Have a Wonderful Weekend

I hope all of you have a wonderful, sun filled weekend! I know Santa Fe has tons of events planned for the Memorial Day weekend. Already this morning I caught this WWII Bomber plane doing fly-bys.

You can find all sorts of happens going on in Santa Fe here. Have a safe and relaxing weekend and don't forget to remember our fallen soldiers.

I'm Dreaming

I've always loved great design and functional art. After my post on chairs and the How To Recover a Chair Seat, I've been thinking a lot about refurbishing, reupholstering and recycling furniture. It's a dream, I know. But I would love a little shop where I recovered, recreated and found new lives for old, tired furniture.

Etsy recently had a great post and video about Process: Upholstering with Sprucehome. Check it out here. It just made the itch grow stronger! Maybe one day..... for now, I will keep doing pieces for myself and learning. And sometimes it just feels good to dream.

Cleansing the Body & Detoxifying

I have been thinking about doing a cleanse for some time now. It seems a good way to kick start a healthy diet plan and a good way to re-set your system. A few years back I looked into a few products in the stores and was thuroughly disapointed with the selection. And the mere fact you would be consuming pill after pill after pill. I have an issue with pills, so I put the whole cleanse idea aside, kinda bummed.

Flash forward to this past week. Hanging with my boyfriend and another friend, which the topic of conversation always seems to go towards health, body and metaphysical side and we got on the subject of cleansing and up came the Lemon, Maple Syrup and Cayenne Pepper liquid cleanse. My ears perked. A whole cleanse done entirely with liquid, no pills, and can be done in as little as three days.

I found a great site that lists the benefits, recipe, tips and so much more. You can see for yourself here.I've been trying to shift focus back onto my artwork, health, family and relationships. I think this cleanse will be a good next step for my mental self, and health. Now let's see if I can get my guy to do this with me..... lol I am thinking of starting this weekend. I will be curious to see how I react to the diet/fast/cleanse. After years of drinking, smoking, and eating anything and everything in my way, I am looking forward to being healthier or at least being more conscience of what I am doing to myself everyday.

I know, weird topic, but what do you think? Have you tried this, or something similar? How did you feel afterwards?

Wednesday's Wonders 5.26.10 Sewing

Although I love to sew, I have always been terrified to make my own clothes. My mom, an accomplished seamstress, would make me clothes when I was younger and they never seemed to fit right. If she was so good and the creations didn't fit right, how was I ever going to make something that did?!?!

For some strange reason I have been getting a huge urge to start sewing my own clothes, mainly dresses, skirts and shirts. Trust me, I will be keeping it simple. My first attempt is from Grosgrain's blog and feature - A Frock by Friday. It seems pretty simple and a good starting point for my first clothing attempt. I have collected all the necessary materials and have begun. So far so good. Of course I did get to one point and realized I had to rip out a majority of the seams :( I wasn't surprised.

Here's what I will admit to at the moment. Cute!! I have some tweaking and of course more seam ripping to do, but I think it will turn out fine. I will post again when it's all done.

I have TONS of t-shirts and several that I'm not crazy about anymore, but would hate to get rid of just yet. This white one below was just a pain! So I pulled out another white t-shirt that was a little worse off and fixed it up. I think it's my new favorite tee!!!

It's hard for me to get how some people can whip something together and it looks amazing and fits right. Maybe that's just one skill I don't quite have.... yet!

Treasury Time

Here's a wonderfully picked treasury on Etsy that my newest Rosette Bib Necklace is featured in. Thanks again LeahSutton!!

Belt It

I'm not a huge fan of belts other than for their practical use. Though I love the look of belts with dresses and shirts, I just can't pull it off. Here are some wrap around inspirations. Enjoy!

1. jazzboogie

2. eunonymous

3. VirginiaWho

4. Jujie

Marang Studios

In an effort to upgrade, expand, and offer a more consise way of finding me and the items I create I have revamped my shop name, Etsy banner and avatar.

Marang97 is now Marang Studios.

You can find me at all the usual places under Marang97 and Marang Studios. New items (which you've had a few sneak previews of earlier) and creations will be showing up soon to Marang Studios. So check back often. And of course you will all get to see them here too.

At Marang Studios you will now find these catagories:

• Marang Fine Art - You will see the artwork I create from mixed media paintings, fiber art and my Rollies.


• Marang Home - This will showcase my creations for your home - decor and furnishings.


• Marang Style - Here you will find fashion accessories, jewelry, and maybe even some clothes.


• Marang Style Repurposed - These are all my fashion accessories that have a twist - they've all been created from recycled, repurposed and reclaimed materials.


