Most of the time I can’t help but be a bird person. In college I used to find dead birds that had flung themselves into the glass windows of my dormitory and, still being warm and limp, I would take them up into my room just to stare at them on my desk. Morbid- yes, but birds are such amazing creatures, and such delicate beings, I can’t help it. Just the other day I ran into the middle of a highway and scooped up a pile of feathers and bones that used to be a proud hawk. Fascinating stuff you can’t learn in school. …though highly illegal to mess with migratory birds.

The same problem I have with dead birds, I have with old embroidered (dead) textiles- handkerchiefs, napkins, table runners… anything adorable, delicate, and seemingly impossible to recreate. I hope someday to make a crazy quilt with all their beauties, but there are yards left to find. No problem. I love looking.

Another collection of mine is rapidly becoming a problem as I find less and less space for it. Chairs. I dream of having a house with all mismatched beautiful chairs bursting with personality and age. But where to put them all? Someday, with a house, I’m sure there will be plenty of places for chairs. At the moment, however… Too many places to sit. Too little time.

Lastly- things. Magical things. Found things. Things you find in the cracks of boardwalks, or in the gutters, or parking lots. Rusty washers, sea glass, watch parts, perfectly smooth rocks, feathers, pieces of cars that fell off, crow skulls, and a plethora a strange, unidentifiable rusty metals. Why do they call to me? What am I going to do with them? …I wish I knew…

It brings me great joy to collect things. Maybe it’s materialism, and maybe it does more harm than good on a psychological level, somehow, but I think I’ll continue to do it until the day I can no longer physically pick up a stunning blue jay feather I see on the sidewalk…

Drinking Chocolate!
Not hot chocolate. Drinking chocolate! Found in a small shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico called Kakawa.
It’s thick, it’s rich, and it’s delicious. I tried spicy ones, sweet ones, and ones that hardly resembled chocolate they were so flowery! They call them Elixirs.
This is the way the Aztecs drank chocolate. They even had the recipe for the way Marie Antoinette drank her chocolate! You can drink about the amount you commonly find in an espresso shot, but not much else unless you’re a die-hard sweet tooth! That’s okay, because that’s all they offer.

This is my uncle drinking chocolate in their earthy, cozy shop. Don’t you love their porcelain? They really thought about their mode of transport for this stuff. They could have used a teacup and been all wrong!

Though I haven’t been there in a few months, I keep thinking about that smooth, flavorful chocolate, and I know it’s the first place I’ll hit next time I’m down in the painted desert. Maybe I can will myself there if I dream about it hard enough…

My desk is in a constant state of craft flux these days. I don’t bother putting anything away because sometimes I like to sit down and just make a few tags- and walk away. Clean-guilt-free. I give myself this gift of chaos, and it makes the whole process much smoother.

I have a pretty random collection of stamps and paper I use for my tags. I have a lot of Martha Stewart stamps- she makes some great classic designs. Stickles make everything pretty- that’s all the glitter you see on my tags. They make such a quality product- way better than any other glitter glue out there. It’s much more controllable, I should say.

Martha came out with a punch a few years back that came with 3 acrylic stamps. The stamps fit the punch perfectly, and thusly you could make a very complete looking element. I liked the bird the best- and despite what some people think, I find birds to be very Christmasy.

I got to use up a lot of Christmas paper with these tags. For some reason I have 3 12×12 stacks of Christmas paper. Some of which I have ceased to appreciate now that the paper is so cool these days. I noticed that some of my tags were so busy with design, however, that there was nowhere to write a name! Oh well! Guess the back will work. Oh! Also, I love the idea of threading ribbon or string through buttons before glueing them to the paper. Very cute. Very Tim Holtz.

I started designing my own paper at one point- using Ranger/Tim Holtz alcohol ink on glossy paper. It was serious fun, but that alcohol ink can really go to your head fast. It’s also kind of a mess when you work in small quarters like I do. But still pretty! I like the natural and aged look it gives paper.

Martha Stewart came out with a “paper tape” this year to pick up on the Washi Tape phenomenon. She did not succeed. The tape is slick and plasticy- not what I expect from paper tape at all! The designs are cute, however, seeing as how we all know I’m a sucker for lace, and the fact that is was teal and white lace didn’t help at all. It would have been a feat of willpower to have not purchased it!

