Summer Holiday for a LARGE family!!

This year while we are in Holland on vacation we will have my family's reunion. We started doing this every 2 years. after my mom died and we all make an effort to be in Holland at the same time. In case you didn't know I have a very extensive family... (8 siblings, 5 brothers and 3 sisters) So with all of us and kids etc. it requires a large accommodation for a weekend, like an entire farm! This is the map of where we are this year. It has 13 bed rooms hahaha. Check out the kitchen. We willl have 30 pizzas to feed everyone. There will be 35 of us.

I am sure we'll have a blast. Three people are turning 50, 1 turning 60 and 1 turning 80. It will be a big party!!

Pickering

On Sunday we went over to our friends and they took us to the bottom of Liverpool Road in Pickering, to Millenium Park, right next door to the nuclear power plant. This little girl was having so much fun in the fountain. Kind of ironic..... nuclear power and then the most beautiful nature setting. So pretty. See what it look like. No need to go to far for beauty

Did you see Orange AND Yellow?...

Man, what a weird game. I saw more yellow than orange with all the yellow cards the referee gave out. What a shame they lost. Check out the"Dam square" in Amsterdam. Bummer, I wanted them to win....

Maybe next time!

Adorn me 2011

Wow, it is up already, the class schedule for Adorn me 2011 in Houston. It looks like yet another great event! Check it out:

http://www.artunraveled.com/AdornMe11/AdornMeHome.htm

Are you seeing orange? and 50 years of age...

July 6 is a big day. My brother has a birthday, John turned 50 and Holland won!

Soccer and Holland, it is in the news right now!! Are you watching the games? Well, they won today and are off to the finals on Sunday. We are seeing orange... From the Holland website:

The Help

I read on a friend's blog about the book "the Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I finished ia and it was great. If you are looking for a good read, this is it. Here is what it looks like....

More viking knit

Here are some sample of viking knit by Stephanie Eddy ( http://www.stephanieeddy.com/ ) and her husband to give you an idea of all you can do with it.I am doing a little poll. I have had a few people say they would like to learn viking knit, so if there are several of you willing to learn, I would be happy to organize a get together and teach you....  If you are interested, let me know. I could get all the materials together and it would be some time July or otherwise September as I am off to Europe all of August. Let me know.....

Micro-Mark

Here is an interesting company with neat tools and gizmo's for crafting and you tube demos etc. On-line and catalogue. They have a sale on right now....

http://www.micromark.com/

Dogs..

Some of you know that I am not the biggest dog lover I the world. Perhaps if there was no poop and scoop I could do it. Until then, no dog for me. However, at Bead and Button was a vendor with bakelite colourful dog pins.... Check them out! I thought of all you dog lovers.

Before and After...

I played with some Precious Metal Clay today. This is before.....

And this is after!!

Honey, I'm home!!

Finally, I am home and my travels are done for now. I am tired and enjoying hanging out at home. Last night was Zoe's dance recital. To see her in a classical ballet outfit is such a transformation! The show is always fun to watch. The trip to Washington was busy but we found an evening tour and so we saw quite a bit. Truly a beautiful city. My favourite was the Korean War Memorial.

Look at these bronze statues depicting the Korean fields. We visited Arlington also. The picture with the helicopter turned out good! It had Obama in it.....

Viking Knit

At Bead and Button I had to check out this new gizmo for viking knit. As you know I recently learned how to do this and use `homegrown`materials to complete the task. Stephanie Eddy has come up with a new gizmo that works well. If you would like to try viking knit, check this out!

http://www.stephanieeddy.com/

Bead and Button

Bead and Button, what can I say? It is a great event held every year in Milwaukee. It is gigantic. More than 600 classes, over 370 vendors and many, many jewelry enthusiasts. I made a side trip from Chicago to bead and Buttton. I rented a car and drove to Milwaukee. Milwaukee itself I didn't have high expectations for. Just another American city I thought. Part of that is true, but like  most cities we found a neat area called the third ward with art galleries, little restaurants, neat shops and just a fun area of town.

The show itself is amazing. I only had time for 1 class with Sherri Haab. This was fun. Looking around you you see the most amazing jewelry. Silver, gold, seed beads, precious metals, lamp work and so much more. I am posting a few pictures so you get the idea...

A little break

After a long day at the conference we decided to go for a little break in Lincoln Park, a neat neighbourhood North-West of downtown Chicago. The buildings are just beautiful and we discovered this great shop with custom-made bags and purses. You lick the style, you pick the fabric and the trim and they sew it. Just amazing! And another shop had these amazing birds. So well done.

Hot Flash relief....

When I stay in hotels, no matter how great they are I am always too hot. It is an age thing... So I fiddle with the thermostat and when it doesn't go I call engineering to get them to decrease the temperature. Last night, after that didn't work I figured I could open the window. The right one didn't work. I then climbed on the desk and tried the right one. Now I am hot!! Finally it opened and so I try to shove it up but it all took a different direction and the window actually came out of the frame...  At 34 stories high this is tricky. Ha! Not wanting or being able to call the front desk as I am holding on to the window so it won't crash down I am seriously thinking that menopause sucks. Hot and bothered at this point I thin k that the only way to prevent being on CNN for dumping a window down or crashing myself, I have to push it back in the frame. Several attempts later and many degrees later I am happy to say I was successful and decided that sleeping under just the sheet would have to do.... Who says life is boring?