Busy Weekend

I had more trinket boxes to finish up this weekend in preparation for another Stuff drop. These take awhile to complete because after the gluing and grouting, the inside needs to be painted and the outside back and bottom need to be papered. Whew! This one says "TREASURE" in mini Scrabble letters I bought off of Ebay.

I've mentioned that I really enjoy these boxes because of all the things I can cram into them. Like the red button, perfume bottle, car, and bowling pin on the top of this one.

The purple flower is another button and I am really on a domino kick lately. I have several sets of those. Seems I can never accumulate too much junk.

Another button on the top left; some kind of plastic with sparkles inside. Another Old School Flea treasure.

A tiny spoon on the other side with a fleur-de-lis, and the white rosette is a button.

I paper the back and bottom for a nicely finished look.

This one says "GIRLY" in those same mini Scrabble tiles. That's a pink button on the right next to the doll. I've had it for months and have waited for just the right place. Very funky with pink plastic chips melted to the top. It looks like it may have spent a former life on a coat.

To accompany the doll arm on the top of the box, here's a doll leg. You can't tell from the pic, but it's quite a chubby leg. I love the dark blue perfume bottle and I'm always a sucker for dice.

You can't have enough perfume bottles on a box that says "GIRLY", so here's another. I also added a nautical button to this side. Once again, I was waiting for just the right thing for this button.

The gold swirly is a button and so is the purple plastic round object on the right with parts peaking through.


And the back is finished with some fun polka dotted paper. These boxes are worth the work and customers at Stuff really like them.

On Saturday, mom and I went down to the Mound City arts and crafts fair and met up with my cousin Janet and some other friends who live in that area. Janet is the country mouse and I'm the city mouse and we are always teasing each other, but I must admit the fresh breeze and open land where she lives is awesome. (I hope she doesn't read this blog because I won't live that one down!)

I was so happy to pull up and see Janet's friend, Becky. They have known each other since grade school and I remember going to Becky's bachelorette party about 15 or 16 years ago. Going is about the only thing I remember. My, how I've grown up . . .

We met up with Janet's friend Corina and her mom, Roberta. Corina's son, Colby, and Dash got in some basketball before our shopping extravaganza.

Once we got there it was super crowded. This picture does not begin to show that.

There were all kinds of cute Halloween things like this fun ghost.

I like the Halloween socks and the witch boxes.

This hand was great. It's a good thing I have no room in my house.

There was lots of jewelry, including these colorful charms.

And I always see this house on the side of 69 Hwy on the way down to Mound City. I told my mom on the way back that I was finally going to stop to take some pics.

I wanted so badly to look in the windows, but the grass was really overgrown and being a city mouse, I'm very afraid of snakes.

There was some cool detailing at the pitch of this wall. My mom and I wondered how long this house had been here and why it had been abandoned. It doesn't take long for homes without people to lose life, but I wonder how long this one has been empty.

And one more project this weekend; it wouldn't be a mosaic party at my house without a magnetized chalk board. Isn't this a great chalk holder?! This board says, "DOG POWER".

This dog looks very regal.

The bones are polymer clay.

And of course, I had to sneak in a button or two.

Umm . . . Business Trip

Poor me. I had to go to San Francisco on business earlier this week and these were some of the things I was subjected to. These are views from the work area. The hills in the backdrop were beautiful. So was the Whole Foods in the parking lot -- talk about convenient!


A few of my work friends took me to the city and we had an amazing time having cocktails on the 52nd floor of the Bank of America Building.


Talk about fabulous views! The Golden Gate Bridge on my left, the Bay Bridge on my right, Alcatraz, the TransAmerica tower . . . the list goes on. It was breathtaking. And that chocolate martini wasn't bad, either.


More views of downtown San Francisco . . .



Then down to the water for a fabulous dinner at the Slanted Door. This place was amazing and weekends are booked weeks in advance -- I felt like a celebrity and my friends and I laughed and had so much fun!! It sat right on the bay. Here's a pic I took with the restaurant behind me.


So the business trip just kept getting progressively difficult . . . The next night, my friend Cece and her man, Dwayne, took me "over the hill" to the ocean. WOW.

It was about 10 degrees cooler on the west side of the mountains and the fresh air was therapeutic.


As were the views . . .



We stopped for some views of Pigeon Point Light House built in 1872.


I was so taken with the little shed attached to the lighthouse. Cute and kind of haunting at the same time. It originally housed the fuel for the lighthouse. I was amazed to learn that the fuel was lard. There was also a hostel that shared a parking lot with the lighthouse right there on the beach. I thought this was fascinating . . .


We headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Cruz where we ate an amazing dinner at the Crow's Nest. It was wonderful eating scallops from the ocean I was sitting on and drinking wine from grapes that were harvested just up the hill from the restaurant. Santa Cruz is beautiful with a cozy feel and I think Cece, Dwayne and I were some of the few not sporting dreadlocks in this laid back little town. In all seriousness, I did have a lot of actual business to conduct on this trip, but WOW, the evenings were amazing. Thanks to my California friends!!!