Yay! Weekend!

I hope that your weekend is filled with all things GOOD. *LOVE was found on the inside cover of my book today. That's a good sign.

More Photos from Zinnia

Would you believe that this is actually a box spring with tiny paper hearts attached to it?
Fabric roses hung from the ceiling.

I love Zinnia. Tamara and the Gang make it so warm, inviting and inspirational.

I've been a busy bee with class preparations lately. I'm teaching tomorrow (Friday) at Stampin' From the Heart. There are some seats left but please make sure if you are interested that you sign up asap as I need to make sure I have enough supplies. Last minute signups have been the norm lately and it can be hard to order, cut and prep materials without enough notice. Not complaining, just stating a fact!

Superbowl Sunday, I'm scheduled to teach Love Story at Zinnia in So Pasadena. Last I heard, no one had signed up yet so please don't wait too long or else it may get canceled.

I'm trekking to Fremont next weekend and classes are quickly filling up. Spaces are limited so if you've been on the fence about signing up, please don't wait too long.

I'm going to buy paper for classes tomorrow at Artist and Craftsman on La Cienega. If you haven't been there, they have great deals on handmade and decorative paper. I LOVE picking out new papers for classes.

The week after Fremont, I'll be at Frenzy Stamper in Scottsdale, AZ. I'm excited! I haven't been to Arizona since November and it will be good to see my friends, meet new faces and get to shop in some of my favorite stores (Frenzy Stamper!!!) These are my ONLY Arizona classes until Art Unraveled in August.

In addition to working on my classes, I'm also working in two journals, which is a first for me. I usually work one journal at a time but I wanted to try something new and I'm finding that it's pushing me. More on that soon.

Tristan turns 15 on Saturday. I'm so proud of my son, whom I can't call "little" any more as he's taller than me. He has big plans for the day and I think most of it involves Lego, Lego and more Lego (preferably the new Star Wars.) I'm hoping that the Lego store isn't sold out of the new sets by the time we get there.
Here's a link to Tristan's youtube channel where he posts his Lego Stop-motion films that he makes.

This is his most recent film:

Inspiration in a Bottle

I had a great afternoon with my friend, Connie. She was in town for CHA and met up with me today. We ate lunch at Lulu's on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles (one of my favorite local restaurants.) From there we trekked to Zinnia in South Pasadena where I bought some scrapbook paper, an XOXOXO stencil from Coffee Break Designs and took the photo that you see above. I'm looking forward to seeing Connie and the gang next weekend in Fremont. Zinnia is all decked out for Valentine's Day! Tamara and the Gang always do an amazing job of decorating the store. I'll try to post more photos this week.I wonder how much the store will change between now and Sunday when I return to teach! Every time it's something new there!! I love it!

Roasted Butternut Squash on a Bed of Kale and Spinach

This is another part of my series in the segment now known as, "This Is Not Turning Into a Food Blog". Every now and then, someone asks me to share a favorite recipe, so here it is! Ingredients Olive Oil Water (for the rice) Brown Rice (follow the directions for water to rice ratio. I used a half of a cup of rice and a cup of water.) Kale (chopped into bits) Baby Spinach Onions Tomatoes Butternut Squash Vegetable Broth (1/2 cup) Preheat your oven to 400° Chop up the veggies while the oven is heating up. You can add any vegetable to this dish. I forgot to buy flax seed and almonds, as I would've added those! Place cut up squash into a cooking pan. Lightly drizzle with olive oil. If desired, add onions. Roast for 20 minutes at 400° or until a fork can slide easily in and out of it. In a pan, place the vegetable broth and kale. Cover and simmer on low . I try to simmer until all of the broth evaporates but sometimes that doesn't happen so I drain the kale. In a pan, add the water and rice. Cover. Low heat. Stir occasionally. The water should evaporate completely when the rice is done. Wash and drain the spinach. When everything is cooked, place spinach and kale down first, then add rice and veggies. Enjoy!! I am looking for some other ideas for kale (kale chips are on my to try list.) What is your favorite way to eat it?

17 January 2012 Journal Page

I had fun with this two page spread in my Wanderlust Journal. I used micro glue dots to attach the pink skeleton leaf. Unfortunately the dots stayed tacky, so I went over it with a piece of script tape (made by o check). It's still fragile and sits above the page but it's okay. I'm often asked if I seal my pages. Nope. Nope and nope. For several reasons: -Living in Southern California, it gets very hot in my apartment. I have had pages with gel medium on the front stick so now I only put glue on the back (these days I've been using a glue stick which obviously only goes on the back.) I make sure that not only do I use enough glue but I also burnish it with a rag or paper towel. -I'm lazy. Covering the page means more glue and more work. -I like the texture of all of the different layers peeking through. I wouldn't get that if I encased the page with gel medium. -Spray fixatives are toxic. I like to read labels. I also would like to keep the brain cells I have left. If you're working in a closed book, it should be fine. I've made a plethora of books and have yet to have problems. If you're working on something that will be exposed (like the cover or a canvas), I recommended using gel medium (regular gel in gloss finish from Nova Color is my favorite.) Make sure that you let the glue underneath dry first. If it's still wet, it will feel cold to the touch. When it's dry, brush a really thin layer of gel medium keeping the brush strokes in one direction. If desired, you can apply more layers just make sure to let each one dry completely before adding the next one. If you have any questions, just let me know!

Prepping for Northern California and Arizona Workshops

Above is a flyer for my workshops in Fremont, California February 10-12th. I'm starting to prep for the workshops in Fremont as well as my workshops in Scottsdale, AZ. I'll be ordering matboard, paper, glue and more this week. If you're interested in signing up, please don't wait too long.

More information on Fremont, CA February 10-12th can be found here.

Frenzy Stamper in Scottsdale, AZ is here.

My So CA classes can be found here. (I'll have more detailed information on my February classes up this week.)

I hope to see you THERE!

How I Spent My Saturday

I won't be making more of these any time soon (as it took me almost four hours to do what you see above) but I do like the end result. I hope that your weekend is going well! I'm looking forward to teaching tomorrow. Vegging at home today.