Masala, Wine and Goldbug

Day one of the Pasadena Bead and Design show is coming to an end.

I met some wonderful people at the show today and look forward to meeting more over the next 3 days.

After we closed the booth down for the day Sweetie and I headed out for some dinner.

I had a craving for Indian food....and Sweetie obliged.

We ended up in Old Town Pasadena at Akbar's.

So yummy!

We enjoyed a potato chat and some mango lassi before our meal of

chicken tikka masala and spinach paneer and garlic naan came to the table.

This was Sweetie's first time for Indian food and he promises he enjoyed it.

The photos are being held captive on the cameras at the moment but I promise to share them next week when we get home.

On our way back to the car we passed the most unusual shop.

Unfortunately the shop was closed but we did some hardcore window shopping.

I will let the website speak for itself!

Goldbug...

tell me what you think!

Before we retire for the evening (which will hopefully be soon, I am getting sleepy!) we are enjoying a glass of pinot noir, a little cheesecake and the free wi-fi in the bar.

more to report later!

xoxo

Going back to Cali, Cali, Cali....

It's show time again!

Renegade SF was a blast, but that's in the past.

Now its time for Pasadena!

Blossom Shop will be at the

Pasadena Hilton Hotel

Thursday, July 30th - Sunday, August 2nd

10am - 6pm

Some on Southern Californians!

Hope to see you there!

xoxo

There's no place like home. There's no place like home....

I have been clicking my heels all week.

Unfortunately I did not bring my ruby slippers.....

As much as I cry about how hot it is living in the desert in the summer time I am anxious to get back there.

Not for weather though..

I miss my 8lb furry baby Skippy.

Even though I know he has been having a FANTASTIC time with his Uncle Rich and is probably in no hurry to get home.

I miss my bedroom.

I love my bedroom.

The bed is comfy, it smells good, all my stuff is there.

I miss my work space.

Its hard to blog on the road...

I can't make jewelry on the road....

I can't craft on the road.

I miss my 90210 reruns in the middle of the day.

I guess I miss it even more now because I know I am only home for 4 days before Blossom Shop

hits the road again and heads to Pasadena for the Bead and Design show.

I am SUPER excited to do the show, don't get me wrong!

Its just another trip away from home.

But absense makes the heart grow fonder.

:)

I'll be home in a few hours.

xoxo

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Renegade SF was a great time!

A more detailed post to come but for now I will leave you with this.....

xoxo

And we're off!!!!

I am going back to where I left my heart...San Francisco.

I grew up in the SF Bay Area and graduated from college in San Francisco, so it really is going home again for me.

I just love the city and the area. I am so excited to get to spend some time out there.

I am going to do my best to update from Renegade this weekend.

It might just be on Facebook...so you better get on there and become a fan of

Blossom Shop! :)
If you are coming to Renegade this Saturday and Sunday look for Blossom Shop and Starving Artist Bazaar (along with our collaboration project YooFoo) in booth #126.

Hope to see you there!
xoxo

Treasures abound, Treasures found

Arizona in the summer time can be summed up in one word..HOT.

And HOT it was this past weekend.

Sweetie and I wanted to beat the heat so we got up early Saturday morning and headed out.

Our first 2 stops were Estate Sales. There are wonderful old homes and ranches in the area, always a treat when the sale is in a particularly lovely or interesting home.

Both of our stops did not disappoint.

The first was a big Ranch house, big wood beams on the ceiling and rustic touches everywhere.
The second home was not as grand but the sale pickens were excellent!

Sweetie and I left the second sale with our arms loaded and spirits lifted.

Here are some of our goodies!

A CDV (carte de visite) album from about the 1870s.

CDVs originated in France in 1854 and came to the US in 1860.

According to Wikipedia, A CDV was usually made of an albumen print, which was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card. The size of a carte de visite is 2⅛ × 3½ inches mounted on a card sized 2½ × 4 inches.

And I have a whole album full!

They are all pictures of men too..I always seem to have plenty of old photos of women, so now the men can be represented as well!

I am also loving my sword pin!
I think its a scimitar.

Whatever it is I love it!

I got lots of jewelry pieces for new Blossom Shop work too!

woohooo! new stuff on the horizon.

I really love the charms I found.

The heart on the right says "Bert", I just love that...not sure why.

Sweetie got himself a Civil War calvary sword too, he has been wanting new sword for this collection for so long. Nice to see him treat himself to something like that.

After the sales it was time to bug out of town!

North!, we cried, North!

