Yay!! Blue Skies!!

I woke up this morning to blue skies...first time in over 3 weeks. I am soooo happy to see it! I have been feeling lazy these past few weeks...well not lazy, I have been doing my chores and taking care of the furbabies. I guess unmotivated to make stuff is a better choice of words. I have been messing around on the web alot and watching t.v... maybe I have been recharging myself.

Well, today is a new day and I made a bird collage out of an old wooden picture I got at the thrift store...and John took pictures of me wearing a fabulous leopard coat I bought in L.A. at a yard sale for...20 CENTS!!! It's brand new and I LOVE IT! The woman who sold it to me said her 15 year old daughter wouldn't let her wear it in public. I guess that kid is lucky Cindy Lauper isn't her mom! I also got a picture of me wearing my new t-shirt, "Well behaved women rarely make history", I ordered from the Junk Gypsy Company website. I bumped into their site a couple of months ago on someone else's blog and I really like their merchandise. If you like western meets bohemian style go check out http://www.gypsyville.com/. Oh yeah, I couldn't get a disk made from the tattoo pictures I took the day I got my tattoo from Joe in Minneapolis...I know you're disappointed...so John took a new picture of my dragonfly tat. How do you like John's Elton John sunglasses? He's getting himself in the L.A. frame of mind...

John and I are just goona hang out and enjoy the rest of this Sunday...hope you do the same!

I'm sitting around in my underwear...

...because it's hot in my house and I don't want to pay pg&e tons more money than I aready have to...and playing on the laptop. I have been doing this since 11 a.m. it is now 5 p.m. I have been reading blogs, lookin at flickr, and teaching myself how to do things on the web. If I were 5 years old I could learn these things in about 15 minutes but because I am a few years older it takes me hours to do things. For example...I uploaded a program to give me a different background for my blog...to make it look more interesting like so many other blogs I see in the blogasphere...the problem was their name was posted over my blog updater and I couldn't access my blog to publish new posts. It took me an hour to get the background paper off and those pain-in-the-rear("we don't need no stinking badges") badges. But the good news is...I did it! I was beginning to think I would have to abandon my blog and startup a new one!

Then I started going through my old pictures and loaded them from the cd to my laptop. I wanted to show off some pictures of a dragonfly tat I got last year for my birthday when I visited James in Minnesotta. Right after I got that one I wanted another one, actually 2...if you ever got a tat you know tats are addicting! My next tat will either be "bite me" displayed just above my right tush... I thought it would be appropriate to show off especially to some of the "lovely" customers who dine at Jacks...but I also want one for below the back of neck that says "carpe diem!" It really depends where my head is at when I go for the next tattoo.

Oh crap! I was just looking for the cd of me getting my tat and I discovered I didn't get a cd made...why would I? I didn't have a laptop at the time...I will have to run down to Long's tomorrow and see if I an get a cd made. But lucky for you! I do have pictures of my furbabies...

I don't know about you but the older I get the faster the days seem to fly by. Can you believe it...in exactly six months we will be celebrating Christmas??? Well, not everyone will but you know what I mean. And of course time itself has always remained the same so it really is my perspective that has changed. The older I get, the more aware I am of how short time on this beautiful planet is and am I really doing what I want to be doing within this finite time frame? I don't mean to be sounding morbid, I am just taking some time out to say out loud something I often find myself reflecting on...at least when there is nothing good to watch on television!


Yesterday I got to spend some of my time at one of my favorite places....Treasures From Paradise. That is the antique mall where I rent a booth and work a couple days a month as part of my rental agreement. I think I mentioned the antique mall before in one of my earlier posts, but I can't remember for sure because another thing has changed the older I get...I can't remember half the stuff I do! What a royal pain in the neck that is! Except, of course I can remember clearly every sin committed against me and I can carry a grudge against the offending person forever.


Ok, back to Treasures From Paradise...I took lots of pictures this time to showcase the many other dealer booths...cause you never know...you might be looking for a fun place to visit, especially since the town of Paradise is getting back to normal since almost being wiped off the face of the map due to those nasty fires! I also got to meet my neighbor, Susan who has rented a booth there for two years. Her merchandise is quite similar to mine, but she also has a fabulous collection of vintage aprons. Susan told me she has been a lifetime collector "because there are so many lovely things in the world", and decided to turn her hobby into a small business adventure.


