guess this is going to be a test - just how strong is Secret invisible solid shower-fresh deodorant? Hopefully strong enough!

I’m so very excited, Kay Mackenzie a very talented appliquér and pattern designer/publisher asked if I’d be interested in doing a little interview for her blog. I said yes! But then she said she wanted a photo of me - please God grace me with a good hair day! :) Well, that was taking too long so puppy Tucker got in the photo instead. The interview is now up if you’d like to take a peek.

Kay is the sweetest person and an incredible appliqué advocate. She actually has three sites - her publishing company Quilt Puppy Publications and Designs (and yes, there is a real puppy, Willie, although I don’t know if he actually quilts), Quilt Puppy Show & Tell a blog dedicated to sharing people’s projects and lastly All About Appliqué a blog dedicated to everything appliqué.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks Kay!!

Awhile back I got a class listing of courses being offered this summer at a local junior college. I was looking through and there was a resin class (taught by Steven James). I had actually gotten a book, The Art of Resin Jewelry, because I love the idea of incorporating photos into wearable projects.

Well the class was a blast! We learned about different types of resins and when to use what kind for different projects. For the “bubble” pieces above we actually used a watercolor palette plate, poured clear resin in first and added our coated photos. But with resin your patience will be tested. We worked on a few projects because all of them had to cure - at home, so there is no instant gratification with this technique. Once the clear had cured I went back with white resin and poured the last layer…again having to wait a couple days for it to cure. But oh what fun! I drilled holes on the side of each bubble piece and will string them on a bracelet - look out Tiffany’s!

For the little doggy pendant (bottom right of the photo), I stamped out the picture, colored it and then reduced it so it’d be small enough to fit the silver piece. Clear resin was poured over the whole thing. A little loop on top means I can wear it as a necklace.

I had a great time and signed up for another class…soldering!

The crows haven’t carried me away. Whew. These past few weeks have just been very busy…but then what else is new for any of us. :) I’ve gotten some pretty big stamp orders so I’ve been making rubber stamps like crazy. I don’t know if it’s good or bad that all of the clerks at the post office know me. :)

I’ve actually been working quite diligently on a new rubber stamp supplement as well. It’s almost ready to send out and get the stamp molds made. I’m terrible when it comes to tweaking my little sketches - fixing one more line or moving something a little this way or that. Sometimes I just have to make myself turn off the computer! The new supplement will have some summer stuff as well as a drawing that’s been in my sketchbook for a couple years - again, I just had to get it “perfect”.

I’ve also been working on some new quilt designs. One in particular will be a quilt in the same “flavor” as my Home in the Middle design, only with kitties and puppies. I’ll try to get some of the blocks a little further along and post some pictures soon.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I haven’t fallen off the planet!
Happy Friday the 13th!

I’ve been using a little HP digital camera for years and just love it. But I was ready for a wee bit more - although not willing to take the digital SLR plunge (me or my debit card). I’m not a photographer, just a picture-taker. I took a photography class in junior college - but daresay I’ve forgotten everything and couldn’t explain an F-stop to save my life.

Nikon just came out with this camera, Coolpix P80, for the in-betweeners. It’s 10 Megapixels and has an 18x optical zoom (as opposed to my little camera that only goes to 5x - I don’t count digital zoom because you aren’t really zooming in you’re just cropping the photo and I can do that in Photoshop).

So anyway, what makes this so swell is once I decided I’d really like to purchase the camera I went through a bunch of old stamps (years ago I worked in a stamp store so I literally have thousands of stamps). I pulled out a ton that I could part with and put them in bundles on eBay. I told myself that if I made enough selling the stamps I could purchase the camera.

The camera arrived last week and I’m just loving it! I’m still getting used to the features and where things are but am having a great time taking pictures. I don’t know if you’ll be able to see a difference in future photos on my blog but it really is such a treat.

Waaaawho for eBay! I don’t know if it’s just a girl thing or not but when I can sell stuff I’m not using and get something cool in exchange it almost feels like it was FREE. :)