Aaargh, there be Pirate Atc's!

This is my ATC I'm in a Yahoo ATC group called ATC World, it's a fun group and easy enough on the swaps that you don't feel pressured. Just pick what you want to do! I've always liked pirate's since I was little and I would save my Saturday mornings for "Family Film Festival" on the TV to watch daring and romantic Pirate movies!
Here are the ATC's I got back in the swap.

Weekend rambles

I've been finishing up on a project called "Gothika" where a bunch of us artist put together something something that reminds us of Mary Shelley, Dracula, Dark Romance and so forth. I've been taking photo's of mine as I go along to add to the journal pages that I'll be submitting along with the piece. All of our finished pieces will be photographed and put into a book. I'm very excited! But as I'm working on my piece, I have been experiencing the weirdest deja'vu that I've done this style of work some where before.

Last night, Dyllan played out in our cul de- sac with a neighbor kid on his tricycle. I've found that if I rubber band a long piece of side walk chalk onto the end of a wooden dowel , that I can save the grace of my knees and draw his train track standing up. I also add a small parking lot to his track for him to park his trike and other toys. He Loves it!

We waited for it to get nice and dark so we could go on our "flash light" walk. Then myself, Brian and Dyllan set off to see what we could find and to look for large tree spiders to which we found plenty in all sizes and colors.

Today, the weather is cool and over cast with a chance of thundershowers, Cool! I love lighting too but mostly from a distance. One time when I was little, my Mom, sister, I and a friend of the family were walking around the neighborhood in the rain. We went up to our gated pool to watch the rain dance on the waters surface when all of a sudden we heard a crack and saw lighting hit the water. It scared us all so much that if I see it hit too close to home, I duck.

Our plan today... I finish up on my project. Brian finish up on the wedding he shot yesterday. Later take Dyllan to the "special hamburger place", it's really just Fuddruckers but we call it special cause he can make his burger any way he wants, plus they have yummy ice cream!

After lunch... go to Walmart to get Dyllan a Little Einstein's DVD cause he was good ALL day on Saturday. Then come home to relax some more.


I hope everyone is having a great week end! I'll upload some new photos Monday on my blog and in my shop!

Starting to feel like Fall...

With the sudden change in the weather, I'm starting to feel like my old self again. 2 days ago it was 100 degree weather and today was perfect. Overcast, tree leaves turning brown (probaly from the heat~but still...)It's all a nice change. Here are some of my Fall Favorites and It will be fun to see how my style has changed when I start posting some "new" stuff! This is a "purse" book I made with my group. We've also done one for Mothers Day too.

I made 100 fall inspired flower pens for a wedding. Sound like alot? When I got married, I hand made 500! Yes, you can say that I've mastered the skill. ;0)

I made these cards last year for some friends and family. I like to have fun when I'm, crafting.

A Fall inspired mini book made from brown lunch sacks.

I've had several people ask if I'll be hosting a "Vintage Halloween" swap. As much as I LOVE Halloween, I have to say no. Halloween is my favorite time of the year and I jam packed the month with events for my group, my family and my self.

10 Reasons why I'm having a great summer so far...

1. This week I went to a crop at a friends house. Out of the blue she gave me 4 issues of Somerset Studio. And also gave me a Exyron sticker machine and a large laminator. Great tools I can share with the other girls in the group!



2. Yesterday, Dyllan and I went to Pico Beach in San Clemente, Ca. It's pretty much the only beach we go to cause it has a swing set and slide for the kids plus the trains go by all the time!
We had a grand time chasing waves, building sand castles and this time instead of him yanking off my arm in excitement when a wave came, I decided why not sit down and let the waves wash over and around us? I thought it was a great idea until I stood up and found I had sand up my 'wahoo'.

3. Seeing the Ringling Barnum Bros. Circus train go by on the tracks yesterday.

4. Finding some "exactly what I wanted" shelves for FREE on Craig's list!

5. Introducing Dyllan to frozen grapes inside while it's 100 degree's out side.

6. Letting Dyllan play in the kiddie pool outside after 6:00pm, and then giving him a quick bath in the same pool.

7. Knowing that tomorrow night Dyllan will experience the electrical parade for the 1st time and I'll probably watch his face during the whole show.

8. Summer Sunsets

9. Misreading dead lines on art projects and realizing I have more time than I expected.

10. Making new blog friends.

My Muse, My Gallery

Ever have one of those days that you just need to be reminded of all the wonderful things you've created? These are items that I've long since sold on e-bay, way before I even discovered the wonderful world of etsy. In a way I'm "showing off" to all my blogging friends, but I'm also giving myself a portal to view the little treasures that I created with all my heart. In a way I miss them, they were like little children. But then they do remind me what I'm capable of in the future.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy.


"Butterfly Kisses"

"ATC holders"

"Faerie Bride"

"Gypsy Charms"

"Raven Tags"




"Make a Wish"

Art Dolls

The 2 dolls are ones I've been meaning to show off for some time.
These are part of a yahoo group I'm in called Friendship Dolls.

The top one is a Mermaid I made. It was for a swap. The idea was for us to make a doll fashioned after our favorite drink. I felt the mermaid was fitting for a Margarita on the Rocks with salt. She even has a a miniature comb and mirror bejeweled with seed beads in her bag!