• Berte's Beauties - These wonderful creations are all made by my Grandmother. Look for crocheted hats and afghans and more items to come!


• Sale Sale Sale - Just what it says - items on sale. These creations may, or may not be returning to Marang Studios. So get them quick at a great price!!

Let me know what you think! I'd love any feedback or advise you may have. Cheers!

Lovely Clusters

Now you can find Marang Studios (Marang97) at Lovely Clusters!! I am excited to be back on their site. I was one of the first shops there when they started. You can find all my links and a few featured items. Lovely Clusters is a wonderful site showcasing handmade creations from around the world.

Let's go see what they have!!

I would be....

I saw this beautiful post at Casa Bella's blog and thought I would share a bit more of myself with all of you.

If I were a color, I would be green
If I were a season, I would be spring

If I were a flower, I would be a sunflower
If I were a place, I would be Paris
If I were an instrument, I would be a piano
If I were a spice, I would be vanilla
If I were a tree, I would be a oak
If I were a time of the day, I would be mid afternoon
If I were an herb, I would be rosemary
If I were a fruit, I would be a peach
If I were a dessert, I would be chocolate
If I were a moment, I would be a hug
If I could be anyone in this world, I would still be me.

Oh Happy Day!

I was thrilled when I opened my email to find that I had been picked as the winner of Pistachio Press' Portrait Print from A Cup of Jo's blog. Isn't it great?! I know just where I'm hanging it!

Thanks Joanna and Pistachio Press!!

Wednesday's Wonders 5.12.10 Gardening

I absolutely LOVE gardening. The meditation of working in the ground. The sense of accomplishment when harvesting and tasting the wonderful things grown. The coming together of friends, family, and community. The wonderful things that happen with sometimes little or no effort of the gardener.

I am so excited and happy for a new garden in the works. We have extra land at the gallery I work at and have all decided to start a vegetable garden there. There will be 7 to 8 of us working and tending to the garden. The ground has been worked, the bunny fence is installed and we are ready to plant! We currently have 52 plants of 15 vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and even more seeds. Our last frost will be tonight (28 degrees!! brrrr!) so tomorrow is planting day!


I came across a fellow blogger who planted Bee's Friend (Phacelia tanacetifolia) and I though this would be a wonderful addition to our garden. It attracts bees and other good insects that help keep away the bad ones. I ordered it right away!!

A great gardening tip I discovered by chance was to have a few plants of catnip around the parameter of your garden. This will bring the neighborhood cats around and keep the bunnies and other furry pests out! I suggest getting catnip as plants and place in pots. The larger the plant the better as some cats will just devoir the whole thing in one sitting.

And don't forget those great Marigolds. They come in such a great variety of heights, sizes, variations and range from the most beautiful yellows to the deepest rusty orange. These are a long time staple in gardens to keep out bad insects. In Mexican tradition, the marigold is widely used in celebrations of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead on November 2nd. The marigold is known as Flor de Muerto or (Flower of the Dead). I've seen them hanging strung together as garlands over entrance ways to homes in the fall. I will be trying this in the fall as we have 22 marigold plants and tons more seeds that will be going into our garden.

Gardening has always been something as a family we always did. I am forever grateful for having this knowledge and feel close to my family everytime I work in the garden even though they live hundreds of miles away. I am excited to see how our work garden turns out and see what relationships and connections are made and continued. Please stay tuned for updates on our little garden!

Do you have a garden? What do you love most about gardening?

Get 'em quick!!

These items at my Etsy site will be expiring soon may or may not be making an appearance for some time. So get them QUICK!!!




1. Carnation Flower Pin - Navy with Gold Dots - Recycled T-shirt - $7.50
2. Winter Lace - Crocheted Granny Square Scarf - $25
3. Circus Act - Crocheted Carnation Pin - $14
4. Valentines Scarf - Striped - $25

Blah Day

Needing a few things to cheer me up today. Even if your not having a bad day, these are sure to put a smile on your face.

Maybe all I need is a good hug....

Wednesday's Wonders 5.5.10 CINCO DE MAYO

It's Cinco de Mayo! Time for margaritas, guacamole and a huge sombrero!! Living here in Santa Fe, NM this all won't be so hard to locate and enjoy. I had to admitt, I had to look up the significance of May 5th just to make sure I remembered correctly, I was mostly right. You can find out more about the reason for celebration here.

You may find me this evening at my favorite place to get margaritas - Del Charro!! Oh so yummy!!

And you will definitely find me tonight at El Paseo enjoying my favorite band from Santa Fe - Chango!

VIVA!!!