Head spinning!!

Have you ever just woke up with your head spinning, so full of ideas you just feel like your going to explode?
I know this may sound strange but I  love it when that happens!!
Right away I will sit down and start sketching or writing.
I try to get all my thoughts, ideas, dreams every bit of it down on paper.
This way I can clear my mind as well as organize my future dream projects.

Well today I woke in just that state of mind.
 WOW!!
I can't wait to get started on all sorts of new projects.
With Christmas now behind me and the New Year approaching, it is
time once again to set some goals, take on new techniques and
prepare to create new masterpieces!!

Oh and speaking of masterpieces, I want to share a few
I created for Christmas gifts.
And now with those gifts given I can share without spoiling any surprises.
For my daughters, sister and mother-in-law I made a few pieces of jewelry.

I just love etching, torching and twisting metal.
It's a great way to work out all your frustrations as well.
And lets not forget the buttons!!
I love collecting vintage buttons!!
I hit the mother load of buttons at a yard sale in Oregon.
Well it all started when I came across this little vintage jewelry box.
It reminded me of the one my grandmother use to have.

It was priced at $1.00, what a deal.  I just knew I could  paint one of
my little girlie's on the top.  I could give this little box a whole new second life.
But to my surprise when I lifted the ring tray it was full of ...

Vintage Buttons!!!
And yes they were included in the price!!
I was one happy Junk Junkie that day!!

I also created a few journals as well.

They all turned out so cute and colorful!!

Oh,
 I must also tell you about one of my biggest most wonderful glittering prizes of all!!!

Can you believe it, aren't you just squinting from all the bling!!
Oh, did I mention it was all FREE!!
A GIFT!!
That's right my daughter's sweet mother-in-law offered them all to me.
Of course I jumped on that and in return I made her a bracelet out of some of the jewels.
There all so beautiful I just don't know where to start.
I tell you I know my dear sweet friend Diane Cook
would know just what to do!
http://rosa-josies.blogspot.com/
You need to jump on over and take a look at her amazing creations.
She is a true Texas jewel!!!!

And I must brag on the amazing gift my daughters got for me this
Christmas.
I called my daughters and told them that Kelly Rae Roberts was doing a signing
of her work at the Woodburn Mall near them.
I encouraged them to take a ride over and meet her and see all the
beautiful art she creates.
Well they went and had a blast!!
   They called me later and told me all about their evening,
and about meeting
 Kelly Rae Roberts
http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com/

Well those two sweet girls of mine knew just what to do!!
They bought me a one of her pictures and Kelly signed the front and the back.

Oh how I wish I could have been able to meet Kelly, but this was just as sweet!!!

So with the New Year approaching I have so much to look
forward to and so much creating to achieve .

I wish you all well and hope that the
New Year holds all the magic and passion
for life that you desire!!

x0x0x
Debbie

Hello Christmas, here I am!!!

The Christmas spirit has found me and non to soon!!!

My sweet baby girl is coming home to day!!

She is currently stuck in Reno Nv, her plan broke down.

This little mishap will only delay her two hours. 

That give me a little more time to get things in order for her arrival.

I also wanted to share a little Christmas cheer with you by way of the Coast.

I have always dreamed of living on the beach some where.  

I love the idea of decorating for Christmas in a Seaside Style.

I came across this beautiful web site and just had to share!!

http://www.completely-coastal.com/

These pics just stole my heart!!

I love, love, love them!!!
Thank you,
Completely- Coastal!!!

But lets not stop there, if you like White and Lacy things
come and take a peek at this Amazing treasure!!

http://ozmaofodds.blogspot.com/

So many yummy gifts to share by Rosemary!!


All these lovely ideas were a gift from one of my favorite blogs,

http://seacottage.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-favorite-christmas-trees-2011.html#comment-form

Hope you have in joyed the beauty and the richness of these Amazing Bloggers!!
It makes me just want to run down to the beach and get some sand between
my toes and chase some waves!!
Thanks for dropping by!!!
Happy Holidays!!
xoxo
Debbie

Just coming up for air!!

I want to take a minute to say 

"SORRY", 

yes I have been very neglectful in my blogging.

I have been trying and trying to find that holiday spirit, but it

still eludes me.

