It's Been Nine Months!

I could have had a baby by now :) but I didn't.  I am incredibly busy but not crazy.

To get the ball rolling again with this personal blog page I will try to recap the last nine months in let's say nine highlighted points.

9 - Hosted my first Thanksgiving at my home in Nov 2012.  Loved, loved, loved having my parents and brothers with their families come over.  A special highlight of 2012!

8 - First Christmas where Andreas (my grandson) understood the concept of ripping open presents.  Fun to watch.  Of course, at age 2 he pretty much is into the opening not really caring about what he is getting.  So his grandmother got him a seat for toilet training, little underwear and other not-so-fun stuff.  PS - he's potty trained!!

7 - Taught my first class at Scrap 2 It in Ft. Collins, CO.  Beautiful city that I visited as a kid and I absolutely loved the store which is huge and beautiful.  The owner Ranae feels like a long lost friend to me.  I went back in April to teach two classes and will go back again in September of 2013 and Feb 2014.  Enjoying this so much.

6 - Dancing for New Year's Eve

5 - Attended CHA (Craft Hobby Association) Trade Show in January.  Had a great time and always an inspirational trip.

4 - Hosted Paper Vineyard's first 32-hour crop.  Amazed that those ladies hung in there and maximized their crafting time, productivity and fun factor.  This coincided with celebrating the store's fifth anniversary.

3 - Big decision made to restructure my business.  The thought process has been churning for probably this entire nine month period but at the end of February started doing what I needed to do to turn Paper Vineyard into a butterfly called Grapevine Designs & Studio.

2 - End of April, door close for Paper Vineyard.....new keys for new studio.

1 - My grandson turned 3 in May!  Sort of ironic is that my last post is of my daughter's birthday and this one will be of her son's birthday....again enough time to make a baby....  but NOT IT!

Impressing Young Adults

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Alyssa! 

21 years old, 21 years young

It is not easy being a mother to a 16, 19 and today a 21 year old.  My grandson runs around the house and I stick out my tongue at him and he is rolling laughing.  Done! Check! made the two-year old oh so happy.  My three angels are harder to please.

Part of it is I think that they think they are not suppose to have fun with me.  Well, this old mama loves a challenge.  At dinner about a month ago TJ started talking about a checkered cake I made when he was about 10 with a cake pan with inserts from Pampered Chef.  Then they all started chiming in on desserts I've made over the years.  So here we go....way to my monkeys hearts is apparently through their stomachs.  Go to garage and find the boat load of crap I bought from Pampered Chef in 2000.  Lucky for me they are still in the boxes because I was always afraid of loosing parts and directions.

 I have always liked the craftier side of life but with Pinterest and owning a store I feel like life is double-dog daring me to keep improving.  Above are some individual spice cakes with a little bit of creme cheese frosting.  I had fun making them and I figured out three young adults don't want to talk about their day but given food I actually have conversations and "feedback" on the cake type, presentation and frosting options.  Friends....I have been sent back to the kitchen.

Speaking of kitchen, this is my standard everyday look.  This is my handsome Andreas who is soooo trained to say cheese.  This is my before picture.  Behind me taking the picture there are lots of goodies for me to set up for a little get together I am having tonight to celebrate my girl's 21 years on the planet.  Tune back in for the after photos.  It is going to be a long but exciting day.  Sort of like the one I had 21 years ago.

Freedom Felt Really Good

My family attended the 80th birthday party of their great-uncle in San Diego.  I had a couple commitments at the store and couldn't make it with them.  That meant I had the house to myself....for a little over 48 hours.  Is it too disrespectful to climb on the rail on my front patio and shout "free, free ..thank God Almighty free at last!"  I didn't do it but I seriously considered it.

What I did do was simply enjoy myself.  Enjoyed myself in a wonderful grown up with no kid responsibility way.  Started out the weekend with Happy Hour at The Living Room.  Love the atmosphere, music, wine and food there.  Great company and great laughs.  Even better, I was home by 8:30.  I know I am just too wild and crazy.

Saturday morning I was able to do a card crop with nine other ladies.  I LOVE this crop!  It is low-key and it is amazing to see everybody make completely different cards out of the same paper pad.  Jean won for completing 14 cards during the crop.  I matched my previous steady-speed of one card per hour.  No where near the prize zone but very very therapeutic for me.

Went to Dolce Salon and had my fingers and toes done.  Heaven!  As I mentioned I am by myself so I can not take a photo of my Fred Flinstone fingers and toes so you are all saved the shot of my fabulous purple nail polish.

Attended a Wine & Crafting party at my friend Sheresa's house.  I never actually read the invite in Facebook I ran into Sheresa at the Living Room and she mentioned it and I said I would love to go.  I wish I had taken a few minutes and gone and read it because the party was to make these witches they saw on Pinterest and I am jealous I missed the activity.  They were adorable.  Again, a lot of wine but I left in better condition than these dumb witches.

Sunday was breakfast with my sister-in-law Beth, church and then the PV Card Exchange.  We are up to 14 ladies in the exchange and it was wonderful.

See, a very full and exciting weekend for me.  I didn't clean one thing, I didn't cook one thing and I drank my fair share of wine everywhere I went.  I am an independent woman...hear me roar (well craft anyways)!

ROAR....... Damn, I miss my kids.....

Delightful Ditch Day

A week ago I called my good friend Jean and asked her to take a long lunch and ditch with me to go to Sweet Salvage's "Let Them Eat Cake" celebration.  Sweet Salvage is a antique store and Phoenix and I really had to twist Jean's arm to go with me.  The place was packed and beautiful, it was packed literally with hundreds of other people ditching work.  I continued to harass Jean until we also went to Melrose Vintage and Rusty Rose.  It was an awesome speed browsing afternoon.

