I met an amazing artist

I did a show at the Irish Cultural Center this weekend and had a great time. It is located in downtown Phoenix in the cutest cottage. They hold alot of events and weddings here as well as Irish celebrations. I met some of the nicest people and plan to join some of their groups. During this show their was a quilt artist named Beverly Fizzell. She had her work displayed during our show. She is pure genious. Her work is done all by hand. I enjoyed speaking with her so much. She is a painter and artist of many mediums. She does not sell her quilts and it took her friends to convince her to display them! I hope she will keep displaying them because they are truly a work of art the world would love to see. She was such a nice person and so humble. I hope you enjoy the photos. They were very high on the wall, so my photos arent quite a good as I would have liked.

The carousel with the horses flying off took her two years. She told me the dancing girl was her 2 second quilt she made. (wow, can you imagine!) The man hole cover is pure genious. I have never seen anything like it. She said it was hanging on the ceiling of her home. The dog has a collar and the shoe laces actually dangle down. The cats are gorgeous. To give the appearance of muscle structure and a dimensional look she wet the fabric and stretch and pulled to manipulate the fabric. I hope you have enjoyed meeting Beverly,,, I know I sure did. I hope to see her again at the Center.

Cupcakes and Fairytales

Join us for Make Mine Pink Fridays one day only themed shopping day. I have been waiting all year for this weeks theme. Cupcakes and fairytales. There will be so beautiful and magical gift selections. Faux cupcakes to decorate your kitchen, fairy jewelry, cupcake pillows to decorate with and you may even be lucky enough to find some enchanted fairy houses!

The beautiful ceramic fairy house pictured here is from http://www.carolinealexander.net/ and if you would love to see what the other participating shops are offering, stop by friday at www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday.

I am getting in the holiday spirit

Most people look forward to putting up the decorations and the tree. I look forward to giving my blog a holiday makeover. lol So, I have a new look to show you. I have also been working on lots of new projects for the holidays and will be adding to my website soon. I will be having a special promotion during the Make Mine Pink Christmas Shop Hop. It will be a different ornament offered each day. They will all have a bakery or sweet treat theme and if you purchase the whole set they will be packed in a nifty bakery box tied up with a pretty bow for the the holidays. Here is the first ornament, and ice cream cone. I am loving heart these days too. So, here is a little of what I am working on. Have a great week and happy creating,,,gail

Cat Dracula

Once upon a Halloween there was a quaint Gothic cottage just beyond the cemetery. The owner was the famous Cat Dracula. For obvious reasons he preferred to sleep in the day. But one day, right in the middle of the afternoon there was a knock on his front door. He slowly opened the lid to his comfy coffin to peak out. He figured he better start right where he was, but you know what they say....curiosity kills the Cat Dracula. So he snuck up the stairs from the cold dark basement to see who dared knock on his door. When he cracked it open there was no one there! He saw an envelope tacked to the door. An invitation to a big Halloween celebration. Simply everyone would be there!

On All Hallows Eve Count Dracula set out for the party. He arrived at the Witches Inn and found many of his friends already there. Carmen and Oscar are his very best friends.

There was alot of food, witches brew and casting spells going on. A ghost passing by the crystal ball took a glance to see a vision. He let out a ghostly howl and shreik that stopped all dead in their tracks. What on earth could be so scary? The crystal ball told the scary truth.... ONLY 55 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Pink Slipper Project Sew-a-thon Saturday

Yesterday was the day that was set aside to gather your friends and family to have fun, laugh, eat chocolate and make slippers for The Pink Slipper Project. I know there were several groups around the country participating and I cant wait to see what everyone did. Its so fun. Be sure to visit http://www.pinkslipperproject.org/ to see all of the great slipper that have been donated so far to womens shelters to help keep very special ladies and children warm this winter.

Here are some of the finished products. We had alot of help. I managed to catch Kahlua (she is the black carin terrier) and Maui (she is the blonde carin terrier) helping out. Believe me they never left our side, they know a good party when they see one. We had our party at my BFF Judys house. Our friend Jessica stopped by and we gave her a pair of scissors to rag the edges. Her husband Mark went to this awesome Bar b Que place and brought lunch home. Barbque beef sandwhiches, homemade macaroni and cheese, corn, cheesy potatoes. It was soooo good. Then we had cupcakes for dessert. I have a really cute Cake Cafe down the street and they specialize in cupcakes. They are ALL great, but I love the orange cake w/ orange icing. Man I wish they were open on Sundays because I would be headed there right now for another one! So it was a really fun day. I see more slippers in my future. :) If you would like to become involved with this project, click on to the website and see what it is all about. Have a great week.

