another treasure hunt weekend

It's all about the yard sales this weekend. Kyle has decided he wants a GPS to do some geocaching, so he's holding a yard sale today with a bit of help from his Dad to keep it running smoothly. I dug out some things last night to add to his sale. It's so hot this weekend that I think his big seller will be the bottled water he's selling for $1. There are literally hundreds of yard sales on the mountain this weekend. Mom will soon be on her way up and we are headed out to hit a few sales this morning with chocolate donuts in hand.

I stopped by a few sales yesterday and picked up those fabulous keys. I've been trying to find old keys forever. They have been elusive, but yesterday I spied these in a wine glass just as I was about to leave the sale. Definitely a diamond in the rough. When I pulled up it looked like a guy yard sale with lots of electronic type stuff and the guy manning the sale was a bit suspect. So glad I stopped anyway and went on with the hunt. I'm certain that my ancestors were hunter/gatherers.

it's a wrap

We are going to school today to pick up Kyle's books and schedule. School starts Tuesday. Sigh...it's been such a wonderful summer. We didn't take any big exotic trips this year. We purposely had a close to home summer. But wow what a fun time we had.

The photo above is a peek at Kyle's re-decorated room. It went from a green mountain lodge fishing type room to a tropical oasis. He chose most everything in the room with a bit of input from us and a lot of muscle power from me on the painting. Kyle did get in lots of paint time, too. Curtis made a stencil and painted in the Quicksilver logo there on the wall. It was a great team effort. Kyle's in this pic somewhere under the covers this morning as is Mabel. Shelly is the only one you can see in the photo.

We just returned from an overnight a Disney. I love the escape of going to Disneyland. We stayed until midnight and got up to open the park the next day. Some of our favorites include The Golden Horseshoe Saloon, Space Mountain, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Autopia. We love alot of the new attractions at California Adventure like Aladdin Show, Soaring over California, Tower of Terror, Bugs Life, and California Screamin'. It really is a magical place.

Curtis and Kyle got in 3 fishing trips and our freezer has at least 6 months of fish in it. We went white water rafting on the King's river. It was the first river my mom took me rafting on when I was a teen. What a wonderful full circle journey. Come to think of it the fishing is a full circle for hubby, too. He spent many hours fishing in his grandma's ponds as a boy. Maybe that's what made our summer so wonderful all around. We all got to act like kids again.

We also got in a quick trip to the Long Beach Aquarium. It was a beautiful day where my taller than me teen got excited about all the fish just like when he was little. Along with all of that there were some overnighter's at Grandma and Pacaw's house. Swimming, more fishing, the ice cream truck, and a baseball game filled in the rest. Curtis and I took a quick runaway trip down to the Laguna Arts Festivals for lots of inspiration and some much appreciated alone time. I can't imagine a better summer vacation.

treasure hunting

First before I start my story about treasure hunting a final bit of Craft Critique self promotion. My last article for them is up today about twinkling H2O's. Stop by if you have a minute. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I adore going out for an entire day of digging through junk hunting treasure. Mom and I did just that on Saturday while the guys were on their last hurrah of summer deep sea fishing trip. I got up early and went down the mountain to mom's and picked her up. She had a little ice chest full of cold water and sodas to take in the car. I should back up and tell you that I scoured craigs list and the local papers to come up with a list of stops. Mom had scoured the green sheet to add to our list. We had a bowl of cheerios and bananas first to give us strength.

Then with list and map in hand we headed out to the yard sales in her neighborhood. It was pretty slim pickins this day. It seemed like lots of leftovers from previous yard sales. We did find a huge Nerf gun for Kyle for $2.50. So, we gave up the yard sales and headed to a massive thrift shop for the opening of 1/2 price day. We arrived 5 minutes before opening and the line was around the door. This is where it takes dedication to wait and get in there. We waited and got in pretty quickly. Most people were going for the 10 clothes for a dollar, so we focused elsewhere. I found a pile of goodies for $6.50 which included a denami rubber stamp, lots of old stationary, a mystery box of silverware and serving pieces, a jar full of pearlized snaps, old insurance paperwork, and millinary leaves. From there we went to Salvation Army for another 1/2 price day that was a surprise to us. I found 2 pair of Quicksilver shorts, a DC shirt, and a Billabong shirt all in perfect condition for Kyle for $9 total. If you have teenagers you know about the brand thing. I think it's important to spend money on good shoes, backpack, and undies, but the other stuff I usually find in my treasure hunting.

At the next thrift shop I found a really cute top for me and some old sheet music. Then it was off to lunch for a respite and recharge. We have a favorite place that for yummy sandwiches like chicken, brie, and roasted red peppers served with sweet potato fries. After that we went to the next big thrift shop. I scored a 1/2 price billabong sweatshirt for the kid, a ton of great buttons, a psx stamp, and some old books.

