Flat Stanley update.....

Okay we took Senor Flato Stanley to Comedor Guadalajara, and it was closed.  We took Flat Stanley to another place and it was closing.  We ended up at Lenny's Burger shop.  He liked the lights and definitely loved the fries.  But I think he would of loved the tacos at El Comador!  We'll try again.  I have to show Senor Flato the graffiti wall and the Ranch Marketplace and get him in a lowrider!

Owen...aka...Bruce Wayne... aka...BATMAN

Batman/Owen

Owen came to visit me yesterday and he was dressed in a black suit.  He looked adorable but I was wondering why the suit???   As I soon found out he was dressed as Bruce Wayne.   Under his suit he had his Batman suit and cape, along with his Batman mask in hand.   He was so dang cute and serious about being the super hero that he is.  I missed an opportunity for a photo to document this event...but then would Bruce Wayne really want anyone to know he was really BATMAN?  Here's the best thing ... we and I mean me & Bruce were in my studio checking out my pendants and "Bruce" says you know you could make me a Batman one... he then told me how it would be designed in black with yellow Batman symbol!  I promised a Batman pendant and just about cried knowing I shared a precious moment with Bruce Wayne slash Batman slash Owen.  What a cool kid.

In my dreams I have wings and I can fly.....really it's true

Friday I spent the evening with a group of awesome woman.  We were authentic and genuine.  Laughing til we cried, telling on ourselves, giving up secrets about maturing and ending the evening with embraces of true friendship.  The night was to be about sharing my jewelry creations but I got so much more out of it.  I haven't been part of a circle of woman in awhile and it felt so nice that I believe I'm going to make it a must do habit. 

My jewelry took flight as well as did my soul.  My jewelry is clunky, rustic, organic and every piece has it's own feel.   It carries an energy of it's own and I found each piece someone bought reflected something genuine and personal to them.  It was rewarding to hear the conversations the jewelry generated and equally rewarding to pass on my creations.  My friends are extremely generous.

 

Here's what I'm wearing today!

 

Flat Stanley!

Flat Stanley visited us back in 1996.  We took him to the desert and he got stuck there.

 

 

This year my niece's daughter Grace's class sent Flat Stanley for anothe visit...Only this time he's a .pdf file and naked!  Not only does this Flat Stanley dude need to be taken around Phoenix, but the dude needs a personality, clothes and a face.  OMG, where do I begin.  I decided Flat Stanley needs to see the Hispanic side of Phoenix, so I'm gonna dress him up and take him to some fun places. 

So here we go, Senor Flato Stanley.  Check back to see where we go.

 

Studio time

The past two days I've been focusing on getting more pendants done.  Stayed up late into the night soldering and creating.  This morning right back at it.  Did I say how fun this is?

 

 

Here's something do...

I've been invited to participate in this event.  It'll be the first event I've done in a very long time.  A number of artist will be there and I find it to be a great opportunity to meet other creative souls.  I'll be taking my jewelry and my artwork prints.  So if you're looking for something to do that weekend and live in the Phoenix area please come join the fun!

 

 

Here I go, again.

Okay, this morning I decide to get on the scale...you know the scale....I hate the scale and the scale is hating on me.  I'm like wtf!  I swear the scale is so pissing me off.  I think it's a conspiracy and gravity & the pull of the earth have something to do with it.   .. you're asking but Jobi what are you eating???  Okay, in the last month I did have fries, I did eat some zebra popcorn, I did have a few chips, I love love sourdough bread with every damn thing, oh and I did use real butter on that damn bread!  But I drink lots of water!  lots of water!  maybe a diet pepsi here and there, coffee no cream or sugar, AND I am, I am, I am still walking!  Now do you hear me...I'm still walking.  I walk  each day on the treadmill...okay not every every every and I normally only skip one day a week.  But I am walking and walking and walking....but the scale that damn f*&^king scale hates me, hates me so much it just keeps pissing me off.  I need to find the lightest gravity point in my house ... oh shit maybe I should sit it outside, gravity pull might be less...good idea.  I am still walking and I am feeling so much better.  I'm walking a 5K this weekend...Neon Run/Walk and it's gonna be so fun.  We're dressing up with glow in the dark accessories.  I do know the walking is so worth the effort and in the long long long run it will pay off. 

