The perfect gift!

I love when I come across a website or shop that I'm really excited about~ I think I'll add this one to my list.

How cool is this? The shop DearSukie lets you design your own wallet. It's made from paper that's been covered in a heavy, clear vinyl and sewn together. You choose the paper(from a variety of awesome prints) and snap color too.
What a great gift this would make. Since my Birthday is around the corner, I think I just might get it for myself :)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Great find, new purchase :)

Recently I found a cool Etsy shop: Mirrorgirl where you can find mouse pads and mirrors with artwork from some of your favorite Etsy Artists. One of my favorite artists is Seamripper(Kathleen Habbley), her illustrations are so cute & happy~ I love her work!
My son was sitting at the computer when I replaced our old mouse pad with the new one, he looked at it and said, "We don't even have a cat!" How funny, because I remember thinking the same thing when I bought it(they were out of the girl with a dog), but since I was so excited about finding a Seamripper illustration I figured Cat? Dog? who cares, it's cute!

French Inspired Jewelry.... a favorite book.

After a long weekend of dealing with a computer virus, I was so happy when this book arrived!



This is the second time I've bought this book. I gave my first copy to someone who I knew would love it too. Kaari Meng is great~ her book is full of helpful information, techniques and inspirations. I love how she gives so much detail from the different names & types of beads, to exactly what you would need to complete any necklace or bracelet.
Lately I've been wanting to try making a necklace or bracelet using vintage jewelry that I've collected. I have necklaces, pins, earrings, chains, beads etc.. and just stored them away thinking I would find a use for them someday.
This September, all of my kids will be in School(for the first time in 5 years), so with all my new free time I think I'll work on making some Jewelry :)

Artwork: new and old

Next to Etsy, I think I've found the most amazing web-site! For those of you who love prints of amazing & affordable artwork I think you'll agree. I could wander through Thumbtack Press for hours! I'm so excited about finding it, if you haven't seen it yet~ it's definitely worth checking out.
I'm not sure where my obsession with Artwork and wanting to fill my walls with prints is coming from. Maybe it's because I can't draw or paint to save my life.

This is me and my brother. He's an artist, and knew ever since he was little that that's what he wanted to be. The artist gene definitely skipped over me, hopefully one of my kids gets it. He graduated from Pasadena Art Center years ago, and is probably the best artist I know.
When we were younger I'd ask him to draw paper dolls for me that I'd cut out & play with for hours. I also had an obsession with Chastity Bono(it was the 70's) so he drew her a lot for me too.
I've saved this next picture for probably over 30 years. One day, after bugging him to draw a picture of me, he finally agreed.
It took him about thirty minutes: sitting across from me, looking at me, drawing, looking at me, drawing, looking at me, drawing some more.... and this is what he came up with:


I laugh at that picture every time I see it!
It never gets old :)
The funniest thing about the picture is that I remember the amount of time he took~ I really believed he was drawing an amazing portrait.