It's beginning to look a lot like christmas.....

I had the pleasure of attending Birds of a Feather's Christmas Open House a month ago. Birds of Feather is located in beautiful Cambria and is well worth a drive to check out this lovely store filled with treasures. You can find everything from ephemera, german glass glitter, ribbons, decor, antiques....oh the list goes on. Heres a little peek...

New jewels in my etsy shop

I have been having a hard time photographing my jewelry and getting my etsy shop updated with all my new pieces. Not sure why? Maybe this is the why...

Aahh...Yes, I do believe this is why. But, how cute is he? And such a great helper!

Treasure Hunting

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved Flea Markets, swap meets, garage sales, thrift shops, junk shops, antique stores...you name it! And now that my little one is getting older, I have been getting back in the habit of Flea Marketing with my partner in crime...my sister-in-law. This entails getting up at 5:30 in the morning (thanks to my Espresso machine), bundling up warm (big sweatshirt and gloves), racing up and down the rows with eagle eyes (because the early/quick bird gets the worm) looking for that one thing "that makes my heart sing" (As my Aunt Beth says), and all the while having a wonderful time hanging out and laughing with my sister-in-law (she is so much fun!)

My favorite acquisition....this Victorian mourning pendant. A beautiful piece of history.
And check out this urn/champagne chiller that I tuned into a paper towel holder!
This cool metal table was a steel at $20 and I use it to hold my school binder and supplies in my kitchen and it will double as microscope lab table!

Homeschooling

Oh, the wonderful books we will read and the fascinating places they will take us to. The sweet time spent together. It's wonderful to be back in school.

This year, Ivory is in the 5th grade, Elias is Pre-K and Beckett...well he just hangs out with us.

Beloved jane jewels

A gift for a dear friend. This necklace is made with Apatite gemstones, freshwater pearls, rhinestone rondelles, and sterling silver. Frippery at it's finest.

Part Two

Well, we are back.  The truth is we have been back for quite a while and enjoying our summer break so much that I haven't had time to blog.  So to get you up to speed we had a wonderful time in San Diego with our friends.  As far as our trailer, only one little thing fell off.  Here a few photo highlights. 

Taking off...Part One

RECAP...of our trip.
It's done....at least the bottom portion.  Aaah....a sigh of relief....I was able to get the front dinette bottom cushions finished and my sweet husband installed mini aluminum blinds in the kitchen and got the trailer all ready.... all in record time for our  trip to San Diego!  Off we go.  I'll let you know what falls off the trailer on this trip.

Treasures to be had at the Gem Show

I found out there was a Gem Show happening in Santa Barbara and invited my sister in law, Netty, to go with me for a fun day of shopping (till you drop) , eating (Indian food) and laughing (I always have fun with Netty :).  The two of us had a blast looking at all the beautiful gemstones, pearls, beads, findings and beautiful things. I think we were in the building for 4 hours (maybe more, who keeps track?)  I had so much fun learning about all the different stones from all over the world.  A few of my favorites are Garnets, Apatite, Peruvian Blue Opal, Chrysocolla, Smoky quartz, Labradorite, Iolite and the list goes on.  Now, I need to take my treasures and get make some jewelry.

  

Airstream and Sewing

Summer time is approaching and I need to get busy sewing, our vacation is nearing.   We have a 1966  Airstream Trailer (Tradewind) that we have been fixing up for about 3 years now.  I managed to upholster the back pull out bed about 2 years ago and now need to finish by upholstering the front dinette.  I'm a little behind on schedule because when I was pregnant with my now one year old, the "trailer smell"  made me nauseous and I could not go near it the whole pregnancy.  I also couldn't drink mocha's...so very weird, because these are two of my favorite things.  And now,  I have been busy with a one year old who doesn't appreciate sewing!  So now is the season to sew...I think.   The front dinette is designed and built by my loving and handy husband, so our family of 5 can fit comfortably.  He also installed bamboo flooring for my birthday last year, new window (because the old one exploded into a million pieces in Yosemite...some kind of crazy static explosion), and installed a new back hatch (because ours blew off in Yosemite, apparently that happens a lot.)  Oh, and he had to install a new fan when the old one blew off on a trip to Santa Cruz.  Our joke now when we leave for a trip is "what will blow off next?"  We never leave on a trip without duck tape and cardboard.  

This is what memories are made of.

 

To be continued.