My favorite was Rusty Rose.  There were so many items to look at it was all eye candy to me.  When it comes to vintage items I am really not sure what my "style" is but there are certain items that I just love particularly an item that is old but can be used today.  The only item I bought was a metal drawer that Paper Vineyard made chipboard file tabs for and we will use to display inventory.  In fact, they are working out so well I need to drive back and get a couple more.  I need to call Jean and check her schedule!

In the spirit of practical use here is a great tip I found on Family Handyman web page about stripping paint from metal pieces when you have a great find.  If you want to strip paint from metal without the nasty fumes and mess of chemical strippers, just fill a slow cooker with water and set the dial to high.  The heat and moisture will soften the paint, and often it will fall off as a single piece.  This works on oil, latex and spray paints but it may not remove some clear finishes like lacquer.  Cooking the hardware may stain or contaminate the pot, so use an old one or buy a new one for less than $20.  This method won't harm hardware made of non-rusting metals like copper, brass or aluminum.  You'll end up with a little rust on steel - not enough to ruin hidden parts like hinge pins or screws, but possibly enough to roughen shiny surfaces.  If the steel has a plating like chrome or brass and the plating is already flaking off, this method will cause more flaking.  Some paints will loosen within a couple of hours, but for the best results, plan to cook the hardware overnight. 

 

Other great finds we saw....      

 

Wishing everyone an Antique Ditch Day!!

Content In The Corner

Since my girl and grandson came back home I gladly gave up the spare room so they would be comfortable and have some privacy and normalcy.  For a good four weeks everything that was in the spare room was piled on my master bedroom floor.  I would like to brag and tell you that I jumped right on sorting through everything but in all honesty this two-year old blessing kicked my tushy pretty good the first month.  We were all on different sleep patterns and I am accustomed to my ways and the questions and energy of a two year old required some focus and adjustment.  But he and I both survived Nana Bootcamp.

My New Set Up

LOVE LOVE LOVE that they are here with me and I am so happy with my new set up in the corner of my room.  I feel like everything that replenishes me is residing pretty close to this magical 6' table.  My printer is sitting on a box that holds my stamps, ribbon and embellishments.  There is one small box with card samples and magazines all housed on a trunk that holds wrapping paper, gift boxes, bags and bows.  My desk has my basic tools, my computer, my photo printer and even a few momentos.

My grandfather and I 

The shadow box is me leaning on my grandfather when I was two plus a snapshot of Andreas.  I believe I put together this shadowbox about twelve years ago.  There are days I want to take it apart and do it over again but it is here on my desk to remind me life is best when simple.

Speaking of simple, the beautiful piece on the wall was a gift to my grandmother and grandfather (yes the one in the picture) for one of their anniversaries.  My grandmother gave it to me in 1990 and at that time she said she thought it was forty years old.  It is perfect and is currently holding my adhesives, inks, flowers and embossing powders.

I do have three plastic tubs in my master closet.  One with work and personal papers, one with photos and projects in process and the third tub is paper crafting supplies such as paper, scraps from the store that I don't want to pitch and miscellaneous items I am pretty confident I will use one day.  I printed off a 2013 calendar and taped it to the side of each box.  My plan is to make me go through the boxes every three months and purge.  Considering I did throw away three huge trash bags as I sorted through everything in addition to the one huge bag to Goodwill I think I need a purge plan.  Hope it works!!  But if it doesn't I should be scolded and sent to my room.  :)

Have a great Wednesday,
Adriana

Fairy-Power Canvas Inspiration

Tinkerbell has nothing on me,

When it comes to Fairy-Power I have a Master's Degree.

My heart takes flight when I learn something new.

My wings go a flutter if you tell me a topic is taboo.

I want to learn it all, take the world on and fill my life with adventure.

I vow to use my Fairy-Power to always be excellent, that is what I venture.

Getting My Ducks In A Row

August 15th will be my nana's (grandmother) 95th birthday.  Family flew and drove in from a lot of different places and we celebrated this afternoon at the Women's Club of Mesa.  It was a small intimate gathering for 60 people. 

Do you know what is hard about these type of family parties.  Dragging your own kids there.  In a way I completely understand.  My nana's parents both lived to be over 100 years old and I remember being so bored when we went over there.  But my kids plus grandson Andreas were good sports.  We got there on time, snagged some great photos and got out of dodge by the time I told them I would.

My favorite photo is the one on the left with my nana and my dad.  Doesn't my nana look great.  She is shrinking, she reminds me of Yoda.  Getting smaller and smaller but still rules the Hernandez Universe in a calm slightly frightening manner.

The third photo is me and my cousins Mona and Cecilia.  Love them!!

So what do you get for the birthday girl.  Normally this is a complex problem but Alyssa (my daughter) and I were at Merchant Square and I found the perfect gift.  Ducks!  Well, it is perfect because my nana and I have been having a duck feud since 1989.  Let me explain.   I went to Dilliards at Fiesta Mall to register for my wedding gifts and I innocently put down "no ducks please" in the general comments section.  In the late 80's ducks were on everything...cups, plates, juice containers...they just weren't my thing.  Apparently, it offended my nana who happened to own a few ducks.  She has been threatening me that she is going to leave them all to me.  In fact, when she gets a new one she taunts me that it is one more for my inheritance.  I keep telling her I love her but I will have the biggest duck garage sale ever.

I decorated each antique perfectly-aged duck with some ribbon and a picture of each of my kids.  Andreas and I shared a duck.  In fact, we were attached to a gift tag with a little bit of birthday cheer in it.  Aren't they adorable!!  If she does leave all her ducks to me I have a feeling these four won't make the sale.

95 years is a lot to celebrate!!  I hope you are celebrating something special today.

Adriana