Category: blog

New Music: ZZWard

Went to see ZZWard at the Crescent Ballroom last night. Wow! She is RAD! Super hot sexy blues voice and rockin’ style. I met a ton of friends there too. What a great time. Check out this video if you’ve never heard of her. If you like this, you are down with my style! We have been seeing some great music lately. I am a very happy girl. More to come…

Next month we are going to see John Mayer at Hollywood Bowl (Love! Don’t roll your eyes either. He is a great songwriter), and Way Over Yonder with Neko Case, Brett Dennen, Calexico, Justin Townes Earle, Shovels and Rope at the Santa Monica Pier. Can. Not. Wait.

 

Permission to play

The idea of playing as an adult is important. Without engaging the child we are, we will lose the ability to imagine and invent and create.

When we imagine, we pretend. When we pretend, we go to places we wish to inhabit and in doing so our dreams become real.

Sometimes things don’t go our way. This is the opportunity to see that the universe has other plans. Here’s our time to rest, observe and ponder the new order.

Reflecting on small gifts leads to universal gratitude.

Pandora+SlackerRadio: A new way to discover music

My whole life I have had music in and around my life. My first concert with my parents was Joan Jett, and my first concert without my parents was Billy Idol. I dare say Dad should have chaperoned me for that one…but that’s a story for a different post.

There are cycles in my life where I am more attuned to the sounds of the day, and lately I have discovered a way to find new music faster. I tune into radio stations on Slacker Radio, then when I find a tune I like, I make a Pandora Station of that artist. Doing that leads to newer and newer artists, and better stations. Below are my latest Pandora Stations that have surprised me. Not all of them are revolutionary and some bands are downright old, but listen. You’ll be grovin’ in 30 seconds. That is, if you like my style of music. If you have some too, please let me know. I am always looking for groovy sound waves…

Mattafix……….Churchhill……….Cracker……….Cake……….

 

DIY 341: Fall for felt acorns

A year ago, my fab sister sent me a felted acorn as a talisman for a new adventure on which I was about to embark. So charmed by the token, I have made several for friends as gifts since then. This Friday I say good-bye to a treasured friend who is moving in a new direction, and I will give her one. Since I was at it, I thought I’d document the making since it is so easy. Here’s how it’s done:

Ball up some felt about the size of the nut removed from the cap

Drop a bit of craft glue in the cap and stuff the felt ball into it

Using a felting needle against a thick (clean) sponge, start to jab at the felt to form a tight ball

Keep poking at it to sculpt the felt — reduce the size and increase compactness

Glue and tie to the stem a pretty ribbon for hanging. Mine dangles form my rear view mirror and reminds me of my sister every day.

Happy, happy hour

Meeting friends at Postino Central to enjoy the atmosphere and engage in fascinating conversation is one of my favorite passtimes. I love my ladies as we discuss art and culture. Always in my bag is a sketch kit in case I am the first one to arrive. I love to sketch pieces of time, as I did so extensively in Italy (click here to read the post) and found it to be the most satisfying activity to do while relaxing between sights.

I now practice regularly when out and about. I was charmed by the color and shininess of the olives and made them the center of my sketch. I love the sugar trough on the table too. The texture of the paper feathered into the little metal rectangle created a beautiful pattern.

DIY 342: Bag (lady) pillow

Now that the nice weather is around the corner here in Phoenix, I am gearing up for cocktail hours in the garden. This year I am particularly excited because we are finally building the ramada I have been dreaming about for years. For the furniture I need throw pillows that are easy to care for, so I am collecting fun tea towels on sale and canvas bags to sew up.

On a recent run of retail therapy with CC, we stopped into Ann Taylor to see what was on sale. We hit the jackpot, and with it came this fabulous canvas bag. I tore strips of a favored pattern and sewed it along the edge to cover the logo.

