White Sox Spring Training 2012 Glendale, Arizona

My husband is a huge baseball fan.  Like, watch hours and hours of ball type of  fan.  Quote announcers, shows me highlights, listens to the games on the radio... fan.  You get it.  He is a nut.  Spring Training is in Phoenix, so we went for a weekend and went to a few games.

We love baseball!

The Spring Training games are awesome because they are inexpensive, great family fun, and there is still the big league atmosphere.

We sat right behind home plate and had a great view of the players and the game.

My husband was really crazy about the scouts that were in front of us.  There were 3 solid rows of scouts just  a few rows down.  They all had guns like this, and they were all doing the same thing... head up, shoot, head down, write, head up, shoot, head down, write.  and so on.  It was actually pretty cool to see the crazy speed of those pitchers!

It was an awesome time, and we got to see some great baseball.

Sledding on Mt. Lemmon

My girlfriend Nat came to visit this winter and we took a day and went sledding on Mt. Lemmon.  It was cold, sunny, and super FUN!  We made our own snow pants out of plastic bags and got a few sleds.  FANTASTICO.

The drive up to Mt. Lemmon is beautiful.

Mountains for miles.

Our first victim, I mean sledding hill.

Still excited to be outside after at least an hour of play.  Ready for the next hill.

We were so proud of our snow pants.  They worked really well and didn't tear.  Duct tape and plastic bags.

We left the handles on the bags to have something to tighten them with.  Then reinforced the pant with a thick shopping bag with a handle to help pull them up and keep them from tearing.

Somehow Tucson and the desert truly are beautiful.

ROCK ON!  I was totally digging the spills, but trying not to really wipe out. 

Nat, getting wild and crazy.

Thanks for the good times.  If you are looking for sledding in Tucson next winter, drive up to Mt. Lemmon.  Take your sled, warm clothes, snacks, and a smile.  You can't go wrong.

Re-style of shops and blog

I'm back and ready to stock my shops with fabulous handmade items!  I have been busy crafting and relaxing and now I am in full gear.  Today I re-vamped the shop banners to all be cohesive.  What do you think?

My Jewelry Shop.  I have been learning how to solder and create loads of fantastic sterling silver jewelry.  By May, I hope to have a fully stocked shop, so check back soon!

Accessories shop.  I have been sewing zippered pouches, tissue cases, etc.  So get ready!

I love these coasters.  I have a few sets in my house and they rock.

Home Shop.

I also re-styled my blog as you can see.  I changed the layout, header, side bar, etc.  Lots of new changes, but I am almost done.  I am slowly making it more cohesive and simple.  I love blogs that are easy to navigate, full of great photography, and inspiring!  

Pismo Beach Butterflies

A few months ago we went to Pismo Beach to see my Aunt and relax.  We met up with my Uncle and his family too, and my Grandparents joined as well.  Pismo has a butterfly garden and we went to check out the beauty.

There were huge tall trees FILLED with clusters of butterflies.

Beautiful bunches that look like leaves until you get a really close look.  There were big telescopes set up to view the butterflies.  I used the zoom on my camera to get these fantastic pics.  If you are in Pismo you should definitely check it out.

Desert Flowers

Yes, even the desert has Spring!  Prickly Pear, Cholla, and Palo Verde are all in bloom.  Beautiful flowers spread across the barren desert and make Spring so beautiful.

Wildflowers are blooming everywhere.  Purples, yellows, pinks, and whites.

The bare Palo Verde tree blossoms bright yellow flowers and reminds me of the desert's own cherry blossom tree.  

Peach and orange blossoms adorn prickly pear.

Can I pick it and wear it in my hair?  I don't dare...

New life and color embraces the brown, dry, sandy plains.

I love the bright pink blossoms that are all over this particular cactus.

Wow, these are a treat.  A cluster of flowers so big you would never guess they could come from something so prickly!

Metalwork Jewelry

Here are a few more pieces of my metalwork jewelry from my class.  I am pretty proud of these bangles.  I have a few that I purchased from a craft fair last year and I really wanted to make them myself.

Check out these babies!  Sterling silver and freshwater pearls.

I also learned how to make post earrings.  I can't wear dangle earrings to work, so these are perfect!

Birch Fabric Store

I had the luxury of visiting Birch, an amazing fabric store in California a few weeks ago.  Maybe you've heard of fabricworm?  It is their online shop.

Check out their walls of adorable Japanese fabric.  

I totally love their little projects all over the store.

Their children's section is vast and fantastic too.

Look at the amazing displays in the window!

This quilt is freaking amazing.  I am brainstorming for one of my own.  Don't you love the birds and the bunting?

Metalworking Basics

I am taking a basic metalworking class at the local community center.  We learn sawing, stamping, soldering, riveting, bezel setting, tube setting, flush setting, chasing, etc.  It is an amazingly diverse class that isn't project oriented, so everyone is making different pieces.  Here are a few of the things that I have finished during the class.  I still have a few more to go, but this is beginner goodness.

My first bezel setting.  I really wanted to put this on a ring, but since I am a newbie I totally set the stone before I went to solder it to the ring...  Oh well, beautiful pendant it is.

These circle earrings are so simple but I love them.  I really wanted to learn how to make something like this in my class.  Total success.

Another simple and versatile design.  You can expect to see a lot of these popping up.  I am playing with different sizes of rings and varying numbers.

These are long, lightweight, and eye catching.  I love the mix of colors, it feels so natural and open.  I totally had to salvage the top ring on the right earring.  Can you tell?  I almost melted it and it bowed and shrunk.  It took some time, but I made it look almost like new.  The coral is from a necklace my mom had in highschool so they are extra special.

More pics to come!  I can't wait to see what I learn to do next.  I am going to sign up for another session because it really is something where practice makes perfect.