It's All About The WHIMSY!

California Adventure part 2...

Things I did while on a whirlwind trip through southern California..

Enjoyed a tasty beverage at a sidewalk cafe in Pasedena with sister Judi and dear frined Ginny..also made a visit to Zinnia which was of course fabulous!

An evening of art journaling at Gina's house..would you look at that washi tape stash!  

Oh such creative fun!

Lovely ladies at Flora Bowley's class

Celebrated Judi's birthday at a fabulous Malibu restaurant, Savory.  I'll not tell her age..

Birthday girl!

Antiquing..I really think she should have bought this hat!

And a stop at the French General!!!

Somewhere in the afternoon there was:

**an accidental wine tasting,

**a visit to the LA Library( wonderful!),

**lunch with #1 Son

**and a fine dinner provided by my brother-in-law prior to departure back east.

We wasted not a minute..needed a day of sleep to recover..

I miss my bbs..

California here I come!

Off to Los Angeles for a long weekend!  

To visit with these crazy ladies..

Gina and sister Judi

and the lovely Ginny

All talented beyond measure and more than a little amusing.  No lack of

whimsy here...

 

and take a workshop with Flora Bowley!  WOO HOO!!

I will also have a chance to visit with #1 son!

Thank you brother Jay for the great photo of Ben which I "stole" from your flickr page...

Must go...adventure awaits!

Weekend wandering

A weekend away in the Berkshires of Massachusetts..

lovely long hikes through the woods

great friends, music and food!

What a pleasure to see John Williams conduct the Boston Pops..and a special treat that Morgan Freeman narrated the event!  Such a fabulous time!

Just glorious, the magic of nature!

Edith Wharton's home, The Mount.

A beautiful morning that ended with a Mozart concert at Tanglewood

and a drive home through some rather nasty weather.  

And Away We Go!

We are headed out of town for a mini-vacation

to the beautiful Bershire Mountains!

Three days of hiking in the mountains, antiquing and music at Tanglewood with dear friends!

Happy Friday!

Kindred Spirits

While roaming across the country the past ten days I had the pleasure of spending an entire day with these two lovely ladies

Gina and Judi, my sister.  They are my inspiration!

Judi has a fabulous studio where we spent the day making books and playing with art materials.

Hard not to be inspired in these surroundings!

I wanted to steal this entire arrangement and take it home with me...jealous..

What's not to like? Right?  

And some yummy refreshments too.  Thank you ladies for a wonderful day.  I do miss you both!

Artfest reduex

After months of waiting, Artfest always seems to rush in and out in the blink of an eye.  Such fun we had!  A view scenes for the action packed weekend in Port Townsend, Washington...and a huge thank you to Teesha and Tracy Moore for hosting this fabulous event each year.

My fellow travelers, sister Gina and Judi.  Oh the silliness!

First stop in town is Akamai Art Store.  Saw this beauty in the parking lot and bought loads of supplies in the store.  Just the nicest people there!

What a view!

 Port Townsend 

Saw these fabulous felted wool hats in town..smashing but pricey.

Our home away from home for the weekend.

Yes please, have some..

The deer just walk right up to you, whether on foot or in a car.  They are clearly in charge here.

 
 The Undertown, a wonderful coffee house!

Another beautiful view at Fort Worden

I had three amazing teachers and learned so many new techniques!  A sample of my work from Multiplicity with Gina Armfield.  Wow!  Inspirational!

Drive By Post...

Killing time at Sea-tac on my way home from ARTFEST working in my No More Excuses Journal. I so dislike the red eye flight but had a lovely few days in Port Townsend!  More when I'm awake.

ARTFEST!

My view for the next week!

Bags are once again packed as I head out yet again for another adventure.  ARTFEST here I come! 500+ artists from all across the globe gathered in one spot.  Can you feel the energy??  Thank you to Teesha and Tracy Moore who organize this amazing event each year!  A daunting task and they do it so well.

There will be glorious sunrises in Port Townsend, Washington.  Well at least I hope so...the weather can be difficult this time of year.  I will bring my umbrella...

My housemates Judi and Gina.

And three days of ART, ART,ART..All day, no other responsibilities!  

Whoopee!

One final look Abroad

Lisa and I with our tour guide for a most excellent adventure through the Cotswold region with stops at Oxford University and Stratford on Avon.  Godfreid was wonderful and strangely enough on our last trip to England he was our guide for a different tour!  

We toured Christ Church College in Oxford, the inspiration for Hogwarts of all things!  A few scenes were filmed here and much set design was based on the architecture.  Lewis Carroll and his legacy are on prominent display throughout the college as well.  

Now back on the bus and off to a little village!

 The Cotswold villages are just breathtaking.  If I ever decided to run away, you can find me here!

A typical British lunch in this quaint pub.

I wandered through the village with brother Jay and we happened on this beautiful church yard.  Could have spent the entire afternoon here!

See what I mean?  Is this not gorgeous?!  But back on the bus and off to Stratford on Avon.

Anne Hathaway's "cottage", William Shakespeare's wife.  Given the time period it is huge!  As a former Museum guide I can say they did a wonderful job painting a picture of the lifestyle of the the times...Of course no picture taking inside...

William Shakespeare attended school here.  Fascinating how the very old sits in the middle of a very modern community!

Shakespeare's birthplace.  Nice, huh?  Huge!  Again a great tour!  It was mobbed with tourists from every country imaginable.  So many languages spoken as we wandered through the exhibits and house. 

Not to be outdone by Oxford, this village plays on the popularity of Harry Potter as well...Hedwig sits in the window of the local wand shop...yes they really sold wands.

I could keep posting photos from the trip forever!  But it's time to say adieu and join the real world again.  If you want more please visit my flickr page.  Our last stop before heading to the airport was a visit with Peter Pan in Kensington Park.

Thank you Mr Barrie for your WHIMSY!!

Portobello Road, London

Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill...

Not To Be Missed!

Candy colored houses line the street, quaint garden behind high fences...

We were blessed with a warm and sunny day, quite a contrast to the previous day and it's famous London fog.

Below is an all important directional sign.  These are painted at intersections in "tourist" areas to ward off disasters...Pay attention!  They drive on the opposite side of the road, takes a little getting used to...

One of the jewels of the street is Alice's.  I wanted to buy the entire store!  Alas, no room in suitcase and not nearly enough pounds in my wallet.  

 

Just such glorious displays!  The wine bucket would be a perfect gift for one of my sisters..

 

An entire basket of red cricket balls!  I wanted them all!

Beautiful flower stalls on the street.  We did purchase some fabulous green grapes from a fruit stall, they were the size of apricots!

Color, color and more color!

 

Truly an eye catcher-All Saints.  I have never seen so many vintage sewing machines in one place.  Later in the week we passed another of their shops on Carnaby Street...same distinctive windows.  Lovely!

 

 

Spotted this sweetie in a window..with a little encouragement from brother Jay he stalked us while we snapped photos.

 

 

We ended the afternoon with a stroll through Kensington Garden and  Kensington Palace and on the way back to our hotel.  Much is under renovation and restoration..there is that BIG wedding coming up in a few weeks...and the Olympics as well.

Any opportunity for silliness and we jump right in!