My week in highlights

My sister lorrie and my mom came for the weekend. I  had begged Lorrie to come in and teach a journaling class for me so I could  learn  some of her skills she is a wonderful journalizer and the  class was soooo much fun  . I lOVE taking classes  .  I have  always frozen up when it  comes  to the collaging  elements and the  putting down  of the text .After her class I now feel   more confidant .She was  a very gently teacher   moved me along  with  just the right nudge  when I got  "stuck " now  thanks to her help I am over the hump.  After class the 2 of us had "sister " time  and kept working for about 3 more hours   and then it was  home to pizza Cal had   ordered for us from  Bisbee's little brick fired pizza shop.  I have also been up to a bit of sewing and have  altered some jeans for the shop and a few little  tops too!! That too was so much  fun that I ordered a surger. It's a refurbished one and I have yet to try it but I am sure it will work fine.. Oh and  this was a little altered spool class I taught last week . Much thanks to the  influence  of   my friend Marie  Kennedy and her little  spools I carry in the shop . My plan is to do a different spool class every six weeks and then at the end of the year those who take the classes will have a fun collection  of altered spools.  This one was called " Poetry in Motion"

set up for class

Diane is intensely into the mess of creating 

Some of the journals  drying ...oh  such pretty colors !!

a page spread in lorries' class sample 

A page spread from my journal with  the start of a Mary Oliver poem 

 My Altered jeans 

A  dress I  altered by turning it  into a tunic

"Poetry in Motion" .... Have a  poetic week!!!

blissbee news

Some of the things going on at "Blissbee "this week..

new " meg" clothes came in today  paired up with some "Vintage  Kitty"

More new jewelry

We carrry  Chris Roberts- Antieau

My favorite Fabric folk artist!!!

And then last  but not least our class today was 

"Cross your  heart and hope to fly"!!!! Thats Renee, Ginny and Evelyn.  We have a tiney class  room for 6 students but just  found out we can  rent the back workshop space  in the store  this Fall!!

Have a great rest of the week !

betwixt

Even thought the store is taking a lot of our time.  I am  finding time to be creative too . It is sooo wonderful to have my studio in the back  room . I even have room for my sewing  machine to be set up all the time and I love my sewing machine it is the crafts expression Janome model. Any way a  new fun thing I made is this doll she is in perfect mode for the fall season  and will be teaching her  this fall  at Terri Brushes  ART CAMP  oct 6 - 10th . The event is sold out but there is always the spring ART CAMP . So plan ahead .

betwixt 

Blissfully in Blissness!!!!

I think I forgot  how to blog. Yikes!!! But here goes and it will be along post !! It must have been fear or the perfectionist in me or who knows what??? Why did I not post along the journey of creating Blissbee??? HMMM I guess I was afraid to jinks the magic. And it has been pure magic.  So here is the picture  unveiling and and more of the story . Our  water damaged  condo  in Santa fe  (which never felt  like home) finally  got repaired  and finished in April. Cal did all  the work traveling back and forth between Bisbee and Santa fe, working  on both the condo and the store . On his last trip  to Santa fe finalizing repairs he listed the place for sale we felt only a glimmer of hope in selling in this market BUT!!! Low and behold  while on the road  back to Bisbee the listing agent called  him and said there is an  an offer coming in!!! We were shocked !!  Of course we accepted  and  closed  last week .  By by Condo !! What  a relief!!! and what a further  message that Bisbee was  meant to be our new home . Cal and I  then  put all our efforts into the boutique  and also   moving  into a permeant rental as we had been moving every few weeks from one vacation rental to the next . . My studio was the first  to be finished in the back room of the boutique . We also found  out that not only is our boutique  the old funeral  home ( hauntings  too) but my studio is the embalming room- ya gotta  love it!!!  The main   boutique room  and bathroom followed. Soft linen, whites, tongue and grove and a hint of  pale blue cover the walls  .  In the months of April and May art work began  to flood in from all the  wonderful artist who agreed to  allow me to feature their work . Yummy!!!!! everyday has been  like  christmas as boxes arrived-  except  Cal said "YOU CAN NOT KEEP ANYTHING"!!! Anyway the opening kept getting delayed as we had NO idea how long this would  take . A super visit from Lorrie and Bruce really helped as I  was feeling a bit frozen and overwhelmed and  asking myself " Who do you think you are ? and "Can we do this"???? I really needed Lorrie  to see it all as a big adventures like this  in my life just does not seem real or possible with out her input  and  blessing. After their visit  I was able  to pull it   together and with the  permits ok-ed  and the wonderful new sign up  which was designed by Ericka it started to feel real. We still have yet to launch the web site which Sara at Sadie Olive is almost done with and it will feature all the news of  Blissbee along with this blog. Well here are images . Much love  to all of you for your support and I PLAN to stop by and say hi to you all as I have missed you and  feel very out of the loop of your lives !!!

Hope you enjoyed the peek into our "baby" BLISSBEE I also hope some of you may be able to come for a visit we plan to launch the in store classes soon which will be listed on the calendar page of the new we site!!

Plan B is for BISBEE!!!