We Have A Winner :)

Thank you everyone for entering my give away. They are always alot of fun. I put all of the names in a bowl and, Lucy, my office manager made sure everyone was in there. The lucky winner is Shannon from http://www.shabbyshanscottage.com/ !!!(be sure to check out her adorable website!) Congratulations. I left a post on your blog with my email so that you can send me your address! I will have another give away before Christmas. Have a great weekend..(()) gail

Pumpkins and Spice

This weeks theme for Make Mine Pink Friday is Pumpkins and Spice. I love the fall. The colors, the smells, the weather, just everything. Be sure to visit all of the participating shops tomorrow at www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday to see what they have to offer for this one day only shopping event. There will be rich potpourri of cinnamon and spice. Holiday decorations for Halloween or Thanksgiving. Jewelry to wear to your favorite holiday events. Maybe even gorgeous vintage linens handed down through the generations for holiday traditions. I cant wait to see what everyone comes up with to help me celebrate my favorite time of the year.

(the photo is a beautiful velvet pumpkin designed and made by my friend Carol at http://www.espritdejoie.com/ )

Its time for a give-away contest!

I am on my way out the door to yet another fun birthday celebration! October is party month. Just about all of my friends and family are Libras celebrating the fall. (even the dog has a birthday this month) So with all of the birthdays going on I decided it was time for a give away and time to celebrate. Its easy too, just leave a comment on this post by this Friday, Oct 23 by midnight and I will draw a winner first thing Saturday morning! What better way to celebrate birthdays than with cupcakes. I am giving away one of my pink fairy cakes. This is a smaller version of my larger cupcakes pillows. Good Luck... and if you are an October baby, happy birthday to you!

Look what I got for my birthday :)

Well, I hit the big 51 on Oct 7th. I guess it doesnt matter too much, I feel the same. I wanted to share what my sister Stephanie painted for me. I love this painting, its my new happy place in my mind. lol Also for Christmas she did this colored pencil drawing of Lily. Stephanie took Lily for me when all of my other cats kept being so mean to her. I have no idea why they treated her so badly, but Steph came to the rescue and Lily could not be happier! If you notice in the right side bottom corner of the painting, you will see Lily peeking around the corner. Steph also crochets a mean blanket. I am trying to get her to open an Etsy shop too.

I have really been giving alot of thought to the different talent people have. I believe we all have talents and I hope you are finding time to learn about your own and develope it to its full potential. Whether you like to cook, write, draw, garden, dance, act, you get the idea.... go for it! I have started a new blog that is mostly a journal of sorts about living with limited mobility issues and finding inspiration for your own greatness. If you get a chance, check it out too. Because I do believe that my creativity is the icing on the cake of my life :) http://www.inspirationforgreatness.blogspot.com/

Girly Finds

Its almost friday, and you know what that means! Its time for the Make Mine Pink Friday weekly shopping event. This weeks theme is Girly Finds. This is perfect shopping for the all of the girly girls out there...you know who you are! Be sure to visit all of the participating shops. There will be purses, feminine pillows, jewelry. I am sure there will be alot of gorgeous vintage finds. Journals for keeping track of all of your hopes and dreams. There will be lots to find for your special little girls or your inner child. So please join us, tomorrow October 9th. You can find the participating shops herehttp://www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday

