Got Time? You Will Need It For This One!

Well it has been several weeks since I returned from my vacation to Mountain View. I had a truly wonderful time. It has been a long while since my last post because I started a new job immediately upon my return! I had a bit of time to document my trip today so here it goes! We were able to participate in the Off The Beaten Path Studio Tour the Friday and Saturday we were there. It is where local artists participate in a tour where people can come to their houses and have a tour of their studio and learn more about what it is that they do. It was wonderful being able to be invited into their homes and get a first hand look inside their lives. It was inspiring and the creative bug hit me! The artists ranged from woodworkers, weavers, candle makers, paper makers, jewelry makers, painters, fabric artists, quilters, and the list goes on. Visit the link to learn more about each of the participating artists. But here, I will give you an inside look into the artists I enjoyed the most.

I really enjoyed the weaver. She is such a neat and talented lady. She gave me and my sister a one on one crash course session into weaving. She even sent my sister home with a loom to use!

The picture is of the weaver, Arlone. Here is one of her WIP's and finished products. She is very talented.

I also enjoyed the candle maker. She gave us a demonstration on how to make candles. She also let us in on some great tricks and tips on finishing techniques. Her studio was fabulous! Needless to say, I purchased many candles from her. As a matter of fact, I have a few lit right now! I think my favorite scent is Sauna. It is made with patchouli, sandalwood, and eucalyptus. She is usually a wholesaler but, since she was participating in the tour ,she allowed individual sales. Naturally that made me very very happy!

This is Leon and Dwight. They are fabulous woodworkers super friendly! They have a great woodworking studio and showed us the process of how they make thier wooden bowls. The bowls were all beautifully made.

Leon had the sweetest little dog, Digger, who wanted to play catch. Once you started he would not let you stop either! He would pick up any stick he could find and place it on the ground in front of you and expect you to pick it up and throw it.

He had a little tiny stick he wanted my niece Violet to throw to him. She did it once and thought that was enough!

This lady was really neat. Her name is Chere. She makes Jewelry out of polymer clay. The jewelry is fabulous. I don't know how she does it but, she can make the clay look like real stones! I was certainly impressed.

She also gave us a step by step demonstration on how to make paper. I have always wanted to make paper and can't wait to give it a try. It is so much easier than I thought. I took notes during the demo so I could remember how it is done. Maybe I will do that this weekend. She just uses junk mail to make her paper. What a great way to use all the junk mail that normally goes in the trash!

Yes, that is polymer clay. Hard to believe!

There were so many other artists that we saw. It was a really well put together tour. They will be doing it again next year for those that may be interested!

We stayed in the cutest little cabin. It had a "Gone With The Wind" theme to it. It was a cozy little cabin, nestled around many trees. There was a great front porch with several rocking chairs. I spent many nights out there just sitting listening to nature and enjoying the nice cool weather. It was so peaceful.

The cabin had a great kitchen and on our last night there my sister made a blackberry pie. It was so yummy!! This is the pie in the mid pie making process.

The farmers market we went to was alot of fun. That was the first morning that it was cold. I believe it was about 50 degrees or maybe a bit warmer. But none the less, I loved it! In Texas it is still 90 degrees out so the cool weather was a nice break from all the heat. There was a man selling eggs there. He was the hot ticket and got most the business. He even gave us 12 dozen eggs out of the kindness of his heart. I love farm fresh eggs. They are such a pretty color of brown and light green!

Next to us was a lady named Stitch. Boy, was she ever a stitch! This lady was very eccentric. She was the life of the party! I walked with her across the square because she wanted company as she needed to go to the general store to get her morning chocolate milk. She told me all about the history of Mountain View during our walk and introduced me to the general store staff. You can see her here with her legs hanging out the back of her VW bus talking to my sister. She got her nick name because she stitches up clothing. She is a tailor.

There was also the cutest little man who was there selling his hand carved fish and ducks. Honestly, I have never seen more beautifully done work. His carvings were so intricate to detail. He and his wife were from out of town visiting. They were staying in Mountain View for about 2 weeks. They love Mountain View and this was their 4th trip there!

There was the cutest neighborhood kitty who came to check things out. He caught eye of those fish sitting in the back of the wood carvers truck and wanted to catch one for himself. He darted across the street with his little collar jingling to announce his arrival. When he got close he realized the fish were not real and came over to check out our stuff!

The market was alot of fun and I got to meet and talk to alot of really neat people. I think that was the best part of it all. At first we thought it was going to be a bust because when we first arrived no one was there. We were feeling a bit sad about it because we had looked so forward to it. We drove around a bit and decided to go back and check to see if anyone showed up and sure enough sellers had started to arrive. Hopefully we can do it again!

All in all the trip was a blast and fun was had by all. It is nice to take a vacation like that every now and again. Mountain View is really a beautiful place and everyone who loves the mountains should visit at least once in their life.

Oh my, how could I forget! My sister and I went to Marshal Dry Goods! The mecca of fabric stores! Oh my, the massive amounts of fabric in this place was unreal! The fabric was SUPER CHEAP! There was fabric at $1.00 a yard! There was designer fabric too, for next to nothing! Take a look at my loot! Get ready for alot of pictures of fabric. All you fabric lovers out there I am sure will not mind!

I love this one, it is very 70's. I have no idea just yet what I am going to do with it but I love it!

Well, I love this one too. I think I may make a few zipper pouches out of it. I love the dress forms and thread. Maybe even some coasters for my craft room! The possibilities are endless!

Then there is this. Adorable and I had to have it. It reminded me of 50's housewife. It was so cute and vintage looking. Unfortunately, I could not get my camera to take a good picture of it.

Who doesn't like the 3 little pigs? How cute is this fabric!!

Okay, hang in there, almost done. I really liked this one. I kept coming back to it and finally decided I needed it! I ended up getting much yardage because I have plans for this one!

Free Spirit. Need I say more? Love it.

This had a sweet English feel to it. I think I am going to make a tote out of it, among many other things. The fabric itself is actually slightly blurred. I thought it gave it some classic charm.

Okay, I am done. If you are still there, I cannot believe you made it! You have participated in reading my longest blog ever! Congrats! You deserve a reward! Hmm...maybe a recipe post soon? We will see!

Time to make dinner and watch Desperate Housewives!!

Cheers everyone!