Taking a Stroll Down Sonya's Garden

Wow!  It's been over 2 months since my last blog entry.  Anyone still out there?  If you are, thanks for your patience or indifference, whichever the case may be :-)

So, I took a mini break and flew to the Philippines for a 2 week vacation.  Nothing crafty to report.  The Philippines isn't a big crafting mecca (unlike Japan or Korea) but don't feel too sorry for me.  I ate so much and had spa treatments and even had some time to work a little bit on my Redwork.

But, I wanted to share some photos of my travels. It is called Sonya's Garden and it is a restaurant/ bed and breakfast/day spa located about 1 1/2 hours outside of Manila.  

The restaurant serves a buffet (one set menu daily) highlighting the vegetables grown in the premises.

Some of the beautiful china.

It is a tranquil (no unruly children allowed) and calm oasis where you can get away and just unwind, enjoy a spa treatment,  maybe do some embroidery or learn the art of doing absolutely nothing!

Sonia's Garden reminds me of life around the turn of the century- when people ate foods from their garden served on fine china, take siestas outdoors under a canopy or shady tree, play cards or do some embroidery and listen to the vitrola record player at dusk and enjoy a sangria and dance an the evening lit by fireflies, candles and the moonlight.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then I will just allow them to do all the talking.  

Here are a few of the daybeds located around the garden for a quick nap or Tete-a-tete.

Here's one of the little cabins for overnight visitors.  Sliding windows are made of Capiz (windowpane oyster) shells.

Back in Manila, I spied a kalesa (horse drawn carriage) in the old district of Manila.  When I was little, my mom and I would take a kalesa ride from my dad's office in the textile district called Divisoria to Chinatown for lunch and a movie.  

You could fit 2 adults in the carriage.  The little seat upfront is for the kutsero or driver.  Some of the kalesas are brightly and beautifully decorated and they definitely all have a waste sack so the horse does not leave a mess around the streets.  Not a lot of kalesas are around anymore.  Like any big city, people are in a rush and riding a horse carriage isn't the most time efficient.  

The Vintage Marketplace

Last Friday, I took a drive out to Rainbow, CA.  For those of you who have never heard of the town called Rainbow, you are not alone.  Apparently, neither has my GPS.  It is located north of Fallbrook and south of Temecula.  Every quarter, they host an event called The Vintage Marketplace and they have a gathering of 40 or so vendors who sell vintage, handcrafted and repurposed wares.  Sort of like a flea market but much nicer things.

The drive was easy and the weather was actually very nice.  The event was held outdoors so it was definitely time to haul out my SPF 50 sunscreen and hat but still chilly and breezy that many people wore jackets.  

Here are a few pictures of the booths and treasures I found at the Vintage Marketplace.

Some days, I want a pink Vespa.  And on other days, I want an aqua bicycle with a basket in front just like this one.

Love these necklaces!  This booth offered classes on soldering jewelry too.

I really wanted to take home this chair.

Here's some vintage French hymnals.

And check out these Eiffel Towers!  I've gotta make myself a few of these to festoon my sewing room.

The next event will take place on June 1st and 2nd.  You can check them out on Facebook for more information.  I also took a flyer for Glitterfest, which will take place on March 10th.  I have never been to this but a few of the vendors from the Vintage Marketplace will also be vending at this event.

And finally, meet my hedgehog pal Hammie.  

I feel silly naming a pillow (like what am I, 12?)  But it just seemed like this little cutie warranted a name.  Hammie is part of the panel I purchased a couple of weeks ago (see previous blog entry).  So Hammie will take residence in my sewing room (which will soon be overdecorated and overcluttered if I don't cool it).

Be Still My Heart

Sorry for the long silence.  My laptop had to go to the hospital.  To cheer myself up, went to Michaels and their new seasonal merch is in.  Check it out.



Here's a magnetic board and calendar.


I love all the pink shabby chic home accents! 


And check out these glitter letters.  LOVE!

But I've had the hardest time finding the letter *I*.  I've called over 10 stores and no letter *I*.  What's up with that?

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hi folks, how was your Thanksgiving weekend?  Like the rest of America, I stuffed myself (at Lucille's), shopped (the midnight sale at Macy's) and did some home improvement/decorating.

My most notable project last weekend was painting a 6 foot tall bookcase.  The bookcase lives in my sewing room.  I inherited the bookcase and it is probably from Ikea.  It is laminated wood and the back panel is cardboard.  Here is a "Before" photo.

I used an oil based primer and painted on the first coat on Thursday and the second coat on Friday.  Dad assisted with the painting and was in charge of the shelves.  I painted the bookcase.

Here is an "After" photo after 2 coats.  I also lined the back of the shelf with a shelf liner.

The funny thing is you can hardly find shelf liners anymore.  I shopped at the Home Depot when I picked up my paint and supplies and all they had were plain white, a granite and a dark wood grain pattern.  I also went to the usual places such as Target and finally found 2 rolls of this pink and white polka dot at Big Lots.  Yay for Big Lots even though there were only 2 rolls of this pattern.  Shelf liners must not be a popular item to carry at stores anymore.

Anyway, if I were to do it again, I would trim the liner paper so they wouldn't overlap as it was harder to reposition it when the paper overlaps.  It guess I was a bit lazy and was anxious to put my sewing room back together again.

Here's a couple more "After" photos.

I'm quite happy with the result.  And even if it was probably easier to pick up a new bookcase from Ikea, I'm glad I took the time to repurpose an old eyesore.

Now on to quilting news.  The good news is I completed all the blocks to my Mon Ami quilt.  I started this quilt last October 2010 at a quilt retreat with Verna Mosquera.  It took about a year to complete the applique and embroidery of all the blocks and I am now piecing the rows together and getting it ready for quilting.  I'm not sure at this time if I will be sending it out to be quilted or not.  I have a domestic machine and the thought of quilting this myself is already giving me back spasms. 

Here are a couple of the blocks I completed.

And then, I took creative license and changed one of the blocks from this...

to this...

I will post another picture once I have sewn on the mitered borders.  Hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving like I did.  Gobble gobble.