Lots of Fun Stuff

What a week I have had and coming up! Its that busy time of the year. I love it so much. I was in my first arts and craft show in many years this weekend. Its called the Briar Patch and its been a local favorite in the Phoenix area for over 25 years now. I met the sweet lady, Jeannie, who has run this show since the very beginning and she runs a great show and is a pleasure to work with. If you are in the Phoenix metro area there will be another Briar Patch show Oct 10th and 11th. It is at Sequoya Elementary School at 11808 N 64th St in Scottsdale. This is THE BIG ONE! Well over 100 vendors, I heard some say up to 200. People come from out of state to participate in this show. Great fudge and peanut brittle too! Here is their website for more info: www.briarpatchcrafts.com Maybe I will see ya there. Here is a couple photos of this weekends show. April helped me set it up and she decided on a snack. lol This is a lady I met and she makes the most adorable items and starts with vintage chenille bedspreads. She has a way of putting patterns and colors together. Just gorgeous. This is one side of my space. Next week I will have a more elaborate display to show. :) Last is a photo of one of my new pillows. Its wrapped like a pretty gift and you never have to open it. I thought the cute altered art tags would really be cute. I got these from Carrie at http://www.noellegarrettdesigns.com/.

I also will be doing a show the beginning of November with The Irish Cultural and Learning Foundation. It will be with the popular First Fridays are walk in downtown Phoenix. And of course starting Monday, 10-5 is the shop hop at Make Mine Pink. Be sure to visit all of the participating shops to find the hidden shopping bags to be entered in drawings for great prizes. So many of the shops are running great specials and having special events and contributions for Breast Cancer Awareness. www.makeminepink.com/shop-hop . Its going to be an exciting week, be sure to get in on some of the fun... Until next time... gail

Make Mine Pink Friday~ its Pink and Chic

As many of you know every friday at Make Mine Pink we have a themed shopping day. This is my theme this week Oct 2nd. Its all about pink, everything pink. You can follow this link starting friday and visit all of the different shops to see what they will be offering. This is a favorite of ours so it will be awsome to see what everyone has for this one day event. www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday .

As You Wish

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall. I must live through you if I may. It was supposed to be 108 today. I am staying inside, so that means alot of creating is getting done :) Last week a very good friend of mine took me to a shop called As You Wish. Its a pottery painting place and soooo much fun. You pick out a piece of greenware and you choose all of your own glazes and fun stuff to create a masterpiece of your own. I used to do porcelin dolls many years ago, but have not done much with ceramics. It was quite fun and relaxing. They had so many Halloween items. Soooo cute! But I went with a plain scalloped edged plate to try my hand at painting a cupcake and doodles. I can see a zillion mistakes, but I love it all the same. It was a very special night,,,, thank you Kathy.

I am doing an art show next weekend called the Briar Patch. It is held at several locations this time of year until Christmas. I hope to be doing quite of few of these shows. I am really excited and have been working like crazy. I am happy with the amount of inventory I have so far, but I will be doing more this week. Because I also have the Shop Hop for Pink October for Make Mine Pink. That begins Oct. 5th, so be sure to get signed up for all of the fun at http://www.makeminepink.com/ . Also this friday the theme for Make Mine Pink Friday is Simply Pink. This is a match made in heaven for me. As you know alot of what I do is Pink :) So here is a photo of my cupcake plate and some jewelry I worked on this weekend. I listed 19 new things on my website last night. ( a little shameless self promotion here. ) And I created a design to send into a magazine for consideration for a submission. More on that later. So stay busy, enjoy a nice fall day for me~please :) Until next time...... gail

The Grand Canyon.....finally

I was born and raised in Arizona. In fact there are not alot of 50 year olds around who are natives. But I had NEVER been to the Grand Canyon. I dont even know why, but at last I finally went this last week for the day. I was suprised that it only took 3hours and 45 minutes to get there and that was with a couple little stops and going the speed limit! I went with my very good friend Johnsie, her sister Jennifer and her Dad and Aunt Toots. Aunt Toots was visiting from Philly. The weather was just beautiful, 75 degrees. They went hiking about 1/4 mile down the Bright Angel Trail. There was no way I would be able to do that with my hip, but I was content sitting in the gorgeous weather and clean air. While I was sitting there a tour of mules was coming back up from the bottom of the canyon. You can ride a mule down, I guess it takes about 5 to 6 hours. You camp overnight in cabins and have a great steak dinner then back up the next morning. I was talking with some of the folks arriving. They had the time of their life. They all seemed glad they did it, but probably wouldnt do it again. I guess its pretty intense. I also understand reservations have to be made very far in advance. None of my photos of the mules turned out. I found a squirrel (susan lol) but that photo didnt turn out either, darn. But here are a few. I was so happy they asked me along. :)