Big thanks to everyone  for  your  comments and advice !!!  We where all ready to move  to Michigan  and then Mom said no and  she was the deciding force as it is her home. I trust the universes so much in all I do as  everything happens for a reason and when one door closes others always  open .And  open they DID !!  As of my last post we where still in Bisbee as the our condo was and IS  still not repaired!!!   We keep feeling that we are meant to move out of Santa fe .  The morning  after Mom said no , I went for my walk with the dogs  which took me downtown Bisbee . As   I walked along I passed  by this cute old building and noticed a  new for rent sign in the window  ?  My thought was we  could never afford the rent for this place but I  called any way for fun. WOW it was affordable  and we where first in line.  WE took a leap of faith and rented the place. The next few days we also found I cute  old house within our budget to rent  . After a week long trip back to Santa Fe to check on the condo repairs which are NOT progressing .We where able to have the insurance company  pay for our move  to Bisbee !!  Our things are in storage as we do not get the house rental till April . I can only feel  that this is meant to be as it just flowed into place .  Cal is working on doing stuff to the shop as it has a little room in the back that will be my mess making studio .The   shop will carry antiques and art and I will have a small teaching studio offering on going weekend classes both short and long. Tons of cute  boutique hotels are everywhere for those who might want to make  a trip and take a workshop. Bisbee is well worth the 1 1/2 hour drive from Tuscon as it is  so historic  and a creative visual meca oh and the airport does offer a shuttle once here everything is within  walking distance! I can hardly wait to teach  a watercolor journaling  class here  .  Tiny tin roofed victorian  houses and old run down miners shacks  cover  Bisbee's  steep hills and tons and steps lead you everwhere  - soooo  cute. The town gets a fair amount of tourist trade on the weekends and is so unique and cute as a button yet Funky as HECK  !!! Perfect for my ex hippie hubby and my free   artistic spirit!! As  we get a bit more settled in I plan to start a new BLISS BEE blog , that the name of our store  . I welcome any ideas and what ever .Wish us luck !!! Oh and p.s. last fall my computer died and it just DID IT AGAIN !!! So I am using Cal's Mac but have no access to my files or old photos  . Always by the Apple protection plan as   it is well  worth the cost !!!

Pictures  of the store!! Our's is on the left .

Dear blogger friends I need your advice ???

SO here is the big question?? How many of you would move back  to your home town if you left when you where 18 and where now 52?? Cal and I are thinking  of doing just that?!  My Mom has  a beautiful home in a small town called Allegan in Michigan . It was the last house  my father built 30 years ago. This is the reason  she will never sell the place. It has 2 bedrooms  2 baths . The home features tongue and grove  wood ceilings and pegged wood  floors ,pine kitchen cabinets with custom stained glass window inserts that  I designed   . It heats with a wood stove and back up  furnace and has a  well with wonderful water . It sits on a wooded lot high on a bluff  overlooking a  river and a  wooden bridge . The town is small about 4500  and is 30 minutes from lake  michigan . A large river meanders back and forth  through the town with many bridges  . The home has a huge 3 car   garage as well as a large pole  barn featuring  a bath room , all  with a large paved driveway  and parking  . Cal and I would open a pretty  antique store and also sell cool  hand made goods . HINT HINT I would love to feature many of  my  blog land friends work in the shop !!! Such as wearable art,( Deb Hodge this mean You!)  jewelry,( Sharon???) hand made beads( Denise ??) and art work So many of you are so talented I have not the room in this post  to list you !!!But you come to mind. I would  also teach art classes and bring guest  instructors in  for weekend retreats . All could stay in town at   the Fabulous  Delano  Band B !! .We would have a small organic garden and chickens( black  and white ones of course, Cal said no to pigmy goats ) . Cal is going to take upholstery lessons so he can help restore our  finds . I hope he likes working with  Belgium linen , natural duck cloth,   and my beloved black  and ivory check . Oh how I   love Ballard  design  and the new Restoration hardware line!!!I have always wanted to do    hand painted furniture  in the Tracy  Porter and  Mackenzie Child style  !!!  We would open  for spring, summer and fall  on weekends only  and could also  have a  cute tea/ coffee house on the site . Many people come up from Chicago( 2 hours drive or ride amtrak) to Allegan for antiquing as it has one of the best
antiquing markets held  once a month at the county  fair grounds and the town is sweet as can be in a northern small town way , close to many  beautiful lakes as well as lake  Michigan and wonderful Saugatuck Mich.  a super tiny resort town..  The  only thing  is THE COLD SNOWY WINTERS and my  past growing up issues.... I could not wait to leave!!! And would my Mom give her  OK to this idea, she is thinking  on it now .  She has not lived there   in 15 years  but has  had a caretakers / tenants   living in the place for the last few years  they would have to move out  and I feel bad about that as thay are  family friends .  I would love the feedback and yes I know this is   a very  bad time to do this in a recession and in MICHIGAN one of the hardest hit areas economic  wise in the country!!!!!! But on the other hand the building  and home  site set up for this is already in place, perfect and  just ready   to stage  and  it is a very inexpensive place to live  .Please tell me your thoughts,  are we CRAZY??? Nothing  ventured nothing gained ?!

 A baby painted turtle from an Allegan Lake . My mom tells  a story about me as a little girl.  After I had found a turtle ,I was  told  to give it to my friend .I said no to this with the response that " you can always have a friend  but not a  turtle" . How do you spell Brat ??? J-U- L-I-E