The pretty girl only needed a red belt to be appropriately accessorized. I embroidered that on the machine and within an hour I had my first throw pillow for the new outdoor space.

These tea towels were the easiest things to make. They were on sale at Sur la Table. And since they were already screen printed in my style, all I had to do was fold over, stuff and sew. Done!

80th Birthday Celebration

I threw my mom an 80th birthday party in Minocqua, Wisconsin. The location of the hotel is in the lakes region where my parents have a cabin. I wanted the party gifts to be as special as my mom, so I planned to hand-paint images of native Mid-western flowers and put each one in a small, metal frame. With little time to do this before departing for the Northwoods, I packed my art kit and pulled it out during the flight. (See my cramped studio above.) I painted 20 little images — one each to be given to guests at the end of the night. And, what a night it was. The banquet room was beautiful as it overlooked Lake Minocqua. Guests arrived at 5pm and soon we were surrounded by three generations of family and friends. Just as the sun set a double rainbow came out to greet the birthday girl. Mom was so happy, it was a magical evening.

Gore Vidal phrases~poetry in my paintings

I am inspired to paint rather than sew this time. Last year, CC and I took over a two-and-a-half car garage to paint huge canvases (some were well over eight feet tall), but this year we are going small. So far, the largest canvas is four-by-six inches, and it happens to be this one pictured above.

There was a confluence of thoughts that brought about this little nugget. I am ripping into a Gore Vidal novel (forgive me Gore), and find his phrases taken out of context to be poetry. I love the idea of a gumball machine that when you turn the handle (as with life and art) you never quite know what you’re going to get.

Message in a bottle: Craft Rave goodies

I went to the Crarft Rave this year exited to craft since past years I participated and never had time to play. I brought my kit with all the things to persoanlize my crafts. It was so nice to be on the other side of the table! The best craft of all was CC’s, of course. Her Message in a Bottle craft was quick, easy and fun. I made a half dozen gifts to give for Christmas in under an hour. These Jars contain all the love and goodness for the people I will give them to.

Coming up is Crafteria, December 7th. Be sure to come and walk about in the chilly air, sip hot tea and peruse the best handmade crafts Phoenix has to offer. The event really ramps up the Christmas spirit. I can’t wait!

Italy is inspiring

Our 2 weeks in Italy was inspiring in surprising ways. Since this was my second trip to the Eternal Country, I chose to do the opposite as I had done before, which is to say I consciously planned nothing. All we planned for was a place to stay and a rental car for our second week in Tuscany. I was most interested in seeing where each day would lead.

Our itinerary went like this: 5 night in Rome, 2 nights each in Montepulciano, Sienna, Vernazza and Florence.

I brought with me a stash of 4×6 cards in various colors and water color pencils. Every moment we sat to eat or rest I sketched. (above, watercolor and pen on watercolor paper)

This is an interpretation of the Trevi Fountain. I couldn’t help including my lunch since eating was all we seemed to do. Yum! (on blue paper)

Serenade, Italy style (on blue paper)

Antipasto (on green paper)

A brick fell on our car in Montepulciano in the middle of the night. It smashed the back window out of our car. The next day we had to drive to another town to trade out the rental. Moral of the story, if you park next to an old building in Italy and a brick falls on your car, don’t admit it to the rental company because—in Italy—insurance won’t cover it. You’re just supposed to know not to park next to old stuff. It might fall on you. Our official story is, “We don’t know how that brick got in there.” (on dark blue paper)

Osteria Spaghetti Roma, best meal in the city. (on light blue paper)

Osteria Spaghetti Roma. Now, that’s how to eat a meal!

Every day, everywhere. Love the fizzy water. (on blue paper)

Drinks in Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi. Sunny day overlooking Roma. Ahhh….

Don’t worry, be Gabs. I bought three… www.gabs.it

What’s a trip to Italy without pencil rubbing a building. (on blue-gray paper)

So there you have it. Next time we are staying for a year. The plans have begun…