She also has taught kindergarten for 18 years, which in my opinion is a major feat in itself...don't get me wrong...I like kids, but to be in a room with 20 five year olds for 5 hours a day! I just couldn't do it! Her husband is a professional photographer and has a website you can check out...
http://www.garywagner.com/.



I am still experimenting with photobucket, so I put the pictures of the other antique dealer booths on the slide show below the text, and the pictures of Susan's booth are on top. Oh, and the white display case Susan is standing next to was made by her dad! I guess the whole family is quite talented!



Did I mention how much I enjoy working in that mall? I have always liked working in retail but the low hourly pay...not so much. I will be thrilled when I get my own little shop, but the plan as it now stands is to move down south and sell at the fabulous flea markets there. I hope this economy will turn around by the time we move, but that's another topic and I don't want to dwell on that. Oh, I almost forgot! Over a week ago I signed up to volunteer in the local Obama campaign office, cause volunteering might lead me to that press secretary job I secretly dream about...actually my dream is to have a platform to get my opinions across, at least until I get kicked off the podium. Anyway, back to the volunteer gig, the person in charge told me there were more people wanting to volunteer than there were openings! Wow! A glimmer of hope!

We Have a Winner!!!

Wow! I got soooo many terrific answers, and I thank you all for particiapating. I had so much fun, I think I will have more contests... Ok, the answer is espresso...correction...portable espresso machine...Peggy never leaves home without it! and the inside family joke is that she is a Tai Chi instructor! How can someone be soooo centered and soooo full of caffeine!

The winner is nypapercrafter and she just happens to have an etsy shop... http://www.nypapercrafter.etsy.com/ Stop by her shop before you leave...you just might find that perfect something!

No Winner Yet...Here's Another Clue

Here is Peggy with her gizmo that creeped out the customs agent. Do you know what it is now? If you are new to the conversation, scroll back two blogs for all the details of this contest. Remember you can guess more than once, but you must be able to tell me exactly what this gizmo is. I have to work today, but I will check my email as soon as I get home ...around 8 pm California time. Good Luck!

Here's a Clue!

So far, there have been several good guesses but of course not the correct one or the contest would be over...so I am adding another photo to help you out. Now this is the actual gizmo taken out of it's case. Does this help? Anyone care to take another stab at it? Oh, if you are just joining the conversation, please read my previous blog and it will bring you up to speed...oh yes, you are allowed to guess as many times as you like! Good Luck!

Guess What This Is...Contest!!!

Ok, so my relatives are visiting from Switzerland...and my sister-in-law, Peggy decides to bring this gizmo with her...something she simply cannot live without...which makes her the winner of the most neurotic relative (at least this week)...usually I consistantly win and am the undefeated champ. Anyway back to this gizmo...Peggy had to declare this thing to the man at customs at the airport and he was creeped out by this thing, so I thought why not have a contest about this thing, where the first person to correctly guess what this is wins the Goddess door hanger made by yours truly! I think the best way to go about this is for you to email me at junkstylediva@gmail.com with your guess and the first person who guesses correctly wins...I will check my email frequently throughout the day and I will email winner right away and post winner's name on blog, which makes the contest officially over.

Oh and this gizmo is in its carrying case to make things more interesting...Good Luck!!!

Here Comes Da Sun!!!

Today is the first day in 2 weeks that we can actually see the sun...not quite blue skies yet...but the air is much better! It won't be long before we are back to our normal sizzling summer weather. The fire fighters are still here and probably will remain for a bit. The fires are not completely out.

I want to tell you about another terrific artist I met via the flickr site. Her name is Sam and she lives in Arizona with her dogs. She is a mixed media and mosaic artist using recycled items and

" just plain trash" for her artwork. Her style is mostly whimsical folk and is sure to make you smile. She is well known for her rock art and flag pieces. Sam has taken some art history classes but she is mainly self taught, getting her inspiration from the "good and bad parts of life". Some of her aristic ideas come to her in the middle of the night...I can certainly relate to that! Sam has the same problem most of us artists have these days...so many ideas and so little time! She also has a love for old vehicles and has lots of pictures of them on her flickr page.

Sam 's flickr page is...http://www.flickr.com/photos/bysam/. She also has a website where you can purchase her art...http://www.arizrocks.com/. If you are looking for something fun to add to your art collection, I highly recommend you check out arizrocks.com!

Enough already!

