Life Is Beautiful

Las Vegas, October 24th - 26th Life Is Beautiful Festival Hippie Chic:

Trifecta:

Ink Cartridge:

Christmas Project

Asian Persuasian

A couple more ring projects...

Glitz Charming

After 6 hours in the making, only because it's my 3rd soldering project ever, turned out pretty juicy couture-ish. It was like picking flowers for a flower arrangement, but much harder. An upcycled multi-media of broken bits and pieces of old jewelry. Now it's a compilation of little treats on the finger!

My Prince Charming Ring is detailed with;
* a little ity bity frog (was an earring)
* heart with rhinestone (was a ring)
* a crown (was a pin)
* cubic zirconium stud (was an earring)
* flower with rhinestone (was a clasp)
* faux pearl (was an earring)
* faux sapphire & diamonds gold pendant (was a necklace)

Upcycling = Trash --> Treasure

New craft technique I'm practicing on; soldering. I finally am making use of all the broken earrings, necklaces and brooches I've collected over the years. 1st project was turning a brooch into a ring.

TRON GIRL

When the movie Tron: Legacy came out, I just about lost my head over the chicks dressed in White. Their called Sirens, programs who dress other programs for The Games. For a month before Halloween, I prepared my costume; unitard white body suit, silver fabric paint, reflective tape, electric light wiring and Tron disk.

For Halloween, me and the friends went to this awesome venue, Insert Coin(s) a Video/Arcade Bar. Flat screens wrap around the huge bar, where from your bar stool you grab a controller and play. DJ's playing, people dancing and VIP booths are available with bottle service in front of your private flat screens for video games.

In costume, people recognized the character instantly. With a lot of persuasion from my friends, I was asked to come on stage and show off my suit. And later was asked again to come up on stage for the sexiest costume contest. I made it to the top 3, up against a sexy Poison Ivy and a Kim Kardashian look-a-like.

Ironically, I was covered from head to toe, but I think with how unique my costume was and the fact that I was in a Video Arcade bar, I had a few fans. (And my friends were helpful in cheering).

I took 1st place in the sexiest costume contest, winning $1000 and a trophy at Insert Coin(s).

I made quite a profit on what I spent making the costume and even more rewarding, I got a taste for getting creative again. Something that's withered away the last year. Well, the sweat shop has been dusted and I'm back in there again. I missed it.

Creative Mojo

Finally, making product again. Spending many weeks organizing and arranging, I had a small fear that I wouldn't have the creative mojo after it was all done! But thank goodness I still really enjoyed my sewing today.
Here's some photo's of the super, zen, square into circle now octagon, origami, peacock, floor, chair, meditation, zafu cushions I made.

Zion National Park, Utah

My friend Augi was visiting his cousin Erica here in Las Vegas and invited me to join them on a hike to Zion National Park in Utah, about 2 1/2 hours away. A little apprehensive because I haven't done much hiking before, but their one day trip sounded appealing.
The drive was BEA-U-TI-FUL and the entrance to the park was very promising. We headed to the 5 mile trail of "Angels Landing," which Erica had done 4 times before, but said it was the most spectacular of all. The trail is a long steady climb with the highest peak at 5800 feet. And after a test of my strength and endurance, there was a point when I had to decide if I could go further UP.
I was so close to just sitting the rest of the hike out. There had been reported deaths from falls and a sign that clearly warned you of the dangers. I could hear men continuing up ahead who needed pep talks from their buddies to "focus" and "take it one step at a time." This was also about conquering my fear of heights. I was so nervous, more so than when I've done anything else in my life "extreme." Augi and Erica kept up the motivation and I decided to go for it.
A steep climb, a narrow ridge with drop offs on both sides, cliffs that make you dizzy, a narrow fin of rocks to scale across and chains that assist in your climb even further to the top of a mountain. We made it to the top, it was more than breathtaking. You could see the river snake below, the tiny buses and specs of people. I could see across the tops of the other mountains. The views down the mountain made my palms sweat. The climb down was difficult, my ankles and calves were trembling and my hiking boots were giving me painful blisters. When we made it back to the bottom, I was exhausted. But the day was magnificent and rewarding. I hope to go back there again soon.

Dream Sewing Studio

It's been 2 months now living in Las Vegas. I know the strip will get old real quick, but it's still unbelievable to me that it's so close and accessible. I mean, it's like having Disney Land in your back yard almost. But I'm trying to manage my time there now, because I know I'll be there plenty this summer visiting friends who are in town.

Living with mom has its benefits; free rent, mom's creative input and free reign to change the whole garage into my new sewing studio! I've been working hard trying to put it all together. It's awesome to see my drawing plans become reality.

The walls are painted fuchsia and teal, Asian knick knacks and sewing books are on the shelving unit I installed. I turned mom's old dresser into a work table, drilled in Chinese drawer pulls for the storage closets and today I finished hanging various paper lanterns and umbrellas as my center piece lighting display. There are tall curtains to hide the water heater and laundry unit. And the couch, coffee table and TV in the room make it a real "woman's cave". I have yet to put up my inspiration board and I want to have a finished product area. I'm really excited about the new space and I could see myself spending hours in there!

Life is good!

Rok This Way event in Las Vegas

It's been over 7 months since I pulled out my Oribello stock while I did some amazing world travels. I shared a booth with www.Rhythmstylist.com at the "Rok This Way" event in Las Vegas April 24th 2010. It was Bailrok's 10th birthday, the youngest member of Rocksteady Crew. There was some amazing breakdancin' and poppin' competitions as well as some awesome performances by under 17 kids. Crazy Legs, Mr. Freeze, Smerk and the rest of the Rocksteady Crew also performed.

Goodbye San Francisco

It was hard to say goodbye to the Bay area, but my soul was feeling the positivity of new lands... in Las Vegas.
Traveling around Europe for a month alone has me embracing this "I can do anything" feeling. I rented a 10' U-Haul with an auto transport (which is like a flat bed for my truck) and took on the challenge of loading up my own truck and driving the U-Haul myself. Tips for future U-Haul drivers: watch your speed and 18 wheeler trucks merging into your lane. The guys at the U-Haul didn't think I could unload my own truck and I was proud to say "Who do you think put it up there?!" I am woman, hear me ROAR!

Paris