The bottom one is one I got to keep and only had to make her for a challenge regarding our favorite flower. I used some old panty hose from days gone by to make a sun flower doll.
 It was my 1st time face sculpting and she won 2nd place. I got a nice box of goodies in the mail!

Mini Book Making

As you can see the book is quite simple.

 I used mini manila dividers and randomly covered them with 2 solid color card stock and 1 matching patterned cardstock. I used a make-up sponge to add Tim Holtz distress inks to the edges and created a random but charming design with just one foam stamp.

I also used a stapler, some adhesive and lots of ribbon scraps! If you don't have a crop-a-dile to cut all the holes at once in the end, you can use a regular hole punch, page by page.




The tabs of the book are nice for categorizing special events or photos.

I tied the book together with more matching ribbon.

I really like how it turned out!

Violent Femmes on Aug. 1st

I am sooo happy that I got to see the Violent Femmes in concert last Wed night at the House of Blues in Anaheim! I went with my friends Kimber and Dawn.

7:30pm we arrived
8:00pm they let us in
Standing room only, we got a fairly good spot on the right near the bar.
9:00pm the opening band, "True West" started. They played for 45 minutes and were truley horrible. I did not know them, their songs and my feet were starting to kill me.
Then a 1/2 hour break. We got water and soda's. I'm glad I brought pain relievers, kinda helped my feet. It was also hot with occasional spirts of cool air.
10:20pm ~ Violent Femmes came on! They played for 90 minutes! It was the best show I've seen any where in a long time! First it was just the 3 members, then up to 7 and at the most with the horns and other unusual instruments, 15!

I was completely in awe of all the unusual instuments that Brian Ritchie played!
Victor De Lorenzo captivated us with his drum performance and humor. It was really fun to watch him!
And then of course there's Gordon Gano who's voice is just so cool.

I sang along until my voice was hoarse the next morning, I sorta wiggled danced/hopped in my confined space and had a blast!

Here is their web page http://www.vfemmes.com/index.html

Take a moment to see their band info, lots of fun facts that have happened apon them in ther gigs. This one is my favorite!
* When Nirvana opened for the Femmes in Australia , singer Kurt Cobain refused to go onstage unless someone got him some drugs. Femmes tour manager Willie MacInnes gave him two Tylenol, but told Kurt they were powerful narcotics. A few minutes later Kurt hit the stage, saying,"I feel much better."

Also check out http://www.vfemmes.com/discography.html for album info and all their lyrics!

The best part when driving home from Kimbers house was turning on the radio and one of their songs that they played came on. And in listening to it, I knew who was singing and what strange but wonderful instrument Brian Ritchie was useing to make that unique sound!

Now we are 3!, July 30th

Dyllan's birthday cake was a Carvel ice cream goodie. He wore a crown that he had long ago convinced me not to sell on etsy cause he caid, "I wike that one, Mama!"

We dragged out the opening of the gifts all day until Dada came home with a mylar balloon which is still afloat to this day!

He got alot of nice things and I'm pleased that most people respected our wish for educational toys and lots of books as opposed to comercialized stuff.

Birthday Party

Dyllan's 3rd Birthday party was held at JW Tumbles in Aliso Viejo on the 29th of July. He had a great time playing with all of his friends, eating pizza and my cupcake!

A Ramble Day

Today is a ramble day.
When I was younger, living with my mom and little sister, I kept hoards of journals. I never went to sleep with out writing at least something in. Sometimes I addressed my journal as "old friend" sometimes, nothing at all. I wrote poetry, drew pictures, wrote short stories, and copied in quotes.
I wrote when the only responsibilities in life were going to school, body surfing with my friends and trying to stay out of quarrels with my sister or mom. Normal stuff. The journals tapered off when I started dating, got a job and became more socially active.
When I was pregnant, I kept a daily journal all the way up to the day of Dyllan's birth. I meant to keep writing, but the new mommy body combined with breastfeeding and a new sleep pattern was very tiring. I wish I new of blogging then!

We kept kind of a visual journal through my scrapbook group and through Dyllan's web page.
http://www.brianjcummings.net/djc/hp.htm

Now on to my day so far...
Dyllan woke up at 2am with a night terror about a eagle that was coming to get him. It was very vivid for him! So I crawled in bed with him and woke up with a stiff neck from being cramped in a twin with a squirmy toddler and his (keep you from falling off) bed rail.

At 9:30am we left for the movies at the tustin Ranch Market place. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are Free films through http://www.regalcinemas.com/family_film/
I searched all around and the only appropriate movie I felt for 3 year old Dyllan was Charlottes Web. So we saw it. We shared popcorn which also doubled as lunch. It was the 2nd time we saw the movie and it was still cute. The only draw backs was they did not have the arm rest that fold up like our theater in Aliso, the sound was too loud for the little kiddos and they had movies trailers which bored the little kids. The theater by my house has those arm rest that go up, making it easier for Dyllan to snuggle and they tone down the sound since alot of mom's bring in infants. Plus, once it gets dark the movies starts.

After the movie, we came home for snack and nap. Both of us. I was tired from last night and needed some energy for my MNO Violent Femmes concert tonight!

Just had a yummy "comfort" sandwich.
I cut to hot dogs length wise in half and grill them in a pan. I spread mayo on both sides of the bread, sprinkle with grated cheese, (it's all we had), squirt spicy brown mustard on the cheese then add the dogs.

Oh so yummy.

Well thanks for letting me ramble. Now I gotta figure what to wear tonight. :o)