I see all the beautiful bloggers out there showing their homes, 

so amazingly decorated for Christmas 

and I just shrink away in defeat. 

I have always been a Christmas nut in the past, always

decorated and all decked out for the holidays.  

What has changed me so much, I have been asking 

myself lately. 

The only answer I can come up with is 

that I miss my family.

There is a piece of my heart missing, it's 

800 miles away in Oregon.

I have always had all of my kid here with me for the 

holidays in the past.  We would celebrate all month

long as a family, making baked goods, Christmas Crafting and 

shopping together.

Last Christmas was my sweet little Jackson's first Christmas.

What a great time we had watching him try to open his presents.

He didn't know why all the hub-bub but  he loved it and 

gave it his best shot.  

This year will be even better for him, I so wish he could be here.

I know he will be here in January, but I'm a grandma and very needy.

Who wouldn't be just look at this little man.

He makes my heart ache with all the love I feel for him!!

There is one bit of fun to look forward to, 

my daughter Alex will be making it home for Christmas this year!!!

I can't wait to have her home and in my arms.

I'll have her home for two whole weeks!!!

I can't wait!!

My sweet honey has been so very patient with my funk.

He put up the Christmas lights and bought the Christmas tree.

I so appreciate his effort and love him a bunch.

I tried going to the mall to see if I could find a little more

Christmas spirit, but all I wanted to do once I got there was leave.

I so don't mean to bring anyone down, but through it all I 

believe I have found the answer.

Christmas is not in the stores or malls, 

it's in our hearts and mine is just a little lonely.

I'll be fine, this to will pass.  

I am so blessed to have such an amazing family, 

and a life I love!!

So please accept my apologies for being neglectful and a bit of

a Scrooge. 

 It's reassuring to know that even Scrooge got a 

second chance.

Lot's of love to you and yours this

Holiday Season!!

x0x0x

Christmas Memories

Wow what a whirlwind of a weekend it has been around here. 

 Besides the 100 mph winds and the cold, I have been so busy getting ready for the one Christmas Bazaar that I will be participating in.

 The bazaar ran all day Saturday and Sunday and it was packed.

 I tell ya I wish  I could be in a show everyday of the week, I enjoy it so.  

The artists that attend and participate in this events were just amazing, so talented, sharing and kind.

I was blushing red with all the complements I was getting regarding my work

 and all the encouragement to keep going and not to give up on my art.  

When I got home Sunday night I was beat in a good way.  

It felt great to end my day with a big exhausted smile on my face.

I just want to send out a big "Thank You", to all those who came to the bazaar both buyers and sellers.  Thank you for giving so freely of your heart and your encouragement.  

You strengthen me and give me hope and direction.

I really needed this weekend to get me going in the right direction

and pulled out of my Christmas funk.

I don't know why but this Christmas season has been a real hard one for me.

Maybe it's because my family is divided between Oregon and Utah this year.

My heart just has not been in it this year. 

 I see all the beautiful blogs showing their Christmas Cheer and Decor, and I just get tired and overwhelmed.

But after this weekend I think the Christmas bug has finally found me.

Although its a bit late I did go out and buy a Christmas Tree today.

I chose a white pre-lite tree this year and am a bit excited to get it decorated.

I wanted a silvery white tree that reminded me of the one my Grandma Garcia use to have.

Although hers was move silver than white it turned and had such a beautiful glitter to it.

I looked for a picture of the tree before I went shopping for my tree

but could not find one.  

I did however find some great pictures of Santa, my sister, my cousin and me.

This is my sister, she is so cute with her braid and bangs and in her PJ's.

She's still beautiful, so put together and my best friend.

My little cousin Calvin Lee, we all called him Lee, Lee growing up.  

I just love the boots and vest, what a sweetie.

Although he is all grown up and moved away he will always be in so many of my childhood memories.

And then there's me, I look like I just woke up. 

 I was 2 1/2 in this picture and believe it or not I remember this night

 and Santa visiting my Grandparents House.  

This was also the last Christmas that I would share with my Grandma Garcia. 

Oh how I loved those Christmas's as a child with Santa jingling his bells

as he walked up the drive and in the front door.

This tradition was carried on with my own children by their Grandpa Garcia.