So, what is our secret? Persistance and dedication. It takes time to find the good stuff. Also, we have a regular route of places we go, but are willing to turn the car around if we see a yard sale sign or a new thrift shop we haven't noticed before. Also, shopping together is lots of fun. Not only do we get to share the thrill of the hunt, but with two sets of eyes and ears we find more treasure. We talk alot about what we are looking for in the car on the way there, so we can help each other. We don't pay much for anything and if somebody is too attached to their stuff we move on. No time for high priced junk. Also, have a little bit of money tucked back just in case something big comes your way. A tiny little purse that doesn't weigh much helps to keep your hands free for digging. That's all my tips for today. Now, a bit of eye candy.

renaissance arch

The theme for the gothic arch challenge this week is renaissance. At first all I could think was huzzah and the renaissance faire. I remembered I had a few little art books of the masters, but alas they were too recent and more impressionist art. I needed some Rembrandt or DaVinci type art. I looked through this wonderful treasure trove of postcards I have stashed away. That led to a journey of reading the postcards, but not much in the way of renaissance art. My favorite postcard was written in the 1960's and talked of getting stoned in a trippy outdoor garden in Stockholm. I'm still giggling about that postcard. I finally found one of an abbey in Bath and one of a Michaelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. I enjoyed them, but they didn't quite work. Then I remembered all the fun things from the Laguna Arts Festivals we went to last week. I had a little pile of booklets and cards and tickets. Ah ha! The theme for the Pageant of the Masters this year is All the World's a Stage. The perfect quote from Shakespeare for this period. Then I spied the photo of a Rembrandt in one of the brochures. Finally I used the date from our tickets on the arch. I love that we went on such a memorable date, 8/8/08. The other elements are some basic grey rub-ons, a stampington stamp, and a psx stamp.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for commiserating with me this week about my dental woes. I finally was able to eat real food on Friday and felt like a person again. I have more stuff to share tomorrow about my treasure hunting adventures this weekend. I added a few things in my etsy shop today from my excursions if you'd like to take a peek.

smoke and fire

The entire time I sat in the dentist chair this morning, that is all I could think about. Remember the old Bill Cosby routine about the dentist? They try to talk to you and make you answer or even worse laugh while they have fast drilling things in there that could cut off your tongue. The whole time I was trying to sink down further in the chair and disappear. They didn't seem to notice that my entire being was a big knot of stress. I don't know how there can be job satisfaction working in a dental office. It's like the worst place in the world to me. Thank goodness somebody thinks it's a good job. Lucky for me the two people who ground my tooth down to a nub today over the course of 3 1/2 hours were good at it. Did I mention I hate the dentist office.

my new gig

I am so excited to share with all of you that I have accepted an invitation to be a staff member with Scrapbook News and Review. It is a new online magazine with it's 5th issue being released tomorrow. It's a mix of scrapbooking and stamping, with stamping being the newest addition. There is also an area for ATC's and altered art. So, I've found all sorts of places that fit for me. My first pieces will be published in September. As of today I have 6 pieces published next month. It's so exciting.

If you'd like to visit, you can register on the site for free to cruise around. The magazine issues are listed there for purchase, but there is plenty to see for free, too. Also there is a call for submissions on the front page. You get two free issues if your work is accepted for publication. I'm so happy to be a part of this new venture and have found some really wonderful ladies are on the staff there. I hope you'll have a chance to visit the new digs.

moving on

I don't know if you remember that I was in this reflective place a while back. I think it's good to step back and ask yourself if you are heading in the right direction from time to time. I usually do this around my birthday in January, but I guess I was busy this year. So, early this summer I re-defined some of my goals. I decided it was time to try out some new things. Heading in new directions means saying goodbye, too. So, today I bid farewell to Craft Critique. I have an article up today there about air dry clay. I have one more article that will post later this month and that's the end of this chapter.

Working with Craft Critique over the last year has been an amazing experience. I was introduced to CHA and got a whole different look at the way the industry works. It's a huge industry with so many opportunities. I learned so many things about myself as a writer and as an artist. I learned that I love writing articles about products that move me either in a good way or a bad way. I learned you love articles about new stamps and negative reviews most of all by the number of comments. I learned that I should never ever do book or magazine reviews again. I really am not good at that and actually cringed when such an assignment was given me.

Thank you to all the lovely ladies over at Craft Critique who took a chance on me. If you missed some of my articles there or just want to laugh at my terrible book reviews, here is a link to all the articles I wrote over the last year. Thanks so much for reading them.

for the birds

I found a wonderful feather stamp and this pretty bird stamp just in time for the bird gothic arch challenge this week. I used a whole bunch of fun stuff here including some real feathers and vintage sheet music. I'm still addicted to buttons, so they are here, too. The bird stamp is memory box and the feather stamp is psx. I adore psx and know I've found a treasure when I can get my hands on one.

I feel like a little bird singing today. I just scheduled 3 more classes this fall. Yipeeeee...you can see the dates over there on the side.

Kyle's room is coming together nicely. I found the most amazing bedframe today for $35. Score! I just knew I'd find one and he said it's exactly what he wanted. How wonderful and the price was good for me. The expensive mattress and boxsprings are being delivered in the morning and the quicksilver bedding is ready to go on when they arrive. Grandma bought the blinds this week, so we will get those up this weekend, too. Almost there.