Shameless Self Promotion

I'm having a sale in my ETSY SHOP. One more day left. It runs until Monday, Dec 1, midnight Pacific Standard Time. Buy one get one (equal or lesser value) for 50% off (regular shipping costs apply). Just mention in the note to seller "Holiday Sale", then wait for me to send a revised invoice before paying.

This is a special sale for my friends of the blog, and friends of the myspace.

I have a lot of arm warmers all ready for the gift-giving, snuggle-up-weather, season!

They come in 2 styles... the Funky Chunky, with many colors to choose from. and...


The Sleek-Chic for a more simple style.

Doesn't my lil sis look cute?

OC in November

Thanksgiving Break is reaching it's end. We're deep in the middle of the Holiday Season again! The Holidays with many people just struggling to get by with the basics. I'm hoping for more sales than last year, but it could be difficult. I'll have to go minimal also.

Earlier this week I did go down to Orange County for busy, fun-filled experiences. First, went to a Tribal Party in the South Bay area. Met some new people, got to know some others a bit better. Fun time, but very different for me to go to that part of the world.

The next day was a party at my sister's for my 3 year old twin nephews. They're growing up fast, but just as energetic as ever!

Next was a long lunch with my dad and his friends at the best vegetarian restaurant. Au Lac in Fountain Valley can convert the biggest meat eaters to go veggie! It's vegan Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine. And has a large supply of raw selections too, if that's your preference. This has been Wesley's favorite food since he was one!


Then there was our long, but enjoyable, day at Disneyland. Always special at Christmas time. The Small World has reopened. It seems they didn't completely get rid of the Rain Forest Room, but condensed it into the Island-type of room. Not sure what happened to the original room, I didn't notice it. See my post about Saving The Rain Forest if you're interested.


The castle is completely gorgeous this time of year!


Finally our last day we went to visit a very old, dear friend and his adorable daughter. (So sorry we missed you KP!) We went on a little walk into the Coyote Hills. This is a little slice of nature in the middle of suburban Orange County. Unfortunately they want to pave another piece of paradise for more unneeded housing. Well I think it's unneeded when there are so many foreclosures everywhere. While I feel for the construction industry (I know many people struggling now with little work), I also feel the need to conserve the little bit of nature we do have in So Cal. So I say Save Coyote Hills!

Now I've got only part of weekend left until the ol' grind to begin again. The ol' grind with the busyness of Christmas thrown in. Oh Boy!

Give Thanks!

I'm giving Thanks! Thanks for my family and friends; cozy-cramped cottage with the lovely surroundings; a nice (sometimes too) comfortable community; the rain that extinguished our fire danger (even if temporary); my colorfully simple meal; fairly good health with no asthma attacks in almost a year; my brilliant, friendly and adorable son; the opportunity to be able to improve my art and business. Oh, let's not forget a soon to be new President!! Just a few of many things to be grateful for!

Here's my traditionally slightly unusual Thanksgiving Feast. Clockwise from top left... Vegan "roast"; roasted roots of yams, carrots, potatoes and onion; Indian maize with ceyenne and cumin; mashed potatoes (pretty traditional, yet new for me); spinach (just for some green...weird?); slightly over-browned rolls; and my favorite cranberries and apples cooked on the woodstove all day (luckily cold and rainy!) Plus yummy tahini dip with veggies and chips for appetizers, and 2 types of pie of dessert. All this, but probably most stuffed from the beers I had. Yes, I've must have beer on Thanksgiving, just like the pilgrims, of course!

I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Feast! What are you thankful for? Please do tell!

UPDATE.... I just heard on the news that "97% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving." Can this really be true? Are vegetarians really less than 3% of the population? What about the people who don't like turkey? Eat ham instead? Or just don't have any Thanksgiving dinner? This is bound to make the vegetarian percentage even smaller. How can this be? No wonder I always feel like such an unusual person, I'm very rare indeed!!

Be the Change

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."--Mahatma Gandhi

What a wonderful quote! And how honored I am to have my little drawing accompany this nice sentiment!

So my bulldog creation turned out pretty good, embroidered on the varsity jacket. What fun!

And I'm still trying my best to be that change I want in the world.

Art Lesson - Andy Warhol Pop Art

I did this art lesson with a large group of 4th graders a couple of weeks ago. It takes a brave person to do a lesson with tempera paint, especially with a large group of 35!! Because of this, the kids don't get to use the tempera as much as they should. So I thought I'd use my patience skills, and let them do a little experimenting with this paint.


First I explained a little about Pop Art. I talked about how in pop art things that are "popular" in our culture are used. I asked them what might that be. One boy said an iPod. Good, I also said how maybe Hannah Montana might be used. There was a bit of an uproar at this, mainly from the boys! I then showed some examples of Andy Warhol's work. The kids were amazed when I showed the Campbell's soup art, and couldn't believe it when I told them that Warhol made lots of money off of this! I also showed his Marilyn Monroe work. The kids didn't know who she was, one thought it was Madonna. But with these examples, I think they got a good understanding of Pop Art.


I decided to do a simple design, with something that might be "popular" with them. Although many didn't seem to want to do an ice cream cone, I wanted the design to be simple so they could work with mixing colors a little. First we folded our paper into 4 sections. Then drew our simple ice cream cones.

The first cone we painted with complementary colors. (I showed them a color wheel and explained a little about this) This was good since the California art standards for 4th grade include using complementary colors. Then the second cone was done with a solid color, then by adding white (a tint of the color). I could've done more lessons with color and mixing, but my time was running out, so I had them paint the remaining 2 ice cream cones however they wanted. And as usual a lot of kids just wanted a chance to mix the colors up. Most waited until their painting was nearly done before they went at it with the mixing. To some this was the funnest part about the lesson. Surprisingly, only 1 made this mess too soon, before he used the fresh colors. There's always at least one in the group who doesn't follow directions very well.

So if you're a brave soul, go and let those kids make a mess with the tempera... They really need it!

Witch Doctor - Tiki Dude

Did you have a fun Halloween? We did! Here's Wesley in his costume, a witch doctor, aka "Tiki Dude" by many of the observers of the night. Wesley dreamed it up, I manifested it into the thing it is. Pretty easy to do with a corner of a box, painted up, then with raffia added to the top. Plus I made a "bone" necklace out of paper clay. And better still, Wesley won the costume contest for his age group at the town carnival. FUN!


And here we are, Tiki Dude, and me in my very-quickly whipped together, groovy looking witch. I like having the opportunity to damage my hair with a crimping iron.

I guess it's now time to fully submerge ourselves into the holiday season. Well, at least if you don't want to run out of time, and ruin your experience because of being rushed and unprepared, right?!