I am really getting annoyed with this fire business! The air around here has gone from sort of crappy to real crappy this these past 3 weeks. I had to go out and buy myself a respirator because the smoke has finally gotten to me. Have you ever tried to coordinate an outfit around a respirator? Not an easy task. The weather is really hot too, but not as high as predicted. The smoke is creating a blanket and keeping temperatures in the 100s but not 110 as first thought. It is so humid though... Louisianna weather without the fun of Bourbon street... hey, maybe we should put together a parade and make the most out of this. I came to work yesterday to a smoke filled restaurant and a broken air conditioner! Whew! We are having some fun now! I got so hot, I took off my bow tie and unbuttoned my top button to stay as comfortable as possible. My manager asked me to put on the bow tie because he was afraid the owner would come in and chew him out for me not wearing the dress code. I told him, he should be grateful I wasn't working in my underwear! Needless to say, the bow tie remained off. I already passed two years ago from heat exhaustion and I will not do that again!

Well, since I am stuck indoors, I will look for some art projects to do...

My days off from the restaurant always go by too fast! But I have 24 hours before I go back tomorrow, so I will live in the moment and enjoy every minute of this day! It is still smokey around here. It's been that way for over two weeks now. Mother Nature doesn't seem to be done cleaning house, so all we can do is wait it out. Chico's motels are full of fire fighters from all over California and surrounding states. In a creepy way, they are getting a boost during this economic slow down. Chico is definitely not a tourist destination, so the only time the motels get full around here is graduation time and when parents help their kids settle in to college life. Anyway back to the fire fighters...they are staying in Chico to rest up for 24 hours and then back to work, but for some reason...maybe adrenaline...they have enough energy to walk around downtown. I work downtown, in a restaurant with a huge window, big enough to watch these guys walking around. I have yet to see an average looking fire fighter! Maybe it's their image...fearless, strong, hunky! Whatever it is, I am certainly enjoying these fabulous men!

Have I told you about the flickr site and how it is a terrific place to see artist's photographs? Well, I seem to spend alot of time there, not only getting inspiration from other artists, but I also read their blogs, and sometimes email them.

I want to tell you about one woman ( pictured above ) I met via flickr who I think is very talented. Her name is Jamie and she is a jewelry artist. She loves old jewelry, especially rhinestones, and she takes that jewelry and creates something new. Some of her newest creations are made from millenary flowers, adorning them with rhinestones to make the finished product a unique lapel pin. Jamie is self taught and gets her inspiration from everything around her, especially vintage. She likes to mix rough metal with old sparkle to create a one-of-a-kind look. If it's got sparkle and has a history it has a good chance of becoming a part of her art.

She loves her family and has lots of pictures of them on her blog. Jamie has a green thumb too! The pictures of her garden are quite inviting, even a garden snake decided to make itself at home for a bit. Jamie is a member of Indiepublic and has a shop on esty.com. I invite you to visit her shop at http://www.simplymeart.etsy.com/. and of course check out what's new on her blog
http://simplymeart.blogspot.com/.

I'm back home. I really do enjoy driving long distances...I should have been a trucker. I get a kick out of seeing the countryside. There was a motorcycle club on highway 5 called the Iron Hoggz. Their motorcycles were so colorful! and two of the riders were women which really got my attention. I googled them and found them on MySpace. They are based out of Bakersfield (not a place I am interested in living...it's way too hot for me and smoggy and dusty...)but check out these bikers, they are an interesting group of people!

I always have a good time when I visit James. He took me to a dance club where the average age was 45 years old...which I thought was terrific! Older people having fun and dancing! It seemed that most of these people were single and looking...There was even one women who we guessed was about 70 years old! Wow! Anna was a little creeped out though. There was some people on the dance floor who were "making out" and that was a bit much for her.

Then we went to a Kareoke club. That crowd was completely different. There was a mix of single women and men, men dressed as women and this entertaining couple who was fighting! Luckily we sat next to them...I always enjoy a good fight between couples. It was obvious by the look on the woman's face that her date was pissing her off. Finally she dumped her beer on him and got up to leave...but this guy just couldn't keep his mouth shut...so she came back and punched him right in the nose! I was thrilled! Who needs to watch reality shows when all I have to do is go to Kareoke bars. That seems to be where the action is!

Saturday, we went to Huntington Beach. Surfers, odd balls Jesus freaks, bikinis, the ocean... so much eye candy! Very nice! I am excited about moving here and I know John will love it!