 

I'm participating in a meditation series with Deepak Chopra called "Perfect Health".  It's free and it's great.  I've been a long time fan of Deepak Chopra and completely understand how we need to balance Mind, Body  & Spirit.  Keeping  the positive energy sure helps keep the right perspective and humor in hating the scale.  As Deepak says..."take a passionate interest in life".  That's what I'm doing....thank you for listening and let's move on.  :)

New exciting things going on around here!

Okay, don't even know where to start....

I'm finishing up on my soldered jewelry pieces & have sold a few.   In the near future I'll be announcing a new Facebook page that will feature my pieces and how you can buy them. 

Two really really neat friends have offered to host a party to show off my stuff! How exciting is that? Both have been so supportive and fun to have in my creative circle.



Custom chain & pendant necklace

Handmade ring

This was a soldering mistake that turned into
the coolest pendant!



There's a few other things that have been going on but until I finalize them I'm not gonna say anymore, nots to jinx it...haha...I do believe in letting my creative energy flow and not to get to ahead of myself.

The other thing is... my mind is so full of ideas I think sometimes it just might freaking explode!  I find myself jotting and sketching things all the time on scraps of paper.  I have a creative journal but never seem to have it handy.  This is so much fun .

One thing I've noticed is all my winter while it's nice weather projects have been set aside or cancelled...haha.  So much for reorganizing the garage and finding space to stash some of my studio stuff so I don't feel so crowded in there. 

High School....1975

A visit from a friend brought back so many high school memories.  She brought our high school annuals (yearbook).  I haven't looked at one in a hundred years.  After looking through my 1975 annual I realized how I checked out of high school.  There wasn't one thing or one photo of me in the annual.  My sophomore year I participated in every activity I could and I remember the financial strain it was and how I really didn't enjoy it or fit in.  So my junior and senior year I quit the activities.  I liked school, did well and I did have fun hanging out with the not so popular people.   My senior year I missed the deadline to submit a senior photo mainly due to lack of money.  I remember finally getting my photos but sad to know I missed the annual deadline.  I didn't attend any games, dances, prom.  How weird to think of that now.  When I graduated I was happy to be out of high school because I was mad about how my high school dealt with me as a Hispanic student and that's another story.  I realized how my ''Westend" classmates I graduated with weren't in the annual either.



This is the page I would of been on... haha



A Little Miracle

Today I got to witness a miracle! His name is Kail and today is his BIRTHday. He arrived at 2:23 a.m., weighing 8 lbs 3 oz, & measuring 21 inches. It was an amazing gift his parents gave me by honoring me the privilege of being witness to his birth. His Mommy did a wonderful job and Daddy was very proud.  He's perfect and beautiful.  Nothing like the scent of a baby.

He's smiling!



I couldn't quit looking at him

Food Friday

Heart potatoes!  I made these for our Valentine Day dinner.  They were so good & pretty.

I used golden potatoes.

 

 I had a peeler you used from the side.  I kept peeling the skin off my fingers, so I got a new one and it works okay.  Maybe it's my technique.  I might have to find a Youtube video on how to use a peeler.   

 

 I used my slicer to make thin slices.  This kitchen tool is a dangerously sharp tool.  I'm very careful and use the guard every time.  It does work wonderfully.

I used my heart shaped cookie cutters and cut hearts out.

I tossed them with garlic and olive oil.

I sprayed a muffin tin with olive oil.  I stacked them in a muffin tin and added a pinch of salt and pepper.

 

 Baked them in a hot oven. 

 

I drizzled the some bread with garlic flavored olive oil and Italian seasoning.  Baked it and it was so good.  We grilled a steak to perfection. 

In memory of Brutus

 

 

One of my friends recently lost her dog, Brutus.  I remember when I lost Colby Dog it was one of the toughest moments.  I so loved Colby dog.  He was the most loving kind hearted dog.  Colby was sick and was really struggling for a bit before he died and it was so hard deciding when to take him to the vet to be put down, that sounds so awful even writing about it now.  Anyways, I read a book, “The Art of Racing In The Rain”.  I posted about this book in April 2010 and how it brought comfort to me.  I see Colby Dog everywhere and he talks to me still.

