Mother's day gift

today i received the best gift ever and that was to spend some time with Dillon. he's very busy with school, improv, his girlfriend, his friends - you know; being a teenager. but today we got to hang out and i really enjoyed it. first we hit the dog beach to look for beach trash that i will use in an art project for COA (clean ocean act). it was really windy and chilly; so we were bundled up. and we didn't really find that much trash. i'll have to keep hitting the beaches a few more times so i have enough to do this project. We did find a bunch of tennis balls that i gathered up and left and the opening of the dog beach for owners who forgot to bring one.

then we headed home and went exploring in our own back yard. behind our house is a field that belongs to the quarry, Clayton. and if you slip behind the metal fence at the end of the field, you into what eventually becomes the quarry. lots of found object stuff back there, let me tell you you! anyway, we explored the quarry area and i watched dillon climbing on all the equipment. dillon and his friends come back here alot (well to the general area of the field, marshes, etc.) so he knows it well. there are a couple of small small bodies of water back there; which i want to figure out how to get closer to and check out the birding situation.

then we hiked over to this other area where a new home is being built next to another lake. wow, it is an amazing home and HUGE! we sort of illegally went inside and looked around. it's probably a 3 million dollar home with the house and property.

now we are back home and hanging out. all that fresh air and wind made us tired!
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this is a picture i took of dill today that i altered into a poster. pretty cool, huh?

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and this was another photo i took and then played with it in photoshop. the one on the far left is the original. i like how by adusting the lighting and contrast in the middle photo, you can now see is eye through the rock.

aww, young love.....

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day! i realized that i had almost forgotten it in my stupor of getting ready to leave on Wednesday, getting projects finished, travel details finalized and of course, still being in a bit of a fog about kirby. i have been working all day, but tonight when i finally get to lay down on my bed, i will be opening up all the Valentine's Day cards that i received from my one on one card swap. some of you tricked me and sent packages with goodies in it! had i known that, i would have done the same thing for you - but always appreciated that you went the extra mile for me; especially right now when i need that extra little bit of love. a few of my cards (sent out in a timely manner!) were returned to me. apparently the tiny envelope (i set out vintage little cards that you would have given out in elementary school) was a bit of a nuisance for the sorting machine at the post office. they have been placed in new envelopes and will be mailed out on tuesday. sorry about that!




(in case you missed the post before about this heart shaped rock, i found it recently when i was out in California when my sister, niece and i went for a walk on the beach in Camarillo. isn't it beautiful? love that it has holes in it.)

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For Valentine's Day, Dillon and I decided it would be fun for me to show him some basic metal smithing techniques so that he could make a handmade pendant for his girlfriend, Alana. it was fun getting to teach my son some of what i do. when i asked him how he liked it, he said that he found the lettering a bit stressful! but otherwise, he enjoyed it. isn't he sweet?

special necklace to celebrate 45 years

I found this medal piece that reads 1964, 45th anniversary year at a flea market. so i 've been holding onto knowing i wanted to create something with it being i was born in '64 and i am turning 45. so this is what i came up with. it's a large piece and it definitely will showcase me on my birthday as i wear my party hat and have dinner with friends while in Ohio. (pam, i'm going to miss you!)