Although my dad was a big bad biker, we always had a 

Santa at Christmas time.

There was nothing better than seeing my dad sit on Santa's lap.

I know I have a picture somewhere.

I am so thankful for my dad and all the efforts he made to make each 

Christmas a special one.

I hope that my children can look back on their Christmas with as much

joy and happiness as I do.

And although I will not have my little Christmas Jax here with me 

this year,

 I know he'll be here in the 

New Year

2012

 I will always have my memories of my dad him with me in my heart.

Merry Christmas Dad, I love you!!

I'm so lucky to have such amazing Christmas memories and even more blessed

to be able to make more with my family.

I love you sweet family all of you

 both near or far, weather it be in Oregon or Los Vegas.  

 On the East or West side of town

you are all in my heart always.

x0x0x

P.S. 

Thanks to my blogging family as well for 

sharing all of your Christmas wishes and memories.

Christmas Past

Although I love Thanksgiving, I got to tell you I'm so looking forward to Christmas!!

I was going through some of my family photos and came across this sweet picture of my grandson. 

 It was his first Christmas last year,  

I can't wait to get this years Christmas picture.

He is so stinking cute, he's one of the best gifts I could have 

ever received.

It will be a quiet Christmas without him here this year, 

but he will be here for my New Year !!!

I so look forward to the many joys that Christmas brings and 

the adventure of a New Year.

I pray that you are all able to spend time with your families this Holiday Season!!

Fill each day with loving memories!!

x0x0x

Imagine my SURPRISE!!!

OK, this is how it all started out, got up late didn't sleep well, nothing new there, ate instant oatmeal again nothing new there.  Stepped into my studio to get a little updating work done on some of my favorite blogs.    No sooner had I sat down to get started my Honey comes in and want to know what  my plans are for the day?  

Well I give him a quick rundown of catching up on my blogging and networking, his exact words:

"So your going to be playing on the computer all morning."

Now I know those words could ruffle a few feathers, but then I stopped and thought, 

that's right my work is PLAY, 

how blessed am I!!!!

So no I didn't get ruffled and agreed to take a break to run a few errands with him.  

Of course I also had some conditions that needed to be met before I would agree to gracing him with my charming company.(ha ha)

My one and only condition was that he drop me at the book store, 

Barns and Nobles while he's dealing with the coin dealer(one of his errands).

So with much excitement in my heart we headed out to run errands.

Well do you think I got to the book store, 

NO!!

It was like he completely forgot and pulled straight into the coin shop.
 I didn't panic the book store was just across the street, I could walk, it's a beautiful fall day.

But as we got to the front of the coin shop he opened the door for me to enter and then waited to come in behind me.  

OK, I thought to myself just a peek a little moral support and then I was going to be off as fast as my little short legs could carry me.

Upon entering the coin shop I saw a bunch of boxes filled with old bottles. 

The sign read $1.00 each or a box of 12 for $5.00.

Well you don't have to be math major to know a deal when you see it.

How did they know how much I love old bottles.

So now with the book store on hold I sorted through the bottles, Honey bought me a box full.

With his transaction almost done it was time to prepare for my book store adventure once more.  

I was just getting ready to excuse myself and head across the street and leave the bottles for Honey to put away in the truck when my phone rang.

My son was on the other end sick as a dog with a migraine headache.

I know first hand the pains of migraines and it looks like my sweet boy had inherited them from me.

So it was off to help my little 21 year old to the doctor for a migraine shot.

There would be no book store today, no Somerset Magazine, no green tea latte. 

 Instead it looked like Instacare here we come, 

and that was alright, I'm a mom first a slacker later.

One hour later I'm back on my way home with sweet boy in tow,

who just got a shot for his migraine.

All of this and it was only 12:30 PM,

 and there was much more that needed to be done at home as well as keeping an eye on my sweet boy.

So after getting him settled I snuck into my studio for a little play time of my own.

I needed to finish drawing our family Christmas card get it painted, take pictures and start printing.

No sooner had I sat down and gotten all my art supplies out the door bell rang. 

Again, are you kidding me,

who could it be,

 what do they want and don't they know

 I'm trying to create!!

At the door stood our adorable lady mail carrier with a arm full of mail to big to fit in the mail slot.