May I rant?
Yes.
I love snow flakes. I love punches. But most of the time I do not love snowflake punches. OH! I love the idea of them just fine, but they never seem to work out for me! If the paper is too thin, or too thick, if it’s a different texture, or painted, the snowflake punch gets ornery and it rips off its own arms! Oh the treachery! All the beauty of the thing is in its delicacy, and yet that is its greatest flaw! Disaster! I had to glue on plenty a broken snowflake appendage this December.

This is Christmasy! Right? Okay, maybe not. I got sidetracked. See the pretty butterfly peeking out behind the Martha Stewart lace punch? That’s Tim Holtz’s paper tape. THAT is what paper tape should be like. It’s awesome. I liked his French script one, too. Very chic.

Well, that’s a tour of my desk these days. These tags have been slowly going out in the mail with my Christmas letters. They might be a little late for this year- but maybe they’ll get used next year! =) All the best intentions…

A panda falling with two guns held high- then another artist came in and scribbled balloons into his hands and a smile on his face- he even signed it on the other side of the pole. I love the good humor of man!

R2-D2 with a crown? Such a cool collage. But what does it mean?!?! Maybe he’s go a really good idea? A short circuit? A medieval halo? Ah, well. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy it for visual’s sake. The adobe texture really makes this look like an overly gessoed art piece. Brilliant! Why can’t all graffiti be this great?

Do you think I just love Santa Fe because of all the teal? … it is extremely possible! ^_^

This particular group of photos all come from one road. This is Canyon Road- which, if you know Santa Fe, you know is the best place to find art. The road is lined on both sides with gallery after gallery of fine art and lots of lovely flowers! You have to walk for lack of parking, but it is a lovely experience! There are also several trails that run off into the canyon for those more nature inspired. It takes a whole day!

These bushy yellow flowers were so soft! I had to keep myself from laying my face against their bright petals because they were also full of bees! Yikes! See the little guy in the photo? =)

Due to the adobe architecture, all the bright colored window shutters and doors in Santa Fe really pop! I love the texture of the mud next to the worn-down wood. Yummy!

This tea house 3/4 of the way up Canyon Road was a life-saver! After all that walking uphill and all that art- a body needs a break! This cafe is a little pricey, but it’s great! I had bagel lox with a green salad, and a delicious spiced chai.

This place did not mess around with tea. I haven’t run into many places with multiple chai recipes, or several genmai or kuki-cha options. I was most certainly impressed!

The inside of the cafe was decorated with a hand-crafted chic, with bunting flags, branches, and cute paintings like these birds here and there. The bathroom was a full-on Italian countryside!

My mother always told me she was an Arizona lizard- loving nothing more than to sit in a sunny spot and soak up the sun. Who can argue when the windows are as satisfying as these?

More Santa Fe later!

I love strawberries! Especially faux-French-made-in-Japan-Linen-Strawberries! Oh yes. I do.

And I finally put in an asian umbrella printed hedgie I made a while back, but never put in the shop. Oops!

So silly!

One thing I enjoy most about these retreats is seeing what other folks are doing and being inspired. Also, they usually have good ideas, or better yet- great tools and products to share with you. I also got to share some of my plentiful supplies that I knew I’d never use all of, so I was a pretty happy camper!

I used so many new punches at this retreat- I couldn’t decide which one to buy at the end! Creative Memories has a neat line punch system that makes a picket fence. Well- I made my picket fence into a medallion with a few dozen fan-folds. Phew! Time consuming, but worth it! Also, I loved the paisley punch which I used in orange over on the side border. I ended up with leaf punches and a tag punch from my sister! It was like a pre-Halloween treat! =)

There are a few more pictures on my flikr site (button is to the left of this post) if you wanted to see more.

We’ve never made the same plate stack twice- and we certainly don’t intend to!

Here is a picture, albeit blurry, of a wine party I had that used three of our mismatched servers to serve cheese, crackers, nuts, spreads, fruit, cupcakes, and more! It was a hit, and it looks amazing!

Our ballerina frogs appeared this year, and despite our anxiety at trying something new, we hardly had any left when the day was over!
These frogs crack me up with their spunky personalities. Oh yeah… they definitely have attitudes!

The Colorado sky opened up and dropped some lovely snow on us today. I love all the white. It’s somehow very refreshing to me- covering up all the things I didn’t want to see…

I am busily getting ready for an order of hair pieces in “school colors” which is pretty relaxing because it keeps me focused on the form more than the color. Focus is good. Messy desk… not so good? =)
Happy snow to all!