Off we headed to Prescott.

Its a great little town about an hour and half north of Phoenix...and about 20 degrees cooler.

And we got a few rain drops :)

Ahhhh, much better!

We had lunch at The Palace...we love it there.

You really get the Old West feeling there, its cool.

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday used to hang out there...how cool is that?

After many hours of popping in and out of the many antique shops we were exhausted!

We stopped into a another very cool restaurant for a little pick me up, The Raven Cafe.

A great beer list, lots of wine, and food too.

But they also have art and music there too!

I can't wait to hang out there again, great place.

What a fabulous day with my Sweetie!

how was your weekend?

xoxo

Paper N Stitch

I made a new friend!

I found a new blog that I am really enjoying.

papernstitchblog.com

But its not only a blog..its an exhibition space for independent boutiques and others who make handmade things!

papernstitch.com

Starting July 13th (today!) until August 15th Blossom Shop is thrilled to be a part of the papernstitch.com exhibition!

Please click the link to the Blossom Shop exhibition page and give a little click on the heart by my picture.

Blossom Shop Exhibition!

AND!!! if you purchase something listed on the Paper N Stitch exhibition (the purchase will be through Etsy and Paypal) and mention Paper N Stitch in the buyer comments I will refund you 20% of the cost of the piece!

A heart for me and 20% off for you!

xoxo

I (heart) berries

Don't you just love sweet summer fruit?

Especially berries...yum yum!

Blossom Shop now has berries for your ears!

Lovely gem stone chips are wire wrapped in sterling silver or gold fill wire and dangle in clusters from gold fill or antiqued silver hoops.

More colors available on Blossom Shop!

If you don't find the color combination you want, just send me a note and I can special order anything you need.

xoxo

hey! what's with all the ribbon?

The what, you say?

Oh! the ribbon you say!

well I am so glad you asked!

Blossom Shop is um, blossoming and adding something new to the fair table.

(not in the shop just yet!)

~Bookmarks!~

They will be making their debut at the Renegade Fair on July 18th and 19th in San Francisco.

Different colors and patterns of ribbon and different charms.

I think you should come by the booth and have a look!

A week and a half and counting!

xoxo

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny

wow! Blossom Shop is in another Etsy Treasury!

Very exciting indeed :)

I am sending out a big thank you to NSSeaglass (Nova Scotia Seaglass) for including my Itsy Bitsy necklace in her Itsy Bitsy Treasury .

You can click on the link above to get a larger view of her treasury!

Here is the Itsy Bitsy Necklace that is available in the Blossom Shop right now!

thanks again!

xoxo

Cherries Cherries Cherries!

A great big thank you to catherinereece of Village Clayworks for including my Cherry Tree Necklace in her very cute cherry inspired Treasury on Etsy!

Click HERE to see the actual treasury!

And here is a close up of the necklace.

It is available at Blossom Shop on Etsy right now!

thanks!!

xoxo

My Altered Animal Friends

Whew! the excitement of the Mad Tea Party is subsiding and we are all basking in the afterglow of too much tea, too many goodies and lots of wonderful giveaways.

I got lots of nice comments about my party guests (Miss Ellie, Miss Geri and the twin ponies).

I wanted to share where that inspiration came from.

Lisa Kettell and her Altered Art Circus book!

This book is so wonderfully fun and creative and inspirational.

The circus animals are only the first of the projects I will be doing out of this book.

Books like this are so wonderful because there are no rules....you can read the words and look at the pictures and if you desire you can embark on your own journey.

Your imagination takes over and the words and pictures that were in the book are transformed into your own special project.

There is no wrong.

Here is my journey...

I found my friends at dollar stores, toy stores, thrift shops.

Mine came in the form of more circus type animals but I saw bugs and marine life...the possibilities were endless!

They needed a base of paint...I went with whatever felt right at the time.

And from there it was all about fancy.

I went through my jars of paints and glitter and trim and tissue paper and beads and

Miss Geri got a lovely beaded necklace...with that neck how could you not adorn it??

Lipstick, blush and eyeshadow complimented her bone structure.

She is after all a proper lady.

Miss Ellie called for a striking headpiece and a light shawl.

Isn't her pedicure lovely?

It matches her eyeshadow.

This twin went bold with red and gold.

German glitter on the legs and the mane and tail highlighted.

This twin went more subtle with silver, purple and white.

I had a wonderful time decorating these lovelies and am looking forward to my next project from the Lisa Kettell book!

xoxo