Not a big distraction, I could handle this and get right back to creating.

As I took the mail into my arms and gave her a big "Thank You", I noticed in the pile of mail was two magazines, that's why the mail wouldn't fit in the slot.

I had already received my Southern Living and Country Living magazine for the month, so I knew it could be them.   

So just imagine my surprise when I flip over the magazine to get a better look and find this bright yellow paper staring back at me with the words:

Congratulations!

You've been published in 

Somerset Studio

Gallery

WOW!! I knew I was to be published but to have a free copy in my hot little hands was just about 

to much  to handle.

Now here's the real exciting part.

There was another magazine 

and another yellow paper.

Congratulations!

You've been published in 

SEW 

Somerset.

Hello pick me up off of the dinning room floor, 

I had no idea I was going to be published in this magazine as well.

What a day, the book store came to me,

 something like if you can't go to the mountain the mountain will come to you.

Thanks so much to all the wonderful folks over at

 Somerset Magazine

for making me a part of your magic!!

A big thanks to 

Jennifer Jackson,

Assistant Senior Managing editor 

and all of her crew over at 

Somerset Studio Gallery

and

SEW Somerset.

page out of SEW Somerset

That's me in the upper right hand corner, looks like I'm in amazing company.

A little closer look

I love seeing my name next to the title "ARTIST".

Two full pages in Somerset Studio Magazine.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Thanksgiving and Christmas came early!!!
x0x0x

http://www.stampington.com/sewsomerset/2012/sew_somerset_winter12.html

Hello Dolly!!!

Well just what have I been up to this past week?

Well I'll tell you or even better I'll show you!!

These are my girls, hand made from head to toe by little ol' me!!

I had a blast creating these little ladies.

The idea to make them came to me in a dream.  

Yup call me weird,

but that's exactly what happened.

These girls are the 3D version of my art girls that you see in my paintings.

This project was a stretch for me since I'm not a cloth doll maker,  

or should I say, I wasn't a cloth doll maker.

For starters it took me several attempts to figure how to get the  faces I wanted on fabric.

Through a little trial and error this is what I came up with:

From start to finish, and a lot of notes on what not to do next time.

I  didn't have a pattern for the head size so I just had to guess.

And as far as the bodies go, I also guessed. 

I was happy with the final pattern so I cut them out

and sewed them up.

As for the body fabric I used what ever I had on hand, 

prints and solids.

I chose to tea dye all of my fabric so I could get a vintage look.

After stuffing and stringing I attached the heads, 

my son said the girls looked like aliens.

I think he was right, at this point I was pretty worried about the final out come, 

but I had come this far to late to turn back.

So with courage in my heart I started on the hair, just some yarn.

Still a little alien looking!!

Be brave, follow your heART!!!

And with that pray said,  I stitched up some clothing for my little naked aliens.

Again I just used old scraps of fabric and some old skirts I was going to throw out.

I put a scarf on each of my girls and gave a couple of them a hat, 

much like so many of my paintings.

Here's one of my painted girls with a hat, scarf and a tweed jacket to boot!!

So with that in mind, this is what I came up with!!

little pill box hat,

tweed jacket, lacy scarf.

"Believe in your dreams and they may come true.
Believe in your self and they will come true."

Just like in my paintings I wanted each one of my girls to have a little

inspirational saying to share, so I stitched it on to their dresses.

raspberry beret

tweed jacket and lacy scarf.
"Live in the moment."

lacy shawl and scarf with a silk rose and bow.

"Life isn't about finding yourself, its about creating yourself."

And last but not least ...

My Blondie here has no saying on her skirt yet,
I'm working on what to have her say.
And as you can see again a tweed jacket with a soft scarf and a
bow in her hair.
I still need to paint the shoes on each of my girls,
I just ran out of black paint and have not got to the store yet.
(to busy sewing)

I sure hope you enjoyed my little ladies as much as I enjoyed making them
and sharing them with you.
They will be up for sale Dec 3rd and 4th
along with the rest of my art work
at the
"St. Ambrose Holiday Boutique."
2315 E.  Redondo Ave (1995 So)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Sat 10AM - 8PM
Sun 8AM - 2:30PM

Maybe I'll see some of you there!!!!!
x0x0x