Pink Saturday from California

For those who read my blog regularly you know I have been posting photos of our recent trip to the Central Coast of California. But, for Beverly & all the girl's joining us for PINK Saturday http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/, welcome to California. I fell in love with this Fuchsia Bloom! I have always loved Fuchsias but this one is amazing. It has such marvelous DEEP colors & is HUGE!!!!!!!

you can see the size with the comparison of "Honey's" hand. Do you love this?

Here is another Fuchsia but, this one is not nearly as deep in color.

This is Holman's Department Store in Pacific Grove, California. The building is painted PINK & has this wonderful stained glass window above the entrance. I LOVED THE BUTTERFLIES flying near the ocean!!! Pacific Grove is known as the Monarch Butterfly Capitol! They even have a Nature Preserve set up for them in town. Wouldn't that be a site to see for real... the butterflies by the ocean. This so speaks to my heart!

Here is a view from a bit further away. This window is LARGE!

And while driving from Pacific Grove to Monterrey I noticed this sign. The next day "Honey" & I made a stop in the Archive & got to view some Thomas Kincaid originals. Thomas lives near this area & this Gallery is owned by his best friend from High School. We were also able to view this historic old home. I just LOVE old homes that have been restored.

Interesting color scheme don't you think? Kind of PINK & kind of salmon.

I hope you all enjoyed a little glimpse of some PINK from California. Now blink twice & go visit the other girls playing today (or just click on the link or button on my sidebar). Have a great weekend & know I am wishing I was back in the cool of the California coast instead of the blistering heat here in TEXAS!

I wanted to share this Gallery we visited on our trip in California. It is called The Hawthorne Gallery http://www.hawthornegallery.com/html/gallery_frameset.html We were driving up HWY 1 & the fog was so thick that the views were not good. But, as we drove by the Gallery the colorful blown glass jellyfish caught my eye. We had been in the car for a couple of hours & my legs needed a stretch. Here is our Red Mustang Convertible sitting parked in front of the Gallery. The gardens outside the entrance were divine. This was just sitting on the side of a mountain in Big Sur.

In walking around the gardens we found this water design done in a huge piece of metal art.

you can see the winding path up. We did not intrude because I think that is where the artist lived or had his studio. But, the gardens were very interesting.

A bronze bust up in the foliage under HUGE TREES! And another free form piece of art in the garden.

And this work was featured as you walked in the front door of the Gallery.

A couple of the blown glass jelly fish hanging from the ceiling These were a couple of them that caught my eye as we drove by. The colors were amazing. The artist that did them is from Oregon. And... you could be the proud owner of one for $4,800.00 each. Of course you know that one would not be enough... Not a statement made. And since you should not decorate in even numbers... you would need 3 RIGHT? Well, $15,000.00 for jelly fish was out of my reach. But they were interesting.

This is the view of the Pacific ocean off the deck of the Gallery. When Susan & I were there in April we ate at a great place across the road from here & enjoyed views of the BLUE, BLUE water that seemed to go on forever. Well, not this time. This fog is called June Gloom. It is natures way of trying to cool off the country side with the moist cool air off of the ocean. It hangs over for about a mile or less. After that it gets very HOT inland this time of year. Amazing how nature tries to take care of things isn't it. And what a difference just a few months make. In April when we were there everything was the most GLORIOUS GREENS. And in June all the countryside is BROWN!

California Dreaming & Oh How I Wish I Did Not Have To Return!

I know the photo is very dabbled by the shade of these wonderful old trees located in the courtyard of the Mission in San Louis Obisepo. But, if you look closely you will see three happy women reunited again. I am with my friends Diana Frey (my teacher & mentor in jewelry design from my trip in April) & Susan Hunt my friend & table mate at the class in April. When they found out I was in town for vacation we got together for lunch. Diana's sweet husband Denis joined us as, did my "honey". The guys had so much to chat about & we girls got to catch up.

This is Diana & Susan with my "honey"

Susan is wearing her Shaker Doll necklace & I was wearing mine that day too. We had a number of comments from people as we walked around & shopped. Hers being a blonde doll (like Susan is) & mine being dark headed. Each one looked very different even though we were in the same class. No two were alike. SUCH FUN! And so cool to see them finished. Thank you for lunch Dennis & Diana. And thank you to all three of you for spending the afternoon with us. WHAT A TREAT! After lunch we went back to Diana's studio & just chatted our hearts out. How blessed I am to have both of these sweet friends in my life. Be sure & check up on Diana & see all the wonderful things she creates just click on the link on my side bar to go to her blog. Susan does not blog although she does check up on some of us. She is such a talented wonderful gal I know she would have a wonderful blog if she decides to try it. Maybe someday we will talk her into it. In the mean time, I wish her well in her new business. Also, I got to see my friend Shelly (from the April class) but, I forgot to get photos the day we got together because we were all in such a rush. Shelly taught the soldering in Diana's class. I JUST LOVE MY CALIFORNIA FRIENDS!