Bought a copy and sent it to to Linda.  Here’s how I packaged it.  Took out the manual typewriter and typed a note on some pretty pink paper then stitched & folded. 

Soldering

I've had my soldering iron out and started making chains…but the soldering iron couldn’t take the heat in the studio and blew up!   I had to move on … so on to the mini torch which works okay and have to be aware of the heat on the chain links.  But it was time to get a new soldering iron.  I headed over to a local stain glass store and got their recommendation on a good soldering iron.  I bought a nice one for about $130.  Later that evening I was having a conversation with my brother and was telling him about my purchase and he says, like he always says…did you check Amazon.com?  So we did and I found it to cost $85, dang that’s a big difference plus I get free shipping with Amazon!  So the next morning I went to return the one I bought .  The initial sales clerk was rude saying with no receipt no refund and also “refunds is stamped on the receipt and then pointed at it on my receipt.  I’m like here’s the story….I told her and that didn’t make it any easier.  She told me I would probably get a store credit but not cash!  So I asked to speak to the manager/owner.  I overheard the sales clerk tell the manager how I should not get a refund.  It was the owner who came to speak to me.  I explained if the cost was only $10 difference I would not of bothered.  But nearly $50 is too much of a difference to ignore and questioned the price difference.  She said she buys directly from the manufacture and was not happy to know I could get if for so much less.  I told her check Amazon .com for herself.  She told me I could get store credit and I was thinking in my head "hell no" it was less than 24 hours since I bought it and it would take me a  long time to use up that much store credit since I don’t do stain glass and have stocked up on my soldering supplies.  I said out loud  “really, really you’re not going to give me my money back?” She finally agreed to give me a full refund.  I think she understood I was being straight up with her and told her I like her shop and I shop there whenever I need supplies.  She said she actually has a meeting with the soldering company rep and will be discussing the pricing with him.  I ordered my soldering iron off Amazon.com for $50 less!  Lesson here is check on line before purchasing which will help avoid any confrontations.  My new soldering iron was delivered today....yeah.  

 

I have no idea what this means haha





Knitting

My friend, Kathy is awesome at knitting and makes the coolest things.  Her most recent was a necklace made out of some fancy thread with sequins.  Anyways she motivated me to learn how to knit.  I crochet but have never learned to knit.  Kathy teaches people how to knit and offered to teach me, but I didn't want to take advantage of her time.  So I found some yarn I had stashed away and got some knitting needles.  I watched a number of beginning knit Youtube videos thinking easy enough.  Wrong... too many ways to do the same thing.  I finally learned to cast on after so many attempts.

 

I learned the knit stitch and completed a row.  It's not as easy as the videos show.  I practiced it over and over again.  I also moved on the purl stitch and that has been just as hard to learn.

 

 

I decided to practice an hour each night and it's paying off. 

 

Last time I visited with Kathy, she taught me an easier way to do the knit stitch.  It again takes practice.  It is easier but still a challenge to not mess up and have to start over.  It's different in crocheting if you make a mistake all you do is unwind the yarn, but I can't seem to see an way to correct my mistakes so I start over.  ugh   My goal is to make a scarf...maybe by next winter...haha  There's a rhythm and I'm liking it.

Valentines!

I put together some Valentine boxes for some of my favorite Valentines, Melinda, Rhonda, Crystal, Chanel and Christine. 

 Pink was the theme!

 

My sister Melinda's box

I included a little pink note.  I used my manual typewriter and embellished it with some pink thread stitches.  Folded it up and send off in a tiny envelope.

 

I included some pink and red goodies

I used the sewing machine to seal the little packs of candy hearts.

The girl's boxes included the neatest pale pink drinking glass.

 

 

 

I put together some Valentine goodie bags for the twins and their family....

 

 

.... and look what they delivered to me today!

 

We got five cupcakes for Tom & I, I'm telling ya they are so good, I'm gonna have to hide'em.

I got the twins a Valentine outfit.  Loved the hearts on the pants.  Here's Addison dancing.

Olivia dancing...don't they look so cute in their outfits?

Everyone dancing on the ottoman!  It didn't last too long after a few knocks and bumps. 

Owen, Kailey, and the twins.

It's been a good day so far... Enjoy your Valentines Day!!  I know I will.