Wednesday's Wonders - Happy Sunny Day

After a not-so-enjoyable evening last night, I woke up this morning in a surprisingly good mood. Maybe it was the late-nite carb binge or watching a good movie that helped. Maybe it was wishing to hear ONE particular song on the radio and as I flipped through the stations, I found it. Playing. Right. That. Second. Maybe it was waking up to these beautiful sunflowers that brightened my morning. Either way, how could these sun-loving flowers not put a smile on your face!!

Wednesday's Wonders 6.2.10 Undiscovered Goodies

Browsing Etsy's Pounce feature I found these wonderful undiscovered Etsians. Enjoy!

1. Songbird Grommet Tote by bravura $45

2. Two fall flowers framed traditional darkroom black and white photograph by mlacourphotography $70

3. Mod Orange Flowers by melissamcgill $20

4. Sami Dress by uniquecustomclothing $40

*My Wednesday's Wonders seem to keep happening on Thursday's!! Sorry! :)

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!

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?

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!!!

Wednesday's Wonders 4.28.10 Cooking

I have recently picked up a wooden spoon and began cooking. I have NEVER had the urge, want, or need. (Someone else always cooked.) But within the last year and a half, the need arose. I was terrified! One thing I can not do is see a list of ingrediants and determine if I will like it. It just boggles my mind to no end. And I just HATE spending an hour or more cooking and then it all be gone in 10-20 minutes. So I began simple. Simple recipes, simple ingrediants, not a lot of time. And to my suprise, I'm not too bad!

I began with just a few cook books and recipes from the internet. Above is one dinner of stuffed tomatoes. I have always wanted to make stuffed tomatoes with some sort of meat in it. I finally found a recipe and it turned out wonderful!

Even Jack, my cat, thinks I'm pretty good! This is him eying the Thanksgiving turkey!

And my FIRST pumpkin pie turned out 'just like mom's'! I have always been a baker. I love making cookies, cakes, cupcakes and pies. But one can't quite live healthily on cakes and cookies alone. darn.

And this above, I know, doesn't look like much. This is my first Sheppard's Pie. It lasted all of two meals between me and my boyfriend. I was AMAZED how good this came out! And get this... I only used a recipe as a guide. I didn't have one thing (other than the piece crust and the potato topping) that the recipe actually called for. I think I may be getting the hang of this!!

Now what shall I make for dinner....?

Wednesday's Wonders 4.21.10 Getting There

Today, I rode my bike to work. It was a beautiful spring morning here in Santa Fe. The birds were chirping, the flowers are blooming and the sun rising over the mountains. I happen to be fortunate enough to live close enough to work (3 1/2 miles) to be able to bike to work or into downtown Santa Fe. I absolutely love this! I've always wanted to live close to a downtown, no matter how big or small.

This is my first bike ride of the year. I know, a little late getting started, but I've started!! My bike has weathered the harsh winter and was raring to go. I, on the other hand was a little hesitant. I had injured my foot last week and thought it was broken. It's still a bit tender and I didn't know how I would do pedaling a bicycle. But I took my time, and I was ok.

This is where the Wednesday's Wonders come into play ~ Getting there, the journey. I love taking my time. I see things I don't typically see. Experience things not typically experienced. I've lived here in Santa Fe now for 7 years. And there are still wonders not yet seen.

Here are some great little wonders found today ~ getting there.

The Oldest Church in the USA - San Miguel Church, circa 1610.

The Oldest House in the USA circa 1646.

Vigas coming out from a gallery wall. Notice the handcarving and painting on the sides....

Wednesday's Wonders 4.14.10 Twilight

I'm going to stray a bit from an actual wonderment 'wonder' and write a bit about how I am completely amazed and left in total wonderment about the movie Twilight. Yes, I just got around to watching it, I guess I'm a bit behind. But I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And I must say, I absolutely hated the whole thing. The acting - awful. The drama - contrived. The music - horrible. The story line - eh. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to get up and turn off the DVD player and watch something, anything else! I am left wondering how and why so many people are so addicted to the movie and its sequels.

Now, I have to admit to my weird taste of movies. Most movies that I absolutely adore, many people question my sanity for. And I have a massive amount of tolerance and will keep watching a movie hoping it will get better or try to redeem itself. I've only walked out of one movie in my life. I have fallen asleep a few times during a movie, but that's why I put that certain movie on in the first place.

Overall, I think I was more astonished at the fact that SO many people liked this movie and thought it was so good and now they are all biting their nails waiting for the next one. I know there are millions of die-hard fans out there. I am not one of them and will not waste my time on the sequels. What do you think of the Twilight series? Did I miss something?

Wednesday's Wonders 4.7.10 Twins

I know, strange topic. But let's see if I can pull this off. It is my cousins' Birthdays today. Yes, they are twins, and could not be more different than each other. Aren't twins supposed to look, act, think just (mostly) the same. Well, not these two!!! Either way, I love you guys and Happy Birthday! Here are some picks of things that are the same, yet uniquely their own..... salut!

1. GlazedOver

2. AWEshop

3. drowsySwords

4. polkadotmagpie

Wednesday's Wonders 3.31.10 Spring Flowers

Spring flowers are hear and full of color! Here are some great Etsy finds for this week's Wednesday's Wonders! Cheers!



1. RainburstEmbroidery
2. PopulationOne
3. PetalMix
4. Marang97

Wednesday's Wonders 3.24.10 Family Quilts

Here are this week's Wednesday's Wonders - Quilts full of texture, movement, and color! And the best of all - these were created by my mom, grandmothers and myself. The above quilt is my second, and still unfinished....

I hope you enjoy!

A 3 generational quilt by my grandmother, mom and myself.

My first quilt ever made from my old pairs of jeans.

An old family quilt made from old corduroy and crocheted together. You can't find corduroy like that anymore!!

Wednesday's Wonders - 3.17.10 - St. Patrick's Day

Go grab your green beer, shamrocks and top hats! It's time to paint the day green! Here are some green wonders just in time for the spring flowers to start popping out. Top 'o the morning!!

Wednesday's Wonders 3.3.10 Manipulating Fiber Etsy Style

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. - Albert Einstein

Today's inspiration comes from the great creations found on Etsy and the manipulation of fabric. How it can be changed, twisted, folded, sewn, and cut.


1. FrillsandFrey
2. SecretSnowbird
3. Jannadudley
4. ingermaaike