This is the wonderful B&B that we stay in. It is located in the adorable little village of Arryo Grande. It is situated up on the side of a hill & is a wonderland of beautiful plants & animals. The name of it is House of Another Tyme http://www.anothertymebnb.net/ A view of the back of the house from the terrace up above. We love to sit up here & drink wine while listening to the fountain gurgle & all the little finches peeping & giving us a show (Jack has a big aviary where he raises finches which he sells to Pet Stores). Can you imagine living somewhere that has such moderate temperatures that things live & thrive ALL YEAR LONG? Imagine that!!!! NOT HERE IN TEXAS. In this area the temperature is about the same all year long with about a 10 to 15 degree variance for summer to winter. AMAZING! The steep drive with our red Mustang Convertible parked to the side. That building straight on is the garage & garage apartment. Linda lives there now but, I covet it & want to rent it as our second home. "Honey" thought he would hate California but, fell in love with it & is even starting to talk about it as a second home for when we retire! Yippeeeee sounds like music to my ears!

The side view of the steps of the apartment & entry into the back yard oasis.

Well, this is just a little start of my wonderful week last week. I will share more over the next few days. But, for now... I am glad to be back in blogland with all my friends. I missed you & am so glad that you will be able to travel with me as I share my trip. Now I am off to see what all of you have been up to. Hugs

Heart & Soul Jacket by Janna

There is so much talent out there in each of us! I wanted to show you my new little treasure created by Janna of http://collectedtreasures.blogspot.com/ She has the most wonderful Antique Store/Mall in Arlington, Texas. Jana has a treasure trove of vintage lace, ribbons, buttons, fabric,table linens & she uses this private stash to create wonders like this. She started out with a vintage tablecloth & started adding other pieces of vintage crochet to create the sleeves... Magic!!!!!! A feminine little summer cover up.

This is a view of the very front & the two big white vintage buttons she added. And who could miss the wonderful ribbon technique used down the front of the jacket. Hundreds of little tucks with this luscious deep rusty coral colored ribbon.

Here is a view of the back. Are you in Love yet?

Detail of the ribbon treatment around the back collar area. If you look closely you will see that she has used a beautiful deep green fringed ribbon under the looped coral ribbon to create the look of greenery under flowers.

And this is a closeup of the back bottom section. Not one ruffle of antique lace but TWO added to the bottom edge to give this feminine little flourish. And satin ribbon running through it.

A side view shows the ruffled collar & you can see she has connected yet another set of vintage lace crochet mid arm using a green & pink floral ribbon. This section is made of a much closer crochet which then opens up to another more open one that comes to a point just over my hand.

Here is a close up of the point of the sleeve. It creates the most wonderful focal point. And Janna used that wonderful deep rusty coral colored ribbon along with another deep green. I think this may need a special set of jewelry designed for it. What do you think? This whole jacket has such a Magnolia Pearl http://www.magnoliapearl.com/ look to it doesn't it? Did you see Robin's wedding featured in Summer 2009 Romantic Country Magazine?

Thank you Janna my very talented friend for a piece I will treasure forever! I know I will LOVE wearing this & I will think of you each time I do. Happy Creating!

PinK Saturday & Promised Photos of Nell Hill's & Central Texas Trip

Happy Pink Saturday. You know the drill... click on the button on my sidebar to go visit Beverly our lovely hostess & all the other Pinky's. In the mean time I am getting around to posting a few more shot of our trip to central Texas (to see the some more of these check out here http://myheartsease.blogspot.com/2009/06/fun-in-central-texas.html )
The gorgeous fountain at International Festival-Institute. This place is amazing & I will share more photos of it in another post. But, isn't this perfect for the opening photo of Pink Saturday?

Some moss rose in the gardens of The Antique Rose Emporium.

And more Pink!

Switching gears & back to Nell Hill's as promised for the PINK bed photos that JoAnn got for us!

Is this display over the top enough for you? And see that PINK on the bed in the background? JoAnn said it was very hard to photograph in there because the entire building had huge floor to ceiling windows & the light just pours in!

Pink Princess sleep here! :) Happy Pink Saturday & remember to keep those rose colored glasses on. Almost everything looks better in Pink!