Fall 2013 Colors

Are you thinking about the fall colors? I am.  Check out this video from Pantone...lovely colors.

Build Zone Projects

I have been working my way through Deryn Mentock's online class "The Build Zone".  This red necklace is strung with a vintage box clasp, a significant departure for me as I hardly ever string beads or use commercial findings.  It gave me an opportunity to use my great grandmother's red seed beads and I am very pleased with the result. (The vintage thimble and charms are from Watergirl Supply).

The black fetish horse necklace is more my style...wire wrapped components and forged clasp.  The black fetish horse is very special, it is Native American made (most that you find now are imported).

I am thoroughly enjoying the class.  The videos are well made and chocked full of information.  And I like being able to view them as often as I want.  Deryn is an awesome teacher.

Winner, Winner! The Build Zone - Something Sublime

Winner, Winner! The Build Zone - Something Sublime:

'via Blog this' 

That's me!  Deryn is an extraordinary meixed media artist, I can't wait to get started.

Lovely Weekend at Garden of Beaden

It was a wonderful weekend at Garden of Beaden...hanging out with Irene and the gang and meeting Bead Shop Hoppers.  We met one very determined lady who had visited 23 of the 27 bead shops by Saturday afternoon!

Thank you to everyone who purchased a Watergirl Supply item.  I appreciate your support.  See you next time!

Now it is time to get ready for my trip to San Antonio, Texas to see my son and then to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to see Wild Thing graduate from Basic Combat Training.  It has been a long nine weeks.  I am very proud of her determination and her decision to serve in the Army National Guard.

Taming the Azusa Canyon Williams Fire

Sky crane helicopter picking up water at San Antonio Dam to dump on the Azusa Canyon Williams Fire about 20 miles to the west. One comes over every 15 minutes and it sounds like they are landing on the roof.  

A Second Day at the Bead Shop Hop

I am excited to announce that a second day has been added to the Watergirl Supply Trunk Show at Garden of Beaden during the Third Annual Southern California Bead Shop Hop starting next weekend.  

Watergirl Supply Trunk Show
Saturday September 8, 10 am to 7 pm
Sunday Septermber 9, 10 am to 5 pm
Garden of Beaden
313 N. 2nd Avenue, Upland, CA

I hope to see you there!

Southern California Bead Shop Hop Is Coming

The Southern California Bead Shop Hop is coming September 7-9, 14-16, and 21-23; three fun-filled weekends to trek around So-Cal in search of beady treasure!  

Will you visit one, two or all the stores in the hop? Great prizes and tons of fun. 

Each store will be decked out to represent their favorite movie. Go see what the stores are doing! 

To learn more about the hop click here. 

The event is sponsored by Beadsmith.

Watergirl Supply will be at Garden of Beaden on Saturday September 8, 10 am to 7 pm.   I am an eclectic collector so you will find religious artifacts, vintage brass, mid-century brass and copper charms, western charms, rhinestone components, military badges, vintage czech glass beads and buttons, and ribbon.

Fall 2012 Colors

Here they are the Fall 2012 colors from Pantone.  I love the four middle colors; tangerine tango, ultramarine green, bright charteuse, and  olympian blue (no surprise there).  On the whole this is a wonderful selection for the upcoming fall/winter season.

Click here to get the full report from Pantone.

Ok, so which is your favorite or favorites?

The Power of Introverts

Here is an intriguing discussion on being an introvert.



I relate to everything Ms. Cain says. I know my happiest moments are the quiet times...riding my horses, sewing, making a new necklace, doing research, being in my office/studio, reading, writing.


How about you? Are you an introvert too? Or are you an extrovert?  

Independence Day 2012

Click picture to read the entire Declaration of Independence and its history

Even More 101 Uses for Your Old Jeans

31. Sit-Upon. Summer is almost here, for those of you who camp this sit-upon is a great recycle/upcycle project.  Recycle plastic bags for the cushion and upcycle a pair of old jeans for the cover.  (For those of you who have never heard of a sit-upon it is basically a stadium pad. I made my first one in Girl Scouts.  It was made with newspaper and contact plastic, and of course a sash to tie it around  your waist when you weren't sitting on it.)


32. Camera Cozy. Ingenious little bag to protect your SLR camera.








33. Gardening Knee Pad. Of course we would use denim from our old jeans instead of buying material!


34. Garden Mulch. For those old jeans (or parts of) that are just too worn to make into something else garden mulch is the perfect use.  Tear the jeans into strips and lay around your plants--keeps down weeds and holds in moisture.


35.  Ties.  Use the french seam (usually the inside seam) to make ties for tomatoes, beans, etc.


36. Hat.  What a lovely sun hat.


What are you doing with your old jeans?  Let us know by leaving a comment.