I also have had a really busy week creating for the upcoming fall season and an upcoming art show I will be doing locally called The Briar Patch. I will blog about that show when I do it. I think it will be a great experience. I met the woman who runs this show today. Her name is Jeanne and she is such a nice person and really works hard for her shows. So, its been a nice week. I made these 3 pin cushions from some baby shoes I got at an antique store. These boxes are what I am working on for the Make Mine Pink shop hop. Its part of my promotion. When a purchase is made from my "rose jewelry" catagory you will receive one of these pink gift boxes. And 20 percent of my sales will go to the Susan G Koman Foundation for breast cancer research. And last but not least I am working on some new pillows. These are presents you wont have to open! I here sooo many times the ladies here at MMP say when they received the package, "it was so pretty, I didnt want to open it" Everyone love a beautifully wrapped gift. This is just a sneak preview. I will be adding other colors and styles and they will be coming with a beautiful altered art tag that Carrie from Noelle Garrett Designs is making for me. Whew!!! This is a long one.... What have you been up to? Are you getting a head start on the holidays? Until next time...... gail

Show and Tell with Furry Friends Helping.

Its been a busy week and I am happy that I have gotten lots done. Thats always a good thing around this time of year. Its been a week now since I have been unemployed and I think I am better each day. At least I am moving on the the next phase, anger! lol Now I am just mad, not so much sad. But thats OK too, I am using that energy in a positive way. I have alot of projects in various stages and I will post them when they are finished, but I have a couple pillows to post today. The gold colored plaid is a vintage piece of fabric I picked up at a yard sale in Providence RI in June. I love the retro colors. The fabric is in excellent condition. The heart was just something new to try. And this is Googars. He is my main helper. He sticks to me like glue. Its funny because when I lived in my townhouse before he insisted on being a mostly outdoor cat. He was the neighborhood bully too. I would here cat fights and I always new it was him. There was flat roofs on the buildings and he was always running across everyones roof making noise. It was quite embarassing at times, so when I moved I would not let him out and I dont know if he is happy about it or if he figures if he annoys me enough I will throw him outside. I hope everyone is enjoying the fall. Not quite here yet, but I am anticipating its arrival! Have a happy, healthy and creative day... Until next time...... gail

What I know for sure.

Happy Labor Day. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend, blessed with beautiful weather and lots of good food at cook outs! I have never thought too much about Labor Day before until this year. I have worked since I was 15 years old and until now I have never lost a job. If I left, it was on my own terms. My job had been up in the air and back and forth for months so I really not shocked I got laid off, but what I am upset about is the CEO of the company that will be taking over came out to Phoenix a week ago and said there would not be any changes. There is only three people in our small business. I was feeling so much better, however my gut telling me "I dont know about this." So this is the first thing I know for sure, always listen to your gut instinct! Thursday the new owners called and said they arent keeping me. They hope its just temporary and they can bring me back soon. Guess what my gut tells me about that. LOL I wont be holding my breath. Its been a really tough and emotional weekend. I am trying to be a big girl about this, but I honestly just feel like being sad, mad and feel sorry for myself. Especially since I was screwed (can I say that word?) out of my vacation pay they owe me. I left with two days pay! But I am feeling a little better now. I live alone, but my family is freaking out about what is Mom going to do now. I am going to be working on my businesses Gail Friend Designs and Gails Furry Friends. I have to make it work. I dont want anyone else having control over my future every again. Soooo to my family, dont worry, I have no intention on moving in with you! lol AND this is what else I know for sure... I am too damn old to keep start over again! So this is the last time I will. I have been working to get to this place my whole life, its my time and I will succeed.

In the middle of my pity party I did make this bracelet and earrings today. :) Have a great week. Be thankful for your jobs as you celebrate Labor Day this year.

National Sewing Month :)

September is National Sewing Month. I have really been excited to see how much sewing has gained in popularity. Quilting just gets bigger and bigger. Its becoming such a major art form with so many techniques and styles. Shows like Project Runway has alot of young adults and teens very interested in sewing and design. I love the new website created by Joyce Lucas, http://www.quiltandstitchmarketplace.com/ . This site has the most adorable quilt shops, fabric shop and work from fiber artist.

Grab a cup of tea and have a look and be inspired by these textile artist and merchants. Until next time... gail