Watergirl Supply Trunk Show

Garden of Beaden in Upland, California is hosting a Watergirl Supply trunk show on Saturday, June 2 from 10 am to 5 pm.

copyright 2012 Watergirl Supply

I am excited to share my vintage jewelry and mixed media supplies with the GOB crowd.  I am an eclectic collector so you will find religious artifacts, mid-century brass and copper charms, western charms, rhinestone components, military badges, and ribbon.

I look forward to seeing you at GOB. Come by and say "Hi".

You can also find Watergirl Supply on Etsy.

In Remembrance

Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

...of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

We must honor that sacrifice by not giving our freedom away at the ballot box.

A few words about the Mustang Makeover...

It was awe inspiring!  I wish I was in the position to adopt because there were two ranch trained mustangs that went for $300.00 each...what a steal.

Wild American Mustang in Northern Nevada. SOURCE: earthtrinity.com

Extreme Mustang Makeover

It's that time again when the mustangs (and their trainers) strut their stuff in Norco, California. The mustangs have 90-days of training...that's right 3 months.  You will be amazed at what these horses will be doing with only 90-days of training.  Here's the schedule for the weekends events.

I'll be looking for you at the Finals!

Wordless Wednesday

This Day Foretold

 ¹ Who has believed our message 

   and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot, 

 and like a root out of dry ground. 

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, 

   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind, 

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. 

Like one from whom people hide their faces 

   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
⁴ Surely he took up our pain 

   and bore our suffering, 

yet we considered him punished by God, 

   stricken by him, and afflicted. 
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, 

 he was crushed for our iniquities; 

the punishment that brought us peace was on him, 

   and by his wounds we are healed. 
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, 

each of us has turned to our own way; 

and the LORD has laid on him 

   the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, 

   yet he did not open his mouth; 

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, 

   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, 

   so he did not open his mouth. 
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away. 

Yet who of his generation protested? 

For he was cut off from the land of the living; 

   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, 

and with the rich in his death, 

though he had done no violence, 

   nor was any deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, 

   and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, 

he will see his offspring and prolong his days, 

   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 
¹¹ After he has suffered, 

he will see the light of life and be satisfied; 

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, 

   and he will bear their iniquities. 
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, 

and he will divide the spoils with the strong, 

because he poured out his life unto death, 

   and was numbered with the transgressors. 

For he bore the sin of many, 

   and made intercession for the transgressors. 

Isaiah 53 (NIV)

Jean Cards

I am always on the lookout for unique ways to upcycle. repurpose. recycle.

Today I found a company that is recycling jeans (and other cool materials) into cards. Paperworks Studio.

from Paperworks Studio

Here's what Paperworks Studio says about themselves.

"Paperworks Studio is a successful mission-based, market driven social enterprise. We've doubled in the last two years and are on pace to double again this year. Our production team of artists are people with special needs and disadvantages. They are a great team and while working at Paperworks Studio, learn valuable life and work skills and gain self-esteem. This allows them to obtain more independence in their lives.

The artists make beautiful handmade cards, one-at-a-time,no-two-are-alike, from recycled materials and lots of LOVE!"

I encourage you to check Paperworks Studio out and maybe even make a purchase.  I know I will be.

Daddy Let Me Drive

I was picking up hay this afternoon and Alan Jackson's Drive came on the radio.  Every time I hear it I think of my dad and learning to drive.

I must have been twelve or thirteen years old when he started teaching me to drive.

Sitting beside him in the truck, he'd work the clutch and I would operate the shifter.  First gear, second gear,  third gear, second gear, stop, start over again.

Driving the old tractor around the pasture while my sister rode our horse Komoko.  Then we'd trade and she would drive the tractor and I would ride Komoko.

And finally driving the truck around the pasture.

By the time I was sixteen I felt like a pro.  And I was on top of the world when I took his 1969 Mustang Grande to DMV for my driving test!

Thanks Daddy these are great memories.

I'm Published in Haute Handbags

I submitted a handbag to Haute Handbags last fall and have been so excited to share with you that they selected it for publication in the Spring 2012 edition. 

My issue of the of the magazine arrived today!  On April 1 you can get your very own issue.  

It is filled with lovely handmade purses, market bags and clutches.

And the cutest little coin purses made from fabric yoyos.

You will be inspired.

My bag, Out of Africa, can be found on page 135 in the Gallery section.  

I paired cheetah upholstery fabric with black leather from an old jacket and lined it with a wonderful batik my sister brought from Africa when she returned from her Peace Corp adventure.  

A vintage red button and vintage red silk tie on the straps add a much needed pop of color. 

Finally I embellished the bag with pompoms I made from a vintage mink stole that had seen better days.